478 the tang-hsiang
In 1011, sons of the chiefs of the Western and Central tribes of the
Tsang-ts’ai were received at the Sung court (Sung shih 491:23a).
In 1016, Chen-tsung presented a Tang-hsiang chief with brocade
robes and silver belts (Sung shih 491:24a).
In 1021, Chen-tsung presented a Tang-hsiang chief with vessels
and silk (Sung shih 491:24b).
In the 10th month (Nov./Dec.) of 1021, a Tang-hsiang chief offered
gifts to the Liao court (Liao shih 70:15a).
According to Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 334:28a, the Tang-hsiang continued
to send missions to the Sung court until about 1021.
The missions of the Tang-hsiang tribes to the Chinese courts were
entirely for trade, the chief commodity being horses. The Tang-hsiang
also warred with China when they did not fight each other. The Sung
government tried to appease the chiefs by paying them good prices
for their horses, and by offering gold, silk, brocade robes, silver belts,
[porcelain] vessels, and tea, and by conferring titles. It also made some
of them Inspectors of the territories they held already (T’ang hui-yao
98:18b). This was the old self-serving method of extending China
on an imaginary map by creating fictitious administrative units. The
relations of the Tang-hsiang to the Khitan/Liao were very much the
same, alternating between trade missions and warfare. Official con-
tacts between the Tang-hsiang and the Sung and Liao came to an
end in 1021 when the former were under attack and soon absorbed
by the Hsia State.