*Turfan
during the Gaochang Kingdom and Tang Dynasty
6th-8th Centuries
Big Powers of Medieval Eurasia
China-based Empires
*Tang Dynasty (618-907)
West Asian Empires
Sasanian Iran (224-651)
Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750
Abbasid Caliphate, 749-1258
Mongolia-Based Empires
*First Türk (552-630)
Second Türk (682-742)
*Uighurs (744-840)
Tibetan Empire (ca. 600-842)
*Tang Taizong (r. 626-649)
Military Expansion
E. Türks defeated, 630
Heavy snows
Internal dissent (due to taxes and lack of booty?), 627-30
Tang Armies
Regular Tang “Garrison Militia” fubing troops
Cavalry and infantry
Türk and other nomad auxiliaries
Cavalry
What do the horses and the Tang general’s clothing tell us about cultural exchanges between the Tang Empire and the steppe? [The Tang general is not a groom, as claimed in the video, but the video is accurate otherwise.]
Ritual: Accession Ceremony (Quriltai)
Türks visit Chang’an in 630
Son of Heaven
Domestic consumption
“Heavenly Qaghan”
Foreign consumption
Taizong at War: Sir-Yantuo Khanate
Death of Sir-Yantuo Qaghan (r. 628-645)
Uighur, Pugu and Tongra attack Sir-Yantuo, 646
Stalemate
Tang Taizong’s expedition against Mongolia, 646
Overall Commanders:
Prince of Jiangxia (cousin)
Ashina She’er (Türk elite, brother-in-law)
Zhishi Sili (Türk elite, brother-in-law)
Turk troops
Qibi Heli (Tiele elite, brother-in-law)
Liangzhou
Sogdian? (hu 胡)
troops
Yuwen Fa
Wuluohu
Malgal of Manchuria
Tang “Garrison Militia” fubing troops
Daizhou & Yingzhou
Western Türk Empire
Tong Yabghu Qaghan (r. ca. 618-30)
Political disarray after death
Taizong at War: War: Western Türks
Tang campaigns
Turfan, 640
Ashina She’er as commander
Kucha, Sept. 648-Jan. 649
Ashina She’er as commander
13 Tiele tribes
100,000? Türk cavalrymen
Brief History of Turfan
Xiongnu & Han empires compete
Han conquer Jushi 車師, 60
BCE
Chinese immigration
Gaochang Kingdom (442-640)
Turk Empire (552-630) suzerainty
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
Xizhou prefecture, 640-ca. 780
50,000 people
Tibet, ca. 770-792
Uighurs, ca. 792
“Turfan Documents”
2,000+ Chinese documents
Dated from 273 to 769 CE
From chambers of tombs with sloped ramps
Type 1: Intentionally-placed documents
Tomb marker: “This is Granary Supervisor Qu”
Granary document, 706 CE from Granary Supervisor Qu’s tomb
Type 2: Randomly-placed Documents
Documents in funerary slippers, hats and coffin
Discussion: Hansen 141-180 (docs. 18-19)
1. What did Aurel Stein find when he excavated the tombs at Turfan?
2. What were the difficulties that *Xuanzang faced in leaving the Tang
capital and going west? Why did prefectural clerk Li Chang allow Xuanzang to
continue on his illegal journey? Is this part of the account plausible?
3. What can we learn about society and commerce at Turfan from the “Turfan
Documents”?