118
RICHARD J. SMITH
been a Jung envoy sent to observe Duke Mu's sagacious administration before taking service with Ch'in. Over two thousand years after Li Ssu outlined Yu Yü's achievements in a successful bid to forestall the expulsion of aliens from Ch'in, the Chinese still pointed to the former Jung subject as an example of China's profitable employment of foreigners who had “devoted [their] loyalty” (hsiao-chung) to the Middle Kingdom.26
Much of traditional practice regarding the employment of barbarians, like much of traditional Chinese foreign policy generally, derived from experience in the Han. From the time of Wu-ti on, phrases such as “using barbarians to attack barbarians” and “using barbarians to check barbarians” had become part and parcel of Chinese policy toward foreign tribes. Alliances were often formed with outsiders through marriage, and the use of native chieftains to govern border barbarians became an accepted practice—in time institutionalized as the fu-ssu system. Yu Ying-shih's masterful study of Han foreign relations is particularly useful in identifying these and other early forms of "barbarian management."27
For much of the Han period, and especially during the reign of Wu-ti, open enmity existed between China and the fierce Hsiung-nu. Yet even so, the Chinese made abundant use of these dangerous but militarily useful barbarians, establishing an often-invoked precedent. Not only were surrendered Hsiung-nu soldiers incorporated into Chinese forces as cavalrymen, but individual barbarians also found employment in the Han army as officers.28 Those barbarian commanders who submitted to China (k'uan-sai, lit., to "knock at the frontiers") together with a large number of barbarian troops were particularly likely to receive substantial military appointments; but individuals with far different backgrounds might also rise to the heights of the Han civil or military bureaucracy on the whim of the emperor. Perhaps the most noteworthy example is Chin Mi-ti, a member of Hsiung-nu royalty who, at the age of fourteen, was captured by the Chinese and enslaved. Eventually, Chin gained Wu-ti's attention, won his confidence and affection, and rose to a high and influential position as a result. He served the emperor faithfully in a variety of important civil and military posts, including General of Chariots and Cavalry (ch'e-ch'i chiang-chün), and although certain members of the court resented his power and prestige because he was an alien, Chin conformed in every way to the dictates of Chinese society. It is not surprising that he married
118
RICHARD J. SMITH
been a Jung envoy sent to observe Duke Mu's sagacious adminis- tration before taking service with Ch'in. Over two thousand years after Li Ssu outlined Yu Yü's achievements in a successful bid to forestall the expulsion of aliens from Ch'in, the Chinese still pointed to the former Jung subject as an example of China's profitable employment of foreigners who had “devoted [their] loyalty” (hsiao- chung) to the Middle Kingdom.26
Much of traditional practice regarding the employment of bar- barians, like much of traditional Chinese foreign policy generally, derived from experience in the Han. From the time of Wu-ti on, phrases such as “using barbarians to attack barbarians” and “using barbarians to check barbarians" had become part and parcel of Chinese policy toward foreign tribes. Alliances were often formed with outsiders through marriage, and the use of native chieftains to govern border barbarians became an accepted practice-in time institutionalized as the f'u-ssu system. Yu Ying-shih's masterful study of Han foreign relations is particularly useful in identifying these and other early forms of "barbarian management."27
For much of the Han period, and especially during the reign of Wu-ti, open enmity existed between China and the fierce Hsiung-nu. Yet even so, the Chinese made abundant use of these dangerous but militarily useful barbarians, establishing an often-invoked precedent. Not only were surrendered Hsiung-nu soldiers incor- porated into Chinese forces as cavalrymen, but individual barbarians also found employment in the Han army as officers.28 Those bar- barian commanders who submitted to China (k'uan-sai, lit., to "knock at the frontiers") together with large number of barbarian troops were particularly likely to receive substantial military ap pointments; but individuals with far different backgrounds might also rise to the heights of the Han civil or military bureaucracy on the whim of the emperor. Perhaps the most noteworthy example is Chin Mi-ti, a member of Hsiung-nu royalty who, at the age of fourteen, was captured by the Chinese and enslaved. Eventually, Chin gained Wu-ti's attention, won his confidence and affection, and rose to high and influential position as a result. He served the emperor faithfully in a variety of important civil and military posts, including General of Chariots and Cavalry (ch'e-ch'i chiang-chûn), and although certain members of the court resented his power and prestige because he was an alien, Chin conformed in every way to the dictates of Chinese society. It is not surprising that he married
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