the turkic tribes 381in turn married the Princess of Yi-ch’eng (Chiu T’ang shu 194A:1b;
T’ung-tien 197:39b; Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5847, 5858; Wen-hsien t’ung-
k’ao 343:7a).
In the 2nd month (Mar./Apr.) of 620, Ch’u-lo took the hostile step
of setting up Yang Cheng-tao as king of Sui, with his residence in what
now is Sui-yüan. Cheng-tao was a grandson of Emperor Yang of Sui.
All the Chinese under Ch’u-lo’s rule were assigned to him, and he
appointed officials in accordance with the Sui official system (Sui shu
59:7b;Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5878). Ch’u-lo obviously intended to keep
his options open by supporting rivals to the new T’ang house. He was
surely also influenced by his wife, the Sui Princess of Yi-ch’eng, who
could have had no love for the T’ang.
In the 6th month (July/Aug.) of 620, Ch’u-lo still played both sides
by sending a younger brother with 2000 horsemen to support the
T’ang (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5884; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:7a). But in
the same month, he also entered Ping commandery in central Shan-
hsi uninvited. He remained for three days, during which time the
Turks looted and kidnapped many women without restraint. Emperor
Kao-tsu sent the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Cheng Yüan-shou, to
warn Ch’u-lo, which had no result (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5912; Wen-
hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:7a).
Ch’u-lo died suddenly, on the verge of a war with China. At that
time, Cheng Yüan-shou was still among the Turks, who suspected him
of having poisoned their qaghan. He was therefore detained and not
allowed to return to Ch’ang-an (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.5912).
On Dec.25, 620, Turkish envoys announced Ch’u-lo’s death to the
T’ang court. Kao-tsu suspended the court for three days and ordered
the officials to go to the guest lodge and condole with the Turkish
envoys.The Princess of Yi-ch’eng was involved in arranging the succes-
sion. Because Ch’u-lo’s son was deformed, he was dismissed, and Ch’u-
lo’s younger brother was enthroned. This was the Hsieh-li Qaghan
(Illig), the third son of Ch’i-min. He in turn married the Princess of
Yi-ch’eng and thereby became her fourth Turkish husband. Kao-tsu
sent the Superintendent of the Imperial Household to present Hsieh-li
with gold and silk (Chiu T’ang shu 194A:2a; T’ung-tien 197:39b; Tzu-chih
t’ung-chien pp.5896, 5907; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:7a).
Relations between the Hsieh-li qaghan and T’ang did not start
well, and then became worse. In the 1st month (Jan./Feb.) of 621,
envoys from Hsieh-li to the T’ang court offered gifts (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei