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Succession Struggle and the Ethnic Identity of the Tang Imperial House*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2009

Sanping Chen
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Extract

One of the questions that has prompted this study is this: despite the fact that various Xiongnu and Xianbei groups dominated the political arena in Northern China for almost 300 years between the collapse of the Western Jin and the founding of the Sui , and the usually unacknowledged fact that their descendants continued to do so for several hundreds more years,1 why is it that one could learn so little about their cultural heritage in traditional historiography?2 Even the linguistic affinity of the Tuoba Xianbei remains to this day a matter of controversy.3

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , November 1996 , pp. 379 - 405
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1996

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank several colleagues and friends for their help and comments. In particular, he thanks Professor Samuel Adshead of the University of Canterbury for furnishing him with a copy of the late Joseph Fletcher's unpublished article on blood tanistry, and Dr Chungmo Kwok for extensive editorial and other help.

References

1 Guang, Sima et al. , Zizhi tongjian (Beijing, 1956; hereafter ZZhTJ), 108.3429, comments by Hu Sanxing .Google Scholar

2 Even on those external “barbarians” who might be considered China's primary “security concern”, the records were still astonishingly meagre, as observed bySinor, Denis, “Central Eurasia”in Central Eurasia, in Orientalism and History, ed. Sinor, D. (Bloomington, 1970), pp. 93–119.Google Scholar

3 Chen, S., “A-gan revisited – the Tuoba's cultural and political heritage”, Journal of Asian History, forth-coming.Google Scholar

4 Morgan, David, Medieval Persia, 1040–1797 (London, 1988), p. 22.Google Scholar See also Bosworth, C. E., The Ghaznavids (Edinburgh, 1963), p. 56.Google Scholar

5 Franke, Herbert, From Tribal Chieftain to Universal Emperor and God: The Legitimation of the Yüan Dynasty (Munich, 1978), p. 609.Google Scholar

6 See Bosworth, , op. cit., p. 3.Google Scholar

7 See for examples Fairbank, John King, “Synarchy under the Treaties”, in Chinese Thought and Institutions, ed. Fairbank, J. K. (Chicago, 1957), pp. 204–31Google Scholar, in particular p. 204, and Wittfogel, Karl A., Oriental Despotism; a Comparative Study of Total Power (New Haven, 1957), p. 182.Google Scholar

8 Honey, David, “Stripping off felt and fur: an essay on nomadic sinification”, Papers on Inner Asia. Ancient Inner Asia, XXI (1992),Google Scholar seems, the only exception in trying to include the Tang in the “conquest dynasties”. Yet in addition to his very curious exclusion of the preceding Sui, he still considers the Tang house “basically sinified” (p. 2). Therefore in his otherwise colourful essay on nomadic sinicization covering the entire Chinese history from the late Shang to the Qing, not a single item or case pertaining to the Tang was found.

9 Crossley, Pamela K., “Thinking about ethnicity in early modern China”, Late Imperial China, XI (1990), pp. 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 For the etymology Xianbei < *Sarbi, see for example Golden, Peter B., An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (Wiesbaden, 1992), p. 69.Google Scholar

11 Honey, “Stripping off felt and fur”, p. 2.

12 They are “Li-Tang shizu zhi tuice wenti “, “Li-Tang shizu zhi tuice houji ”. “San lun Li-Tang shizu wenti ”, and “Li-Tang Wu-Zhou xianshi shiji zakao “. All can be found in his collected works Chen Yinke xiansheng lunwenji (Taipei, 1974).Google Scholar

13 Rulei, Hu, Li Shimin zhuan (Beijing, 1984), p. 2.Google Scholar

14 Bowuguan, Ningxia Zizhiqu ,“Mu fajue jianbao ”, Wenwu (1985.11), pp. 1–20Google Scholar. This implication of Li Xian's newly unearthed tomb inscription on the ethnic origin of the Tang imperial family was pointed out to me by Dr Chungmo Kwok via private communications.

