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Escape from Hengyang by Qiong Yao |
Mankind became active on the globe only after the dissipation in 9000 BC of the last Ice Age, last one of the 17-19 glaciations extending from 3 million years ago. This timeframe would be labeled Upper Palaeolithic. Research shows that the Tibetan Plateau began to be occupied by human beings around the 2nd to 3rd century as a result of the warm weather and the thaw of ice. The Tibetans belong to a larger language family called Sino-Tibetan. Two major branches could be differentiated here. Tibeto-Burman is one of two major branches of the Sino-Tibetan family, the other being the Sinitic (Chinese) languages. The two branches are different in their morphological and syntactic typology. The Tibeto-Burman branch consists of 2-300 languages spoken primarily in the uplands of Inner, South, and Southeast Asia, and could be found from Sichuan and Qinghai in the north to the southern extremity of Myanmar (Burma), northwestern Vietnam, and northern Pakistan in the west. Tibetans are related to the minorities in today's southwestern China, for example, Mo-so and Lo-lo peoples. Mo-so and Lo-lo peoples are pockets of minorities who had survived thousands of years of human migrations from north to south. Most of the early southerners would have been pushed out of southern China a long time ago, and a migration path could be separately painted for the Polynesians, the Southeast Asians in the Philiphines and Indonesia/Malaysia, and the peoples in Vietnam, Burma and Thailand. Those were the early waves of migrations before the Mongols destroyed the independent state of Nan-Zhao (Da Li), an event that would lead to another chain raction that would form today's ethnicity in Southeast Asia. Today's Shan and Thai peoples in Burma and Thailand are descendants of the refugees of Nan-Zhao (Da Li) Statelet. However, the compositions of Tibetans are not that simple, and in my opinion, two groups of peoples could be easily identified: 1) The group of people who migrated there from southwestern China; 2) The mixed group of people active in today's Qinhai-Gansu who would be comprising of the Qiangs around the turn of AD-BC centuries, the Tuyuhun Xianbei nomads in 4th-5th centuries and the Tanguts (Danxiang with relation to Tuoba Xianbei) of Western Xia Dynasty in 9th-13th centuries. Origin Of Qiangic Peoples In the section on prehistory, I have traced the origin of the Qiangic people to the Fiery Lord (Yandi) Tribe which carried the name of 'Jiang'. A famous linguist believed that Qiang was a mutation of 'Jiang'. A good website about the today's Qiangs would be http://www.infomekong.com/p_group_Tibetan_1.htm. Wang Ming-ke included ancient viewpoints in regards to the Fiery Lord in his article on "From the Qiang Barbarians to the Qiang Nationality". 
Qiang-zu, numbering 112000 per 1982 census, possibly the most orthodox descendant of ancient Qiangic people, now dwell mostly around Minjiang River area of Sichuan Prov.
Qiang-zu are fond of building their houses into citadels, per Cai Ah-dong, a tradition most likely resulting from historical confrontations with people around them.
The earliest peoples in western China had the blending of the 'San Miao' peoples. At the times of Lords Yao-Shun-Yu, the so-called 'Sanmiao' (Three Miao) people had been living in the middle Yangtze River, taking Lake Dongting as their very homeland. This place would remain marshlands and lakes till the time of the Chu State of the Warring States period (403-221 BC). The State of Chu, 1500 years after Xia Dynasty was first established, would still belong to an alien ethnical group, and they were the first group of people to reject the overlordship of the Zhou Dynasty by declaring themselves as a king of equal footing. According to Sima Qian, the 'Sanmiao' people were mostly relocated to western China to guard against the western nomads. Lord Shun relocated them to western China as a punishment for their aiding the son of Lord Yao (Dan Zhu) in rebellion. To the west of today's Dunhuang was a mountain named 'San Wei Shan' (namely, the Sanmiao Precarious Mountain) where the Three Miao peoples were exiled. Ancient Chinese classics, Yu Gong, Section on Liu Sa (namely, flowing sand), had good description of this part of the country. Interesting will be the claim that the 'San Miao' could be traced to the infilial son of Yandi the Fiery Lord. In the paragraph on barbarians vs Chinese exiles, we explored into the nature of the Chinese exiles at the times of Lord Yao-Shun-Yu. Speculations As To San-Miao vs Yuezhi Timeframe Lord Yao or Tangyao (reign 2357-2258 BC ?) took over the overlord post after 9 year's weak rule by Zhi (reign 2366-2358 BC ?). This could lead to a sound speculation that Sino-Tibetan speaking San Miao people had dwelled in Gansu much earlier than the later Indo-European Yuezhi people. The approximate date would be about 2258 BC for the relocation. Nova, in its TV series, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/chinamum/taklamakan.html shows the excavations of mysterious 3000-year-old mummies in China's western desert, inside today's New Dominions Province. The dating of 3000-year-old mummy shows that Indo-European Yuezhi people came much later than the San Miao people, about 1000 years later. http://www.taklamakan.org/allied_comm/commonv-1-8.html carried an article by Takla entitled "The Origins of Relations Between Tibet and Other Countries in Central Asia", stating that "according to the researches of Sir Aurel Stein [i.e., the arch thief of China's Dunhuang Grotto treasures] on the origins of the people of Khotan, most were the descendants of the Aryans. They also had in them Turkic and Tibetan blood, though the Tibetan blood was more pronounced. He discovered ancient documents at a place called Nye-yar [Niya] in Khotan and he has stated that the script of these documents contained no Pali, Arabic (Muslim) or Turkic terminology. All were Tibetan terms and phrases." Tibetans, clearly the descendants of Sino-Tibetan-speaking Qiangic SanMiao people, had their influences reaching the southern Chinese Turkistan in addition to the He-xi Corridor. P.T. Takla stated further that "according to Wu Hriu(2), the facial features of the people of Khotan were dissimilar to those of the rest of the Horpa nomads of Drugu (Uighurs belonging to the Turkic people) and similar, to an extent, to the Chinese. Khotan in the north-west was called Li-yul by the ancient Tibetans. Since Khotan was territorially contiguous with Tibet, there are reasons to believe that the inhabitants of Khotan had originated from Tibet." Qiang[1] vs Di[1]Peoples Ancient classics, Shi Jing, recorded that "Di[1] & Qiang[1] dared not stop paying pilgrimage to Xia-Shang-Zhou dynasties." Qiangs aided Zhou Dynasty in defeating last Shang King Zhouwang. Shi Ji recorded that Zhou King Wuwang's army at the Battle of Muye consisted of the so-called the 'people from the west', i.e., allies including eight barbarian statelets, the Qiangs from Gansu, the Shu-Sou-Mao-Wei statelets in Sichuan Province, Lu and Peng from the northwest, and Yong and Pu south of the Han-shui River. The difference between Di[1] and Qiang is not clear. Records show that Di[1] belonged to alternative race of the ancient Xi Yi, namely, western Yi barbarians. They were alternatively called 'Bai Ma', i.e., white horse, and 'Bai Di[1]', i.e., white Di[1]. During Qin-Han times, the Di[1] people resided in the areas south of Qishan (Zhou ancestral land) and Long (Gansu Province) and west of Hanzhong (the areas between Sichuan and Shaanxi) and Chuan (Sichuan Province). Han Emperor Wudi sent General Guo Chang/Wei Guang against them and set up the Wudu Commandary in the Di[1] land. The Di people fled to the mountains and two groups were known, Qing Di (Green Di) and Bai-Di(1) or Bai-ma-di (White Horse Di). The Di[1] people were said to be descendants of Xi-nan-yi, i.e., southwestern aliens. Ancient classics mentioned that Di(1) meant for the sheeps. (The word 'qiang' means the shepards in the west.) In early AD 200s, a Di[1] chieftan called Yang Teng was named Duke of Qiuchi. Ts'ao Wei Dyansty conferred his descendant, Yang Qianwan, the title of King of Di[1]. A nephew of the Yang family, Linghu Maosou, was conferred the title of King Youxianwang (i.e., rightside virtuous king) by Western Jinn Emperor Huidi (reign 290-306) and the title of King Zuoxianwang (i.e., leftside virtuous king) by Western Jinn Emperor Mindi (reign 313-317). Internal killings among Di family ensued. The Di people sought vassalage with Shi Hu's Jiehu Psterior Zhao Dynasty, Eastern Jinn Dynasty, and Fu Jian's Anterior Qin Dynasty. In AD 371, another Di, Fu Jian of Anterior Qin Dynasty, conquered the Qiuchi Di and relocated all of them to Guanzhong, namely, the areas of ancient Chinese capital Xi'an of Shenxi Province. After the death of Fu Jian in the hands of the Qiangs, a Di descendant called Yang Ding, would lead his people to Longyou, the areas in the west of Gansu Province, and declared himself Duke of Qiuchi. In AD 389, Yang Ding occupied the Qinzhou Prefecture (Gansu Prov) and declared himself King of Longxi (i.e., west Gansu). (Note that ancient China divided today's Gansu Province into Longxi, Qinzhou and other prefectures.) Fugou would later be killed by Qifu Qian'gui of Western Qin Dynasty. Yang Ding's son, Yang Shen, would later seek vassalage with Western Jinn Dynasty. Yang Shen would be conferred the title of King of Chengdu by Liu Yu, the founder of Liu Song Dynasty. Yang Shen told his son, Yang Xuan, to always seek vassalage with Southern Chinese regimes. Yang Xuan would be conferred the title of King of Nan-Qin (i.e., southern Qinzhou Prefecture). Beginning from AD 500, Di people began to seek vassalage with Tuoba Wei Dynasty in the north. Wars between Toba Wei Dynasty and Southern Liang Dynasty erupted over the control of Di people. Qiang[1] vs Rong-di[2] Peoples In the paragraph on Rong's Possible Link To Qiangic People, I detailed the compositions of the Rong to derive a good conclusion that some of the Rongs at the time of Zhou Dynasty could be of Qiangic, and Rong people in the west shared the same blood-line with Xia Chinese but differred in 'Culture' such as cuisine, clothing, money and language. Among various Rong people would be Western Rong, Doggy Rong and Rong-di Rong. Scholar Liu Qiyu stated that the difference between Rong and Chinese lied in 'culture', not 'blood-line'. In article The Rong People In Nine Ancient Prefectures versus Rong-yu Xia People, Liu Qiyu cited ancient classics Zhou Yu's paragraph: "In the ancient times, Gong-gong-shi ... had first worked on repairing the 100 rivers (including the flooding of the Yellow River) ... Gong-gong-shi's descendant, Count Yu (i.e., Lord Yu, aka Rong-yu), repented over his father Gun's mistake in flood control ... Gong-gong-shi's grandson, Si-yue, had acted as an assistant to Lord Yu in flood control ... Hence, Si-yue was conferred the fief of Si-yue-guo Statelet and assigned the surname of 'Jiang' which included the clan name of 'Luu' ... Today (i.e., in Zhou Dynasty times), the clan names of Shen and Luu had declined in prestige and influence but the 'Jiang' family still prevailed in Qi Principality." (Gong-gong-shi was said to be the same person as Gun, the father of Lord Yu.) Liu Qiyu further cited ancient classics Zuo Zhuan and listed the statement of Ju-zhi, a son or prince of Jiang-rong, as paraphrased below: "Everyone had said that our folks, i.e., miscellaneous Rong people, belonged to the descendants of Si-yue ... Our various Rong peoples differed from Hua (i.e., Xia Chinese) people in cuisine, clothing, money and language." Liu Qiyu speculated