Map of the Tang Empire and its Protectorates circa 660 CE

The Protectorate General to Pacify the North or Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the North (647–784) was a Chinese

military government A military government is any government that is administered by a military, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue or by an occupying power. It is usually administered by military personnel. Types of m ...

established by the

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

in 647 to pacify the former territory of

Xueyantuo The Xueyantuo or Sir Tardush were an ancient Tiele people, Tiele tribe and khaganate in Northeast Asia who were at one point vassals of the Göktürks, later aligning with the Tang dynasty against the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Eastern Göktürk ...

, which extended from

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

to the north, the

Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (, , ; ) is a large, cold desert and grassland region in North China and southern Mongolia. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world. The name of the desert comes from the Mongolian word ''gobi'', used to refer to all of th ...

to the south, the Khingan Mountains to the east, and the

Altay Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with th ...

to the west. It controlled the Mongolian Plateau from 647 to 682. It was first established as Yanran at Shanyu Tai, southwest of present-day Urat Middle Banner, the northern slope of Lang Shan. This was later shifted to Hanhai a short period before it was changed to Anbei. The seat of governance remained there until the year 687.

History

In 646 the Tang dynasty conquered the

and on 9 January 647, thirteen Tiele and Uyghur tribes surrendered to the Tang. Tang Taizong organized them into six commanderies and seven tributary prefectures under the

Jimi system The Jimi system () or Jimifuzhou () was an autonomous administrative and political organization system used in China between the 7th century and 10th century. It should not be confused with the Chinese tributary system. The term "Jimi" was first s ...

. The six commanderies were Hanhai (翰海府), Jinwei (金微府), Yanran (燕然府), Youling (幽陵府), Guilin (龜林府), and Lushan (盧山府). The seven prefectures were Gaolan (皐蘭州), Gaoque (高闕州), Jilu (雞鹿州), Jitian (雞田州), Yuxi (榆溪州), Dailin (蹛林州), and Douyan (竇顏州). Collectively these were known as the "Cantian Khan Circuit." On 10 April the Yanran Protectorate was created at the foothills of the Shanyu Plateau, southwest of present-day

Urad Middle Banner Urad Middle Banner ( Mongolian: ; zh, s=乌拉特中旗) is a banner of Inner Mongolia, China. It is located in the west of the region, and administratively is part of Bayan Nur City. It has a total area of and in 2020 had a population of 112,1 ...

, and governorship of the 13 tribes was handed over to the protector general, Li Suli (李素立), who served from 647 to 649. In 650, the Tang set up Wolf Mountain Prefecture where the

Karluks The Karluks (also Qarluqs, Qarluks, Karluqs, , Qarluq, Para-Mongolic languages, Para-Mongol: Harluut, zh, s=葛逻禄, t=葛邏祿 ''Géluólù'' ; customary phonetic: ''Gelu, Khololo, Khorlo'', , ''Khallokh'', ''Qarluq'') were a prominent no ...

lived under the jurisdiction of Hanhai. On 5 February 663 the Yanran Protectorate (on the northern bank of the Wujia River) was renamed Hanhai Protectorate. In 663, the Yunzhong Protectorate was created from Hanhai. The Yunzhong Protectorate was renamed to Chanyu Protectorate in 664 and located northwest of Horinger and south of

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

. In August 669 the Hanhai Protectorate was renamed the Protectorate General to Pacify the North, otherwise known as the Anbei Duhufu. In 679, Ashide Wenfu and Ashide Fengzhi rebelled against the Chanyu Protectorate and backed Ashina Nishufu as their khagan. In 683,

Ilterish Qaghan Ilterish Qaghan (, zh, 頡跌利施可汗/颉跌利施可汗 ''Xiédiēlìshīkěhàn''; personal name: Ashina Qutlugh, 阿史那骨篤祿/阿史那骨笃禄, ''āshǐnà gǔdǔlù'', a-shih-na ku-tu-lu, d. 691) was the founder of the Second Turk ...

besieged the Chanyu Protectorate and killed the adjutant Zhang Xingshi. In 686, the status of the Chanyu Protectorate was downgraded to ''zhenshou shi'' (defense commissioner). In 687 the seat of Anbei was moved to the east of

Tsetserleg Tsetserleg (, ''garden'') may signify: * Tsetserleg (city), the capital of Arkhangai aimag in Mongolia * two sums (districts) in different aimags of Mongolia: ** Tsetserleg, Arkhangai ** Tsetserleg, Khövsgöl {{disambig ...

