60 chapter oneand calls him “the old man emperor, the bold headed”.^173 So beside
the collective portraits, illustrated as a rule by stereotypic epithets such
as “sly”, “perfi dious”, etc., the nomads quite oft en made individual
characteristics (similar to the above-mentioned) about representatives
of the sedentary civilizations, mostly of high ranking aristocrats and
rulers.
Aft er 757 A.D. the Uighurs oft en sent weak and feeble horses to
China in exchange for silk.^174 Th e sign value as well as the social pres-
tige attributed to the horse in the medieval period is well established,
but it is important to explore the possible interpretation of such an act
apart from its (expected) economic benefi t. According to the notions
of a noble Uighur, forcing someone to buy a weak horse meant that
you made him declare his weakness and lack of dignity. Such signs of
humiliation were also recorded in 762 A.D. when the Uighur khagan,
not receiving the required gesture of respect from the Chinese crown
prince, ordered a couple of men of the prince’s suite to be caned to
death.^175
Th e Uighurs demonstrated the same provocative behavior, and
much more openly manifested, aft er the suppression of An Lu-shan’s
rebellion when they became aware of the weakness of China and the
total dependence of the latter on the Uighur cavalry against powerful
Tibet. Visiting the capital city of Chang’an, the Uighurs very oft en kid-
napped young girls from the market places, took horses belonging to
the state and demonstrated arrogant behavior towards the Chinese as
if they were their masters. However, in 775 A.D. the Uighur merchants
went beyond any limit and brought 10 000 jades instead of the 6 000
selected horses they were supposed to bring; this arrogance was too
much for the Chinese and they refused to pay. Th e state offi cial at the
market was killed by the angry Uighurs, but the murderers were cap-
tured and sentenced to life imprisonment. Th en the Uighur soldiers
(^173) Beshevliev 1992, N 2 and pp. 121–122, where the author properly claims that
there existed nicknames among the other emperors as well, for instance Justinian II,
Constantine V, Leo IV and Leo V, etc.
(^174) Th is forceful, imposed trade was called by Mackerras 1972 (2nd ed.), 57, “a
military visit to the Chinese market”. Details see in, Bichurin 1950, 323: the Uighurs
brought to China “weak, useless horses”; the annalist pointed to the fact that at 758
A.D., the Uighurs “became quite insolent”. Also see, Sinor 1998, 195.
(^175) Bichurin 1950, 318. Also see, Gumilev 2004, 442. Such behavior of the khagan
had been perceived by the Chinese army as violation of the heir apparent as well as
the Empire itself.