15 S. Chen, “A-gan revisited”.

16 Pansui, Lui , “Li-Tang wei fanxing kao”, Nü shida xueshu jikan I.4 (no date), pp. 1–5,Google Scholar first made this important discovery based on an entry in Xiu, Ouyang et al. , Xin Tang shu (Beijing, 1975; hereafter XTSh), 44.1160.Google Scholar

17 Zhitui, Yan , Yanshi jiaxun, edition used: Liqi, Wang , Yanshi jiaxun jijie , rev. ed. (Beijing, 1993), 1.50–1.Google Scholar For an English translation of the passage, see for example Wright, Arthur F., The Sui Dynasty (New York, 1978), p. 36.Google Scholar

18 See the list in Pu, Wang , Tang hui yao (Taipei, 1963; hereafter THY), 6.75.Google Scholar More extensive lists were given in Tongling, Wang , ‘Yang-Sui Li-Tang xianshi xitong kao , Nüshida xueshu jikan, II.2 (no date), pp. 1–23.Google Scholar

19 Gökalp, Ziya (translated by Devereux, R.), The Principles of Turkism (Leiden, 1968), p. 110.Google Scholar

20 XTSh 119.4306, 172.5205ȓ06, ZZhTJ 248.8036 and Fang, Li , Taiping guangji (Beijing, 1961), 184.1379.Google Scholar Read also Yinke, Chen, Tangdai zhengzhishi shulun gao (Chongqing/Shanghai, 1944)/1947, pp. 57–9.Google Scholar

21 Tongling, Wang, op. cit., pp. 20–3,Google Scholar has a rather extensive table on this issue. Still the important Kirghiz case is missing in that table.

22 See for example ZZhTJ 172.8879, Hu Sanxing's notes.

23 XTSh 217b.6150.

24 ZZhTJ 195.6135ȓ36, 200.6138.

25 Read for instance Da, Xiang , Tangdai Chang'an yu Xiyu wenming (Beijing, 1957)Google Scholar

26 Zhen, Yuan 's poem Faqu (Quan Tangshi [Shanghai, 1986], 419.1025) may serve as a succinct review of the fad.Google Scholar

27 Shou, Wei , Wei shu (Beijing, 1974) 19.469 and 21.536 (also ZZhTJ 140.4357 and 142.4434).Google Scholar

28 Xu, Liu Jiu Tang shu (Beijing, 1975; hereafter JTSh), 45.1938, 1951, XTSh, 24.527–28, and THY 31.577–78.Google Scholar

29 XTSh 34.878.

30 Dang, Wang , Tang yulin (Changsha, 1939), 4.101.Google Scholar This was corroborated by XTSh 125.4407.

31 Pansui, Liu, op. cit.,Google Scholar was the first to point out that both were non-Chinese etiquettes, though Liu's citations were far from complete.

32 “A-gan revisited”.

33 “Tang Ashina Zhong mu fajue jianbao ”, Kaogu (1977.2), reprinted in Tujue yu Huihe lishi lunwen xuanji , ed. Gan, Lin (Beijing, 1987), ii, pp. 408–19.Google Scholar

34 Xi, Zhu , Zhuzi yulei (Beijing, 1986), 136.3245.Google Scholar

35 Wendi's childhood name was Nanluoyan See Daoxuan, , XU gaoseng zhuan (Taipei, 1988), 26.900. Yangdi's was Ame See for example ZZhTJ 179.5577.Google Scholar

36 Yang Yong's childhood name was Gandifa (ZZhTJ 179.5575). As we have pointed out in “A-gan revisited”, this name can be identified with a similar childhood name Qizhifa of the “Xianbei-ized” warlord Feng Ba . See Wei shu, 97.2126. Li Jiangcheng's childhood name was Pishamen (XTSh 79.3540).

37 ZZhTJ 212.6735.

38 JTSh 64.2415.

39 For this childhood name, see for example ZZhTJ 197.6206.

40 ZZhTJ 197.6208.

41 This term was well attested as the clan name Chinu , which became Lang , “wolf”, in Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization drive (Wei shu, 113.3013). As Peter Boodberg pointed out in his “The language of the T'o-pa Wei”, HJAS, I (1936), pp. 167–85.Google Scholar another likely attestation was the popular personal name Chounu .

