The wind whispers to the grass, which resembles a vast rolling river. I crossed my legs and sat idly on a pile of grass. A breeze with the fragrance of grass blows, arousing my memories of the past.

I was born in Wuhuan and grew up in the vast mountains and rivers. People inhabited the water and grass and wandered in the fields of cattle and sheep. According to the elders, our ancestors once possessed a broader grassland on the boundless northeastern land, where they enjoyed their youth.

However, in 206 B.C., the Huns from the western steppe invaded and broke our peaceful life. Our ancestors were displaced and uprooted from their homeland and forced to flee to Wuhuan Mountain, where they rested and replenished. Through the efforts of generations, our people restored vitality in this land.  We were deeply proud of the land as it enabled us to rise from the ashes, thus calling it by our people’s name--Wuhuan.

We lived on this land for another hundred years. The Western Han Dynasty was established on the vast plains of southern China. In 119 BC, the Han army defeated the Huns and drove them out of the southern part of the desert. Considering Wuhuan’s security, our people declared subjugation to the Han Dynasty and were relocated to Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaoxi, and Liaodong, where we settled and defended the northern frontier of the Han Dynasty.

A few decades later, the central plain was involved in great chaos. The Eastern Han government gradually lost its dominance as warlords split up and fought for power. When the central government could not manage Wuhuan, our ambitious leader Tuodeng led the Wuhuan people to expand and move back to the central plains through the Liaoxi Corridor, preparing to unify the grand grassland. To accomplish this goal, Wuhuan formed an alliance with the remnants of Yuan Shao, who also wanted to reunify the Central Plains, and joined forces against the Cao Wei forces.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao was not someone who was willing to share lands with others. The Liaoxi corridor is the essential link between the northeast and the Central plains to unify the world. Controlling the Liaoxi corridor means acquiring the charge of all food resources in the northeast plain; thus, the northern grassland would be within his grasp. Therefore, Cao Cao attacked Wuhuan, which was in the western Liaoning Corridor then. A thorough collapse was impending, for Wuhuan was nearly destroyed in the battle of Bailangshan.

On that day, Chaoyang was shrouded in blood. Rain interwoven with the tears of the Wuhuan people, and the mountains and rivers were no longer recognizable…

Since Wuhuan's downfall, the Wuhuan people have faded from this stage of history but inadvertently contributed to the heyday of another Donghu ethnic group—Xianbei. Although Xianbei failed to fulfill unification in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this, in turn, allowed Xianbei to renew itself and gradually gain the strength to compete with other powers.

Only a small group of people survived from that day. Under Cao Cao's administration system, they returned to the Central Plains through the Liaoxi Corridor. The people reminisced that this narrow path amidst vast seas and towering mountains once brimmed with aspirations for Wuhuan's revival. But now, nothing was left except depression: the air seemed to have congealed and fell in bleakness.

After Wuhuan entered the Central Plains, despite suffering from deep nostalgia and sorrow at abandoning their homeland, the people shouldered the responsibility of cultural integration. Departing from homes, our people set foot on the unfamiliar land, carrying the historical mission, repacked, and sought the genuine meaning of life.

The gentle breeze brushed over my face and drifted away. I stood up and looked back. There are broken mountains and rivers and melancholic sunsets. I turned around and looked towards the horizon.

There, lies the rebirth of the nation, the new dawn of life.