Everything about Shatuo Turks totally explained
The
Shatuo (沙陀) (also:
Seyanto,
Xueyantuo,
Sha-t'o) were a
Turkic tribe that heavily influenced northern Chinese politics from the late ninth century through the tenth century. They are noted for founding three of the Five Dynasties in the
Five Dynasties and
Ten Kingdoms period.
Ethnic Origins and Geography
The Shatuo in Chinese terms mean Sand Beast of Burden or the ethnic Turk descents and foreign Turk extractions are part of the broader
The ethnic Turk varieties of peoples that have stretched from
Midwestern Asia to
Anatolia in modern-day
Turkey. They emerged from the
Tujue tribe of the western
ethnic Turks, of
Tiele stocks, and after a split among the tribe in the seventh century, the remaining Tujue Turks (see
Chiglis) began referring to themselves as Shatuo or the Beast of Burden Turk descends. Some argue that the early Chinese sources identify this people with the
ethnonym Seyanto, quoting them as one of the most troublesome ethnic Turk maraudic tribes among the foreign Turk descendants of the
Xiongnu. Other even claim they emerged as part of the
Üç-Oğuz confederation of
Oghuz Turks .
Shatuo Turks and the Tang Dynasty
The Shatuo Turks served the
Tang Dynasty. The ethnic Turk descents had been used as part of Tang dynasty's Chinese foreign policy to control and manage these alien ethnic Turk varieties or the Tang called them Western Oriental barbarians and foreign ethnic Turk descendents, even went afar as covertly incoated a divide and conquer policy against some of these troublesome alien ethnic Turk stock in their colonies and tertories in Midwestern Asia. The Tang Chinese continued this long ethnic Chinese Turk policy and in other epoch became an institutionalised tradition. Some ethnic Turk stock even provided service to their host country in military aspect such as filling in the number of military conscripts and national defense assistance to the Tang Empire in the 630s against other the belicose alien Turk Tartars and Mongoloid Golden hordes and so called "border Tartar Stock". When
emperor Taizong crushed the Midwestern of Asia the foreign threats of the rebellious alien Turk extracts or so called
Göktürks around
630, the Shatuo/Seyantos indeed were allowed to gain some recognition and even their of serfdom status that could be built up quick to a vast state spanning from the
Altai to the
Gobi desert. In a few years they proved, however, to be another alien Ethnic Turk menace, and were quickly and ruthlessly crushed befitting to the defeat of other alien ethnic Turk stock who rebelled against their host country as in
641, under their
khagan Inan (d. 645), they threatened to attack other Chinese-aligned Turk or ethnic tribes. Five years later their short-lived claim was all but destroyed by a Tang-Uyghur (also an ethnic Turk descent) alliance; the remnants of the rebellious ethnic Turk tribe fled west to
Dzungaria and the
Semirechye area.
At the beginning of the
8th century, they were completely subject to the Tang China (Empire). The Shatuo provided significant aid to
Tang Emperor
Suzong alongside the Huihe (
Uyghurs) during the
Anshi Rebellion in the 750s. Consequently their chieftain Zhuye Guduozhi was conferred the title of
tejin (governor) and
xiaowei shang-jiangjun (colonel high general). However, already before the general upheaval and rebellion the Tang China had suffered a critical loss in battle to the foreign Turk group called
Arabs at
Talas. the Tang China and Empire compounded its predicament under great menace from the Alien Turk varieties by permitting their domestic ethnic Turk population to establish the so called
Uyghur Empire who claimed to be rising to great power.
