Chanyu (Traditional: 單于; Simplified: 单于; pinyin: chányú; Wade-Giles: ch'an-yü; sometimes written Shanyu) was the title used by the rulers of the Xiongnu during the Han Dynasty 206 BC - 220. The literal translation is probably something like "the greatest" in the Xiongnu language. As yet there is no known classification for the Xiongnu language and most of what is known consists of words preserved by Chinese historians. It was roughly equivalent to the Chinese "Son of Heaven". Like most nomadic groups, the succession was hereditary in theory. In practice it often happened otherwise with the strongest close male relative taking power in a process the late Joseph Fletcher called blood tannistry. Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin (拼音, pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... A Xiongnu belt buckle. ... Han commanderies and kingdoms AD 2. ... The king or wang (王 wang2) was the Chinese head of state from the Zhou to Qin dynasties. ...