Tang dynasty in Inner Asia

Map of the six major protectorates during Tang dynasty. The Protectorates are marked as Anxi, Anbei, Andong.

The  Tang dynasty in Inner Asia was the expansion of the Tang dynasty's realm in Inner Asia in the 7th and, to a lesser degree, the 8th century AD, in the Tarim Basin (Southern Xinjiang), the Mongolian Plateau, and portions of Central Asia. Wars were fought against the Gokturk Empires and Xueyantuo, but also against many states of Central Asia. This expansion was not steady; for example, the Tang did lose control of the Tarim Basin temporarily to the Tibetan Empire in the 680s, and their expansion north of the Gobi Desert was thwarted in 682. Emperor Taizong's military success was, in part, a consequence of changes he initiated in the Chinese army, including improved weaponry. The emperor placed a new emphasis on cavalry, which was very important because his non-Han opponents used the horse effectively in warfare.[1]

## History

[edit]

Emperor Taizong's campaigns in the Tarim Basin Mural commemorating victory of General Zhang Yichao over the Tibetan Empire in 848. Mogao cave 156, late Tang dynasty

Part of a series on the

History of Xinjiang

Ancient period

* Tocharians
* Yuezhi
* Xiongnu
* Western Regions
* (Han Protectorate; Chief Officials)
* Kingdom of Khotan
* Former Liang
* Former Qin
* Later Liang
* Western Liang
* Gaochang
* Rouran
* First Turkic Khaganate
* Western Turkic Khaganate
* Eastern Turkic Khaganate
* Second Turkic Khaganate

Medieval and early modern period

* Tang Protectorates (West; Beiting)
* Tibetan Empire
* Uyghur Khaganate
* Kara-Khanid Khanate
* Kingdom of Qocho
* Qara Khitai
* Mongol Empire (Yuan; Chagatai Khanate)
* Moghulistan (Turpan; Yarkent)
* Ming ruled Kara Del
* Dzungar Khanate
* Kumul Khanate
* Yettishar
* Qing rule
* (Dzungar genocide
* Dungan Revolt
* Qing reconquest)

Modern period

* Xinjiang Province, Republic of China
* (Xinjiang clique
* 1st East Turkestan Republic
* 2nd East Turkestan Republic)
* Xinjiang Province, People's Republic of China
* Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
* (Production and Construction Corps
* Xinjiang conflict
* Xinjiang internment camps / Persecution of Uyghurs in China)

* v
* t
* e

History of Mongolia

* Timeline
* States
* Rulers
* People
* History
* Nobility
* Culture
* Politics
* Geography
* Language
* Religion

Prehistoric period

|  Afanasievo culture|  3300–2500 BC

|

Chemurchek culture|  2750–1900 BC
Munkhkhairkhan culture|  1800–1600 BC
Sagsai culture|  1500–1000 BC
Ulaanzuukh culture|  1450–1150 BC
Deer stones culture|  1400–700 BC
Slab-grave culture|  1100–300 BC
Chandman culture|  700–300 BC
Pazyryk culture|  600–300 BC

Ancient period

|  Xiongnu|  209 BC–93 AD

|

Xianbei state|  93–234
Rouran Khaganate|  330–555
Göktürks (First, Eastern, and Second Turkic Khaganates)|  555–630
682–744
Xueyantuo|  628–646
Tang protectorate|  647–682
Uyghur Khaganate|  744–840
Liao dynasty|  907–1125

Medieval period

|  Mongol khanates|  9th–12th century

|

Khamag Mongol|  1130–1206
Mongol Empire|  1206–1368
Yuan dynasty|  1271–1368
Northern Yuan|  1368–1635
Oirat Confederation|  1399–1634
Dzungar Khanate|  1634–1757
Qing dynasty|  1691–1911

Modern period

|  National Revolution|  1911

|

Bogd Khaganate|  1911–1919
Chinese occupation|  1919–1921
People's Revolution (Soviet intervention in Bogd Khanate)|  1921
1921–1924
People's Republic|  1924–1992
Democratic Revolution|  1990
Modern Mongolia|  1990–present

* v
* t
* e

### Tang expansion

[edit]

The Tang dynasty was one of the Golden Ages of Chinese history. Coming out of the devastation of the late Sui dynasty, Tang emperors were eager to expand their territories by conquering the Gokturks. As a result, Tang forces mounted several campaigns against the Gokturks in order to subjugate them and consolidated Tang rule in the process. Controlling the Tarim Basin, which contained key trade routes, was also a secondary objective.

