The major influence of Chinese culture on the Western Regions began in the Han Dynasty, and after Zhang Qian passed through the Western Regions, the busy political and trade exchanges on the Silk Road closely linked the Central Plains and the Western Regions. During the Tang Dynasty, the central government's jurisdiction in the west encompassed parts of Central Asia, and the influence of Chinese culture in the western regions far exceeded that of the Han Dynasty. However, from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the end of the Song Dynasty, due to the rise of Tibet and the invasion of Arab Islamic forces in the east, the western region fell into a state of division and chaos, and the cultural exchanges between the Central Plains and the western region weakened. In the 12th century, the Khitan imperial family Yelü Dashi, who was deeply influenced by the culture of the Central Plains, established the Western Liao regime in the Western Regions, which was another Chinese regime that had a profound impact on the Western Regions after the Han and Tang Dynasties, and was of great significance to the spread of Chinese culture in the Western Regions. The reason why the Western Liao has attracted the attention of historians is not only that it has promoted the spread of Chinese culture in the western region, but also because of its distinct Chinese cultural attributes. Regarding the role of the Western Liao in the spread of Chinese culture in the Western Regions, Professors Wei Lianghan and Professor Ji Zong'an have done a lot of valuable research, but there are few citations, and this article also tries to argue the Chinese nature of the Western Liao regime on the basis of fully excavating historical materials, in order to refute the "New Qing History" school's assertion that ethnic minorities are independent of the Chinese nation. The western region of this article is the western region in a broad sense, including Central Asia.
Gorham: King from China
In 1125, Emperor Tianzuo was captured by Jin, and the Liao regime's rule in northern China ended. In 1124, a year before Emperor Tianzuo's capture, the Khitan imperial family, Yelü Dashi, led a detachment to the Western Regions and established a political power at Barasagun (near present-day Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan), with the Yelü Dashi "Gorhan (Khan)", meaning "Khan of the Khans", which Chinese history books called "Western Liao" and "world name Western Liao". Yelü Dashi was born into the Khitan royal family in China, and is recorded in the History of Liao, the History of Jin, and islamic histories in Central Asia. The History of Liao states that "Dashi Zi Zhongde, Taizu Eight Generations Sun Ye"[3], and the Jin Shi (金史) states that "the Khitan Dashi ran out, with Yu Yan as the marshal and Shi Jianu as the deputy, attacking the tribes to return" [4]. The History of the Conquerors of the World records that Yerushalayim "was in Khitan where they were powerful figures" [5]. The "History of the Mongols of Dosan" records, "The Khitan nobleman's name was Ne Lost Taifu (Ne Lost i.e., Dashi), which was always respected by his countrymen, and ran west. Over the land of Kirghis, spiraled to the Ulhu Turkic Single[6]. ...... Take the whole territory of the Turkics. And the name Gul Khan (i.e. Gorhan)"[7]. Regarding the route of Yelü Dashi's expedition to the western regions, Mr. Liang Yuandong made a credible study: in 1124, Yelü Dashi established himself as king, led the people to move west, crossed the Black Water, reached the city of Kedun at the end of the same year, and then gathered the soldiers and civilians of the eighteen departments of the seven prefectures in the north court to initially establish a military system. In order to avoid Being pursued by Jin, in 1130, through the Uighur Expedition of Daohe Prefecture (present-day Turpan), he conquered Samarkand in present-day Central Asia, defeated the Islamic army in the Amu Darya Valley, subdued Huarazm, and then marched west to Qi'erman (between present-day Samarkand and Bukhara), and in 1132 he declared himself emperor in Qi'erman, established Liao, and established the capital of Husihu (near present-day Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan), known in history as "Western Liao".[8]