42 Zheng, Wei et al. , Sui shu (Beijing, 1974), 15.397.Google Scholar

43 JTSh 62.2375–76, 74.2614–15, XTSh 98.3897, 99.3907–08, and ZZhTJ 186.5834, 194.6095.

44 XTSh 201.5728.

45 See for example Daoxun, Xu and Keyao, Zhao , Tang Xuanzong zhuan (Beijing, 1993), p. 409Google Scholar and passim.

46 See for example ZZhTJ 272.8904.

47 See for example Tekin, Talat, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic (Bloomington, 1968), pp. 373–4.Google Scholar

48 Sui shu 52.1341.

49 al-Kāšγarī, Maḥmūd, Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Türk Şiveleri Lügati), edited and translated by Dankoff, Robert and Kelly, James (Cambridge, Mass., 1982–1985), i, p. 341.Google Scholar

50 ZZhTJ 190.5959.

51 JTSh 64.2415–16.

52 Su, Liu, , Sui Tang jiahua (Beijing, 1979), 1.7;Google Scholar Su, Liu , Da Tang xinyu (Beijing, 1984), 1.13.Google Scholar Guang, Again Sima edited it to a mere tianshe weng – “old house-owning peasant” in ZZhTJ 194.6096.Google Scholar

53 Read for example Yuan, Chen , Tongjian Huzhu biaowei (Beijing, 1958), pp. 323–4,Google Scholar though Chen quoted only a small number of cases.

54 Zhuo, Zhang , Chaoye qianzai (Beijing, 1979), 4.89.Google Scholar

55 Twitchett, Denis Crispin (ed.), The Cambridge History of China (London, 1979), iii, p. 236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

56 Wright, Arthur, “T'ang T'ai-tsung and Buddhism”, in Perspectives on the T'ang, ed. Wright, A. F. and Twitchett, D. (New Haven, 1973), pp. 239–63.Google Scholar The particular comment is on p. 253.

57 Pulleyblank, Edwin G., “The An Lu-shan rebellion and the origins of chronic militarism in late T'ang China” in Essays on T'ang Society, ed. Perry, J. C. and Smith, B. L. (Leiden, 1976), pp. 32–60.Google Scholar See p. 37.

58 See, e.g., ZZhTJ 192.6034, Quan Tang wen (Beijing, 1983) 9.106,Google Scholar THY 26.506, Da Tang xinyu 9.133, etc. For continuing his old habit while an emperor, see ZZhTJ 192.6021–22, 192.6042.

59 “A-gan revisited”.

60 They include Tuli (Tölis) Qaghan of the Eastern Turk (ZZhTJ 191.5992), the loyal Turk general Simo, Ashina (Cefu yuangui [Beijing, 1960], 980.11516Google Scholar) who was given the imperial clan name Li (JTSh 194.5156, XTSh 215.6037), and the Western Turk prince, later Duolu Qaghan (JTSh 194.5183).

61 Zhongmian, Cen , Sui Tang shi (Beijing. 1957), PP. 140 and 142,Google Scholar has claimed that certain features of Tang Taizong's mausoleum were imitative of Turkish burial custom, a notion followed by Wechsler, Howard J., Offerings of Jade and Silk (New Haven, 1985), p. 81.Google Scholar We contend that, rather than mere imitation, it in fact reflected the Tang imperial house's steppe background. The Tang's respect for non-Han burial customs both within and without the Chinese heartland was reflected in Tang Taizong's condemnation of the Eastern Turks' adoption of the (Han) tomb burials in violation of their ancestral customs (Cefu yuangui, 125.1501; see also Ecsedy, Ilkidó, “Ancient Turk [T'u-chüeh] burial customs”, AOH, XXXVIII [1984], pp. 263–87;Google Scholar the particular passages are found on pages 276–7) and Tang Xuanzong's edict allowing a surrendered Turk official to “be buried according to the native [Turkish] customs” (Cefu yuangui, 974.11446).

