the turkic tribes 395In the 2nd month (Mar./Apr.) of 726, a mission of more than 300
Turks offered congratulations (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5028).
In the 5th month (June/July) of 726, another high-ranking Turkish
envoy was received at the T’ang court (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5028).
In the 11th month (Nov./Dec.) of 726, Turkish envoys presented
30 fine horses (Chiu T’ang shu 8:14b; 194A:16b; Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei
p.5028).^26
On Oct.6, 727, a high official of P’i-chia offered gifts to the T’ang
court. He also acquainted Hsüan-tsung with a letter from the Tibetans
to the qaghan, in which they offered an alliance against the Chinese.
The emperor was impressed and agreed to a joint market with the
Turks in the Ning-hsia Oasis. Hencefort, the Chinese annually bought
war-horses there for several 100,000 bolts of silk (Tzu-chih t’ung-chien
p.6779;Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 343:11a).
In the 2nd (Feb./Mar.) and 4th month (Apr./May) of 730, Turkish
envoys offered regional objects (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5028).^27
In the 10th month (Nov./Dec.) of 731, a Turkish mission of 24
men, led by a high official, was received at the T’ang court (Ts’e-fu
yüan-kuei p.5028).
In the 3rd month (April) of 732, it became known at the T’ang court
that the younger brother of P’i-chia, the great general Ch’üeh-t’e-le
(Kul-tegin), had died. Hsüan-tsung sent the General of the Gilded
Mace and a Gentleman-of-the-Palace of [the Bureau of] Criminal
Administration to condole and sacrifice and to present a letter stamped
with the imperial seal. The Chinese also set up a stele in memory
of Ch’üeh-t’e-le for which the emperor personally had written the
inscription, and they built a temple for him with depictions of his
battles on the four stone walls (Chiu T’ang shu 194A:16b; Tzu-chih
t’ung-chien p.6795).
On Aug.24, 732, a Turkish mission led by a noble was received at
the T’ang court (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5028).
In the 3rd month (Mar./Apr.) of 733, a Turkish mission of 16 men
was received at the T’ang court. In the 4th month (May/June) of
the same year, a high Turkish official arrived, and in the 9th month
(Oct./Nov.) a mission of 13 men led by still another high Turkish
official was received (Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei pp.5028, 5029).
(^26) By Chiu T’ang shu 194A:16b dated 727.
(^27) One of these missions was involved in a contretemps with the Turgesh. See
the section on the latter below.