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{{short description|1st century Chinese general}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Dou (surname)|Dou]]|lang=Chinese}}{{Infobox military person
| name          = Dou Xian
| birth_date    = 
| death_date    = 92 AD
| birth_place   = [[Xianyang]], [[Han dynasty|Han]]
| death_place   = 
| allegiance    = [[Han dynasty|Han]]
| serviceyears  = 
| battles       = [[Battle of the Altai Mountains]]
}}
'''Dou Xian''' ({{zh|t=竇憲|w='''Tou Hsien'''}}; {{fl.|70 AD}} - died 92 AD<ref>6th month of the 4th year of the ''Yong'yuan'' era, per Emperor He's biography in ''Book of the Later Han''. The month corresponds to 23 Jul to 20 Aug 92 in the Julian calendar.</ref>) was a Chinese general and [[consort kin]] of the [[Eastern Han dynasty]], famous for destroying the [[Xiongnu]] nomadic empire.

==Early life==
A native of modern-day [[Xianyang]], [[Shaanxi Province]], he was part of the powerful Dou clan which dominated court politics during his tenure. However, his father Dou Xun fell into disgrace and died in 70 AD, leaving Dou Xian an orphan. His fortunes were greatly enhanced, though, when his two sisters entered the imperial [[harem]] in 77. In the following year, the older of these two sisters became [[Empress Zhangde]], the wife of [[Emperor Zhang of Han]], and lasted briefly as [[empress dowager]] and regent during the early reign of [[Emperor He of Han]].<ref name="Crespigny07-171"/> The biography of Dou Xian can be found in Chapter LIII of the [[Hou Hanshu]].<ref>Chavannes (1907), p. 158, n. 3.</ref>

==Campaigns against the Xiongnu==
{{main|Han–Xiongnu War}}
In 89 AD, Dou Xian led a [[Battle of the Altai Mountains|Han expedition]] against the Northern Xiongnu.<ref name="yuu86-415">{{Harvnb|Yü|1986|loc=415}}.</ref><ref name="Crespigny07-171">{{Harvnb|Crespigny|2007|loc=171}}.</ref> The army advanced from Jilu, Manyi, and Guyang in three great columns. In the summer of 89, the forces—comprising a total of 40,000 troops—assembled at [[Zhuoye Mountain]].<ref name=cres09-101>{{Harvnb|Crespigny|2009|loc=101}}.</ref> Near the end of the campaign, Dou's forces chased the [[Northern Chanyu (1st century)|Northern Chanyu]] into the [[Altai Mountains]], killing 13,000 Xiongnu and accepting the surrender of 200,000 Xiongnu from 81 tribes.<ref name="yuu86-415"/><ref name="Crespigny07-171"/> A light cavalry of 2,000 was sent towards the Xiongnu at Hami, capturing the region from them.<ref name="yuu86-415"/>  Dou Xian marched with his troops in a triumphal progress to the heartland of the Northern Xiongnu's territory and engraved an inscription commemorating the victory on [[Mount Yanran]], before returning to Han.<ref name=cres09-101/> The Han victory in the campaign of 89 AD resulted in the destruction of the Xiongnu state.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2007|loc=138}}.</ref>

In 90 AD, Dou Xian had encamped at Wuwei.<ref name=wu5-71>{{Harvnb|Wu|2013|loc=71–72}}.</ref> He sent Deputy Colonel Yan Pan with 2,000 light cavalry to strike down the final Xiongnu defenses in the Western Regions, capturing Yiwu and receiving the surrender of Jushi.<ref name=wu5-71/> Major Liang Feng was dispatched to capture the Northern Chanyu, which he did, but he was forced to leave him behind as Dou Xian had already broken camp and returned to China.<ref name=wu5-71/> In the tenth month of 90 AD, Dou Xian sent Liang Feng and Ban Gu to help the Northern Chanyu make preparations for his planned travel as he wished to submit to the Han court in person the following month.<ref name=wu5-71/>

