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How big was the territory of the Tang Dynasty? Perhaps Tan Qixiang's land misled most people in China.
The Tang Dynasty was the largest dynasty established by the Han nationality in ancient China, and its sphere of influence went deep into the desert, northeast China, western regions and other places. Du You, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, described the scope of the Tang Dynasty in the General Code: "East to Anton, west to Anxi, south to Rinan County, and north to Khan. The north and south are as prosperous as the former Han Dynasty, and the East is not as good as the West. " But this is a very vague description. The size of the territory of the Tang Dynasty is still a controversial topic. I think we should look at territory and sphere of influence separately. Territory is an area under the jurisdiction of a country, and the sphere of influence is an area under the control of its military capabilities. This paper mainly discusses the territory and sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.

First, the territory and sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty in the southwest. On the map of the Tang Dynasty, it was originally the second administrative division of the county. But we still have to distinguish the nature of the country. Zhengzhou, a state established in the mainland, is under the administrative jurisdiction of officials sent by the state, or local ethnic leaders appointed by the state, but in any case, the state will have household registration, administration, taxation and other aspects of management. Another state, located in the border area, is called "Jimmy State". There is no administrative organization in Jimei County, but local minority leaders are granted jurisdiction over the Secretariat. The former belongs to the territory, and the latter is the sphere of influence if there is military control, and even the sphere of influence is not counted without military control.

Tan Qixiang Edition Map of Tang Dynasty

Most of the differences between Zhengzhou and Jimmy are very easy to distinguish, but the southwest region is quite special. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, after the reunification of the mainland, the most popular surnames of Tu nationality in southwest and Lingnan areas were attached one after another, and they were conferred the title of secretariat. These states belong to Lingnan Road, Jiangnan West Road and Jiannan Road respectively. There is a big difference between Jimmy State in these places and Jimmy State in the north. The control of the Tang Dynasty here was much greater than that of the North, and there were even some administrative interventions. Therefore, the southwest region is generally in a state of territory and sphere of influence. In terms of time, the control of the Tang Dynasty on the southwest Jimi area increased with the strengthening of national strength, and weakened with the weakening of national strength. In space, the control power in Lingnan area and Ganzhou area is stronger, while the control power in Yunnan area is basically in a state of stagnation.

English version of Tang Dynasty territory

There were 50 Jimi states in Qianzhou Governor's Office, among which Liuzhou (Weng 'an), Yan (Guanling), Zhuang (now Huishui), Chong (Shiqian), Ying (now Guiyang) and Moment (now Guiyang) were the main ones in the early Tang Dynasty, and it was reduced to Jimi in the Xuanzong period of Tang Dynasty. The four States of Na, Sa, Yan and Xian, which were led by the DuDu Prefecture of Luzhou, were Zhengzhou in the early stage of musical instrument style, and went down to Jimi Prefecture as soon as they were born. The Wei and Yi States under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of Maozhou originally belonged to Jimi State, and later changed to Zhengzhou. The seven kingdoms of Tu, Yan, Che, Xiang, Ran, Qiong and Ru were also countries of detention at first, and then "the times were right". This reflects the changes in the control of Ganzhou and Jiannan in the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that Jimi Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the major states in southwest China, was an unstable territory in the Tang Dynasty. Here, "friends and enemies doubt each other" and "soldiers and troops defend each other." Officials in the Tang dynasty often sent officials to make adjustments, claiming that "although Qing and others are far away, each has its own tribe and belongs to the country."

Generally speaking, before Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, these areas were in a state of wandering sphere of influence and territory. Guizhou, the edge of Sichuan basin and Lingnan area can generally be considered as the territory of the Tang Dynasty, while Yunnan has never been included in the territory. At first, all Jimi states in Yunnan were granting cuan clan and other regimes. As the unified kingdom has not yet been formed, they can't compete with the Tang Dynasty, so they can only submit. During the Kaiyuan period, Nanzhao rose and unified Liu Zhao, and a huge national regime appeared in the southwest. The regime sometimes took refuge in the Tang Dynasty and sometimes attacked it. It can be said that the establishment of Nanzhao represents the retreat of Tang Dynasty forces from Yunnan. During the Kaiyuan period, the middle road of Guizhou was set up, which strengthened the control of Guizhou and prevented Nanzhao.

Second, the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty is in the northeast, and the northernmost part of the territory of the Tang Dynasty is Hebei Road, as long as it governs today's Hebei area. Outside Shanhaiguan, Zhengzhou was not established in the Tang Dynasty, but a large number of prefectures were established. The conferment of the Tang Dynasty in Jimifuzhou in the northeast was also divided into two situations: one was only a nominal conferment without military control; The other is to admire local leaders, but have military control. The former is not a sphere of influence, but a policy in China's ancient tributary system, and the latter can be regarded as the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty.

Mid-Tang Tan Edition Map: The Tang Dynasty was not capped in Northeast China.

