ch’ing-hai 285independent state until their destruction by the Tibetans in 670. It has
been seen that according to Sui shu 83:4a, their king Shih-fu offered
a daughter to Emperor Wen in 591. The text claims that she was
intended for the imperial harem, which would have been an insult
to her father. He would not have been satisfied with such an inferior
position for a T’u-yü-hun princess. What he must have had in mind
was marriage among equals to a prince of the Sui house.^10 This in turn
looked like arrogance to Emperor Wen, and that is why he rejected
the proposal. When Yün-fu in 597 married his elder brother’s widow,
the Chinese Princess of Kuang-hua, he certainly did not ask Emperor
Wen’s permission, as claimed by Pei shih 96:19a.
Chiu T’ang shu 198:7a, 7b and Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6117 state that
Shun had been a hostage in China for a long time. But, as has been
seen, he was detained in China against his will from 604 to 618 and
consequently was not a hostage in the traditional sense. This makes
the claim of Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6119 highly improbable that No-ho-
po in 636 offered to send a son or younger brother as hostage to the
T’ang court. He had no need to do so, but the visit of a relative to
Ch’ang-an could easily have been misinterpreted or misrepresented
by the Chinese historians as the rendering of a hostage.
When the same king in 636 requested the T’ang calendar, this was,
as always, understood by the Chinese court to mean submission. In
actual fact, the T’u-yü-hun may simply have needed a calendar, which
it was beyond their ability to construct, and they probably were not
even aware of the Chinese implications.
T’ang policy toward the T’u-yü-hun had the aim of regularizing
relations for the sake of a peaceful. border, as well as the usual exchange
of goods. For that purpose, Chinese princesses were married to T’u-
yü-hun rulers in 596 and 640. At least two rulers received nominal
but not posthumous titles before 670. Their is no evidence that the
T’ang emperors suspended the court as a token of mourning for T’u-
yü-hun kings. The most favoured of them was No-ho-po, but he was
also the one most friendly to China.
According to Sui shu 83:4b, T’u-yü-hun missions arrived annually
from 597. Only one mission in 604 is recorded. According to Tzu-
chih-t’ung-chien p.5841, the T’u-yü-hun frequently sent missions from
(^10) Emperor Wen’s empress was still alive, and Fu would not have aimed that
high in any event.