, then Tongcheng southeast of

Ejin Banner Ejin ( Mongolian: ; zh, s=额济纳旗) is a banner in the far west of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Alxa League and is the westernmost county-level division of Inner Mongolia, bordering Gansu province to the west and ...

(one source gives this a date of 685), then Xi'an northwest of

Minle Minle County () is a county in Gansu province of China, bordering Qinghai province to the south. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhangye. Its postal code is 734500, and in 1999 its population was people. The GDP pe ...

and southeast of

Zhangye Zhangye ( zh, s=张掖, t=張掖, p=Zhāngyè), Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Changyeh and also formerly known as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Gansu provinces of China, Province in the ...

. In 698 the seat was moved to the old town of Yunzhong to the northwest of Horinger. In 708 the seat of Anbei was moved to the Western Shouxiang city near modern

Wuyuan County, Inner Mongolia Wuyuan County (; zh, s=五原县), is a county with 224,809 inhabitants (2020) under the administration of Baynnur, Inner Mongolia. The total area of the county is with the administrative center in Longxingchang. Administrative divisions Wuy ...

. In 714 the Chanyu Protectorate was revived in Yunzhong while Anbei was re-located to the Middle Shouxiang city, near modern

Baotou Baotou; is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is home to 2,261,089 people with a total po ...

. In 749 the seat was moved to the military settlement of Hengsai, near modern-day Urad Middle Banner. Due to unfavorable farming conditions near the Hengsai settlement,

Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and p ...

resettled the army near modern

Urad Front Banner Urad Front Banner (; zh, s=乌拉特前旗) is a Banner (Inner Mongolia), banner of Inner Mongolia, China. It is located in the west of the region, situated on the northern (left) bank of the Yellow River, on the Ordos Loop, and in between the ci ...

in 755 and renamed it Da'an and then

Tiande Army Tiande (天德) may refer to: * Tiande, Liaoning, town in Xifeng County, Liaoning, China Historical eras *Tiande (943–945), era name used by Wang Yanzheng, emperor of Min *Tiande (1149–1153), era name used by Wanyan Liang Digunai (24 Februa ...

. Following the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue ...

from 755-763, the Chanyu and Anbei protectorates lost any real authority and survived in name only. Due to the

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

of An Lushan's name, the Anbei Protectorate was renamed the Zhenbei Protectorate in 757, which meant "Protectorate General to Suppress the North." In 758, it was relocated to Western Shouxiang city. The Chanyu Protectorate came under control of the Zhenwu Jiedushi (758-764). In 840 a group of

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

attacked the Tiande Army. In 843 the Chanyu Protectorate was renamed back to Anbei Protectorate.

List of protector generals

* Li Suli (李素立) 647-649 * Jiang Jian (姜簡) * Ren Yaxiang (任雅相) * Liu Shenli (劉審禮) 661 * Jiang Xie (姜協) * Zang Shan'an (臧善安) * Pang Tongfu (龐同福) * Li Dazhi (李大志) after 672 * Sun Jun (孫俊) 694 * Li Dan (李旦), otherwise known as

Emperor Ruizong of Tang Emperor Ruizong of Tang (22 June 662 – 13 July 716), personal name Li Dan, also known at times during his life as Li Xulun, Li Lun, Wu Lun, and Wu Dan, was the fifth and ninth emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the eighth son of Emp ...

, 699-702 * Zang Huailiang (臧懷亮) * Wang Jun (王晙) before 714 * Li Sizhi (李嗣直) * Zhang Zhiyun (張知運) around 716 * Zang Huaike (臧懷恪) * Zang Xizhuang (臧希莊) 729 * Tian Wan (田琬) * Li Guangbi (李光弼) 745-746 * Li Wan (李琬) 749 * Guo Ziyi (郭子儀) 749-754 * Li Linfu (李林甫) * Zang Fangzhi (臧方直) * Pugu Huai'en (僕固懷恩) 762

Jiedushi

* Li Zhongshun (李忠順) 843-845 * Qi Bitong (契苾通) 852-854 * Gao Chenggong (高承恭) 861-863 * Shi Shanyou (石善友) 893-903 * Li Cunjin (李存進) 923

References

Citations

Sources

* . * * * (alk. paper) * * * * (paperback). * * * * . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *