nomadic confederation · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Donghu

700 BCE – 206 BCE (approx.)

The Eastern Hu nomads of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, crushed by the Xiongnu leader Modu around 206 BCE; their survivors became the Wuhuan and Xianbei.

Origins

Chinese sources use Donghu, the Eastern Hu, for pastoral peoples living east of the Xiongnu in eastern Inner Mongolia and western Liaoning from about the 7th century BCE. Archaeologists often link them with the Upper Xiajiadian culture, though the connection is debated.

Rule and society

They were a confederation of herding tribes with cavalry strong enough to raid the State of Yan, until the Yan general Qin Kai drove them back around 300 BCE and Yan built walls against them. Nothing is known of their language or rulers' names.

Decline and legacy

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Donghu demanded Modu's best horse, then one of his wives, then land; Modu granted the first two and answered the third by destroying them. The survivors fled to the Wuhuan and Xianbei mountains and gave their names to the Wuhuan and the Xianbei.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (3)

More states of China, Tibet and Mongolia →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Donghu. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/donghu
MLA
“Donghu.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/donghu. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Donghu.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/donghu.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Donghu’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/donghu (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