After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, its relationship with the Western Regions underwent tremendous changes. In the past, we mainly learned about it through Xuanzang's records. The "Epitaph of Zhang Bi" discovered a few years ago can tell us that from the first year of Zhenguan to the sixth year of Zhenguan, Tang Taizong once traveled Tens of thousands of kilometers to more than 30 countries and to many countries in western Europe. The envoys of Zhang Bishi have no record in the historical materials circulating, and the epitaph is a supplement to an important fact in the history of the Silk Road.
The New Book of Tang records: "After five years of zhenguan, he invited his subjects." Emperor Taizong said, "Evil takes a false name and harms the people, and I am a good subject, and I should be anxious to share his worries." Ten thousand miles of teachers, Ning Shuozhi evil?' But not. "All this shows that Silk Road traffic is inextricably linked to Zhang Bi."
General route map of Silk Road traffic
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, the discovery of Zhang Bi's Epitaph, a new historical material in the Western Regions in the early years of Zhenguan, is a milestone for the Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty</h1>
In the past, according to xuanzang's disciples Huili and Yan Xi's "Biography of the Three Tibetan Masters of the Great Ci'en Monastery", it was generally believed that in the early years of Zhenguan, the Tang Dynasty mainly adopted a closed attitude towards Tibetan Buddhism. In the western region, Xuanzhuang went to India to study, which was smuggled across the border. According to the "Biography of Ci'en", when he was in Guazhou, he was a guide from a young scholar who crossed the Hulu River to Reach Yumen Pass. From the name of this Hu person, it can be inferred that he is a Central Asian stone country, that is, a Soged person near Hami in xinjiang. Fearing that the official residence would privately ban crown gold, Shi Pantu returned from The Jade Gate Pass.
Xuanzang followed the "fifth route" between Guazhou and Yizhou, from the first lighthouse to the fourth lighthouse, and with the help of a guardian general who believed in Buddhism, entered the northwest. With the help of a knowledgeable old horse, he made fifteen trips to Yiwu and reached Dawu. In the "Biography of Ci'en", Xuanzang's arduous journey from Hexi Yumen Pass to the western yiwu kingdom is detailed, and he walks alone in the desert, so he hopes that the bones will gather horse dung and so on.
The rule of chastity
Since I walked, it is more than eight hundred miles long along the mound, and the ancient river is called the Sha River. There are no birds, no beasts, and no aquatic plants on it. This was the only place Gu Ying thought of, but he read Guanyin Bodhisattva and the Pan Ruo Heart Sutra. More than a hundred miles at a time, it was lost and it was impossible to find Yema Spring. Once exhausted, drink water, heavy bags, overwhelmed and thousands of miles of resources. Looking back, I'm not sure. It was an age of ignorance, man and bird. At night, the demons rotted like stars and caught fire. During the day, sandstorms, like rain. Still, I was fearless. But the bitter water ran out, and the thirst could not last. It was four nights and five days, no throat dripping, dry mouth, almost dead, unable to enter again.
Xuanzang's account of this difficult journey for his two disciples certainly impressed future generations and considered the road of communication at that time to be such a difficult and insurmountable obstacle. In fact, Xuanzang violated the prohibition on private borders at the time. If it is said to be the legitimate emissary of the Tang Dynasty, this line of thinking is still very clear. We were fortunate to see the epitaph of Zhang Bi in the Tang Dynasty Epitaph in the Xitang Museum, tang Fucheng was the founding father of Huang'an County, the founding father of Nan'an County. It records the deeds of this emissary of Zhang's westward journey.
Portrait of Zhang Bi
Because it is almost identical to Xuanzang's westward journey, it provides us with very rare alternative historical information that deserves attention. In the early years of Zhenguan, Li Qingyun graduated. For example, the former Gongliao genus was obtained from airdrops to supplement the right-back Cangcao army. Yu Shimao is ugly, but still reuses the photos. Emperor Taizong linxuan, Huai Dingyuan; summoned a general to chase beauty and dig the sky. Follow the sacred rules and travel in a hurry. He has employed 30 countries and worked for tens of thousands of kilometers, and the terrain is very dangerous.
