Qiedihou

Qiedihou (Chinese: 且鞮侯; r. 101–96 BCE), whose name was probably Qiedi, was a chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire, and the successor to Xulihu. His reign was contemporaneous with that of the Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC). He was the younger brother of Xulihu, who died, after a one-year reign, during a campaign against the newly built Western Han fort Shuofang in Ordos. Qiedihou reigned during one of the most aggressive periods in Chinese history, and one of the many troubled periods in Xiongnu history. In 101 BCE Qiedihou, wishing to establish relations with the Han, said immediately after accession to the throne: “I am a child. How can I view the Han Emperor as an enemy when I have a venerable old man in front of me?” He returned to the Han all detained ambassadors.