that the clan names of Shen-Luu-Qi-Xu etc, who entered China during Western Zhou Dynasty, had been the Rong people who came eastward to China earlier, while Jiang-rong would be the original Rong people who later came into China during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty time period. Qiangic People Ancient classics stated that the word 'qiang' means the shepherds in the west. The chronicle 'Continuum To Hou Han Shu' stated that the Qiangs were alternative race of the Jiang surname tribes of San Miao. During the Later Han (AD 25-220) dynasty, the Qiangs had been mercenaries of Han emperors in numerous wars. Various campaigns against the Northern Huns would comprise of several groups of nomads, including the Qiangs, Southern Huns, and the Xianbei-Wuhuan. When Chinese outposts were in danger of being attacked by the Huns in today's Chinese Turkistan, the Qiangs were called upon by Han Emperor to provide both logistics and fighting manpower. (In addition to the Qiangs, there was another notable group of people called Yueh-Chih Minor or Lesser Yuezhi aiding the Chinese emperors on most occasions.) In the Hun section, we mentioned that one of the two colonial policies of Han China was to segregate the Huns from the Qiangs by setting up castles on the Silk Road. Beginning from late 1st century, the Qiangs began to rebel against Chinese frequently. Largely as a result of the urgency to cope with the Qiangic threats, the Han Court had very much given up early efforts in controlling Chinese Turkistan, a policy called cutting off the right arm of the Huns by driving the Hunnish influence out of the fertile Turkistan areas. The Qiangs would have wars with Han China for dozens of years. At one time, the Qiangs split into two groups, Xi Qiang (Western Qiang) and Dong Qiang (Eastern Qiang). By the end of the Han Dynasty, Qiangs were controlled by warlord governors in the northwestern part of China. Dong Zhuo, who hand-picked last Han Emperor Xiandi, might have some heritage of the nomads in this Qiangic area. During the Three Kingdom time period, the Qiangs had participated in the wars as mercenaries. After the fall of Western Jinn Dynasty, the Qiangs as well as the Di nomads would play their part in the later landslide campaigns in northern China, i.e., 'Five Nomadic Groups Ravaging China' of 4-5th centuries. Posterior Qin Dynasty (AD 384-417), established in today's Shenxi Province, was of Qiangic nature. Xianbei & Qiangic Blends Tibetans, according to New History Of Tang Dynasty, belonged to the Xi Qiang, namely, the western Qiangic peoples. There were 150 different groups of Qiangic peoples, widely dispersed among Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and Shenxi provinces. New History Of Tang Dynasty also cited a mutation of pronunciation for the name of the founder of Southern Liang (Xianbei Statelet, AD 397-414), Tufa Lilugu. What it said is that the Southern Liang's last name or clan name, Tufa, had mutated into Tubo in Chinese pronunciation or English Tibet. What's to be emphasized is that the Xianbei immigrants who set up the Southern Liang would be a minority in comparison with the Qiangic peoples who had dwelled in this area for thousands of years, since the times of Lords Yao-Shun-Yu. The Qiangs first built their dynasty, Posterior Qin (AD 384-417), by rebelling against Di(1) nomads' Anterior Qin (AD 351-394), and they were conquered by General Liu Yu of Eastern Jinn (AD 317-420) in a northern expedition in AD 417. The remaining Qiangs joined hands with a branch of Xianbei nomads who had created a lasting kindom called 'Tuyuhun', and Tuyuhun competed against the Tibetans well into the 7th century. At one time, the Tang Chinese were at war with Tuyuhun. One Qiangic tribal leader, allied with Tuyuhun via inter-marriage and carrying last name of Tuoba, would aid Tuyuhun by refusing to surrender to Tang Chinese. Do note that the Tuyuhun people were i) an outsider force, ii) of Xianbei origin, and iii) relocated from Manchuria. The Xianbei element in Tuyuhun was embodied by several noted stories. Tuyuhun Legends One story is to do with the split of the two Xianbei brothers. It is said that the elder brother (namely, Tuyuhun) was born by a concubine and hence did not inherit the Xianbei royal line. When the horses of the two brothers fought against each other, the younger brother complained about it. The older brother hence said he would lead his people, about 700 households (Fang Xuanling's Jinn Shu stating 1700 households), to the west. This elder brother grazed his horses by about 500 units of grazing distance to the west every day. The younger brother had regrets about his offending the elder brother and sent some elderly people to pursue his elder brother. The elder brother said he would return should his horses be willing to return to the east. But the horses refused to go east even though the elderly people tried to bring the horses eastward 15 times. Hence the elder brother moved across the Mongolian plains to the west of China. The younger brother made a song called 'Ode To Ah Gan' ('gan' meaning brother) and sang it in remembrance of his elder brother. The younger brother would be the later founder of Xianbei's Anterior Yan Dynasty (AD 337-370). The other stories would be about the descendants of the Tuyuhun founder. The grandson, called Yeyan, would name his statelet 'Tuyuhun' by claiming that the ancient Chinese gave their statelets names on basis of the fact that the son of a duke or king usually used the name of the duke or king as family name or statelet name. After his father (Tuyan) was killed by a Qiangic chieftain, he would make a straw man in the image of the Qiangic chieftan and shot arrows at it. Yeyan would cry aloud when he shot at the target but got mad when he missed the target. At one time, Yeyan's mother got sick and did not eat anything for 5 days. Yeyan did not eat anything either, a true filial son according to Confucian standards. Yeyan's son, Pixi, would seek vassalage with Fu Jian, the emperor of Anterior Qin Dynasty. Pixi, fond of his three brothers, died of sadness when his ministers killed his three brothers. Pixi's son, Shilian, sought vassalage with Qifu Qian'gui and was conferred the title as King of Bailan. Shilian's son, Shi Pi, declined the title of King of Bailan and angered Qifu Qiangui. Qifu Qian'gui defeated him. Shi Pi's brother, Wuheti, attacked Qifu Qian'gui when Qifu was busy entering Chang'an (i.e., Xi'an) of Shenxi Prov. Qifu Qian'gui defeated him again. Then, Shi Pi's son, Shuluogan, declared himself the Great Chanyu and the King of Tuyuhun, but he was defeated by Qifu Qian'gui, too. The successor of Qifu Qian'gui further defeated the Tuyuhun people. Shuluogan's brother, Ah Cai, examined the source or origin of the Yangtze River and asked his ministers where it flowed into. When told about Liu Song Dynasty in southern China, Ah Cai sent an emissary seeking for pilgrimage. Ah Cai was conferred the title of Duke by Liu Song Dynasty. When Ah Cai died, he returned the throne to the son of his brother Wuheti. Ah Cai is recorded to have asked his nephew and dozen or so sons to break the arrows by a single stick and by a bundle. This is to show his sons that should they unite together they could not be defeated. Successor Mukui continued to seek pilgrimage with Liu Song Dynasty and was conferred the title of Duke of Longxi (namely, west Gansu Province) by Liu Song Emperor Wendi (reign AD 424-474). Mukui would later capture the last ruler of Hunnic Xia (i.e., Helian Ding) and sent to Toba Wei Emperor Taiwudi (reign AD 424-452) of Toba Wei Dynasty, namely, Toba Tao. Mukui received the conferral as King of Xi-qin (namely, western Qin). Mukui's brother, Muliyan, succeeded the throne, and when attacked by Toba Wei as a result of his cousin's defection to Wobo Wei, Muliyan fled to the west and conquered the Statelet of Yutian (Khoten) in Chinese Turkistan. He returned to the old land after Liu Song Dynasty invited him back in AD 440s. There is no separate English name for the Tuyuhun, and most history books skipped this tribe altogether. It had lasted for about 350 years in history, from the end of Yongjia years (AD 310s) of Jinn Dynasty to the 3rd year of Longshuo (AD 663) of Tang Dynasty. 'Tuyuhun' would be under attacks by various nomadic dynasties, but it managed to be an independent country well into the 7th century, till it was absorbed by the Tibetans. It survived the Sixteen Nations (AD 304-420), North Dynasties (AD 386-581), and Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618). It had at one time raided deep into the Chinese Turkistan. During early Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), it had inter-marriage with Tang princess. The Tibetans took them as No.1 enemy. At one time, 'Tuyuhun' was conquered by the Tibetans, but the son of Tibetan prime minister later brought several thousand tents of 'Tuyuhun' people back to Tang Dynasty. Tuhun During Five Dynasties During the Five Dynasties time period, the remnant Tuyuhun people would come to be known as 'Tuhun'. It once joined efforts with Tang China in cracking down on Pang Xun rebellion. They were relocated to northern China, near today's Datong of Shanxi Province. Shantuo's Posterior Tang (AD 923-936) conferred them the royal family name of Li. Later, Posterior Jinn (AD 936-946) seceded the land north of the Yanmen'guan Pass to the Khitans. Hence, the Tuhun people were enslaved by the Khitans. Chinese history recorded that the Tuhun people were later defeated by Liu Zhiyuan, the founder of Posterior Han (AD 947-950). Tuyuhun people disappeared after that. Qiangic Elements Of Dangxiang The Dangxiang people were remnants of the Western Qiang people. The Dangxiang people would be living to the south of the Tuhuhun people. This dwelling place of the Dangxiang people and the Tuyuhun people would be called Inner Tibet [against Frontal Tibet or Outer Tibet] in later times. Out of remaining Tuyuhun people and the Dangxiang people would evolve the later Xixia Kingdom led by the Danxiang nomads or the Tanguts. History recorded that there evolved eight Dangxiang tribes by the time of Five Dynasties (AD 907-960), with one tribal group carrying the old Toba name. The Toba Dangxiang people had inter-marriage with the Tuyuhuns, and at one time made an alliance against the Tang army. Dangxiang-qiang legends claimed that they originated from Bai-he [white river, i.e., ancient Bailongjiang or Qiang-shui] and the cross-border areas of today's Qinhai-Gansu-Sichuan provinces. Their epics also inferred to their tradition of pasting red color onto their dark faces, building stone citadels, pointing to ancient Gao-yao-mi statelet as their origin, and eulogizing Tibetan girl as the wife of their ancestor. From AD 635 to 678, Tibetans kept on assaulting the Qiangs. In 635, Tibetans defeated the Qiangs in Dangxiang and Bailan area. By AD 678, Qiangs lost the territories of Yangdong to the Tibetans. Tang Emperor Xuanzong (reign 712-756) allowed 25 Qiangic prefectures of the Qiangs relocate to Qingzhou (Qingyang of Gansu Prov). Tuoba Sidai (speculated to be Tuoba Sitou) received the conferral from Tang Xuanzong. Tibetans termed the stranded Qiangs in the original habitation area as 'Miyao' and later applied the term to all Qiangs and consecutively the Tanguts. At the times of Tang Emepror Dezong (reign AD 780-785), the Dangxiang nomads sought vassalage with Tang. They were relocated to Qingzhou and Xiazhou prefectures. At the times of Posterior Tang Emperor Mingzong (reign AD 926-933), the frontier areas were famous for trading in horses. The horses from Dangxiang and Huihu (ancestor of Uygurs) weighed heavy in the trades. Dangxiang and Huihu were especially delighted in trading with Posterior Tang because Emperor Mingzhong gave very favorable terms to them no matter the horses were fat or thin. Besides, Dangxiang and Huihu merchants were given benefits of emissaries, and they enjoyed free food/drinks and accomodations. This cost a lot of royal savings to Posterior Tang. Hence, Dangxiang and Huihu were ordered to trade at the frontiers, only. But the Dangxiang continued to come deep into the Chinese territories, and moreover, the Dangxiang pillaged China and robbed the Huihu of the horses. The Dangxiang continued the pillages well into the Posterior Zhou Dynasty (AD 951-960). Tibetans vs Tuyuhun Tibet's many kingdoms are unified in 7th century. Buddhism was introduced from Tang China, not India. Tibetan Buddhism was said to have displayed a bit of syncretism with the native animist religion, Bön, and the form of Buddhism is the late Tantric, Vajrayâna Buddhism of India. Early kings will include Song-tsen Gam-po (reign c 618-649), Man-song Mang-tsen (reign 649-704), Du-song Mang-po-je (reign 676-704), Tri-de Tsug-ten (reign 704-754), Tri-song De-tsen (reign 754-797), Mu-ne Tsen-po (reign 797-800), Tri-de Song-tsen (reign 800-815), Tri-tsug De-tsen (reign 815-838), Lang Darma (reign 838-842). In year AD 640, Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, learning of Tuyuhun's intermarriage with Tang, initiated a war against Tang and requested intermarriage with Tang princess Wencheng who arrived in Tibet one year later. Indian King also sent over a daughter to Songtsen Gampo. Intermarriages by marrying Nepalese and Chinese princesses created alliances with neighbors to the East and West. Taking advantage of the vacuum left by Tang China after recalling armies from Central Asia for cracking down on An-Shi Rebellion, the Tibetans took over areas west of the Yellow River. After An-Shi Rebellion in late Tang Dynasty, Tibetans occupied over a dozen prefectures in He-xi [west of Yellow River] and Long-you [rightside or wstern Gansu Prov] as well as the Western Territories [New Dominion Prov] by taking advantage of the vacuum left by Tang army's departure. By the time of Tang Emperor Daizong (reigh 760-779), Dangxiang-qiang in Lingzhou & Qingzhou areas colluded with Tibetans in harassing Tang border. General Guo Ziyi petitioned to have Dangxiang-qiang relocate to Yinzhou (Yulin of Shenxi Prov) and Xiazhou (Baichengzi of Inner Mongolia). In AD 763, Tibetans briefly occupied the Tang capital, Ch'ang-An. Later, Tibetans had internal upheavals. The last King, Lang Darma, turned against Buddhism. The kingdom fragmented after him. Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo, who asked Princess Wencheng from Emperor Taizong, died in AD 650. At the time of Songtsen Gampo, Tibetans had once helped Tang emissary in attacking middle India (one of five Indian kingdoms of the time) when the Tang emissary was assaulted by the new king of the Middle Indian Kingdom. Zanpu's young grandson would be the new Tibetan king. Tibetan prime minister Ludongzan and his four sons had the actual power over Tibet, however. Ludongzan, together with 10 families of Western Khanate, would first attack Tuyuhun, i.e., Tibet's number one rival. Tang Emperor Gaozong was asked to intervene by the Tuyuhun. Emperor Gaozong rejected two Tibetan requests: 1) the land of Chisui (i.e., red water), and 2) Tibetan intermarriage with the Tanguts. Tibetan prime minister Ludongzan hence obtained the aid of the Yutian (Hotan) nomads and took over 18 prefectures in western territories, including the Chouci State. General Xue Rengui, in AD 670, was ordered to quell the Tibetan rebellion, but he was defeated by Ludongzan's 400 thousand troops due to the fact that his logistics general lost all equipment to the enemy. General Xue negotiated a peace treaty in which Tang would promise not to enter the Tuyuhun territory. When Xue returned to the capital, he was demoted into a civilian and would not be called upon till the eastern Turks rebelled in the north in AD 680-681. Hence, Tibet entered Tuyuhun and relocated all Tuyuhun to the Lingzhou prefecture which was already taken by the Tibetans. In AD 678, Emperor Kaozong campaigned against Tibet again, but Tang was defeated by the Tibetans. In AD 696, Tibetans sought peace with Tang, requesting that Tang revoke the administrations in the four cities of Chouci (Kuqa), Yutian (Hotan), Shule (Kashi) and Suiye (today's Tokmok? in Kyrgyzstan) and that Tibet & Tang divide the 10 Western Turkic families into two halves. But Tang rejected the request. Shortly therefafter, the Tibetan king killed the sons of his previous prime minister Ludongzan, with only one surviving son of Ludongzan fleeing to Tang with 7000 tents of Tuyuhun people. Tibetans' war with Tuyuhun did not end. Tibetans would attack Tuyuhun again in AD 756-758. Tang Dynasty relocated the remnant Tuyuhun people to the west of the Yellow River Bend. At that time, Tuyuhun people still enjoyed three big families, with Toba name of Toba and Hunnic names of Helian and Murong. Tang Emperor Yizong (reign AD 859-875) would confer the governor-general post of Yingshan to Helian Duo, and later Tang post of 'jiedusi' (governor-general) of Datong. Tang post of 'jiedusi' exercised authorities over multiple regions. Posterior Tang (AD 923-936) conferred them the family name of Li. Later, Posterior Jinn (AD 936-946) seceded the land north of the Yanmen Pass to the Khitans. Hence, the Tuhun people were enslaved by the Khitans. Chinese history recorded that the Tuhun people were later defeated by Liu Ziyuan, the founder of Posterior Han (AD 947-950). Tuyuhun disappeared after that. Tibetans vs Tang Chinese AD 681, Western Turkic Khan (Ahshina Duozhi), together with Tibetans, attacked Tang's Anxi Marshal Presidio. Emperor Gaozong ordered the release of Persian Prince in the attempt of having the Persians impede the Western Turks. In early times, the Persian King died in the hands of the Arabs. The new Persian King, Beirusi, sought the help of Tang Chinese by sending his son Niniesi to Tang capital. Tang had made the city of Jiling as the marshal-governor office and designated Persian King Beirusi as the Persian Marshal. Tang civil minister Fei Xingjian was ordered to accompany Persian prince back to Persia. When Fei passed the land of Western Turks, he led a column of tribal leaders of Anxi marshal presidio nomads, and captured the Turkic Khan Duozhi via a surprise strategy: Fei earlier broadcasted that he would go west after the season and the Turkic khan took Fei's words for granted and hence did not make preparations for defence. Fei asked Persian Prince to continue the trip back to his country, and he re-constructed the city of Suiye, and delegated the power of Anxi Marshal Presidio to his general Wang Fangyi. Later, Fei Xingjian would be responsible for quelling the Eastern Turkic rebellion in AD 680 and in AD 681 via similar strategies, like hiding soldiers inside the grain carts and offering 10,000 liang(ounce?) gold for the head of the khan. In AD 682, Western Turks rebelled again, and Fei was ordered to go west, but he died on the road at the age of 64. His general Wang Fangyi would succeed in quelling the Western Turks thereafter. In AD 692, Governor-General Tang Xiujing of Xizhou prefecture defeated Tibetans and re-took the four cities of Chouci (Kuqa), Yutian (Hotan), Shule (Kashi) and Suiye (today's Tokmok in Kyrgyzstan). In AD 696, Tibetans sought peace with Tang, requesting that Tang revoke the administrations in the four cities and that Tibet & Tang divide the 10 Western Turkic families into two halves. But Tang rejected the request. Shortly therefafter, the Tibetan king killed the sons of his previous prime minister Ludongzan, with only one surviving son of Ludongzan fleeing to Tang with 7000 tents of Tuyuhun people. Tibetans would attack Tuyuhun again in AD 756-758. Tang had quite some good news around that time. The Khitans in the east were also quelled by two Khitan generals who had surrendered to Tang earlier. However, in AD 712, Khitans colluded with Eastern Turks again in attacking Tang. As to Tibet, it had an internal revolt in the south of Tibetan Plateau, and Tibetan king sought peace with Tang again. When Emperor Zhongzong was restored in AD 705, he had promised to have princess Jincheng (daughter of a Tang duke-king) marry with the son of the Tibetan king. After Tibetan king died, his seven year old son got enthroned. In AD 710, Emperor Ruizong sent Prince Jincheng to Tibet to marry the new Tibetan king who just grew up, together with a patch of land called Qiuqu (nine winding) in Hexi (west of the Yellow River) as a gift. In AD 714, Tibetans invaded Lanwei (today's Lanzhou & Wei River) areas, using the Qiuqu land as a bridge. Tang General Wang Jun selected 700 brave soldiers to have them dress in the Tibetan clothes and sneaked into the Tibetan camp. General Wang, using the strategy, had caused Tibetan internal fights at night to the extent of almost 10,000 deaths. Tibetans, however, continued to encroach upon Tang capitals from the territories of Tuyuhun and Qiuqu. In AD 744/45, the Uygurs defeated the Turks in Mongolia and established the Uygur Empire. Uygurs, considered a vassal of Tang, would now controll north and west Mongolia, from Lake Balkash to Lake Baykal, till AD 840, for almost a whole century. History said the Tang Chinese conspired to have the Uygurs and Karlaks attack the Orkhon Turks under Khan Muchuo (Mo-ch'o). To check the Orkhon Turks, Tang Chinese also allied with the Western Turks called Turgesh who were situated in today's Ili, between the Arabs and the Chinese from AD 716 to AD 733. Turgesh Turks rebelled against Chinese in AD 739 and were defeated. In AD 741, General Kao Hsien-chih led the troops into Turkistan, and in AD 747, General Kao defeated the Tibetans near Gilgit in the Hindu Kush mountains and checked the expansion of the Arabs over the passes of the Pamirs to the upper valley of the Amu-darya. In AD 747-749, General Kao also defeated the Karluks who had replaced the Turgesh Turks as a power in the area. In AD 748, the Chinese invaded the Ferghana Valley where Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan converge. In AD 749/50, the Abbasids seized the Caliphate from the Umayyads and subsequently transfered the capital to Baghdad. In AD 750, General Kao's crushing of the Tashkent Kingdom led to a Turkic rebellion. In AD 751, Tang Chinese army of 30 thousand, led by general Kao-hsien-chih (a Korean), were defeated by the alliance of the Arabs and the Karluks at the Battle of the Talas River in the high Pamirs. (The Karlaks defected to the Arabs during the war.) It was said Chinese paper technology was relayed to the West via the prisoners of war. From then on, the Karluks controlled Western China while the Uygurs controlled Mongolia. The Arabs halted their push after a defeat in the hands of the Khazars in Azerbaijan. Tang nomadic general An Lushan's rebellion (An-Shi rebellion) broke out in Oct, AD 755. Emperor Xuanzong sneaked out of capital without notifying his court. Xuanzong, in order to continue on his flight into Sichuan Province, orally decreed that his elder son, Suzong, stay behind to be the new emperor. Emperor Suzong led his people northward to today's Ningxia area where he reorganized his army and requested with the Uygurs whose khan sent his elder son and 5000 cavalry to help Suzong in recapturing both Chang-An (Chang'an) and Lo-yang (Luoyang) in 757. Tang emperor Suzong had organized an army of over 100 thousand under the banners of two famous generals, Guo Ziyi & Li Guangbi. After the fall of Luoyang, the Uygurs did their best in pillaging the capital. Luoyang would be pillaged two more times by the Uygurs during the 8 year long rebellion. Later, Emperor Suzong granted the Uygur Khan one of his daughters, Princess Ningguo, in marriage. Tang General Guo Ziyi would emerge to defend Tang against the encroachment from both the Tibetans and the Uygurs. Tibetans, taking advantage of the An-Shi rebellion, had taken over areas in today's Gansu-Qinghai provinces, and they had once entered the western capital of Chang'an and forced emperor Daizong into fleeing. One Tang general (a Uygur, called Pogu Huaieng, who had been responsible for going to the Uygur tribe in borrowing Uygur cavalry of 5000 in fighting An Lushan and again borrowing 3000 cavalry in fighting Shi Siming) defected to the Tibetans and he sacked the city of Taiyuan. Altogether 100 thousand Tibetan-Uygur army came to attack Tang capital again. General Guo succeeded in defeating them. In AD 765, Pogu Huai'eng led Tibetan-Uygur joint army to attack Tang again by cheating the Uygurs that the Tang emperor and general Guo were both dead. On the way, Pogu Huaieng himself died due to illness. General Guo led 500 cavalry into the camp of the Uygurs and successfully persuaded the Uygurs in allying with Tang and attacking the Tibetans. Pogu Huai'eng's mother, who dissapproved of his son's betrayal of Tang, was later invited by Tang emperor to live in the capital In late AD 790s, 7000 Shatuo tents, under Shatuo Jinzhong, sought suzerainty with Tibetans. Together with Tibetans, they attacked the Beiting governor office. Tibetans later relocated the Shatuo to Ganzhou Prefecture. Tibetans, suspicious of Shatuo's loyalty, intended to relocate Shatuo to some distant place. In AD 808, Shatuo Jinzhong and Zhuye Jinzhong led 30,000 people on an exodus to Tang China. Tibetans chased them all the way and killed Zhuye Jinzhong. Tang General Fan Xichao of Lingzhou Prefecture received the Shatuo and assigned them to Yanzhou Prefecture. Shatuo elderlies and children would find their way to Yanzhou to get a reunion. Fan Xichao selected two thousand Shatuo cavalry and named it 'Shatuo Column'. In the land to the west of the Yellow River and to the right side of Gansu Province, Tang China used to have 33 prefectures called 'zhou'. Tang China set up the Anxi Governor-General post here and it used to control 36 statelets in Western China. New History Of Five Dynasties said Tang had raised altogether 300,000 horses in this area. The Tang China, however, underwent the An-Shi Rebellion beginning in AD 755. Tang Emperor Suzong would call upon all the Chinese armies to the west of the Yellow River and to the right side of Gansu Province. Hence, the Tibetans took advantage of the vacuum and moved in. Over one million Tang Chinese came under the rule of the Tibetans, including the prefectures of Ganzhou, Liangzhou, Guazhou and Shazhou. Half a century later, when Chinese emissary (under Tang Emperor Wenzong, reign AD 827-836) passed through the four prefectures, the emissary noted that those Chinese had changed a bit in accent but the clothing remained unchanged. The local Chinese, with tears, asked the emissary, 'Did the Emperor still remember the people stranded in the land occupied by the Tibetans?" Chinese has a saying, 'Feng Sui' or good fortune rotates. ('Feng Sui' , or "wind and water," is the name of Chinese geomancy combining Buddhist element of air with Chinese element of water.) Tibetans lost their prominence by the end of Tang Dynasty. Throughout the time period of Five Dynasties, it would be the Dangqiang and the Uygurs who would be competing with the Chinese in the area called 'Frontal Tibet'. Tibetans vs Nan-Zhao Xi Xia Dynasty Of Tanguts Out of Qiangic peoples would evolve the later Da Xia or Xixia Kingdom led by the Danxiang nomads or the Tanguts. History recorded that there evolved eight Danxiang tribes of Qiangic nature by the time of Five Dynasties (AD 907-960), with one tribal group carrying the old Toba name. The Toba Tribe of the Danxiang people had inter-marriage with the Tuyuhuns, and at one time made an alliance against the Tang army. Looking back, I would say that Tangut people were possibly descendants of the Tobas, Xianbei people, the Di nomads, Chinese, early Tibetans and the Uygurs. Toba Sigong, a Dangxiang nomad with a Toba family name, had come to the aid of Tang Dynasty by the end of Tang in AD 907 when rebel Huang Cao sacked Xi'an the Tang capital. Tang conferred him the title of Duke Xia and the Tang family name of Li. In AD 1002, Li Jiqian of the Tanguts attacked Lingzhou. Song Dynasty zhi zhou shi (magistrate equivalent) Fei Ji defended the city for over one month, cut his finger and wrote a blood letter for requesting relief with Song court, and later died in street fightings. Wang Chao made an excuse for not going to Lingzhou on time. After taking over Lingzhou, Li Jiqian renamed Lingzhou [Yinchuan area of Ningxia] to Xiping-fu and made it the capital of Xixia [Western Xia Dynasty]. One year later, Li Jihe of Song Zhi-Zhenrong-Jun Garrison wrote to Song court that a chieftan (Tibetan) from Liugu (six valleys), by the name of Balaji (Panluozhi), intended to attack Tanguts on behalf of Song. Zhang Qixian proposed that Song conferred the title of 'King of Liugu' and the post of zhao tao shi (campaigning emissary) onto Balaji. Song decided to offer Balaji the title of suofang jie-du-shi (satrap or governor for northern territories) onto Balaji. Balaji claimed that he had assembled 60,000 strong army for fighting Tanguts. Tangut ruler Li Deming, aka Zhao Deming, had a son by the name of Li Yuanhao. Li Yuanhao often proposed to Li Deming that the Tanguts defeat the Huihe (Uygur) and Tibetans first. Li Yuanhao led a surprise attack at Ganzhou [Zhangye of Gansu Prov], and took over the city from Huihe. Li Deming made Li Yuanhao into the crown prince. Li Yuanhao often instigated his father in rebelling against