The Xianbei reach their peak under Tanshihuai Khan (reigned 156-181) who expands the vast, but short lived, Xianbei Empire.
Tanshihuai was born in 141.
According to the Hou Hanshu, his father Touluhou had been serving in the Southern Xiongnu army for three years.
Returning from his military duties, Touluhou was furious to discover that his wife had become pregnant and given birth to a son.
He ordered the child put to death.
His wife replied: “When I was walking through the open steppe a huge storm developed with much lightning and thunder. As I was looking upward a piece of hail fell into my mouth, which I unknowingly swallowed. I soon found out I had gotten pregnant. After ten months this son was born. This must be a child of wonder. It is better to wait and see what happens.”
Touluhou did not heed her words, however, so Tanshihuai had been brought up secretly in the ger (yurt) of relatives.
When Tanshihuai was around fourteen or fifteen years old, he had become brave and sturdy, showing talent and ability.
Once, when people from another tribe robbed his maternal grandparent’s herds, Tanshihuai pursued them alone, fought the robbers and managed to retrieve all the lost herds.
His fame spread rapidly among the Xianbei tribes and many came to respect and trust him.
He then placed some laws and regulations in force, which none dared violate, and decided between litigants.
Because of this, he was elected supreme leader of the Xianbei tribes at the age of fifteen and established his ordo (palace) at Mount Darkhan.
He has defeated the Dingling to the north (around Lake Baikal), the Kingdom of Buyeo to the east (north of Korea), and the Wusun to the west (Xinjiang and Ili River).
His empire stretches seven thousand kilometers and includes all the lands of the former Xiongnu.
Tanshihuai according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, regarded as the official and authoritative historical text on the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history covering the years 184-280 CE, divided his territory into three sections: the eastern, the middle and the western.
Uneasiness at the Han court about this development of a new power on the steppes finally results in a campaign on the northern border to annihilate the confederacy.
Tthirty thousand Han cavalry in 177 attack the confederacy.
The Han commanders are Xia Yu, Tian Yan, and Zang Min, each of whom had commanded units sent respectively against the Wuhuan, the Qiang, and the Southern Xiongnu before the current campaign.
Each military officer commands ten thousand cavalrymen and advances north on three different routes, aiming at each of the three federations.
Xianbei cavalry units commanded by chieftains of each of the three federations almost annihilate the invading forces.
Eighty percent of the troops are killed and the three officers, who bring only tens of men safely back from the front, are stripped of their commands.
