682 conclusion
During T’ang, seven princesses with certainty and one with
probablity^90 were daughter’s daughters of emperors and one a great-
granddaughter. Significantly, the three princesses who were married
to Uighur qaghans were imperial daughters.^91 Theirs are the only
documented cases of a such a magnitude and proof for the irresist-
ible demands of the Uighurs. In three cases, the the exact relation of
the princesses to the T’ang imperial house is unknown. It should be
noted that with the exception of the three imperial daughters, none
of the ladies was a princess in her own right. Each received the title
only after she had been chosen for the marriage. The bridegrooms
did not object.
It was a Central Asian custom that widows married brother-in-laws
or stepsons. Since many of the husbands must have been considerably
older than their Chinese wives, the princesses could expect several
marriages in their future. Thus, during Sui, the Princess of Yi-ch’eng
was married four times, and the Princesses of Kuang-hua and Hua-
jung twice each. During T’ang, the Princess of Hsien-an was married
four times, and the Junior Princess of Ning-kuo and the Princesses of
Ku-an, T’ai-ho, and Yen Commandery twice each.
Twice, foreign princesses were unsuccessfully suggested as brides to
the Chinese courts. In 591, the king of the T’u-yü-hun, Shih-fu, offered
a daughter, presumably to be married to a Sui prince. Emperor Wen
refused. In 698, The Eastern Turkish qaghan Mo-ch’o proposed that
a daughter of his marry a T’ang prince. The Empress Wu agreed but
substituted a member of her own family. This led to a haughty refusal
by Mo-ch’o. In 700, Mo-ch’o repeated his offer and specified a son of
the heir-apparent, i.e. of Chung-tsung, as the bridegroom. This was
also agreed to, but after Chung-tsung had ascended the throne in
705 he cancelled the marriage. One marriage actually took place. In
756, the Ko-le Qaghan of the Uighurs married his adopted daughter,
a younger sister of his qatun, to a second cousin of Su-tsung. The
emperor received her warmly and recognized her as a princess.
After the fall of T’ang, all foreign marriages came to an end. Chinese
princesses were no longer requested or offered. Instead, the orientation
of Sung’s northeastern, northern, and northwestern neighbours was
(^90) The Princess of Yen commandery who married the Khitan chief Li Yü-yü
in 722.
(^91) In addition, the Junior Princess of Ning-kuo was an imperial daughter-daugh-
ter.