However, this never came to be as Dou Xian dispatched General Geng Kui and Shizi of the Southern Xiongnu with 8,000 light cavalry to attack the Northern Chanyu, encamped at Heyun (河雲), in 90 AD.<ref name=wu5-71/> Once the Han forces arrived at Zhuoye Mountains, they left their heavy equipment behind to launch a swift pincer movement towards Heyun.<ref name=wu5-71/> Geng Kui attacked from the east via the [[Khangai Mountains]] and Ganwei River (甘微河), while Shizi attacked from the west via the Western Lake (西海).<ref name=wu5-71/> The Northern Chanyu—said to be greatly shocked by this—launched a counterattack, but he was forced to flee as he left his family and seal behind.<ref name=wu5-71/> The Han killed 8,000 men and captured several thousands.<ref name=wu5-71/> In 91 AD, General Geng Kui and Major Ren Shang with a light cavalry of 800 advanced further via the Juyan Gol (Juyansai) into the Altai Mountains, where the Northern Chanyu had encamped.<ref name=wu5-71/> At the [[Battle of the Altai Mountains]], they massacred 5,000 Xiongnu men and pursued the Northern Chanyu until he escaped to an unknown place.<ref name=wu5-71/> By 91 AD, the last remnants of the Northern Xiongnu had migrated west towards the [[Ili River]] valley.<ref>{{Harvnb|Yü|1986|loc=405}}.</ref>

==Downfall==
In 92, the Dous suddenly fell from grace as the result of a coup d'état. The details are unclear now, but it appeared that Emperor [[Emperor He of Han|He]], perhaps encouraged by his brother Prince Qing (whose mother had died at the Dous' hand and whose status as crown prince had been stripped away by their machinations) and the eunuch [[Zheng Zhong]] (鄭眾), made sudden orders to the imperial guards to have them arrest Dou Xian's associates and execute them. He sent Dou Xian and his brothers back to their marches, but eventually ordered them to commit suicide, with the exception of Dou Gui. Empress Dowager Dou remained empress dowager, but lost all power.

==Inscription of Yanran==
{{main|Inscription of Yanran}}
The [[Inscription of Yanran]], composed by [[Ban Gu]] and engraved on Mount Yanran to commemorate Dou Xian's victory against the Xiongnu, was recorded in the 5th-century ''[[Book of Later Han]]''. The expression "to carve a stone on Yanran" ({{zh|c=勒石燕然}}) entered the Chinese language as a synonym for achieving a decisive victory. In 2016, a researchers team of Mongolian national university expedition rediscovered the inscription in the [[Inil (Delgerkhangai) Mountains]] in southern Mongolia".<ref name="Battulga.Ts, Badamsambuu.G, Batjargal.B 2016">{{cite book |last1=Battulga.Ts|last2=Badamsambuu.G|last3=Batjargal.B|title=Баруун илгэний эртний бичээс (Ancient inscription at Baruun ilgen hills)|year=2016|publisher=Mongolian national University Press |issn=1810-5025|pages=57–68 (in Mongolian)}}</ref> The 220 legible characters of the inscription, out of a total of 260, are identical to the text recorded in the ''Book of the Later Han''.<ref name=chen>{{cite news |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2107500/archaeologists-discover-story-chinas-ancient-military-might |title=Archaeologists discover story of China's ancient military might carved in cliff face |date=21 August 2017 |work=South China Morning Post |author=Laurie Chen}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* Chavannes, Édouard (1907): "Les pays d’Occident d’après le ''Heou Han chou''." ''T’oung pao'' 8, (1907) pp.&nbsp;149–244.
* {{cite book | last=Crespigny | first=Rafe de | title=A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23 - 220 AD) | year=2007 | publisher=Brill Publishers | location=Leiden | isbn=978-90-04-15605-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Crespigny | first=Rafe de | title=The Military Culture of Later Han | year=2009 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge | isbn=978-0-674-03109-8 | chapter=The Western Han Army }}
* {{cite book | last=Lewis | first=Mark Edward | title=The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han | year=2007 | publisher=Harvard University Press | location=Cambridge | isbn=978-0-674-02477-9 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofimperia00broo }}
* {{cite book | last=Wu | first=Shu-hui | title=Debating War in Chinese History | year=2013 | publisher=Brill | location=Leiden | isbn=978-90-04-22372-1 | chapter=Debates and Decision-Making: The Battle of the Altai Mountains (Jinweishan 金微山) in AD 91 }}
* {{cite book | last=Yü | first=Ying-shih | chapter=Han Foreign Relations | title=The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. - A.D. 220 | year=1986 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | isbn=0-521-24327-0 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dou, Xian}}
[[Category:Han dynasty generals]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:1st-century births]]
[[Category:92 deaths]]