In the 18th century, the French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, whowere northern neighbours of China in the 3rd century BC.[3] Since Guignes' time, considerable scholarly effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no scholarly consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns.