Sima Qian’s Composition of the Pre-History of Xiongnu Empire

Sima Qian admitted that he could not accurately understand the development of the northern history over a thousand years, but arranged the development of the pre-history by “from Rong-di to Rong, Rong, Hu, and to Xiongnu”. This is a new approach to existing research based on a biased understanding of the “Northern people(Bei-di) = Nomadic people = Xiongnu”. Through this, it is possible to organize the records of Sima Qian's pre-history of Xiongnu empire, which accurately identifies the characteristics of individual existence and systematically organizes them according to the changes of the times. Although the historical trends of Northern people, which have been closely related to the China, are weak in specificity, it is possible to give a general understanding of the Xiongnu history who emerged later. This fully reviewed Sima Qian's compositions willingness to provide accurate information about the Xiongnu, just as Confucius tried to write exactly the book of Chunqiu(春秋). This is because it is important for Sima Qian to provide accurate information to prepare countermeasures against the Xiongnu empire, who were then the targets of a strong threat to China. He recorded the history of the Xiongnu with this problematic consciousness and objectively summarized the situation before the foundation of state in B.C. 209. This is not an explanation of the Xiongnu's orgin, but the objective information about the situation in the North before their appearance. Therefore, new research and compilation of records of the Xiongnu can confirm the objective record of Sima Qian. It will be an opportunity to study the possibility of a new approach in the history of Xiongnu.