62 ZZhTJ 196.6191.

63 Schafer, Edward H., The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: a Study of T'ang Exotics (Berkeley, 1963), p. 65.Google Scholar

64 Boodberg, Peter A., “The language of the T'o-pa Wei”, HJAS, I (1936), pp. 167–85.Google Scholar

65 See Taizong's, Emperor essay “Liumatu zan ”. in Quan Tang wen, 10.124.Google Scholar

66 Wu, Silas H. L., Passage to Power: K'ang-hsi and His Heir Apparent, 1661–1772 (Cambridge, Mass., 1979), pp. 133–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

67 THY 55.943–44, XTSh 199.5661, ZZhTJ 201.6363.

68 XTSh 80.3565.

69 THY 27.521.

70 Wei shu, 22.558.

71 Zixian, Xiao , Nan Qi shu (Beijing, 1972), 57.996.Google Scholar

72 See for example Qiaoyi, Chen , Li Daoyuan yu Shujing zhu (Shanghai, 1987), PP. 31, 34–5.Google Scholar

73 Yinke, Chen, Tangdai zhengzhishi, pp. 52–3.Google Scholar

74 Yuan, Chen op. cit., p. 252.Google Scholar

75 Jin shu (Beijing, 1974), 101.2648Google Scholar and passim.

76 Fletcher, Joseph, “The Mongols: ecological and social perspectives”, HJAS, XLVI (1986), pp. 11–50.Google Scholar

77 Fletcher, Joseph, “Turco-Mongolian monarchic tradition in the Ottoman Empire”, Harvard Ukrainian Studies, III/IV (1979–1980), pp. 236–51.Google Scholar

78 Boodberg, Peter A., “Marginalia to the histories of the Northern dynasties”, HJAS, IV (1939), pp. 230–83,Google Scholar in particular p. 266.

79 Fletcher, Joseph, “Blood tanistry: authority and succession in the Ottoman, Indian Muslim, and later Chinese empires”, The Conference on the Theory of Democracy and Popular Participation,Bellagio, Italy,1978.Google Scholar

80 Yi, Zhao, Nian'ershi Zhaji , annotated by Weiyun, Du (Taipei, 1975), 19.410.Google Scholar

81 ZZhTJ 197.6197, 199.6280–81.

82 ZZhTJ 197.6195.

83 ZZhTJ 202.6377, 203.6419.

84 For example, see Hu ji, Wu Zetian benzhuan (Xi'an, 1986), pp. 60–1.Google Scholar

85 ZZhTJ 199.6286–87, 204.6467, 207.6557.

86 JTSh 7.135, ZZhTJ 204.6473, 205.6490.

87 ZZhTJ 204.6474–75, 206.6526–27.

88 Alderson, Anthony D., The Structure of the Ottoman Dynasty (Oxford, 1956), pp. 32–6;Google Scholar Goody, Jack (ed.), Succession to High Office (Cambridge, 1966), pp. 20–1.Google Scholar For a detailed description of this part of the Ottoman palace, see Penzer, Norman Mosley, The Harem (London, 1936), pp. 197–201.Google Scholar

89 ZZhTJ 244.7886. We may also note that the Ottoman Kafes was hardly unique in the Turkic political sphere: the later Ghaznavids in Afghanistan and Northern India also developed a similar policy after incessant succession struggles among the Sultan's family members. See Bosworth, C. E., The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay (Edinburgh, 1977), p. 38.Google Scholar Corresponding to the “birth control” measures in the Kafes, a remarkable episode was Xuanzong's repeated attempts in aborting his consort's pregnancy for fear of further antagonizing Princess Taiping (JTSh 52.2184). One notes that the incident was recorded due largely to the fact that the pregnancy Xuanzong (then the crown prince) tried to terminate produced in the end none other than the future emperor Suzong.

90 ZZhTJ 208.6611–12.

91 ZZhTJ 209.6641–42.

92 ZZhTJ 209.6650.

93 ZZhTJ 210.6656–57.

94 See for example the story in ZZhTJ 210.6673–74, JTSh 97.3051 and XTSh 125.4406.

95 JTSh 45.1957–58.

96 See Silas Wu, Passage to Power.

97 ZZhTJ 214.6829.

98 Zuyu, Fan, Tang jian (Shanghai, 1937), 9.78.Google Scholar

99 On November 20, 1514. See Alderson, , op. cit., p. 30.Google Scholar

100 XTSh 82.3608, ZZhTJ 216.6916.17.

101 ZZhTJ 218.6975–76, 218.6982.

102 ZZhTJ 221.7094–95.

103 ZZhTJ 218.6983, 219.7007.

104 Li Bai signed on with the losing side of this fratricidal struggle for the throne, for which he almost received a death sentence. He was eventually exiled to Yelang , which was by far the most serious crisis in Li's life. See for example XTSh 202.5763. This in turn led Du Fu to write several immortal poems on his deep concern over his friend's fate.

105 ZZhTJ 219.7013.

106 ZZhTJ 222.7123–24.

107 Wright, Arthur, “Sui Yang-ti: personality and stereotype”, in Confucianism and Chinese Civilization, ed. Wright, A. (New York, 1964), pp. 158–87.Google Scholar

108 Xiong, Victor Cunrui, “Sui Yangdi and the building of Sui-Tang Luoyang”, The Journal of Asian Studies, LII (1993), PP. 66–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

109 Bosworth, , The Ghaznavids, pp. 230–4.Google Scholar

110 Erkang, Feng Yongzheng zhuan (Beijing, 1985), pp. 555–9.Google Scholar

111 Winstanley, Lilian, Hamlet and the Scottish Succession (Cambridge, 1921)Google Scholar and, much more recently, Kurland, Stuart M., “Hamlet and the Scottish succession?” Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900, XXXIV (1994), pp. 279–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

112 Defen, Linghu, Zhou shu (Beijing, 1971) 50.909;Google Scholar also Li Yanshou, Bei shi (Beijing, 1974), 99.3287,Google Scholar and You, Du Tong dian (Shanghai, 1935), 197.1068.Google Scholar

113 SirFrazer, James G., “The killing of the Khazar kings”, Folklore, XXVIII (1917), pp. 382–407;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Dunlop, D. M., The History of the Jewish Khazars (Princeton, 1954), p. 97.Google Scholar An extensive exposition of ritual regicide can be found in SirFrazer, James G., The Golden Bough, 3rd ed. (New York, 1935), iv, pp. 9–119.Google Scholar

114 A comprehensive summary of most such “retired emperors” can be found in Yi, Zhao, op. cit., 13.281–6.Google Scholar

115 See for instance Hummel, Arthur William (ed.), Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period (1644–1912) (Washington, D.C., 1943–1944), P. 372.Google Scholar

116 ZZhTJ 134.4187, 137.4302.

117 Fan Ye, Hou Han shu (Beijing, 1965), 90.2979.Google Scholar

118 Yanshi jiaxun jijie, 1.48. Wright, Arthur (The Sui Dynasty, p. 35)Google Scholar has also noted Yan's observation.

119 The case of Lady Gouyi of the Han, from which the Tuoba custom had allegedly taken its cue, was evidently an exceptional, ad hoc measure.

120 ZZhTJ 152.4739.

121 See for example Fletcher, Joseph, “Turco-Mongol monarchic tradition in the Ottoman Empire”.Google Scholar

122 Yinke, Chen, Tangdai zhengzhi shi, pp. 41–4.Google Scholar

123 XTSh79. See also Wechsler, Howard J., Mirror to the Son of Heaven: Wei Cheng at the Court of T'ang T'ai-tsung (New Haven, 1974), p. 71.Google Scholar

124 THY 73.1311; ZZhTJ 193.6098.

125 Li Duozuo (JTSh 109.3296–97) was a typical case.

126 See for example Yinke, Chen, “Lun Tangdai zhi Fanjiang yu fubing ”, Chen Yinke xiansheng lunwenji, i, pp. 665–77,Google Scholar and Qun, Zhang , “Tangdai Fanjiang chutan ”, Journal of Oriental Studies, XIX (1981), pp. 1–38.Google Scholar

127 See for example Tekin, Talat, op. cit., p. 264.Google Scholar

128 For example, in Emperor Xuanzong's military move to eliminate Princess Taiping's supporters, which culminated in the princess's suicide and Emperor Ruizong's final “retirement”, two important players were Wang Maozhong , a family slave of Korean descent, and Gao Lishi it , a eunuch. See ZZhTJ 210.6683, JTSh 106.3252.

129 Pulleyblank, (“The An-Lu-shan rebellion”, p. 40)Google Scholar seems the only author to have noted this Turco-Chinese partnership, albeit failing to recognize the crucial Xianbei factor which, like the Manchus, was the key element binding the steppe and the agrarian communities into a true empire.