The Western Liao came from the same vein of the Chinese regime, which can be verified from its nostalgia for its homeland and its military struggle to march into the Central Plains and restore Liao unification. When the Beiting swore an oath to march westward, Yelü Dashi trained the whole army: "My ancestors had a hard time starting a business... Jin is subordinate to the country, forcing our country, cruel to me Li Shu, slaughtering my state... I am now fighting righteously to the west, and I want to use my strength to conquer my enemies and restore my territory... Think of saving the Father"[9]. In his teachings, Yelü Dashi stated that the relationship between the Western Liao and the Liao and the reason for the Western Expedition were Jin's persecution, with the purpose of using local forces to destroy the Jin state and restore Liao unification. After establishing political power in the Western Regions, he still cared about his homeland, "leading the people as far as Shuo Desert, expecting to restore the great cause, and rejuvenating with light." This is not a place where erstay dwells".[10] It reflects Yelü Dashi's determination to return to the Central Plains to restore Liao unification and his unwillingness to live in the western region. In order to return to the Central Plains, the Western Liao continued to march eastwards, trying to expel Jin from liao's homeland. In the third year of the JinTianhui (1125), Yelü Dashi united with the Western Xia to attack the Jin Dynasty and conquer the western border areas of Jin, causing the capital of Jintai Prefecture to strengthen the western frontier defense in the seventh year of the Tianhui (1129), "Dashi has obtained the second battalion in the north, it is difficult to control the future, and it is close to herds, and it is advisable to lie tun shu" [11]. The Western Liao's continuous eastern expeditions caused great pressure on Jin, and The Jin Emperor decreed that "the Xia people or conspiring with Dashi to provoke, must not be unaware, and they are strictly prepared" [12]. Limited by the traffic at that time, Jin did not know much about the situation in Western Liao, and in order to understand the situation in Western Liao, Jin repeatedly inquired to Western Xia and Hui merchants, and in the eighth year of Tianhui (1130), "The Xia Kingdom reported that 'small countries and hezhou are not connected, and they do not know where the big stones are going'" [13]. In the same year, Jin Zeng sent Yelü Yuyan, Shi Jianu, and Ba li to conquer the Western Liao. In the fourth year of the reign of the Emperor (1144), Jin learned from the Uighur merchants that Yelü Dashi had died, and "sent envoys to pay tribute, saying that Dashi was adjacent to his country, and Dashi was dead". In order to surrender Yelü Dashi, in the same year, the Jin faction sent a force to cut off Han Nu and send an envoy to the Western Liao. The Western Liao also responded to the people's uprising in Jin, taking the opportunity to create pressure on the Jin border, "Dashi is in the northwest of the Xia Kingdom." Xi wo was in turmoil, and the Khitan responded. ...... If the great stone tempts the world, it will give birth to border troubles... At different times, there may be border conflicts, but will the Khitan be willing to be with me?" [16] In order to restore Liao unification, Yelü Dashi also sent people to unite with the Southern Song Dynasty to attack Jin. The Western Liao's frequent military activities against Jin reflected Yelü Dashi's reluctance to die in the Liao and his nostalgia for the homeland of the Central Plains.
The Western Liao came from the chinese regime and can also be verified from the ethnic and cultural attributes of the Khitans. The Khitan had a deep centralization process in the national culture. In the process of interacting with the people of the Yellow River Basin, the Khitan continued to be Centralized, and the Khitan was conscious, top-down and actively promoted when accepting the Central Plains culture, so the regional scope of khitan Centralization was large and deep. At the beginning of the founding of the people's republic, Yelü Abaoji sacrificed Confucius, built Buddhist temples and Taoist temples to subdue the Han Chinese. Liao Shengzong read the Zhenguan Politicians well, and Han Chen excerpted the deeds of Tang Gaozu, Taizong, and Xuanzong who could take the Fa, and the history recorded that Liao Shengzong "read the Tang Zhenguan Shijing well, and to The Records of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Ming were Qinfu" [18]. The book "Zhenguan Politicians" had a far-reaching influence on Liao. Emperor Shizong of Liao "admired Chinese customs and used jin subjects"[19] and appointed the Han Chinese of the Central Plains to govern the country. Liao Daozong was even more obedient to the Central Plains culture, "May future generations of China be born". The outstanding feature of Khitan acceptance of Chinese culture is that it is top-down, spontaneous and voluntary, and it is relatively thorough from the government to the people. By the time of Emperor Daozong, the Liao rulers thought they were no different from the Han Chinese. By the end of the Liao Dynasty, the Khitan and the Central Plains had become highly integrated. During the Northern Song Dynasty, when Lu Zhen was ordered to go to the Khitans, he saw that ordinary people were "commonly Hanfu"[22], and from the perspective of daily dress, from the ruling class to the ordinary people, the Khitans were no longer much different from the Han, and the Khitans and the Central Plains had been basically integrated.
