Heqin

Heqin (simplified Chinese: 和亲; traditional Chinese: 和親; pinyin: Héqīn; literally "peace and kinship") was a term used in ancient China for an alliance by marriage. It usually referred to the Chinese Emperor marrying off a "princess" (usually a pseudo-princess or concubine whom he had never met before, some heqin princesses were at least noblewomen of recent imperial descent, but had no direct kinship) to an aggressive ethnic minority chieftain or ruler. The theory was that in exchange for the marriage, the chieftain would cease all aggressive or rebellious actions toward the Chinese state. The best-known example of heqin involved the beauty Wang Zhaojun. The first known instance of this type of marriage occurred in 200 BC, when a pseudo-princess was offered to a Xiongnu Chanyu as suggested by Lou Jin (later given the surname Liu by the Imperial Court).

Heqin was engaged in by most dynasties in Chinese history to some extent. However, the practice mostly targeted petty Manchu, Mongol, Hui, Tibetan, and Miao polities or their antecedents. Remote, independent, or "culturally advanced" countries with which China had relations, including India, Japan and Korea, were not subject to the practice. By contrast to their contemporaries, such as the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, Yuan and the Northern Yuan dynasties, the Song and Ming dynasties did not practice such alliances. They were used to best effect by the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty. Traditional Confucianists disapproved of heqin because of its negative effect on female chastity. However, some progressive 20th century Chinese authors have praised the system for its ability to acculturate peoples at the fringe of Chinese society.