the turkic tribes 469On Oct.16, 1020, envoys of the Sha chou Uighurs to the Liao court
offered gifts (Liao shih 16:4b; 70:15a).
In 1023, envoys from Ts’ao Hsien-shun to the Sung court offered
frankincense, uncut gems, and jade lumps (Sung shih 9:4b; Wen-hsien
t’ung-k’ao 335:35b).
On Feb.5, 1031, Sha chou offered gifts to the Sung court (Sung shih
9:14a;Hsü Tzu-chih t’ung-chien ch’ang-pien p.979).
From 1034 to1054, Sha chou seven times offered regional objects
to the Sung court (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 335:35b).
In 1037, Sha chou offered gifts to the Sung court (Sung shih 9:4b).
In 1050, Sha chou offered gifts to the Sung court (Sung shih 12:
2a).
On Nov.1, 1052, Sha-chou envoys to the Sung court offered regional
objects (Hsü Tzu-chih t’ung-chien ch’ang-pien p.1596).
The rulers of Sha chou traded at first exlusively with the Five Dynas-
ties and Sung, but from the beginning of the 11th century also with
Liao. They managed to keep their independence until the middle of
that century when they lost it to Hsia. Their recorded merchandise
was horses, camels, jade, uncut gems, corals, amber, and frankincense,
i.e. not only local products but also goods (corals, amber, frankincense)
obtained from far away through the caravans on the Silk Routes. They
were paid with tea, drugs, [porcelain] vessels,silk and printed books
such as the Tripitaka.
The Kirghiz
The Kirghiz (Chieh-ku or Hsia-chia-ssu) lived originally in central
Siberia at the upper course of the Yenisei River. After they had
destroyed the Uighur empire, they took over the Orkhon region but
soon after 900 were pushed back by the Khitan.
In 647, the chief of the Kirghiz came personally to the T’ang court
(T’ung-tien 200:50a).
In 648, envoys of the Kirghiz to the T’ang court offered regional
objects. Emperor T’ai-tsung created out of their territory the imaginary
Chien-k’un Area Command and appointed the Kirghiz chief as Gen-
eral-in-chief of the Garrison Guards (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 348:32a).
From 650 to 683, the Kirghiz were twice received at the T’ang
court (Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 348:32a).
Between 707 and 710, the Kirghiz offered regional objects (Wen-
hsien t’ung-k’ao 348:32a).