By the time of Yelü Dashi, the Liao regime had been immersed in Chinese culture for more than two hundred years, and the Khitan people should have accepted Chinese culture to a higher degree. According to historical records, Yelü Dashi "Tongliao, Chinese characters", "character heavy virtue"[23], from the name and Tong Chinese characters, Yelü Dashi has been no different from the Central Plains readers. The famous Central Asian historian Ibn Al Asir once described the Great Stone of Yerushalayim as the first Gul Khan (i.e., Gorhan) who was very good-looking and dressed in Chinese silk clothing. Wearing Chinese clothes is not only the daily life of Yelü Dashi, but also the daily embodiment of Chinese culture on him. After the establishment of the regime, Yelü Dashi entered the countryside with the common name "Geerhan", but at the same time used the traditional imperial and era names of the Central Plains Emperors, "restoring the Han Zun title to Emperor Tianyu, changing the Yuan Yanqing". Not only Yelü Dashi, but also the emperor and era names of all the generations of Gorham, reflecting that the rulers of the Western Liao have psychologically considered themselves to be the Chinese regime. If clothing, names, imperial titles, and era names are superficial features of the Chinese cultural attributes of the Western Liao regime, then the use of Chinese as an official language is a fundamental feature. The official language of the Western Liao regime, according to Bartord, was Chinese. Whether the official language of the Western Liao is Chinese or not can be seen from the inscriptions on the coins. Shi ZaiXi Liao's Gantian Empress Pagoda minted the "Gantian Yuanbao" coin, and the front of the coin was printed with the four Chinese characters of "Gantian Yuanbao". Regarding the coins of the Western Liao, the author has made new discoveries when searching the historical materials, Kyrgyzstan has recently unearthed four coins printed with the Chinese characters of "Xuxing Yuanbao", shaped like Tang coins, one of which was unearthed in Brana, Kyrgyzstan, that is, the political center of the Western Liao, Hu Sihui'er, which experts speculate should be minted by the Western Liao Yelü Yilie. This coin is the latest archaeological discovery of the Western Liao cultural relics, and has not yet attracted the full attention of historians. It is certain that the writing on the national coin is the official language of the state. Judging from the inscriptions on the Western Liao coins, Barthold's guess was correct. The use of Chinese as an official language has historical and practical logic, one is that the bureaucracy of Yelü Dashi itself is highly centralized, and Chinese is the official daily language of the Western Liao ruling clique. Second, the use of Chinese as an official language can arouse the historical memory of the Han and Tang regimes of all ethnic groups in the Western Regions, so as to flaunt that the Western Liao is a continuation of the Han and Tang regimes in the Western Regions, so as to enhance the legitimacy, authority and appeal of the regime, and from then on, it can also be seen that Yelü Dashi has psychologically regarded himself as the successor of the Central Plains regime.
