the turkic tribes 411The Liu-kuei
The Liu-kuei, Ku-li-kan, and Po-ma mentioned below may have been
tribes in central Siberia. Nothing is known about their linguistic affili-
ation, and I list them among the Turkic tribes simply as a matter of
convenience.
On Mar.31, 640, Li-kuei envoys were received at the T’ang court.
This was the first contact between them and China. Emperor T’ai-tsung
appointed the envoy as Chief Commandant of Cavalry (T’ung-tien 200:
49b;Tzu-chih t’ung-chien p.6153; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 347:27b).
The Ku-li-kan
In the 8th month (Sep./Oct.) of 647, Ku-li-kan envoys presented
100 horses to the T’ang court. Emperor T’ai-tsung selected the ten
best, called them the Ten Thorough-breds, and gave a name to each.
The envoys were given rich presents. Out of the Ku-li-kan territory,
T’ai-tsung created the imaginary Yüan-ch’üeh commandery (Ts’e-fu
yüan-kuei p.5025; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 348:31b).
In the 7th month (July/Aug.) of 694, Ku-li-kan envoys offered gifts
(Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5026).
THE PO-MA
In the 11th month (Dec./Jan., 653) of the Chinese year 652,^41 Po-ma
envoys to the T’ang court offered gifts and congratulated (Chiu T’ang
shu 4:4a; Ts’e-fu yüan-kuei p.5025; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 348:33a).
The Hsüeh-yen-t’o
The T’ieh-le were divided into a number of tribes, among whom, until
the rise of the Uighurs, the Hsüeh-yen-t’o were the most important.
They had been a subject people of the Juan-juan against whom they
rose in 546, only to become subjects of the Turks in 552. Their old
grazing grounds stretched from northern Zungharia to the upper
(^41) By T’ang hui-yao 100:14a dated 11th month (Dec./Jan., 652) of the Chinese
year 651.