Thus, by the end of the eighth century, the Shatuo had fallen out with the Tang Empire. The ethnic Turk variety conspired with another ethnic Turk extract enclave called Tiba to form an allegedly alliance with the ethnic Turk
Tibetans as they felt oppressed by the Huihe-
Uyghurs. Though the Shatuo fought alongside Tibetan armies for more than a decade against the Tang, the Tibetans were concerned about their loyalty, and with reason. When, in
808, the Shatuo decided to leave, the Tibetans pursued them, fighting battles along the way. The fugitives made it to Lingzhou Prefecture in the
Gansu corridor, where Tang general
Fan Xichao granted them
asylum. A source quotes them as committing a
mass suicide in
832 while fighting for an Uyghur ruler; but this seems to refer to a related tribe who had settled far west, into the
Fergana valley. The Shatuo who had escaped Tibetan rage managed to maintain a power base in northern China around modern-day
Shanxi from the late
ninth century into the
tenth century.
In the middle of the ninth century, the Shatuo rewarded the generosity of the Tang by fighting alongside them against the invading Tibetans, playing a prominent role in numerous victories. They also helped quell the
Pang Xun Rebellion and the
Wang Xian Zhi Rebellion.
Li Keyong
Li Keyong was conferred the post of
ci shi for Daizhou. He hired more than ten thousand Dadan nomads to bring back to Daizhou, but was denied admittance to en route Shiling Guan Pass. In 882, Su You and Helian Duo combined to prepare for an attack on Li. However, he launched a pre-emptive on Su’s stronghold at
Weizhou. However, the Tang emperor would soon offer amnesty to assist against
Huang Chao, who led a fierce rebellion against the Tang. Li Keyong was named the Prince of Jin in
895 for his loyalty to the Tang.
Five Dynasties
The
Tang Dynasty fell in
907 and was replaced by the
Later Liang Dynasty. The Shatuo Turks formed their own state, called Jin, in the area now known as
Shanxi. They had tense relations with the
Later Liang, and cultivated good relations with the emerging
Khitan power to the north.
Later Tang Dynasty
Li Cunxu succeeded in destroying the
Later Liang Dynasty in
923, declaring himself the emperor of the “Restored Tang”, officially known as the
Later Tang Dynasty. In line with claims of restoring the Tang, Li moved the capital from
Kaifeng back to
Luoyang, where it was during the Tang Dynasty.
The Later Tang controlled more territory than the Later Liang, including the
Beijing area, the surrounding
Sixteen Prefectures and
Shaanxi Province.
This was the first of three Shatuo Turk dynasties, and was the first of the
Conquest Dynasties, beginning nearly a millennium, during most of which a significant portion of the Chinese nation was controlled by foreigners.
Later Jin Dynasty
The Later Tang Dynasty was brought to end in
936 when Shi Jingtang (posthumously known as
Gaozu of Later Jin), also a Shatuo Turk, successfully rebelled against the Later Tang and established the Later Jin Dynasty. Shi moved back the capital to
Kaifeng, then called Bian. The Later Jin controlled essentially the same territory as the Later Tang except the strategic
Sixteen Prefectures area, which had been ceded to the expanding
Liao Empire established by the Khitans.
Later historians would denigrate the Later Jin as a
puppet regime of the powerful Liao to the north. When Shi’s successor did defy the Liao, a Khitan invasion resulted in the end of the dynasty in
946.
Later Han Dynasty
The death of the Khitan emperor on his return from the raid on the Later Jin Dynasty left a power vacuum that was filled by Liu Zhiyuan, who founded the Later Han Dynasty in 947. The capital was at Bian/Kaifeng and the state held the same territories as its predecessor. Liu died after a single year of reign and was succeeded by his teenage son, in turn unable to reign for more than two years, when this very short-lived dynasty was ended by the
Later Zhou.
Legacy of the Shatuo Turks
As the first of four major foreign groups to gain control over significant portions of the heartland of
Chinese civilization, the Shatuo left a significant legacy. While later groups would create more innovations on how to rule the Chinese, the Shatuo Turks showed others that outsiders could go beyond simply raiding the Chinese and settling down to actually rule them. Like other nomadic conquerors of China, the Shatuo Turks would gradually assimilate into Chinese society. This realization would have a direct bearing on the progression of Chinese civilization over the next thousand years.
Further Information
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