By Professor Richard T. Griffiths
Twenty-five years after Zhang Qian’s historic return to China, Emperor Wu sent another mission to the Xiongnu, the nomadic tribes whose periodic cross-border raids constantly threatened the empire’s northern borders. However, the Xiongnu were neither interested in conquering China nor in adopting its sedentary economic model.
If the Chinese could ease their military response, a peaceful accommodation might be possible. In 100 BCE, such an opportunity seemed to arise, and Su Wu (c. 140-60 BCE) was chosen to lead the diplomatic mission with one hundred soldiers and officials. Su Wu, already renowned for his wisdom, integrity, and deep loyalty to the Han Dynasty, was tasked with negotiating the peace and securing the release of Han prisoners held by the Xiongnu.
The journey to the Xiongnu court was long and arduous, crossing harsh terrain and leading to a land with customs, language, and lifestyles starkly different from those of the Han. Upon arrival, Su Wu and his delegation were received with formalities fit for Han envoys. Yet, Zhang Sheng, Su’s second-in-command, felt the Xiongnu leader, Chanyu Qiedihou, had shown insufficient respect. He conspired with a few disaffected courtiers to assassinate the Chanyu—a plan that was hardly diplomatic. When the plot was uncovered, Zhang Sheng turned and blamed Su Wu.
The Trials of Su Wu
Chanyu Qiedihou ordered the arrest of the entire delegation. Zhang Sheng and several companions defected to the Xiongnu, compounding their disgrace, but Su Wu remained steadfast in loyalty. Despite severe interrogation and torture, he refused to break, even when facing execution. In an effort to wear him down, the Chanyu ordered Su Wu’s imprisonment in a cellar without food or water but he survived by eating the wool from his coat and drinking melted snow. When that failed to break him, the Chanyu exiled him to the remote wilderness of Lake Baikal, a land of extreme cold and desolation, and assigned him a small flock of rams to herd. “When the rams give milk,” he was told, “you may go home.” Life became a struggle for survival, particularly when his scant food supplies were delayed, forcing him to subsist on wild grasses, roots, and small animals. Legend says he used strands of his coat’s hair to fashion fishing nets, hoping to catch fish from the frozen waters. Yet, despite his isolation, Su Wu stayed resolute. Even when a Han captive came with false news that his family had either died or moved on, Su Wu would not break.
Figure 1: Su Wu Tending Sheep. By Huang Shen (1687-1770). Hanging scroll, ink and colours on paper, 94.2 × 101.2 cm, Shanghai Museum, China.
He never parted with his staff, a symbol of his envoy status, using it to herd his sheep and holding it during his daily ritual of bowing toward Chang’an, the Han capital, in honuor of the Han emperor. News eventually reached him that Emperor Wu had died; Su Wu, it is said, was so devastated that he vomited blood. Still, he remained loyal, alone with his sheep.
The Return Home
During Su Wu’s long exile, his fate was unknown back in China, and rumours of his death spread. Emperor Zhao, who succeeded Emperor Wu, never lost hope and continued diplomatic efforts to secure Su Wu’s release, though the Xiongnu, understanding his symbolic significance, were reluctant to let him go.
Figure 2: Emperor Zhao of Han and Officials by Yan Liben (active 640-673). Detail from The Thirteen Emperors scroll, ink and colours on paper, 51.3 x 531 cm, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, USA.
In 81 BCE, nearly two decades after Su Wu’s exile began, a shift in the political landscape opened a path for his release. With a new, more conciliatory Xiongnu leader, a prisoner exchange seemed possible. The Xiongnu, however, insisted Su Wu had long since died. To break the impasse, Chinese envoys concocted a story: the emperor had shot a migratory goose bearing a message from Su Wu on its leg, requesting help. Whether true or not, the story forced the Chanyu to admit Su Wu was alive. After nineteen years, Su Wu returned to China, a shadow of his former self. The emperor rewarded him with a high-ranking position, allowing him to live his remaining years in peace.
Reflection
Su Wu’s legacy has been immortalized in Chinese culture as a symbol of loyalty and perseverance. His refusal to betray his emperor, despite unimaginable hardship, is celebrated in Chinese poems, paintings, and literature. His ordeal resonates as a paragon of Confucian virtues that deeply influenced Chinese society during and after the Han Dynasty, exemplifying loyalty (忠, Zhōng), endurance (毅, Yì), righteousness (义, Yì), and moral integrity (仁, Rén). Su Wu’s legacy endures because it embodies the very ideals the Han Dynasty sought to uphold.
About the author:
Richard Griffiths is Director of the Silk Road Virtual Museum, covering the years 500-1500 CE, with twenty-one exhibition spaces providing access to almost one thousand exhibits. You can visit it here