The Western Liao regime originated in China and was also manifested in the large Han population in the territory. Qiu Chuji (1148-1227), courtesy name Changchun Zhenren(Changchun Zhenren), traveled to Central Asia in 1219 at the invitation of Genghis Khan, where he met many Han Chinese living there, "greeted by Han craftsmen" at Tian Zhenhai (present-day southeast of Kobdo, Mongolia) [29], and in Hezhou (present-day eastern Turpan), where the hui chieftain's musicians were "all Zhongzhou people". When The Changchun Zhenren asked Genghis Khan to resign, he told Genghis Khan that he had met many Han Chinese along the way, and they hoped that he would see each other again when he returned to the east, "When he came, the Han people asked the mountains and wild to repay the deadline, and tried to answer yun at the age of three" [31]. Changde, an envoy to West Asia during the Mongol conquest, met many Han soldiers in 1259 at a pass called "Timur Confession" (northeast of present-day Huocheng County, Xinjiang), and "all the guards were Han Chinese". Changde saw many Han Chinese in the north of Bengbali (present-day Jimsar, Xinjiang), "nearly five hundred miles, many Han people, and there was a wheat valley". There were also many Han Chinese in Alimari City (present-day Huocheng County, Xinjiang), and Changde saw that "Hui Hui lived with Han Chinese, and their customs gradually became similar to those of China" [34]. Regarding the number of Han Chinese in the Territory of the Western Liao, when I reviewed the historical materials, I found two historical materials that had not been noticed by previous people, one was in the evil Misigan (present-day Samarkand, Uzbekistan), and the local bankrupt Uighur peasants "must attach han people and Khitans, Hexi (that is, Western Xia people) and so on... Han craftsmen are mixed in the city"[35]. One is that in Baghdad, the caliph's concubines were all Han Chinese, "Ding Wei was old, and he took revenge on the kingdom of Da (present-day Baghdad, Iraq)... His concubines were all Han Chinese". Judging from the number of Han women in the harem of the Ilkhanate, the Han chinese are by no means in the minority in the local area. The Mongol expedition to Central Asia began in 1219, and it was only 40 years before Changde sent an envoy to West Asia, while the Western Liao had existed in Central Asia for nearly a hundred years, and from the perspective of the Han people's industry and influence on local living customs, the Han people had been living in the local area for a long time, not like the Han people who accompanied the Mongolian Western Expedition. Zhang Xingxiu believed that they were descendants of the Han army that had accompanied Yelü Dashi to the Western Regions.
Predecessors also noted that the Western Liao protected and promoted the Confucian and Taoist culture in the Western Regions. The Changchun Zhenren met monks when they met with local princes in Changbala City (in present-day Changji Prefecture, Xinjiang), "there were monks who came to sit and asked the translator to read the he scriptures, and the monk Yun 'was ordained and the Buddha was worshipped as a teacher'" [38]. When I reviewed the literature, I also found two new records, one is that when the Changchun Zhenren met with the Uighur King in BeguiBali (present-day Jimusar, Xinjiang), he met many monks and people who studied Han culture, "the attendants were monks, Taoists, and Confucians" [39], which shows the prominent position of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the local area. One is that Changde once saw a Buddhist temple in the city of Seilan (near present-day Shymkent, Kazakhstan), "with a floating map, a place of worship for the Hui hui". Changchun Zhenren and Changde traveled west at the end of the Western Liao Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, and judging from the local people's acceptance of Buddhism, Buddhism at that time should have been popular before the Mongols entered the Western Regions, at least in the Western Liao Era. At a time when Islam was becoming more and more saturated, the existence and expansion of Buddhism in the western region highlighted the contribution of the Western Liao regime to the promotion of Buddhism.
Shaheina: The integration of the political system of the Central Plains with the local management system of the Western Regions
According to Mr. Wei Liangtao's research, the territory of the Western Liao stretched from the upper reaches of the Tula River in the east, to the upper reaches of the Yenisei River in the northeast, to the north of the Aral Sea in the northwest, to the Amu Darya River and the Karakoram Mountains, kunlun mountains, and the Argin Mountains in the south, and to the Hami and Ruoqiang mountains in the southeast, with a land area of about 4 million square kilometers. In order to facilitate the rule of the Western Liao, which has a huge land area, many tribes, and huge local differences, Gorhan introduced the Centralized Power System and the Vassal System of the Liao into the Western Regions, and combined with the original social management methods of the Western Regions, created a social management system that could maintain the unified leadership of the central government and maintain local stability, Shaheina [42]. Shaheina was both a magistrate and a governing body, with a military force of a certain size, responsible for handling local affairs and collecting taxes. "Shahena" is obviously the same as "Gorhan", a local official name in the Western Regions, and in the time of Shifini it was an Arabic word, a variation of Arabic and Central Asian languages. According to the relationship with the central government, the places in the Western Liao can be divided into three levels, one is the territory of the long-term garrison in Shaheina. This was the most important territory of the Western Liao, mostly around the ears of Hu Sihui, and Gorhan was sent to Shaheina to manage local affairs on behalf of the central government, collect taxes, and belong to the direct domain, and the original local chiefs lost the right to directly manage the localities. The second is the territory of shaheina that is regularly stationed, second only to the directly administered territory in importance, and mostly on the outskirts of the directly administered territory. Shaheina is not stationed in the local area and only comes to the locality during the tax collection season, and the original local chief is responsible for managing local government affairs and assisting Shaheina in collecting taxes when collecting taxes. Third, it was not stationed in shahena's territory, followed by it in importance, mostly in the remote areas of the Western Liao.