#### Tang conquest of the Eastern Gokturks

[edit]

Main article: Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks

The Eastern Gokturks were the primary threat to the Tang dynasty.[2] Following Liang Shidu's defeat and death, the Tang dynasty prepared to march against the Eastern Gokturks.[3] In 630, the Tang army marched against the Gokturks and defeated them in Southern Mongolia, sending them to flight.[4] However, the real victory came when Li Jing, regarded as one of the best generals in Chinese history, surprised the Eastern Gokturk Khan with a fast force of 3,000 Cavalry at the battle of Ying shan, which also involved a rear guard of over 100,000 Tang troops.[4] This battle destroyed the Gokturk army, resulting in the capture of the Khan and over 120,000 Gokturks.[3] Thus ended the Eastern Gokturk Empire. Emperor Taizong of Tang took up the title of Tian Kehan, or "Heavenly Khan" of the Gokturks.[4]

#### Tang conquest of Xueyantuo

[edit]

Main article: Emperor Taizong's campaign against Xueyantuo

Xueyantuo had helped Tang armies defeat the Eastern Gokturks, but after the demise of the Eastern Gokturks, Xueyantuo-Tang relations turned hostile because Xueyantuo kept on making attacks on Gokturks who were now Tang subjects.[5]

In 642, Taizong sent an army to attack Xueyantuo and destroyed it.[3][5]

#### Tang Conquest of the Western Gokturks

[edit]

Main article: Conquest of the Western Turks

The Western Gokturks were not an initial threat to the Tang, so initially relations were peaceful.[6] However, Civil war and dispute in the Western Gokturks gave the Tang the opportunity to expand into Central Asia.[6] From 642 to 645, the Tang army defeated the Western Gokturks and drove them out of Dzungaria.[6]

In 657, the Tang defeated the last Western Gokturk Khan and took over all Western Gokturk territory.[6]

#### Second Göktürk Khaganate

[edit]

In what has been described as "a response to a surge of something like national sentiment",[7] the Eastern Türkish Kaghanate was restored in 682 by Elterish (a.k.a. Qutlugh).[8] In the Orkhon inscriptions, Elterish's son describes the modest beginnings of Elterish's struggle against the Tang thus:

> My father the kaghan set out with seventeen men, and as the word spread that he had set out and was advancing, those who were in the towns went up into the mountains and those who were in the mountains came down, they gathered, and there were seventy-seven men. Because heaven gave them strength, the army of my father was like wolves and his enemies were like sheep. [...] When they were seven hundred, in accordance with the institutions of my ancestors my father organized those who had been deprived of their state, those who had been deprived of their kaghan, who had become slaves and servants, who had lost their Türk institutions"[9]

The new Khanate was centered on the upper Orkhon river and in the Ötükän, presumably the Khangai mountains. After decades of war and border raids with the Tang, peace was made in 721–22.[10] The second Gokturk Khanate remained a tributary and vassal of the Tang dynasty. It then survived until the 740s, when it fell due to internal conflicts and was succeeded by the Uighur Kaghanate.[11]

### Battle of Talas

[edit]

Main article: Battle of Talas

The Battle of Talas was a military engagement between the Abbasid Caliphate and their ally, the Tibetan Empire, against the Tang dynasty under Emperor Xuanzong. In July 751 AD, Tang and Abbasid forces met in the valley of the Talas River to vie for control of the Syr Darya region of central Asia. After a stalemate in several days of combat, the Tang lost the battle because the Karluks defected from the Tang side to the Abbasid side. The defeat marked the end of Tang westward territorial expansion, resulting in Muslim control of Transoxiana for the next four hundred years.

### Retrenchment of Tang influence post-763

[edit]

In 755, the Tang dynasty was subject to the devastating Anshi Rebellion and lost much influence in Inner Asia, which came to be dominated by the Uyghurs. Tang influence and rule over the northwestern regions, however, continued until the dynasty's fall in 907, at which time these areas were taken over by the Tanguts, who later established the Western Xia dynasty in 1038.[12]

#### Tang-Uyghur relations

[edit]

Although they now controlled most of the Mongolian Plateau, the Uyghur Khans still maintained relatively cordial relations with the Tang dynasty, accepting many titles from the Tang emperors. in 788, the Uyghur Khan pleaded the Tang emperor to change the title of the Uyghurs from Huihe (回紇) to Huihu (回鶻).[12]

#### Fall of the Uyghur Khanate

[edit]

Armoured Turkic horseman with shield and lance

By the mid-800's, the power of the Uyghur Khanate was on the wane. Attacked on all sides, the Uyghurs retreated to the Xinjiang area and their Khanate collapsed, being replaced by the Yenisei Kyrgyz.[12]

## See also

[edit]

* Horses in East Asian warfare
* Military history of China before 1912
* Protectorate General to Pacify the West
* Protectorate General to Pacify the North
* Protectorate General to Pacify the East
* Jimi system
* Khan of Heaven
* Tang–Tibet relations
* Han dynasty in Inner Asia
* Yuan dynasty in Inner Asia
* Ming dynasty in Inner Asia
* Qing dynasty in Inner Asia

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ Latourette, Kenneth Scott. (1965). The Chinese: Their History and Culture, p. 144.
2. ^ Li Bo; Zheng Yin. 5000 Years of Chinese History. pp. 764–765.764-765&rft.au=Li+Bo&rft.au=Zheng+Yin&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Tang+dynasty+in+Inner+Asia" class="Z3988">
3. ^ a b c Li Bo; Zheng Yin. 5000 Years of Chinese History. p. 766.
4. ^ a b c Li Bo; Zheng Yin. 5000 Years of Chinese History. p. 765.
5. ^ a b Bo Yang. Outlines of the History of the Chinese. Vol. 2\. p. 512.
6. ^ a b c d Li Bo; Zheng Yin. 5000 Years of Chinese History. p. 767.
7. ^ Grousset, René. (1970). The Empire of the Steppes, p. 103.
8. ^ Sinor, Denis. (1990). Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia, p. 310.
9. ^ Sinor, p. 311.
10. ^ Grousset, p. 112.
11. ^ Sinor, p. 313.
12. ^ a b c Li; Zheng. 5000 Years of Chinese History. p. 768.

### Sources

[edit]

* Fairbank, John King; Franke, Herbert; Twitchett, Denis (1994). The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 6: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368\. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 186526593.
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott (1934). The Chinese: Their History and Culture. New York, NY: Macmillan. OCLC 220885107. "The Chinese and their History and Culture."
* Grousset, René. (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-1304-1; OCLC 90972. (in French) (1939). L'empire des steppes, Attila, Gengis-Khan, Tamerlan Paris: Editions Payot. OCLC 220712631
* Sinor, Denis. (1990). "The establishment and dissolution of the Türk empire" (pp. 285-316) in The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24304-9; OCLC 18070387.
* (in Chinese) Li Bo (李波), Zheng Yin (郑颖), "5000 years of Chinese history" (《中华五千年》), Inner Mongolian People's Publishing Corp. (内蒙古人民出版社), ISBN 7-204-04420-7, 2001. http://book.jqcq.com/product/30157.html
* (in Chinese) Bo Yang (柏扬), Outlines of the History of the Chinese (《中国人史纲（下）》), vol. 2, The Time Literature & Art Press (时代文艺出版社), ISBN 7-5387-0042-0, Dec. 1987
* Marc Samuel Abramson, Ethnic identity in Tang China, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8122-4052-8
* Book of Tang, "http://www.njmuseum.com/rbbook/gb/25/xingtanshu/xts.htm"
* Zizhi Tongjian, "http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/zztj/zztjml.htm"
* This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. "Mongolia". Country Studies. Federal Research Division.

* v
* t
* e

Inner Asia history series

Nomadic empires|

* Xiongnu
* Xianbei
* Rouran
* Göktürks
* First Turkic Khaganate
* Eastern Turkic Khaganate
* Western Turkic Khaganate
* Second Turkic Khaganate
* Tibetan
* Zubu
* Uyghur
* Kyrgyz
* Mongol
* Tatar
* Khamag Mongol
* Mongol Empire
* Chagatai
* Timurid
* Dzungar

Chinese empires|

| Han|

* against Xiongnu
* Protectorate of the Western Regions
* Chief Official

|

Tang|

* against Western Turks / Eastern Turks
* against Tibet
* Mongolian Plateau
* Beiting
* Tarim Basin

Liao|

* Western Liao
* Northern Liao
* Eastern Liao
* Later Liao

Yuan|

* against Northwest khanates
* Manchuria
* Mongolia
* Tibet
* Northern Yuan

Ming|

* against Mongols
* against Turpan
* Manchuria
* Tibet

Qing|

* against Dzungar
* genocide
* Lifan Yuan
* Amban
* Manchuria
* Mongolia
* Tibet
* Xinjiang

Related topics|

* The Cambridge History of Inner Asia
* Greater Central Asia
* Central Asia
* Eurasian nomads
* Tartary
* Chinese Tartary
* Western Regions (Chinese Turkestan)
* China proper
* Sinosphere
* Greater China

* v
* t
* e

Tang dynasty topics

History (Timeline)|

* Transition from Sui to Tang
* Xuanwu Gate Incident
* Tang–Eastern Turks War
* Tang–Xueyantuo War
* Goguryeo–Tang War
* Baekje–Tang War
* Silla–Tang War
* Tang–Tibet relations
* Tang–Western Turks War
* Oasis states
* Karakhoja
* Karasahr
* Kucha
* Conquest
* Battle of Talas
* An Lushan rebellion
* Qingshui Treaty
* Niu–Li factional strife
* Changqing Treaty
* Sweet Dew incident
* Tang-Nanzhao conflicts
* Annan
* Songping
* Huang Chao Rebellion

Government|

* Emperor
* List
* House
* Family tree
* Chancellor
* Administrative divisions
* Jimi system
* Fanzhen
* Hebei
* Imperial examinations
* Official headwear
* Military
* Jiedushi
* Imperial guards
* Shence Army
* Shumiyuan
* Turkic generals

| Three Departments|

* Department of State Affairs
* Secretariat
* Chancellery
* (Secretariat-Chancellery)

|

Six Ministries|

1. Ministry of Personnel
2. Ministry of Revenue
3. Ministry of Rites
4. Ministry of War
5. Ministry of Justice
6. Ministry of Works

Protectorates|

* Tang dynasty in Inner Asia
* Protectorate General to Pacify the West
* Four Garrisons of Anxi
* Beiting Protectorate
* Protectorate General to Pacify the North
* Protectorate General to Pacify the South
* Protectorate General to Pacify the East
* Ungjin Commandery
* Gyerim Territory Area Command

Culture|

* Art
* Sancai
* Poetry
* Three Hundred Tang Poems
* Playing card
* A Palace Concert
* Emperor Taizong Receiving the Tibetan Envoy
* Huaisu's Autobiography
* Night-Shining White
* Kashyapa & Ananda
* Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum
* Autumn Dew
* Dazu Rock Carvings
* Leshan Giant Buddha
* Rongxian Giant Buddha
* Thousand-Buddha Cliff

| Writers|

* Daoxuan (596–667)
* Standard Design for Buddhist Temple Construction
* Empress Zhangsun (601–636)
* Bianji (7th c.)
* Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
* Du Huan (751–762)
* Bai Xingjian (776–826)
* The Tale of Li Wa
* Lu Yu (733–804)
* The Classic of Tea
* Du Guangting (850–933)
* Yang Yunsong (9th c.)
* Green Satchel Classic

