Tung-Hu

(“Eastern Hu”), the Chinese name for a group of tribes that lived in ancient times in Eastern Mongolia and Southern Manchuria; their influence spread to the southwest as far as the contemporary Changchiakou (Kalgan) and to the north as far as the Khingan Range. It is still not clear to which ethnic group the Tung-hu belonged. Some scholars (N. la. Bichurin, G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo) considered them proto-Mongolian tribes; others believed they were Tungus or Turkish. The Tung-hu were nomads with primordial communal social relations. Until the third century B.C. the Tung-hu were equal in power and influence to the Huns and for a while even received tribute from them. At the end of the third century B.C. the Tung-hu were routed by the Huns. The remnants of the group later became known as the U-huan and the Hsien-pi.