130 See Yinke, Chen, Tangdai zhengzhishi, pp. 50–1.Google Scholar

131 Jackson, Peter and Lockhart, Laurence(ed.), The Cambridge History of Iran VI (Cambridge, 1986), p. 366;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Lockhart, Laurence, The Fall of the Safavi Dynasty and the Afghan occupation of Persia (Cambridge, 1958), pp. 17, 29–32.Google Scholar

132 ZZhTJ 254.8237.

133 For example, Lin, Zhao , Yinhua lu , in Tang Guoshi bu deng bazhong , ed. Jialuo, Yang (Taipei, 1962),Google Scholar 5.35, has a telling story on the deplorable condition during the Yuanhe (806–820) era of an originally prestigious imperial guard office.

134 Read for example Wright, , “Sui Yang-Ti”, pp. 161–2.Google Scholar

135 See, e.g. Rulei, Hu, op. cit., pp. 78–9.Google Scholar

136 ZZhTJ 189.5931–2.

137 ZZhTJ 195.6150, 196.6174.

138 ZZhTJ 196.6168.

139 THY 4.44. The incident itself showed Chengqian's decent quality, something the official history was reluctant to admit.

140 Weijuan, Yao , Beichao huxing kao (Beijing, 1958), pp. 25–8.Google Scholar

141 It is interesting to note several cases of elder and more “militaristic” sons being passed over for succession in the Turco-Iranian realm which have puzzled early Muslim and later authors (Bosworth, , The Ghaznavids, pp. 45 and 228).Google Scholar Bosworth has suggested they might be a reminiscence of the steppe custom of ultimogeniture. However, as many Mongolists have pointed out, the Mongol practice of ochigin regarding the inheritance of property might not necessarily apply to political power (khanship). In the Sarbo-Chinese connection, the cultural aspect of these cases would also seem an interesting topic. One notes that, among the Ghaznavids for example, in contrast with the militarist elder brother Mas'ūd, the younger brother Muḥammad's tastes “were predominately literary and studious” (Bosworth, , Later Ghaznavids, p. 18).Google Scholar

142 Wei Zheng was noted for his loyalty to Emperor Gaozu's original heir apparent Prince Jiancheng. As shown by an interesting episode in JTSh 71.2559, he was still quite unwavering on the dizhang succession rule after many years of service under Emperor Taizong, whose accession to the throne represented a breach of this very principle.

143 Frye, Richard N. and Sayili, Aydin M., “Turks in the Middle East before the Saljuqs”, JAOS, LXII (1943), pp. 194–207.Google Scholar

144 Hummel, , op. cit., p. 94.Google Scholar

145 Li Xian's famed annotation of Hou Han shu has since become an integral part of that dynastic history.

146 Guodong, Sun , “Tang Zhenguan Yonghui jian dangzheng shishi ”, Xinya Shuyuan xueshu niankan , VII (1965), pp. 39–49,Google Scholar did point out that Zhangsun Wuji, Li Zhi's decisive backer, was not a man of letters while three major supporters of Prince Wei, namely Liu Ji , Cen Wenben and Cui Renshi all were, and all had a rather miserable end.

147 See ZZhTJ 197.6195 and Quan Tang wen 161.1645.

148 Paraphrasing the title of David Honey's essay on sinicization. See note 8.

149 Barfield, Thomas J., The Perilous Frontier (Cambridge Mass., 1989), p. 197.Google Scholar

150 Tao, , Jing-Shen, , Jurchen in Twelfth-Century China (Seattle, 1976), pp. 42–7.Google Scholar

151 Baiyao, Li Bei Qi shu (Beijing, 1972), 24.347–48.Google Scholar

152 Meskoob, Shahrokh, Iranian Nationality and the Persian Language (Translation of Millilyat va zaban) (Washington, D.C., 1992), pp. 36–7.Google Scholar

153 Zhongluo, Wang Wei-Jin nanbeichao shi (Shanghai, 1980), ii, p. 983,Google Scholar discusses briefly the savageries of the Northern Zhou army based on some scattered data.

