426 the turkic tribes
eldest son Li Kua, the future Emperor Te-tsung, with Yao Tzu-ang
as one of his subordinates. The qaghan invited Li Kua to dance in
front of the tent, which the latter refused. The qaghan accused him of
haughtiness. Tzu-ang offered the excuse that Li Kua was in mourning
for his great-grandfather Hsüan-tsung and grandfather Su-tsung (who
had died earlier that year on May 3 and May 16, 762, respectively)
and that it therefore was not proper for him to dance. The Uighurs
replied that there was a covenant of brotherhood between the Teng-
li Qaghan and Emperor Tai-tsung, which made Li Kua a nephew
of the qaghan. He should observe the protocol of a nephew toward
his uncle. Tzu-ang replied that this protocol had been superceded by
the mourning. Moreover, Li Kua, as the eldest son of the emperor,
was the heir-apparent. How could the heir-apparent of China dance
before the qaghan of a foreign country? The Uighurs gave Tzu-ang
and three other Chinese 100 strokes of the rod each, two of whom
died from it in the following night.^61 Li Kua was allowed to return to
his camp (Chiu T’ang shu 195:6a-6b; Hsin T’ang shu 217A:5b).
The Uighurs proceeded to defeat Shih Ch’ao-yi and to put an end
to the rebellion by January 763. But the cost to the civilian popula-
tion through brutality and pillage had been high. The qaghan sent
envoys to the court, congratulated on the victory, and presented Shih
Ch’ao-yi’s banners. Tai-tsung summoned the envoys to an audience
and presented them with 200 pieces of silk (Chiu T’ang shu 195:6b-7a;
Hsin T’ang shu 217A:5b).
On Feb.22, 763, 15 Uighurs invaded the Ministry of the Herald
by night. The guards at the gate did not dare to stop them (Tzu-chih
t’ung-chien pp.7140-7141). The Herald was the official in charge of
the reception of foreign envoys so that the Uighurs had official stand-
ing. They were no doubt the envoys who had just been sent by the
qaghan and who according to the sources behaved abusively toward
the Chinese officials.
On Aug.24, 763, Emperor Tai-tsung recognized the qaghan as
Teng-li-hsieh-to-teng-mi-shih-han-chü-lu, Who Is Brave and Right-
eous and Has Established Merit, p’i-chia Qaghan. The Chiu T’ang
shu here provides a translation from the Uighuric. It renders hsieh-to
as “the lawful usage of the Gods of the Soils and Grains, teng-mi-shih
as “enfeoffed territory”, han-chü-lu as “skilfull”, and p’i-chia as “having
(^61) Yao Tzu-ang survived.