Huduhu

Huduhu

Contents

Huduhu (simplified: 忽都虎, traditional: 忽都虎, pinyin: Hūdūhǔ, jyutping: fat1 dou1 fu2) was the sworn brother of Temüjin, who later became Genghis Khan, and one of the commanders who fought under him.

Biography

When Temüjin fought the Tayichiud, his tribe’s old enemies, he drew the enemy onto himself by keeping his white-tufted great banner on a hill while the rest of his army withdrew in four directions. Huduhu and the fierce general Jelme led three thousand picked troops to hold the hill around him.

Huduhu led his men against the enemy on the west side until their arrows were spent and their spears broken, and had to fall back. Jelme shouted at him for running away like a rabbit; Huduhu laughed and said he was not running, he had no arrows left. Temüjin, who had been struck in the neck by an arrow, sat on the ground and threw him a handful of arrows from his quiver. Huduhu loosed them one after another and brought down a general beneath a black standard, then charged down the hill, seized the general’s horse and rode back up. Temüjin praised him as a good brother.

Covered in blood, Huduhu asked whether they could raise the banner and sound the horns. Temüjin said the enemy was not yet tired and they must hold a little longer. Huduhu knelt and begged him: the men were willing to die for him, but the Great Khan’s own life mattered more. Temüjin then mounted again, and when the banner was raised the returning Mongol troops routed the Tayichiud (chapter 3).

Personality and traits

Huduhu was brave and steadfast. He could laugh off a comrade’s taunt in the thick of battle, and his concern in the fight was for Temüjin’s safety rather than his own.

Martial arts abilities

Huduhu fought as a mounted archer and spearman. With the arrows Temüjin threw him he shot an enemy general from the saddle.

Relationships

Huduhu was Temüjin’s sworn younger brother (义弟) and one of his commanders. In the battle against the Tayichiud he held the hill alongside Jelme.

Behind the scenes

Historical note

The name Huduhu (忽都虎) also belongs to a later Yuan dynasty general who served under Kublai Khan, a grandson of Shaoguer (绍古儿) of the Maijiliji (麦里吉台) clan. He is a different person from the novel’s Huduhu, who is Temüjin’s contemporary.

See also

Related articles