Fuyu, Qidan, Xi, Shiwei, Mohong, Sanhan and other nationalities lived in the northeast of Tang Dynasty. In the early Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo was strong, and Emperor Taizong and Silla, which had been established by Chen and Han for many times, went to Goguryeo and Baekje, which were established by Fuyu people. In 660, Baekje perished, and the other ministries were canonized in the Tang Dynasty, and five viceroy offices were established, including Jin Xiong. In 668, Goguryeo perished, and the Tang Dynasty later established the Andong Duhu House and Yingzhou Duhu House to control its land. However, the Khitan and Xi are the same race, with different names, located in the West Liaohe River, and began to surrender to the East Turkistan. After the disintegration of the East Turkistan, it surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and successively established two captives, the viceroy at the end of the Song Dynasty and the viceroy at Raole, with their princes as their leaders.

A more objective map of early Tang Xuanzong.

Goguryeo, Baekje, Qidan and Xi nationalities established the Duhu and Jimi governors, all of which were established under the military power of the Tang Dynasty, so they were the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty. After the demise of Koguryo and Baekje in the Tang Dynasty, there was no administrative organization in the Northeast, which is why the control of the Tang Dynasty on the Northeast was very unstable. During the period of Wu Zetian, Qidan began to oppose the Tang Dynasty and sent troops to attack Yingzhou many times, which was called "Yingzhou Rebellion" in history, which marked that Qidan was out of the control of the Tang Dynasty. Silla constantly squeezed the power of the Tang Dynasty on the Korean Peninsula. In 670, Silla annexed Baekje's hometown, and then continued to advance northward. Anton Khufu of the Tang Dynasty had to migrate to Liaodong.

Anton Khufu moved inward.

On Tan Qixiang's territory, the vast interests of Heilongjiang were also included in the territory of the middle and late Tang Dynasty. This is very objective. In the late Tang Dynasty, its forces basically withdrew from Liaodong, not to mention the distant Heilongjiang. After Yingzhou Rebellion, the Xiongnu Department of Koguryo fled to Liaodong and refused to be knighted in the Tang Dynasty. In 697, Mohong defeated the army of the Tang Dynasty in the Battle of Tianmenling, and then the Khitan once again blocked the connection between the Tang Dynasty and Liaodong. Chief Mohong took the opportunity to establish his country in Jilin, calling himself "King of Shock". From the surface of various historical phenomena, the military forces of the Tang Dynasty gradually withdrew from Liaodong area during this period. In July14, Anton Khufu moved to Yingzhou (Chaoyang), which was completely abolished after the Anshi Rebellion.

Bohai Kingdom and Silla: According to Liao literature, the Bohai Sea occupied Liaodong in the late Tang Dynasty.

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Heishui, Bohai (earthquake country) and Shiwei in the northeast were canonized, nominally called the viceroy of Heishui, Bohai and Shiwei, so Tan Qixiang incorporated them all into the territory of the middle and late Tang Dynasty. In fact, all the forces of the Tang Dynasty have already withdrawn from the Northeast, Anton's protection has also been removed from the mainland, and the knighthood of the Tang Dynasty is only in name only. To sum up, the Northeast has never been included in the administrative division map of the Tang Dynasty, but only in the period of Tang Gaozong, Liaodong and Liaoxi were included in the sphere of Anton Khufu's influence.

Third, the sphere of influence and territory of the Tang Dynasty in the northwest, the northwest region, is the world of nomadic people. On Tan Qixiang's map, the entire Mongolian Plateau, Western Regions, Central Asia and Afghanistan were all painted on the map of the Tang Dynasty. Whether this painting is objective or not is worth discussing. I divided this northwest area into desert areas (Monan and Mobei), western regions, Central Asia, Tuholo and other areas for exploration.

The desert, now called Mongolian Plateau, is divided into Mobei and Monan by Gobi Desert and Yinshan Mountain. At first, the Hetao area in Monan was also a nomadic area, but after the long-term development of Qin, Han and Northern Wei Dynasties, Hetao became a farming area. In the early Tang Dynasty, Liang Shi was divided into Hetao. In 628, Emperor Taizong destroyed Liang's capital and incorporated it into the Guannei Road. Therefore, the Hetao in Monan area was thus incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. In 630, the Eastern Turkistan was destroyed in the Tang Dynasty, and some Jimifuzhou were established in it, announcing that the whole Monan area would be included in the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty. In 647, Emperor Taizong destroyed Xue Yantuo, and Mobei was brought into the sphere of influence. Xue Yantuo's scope is "Mohong in the east, Turkic in the west, Zazie (Gobi) in the south, and great wheel water in the north". The Gulun water here is Hulun Lake, not a parallel lake. This shows that the existence of Lake Baikal in Siberia may not be very clear in the Tang Dynasty.

