One thing that I've never been able to figure out is where did Gibbons,
who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, possibly the most
famous piece of history on Rome, got the title Tanjou. Of course we're
talking about a 200 year old piece of work, but it's something that
seems awkward. Could it be a corruption of "Canyu"?
One of the princes of the nation was urged, by fear
and ambition, to retire towards the South with eight hords, which
composed between forty and fifty thousand families. He obtained,
with the title of Tanjou, a convenient territory on the verge of
the Chinese provinces; and his constant attachment to the service
of the empire was secured by weakness, and the desire of revenge.
But the valor of the Huns had extended the
narrow limits of their dominions; and their rustic chiefs, who
assumed the appellation of Tanjou, gradually became the
conquerors, and the sovereigns of a formidable empire. Towards
the East, their victorious arms were stopped only by the ocean;
and the tribes, which are thinly scattered between the Amoor and
the extreme peninsula of Corea, adhered, with reluctance, to the
standard of the Huns. On the West, near the head of the Irtish,
in the valleys of Imaus, they found a more ample space, and more
numerous enemies. One of the lieutenants of the Tanjou subdued,
in a single expedition, twenty-six nations...
Chapter XXVI: Progress of The Huns. |
Edited by Imperator Invictus