Frontier Colonization: Border Defense and Military Systems in the Northern Frontier of the Han Dynasty
Abstract
This study investigates the evolution of border defense and military institutions on the northern frontier of the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE), a region continually challenged by nomadic powers such as the Xiongnu. It examines how the Han state combined military, administrative, and agricultural strategies to consolidate frontier governance. Drawing on historical texts and archaeological evidence, the research explores the composition of frontier forces including cavalry, infantry, and vassal troops the construction of military facilities such as fortresses, barriers, pavilions, and beacon towers, and the institutional framework of the Houwang system. Particular attention is devoted to the tuntian (military farming) system, which integrated agricultural production with defense and reshaped both the economy and social structure of border regions. The findings reveal that Han border defense was not solely a military undertaking but also a mechanism of political centralization, administrative reform, and cultural integration. This system secured relative frontier stability, extended state control, and reinforced imperial authority, though it also generated tensions that later undermined central power. Overall, the Han Dynasty’s frontier defense represented a comprehensive model of governance that profoundly influenced subsequent Chinese dynasties.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ban Gu. 1962. Hanshu (The Records of Han)汉书. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Barfield, Thomas J. 1989. The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC–AD 1757. Cambridge: Blackwell.
Chen, Mengjia.1980. Han Jie Zhui Shu (The Embellishment of Han Bamboo Slips) 汉简缀述. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Chen Zhi. 1986. Juyan Hanjian Yanjiu（Research on Juyan Han Bamboo Slips）居延汉简研究. Tianjin: Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House.
Cultural Relics Editorial Committee.1981. Zhongguo Changcheng Yizhi Diaocha Baogaoji (A Collection of Survey Reports on the Great Wall of China) 中国长城遗迹调查报告集. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House.
Di Cosmo, Nicola. 2002. Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Editorial Committee of Archaeology, General Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of China. 1986. Zhongguo Dabaike Quanshu·Kaogujuan (Encyclopedia of China – Archaeology) 中国大百科全书·考古卷. Beijing: Encyclopedia of China Press.
Fan, Enshi. 2015. “Yan Qinhan Dongbei “Changcheng” Kaolun——Zhangsai Fengsuixian Xingzhi zai Fenxi (On the “Great Wall” in Northeast Region during Yan, Qin and Han Period – Reanalysis on the Nature of Fortress and Barrier Line) 燕秦汉东北 “长城” 考论——障塞烽燧线性质再分析.” Study on the History and Geography of China's Border Areas (3): 44–56,180-181.
Fan Ye.1965. Hou Hanshu (History of the Later Han Dynasty) 后汉书. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Gu, Zuyu.1955. Doushi Fangyu Jiyao (A Brief History of Geography)读史方舆纪要. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Hinsch, Bret. 2017. The Rise of Empires in East Asia. Cambridge University Press.
Jia, Yi. 2022. Xinshu (New Book) 新书. Beijing: National Library Press.
Jiang, Bo. 2013. The Defense System of the Han Dynasty. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
Jiang, Na. 2013. Handai Bianfang Tixi Yanjiu（Doctoral dissertation Study on the Border Defense System of Han Dynasty）汉代边防体系研究 博士论文.Wuhan: Central China Normal University.
Li, Dalong. 2014. Handai Zhongguo Bianjiang Shi (History of Chinese Borderlands in the Han Dynasty) 汉代中国边疆史. Harbin: Heilongjiang Education Press.
Li, Ling. 2014. Frontier Governance in the Western Han Dynasty. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.
Li, Yiyou. 1994. Beifang Kaogu Yanjiu (Northern Archaeological Studies) 北方考古研究. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House.
Li, Zhichun. 2014. Han Frontier Policies and the Expansion of Empire. Shanghai: Fudan University Press.
Loewe, Michael. 1986. The Government of the Qin and Han Empires: 221 BCE–220 CE. Indianapolis: Hackett.
Norton (2025) [Online], [Accessed 22 August 2025]. Available from Norton:
https://nerd.wwnorton.com/ebooks/epub/worldscon4/EPUB/content/7.2-chapter07.xhtml
Nylan, Michael. 2010. The Chinese Empire in Comparative Perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Sima Qian. 1959. Shiji (The Records of History) 史记. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Sun, Xingyan.1990. Hanguan Liuzhong (Six Types of Han Officials)汉官六种. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Tse, Kin-hung. 2023. Empire on the Frontier: Han Expansion and the Northern Borderlands. Leiden: Brill.
Wang, Dafang. 1997. “Han Wudi Yinshanzhiyi He Shuofang，Wuyuan Jun de Tunken Kaifa (The Battle of Yinshan and the Development of Tuntian in Shuofang and Wuyuan Counties in the Han Dynasty) 汉武帝阴山之役和朔方、五原郡的屯垦开发.” Inner Mongolia Cultural Relics and Archaeology (2): 90-94.
Wang, Zhenping. 2020. Tang and Han Frontiers: The Formation of Imperial Border Policy in Ancient China. New York: Routledge.
Xu, Longguo. 2013. Qinhan Chengyi Kaoguxue Yanjiu (Archaeological Research of Cities and Towns of Qin and Han Dynasties) 秦汉城邑考古学研究. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.
Xu, Tianlin. 1955. Xihan Huiyao (Western Han Dynasty System Compilation)西汉会要. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Xu, Tianlin. 1978. Donghan Huiyao (Eastern Han Dynasty System Compilation)东汉会要. Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Company.
Yang Fang. 2006. “Handai Juyansai Zai Diyu Xiongnu Zhong de Zuoyong (The Role of the Juyan Frontier in Defending against Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty) 汉代居延塞在抵御匈奴中的作用.” Journal of Hexi University (1): 3–16.
Yang, Xiuqing. 2019. “Military Colonies and the Transformation of the Han Frontier.” Journal of Chinese Historical Studies, 32(4): 49–61.
Yu, Chunfeng. 2017. Agriculture and the Military in Early Imperial China. Beijing: Renmin University Press.
Zang, Zhifei. 2017. Zhanguo Qinhan Xingzheng Bingzhi Yu Bianfan（The Administration, Military System and Frontier Defense of the Warring States in the Qin and Han Dynasty）战国秦汉行政、兵制与边防. Suzhou: Suzhou University Press.
Zheng, Shan. 1995. Zhongguo Bianfang shi (The History of China’s Frontier Defense) 中国边防史. Beijing: Social Science Literature Press.
Zheng, Xuan. 1995. Commentary on the Hanshu. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
Zhao, Yan. 2018. Administrative Reforms and the Han Empire’s Frontier System. Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
e-ISSN: 2682-8839