Song of the Xianbei Brother

The Song of the Xianbei Brother (Chinese: 阿幹歌; pinyin: āgān gē) is a popular song of the Xianbei people composed by Murong Wei in 285 AD. It is preserved in Chinese translation and is about the Xianbei chief's regrets for having sent his brother away to the West. The original Chinese translation left the Xianbei word for elder brother (A-kan) in the title, which is identical to the Mongolic word for elder brother (Aqan or Aghan). The same word exists in Turkic and Tungusic languages, but the Xianbei are generally considered Mongolic peoples. This would make the song one of the earliest attestations of a Mongolic language. The song was first translated into English in 1939.

English translation
Translation in iambic pentameter:
My brother's gone away and not returned.
It is indeed an easy thing to leave
But coming back's the more demanding task.
Though horses kick each other, men should not.
Tis true that strife twixt humans can flare up
As it is plain that even horses fight.
My brother to Mount Bailang you have gone
A thousand miles of distance far away.
Mount Lung how very far from me your heights!
Mount Ing how very cold to me your peaks!
There's no sign nowhere of my brother still
My heart is desolate and grows full sore.
Simon Wickham-Smith's translation:
My brother went away and has not returned
It is so easy to leave
But so difficult to come back
Horses kick out, we, humans, should not
Hostility can be found in humans
And hostile too can horses find themselves
My brother you went to Mount Bailang
A thousand miles away
Mount Lung is so very high!
Mount Ing is so very cold!
There is no sign of my brother
And my heart is sore

Background of the song

The separation of Tuyuhu from the Murong Xianbei occurred during the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316), which succeeded the Cao Wei (220-265) in northern China. Legends accounted the separation as caused by a fight between Tuyuhu's horses and those of his younger brother, Murong Wei. The actual cause was intense struggle over the Khanate position and disagreement over their future directions. The fraction that supported Murong Wei for the Khanate position aimed at ruling over China, whereas Tuyuhu intended to preserve the Xianbei culture and lifestyle. The disagreement resulted in Tuyuhu being proclaimed as Khan, or Kehan, and he eventually undertook the long westward journey under the title of the Prince of Jin, or Jin Wang, followed by other Xianbei and Wuhuan groups. While passing through western Liaoning and Mt. Bai, more Xianbei groups joined them from the Duan, Yuwen, and Bai sections. At the Hetao Plains near Ordos in Inner Mongolia, Tuyuhu Khan led them to reside by Mt. Yin for over thirty years, as the Tuoba Xianbei and Northern Xianbei joined them through political and marriage alliances. After settling down in the northwest, they established the powerful Tuyuhun Kingdom named to his honor as the first Khan who led them there, by subjugating the native peoples who were summarily referred to as the “Qiang” and included more than 100 different and loosely coordinated tribes that did not submitted to each other or any authorities.

After Tuyühu Khan departed from the northeast, Murong Wei composed an “Older Brother’s Song,” or “the Song of A Gan:” “A Gan” is Chinese transcription of “a ga” for “older brother” in the Xianbei language. The song lamented his sadness and longing for Tuyühu. Legends accounted that Murong Wei often sang it until he died and the song got spread into central and northwest China. The Murong Xianbei whom he had led successively founded the Former Yan (281-370), Western Yan (384-394), Later Yan (383-407), and Southern Yan (398-410).

References
  • Simon Wickham-Smith and Sh.Tsog. The Best of Mongolian Poetry. Ulaanbaatar, 2007.
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