Zhang's father, Zhang Kuan, served as shangdang county magistrate and in the history of Qingzhou in the Sui Dynasty, and after the Xuanwumen Incident, Emperor Taizong came to power, "demoted from demotion to the former palace bureaucracy" and demoted to the position of party prince. At the beginning of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered him to leave the western region and return to Zhenguan six years later to complete his mission. During his 10th year at Zhenguan, he served as a number of important officials, and in 14 years, in addition to Shangshu and Lang, he also tried to change the official positions of Yue Wangfu and the Yangzhou soldier Cao Junjun. In the second year of Emperor Gaozong's reign, Emperor Yonghui granted the order of Huang'an County in Shizhou to the prefecture. Five years, sixty years in his own home to die.
It can be seen that during the reign of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong, due to the fall of Taizu, Zhang Yuan was made crown prince, and although he contributed to the Western Regions, he eventually only made a county order. As a result, his visit to the western region did not have a chance to be revealed. If it were not excavated from this epitaph, we do not know that from the first year of Zhenguan to the sixth year of Zhenguan, Tang Taizong sent people to join Zhang Bi and visit the envoys of 30 countries in the West, and the envoys of Zhang envoys can be seen as a feat of the Silk Road in the early Tang Dynasty. Although some have pointed out the significance of Zhang's visit to the west, the discussion is relatively simple. This article compares and explains further from other relevant materials.
Images of Minister Tang Dynasty
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >2, "read ten thousand books, travel thousands of miles", Zhang Bi toured thirty countries and walked 400,000 miles</h1>
According to the epitaph, this envoy has visited thirty kingdoms in the western region of the world. To understand the significance of Zhang's visit, we must also talk about the relationship between the sui dynasty and the western region.
In the Book of Sui, it is recorded that Emperor Fu ordered the moment to go to Zhangye, leading to the Western Province, and to more than ten kingdoms. In the third year of Daye, the emperor had something to do with Hengyue, and Xian came to help the sacrifice. The emperor will patrol the right side of the river and return to Dunhuang. The envoys said that the kings of Gaochang, Koji Boya and Iwu Tutunshi, etc., took advantage of the favor and led the envoys into the dynasty. and The Emperor's Western Tour, the Second Yan Zhishan, the King of Gaochang, the Yiwushi, etc., and the Twenty-Seven Kingdoms of the Western Hu yu Daozuo. All ordered Pei Jinyu, was brocadeed, burned incense, and sang and danced noisily. Fu Ling Wu Wei and Zhang Ye Shi female Sheng ornaments look at the whole, ride to fill the throat, circumference for tens of miles, to show the prosperity of China.
It can be seen that the Sui Dynasty had a process of understanding the countries of the Western Regions. In the great cause, the Sui Emperor sent Pei Ju to the western region to recruit the state. As a result of Pei Ju's administration, the number of countries paying tribute to the Sui Dynasty increased from more than a dozen to twenty-seven. There are up to thirty countries.
The Book of Sui records that the subject was not only concerned with the care, but also the supervision of guanshi, the search for the transmission of books, the visit to the Hu people, or some doubts, that is, the details of the mouth. According to the shape of their own costumes, the king and the shu people, each of them, that is, Dan Qingmo wrote, for the "Western Regions Map", a total of three volumes, combined with forty-four countries.
The Sui Shu Pei Ju Biography contains Pei Zhi's Preface to the Western Regions, and the courtiers were concerned about it, and they monitored the city, searched for biographies, interviewed the Hu people, or became suspicious of it, and showed their tolerance, which was written by Dan Qing, a three-volume, forty-four-state group. It can be seen that Pei Zhi learned about the situation of forty-four countries in the western region through methods such as Hu's interviews, and these countries did not all visit the Sui Dynasty.
The prosperous Sui Dynasty
After the wars of the late Sui and early Tang dynasties, and before the Tang Dynasty re-established contact with the Western Regions, only 20 western kingdoms were known as the Central Plains Dynasty. Mr. Yu Taishan pointed out: "This biography has a total of 23 countries, the adjacent groups are grouped into one category, and the rest of the countries can be grouped together, but the order is chaotic, which shows that the editorial staff is not familiar with the geographical environment of the western region." "These countries should have been known to the Dynasty and Zhang Envoys since the early Tang Dynasty before they went to the Western Regions.
Zhang sent thirty countries in the Western Regions, more than known in the late Sui Dynasty, many of which were supposed to be the first visits of Tang ambassadors. Therefore, the mission of Zhang Envoy to the Western Regions was a very important matter in the history of the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions. According to the Old Book of Tang and other relevant records, the area that Zhang Envoys touched was more than 36,000 kilometers.
It can be inferred from Zhang Envoy's "Forty Thousand Miles of Polar Land" that he must not be in a straight line in the western region, because even if he reached Persia, it would not be enough for "forty thousand miles". He didn't necessarily have to go to Persia, but he visited 30 countries and should crisscross it. The kingdoms of the western region he visited should have included the oasis kingdoms of the Tarim Basin, as well as the Sogdia region and Tuholo, which were controlled by the Western Turks.
During the Tang Dynasty, the people lived in peace and contentment
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, Zhang Bi's mission to the Western Regions was fruitful, bringing Silk Road traffic to the Tang Dynasty's Zhenguan rule</h1>
As far as we know, from the first year of Zhenguan to the sixth year of Zhenguan, only Zhang envoy was an envoy to the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty, so it is understandable that the Tang Dynasty in the early years of the State zhenguan of the Western Regions was probably the achievements brought by Zhang Envoys, and according to the traffic situation between the Western Regions and the Tang Dynasty in the past six years of Zhenguan, let us take a look at the possible achievements of Zhang Bi's envoys.
The "CefuYuan Sea Turtle" records: The first month of the first year of the first year of The reign of Emperor Taizong Zhenguan, the Western Turks; in March, Gaochang, Tuguhun, etc.; in May, HeGuo, Kangguo; in October, the Western Turks; and pay tribute. At that time, the Kingdom of Gaochang in the Turpan Basin and the hekang prefecture in the Sog region were under the control of the Western Turk Khaganate.
Therefore, at the beginning of the first year of the Zhenguan dynasty, it is inevitable to pay tribute to the Western Turks. Influence other western oasis kingdoms. Then, Zhang emissaries came to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty. This may have been the background of Zhang Bi's envoys, and even Zhang's envoys and the Western Turkic envoys who came to the west also went to the west, because there was a so-called "conscription" system at that time, and the arrival of large embassies The Tang Dynasty sometimes needed to send envoys to repay.
The "YuanGui of the Book of Records" records: "In February of the third year of Zhenguan, Gao Chang sent envoys to pay tribute." This time Gao Chang's envoy to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty may be the result of Zhang Bi's envoy. This result gradually warmed up afterwards.
It is recorded in the "YuanGui of the Book of Records" that "in November of the third year of Zhenguan, the Western Turks and Gaochang sent envoys to pay tribute. ”
Gao chang entered the Tang Dynasty with the suzerainty of the Western Turks, and at that time, the messengers of the Tang Dynasty arrived at the Western Turk Khanate, and the messenger did not rule out the possibility of Zhang's emissaries, because the emissaries carried envoys and cultural relics, which were necessary for the officials to carry with them, and the Western Turk Khan very politely invited the Chinese ambassadors to sit down, not ordinary people, but Officials of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin made outstanding contributions to the rule of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty
The Old Book of Tang records that "Emperor Taizong's heir, Fu Gongxuan Fox Ball, because of his wife Yuwen's fireworks. Yu Wen's Fu Gongyu plate. All the movements in the Western Regions are always very pleasant to hear. Therefore, Gaochang must have been the focus of the Tang Dynasty's diplomatic work.
Located in the east of Tianshan, the Kingdom of Gaochang was a great western power bordering the Tang Dynasty. In the early years of Zhenguan, Gaochang had a very friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Bi's western envoys had to visit Gaochang, "In February of the third year of the first year of Zhenguan, Gaochang sent the emperor to pay tribute. This time, Gao chang's emissaries paid tribute to the Tang Dynasty, which may have been the achievement of Zhang's envoys. This result gradually warms up. According to the relevant account of the same article: "In November of the third year of Zhenguan, the Western Turks and Gaochang sent tributaries. "It was the Gaochang people who entered the Tang Dynasty together with the sovereign state of Western Turks.
The same article is also quoted in the Old Book of Tang: "In the winter of the fourth year of Zhenguan, Wentai came to the dynasty and will return to Fancheng, and the gift was very generous. His wife Yu Wen asked her ancestors to give her a consolation to Princess Changle, who was sealed by the Li clan. “
Prosperous Tang Dynasty
In May of the second year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong also deliberately "invited King Wentai of Gaochang and his ministers" to show his sincerity to King Dachang. When Gao Chang entered Korea this time, he also told Emperor Taizong that "Western countries hope to contribute to the Ventai envoys", but Wei Zheng believed that if the embassies of ten countries joined in the tribute, it would not exceed a thousand people, and the border counties would not help, which was unacceptable. Emperor Taizong obeyed Wei Zheng's advice and rejected emissaries from these countries. It can be seen that when Zhang Envoy was in the Western Regions, the countries in the Western Regions began to break away from the Rule of the Western Turks and hoped to communicate with the Tang Dynasty.
The achievements of Zhang Bi's envoys do not seem to be underestimated. Volume 193 of the Zizhi Tongjian records that from September to December of the third year of Zhenguan, it is recorded that "the distance is far away, there are many tributes from various countries, and the clothes are also very strange." The picture was drawn by the planner Yan Lide, but unfortunately it was lost, but Song Rendong also saw the original picture, and there are relevant records in the second volume of the Guangchuan Painting Collection, "Shangwang", where there are officials to prosecute, others to guide, orders to be determined according to the country, and each country depends on its own position.
Tang dynasty
These do not necessarily correspond to the countries of the Tang Dynasty, but the painter may not be realistic, and some of the images may have been inherited from the previous Gong Gong Tu, but it reflects the general situation of the Tang Dynasty at that time, which was painted by Zhenguan in the past three years, from which we can learn about the image of the western tributaries seen by the Tang Dynasty at that time. Although we cannot say that the western envoys in the past three years of Zhenguan were all the result of Special Envoy Zhang, the two were coincidental in time, and the decree that Envoy Zhang wanted to perfect and give alms should be the result of no promotion. The Silk Road brought countless spiritual and material wealth to China, and to this day there are still places to be learned
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > conclusion</h1>
The ancient Silk Road pioneered the opening of the East-West Corridor and built a large network of transportation routes in the world for the first time. The ancient Silk Road crisscrossed and connected in all directions, which is a miracle in the history of road traffic in the world. The innumerable Chinese and foreign transportation routes, large and small, constitute the "blood meridian" of the ancient Silk Road, construct the basic pattern of the ancient Silk Road, construct the interconnected transportation network between the ancient Eastern and Western worlds, and become the most convenient passage between Eurasia.
If it is only transportation, the Silk Road is just two long curves of land and sea, but if the history, time, and culture are used as the background, different natural landforms, and different cultural environments, this makes the scenery of the Silk Road along the way change infinitely. Perhaps because of this, although there have been many Silk Road theme exhibitions in recent years, they have never exhausted the connotation of the Silk Road, and always create one amazing moment after another for the viewer.
Although Zhang Bi's envoy activities are not recorded in historical sources, the epitaph supplements an important fact in the study of the history of the Western Regions in the Tang Dynasty. For this reason alone, it is already very important. Therefore, Xuanzang's learning from the scriptures was not a pioneering effort to open up the Silk Road of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Bi's envoys were also very significant in their connection between the Tang Dynasty and the Western Regions.
bibliography:
Book of Sui
Old Book of Tang
Zizhi Tongjian
Tang Studies