[43] Local affairs are managed by local chiefs, and taxes are collected by local chiefs and sent to the central government, which is a non-directly administered territory. The relationship between the jurisdiction of the Western Liao over non-directly administered territories and directly administered territories is gradual, manifested as non-directly administered territories< territories that are regularly stationed in Shaheina< directly administered territories. The territories directly under the permanent presence in Shahena were often the land of Gyeonggi or militaryly and economically vital to the central government. Barthold argues that Gorham's territory consisted only of "the southern part of the Seven Rivers Valley, the Ining Border Region, and the northeastern part of the Syr Darya Region". In the territories under its direct jurisdiction, "from Qianqian Oblast (in the territory of present-day Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation) to Balshikhan (south of present-day Issyk-Kulkoh, Kyrgyzstan), from Tarasu (near present-day Taraz, Kazakhstan) to Yavinki (near present-day Ili, Xinjiang)"[45] The Western Liao sent Shaheina, a symbol of khanate power. The non-direct territories of the Western Liao corresponded to the vassal states of the Tang Dynasty. Judging from the Western Liao's management system for the localities, in the territories directly under its direct jurisdiction, the centralized power system is implemented, and in the non-directly administered territories, the system of vassal states is implemented. The centralized power and vassal state system of the Western Liao is a continuation of the Liao's state system in the Western Regions, and the Liao's state system originated from the Tang and has sufficient historical basis. The History of Liao and the Hundred Officials System has a clear account of the Liao's reference to the State administration system of the Tang Dynasty: "Liao... The established Yan and Dai Ten have six prefectures, but use the Tang system to restore the officials of the three provinces, six departments, and eastern palaces in the south... He also used to attract the people of China" [46]. "It is the use of the Tang system", indicating that the official system of the Liao, especially the official system in the south, is taken from the Tang system, and even some official names are directly borrowed from the Tang system. Regarding the establishment of the official system in the Western Liao, the History of the Liao Dynasty clearly records that after the Eighteen Departments of the Seven Prefectures of the Northern Court Congress, Yelü Dashi established his own bureaucratic system. Judging from the titles of his ministers, such as "Six Chambers Division", "Solicitation Envoy", and "Privy Envoy", the official system of the Western Liao is the inheritance of the official system in the north and south of the Liao, and is the continuation of the centralized power and the system of vassalage in the Western Liao.
Regarding "Shaheina", Ji Zong'an considered it equivalent to the "young jailer" among the officials in southern Liaoning.[48] "LiaoShi Hundred Officials System III" has "a certain young supervisor" under the "general heading of the names of the supervisors". In the seventeenth year of Xingzong Chongxi," he saw that he would be a young supervisor of Wang Qi"[49], and from the interpretation of the meaning, "young supervisor" is an official in charge of a certain department or industry. Shifeni called "Shaheina" a tax collector, which coincided with the function of the "Junior Superintendent". "Shaheina" is not only a local governing body, but also has a certain armed force. Garrisoning troops at the local level is the fundamental embodiment of the centralized system, and through the garrison, the Western Liao not only strengthened its jurisdiction over the localities and maintained local social order, but also maintained a long-term stable source of tax revenue for the central government, which is of great significance to the survival of the state power. [51] The tax revenue of the Western Liao was generally small, and only one "dinar" was levied on each household,[50] and Barthold believed that the tax system of Yelü Dashi came from China, which was actually a traditional Chinese tithe. Regarding the taxation of the Western Liao, it is clearly recorded in the Jin Shi Zhi Han Nu Biography that "one-tenth of the officials gained" [52] can be corroborated with the research of Barthold and others. "One dinar" was relatively light in the tax burden in the western region at that time, reflecting the tradition of "lightly dispensing with thin endowments" at the beginning of the change of power in the Central Plains Dynasty, which was the result of Yelü Dashi's profound reflection on the liao's demise, and he blamed the cause of the liao's demise on the corruption of the rulers, which led to the people being overwhelmed and the world in chaos, "I have become an emperor since Taizu and Taizong, and its heirs are tireless, they do not sympathize with the state government, thieves spring up, and the world collapses" [53]. Therefore, when the Western Liao regime was established, he implemented a policy of lightening and thin endowments in the western region, which also deeply conformed to the common law of the Chinese feudal regime at the beginning of the change.