Gu Jiegang painted the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and the light-colored part is the sphere of influence.

The situation in the western region will be more complicated. During the period of Emperor Taizong, Gao Changguo and other places south of Tianshan Mountain were captured by the army, and Xizhou (Turpan), Yizhou (Hami) and Tingzhou (Jimsar) were established. These three States are not Jimsar, but Zhengzhou, which is similar to the mainland. The secretariat of these three States is that the central government sends officials as officials, and generally they are also guards. Therefore, part of the eastern part of the western regions is the territory of the Tang Dynasty, and it is also the stronghold of the Tang Dynasty to manage the whole western regions and Central Asia. In 640, Emperor Taizong set up Anxi Duhu in Xizhou, and later the Beiting Duhu set up by Wu Zetian was Tingzhou. In 648, Emperor Taizong further captured the southern Tianshan Mountains and established four military bases, namely, Qiuci, Yanqi, Yutian (Hotan) and Shule (Kashgar), which were called "Anxi Four Towns" in history. It should be noted that these strongholds are not territories, but spheres of influence, but they have strong control.

Tanben of the Western Regions in Tang Dynasty

During the Tang Gaozong period, the war with West Turkestan entered a full-scale outbreak stage. It is recorded in history that the West Turkistan perished in 657. In fact, the West Turkic was not destroyed until the end of the Tang Dynasty. Historically, West Turkistan has been in a state of division. In 648, Ashnahulu surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and his Ministry was canonized as the Governor's Office of Yaochi. However, after the death of Emperor Taizong, he openly launched the war against the Tang Dynasty. In 65 1 year, Ashnahulu defeated Epishekuikkhan and called himself "Shaboro Khan". Subsequently, two western Turkic tribes fought. The Tang Dynasty took the opportunity to attack the West Turkic. In 657, Ashnahulu was destroyed, and other Turkic ministries temporarily accepted the Tang Dynasty as the governor. At this time, the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty reached its peak.

The relatively objective territory of the Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty's control over nomadic tribes in Mobei and the western regions was very weak, and even most tribes in western Turkistan were in the stage of nominal knighthood, not to mention territory. During the period of Wu Zetian, both East Turkistan and West Turkistan openly counterattacked the Tang Dynasty. In 682, the East Turkistan resumed China, and the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty disappeared from Mobei. It was not until 745 that the Uighur khanate replaced East Turkistan. Although Uyghur Khan accepted the title of Duhu House in the Tang Dynasty, it was only nominal and had no control. In the western regions, in 662, Duh Tukui's surname Khan rebelled against imperialism, and the area north of Tianshan Mountain was separated from the control of the Tang Dynasty.

As for Tuhuoluo (Afghanistan), it is even more ridiculous to be included in the territory of the Tang Dynasty. 66 1 year, the * * * empire destroyed the Persian empire, and the prince of the Persian empire fled to Tuhuoluo, asking for help from the Tang Dynasty, and was conferred the title of "Persian viceroy". On Tan Qixiang's map of the Tang Dynasty, the corner of Persia was carefully marked: the Governor of Persia. However, before this "viceroy" took office, * * * occupied Tuholo in 664, and then the Persian prince fled to Chang 'an. Since then, the "King of Persia" and "Governor of Persia" have been living in Chang 'an. So the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty was occupied by * * * before it reached the northeast.

* * * the expansion of the empire

In Central Asia, at that time, there lived the descendants of the Da Yue family, "Zhao Wu Jiu Xing", who were once controlled by the West Turkic. After 657 years, these small countries accepted the knighthood of the Tang Dynasty and became the nominal viceroy. Tan Qixiang therefore brought the version of the Tang Dynasty to the Aral Sea. But the Tang Dynasty never sent troops here. * * * After the demise of the Persian Empire, troops were sent to conquer the "Nine Surnames of Zhaowu". During the Kaiyuan period, the troops of the Tang Dynasty began to compete with * * * in the Shiguo (Tashkent) area. In 750, the army of * * * defeated the army of the Tang Dynasty in the battle of Nero, so the forces of * * * began to enter the western regions. Fortunately, later Tubo became stronger, which hindered the further eastward expansion of * * *.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the troops of the Tang Dynasty began to withdraw from the western regions, and Tubo occupied the Hexi Corridor, blocking the traffic between the western regions and the mainland. In the following decades, the four towns of Anxi were gradually annexed by Tubo. In 790, all the four towns of Anxi fell, and all the forces of the Tang Dynasty withdrew from the Western Regions.

Taken together, the territory of the heyday of the Tang Dynasty was about 5 million square kilometers, and if the sphere of influence was included, it was about 6.5438+million square kilometers. This peak data is maintained for a short time, that is, decades. After the Anshi Rebellion, the sphere of influence of the Tang Dynasty disappeared, with a territory area of about 4 million square kilometers.

Tang dynasty (129) viceroy (7) troops (4)