Li Shengtian

Li Shengtian

After the downfall of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains appeared the feudal separatist state of Five Dynasties and ten states. In 912, Wei Chi Po Ba became king of Khotan. He called himself "the emperor of the Tang Dynasty" and took the surname of Li as his surname. The king of Khotan is the famous Li Shengtian in history. Li's surname was called "the regime of Li Shengtian" by the people.

Basic introduction

Li Shengtian was the king of Khotan in the Five Dynasties and early Song Dynasty. He was in power from 912 to 966. Wei Chi's family has been in power in Khotan since the Han and Tang Dynasties. Wei Shi, the name of king of Khotan in the biography of the western regions of the later Han Dynasty, may be a different translation of Wei Chi. According to the new Tangshu biography of the western regions, Khotan "since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Chinese imperial edicts and Fu Jie were handed down by the king.". Xuanzang, who had experienced Khotan himself, described in the records of the western regions of the Tang Dynasty that after the founding of Khotan, he said: "since the founding of Khotan, he has been descended, and the Yi and the Shi have inherited each other, and he has passed on the kingdom to the emperor without losing his mind.". It can be seen that the weichi family basically controlled the Khotan regime for thousands of years. According to research, Yuchi was not a surname, but the original title in front of the name of Khotan, which means conqueror and winner. Since the third generation of king of Khotan, this title has been used as a surname.

historical background

Tribute to the Central Plains during the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties

During the Wei, Jin and southern and Northern Dynasties, Khotan still paid tribute to the Central Plains Dynasty. They also merged Ronglu, Jimi, qule, Pishan and other countries. In the Western Jin Dynasty, Shanshan, Yanqi, Qiuci and Shule were the great powers in the western regions. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, it was attacked by Tuyuhun and Rouran successively, and the national power gradually declined. During the Zhenguan period of Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, the king of Khotan sent his son to serve the Tang court. In the 14th year of Zhenguan (640), the Tang Dynasty destroyed Gaochang state in August, and in September, it set up Anxi Du's protector's office in Xizhou Jiaohe City (now the site of xijiaohe city in Turpan, Xinjiang) to manage the military and political affairs in the western regions. In June of the 20th year, the West Turkic Yi PI Shekui Khan asked him to make peace with his relatives. The Tang Dynasty sent his subordinates to the five states of kekuci, Khotan, Shule, zhujupo and Congling as betrothal gifts. In the 22nd year, after the Tang army entered the kuci state, it moved Anxi Duhufu to Kuqa, the capital of kuci state. At the same time, it built castles and military towns in kuci, Yanqi, Yutian and Shule, which were controlled by Anxi Duhufu. Therefore, it is called "Anxi four towns" for short.

In April of the first year of Xianheng (670), Tubo conquered kuci paihuan city (now Wensu, Xinjiang), and four towns were destroyed in the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of the Shang Yuan Dynasty (674), the four towns in Anxi returned to the Tang Dynasty. Fujaxiong, king of Khotan, defeated Tubo and entered the Tang Dynasty in person. In the Tang Dynasty, he set up Pisha governor's office in Khotan, which had jurisdiction over 10 Jimi prefectures, including 6 cities, and appointed fujaxiong as concurrently governor. In the third year of Yifeng (678), Tubo occupied four towns in Anxi. In the fourth year of Yifeng (679), Cui Zhi attacked Tubo and occupied four towns of Anxi in Tang Dynasty. In the second year of chuigong (686), after calming down Xu Jingye's Rebellion (684), Wu Zetian intended to win the hearts of the people, showing that her "duty is to be benevolent, not to be broad, not to be nurtured, not to be killed, and she will stop her soldiers and fight against the three emperors and five emperors", so she ordered to abandon the four towns in Anxi. In 687-689, the Tubo took the opportunity to occupy the four towns in Anxi; in 692, the first year of Empress Wu's longevity, Wang Xiaojie, the general manager of Tang Wuwei army, led the army to defeat Tubo and recover the four towns.

In the Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Wei Chisheng entered the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty married the daughter of the clan and conferred the title of general youweiwei and governor of Pisha Prefecture. After the rebellion in Anlu mountain, Wei Chi Sheng led his troops to the Central Plains. After the rebellion, he died in Chang'an. In the third year of Qianyuan reign of emperor suzong of Tang Dynasty (760), he was granted the title of Wei chiyao and Deputy envoy of the four towns to manage the affairs of the country. He led the local people to defend Khotan with the garrison of Tang town. In 790, Tubo occupied Beiting (except Xizhou in Beiting, in 792 ad, Tubo occupied Xizhou and completely occupied Beiting), and occupied Khotan, one of the four towns in Anxi. In the next few years, Tubo occupied the other three towns in Anxi. There is no information to show the exact time when Tubo began to occupy the other three towns in Anxi. In the middle of the 9th century, the civil strife in Tubo declined and Khotan gained independence. At the end of the 9th century, Khotan began to associate with the regime of the Guiyi army in Shazhou, Dunhuang.

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms - Khotan and other tribes (943 A.D.)

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, Khotan envoys and monks paid tribute to the Song Dynasty several times. At the beginning of the 11th century, Khotan was occupied by the black Khan dynasty, and some people fled to Shazhou, even as far as Qinghai. In Khotan, which has been established for nearly 10 centuries, under the occupation and rule of karakhanate, the language and race gradually became Islamized, and its high-pressure policy forced the people to convert to Islam one after another.

Liao, Northern Song and Khotan (1001 AD)

Later, under the rule of the Western Liao Dynasty, Mongolia, Yuan Dynasty, Chagatai queen king and Junggar tribe, it entered the territory of Qing Dynasty in 1759, and established Hetian Zhili Prefecture in 1883.

Khotan is the first country in the western regions to obtain sericulture technology in the Central Plains, which is based on agriculture and planting industry. Jade is the most famous specialty. Since the introduction of Buddhism at the end of the 2nd century, Khotan has gradually become the center of Mahayana Buddhism. Khotan people love music and drama, and have mixed styles of India and Iran in painting. The painter Yuchi yiseng came to Chang'an in the early Tang Dynasty and painted many murals, which are as famous as Wu Daozi and Yan Liben.

Personal experience

Claiming to be "the emperor of the Tang Dynasty"

After the downfall of the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains appeared the feudal separatist state of Five Dynasties and ten states. In 912, Wei Chi Po Ba became king of Khotan. He called himself "the emperor of the Tang Dynasty" and took the surname of Li as his surname. The king of Khotan is the famous Li Shengtian in history. Since Li Shengtian took the surname of Li, the Khotan regime has been known as the "Li Dynasty".

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People deeply influenced by Han culture

Li Shengtian was deeply influenced by the Han culture, which continued the close relationship between Khotan and the Central Plains Dynasty. After he ascended the throne, he not only became famous in the Han Dynasty and renewed the "Uncle nephew relationship" with the Song Dynasty, but also adopted the popular year name in the mainland according to the practice of the Central Plains court, which was followed by the later rulers of the Li Dynasty. Its administrative system and official system also imitated the Tang Dynasty everywhere. In other words, he thought that Khotan was a local political power under the central government.

Because Khotan had been trapped in Tubo for a long time, and because of the wars in the Central Plains at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the traffic between Khotan and the mainland was cut off. He did not know that the Tang Dynasty was doomed, so he still called himself "the emperor of the Tang Dynasty" in the Song Dynasty. There is a portrait of Li Shengtian in the thousand Buddha cave of Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, wearing a crown, a broad and elegant Han costume. The inscription beside it is "Da Chao Da Bao, Da Sheng Da Ming emperor of Khotan". The "Da Chao" here is Li Shengtian's name for the Tang Dynasty.

The persistence of Khotan was even more reflected in the fact that after the traffic was cut off in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, although it could not contact the Central Plains court, it could connect with the Shazhou (Dunhuang) regime. Khotan and Shazhou had formed an alliance as early as the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Yanchao defeated Tubo and established Zhang's regime in Dunhuang, which was supported by Khotan. At the end of Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties, Zhang Huaishen, the nephew of Zhang Yanchao, succeeded as the governor of Shazhou. The king of Khotan communicated with Zhang's family, calling himself "greater than the Han Emperor of Khotan" and calling Zhang's family of Shazhou his uncle. From then on, the two sides had frequent contacts.

His third daughter married Cao Yanlu

Later, the successors of the Zhangs' regime in Shazhou fought for power and profit and fought against each other. Finally, in 920, the real power of Shazhou fell into the hands of Cao Yanjin. During Cao's reign in Dunhuang, he had a closer relationship with Khotan, where envoys and monks kept in constant contact. Cao Yijin married his second daughter to Li Shengtian, king of Khotan. Li Shengtian's third daughter married Cao Yanlu, the grandson of Cao Yijin. Therefore, in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, there are not only portraits of Li Shengtian, but also portraits of "Da Chao Da Zheng Da Ming Tian CE is completely sealed to Emperor Xiao Tian empress Cao Shi" and "Da Chao Da Tan Tian CE emperor's third daughter Tian Princess Li Shi is provided for by the new Taifu Cao Yanlu Ji". It can be seen that Khotan and the Shazhou regime are not only politically allied, but also genetically related.

It also established a close and friendly relationship with the later Jin Dynasty in the Central Plains

Especially worth mentioning is that Khotan and the Central Plains of the Late Jin Dynasty also established a close and friendly relationship. In the third year of Tianfu (938) of the later Jin Dynasty, Li Shengtian, king of Khotan, sent a very regular mission, with Ma Jirong as the chief envoy, Zhang Zaitong as the Deputy envoy, and Wu shungui as the chief envoy. He arrived in Bianjing (now Kaifeng), the capital of the later Jin Dynasty, to pay tribute to Shi Jingtang, the leader of the state. The tribute included red salt, jade, white wine, tulip, yak tail and other valuable local characteristics Product, which means compliance.

The Jin Dynasty highly appreciated the active ownership of the Khotan state. Ma Jirong was appointed as the general of the Zhen state, Zhang Zaitong was appointed as Wei Weiqing, and Wu shungui was appointed as the general as the junior supervisor. In order to show friendship to Khotan, the Jin Dynasty sent a delegation to Khotan in the same year. Zhang kuangye was consecrated as hongluqing, and judge gaojujiao as judge of Zhangwu Jiedu. He was sent to Khotan and granted Li Shengtian the great treasure of Khotan.

After the arrival of the delegation of Jin Dynasty, Li Shengtian, king of Khotan, went to meet him and gave him warm hospitality. Gao juxu saw that Li Shengtian's clothes were the same as those of the Central Plains. All the palaces in the capital open to the East. They are called "jince hall". There are buildings called "Qifeng building". Li Shengtian entertained him with wine, as well as purple wine and green wine. Food mixed with honey and cheese, respect nomadic customs, but clothing is cloth, silk, like the Central Plains. There are many gardens, flowers and trees in the capital. People like to worship gods and ghosts and believe in Buddhism. In Li Shengtian's residence, there are often fifty purple monk attendants. Its year number is also in accordance with the Central Plains, when the 29th year of Tongqing. The capital city has Yinzhou, Luzhou and Meizhou in the southeast, Yuzhou in the South 1300 Li and Ganzhou in the East. This may be the reason