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Mòdùn (冒頓) (234(?)– 174 BC) was the second of the Chányú of the Xiōngnú (匈奴) and the founder of the great confederation that would manage to subdue all the eastern steppes solely under the command of the Xiōngnú themselves at the beginning of the 3rd century BC.

According to the account of Sīmǎ Qiān (司馬遷), Mòdùn was the son of Tóumàn (頭曼), the first Xiōngnú chief named in Chinese sources. Tóumàn's supremacy was severely limited by the strength of other more powerful ethnic branches in the steppe scene: thus, during almost all of his government, Tóumàn maintained certain difficulties with the Yuèzhī (月氏), and a relationship of ritual vassalage before the Dōnghú (東胡). Despite this apparent minority in importance, Sīmǎ Qiān recorded an attempt by the Xiōngnú leader before the fortified border already during the time of the Qín dynasty (秦), although without success.[1] To this day, the exact date of Modun's birth is unknown, so it is not possible to know if he was present during the anti-Qin campaign or in other minor campaigns. To this gap we must add the inferior and discredited status in the eyes of his father in the first literary mentions, without even being considered as crown prince, the Chányú choosing to fix the succession in another of his sons, born from one of his consorts. The level of importance given to Mòdún can be clearly seen in his delivery as a hostage to one of the potential enemies and neighbors of the Xiōngnú: the Yuèzhī. Without the sources explaining to us an apparent motive or reasoning for this, the Chányú mobilized his troops immediately after delivering his son as a hostage, placing Mòdún in grave danger, who could easily fall prey to an execution as revenge for breaking the pacts. In this complicated episode, Mòdùn demonstrated his worth after stealing a horse and escaping at full gallop to the Xiōngnú domains, saving himself from certain death. An action that was rewarded by the Chányú, enjoying popular acclaim for the first time, among which was also the admiration of his father, who appointed him to command ten thousand horsemen.[2]

Once his bravery had been proven, Modun began to gather a group of extremely loyal warriors. To ensure their loyalty, Modun carried out several tests in which he executed those who refused to comply with the order. He ordered the warriors to shoot the whistling arrows in a precise manner and emulating his own procedure: whoever failed to comply with the order was quickly executed. After this, he ordered a similar order, although in this case, making his men shoot his best horse and finally, taking them to the most delicate extreme, making them also execute his favorite wife. Those who survived after this process of harsh selection, would form the elite and the closest group of Modun. A closeness that he would confirm days later, after ordering them to execute his own father during a hunting trip: the Chányú was prey to the incessant arrows of Modun's loyal guard.[3] After completing the patricide and his self-proclaimed ascension to the title of Chanyu, Modun proceeded to eliminate those who posed a threat to his newfound power. He first executed the former crown prince, his half-brother. He then proceeded to carry out the same procedure against his stepmother and other relatives connected to her, along with those nobles and vassals who refused to support his rule. After coming to power in 209 BC, Modun began to act on his ambitions to become the sole ruler of the eastern steppes around present-day Mongolia.

At first, he marched vengefully against the Donghu, the most powerful ethnic branch bordering on Xiongnu territories. After the death of their leader and the flight of enemy troops, Modun turned against the ethnic branches of the north, defeating the powerful Dingling (丁零). These campaigns greatly strengthened Modun's figure as the Xiongnu leader by family and military decree, gaining the absolute support of the entire confederation, winning over the most critical or recalcitrant opposition to his rule.[4] However, the greatest adversary of all was still latent: China. In 200 BC, Modun led a three-year campaign against the Han Dynasty, managing to corner and hold off a counterattack led by Emperor Liu Bang (劉邦) himself. [5] When the Han ruler advanced against him, Modun kept enough cool to lead the enemy army into a trap in mountainous territory, where his elite cavalry and the bulk of the army managed to produce a humiliating seven-day siege at Baideng Mountain, during which Liu Bang was confined and isolated from his supply line and reinforcements. The siege was only finally abandoned when a letter was sent from the Han camp, presenting multiple gifts to Mòdùn's wife, along with a warning that the territory could not be permanently conquered by his hordes.[6] The Xiongnu leader left a gap through which the army and the emperor escaped in an orderly fashion. This bitter lesson led Liu Bang to reformulate the policy to be followed from then on with the nomadic hordes, and this episode was the culminating point from which the strategic policy of marriage alliances or héqīn (和親) was born, maintained with the Xiongnu until the very fall of the confederation.

After his successful campaign in northern China, Modun began to push the Yuzhī and Wusun (烏孫) to become his vassals, although it would not be until after his death, when the latter were finally defeated and put to flight by the confederation, causing the umpteenth movement of mass hordes across the steppes. At his death, the confederation stood with an uncontested dominion from the Liao River (遼河) to the Pamir Mountains (east-west), at the same time that it also established its positions between Lake Baikal and the north of present-day Inner Mongolia (north-south). Modun died in 174 BC. C., being succeeded by his son, Jīzhōu (稽粥), who was titled Lǎoshàng Chányú (老上單于).[7]