The Xunyu is the name of an ancient nomadic tribe which invaded China during legenary times. They are often identified as the Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

.

Identification

Chinese annals contain a number of references to the Xunyu. The earliest authors were Sima Qian

Sima Qian

Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography for his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , a "Jizhuanti"-style general history of China, covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to...

 (ca. 145 or 135 BC–86 BCE), Ying Shao

Ying Shao

Ying Shao , also called Ling Shao in the Shi Yu, style name Zhongyuan , was a Chinese writer and historian of the late Eastern Han period , an author of the famous work Fengsu Tongyi, an encyclopedic work about the folk customs and legends that existed in the Eastern Han state...

 (140-206 CE), Wei Zhao (204-273 CE), and Jin Zhuo

Jin Zhuo

Jin Zhuo was a Chinese scholar and commentator from the Jin state of the late 3rd–4th c. CE. His works are cited by ancient and modern scholars, and in many cases his comments are only known from the works of the Chinese classical historians...

  (ca. late 3rd–4th c. CE). Without citing any arguments, they claimed that Xunyu or Xianyun

Xianyun

The Xianyun is the name of an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded China during legenary times.They are usually associated with the Xiongnu.-Overview:...

were names that designated nomadic people who during the Han dynasty were called Xiongnu (匈奴). That view was also held by the Tang dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 commentator Sima Zhen

Sima Zhen

Sima Zhen , courtesy name Zizheng , was a Chinese historian born in what is now Jiaozuo, Henan during the Tang Dynasty.Sima Zhen was one of the most important commentators on the Shiji...

 (ca. 8th c. CE).

Based on phonetical studies and comparisons of inscriptions on bronze and the structure of the characters, Wang Guowei

Wang Guowei

Wang Guowei , courtesy name Jing'an or Baiyu , was a Chinese scholar, writer and poet...

 (1877–1927) came to the conclusion that the tribal names Guifan

Guifang

Guifang is an ethnonym for the most ancient nomadic tribes that invaded China during legendary times. Sima Qian stated that in the literate period starting with the Shang Yin period , the Hu and Jung Huns were called Guifang...

, Xunyu, Xianyu

Xianyu

Xianyu is a township-level division situated in Baoding, Hebei, China....

 (鮮虞), Xianyun

Xianyun

The Xianyun is the name of an ancient nomadic tribe that invaded China during legenary times.They are usually associated with the Xiongnu.-Overview:...

 (獫狁), Jung

Jung

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...

, Di

Di

Di may refer to:* The diminutive form of the name Diana, Diane and Dianne. Dai is the Welsh diminutive form of the name David.*Diana, Princess of Wales.*Di , an ancient ethnic group in China....

, and Hu

Wu Hu

Wu Hu was a Chinese term for the northern non-Chinese nomadic tribes which caused the Wu Hu uprising, and established the Sixteen Kingdoms from 304 to 439 AD.-Definition:...

in the old annals designated one and the same people, who later entered Chinese history under the name Xiongnu, and Eurasian history under the name Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

.

The exact period when the form Xunyu existed as the oldest phonetization of the name "Hun" remains unclear: Sima Qian stated that in the earlier pre-historic period the "Huns" were called Hu and Jung, and in the late pre-historic period Xunyu. In the literate period starting with the Yin Dynasty (殷代, 1600–1046 BC) they were called Guifan, in the Zhou

Zhou

Zhou may refer to:*Zhou Dynasty , a Chinese Dynasty *Zhou Predynastic Lineage, the antecedents to the above Zhou Dynasty*Northern Zhou , a Chinese Dynasty...

 period (1045–256 BC) they were called Xianyun, and starting from the Qin

Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...

period (221–206 BC) the Chinese annalists called them Xiongnu.