The Tuyuhun invasion of Gansu was a battle between the

Tuyuhun Tuyuhun (; LHC: *''tʰɑʔ-jok-guənʔ''; Wade-Giles: ''T'u-yühun''), also known as Henan () and Azha (; ), was a dynastic kingdom established by the nomadic peoples related to the Xianbei in the Qilian Mountains and upper Yellow River valle ...

Kingdom and the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

in 623. During the battle, the Tang general

Chai Shao Chai Shao (588–638), courtesy name Sichang, posthumously known as Duke Xiang of Qiao, was a Chinese general who served under the emperors Gaozu and Taizong in the early Tang dynasty. Chai Shao was the son of Chai Shen, the Duke of Julu. He m ...

distracted the Tuyuhun soldiers with an erotic dance performed by two dancing girls. While the nomads watched the dance, Chai Shao attacked from the rear and defeated the Tuyuhun. The Tuyuhun suffered more than five hundred casualties over the course of the battle.

Battle

The Tuyuhun and

Tanguts The Tangut people ( Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; mn, Тангуд) were a Tibeto-Burman tribal union that founded and inhabited the Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun authority, but later submitted ...

regularly raided Chinese settlements along the western Tang frontier. In 623, the Tuyuhun departed from their homeland in the pastures surrounding

Qinghai Lake Qinghai Lake or Ch'inghai Lake, also known by other names, is the largest lake in China. Located in an endorheic basin in Qinghai Province, to which it gave its name, Qinghai Lake is classified as an alkaline salt lake. The lake has fluctuate ...

, known in Mongolian as Kokonur, and invaded Gansu. The Tang general Chai Shao was dispatched to defeat the nomads and prevent further incursions. The Tuyuhun held the higher ground and shot arrows against the encroaching Tang forces. Chai Shao, in the words of historian

Charles Patrick Fitzgerald Charles Patrick Fitzgerald (5 March 190213 April 1992) was a British historian and writer whose academic career occurred mostly in Australia. He was a professor of East Asian studies with particular focus on China. Early life and education Fitzg ...

, "was a general of many, if unorthodox, resources." He devised a decoy by sending two dancing girls and a group of musicians to a small hill near the Tuyuhun camp. The musicians played the pipa, a stringed instrument of foreign origin, while the girls positioned themselves on top of a hill. On the hill, the dancing girls performed an erotic dance in front of the nomads. The attention of the Tuyuhun was diverted entirely towards the girls as the soldiers disbanded their

military formation Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a State (polity), state so as to offer such military capability as a military policy, national defense policy may require. In some countries paramilitary ...

and rushed to the hill for a clearer view of the dance. Seizing the opportunity, Chai Shao surprised the soldiers who were distracted by the performance, and attacked them in the rear with his cavalry. Over five hundred Tuyuhun soldiers were killed in the ensuing battle, forcing the Tuyuhun's retreat from Gansu. Fitzgerald ends his description of the Tuyuhun defeat with the moral that "it is most unwise, in the midst of battle, to let the mind dwell on the delights of peace."

Aftermath

Hostilities between the Tuyuhun and Tang continued after the battle. Between 634 and 635, Emperor Taizong conducted a large military expedition against the Tuyuhun led by the general Li Jing. The Tang forces were reinforced with allied Tangut and Turkic soldiers during the invasion. Tuyuhun was defeated, and capitulated to the Tang court as a vassal.

Citations

References

* * *{{cite book, first=Denis, last=Twitchett, editor=H. J. Van Derven, title=Warfare in Chinese History, date=2000, publisher=BRILL, isbn=978-90-04-11774-7 Tuyuhun Battles involving the Tang dynasty 620s conflicts 7th century in China 623