the turkic tribes 379merely toasted the emperor in whatever the Turkish manner was, and
this was wilfully interpreted by the Chinese as an act of homage. It
goes without saying that Ch’i-min was not “ordered” to return to his
homeland. Everything indicates that the meeting in Yü-lin was between
equals. Ch’i-min and his qatun called on Emperor Yang, and then
Yang called on Ch’i-min, and his the empress on the qatun. The rest
is sino-centric window-dressing. The independence of Ch’i-min is also
proved by the fact that envoys from Koguryo were in his entourage
(Sui shu 84:15a; Pei shih 99:15b).
Ch’i-min died in 609 and was succeeded by his son, the Shih-pi
Qaghan. Emperor Yang suspended the court for three days and recog-
nized Shih-pi (Sui shu 84:14a-14b; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:7a). According
to custom, Shih-pi married the Princess of Yi-ch’eng, widowed qatun
of his father.^6 (Sui shu 84:14a-14b; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:7a).
On Feb.4, 615, the New Year’s Day, Emperor Yang gave a great
banquet for foreign envoys, including *Turks (Sui shu 4:9b). Later that
year, Shih-pi and the princess were received in the Eastern Capital
(Lo-yang) (Sui shu 84:14b).
But relations between Shih-pi and the Sui deteriorated because
of Chinese meddling, and in the 8th month (Aug./Sep.) of 615 he
invaded China and surrounded Emperor Yang in northern Shan-hsi.
The emperor was barely saved from capture. Thereafter missions of
the Eastern Turks no longer arrived. In 616, Shih-pi again raided
Shan-hsi. During the troubles at the end of Sui, many Chinese found
refuge among the Eastern Turks, and the state became strong and
prosperous (Sui shu 84:14b; Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5792; Wen-hsien t’ung-
k’ao 343:7a).
In the civil war at the end of Sui and during early T’ang, various
pretenders such as Wang Shih-ch’ung, Liu Wu-chou, Liang Shih-tu,
Li Kuei, and Kao K’ai-tao sought help from Shih-pi and declared
themselves his subjects in exchange for titles and aid (Sui shu 84:14b).
Among these, Li Yüan, the future Emperor Kao-tsu and founder of
the T’ang dynasty, was the most successful. In 617, he sent an envoy
to Shih-pi with a request for help. Shih-pi responded with 1000
horses and 2000 horsemen. Before and after Kao-tsu had ascended
the throne on June 18, 618, “the gifts [to Shih-pi] were too many to
(^6) He did not, of course, “memorialize” and ask Emperor Yang’s permission, as
claimed by Sui shu 84:14b and Pei shih 99:16a.