What did Emperor Taizong's pro-conquest of Goguryeo illustrate?
In 618, Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, established the Tang Dynasty and made the capital Chang'an, thus beginning the history of the Tang Dynasty for 289 years. Compared with other feudal dynasties in Chinese history, the Tang Dynasty is more dazzling among the many great unified dynasties.
Especially during the period of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, the tang dynasty's politics, military, economy, and culture ranked among the best in the world, and it is no exaggeration to say that the rise of the Tang Empire not only promoted the development of the Central Plains, but also made incomparable contributions to the establishment of the international order in the entire East Asian region and the formulation of the relationship system between states.
During the Tang Dynasty, under the guidance of the ruler's correct governing policy, the territory was vast, the population was large, and the national strength was gradually enhanced. After completing the internal construction and development of the dynasty, the Tang Dynasty set its sights on foreign relations. At this time, the Tang Dynasty was associated with Tibet, turks, and countries on the Korean Peninsula.
Through policies such as "peace and affinity", "tribute", and "clan domain", a strong "network of relations" centered on national interests has been established. Under this premise, it was possible to ensure the stability of the Tang Dynasty's frontiers, and also to allow the Tang rulers to get along harmoniously with the minority regimes, which was of great significance to the development of the Tang Dynasty at that time.
During the Goguryeo dynasty, there were many iterations of clan relations with Goguryeo, which was mainly due to the internal political turmoil of the Goguryeo state, coupled with the dispute between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet over border territory issues, and temporarily lost control of the vassal state of Goguryeo.
The two countries even had wars over territorial issues, but from the perspective of overall development, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo was always maintained in the two general directions of "tribute" and "canonization". From this point of view, the Relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo on the Korean Peninsula was actually the relationship between the clans.
1. Establishment of clan relations
During the Tang Dynasty, there were about three hundred vassal states, and Goguryeo was actually only one of the many vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. The so-called vassal state actually refers to the fact that, unlike the minority regimes outside the Central Plains Dynasty or the Han Nationality, the Central Plains Dynasty needs to "pay tribute" and submit to the subordinates.
As a vassal state, it is politically subject to the suzerainty, for example, when there is a change of ruler in the vassal state, the new king must go through the "canonization" of the suzerainty to be legitimate. As a suzerainty, it is also obliged to help the vassal state maintain its political rule, especially when the vassal state encounters national security problems, and the suzerainty also needs to send troops to assist or mediate for the vassal state.
As one of the more important vassal states in the north of the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo was not only the number one tributary state of the Tang Dynasty, but also admired the political system, economic development and cultural exchanges of the Tang Dynasty. The reason why Goguryeo became a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty was actually very much related to "geography".
From the 1st century BC to the 7th century BC, Goguryeo lived in northeast China, and because of its border with the Tang Dynasty, it was influenced by many aspects of the Tang Dynasty, especially the continuous submission of the surrounding countries of the Tang Dynasty to the tang Dynasty, and Goguryeo had to establish diplomatic relations with the Tang Dynasty if it wanted to have a stable regime.
At that time, the main diplomatic relations between Goguryeo and the Tang Dynasty were "tribute" and acceptance of the Tang Dynasty's "canonization".
2. Emperor Taizong of Tang conquered Goguryeo
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo established a clan relationship with the Tang Dynasty through envoys, and after this relationship was established, it began to accept the tang dynasty's canonization. From the perspective of the Tang Dynasty, because of the political stability of the country, countries outside the Tang Dynasty often adopted the method of "peace and affinity" and clan relations to maintain relations.
Therefore, the policy of appeasement was mainly for Goguryeo, but because the Goguryeo king thought that his strength could compete with the Tang Dynasty in the process of the continuous development of the country, he basically ignored the suzerainty status of the Tang Dynasty.
Goguryeo's approach undermined the Tang Dynasty's "balance of power" policy on the Korean Peninsula from one side, and under this premise, Tang Taizong had to "ride the royal" in order to maintain clan relations.
In the seventh century, in the eighteenth year of Emperor Taizong's reign, a dispute between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo over border territory eventually escalated into a large-scale war.
This war was actually the result of Goguryeo's constant provocations against the suzerainty of the Tang Dynasty, as a vassal state, and at the same time, it was also a political means for the Tang Dynasty to maintain the peace and stability of the dynasty and eliminate the troubles in the northeast. Through its war with Goguryeo, the Tang Dynasty re-established its image as a suzerainty, which played a very positive role in deterring other vassal states.
The reason why Goguryeo dared to fight against the Tang Dynasty was actually very much related to the economic, cultural, demographic, military strength and national strength of the country after the unification of the Korean Peninsula, as well as the ambitions of the Goguryeo rulers.
Under this premise, the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo was completely broken, and after the Tang dynasty destroyed Goguryeo, it established the Andong Capital Protectorate in Goguryeo to manage goguryeo's homeland, at which time Goguryeo was officially incorporated into the tang dynasty territory, and the relationship between the suzerainty and the vassal states came to an end.
The Tang Dynasty began its conquest of Goguryeo and finally took twenty-four years to destroy Goguryeo. This period of history between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo can not only reflect the relationship between the two countries from a historical perspective, but also add a lot of contradictions to the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo.
III. Clan relations after the Tang conquest of Goguryeo
After the Tang Dynasty army attacked Goguryeo, it actually subverted the clan relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo from the root. After this, the Tang Dynasty set up the capital protectorate in Goguryeo and appointed the officials of the capital to administer the old goguryeo land.
During this period the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo were actually relations between the central government and the localities. However, for some time after the war, the political situation in Goguryeo remained turbulent, and anti-Tang forces in Goguryeo continued to create disasters and caused great harm to the local Tang army and the Chinese people.
However, due to the physical damage suffered by Tang Taizong Li Shimin during the imperial conquest, coupled with the fact that the Tang army also suffered great losses when fighting with the Goguryeo army, Tang Taizong hastily withdrew under the premise of completing the predetermined goal in his superior position for many reasons.
But for Li Shimin, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, he did not give up the tang dynasty and Goguryeo until his death. After the Tang army had already settled in Goguryeo, in the face of the repeated intimacy of goguryeo's rulers at that time, as well as the changes in the domestic situation in Goguryeo, the Tang army withdrew from Goguryeo and then the Tang Dynasty re-established clan relations with it.
IV. Conclusion
In fact, in the face of some small countries around the Tang Dynasty, the main policies and guidelines implemented by the Tang Dynasty to the outside world were "peace and kinship" and clan relations. Even though the Tang Dynasty maintained its clan relations with Goguryeo with many twists and turns, but out of national interests, Tang Taizong finally positioned the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo as a clan relationship.
Although the Tang Dynasty once included Goguryeo in the Tang dynasty, it had to abandon this relationship for a variety of reasons. After the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo resumed their clan relations, the two countries re-established a "military alliance", which was of great help to the stability of the Tang Dynasty's frontiers and to the power on the Korean Peninsula.
The alliance between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo is of epoch-making significance in promoting the economic development of both sides and promoting cooperation between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo in various fields.
Since then, Goguryeo has had frequent exchanges with Tang dynasty emissaries, who have laid a very solid foundation for later clan relations. At the same time, there were more and more economic exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo, which not only enabled Goguryeo's own economy to develop rapidly.
In fact, it also provided very valuable experience for the Tang Dynasty to open up overseas "mutual markets". It also made an immeasurable contribution to the economic prosperity and development of both sides, and at the same time, the clan relations between the Tang Dynasty and Goguryeo became more stable.
From this series of historical events, we can see that Goguryeo, as a small country on the Korean Peninsula, can be said to have used everything in its dealings with the Tang Dynasty.
When the twins lived in peace, they constantly "paid tribute" to history, and when the national interests were threatened, they did not hesitate to go to war with the powerful Tang Dynasty. From this perspective, it is not difficult to see that the exchanges between countries are actually for the sake of national interests.
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