Hu (Chinese: 胡; pinyin: Hú; Wade–Giles: Hu; IPA: [xǔ]) also Huren (胡人, "Hu people") or Huzu (胡族, "Hu tribes"), was a rather vague term to designate ancient barbarians, namely populations beyond the Central Plains, generally to the north and west of China. The Hu are usually horse or mounted nomads.[2]
According to Hill (2009):
The term hu 胡 was used to denote non-Han Chinese populations. It is, rather unsatisfactorily, commonly translated as 'barbarian'. While sometimes it was used in this general way to describe people of non-Han descent, and carried the same negative overtones of the English term, this was not always the case. Most frequently, it was used to denote people, usually of Caucasoid or partial Caucasoid appearance, living to the north and west of China.[3]
Ancient Chinese dynasties such as the Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty, into the Spring and Autumn period, recount of numerous encounters with the nomadic tribes of the northern steppes and other alien tribes. At that time, the preferred term to designate them was the "Four Barbarians" (Chinese: 四夷; pinyin: sìyí), each was named for a cardinal direction: the Dongyi (東夷, "Eastern Barbarians"), Nanman (南蠻, "Southern Barbarians"), Xirong (西戎, "Western Barbarians"), and Beidi (北狄, "Northern Barbarians").[4]
According to Di Cosmo, the Chinese considered the Hu as "a new type of foreigner" and "This term, whatever its origin, soon came to indicate an 'anthropological type' rather than a specific group or tribe, which the records allow us to identify as early steppe nomads. The Hu were the source of the introduction of cavalry in China."[5]
During the pre-Qin dynasty (before 221 BCE) period, the term "Hu" (胡) came to be used to designate the Xiongnu barbarians to the north of China.[6] The vassal of the Xiongnu, and later confidant of Emperor Han Wudi, Jin Midi (134–86 BCE) would be described as both a Hu (胡),[7] and a Yidi (夷狄).[8] Indo-European "Scythian" Sakas from Central Asia, or the Yuezhi would also be referred as "Hu".[6] Some northeastern barbarians were also referred as the Donghu ("Eastern Hu").[6]
During the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) and Jin dynasty (266–420 CE) "Hu" tends to refer to the Five Barbarians (五胡), which are the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Di, and Qiang.[6]
Later, "Hu" was also used to designate various groups of Iranians in China, especially the Sogdians, whose cultural practices would be qualified as "Hu", such as their dance the "Huteng" (胡腾, "Barbarian hopping"), or the Sogdian Whirl dance (胡旋, Húxuăn, "Whirling Barbarian", also 胡旋舞, Húxuănwǔ, "Dance of the Whirling Barbarian"),[9][10] but known as "Sogdian Whirl dance" or simply "Sogdian whirl" to Western scholars.[11] The "Jihu" (稽胡) were indigenous inhabitants of Shaanbei and Western Shanxi in the 7th century CE.[4]