Song. After the death of Li Deming, Li Yuanhao got enthroned. Li Yuanhao dispatched an army of 25,000 against the Tibetans. Tanguts were defeated and Tangut general Sunuer was taken as prisoner of war. Li Yuanhao personally led an expedition against the Tibetans, but he was defeated by the Tibetans, too. Li Yuanhao then changed target to the Huihe (Uygur) people. In AD 1036, Li Yuanhao took over Huihe territories of Guazhou (Gansu-xian and Anxi-xian of Gansu), Shazhou (Tunhuang-xian of Gansu) and Suzhou (Jiuquan of Gansu Prov), and hence Tanguts controlled the He-xi Corridor for 191 years. At one time, Emperor Li Renxiao sought aid with Jurchen Emperor Jin Sizong for quelling rebellion and hence allied with Jurchen Jin in AD 1165. The Tanguts or the Danxiangs were attacked by the Mongols in AD 1205, 1207 and 1208 before they were defeated in AD 1209. In AD 1209, Genghis Khan personally led the 650 mile march on the Tanguts and in Jan 1210, the siege of Tangut capital was released when the waters were breached by the Tanguts and flooded the Mongol camp. Peace was secured only when Tangut emperor delivered his youngest daughter (rumored to be later responsible for poisoning Genghis when he re-attacked Xixia) to Genghis Khan as a bride, but the Tanguts refused to supply troops to the Mongols as auxiliary. Tanguts would pay for this later. After Mongols left, Tanguts, angry that the Jurchens did not come to their aid, broke the peace treaty with the Jurchens which had been effective as of AD 1165, and a new treaty would not be signed till AD 1225 when they faced new waves of Mongol attackes. Tanguts attacked Jurchen's border town but were defeated, and hence asked Genghis Khan to attack the Jurchens. Since Western Xia had refused to provide troops in Genghis Khan's war against the Khwarizm, and more over, signed another alliance treaty with Jurchen Jin, Genghis Khan led a force of 180,000 troops for a new campaign against the Tanguts. Late in AD 1226, in the winter, the Mongols struck southward. On the banks of the frozen Yellow River, the Mongols defeated a Xixia army of more than 300,000. The Mongols killed the Tangut emperor. His son took refuge in the walled city of Ningxia. Leaving one-third of his army attacking Ningxia, Genghis Khan sent Ogedei eastward, across the Yellow River, to attack the Jurchen Jin forces. Mongol Regents & Manchu Invasion After the Mongol conquest of the Tangut Xixia or Hsi-Hsia state, the Tibetans offered submission to the Mongols in AD 1227. The Mongols did not go into Tibet till AD 1240. In AD 1249, a Tibetan Lama was appointed Mongol regent of Tibet. In 1252 and 1253, Khubilai would order Subetei's son to attack Dali (i.e., Nanzhao) in today's southern Chinese province of Yunnan, with three columns. Dali King, Duan Zixing, surrendered. Then, Mongol army invaded the Shanshan statelet in southern Chinese Turkistan and entered Tibetan Plateau. A Tibetan lama led the Mongols into the capital, and Tibetan chieftan surrendered. Khubilai also entered Tibet and met the lama. When Mengke recalled Khubilai, Khubilai would take the 15 year old son (Phagsba) of the lama back to northern China and made him the Imperial Tutor. In AD 1280, a special title was produced for the regents, Tisri, or Ti-shih in Chinese. The rule of the Tisris, lasting 1280-1358, continued until Mongol authority itself decayed. Second Tibetan Statelet was established by King Chang-chub (reign 1350-1364). When the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was overthrown in China, Tibet was already semi-independent. Several kings ruled till the Mongols staged a comeback in AD 1642. From AD 1642-1717, four Mongol khans ruled in Tibet. When Mongol rule was imposed in 1642, the Fifth Dalai Lama began to assume effective rule of the country. The line of Lamas originated from the First Larma, Gedun Truppa, during AD 1391-1588. Lamaism, a mixture of shamanism and buddhism, enjoyed protection by the Mongols after the reform of the Yellow Cap sect of Tsong-ka-pa in Tibet. A Tibetan lama mission to Mongolia converted in AD 1578 Altan Khan who bestowed the title Dalai ("Ocean") on the Third Lama. The title was retroactively applied to the earlier lamas in the lineage. The Manchus invaded Tibet in AD 1720. The pretext of the Manchu conquest was over the ovethrow of a local Mongol dynasty by other Mongols from Zungaria, who installed their own candidate for Dalai Lama. The Manchus supported the legitimate and popular (Seventh) Dalai Lama. After erecting some Tibetan kings, Manchus settled down on the Dalai Lamas for control beginning from AD 1750. An equally monastic Panchen Lama was also in existence. As to Tibetans, Manchu court adopted the policy of "respecting Tibetan religion but supressing its administration". Scholar Luo Xianglin pointed out that Manchu decreed that every Tibetan household must dispatch one son to monastery for studying the buddhism, hence making Tibetan population unable to multiply. Further, Manchu dispatched "imperial minister" to Tibet for monitoring Dalai Lama and Pancho Lama, and intentionally mixed up religion and politics so that Tibetans could not conduct any reform on administration. Intermarriage between Tibetans and Chinese were forbidden by Manchu. TO BE CONTINUED !!!!! Russia, Britain & Japan - Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia & Manchuria written by Ah Xiang |
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Li Hongzhang's Poem After 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki:
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![Though, Anna Wang [Anneliese Martens], in her memoirs, expressed jealousy over Gong Peng by stating that the Anglo-American reporters had flattered the Chinese communists and the communist movement as a result of being entranced with the goldfish-eye'ed personal assistant of Zhou Enlai](GongPeng.jpg)
