The Battle of Dafei River () was fought in mid-670 between the forces of 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 ...

and the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (, ; ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 3 ...

, for control over the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...

(the "

Anxi Protectorate The Protectorate General to Pacify the West (Anxi Grand Protectorate), initially the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate), was a protectorate (640 – ) established by the Chinese Tang dynasty in 640 to control the Tarim Basin. Th ...

" in Chinese parlance). In 669, the Tibetan Empire invaded and conquered 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 of

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, which was a tributary state and important ally to the Tang dynasty. To help Tuyuhun restore the regime, Emperor Gaozong of Tang launched the campaign against Tibet. The Tang general,

Xue Rengui Xue Rengui (; 614 – 24 March 683), formal name Xue Li (薛礼) but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was a Chinese military general during the early Tang Dynasty. He is one of the most well-known military generals of his time due to his hum ...

, commanded an army of 50,000 men against 400,000 men of the Tibetan Empire. He left his slower-moving baggage train and 20,000 soldiers under Guo Daifeng behind and advanced with the rest to the

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 ...

. The Tibetans attacked and captured the Tang baggage train, and fought Xue's own army at the Dafei River (Dafeichuan, 大非川). In the aftermath of the battle, Xue retreated from Tuyuhun. However, the Tibetan Empire lost 100,000 men and the weakened Tibetan Empire went into decline in the following decades.

References

* * Dafei River Dafei River Dafei 670 Tang–Tibet relations {{China-hist-stub

See also

References