The implementation of the centralized system in the Western Regions by the Western Liao was also reflected in the abolition of the "Ikata" system and the military power of the generals. "Ikta" is a land division system in the western region, which has been popular in the western region for a long time. At the beginning of the Ikata system, the lords did not own the fiefs, but later became life-long fiefs and hereditary fiefs, and the territoriality of the place gradually appeared. As a system of dividing land, Ikata easily led to local divisions and local wars. Barthold described Ekta as "like all nomadic or semi-nomadic states, the Khan divided the states under his rule into fiefdoms, which were soon transformed into independent fiefs, with boundaries often changing and wars between them" At that time, the Qarakhanids, Gaochang Uighurs, and Khwarazm khanates in the western regions had been at war for many years. In order to strengthen the centralization of power, Gorham abolished the Ikata system and no longer divided lands among subordinates. "By abolishing the Ikata system, the Western Liao abolished the ownership of land by local chiefs and princes and nobles, fundamentally abolished the root cause of warlord division, and was conducive to the unification of the Western Liao regime and the stability of the Western Regions." At the same time as the abolition of Ikta, Jeroboam also returned the military power to the central government, and in non-wartime "no cavalry of more than a hundred men was given to anyone to lead". Regarding the situation of Yelü Dashi's transfer of military power to the central government, the author found that there is a clear record in the "Biography of Jin Shi And Cut Han Nu", which can be confirmed that when the Hui emissaries of the Western Regions briefed the Jin Zhaoshi on the situation in the Western Regions, they provided information on the Western Liao, "There are no weapons in the world, and the fields are the industry" [58]. This historical material has not yet attracted the attention of scholars, but it truly reflects the historical fact that the Western Liao government took the army into the central government, did not allow civilians to own weapons, and strengthened the centralization of power. Yelü Dashi, who was familiar with the history of the Tang Dynasty, should be no stranger to the anshi rebellion and the old events of the division of the town, and the local generals at the end of the Liao Dynasty supported the army and respected themselves and divided the side, which he witnessed and personally experienced. The abolition of the general's military power is the result of Yelü Dashi's profound thinking on the history of China and the history of the rebellion of the generals at the end of the Liao Dynasty, and is a wake-up call to the history of the rise and fall of the Central Plains Dynasty.
In the places where Shaheina was stationed regularly, the local chiefs managed local affairs, and Shaheina inspected local affairs on behalf of Gorham during the tax season, first to declare the sovereignty of the Western Liao, and second, to collect taxes. The Western Liao retained the pre-conquest local power system and incorporated people into the state management system, which was conducive to reducing the contradiction between the central and local governments when establishing the state.
The places that were not stationed in Shaheina were mostly in remote areas, and belonged to the non-directly administered territories of the Western Liao, that is, the dependent states, which was a continuation of the tang dynasty's vassal state system in the western regions. The original local chieftain could become a vassal state of the Western Liao, pay taxes to the central government, and continue to administer local affairs as long as a piece of silver was attached to his belt to show submission,[59] and "the former local dynasties continued to exist everywhere, and they were vassals of Gu'er Khan (Gorhan)" [60]. As for the western Liao's vassal state system originating in the Tang Dynasty, previous generations often quoted "Liao... The established Yan and Dai Ten have six states, but the Tang system is used", but it is not clear how the Liao continued to use the Tang's vassal language. When the author reviewed the historical materials, he found that there was a clear clue that Liao followed the Tang's vassal system, and the "History of Liao" recorded, "Tang Taizong placed Xuanzhou and took the Khitan Grand Marshal's qu as the history of the thorn." He also set up the Governor's Mansion of Songmo, with Waggo as the Governor, divided into eight departments, and Xuanzhou as ten states. Then ten of them are in it"[61]. During the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan was a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, and its chieftain, According to Qu, was the Tang Xuanzhou Assassin And administered the affairs of the subordinate state. After the Khitan established the Liao, "the Tang system was used", which naturally borrowed from the Tang's centralized power and vassal system, and implemented the centralized power system for the political center areas and the subordinate state system for the remote areas. However, unlike the Tang dynasty's titles for vassal states, the Liao called the vassal states "tribes", and the Liao tribes included Xi Wang, Murong Wei, Tri Te Wei, Shao Wa, etc.[62], mostly in the frontier areas, so there were "tribes that were actually minions and teeth clouds". In tribal areas, the Liao appointed tribal chiefs to manage local affairs.
The implementation of the vassal system was determined by the political system of the Western Liao itself and the actual situation in the western region. First, the vassal state system is already part of the Western Liao state system. Second, the territory of The Western Liaoning is vast and the situation is complex and diverse. At that time, there were many kingdoms in the western region, with different economic and cultural forms, and if the centralized system was enforced, it would provoke conflicts between the central and local governments, which was not conducive to the stability and development of the Western Liao regime. As long as the vassalage relationship with the Western Liao was recognized and a certain amount of tribute was paid, the original ruling order could continue to exist, which could maintain the unity of the country and avoid military conflicts with the localities. Third, the population of the ruling class within the Western Liao regime is small, and in the western region like the Liao in China, the northern and southern official system is comprehensively established, and a huge bureaucratic system and military system are faced with the primary difficulty of lacking sufficient manpower and military strength. Therefore, the Western Liao combined the centralized power system with the local system in the Western Regions, transformed the political system of the Liao, and borrowed the official names commonly used in the Western Regions, so that the Western Liao regime could take root in the Western Regions. In short, the political system of the Western Liao originated from the Central Plains Dynasty, especially the official system of the Tang Dynasty, and combined with the actual situation in the Western Regions, it achieved localization, which not only avoided the fierce confrontation between the central and local governments, but also conducive to recuperation, and objectively maintained the stability and economic development of the Western Regions. The establishment of the Western Liao regime promoted the spread of Chinese institutional culture in the western region.
Since the Western Liao continued the Central Plains dynastic system since the Han and Tang Dynasties in the Western Regions, with the strength of the Western Liao, the name "Khitan" spread to Russia and Europe along the Silk Road, and the West called China "Khitan", due to the different eras and regions, the word "Khitan" has produced many umlauts and spellings: Kitan / Kitay / Katay / Kitai / Kh-itan / Catai / Catyo / Catalane / Catay / Qitay / Chataio et al. [64], today's Russian "Chinese Китай" is derived from the Khitans.
Peach blossom stone is exquisite: Chinese artifact culture is in the western region
The Western Liao not only brought the political culture of the Central Plains into the western region, but also brought China's manufacturing culture. Among the Khitans and Han Chinese who migrated west with the Great Stone of Yelü, there were many skilled craftsmen who injected many Chinese elements into the production and life of the Western Regions and promoted the spread of Chinese culture in the Western Regions.
The Khitan and Han craftsmen who moved into the western region, with their industrious and advanced production tools and production techniques, created considerable wealth in the local area, and their production tools and production skills were deeply affirmed by the locals. In the city of Alima (i.e. Ali Ma Li, in present-day Huocheng County, Xinjiang), the locals "saw the Central Plains Ji Ware, and rejoiced that 'peach blossom stones are all coincidental'. Peach Blossom Stone is also known as the Han Chinese".[65] The "Central Plains Vessel" here may have been a reed, which changchun zhenren had seen in the river region (present-day central Asia in the Syr Darya, Amu Darya, and Zelafshan river valleys), "there was a Hui Shu who drove a cow to draw water for the thirsty". When I was recently investigating in the Yizhou District of Hami City, I also saw this water extraction tool in the museum of Bostan Village. Not only production tools, but also many commodities in the Central Plains region are also widely sold in the western region. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the traveler Yelü Chucai saw many utensils made in the Central Plains or in the style of the Central Plains in Bancheng (near present-day Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan), "there are many lacquerware in the city, all of which are Chang'an inscriptions". It shows that the Western Liao effectively protected the Silk Road trade.
