Tang Taizong Li Shimin
Hello everyone, I'm Lantai.
Today, Lantai wants to talk to you about a very interesting topic: Is the Li royal family of the Tang Dynasty the descendants of the Xianbei people?
Why talk about this topic?
This is because for a long time, there has been a lot of controversy on the Internet about the lineage and origin of the Li royal family, which created the second peak of ancient China - the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Not only are netizens controversial, but many scholars also believe that the Li royal family is likely to have the blood of the Xianbei people.
Zhuxi Image
The first to question the bloodline of the Li family in the Tang Dynasty was Zhu Xi, a master of science in the Southern Song Dynasty, who bluntly said in "Zhu Zi's Language" that the reason why the princesses of the Tang Dynasty were more "bold", and Tang Xuanzong Li Longji even married his daughter-in-law, the reason is that the Li royal family was born in Xianbei, and the customs are very different from those in the Central Plains:
Tang Yuanliu is from Yidi, so the rudeness of the boudoir is not different.
In modern times, Mr. Chen Yinke, a historian, even asserted that the Li royal family is the Sinicized Xianbei people:
The reason why the Li Tang clan flourished was to take the barbaric and fierce blood from outside the plug and inject it into the decadent body of the Central Plains culture. - "After the Speculation of the Li Tang Clan"
So, the master of the Tang Empire, who created the rule of Zhenguan and the prosperous era of Kaiyuan, is the Li royal family the so-called "Sinicized Xianbei"?
Xi'an Tang Paradise
01、
If we only look at the written historical materials, it can be said that the historical materials in both aspects are very rich.
There are many written historical materials that can prove that the Li royal family retained a large number of Xianbei customs in their lives, for example, the "Old Tang Book" records that Tang Xuanzong Li Longji called his father, and Tang Ruizong Li Dan was the "fourth brother", which is a very typical Xianbei custom.
In fact, this custom existed in the Northern Wei Dynasty, which was founded by the Xianbei people during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and in the Northern Qi Dynasty, which was later established by the Xianbei Han Gao Huan.
For example, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty called his grandmother Empress Dowager Feng "mother", and Emperor Gao Yin of the Northern Qi Dynasty called his mother Empress Dowager Li "sister"
The history books clearly state that this custom is the custom of Xianbei:
(Wang Gao of Nanyang in the Northern Qi Dynasty) all call the father as a brother, the mother as the family, the nursing mother as the sister, and the woman as the sister. - "The Biography of the King of Nanyang"
Of course, the Xianbei of daily life customs does not prove that the Li Tang royal family must be of Xianbei blood; after all, the Gao Huan family, who founded the Northern Qi Dynasty, is the Xianbei Han people.
The night view of the city that never sleeps
In fact, before the rapid development of DNA technology, there was really no way to have a definite answer to the question of whether the Li Tang royal family had Xianbei bloodline.
However, with the advancement of science and technology, biologists can extract DNA from the remains of ancient people, and can clearly know the genetic type of the DNA owner.
By comparing the DNA inheritance types of the ancients and the present, we can roughly determine the ethnicity of the ancients and whether there are descendants to pass them on.
At present, this work is mainly carried out by the Department of History of Fudan University and the Key Laboratory of Modern Anthropology of the Ministry of Education.
The sensational result of the experiment was that in 2013, Fudan University announced that after three years, Cao Cao's DNA had been 100% confirmed.
DNA studies have found that Cao Cao and Cao from Bozhou, Anhui Province, are not descendants of Cao Shen, a famous minister of the Western Han Dynasty, and that Cao Cao's father was not raised by the Xiahou family.
Cao Cao's DNA was released
What's more interesting is that the laboratory extracted the DNA of 258 families surnamed Cao who claimed to be descendants of Cao Cao across the country, and through comparison, only 6 families surnamed Cao were confirmed to be Cao Cao's bloodline.
Of course, the NDA research done by the Department of History of Fudan University and the Key Laboratory of Modern Anthropology of the Ministry of Education is not limited to Cao Cao's DNA.
The laboratory also determined that the paternal genetic haplotype of Yuan Wei was C3b-F1756 through DNA material extracted from the bones of Yuan Wei, a descendant of the Northern Wei royal family.
You can understand this as the DNA "identity" number of the ancients.
C3b-F1756 is a genetic type with high frequency distribution in the eastern part of the Transbaikal-Mongolian Plateau.