154 ZZhTJ 165.5121.

155 See for example Ciyuan (Beijing, 1988), p. 82Google Scholar quoting Shuo fu

156 Togan, Zeki Velidi, “Sur l'origine des Safavides”, in Mélanges Louis Massignon (Damascus, 1957), iii, PP. 345–57;Google Scholar Mazzaoui, Michael M., The Origins of the Ṣafawids: šīism, Ṣūfism, and the Ġulāt (Wiesbaden, 1972), pp. 47–8.Google Scholar

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158 Holt, Peter Malcolm et al. (ed.), The Cambridge History of Islam (Cambridge, 1970), i, p. 394;Google Scholar Mazzaoui, , op. cit., pp. 46–52.Google Scholar

159 Bawden, Charles R. (trans, and annotate), The Mongol Chronicle Altan Tobci (Wiesbaden, 1955), pp. 128–9;Google Scholar Franke, H. Franke, op. cit., pp. 64–9.Google Scholar

160 Wright, Arthur, “T'ang T'ai-tsung and Buddhism”, in Perspectives on the T'ang, ed. Wright, A. F. and Twitchett, D. (New Haven, 1973), pp. 239–63.Google Scholar

161 Yongtong, Tang, Wangri zagao (Beijing, 1962), p. 10;Google Scholar Sui-Tang Fojiao shigao (Beijing, 1982), p. 14.Google Scholar

162 Weinstein, Stanley, Buddhism under the T'ang (Cambridge, 1987), pp. 11–12 and p. 155 n. 2.Google Scholar

163 Shiyan, , Tang hufa shamen Falin biezhuan in Da zang jing Zhi No. 8, (Shanghai, 1912), p. 10.Google Scholar

164 JTSh 191.5089, 192.5125; XTSh 204.5804–05.

165 ZZhTJ 191.6009.

166 Minqiu, Song (comp.), Tang da zhaoling ji (Beijing. 1959). 113.586.Google Scholar

167 See Pulleyblank, Edwin, “The Chinese and their neighbours in prehistoric and early historic times”, in The Origins of Chinese Civilization, ed. Keichtley, David N. (Berkeley, 1983), pp. 411–66, in particular pp. 414–15.Google Scholar

168 Middle Chinese pronunciation bit. For a dissenting view, see Sinor, Denis, “Altaica and Uralica”, in Studies in Finno-Ugric Linguistics in Honor of Alo Raun, ed. Sinor, D. (Bloomington, 1978), pp. 319–32.Google Scholar

169 Long-speculated existence of a Xianbei script (see, for example, Mair, Victor H., “Buddhism and the rise of the written vernacular in East Asia: the making of national languages”, JAS, LIII [1994], pp. 707–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar) can be largely disregarded after the discovery of the Xianbei cavern and even more because of other equally rich collections of archaeological findings, especially tomb inscriptions and other artifacts of this period. See Yiliang, Zhou Wei-Jin nanbeichao shi lunji xubian (Beijing, 1991), pp. 179–80.Google Scholar

170 Goody, Jack and Watt, Ian, “The consequence of literacy”, Comparative Studies in Society and History,V (1963), pp. 304–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

171 Zhou shu 36.643.

172 Shitong edition used: Lüfu, Zhao Shitong xin jiaozhu (Chongqing, 1990), pp. 457, 960.Google Scholar

173 ZZhTJ 173.5382.

174 This distrust might have even contributed to the cause of the An Lushan rebellion. See Pulleyblank, Edwin, The Background of the Rebellion of An Lu-shan (London, 1955), pp. 75–81.Google Scholar

175 See for example Dien, Albert E., “Yen Chih-T'ui (531–91 +): His Life and Thought”, Diss. (University of California, 1962), p. 12,Google Scholar and Holmgren, Jennifer, “Politics of the inner court under the Hou-chu (Last Lord) of the Northern Ch'i (ca. 565–73)”, in State and Society in Early Medieval China, ed. Dien, A. E. (Stanford, 1990), pp. 269–330,Google Scholar though both have used the standard “exemplary history” arguments to explain this contrast.

176 Eberhard, Wolfram, A History of China, 4th ed. (London, 1977), p. 152.Google Scholar

177 Barfield, , op. cit., p. 126.Google Scholar