Dingling - Origin and Migration

Origin and Migration

The Dingling were a warlike group of hunters, fishers, and gatherers of the southern Siberian mountain taiga region from Lake Baikal to northern Mongolia. Chinese records do not mention the physical appearance of the Dingling, suggesting general homogeneity with people of the Asiatic region, and their name appears rarely.

They might have been correlated with the Guifang (鬼方), a northern tribe that appears in the oracle bone inscriptions from Yinxu.

According to the History of the Gaoche of Wei Shou (6th c.), the origin of the Dingling can be traced to the fabled Chidi (赤狄), who lived in northern China during the Spring and Autumn period. The Mozi mentions a total of eight Di groups related to the Chidi, of whom only the Chidi and two others were known.

To the north of the Xiongnu empire and Dingling territories, at the headwaters of the Yenisei around Tannu Uriankhai, lived the Gekun (鬲昆), also known as the Yenisei Kirghiz in later records. Further to the west near the Irtysh river lived the Hujie (呼揭). Other tribes living north of the Xiongnu, such as the Hunyu (浑庾), Qushe (屈射), and Xinli (薪犁), are only mentioneed once in Chinese records, and their exact location is unknown.

During the 2nd century BCE, the Dingling became subjects of Modu Chanyu along with 26 other tribes, including the Yuezhi and Wusun.