This means that the Northern Wei royal family probably originated in the eastern part of the Transbaikal-Mongolian Plateau.
Scientists refer to this genetic type as the "C2 North Branch".
The appearance of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was restored
Based on the genetic survey of contemporary people, this type is mainly distributed in the northern steppe areas, such as 11.11% of the Kazakhs in Kazakhstan, 9.26% of the Mongols in Hailar of Inner Mongolia, 12.50% of the Altay people in the Altai Republic of Russia, 9.09% of the Tiereut people, and less distributed among the Han people.
The study of the DNA of Yuan Wei, a descendant of the Northern Wei imperial family, can also be corroborated by one thing: with the DNA genetic type of the members of the Li Tang royal family.
So, are there any definite bones of members of the Li Tang royal family that have been unearthed?
There really is.
This is the elder brother of Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, the remains of Tang Emperor Li Xian.
Tang Huiling
02、
Li Xian, formerly known as Li Chengqi, is the eldest son of Tang Ruizong Li Dan and the elder brother of Li Longji.
Because he was the eldest son, he was made the crown prince by Tang Ruizong, but Li Xian, who was modest by nature, gave up the position of prince to his younger brother Li Longji, who made great contributions in the rebellion after pacifying Wei.
After Li Longji succeeded to the throne, Li Xian has always been deeply trusted by Li Longji.
Li Longji not only sealed 5,500 households for his brother, but also built a calyx Xianghui Building in Xingqing Palace, made long pillows and large quilts, and often chatted and slept with his brother Li Xian.
After Li Xian died of illness, Li Longji was very sad, and posthumously told Li Xian to make the emperor, gave the Son of Heaven a dress, gave him the concubine Empress Gong, and the mausoleum was established according to the imperial mausoleum, and was buried next to the bridge mausoleum of his father Ruizong, calling his tomb Huiling.
The location of Huiling is in Sanhe Village, Qiaoling Town, four kilometers northwest of Pucheng County, Weinan Province, Shaanxi Province.
Because Huiling was stolen and excavated in the 90s of the 20th century, in 1993, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology carried out rescue excavations on Huiling in March 2000.
Interior of Huiling
Among the cultural relics unearthed in Huiling, the most valuable for DNA research is naturally Li Xian's remains.
Other precious cultural relics unearthed include mourning books, gold and silverware, pastel maids, stone coffins and more than 400 square meters of murals.
Although there is no official confirmation, there have been rumors within the history department of Fudan University that some of Li Xian's bones have been used for research purposes in the key laboratory.
If this is true, then it is interesting that the results of the study have not been published for a long time.
Maybe it was really measured that Li Xian's DNA genetic type is the C2 northern branch?
Li Shimin in the TV series
Of course, we should not make assertions before Fudan University officially publishes the results of the study, but objectively speaking, there is no simpler and more efficient way to find out whether the Li royal family of the Tang Empire is of Xianbei blood than to "test DNA".
However, it is certain that although the genetic type of the northern branch of C2 is relatively rare among Han Chinese, it is by no means none.
For example, according to anthropological research, the genetic type of the northern branch of C2 accounts for 1.96% of the Han people in Shanxi and 1.2% among the Han people in Shaanxi.
I don't know what you think of the bloodline of the Li royal family in the Tang Empire? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.
END
Resources:
"The Concept of Patriarchy and the Inheritance System in the Tang Dynasty: On the Question of the Imperial Clan of Li and Tang", Chen Shuguo, Journal of Social Sciences of Hunan Normal University, 1999.2;
"From <李虎墓志>the Perspective of the Li Tang Imperial Family's Apocryphal Fabrication of Their Clans and Ancestors", Yang Xiyi and Liu Xiangyang, Qianling Cultural Studies, 2005, vol. 1;
"The Origin of the Tuoba Department Reflected in the Bones of Xianbei in the Sui Dynasty", Han Sheng and Meng Hailiang, Academic Monthly, 2017.10;
"The Similarities and Differences between the Tomb of Tang Li Xian and the Tomb of Li Chongrun", Su Xingfei, Qianling Cultural Research, 2017, vol. 1;
"Taking Cao Cao's Research as an Example: Correctly Understanding the Relationship between DNA Analysis and Archaeology", Pan Weibin, Popular Archaeology, 2014.1;