Kongdong Mountain

Kongdong Mountain

Kongdong Mountain

The Yuwen tribe was originally not Xianbei; they were a distant branch of the Southern Chanyu of the Xiongnu who had long lived in the eastern Yin Mountains. They originally had twelve tribes. After the Northern Xiongnu were defeated and migrated westward in the first century AD, more than 100,000 Xiongnu households (clans) that remained in the northern deserts migrated eastward to Liaodong and lived among the Xianbei. The Yuwen tribe was one of the Xiongnu tribes that migrated east at this time. They spoke the Xiongnu language of the Altaic language family. The Xianbei, on the other hand, spoke the Donghu language of the Tungusic language family. Therefore, historical records state that the Yuwen Xianbei language was quite different from that of the Xianbei. During their eastward migration, the upper echelons of the Yuwen tribe came to rule the Xianbei people in the Liaodong region. They also joined the tribal confederation established by Tanshihuai, becoming the Eastern Daren (Great Chieftain) within the alliance. From then on, they gradually became Sinicized as Xianbei and came to be known as the Yuwen Xianbei.

The origin of the name Yuwen Xianbei: It is said that they once obtained three jade seals inscribed with the characters “Di Di Yu Xi” (Emperor Emperor Jade Seal). They believed these were bestowed by heaven. In the Xianbei language, “heaven” is “Yu,” and “ruler” is “Wen,” hence they called themselves the “Yuwen State,” meaning “Heavenly Ruler.” This is how they came to be called the Yuwen Xianbei. The Yuwen Xianbei were always active north of the Murong tribe, with their main settlements in the Huolin River basin, south of the Wulijimuren River, and along both banks of the Xar Moron River. In September 1983, a “Mother-and-Son Horse Gold Inlay Decoration” was unearthed in Fuxingdi, Kai’lu County, Tongliao City, and in April 1984, a “Double Horse Gold Inlay Decoration,” “Mystical Beast Gold Inlay Decoration,” and “Chained Gold Horse Inlay Decoration” were excavated in Liujiazi Gacha, Xibehua Sumu, Kezuozhongqi, Tongliao City.

Among the tribes affiliated with the Yuwen Xianbei, the Yaonian clan, which was stationed around the Wulijimuren River, the Laohe River, and the Xar Moron River in Zhalute Banner, the Xi clan, stationed upstream of the Xar Moron River, and the Dere clan, stationed downstream, were particularly notable. Located in the northwest of Zhalute Banner, Kongdong Mountain is referred to as “Dalede Mountain” in the *History of Liao*. It was the birthplace of the Dalede King, the Tahuo clan, of the Yuwen Xianbei. This Tahuo clan was the ancestor of later Chinese compound surnames such as Helan, Helou, Heyue (also written as Heyue), and Helian.

The Dere clan of the Yuwen tribe initially grazed their herds in the middle and upper reaches of the Huolin River before gradually moving southward to graze between the Wulijimuren River and the Xar Moron River. In the mid-fourth century AD, a tribal confederation centered around the Dere clan, the Wuwan clan, and others was established at the confluence of the Laohe River and the Xar Moron River. This marked the emergence of the Eight Tribes of the Khitan. Yelü Abaoji, the Yilijin (chieftain) of the Dere clan, ascended to power in 916 AD at “Jinlinggang” (present-day Heilongba to Hujagang area in Kai’lu County), performed rituals to heaven and earth, inherited the throne, and established the Khitan Dynasty. He initiated the era name “Shence” and established his “capital” at Longhua Zhou (near the Ximengjiadian Reservoir at the border of Naiman Banner and Kai’lu). Another Yuwen Xianbei tribe, the Xi clan, grazed in the upper reaches of the Xar Moron River and the Laohe River and developed into the Kumo Xi tribe. They settled in what is now Ningcheng, Chifeng City, and frequently participated in the Central Plains wars during the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms period up to the Sui and Tang dynasties. They were relatively powerful in the early Sui period but were later conquered by the Khitan and assimilated into the Khitan ethnicity.