342 west turkestan
According to Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 338:47b, Ferghana offered annual
gifts from 658. No mission is recorded until 738. According to Wen-
hsien t’ung-k’ao 339:54b, Tashkent from 618 to 649 frequently offered
regional objects. Three missions are recorded. According to T’ang
hui-yao 99:15a, Tashkent repeatedly sent envoys from 742 until not
later than 756. Nine missions are recorded. According to Chiu T’ang
shu 198:14a, Samarkand annually offered gifts after 635. Ten missions
are recorded until 648. According to T’ang hui-yao 98:15b, Kabådh§n
offered gifts without interruption from 637 to 741. Four missions are
recorded. According to Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 338:47b, M§imargh inces-
santly offered gifts from 605 to 617. One mission is recorded. It can be
seen that the statistics for West Turkestan are similar to those for East
Turkestan. The caravan traffic to China must have been so intense
that the historians noted only the most important missions.
The preferred time for missions from West Turkestan to arrive in
Ch’ang-an was the 1st month. Otherwise, they came fairly evenly
during the other months.
This is the distribution by 20-year periods of the 169 recorded
missions from West Turkestan to Sui and T’ang:
587-606: 0
607-626: 19
627-646: 23
647-666: 20
667-686: 6
687-706: 2
707-726: 22
727-746: 41
747-766: 32
767-786: 4
These 169 missions outstrip by far the 78 recorded ones for East
Turkestan during the same period (587-786). Relations were opened
in the reign of Emperor Yang (605-618). Missions were frequent
during the reigns of Emperors T’ai-tsung (627-649) and Kao-tsung
(650-683). During the Tibetan occupation of the Tarim Basin from
670 to 692, there is the same falling off which has been noticed
for East Turkestan. The peak was reached in the reign of Emperor
Hsüan-tsung (712-756).
The kings of West Turkestan had few matters of substance to discuss