The weaving technology in the Central Plains has also spread far and wide. In Qianqian Prefecture, Changchun Zhenren saw "thousands of Han craftsmen living in it, weaving Aya Luo Jinqi" [68]. The weaving industry in the Central Plains is relatively developed, and the Western Regions are more productive in cotton, and the weaving technology in the Central Plains and the rich weaving raw materials in the Western Regions are combined to weave cotton with excellent texture and market to The West Asia and the Central Plains Inland [69].
Chinese building materials and architectural styles also appeared in urban architecture in the Western Regions. During the Western Liao Period, Chinese building materials such as bricks and tiles were widely used in Western architecture. Regarding the influence of Chinese building technology on the western region, the "History of the Kyrgyz Region" compiled by the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Former Soviet Union has a more pertinent evaluation, "They generally show the influence of Han art and Han culture in terms of architectural decoration"[70]. Central Asian scholars believe that the Western Liao brought a wave of Han culture to Central Asia. [71] The craftsmen of the Western Liao brought the building materials and architectural styles of the Central Plains into the Western Regions, and the buildings of the Western Regions in the Western Liaoning Period widely adopted the building materials and patterns of the Central Plains bricks, tiles, and kangs. Archaeologists have discovered ondol in the Western Liao period in archaeological excavations in Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, a building that first appeared in northern China and could both keep the room warm in winter and keep the room clean. Today, "Ondol" is still widely used in rural areas of northern China. Yelü Chucai also saw this kind of building in the hezhong region, "cow dung is warmed by flactite, and moths are broken with paper and broken tile windows".[72] Professor Wei Liangtao believes that such a stone kang system was introduced to the Hezhong region by Western Liao immigrants.[73] Soviet archaeologists have discovered a temple from the Western Liao dynasty in Akbehim (near present-day Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan), and the courtyard and the structural layout of the main hall reflect the structural characteristics of the Han Buddhist temple.
The Western Liao regime maintained and continued the influence of Chinese culture in the Western Regions, branded the society of the Western Regions with a strong Chinese cultural color, and profoundly affected the local culture and life. In Hezhou (present-day Turpan), when the Changchun zhenren asked about the customs of the locals, the locals were still convinced of Chinese culture. Nai Yue: 'This Tang Dynasty was the Northern Court Duanfu. In the three years of Jinglong, Yang Gong was the protector of most capitals and had moral government. Zhu Yi was convinced, benefited future generations, and now laizhi'" [75]. The presence of the Western Liao regime in the Western Regions allowed Chinese culture to spread widely in the Western Regions as an official culture. To this day, there are still many villages and places in Central Asia with the name "Khitan".
Although the Western Liao is a minority state established by the Khitans, it has been highly centralized in national culture, and Yelü Dashi and his colleagues have become practitioners of Chinese culture, promoting the political culture of the Central Plains in the western region, protecting and promoting trade between the East and the West, a considerable number of Han people in its territory, Chinese is designated as the official language, Chinese utensils manufacturing technology, Chinese customs, etc. are widely spread in the western region, all show that the Western Liao has made great contributions to the spread of Chinese culture in the western region. The Chinese cultural attributes of the Western Liao regime also powerfully prove that it is a vein of the Chinese regime.
Press: The first author Zhang Xiange, male, Shandong Chengwuren, Ph.D. in basic principles of Marxism, associate professor of Marxism College of Hotan Normal College, engaged in the study of Marxism and Central Asian issues. The second author, Li Chaohong, School of Language, Hotan Normal College. The third author, Pan Zhiping, Is a researcher at the Center for Marxism and Frontier Governance at Xinjiang University. The original article is published in the Journal of Xinjiang University (Philosophy, Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), No. 2, 2020.