|

Poets|

* Luo Binwang (619–684)
* Du Shenyan (645–708)
* Wang Bo (650–676)
* Chen Zi'ang (656–702)
* He Zhizhang (659–744)
* Zhang Jiuling (673–740)
* Meng Haoran (689–740)
* Li Qi (690–751)
* Wang Changling (698–756)
* Wang Wei (699–759)
* Li Bai (701–762)
* Gao Shi (704–765)
* Liu Zhangqing (709–785)
* Du Fu (712–770)
* Zhang Ji (712–779)
* Cen Shen (715–770)
* Li Bi (722–789)
* Wei Yingwu (737–792)
* Lu Lun (739–799)
* Han Yu (768–824)
* Liu Yuxi (772–842)
* Bai Juyi (772–846)
* Liu Zongyuan (773–819)
* Yuan Zhen (779–831)
* Li Ye (d. 784)
* Li He (790–817)
* Niu Yingzhen (8th c.)
* Zhang Xu (8th c.)
* Du Mu (803–852)
* Wen Tingyun (812–866)
* Li Shangyin (813–858)
* Mo Xuanqing (834-?)
* Yu Xuanji (840–868)
* Du Qiuniang (9th c.)
* Liêu Hữu Phương (9th c.)

Painters|

* Yan Liben (600–673)
* Wu Daozi (680–760)
* Wang Wei (699–759)
* Viśa Īrasangä (7th c.)
* Han Gan (706–783)
* Zhang Xuan (713–755)
* Han Huang (723–787)
* Zhou Fang (730–780)
* Guanxiu (832–912)
* Jing Hao (855–915)
* Sun Wei (9th c.)

Religion|

| Buddhism|

* Jizang (549–623)
* Daochuo (562–645)
* Shandao (613–681)
* Xuanzang (fl 602–664)
* Kuiji (632–682)
* Yijing (635–713)
* Faru (638–689)
* Vajrabodhi (671–741)
* Jianzhen (688–763)
* Amoghavajra (705–774)
* Mazu Daoyi (709–788)
* Baizhang Huaihai (720–814)
* Wukong (730–790)
* Yaoshan Weiyan (745–827)
* Huiguo (746–805)
* Puhua (770–860)
* Zhaozhou Congshen (778–897)
* Zhisheng (8th c.)
* Dongshan Liangjie (807–869)
* Yunmen Wenyan (862–949)
* Gikū (9th c.)

|

Taoism|

* Cheng Xuanying (fl 631–655)
* Lü Dongbin (796-?)

Confucianism|

* Neo-Confucianism
* Han Yu (768–824)
* Li Ao (772–841)
* Kong Yingda (574–648)

Other|

* Church of the East
* Xi'an Stele
* Islam during the Tang dynasty
* Chinese Manichaeism

Science and technology|

* Wang Xiaotong (580–640)
* Jigu Suanjing
* Xu Jingzong (592–672)
* Liang Lingzan
* The Five-Planet and Twenty-eight Constellation Deities
* Li Chunfeng (602–670)
* Ten Computational Canons
* Su Jing
* Xinxiu bencao
* Sun Simiao (d. 682)
* Yi Xing (683–727)
* Gautama Siddha (fl 714–724)
* Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era
* Jia Dan (730–805)
* Toothbrush
* Woodblock printing

Economy|

* Diwu Qi
* Liu Yan
* Kaiyuan Tongbao
* Salt Commission
* Flying cash

* v
* t
* e

Protectorates and Protectorates-General of the Tang dynasty

* Anxi ("Pacify the West")
* Four Garrisons
* Beiting ("Northern Court")
* Yanran→Hanhai→Anbei→Zhenbei ("Pacify the North")
* Annan ("Pacify the South")
* Andong ("Pacify the East")
* Dongyi ("Eastern Barbarians")
* Chanyu→Yunzhong
* Baoning ("Peacekeeping")

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template