Ashina Simo
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Qilibi Khan ( Chinese: 俟力苾可汗, (
Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
): qílìbì kěhàn, ( Wade-Giles): ch'i-li-pi k'o-han,
Middle Chinese Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese language, Chinese recorded in the ''Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expande ...
: (
Guangyun The ''Guangyun'' (''Kuang-yun''; ) is a Chinese rhyme dictionary that was compiled from 1007 to 1008 under the patronage of Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Its full name was ''Dà Sòng chóngxiū guǎngyùn'' (, literally "Great Song revised and ...
) , died 647), personal name Ashina Simo (阿史那思摩), Chinese name Li Simo (李思摩), full regal title Yiminishuqilibi Khagan (乙彌泥孰俟力苾可汗), Tang noble title Prince of Huaihua (懷化王), was a member of the
Eastern Tujue The Eastern Turkic Khaganate ( zh, t=東突厥, p=Dōng Tūjué or Dōng Tújué) was a Turkic peoples, Turkic khaganate formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century (AD 581–603) after the First Turkic Kh ...
(Göktürk) royal house who was given the title of Khan of Eastern Tujue for several years, as a
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
of the Chinese
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 ...
.


Background

After
Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty fo ...
conquered Eastern Tujue in 630, he briefly settled the Eastern Tujue people within Tang borders, but after a failed assassination attempt against him by a member of the Eastern Tujue royal house,
Ashina Jiesheshuai Ashina Jiesheshuai ( zh, t=阿史那結社率, s=阿史那结社率, p=Ashǐnà Jiēshèshuai, w=Ashihna Chieh-she-shuai;:zh:s:新唐書/卷002, ''New Book of Tang'' Vol. 2''Zizhi Tongjian'', :zh:s:資治通鑑/卷195, vol. 195.:zh:s:舊唐書/ ...
in 639, he changed his mind and decided to resettle the Eastern Tujue people between the
Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...
and 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 serve as a buffer between Tang and
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 ...
. He created Ashina Simo, a member of Eastern Tujue's royal house as well, as Yiminishuqilibi Khan (or Qilibi Khan for short), and Ashina Simo served as the khan of the recreated Eastern Tujue khanate for several years. However, in 644, faced with constant pressure from Xueyantuo, Ashina Simo's people abandoned him and fled south back to Tang territory. Ashina Simo himself also returned to Tang and served as a Tang general until his death, probably in 645.


During the reigns of Ashina Duojishi, Ashina Silifu, and Ashina Duobi

He was born in 583. What is known is that he was of the same royal Ashina clan as the khans of Tujue, a grandson of Taspar Qaghan His father Tugruq Shad (咄六設) was a son of Taspar, which would make him to senior to Shibi Khagan, Chuluo Khagan and Illig Khagan who were brothers to each other and who successively served as khans. Despite Ashina Simo's royal lineage, it was said that on account of his appearance, which appeared more Sogdian than Tujue, Ashina Duojishi and Ashina Chuluo both suspected him of being born out of an adulterous relationship, and therefore did not entrust him with great authorities. Throughout their reigns, he thus only carried the title of Jiabi Tegin (夾畢特勒), and could not be a general. According to Suzuki Kosetsu, it was a political situation created by Issik Khagan's descendants, who did not want succession crisis. In 624, during a dispute that Eastern Tujue had with
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
's
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 ...
, which was then a vassal of Eastern Tujue, as part of the negotiations, Ashina Duobi sent Ashina Simo to meet with
Emperor Gaozu of Tang Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635), born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude, was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626 CE. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in t ...
, and Emperor Gaozu honored Ashina Simo with the title of Prince of Heshun. Late in Ashina Duobi's reign, with Tang strengthening and Eastern Tujue weakening due to internal problems, many of Eastern Tujue tribes surrendered to Tang, and while apparently Tang made overtures to Ashina Simo, Ashina Simo remained faithful to Ashina Duobi. His faithfulness to Ashina Duobi continued even after Emperor Gaozu's son Emperor Taizong launched a major attack commanded by the general Li Jing in 629—such that when Tang forces captured Ashina Duobi in 630, Ashina Simo remained with him and was captured with him. Emperor Taizong was impressed with Ashina Simo's faithfulness and made him a general and a commandant, in command of the people formerly directly under Ashina Duobi. He also created Ashina Simo the Prince of Huaihua in 23 July 630.


As khagan

Emperor Taizong initially settled the Eastern Tujue people within Tang borders, but after a failed assassination attempt against him by Ashina Duojishi's son Ashina Jiesheshuai in 639, he changed his mind. On August 13, 639, he created Ashina Simo (who was by this point also given the imperial clan surname Li and therefore also known as Li Simo) as the Yiminishuqilibi Khan (or Qilibi Khan for short) and ordered the settled Tujue people to follow Ashina Simo north of the Yellow River to settle between the
Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...
and 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 ...
. The Tujue people, fearful 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 ...
— a former Eastern Tujue vassal that had become powerful and taken over Eastern Tujue's former territory — initially refused. Emperor Taizong thereafter issued an edict to Xueyantuo's Zhenzhu Khan, Yi'nan, delivered by his official Guo Siben (郭嗣本), ordering Xueyantuo not to attack the newly reestablished Eastern Tujue. Yi'nan, while displeased at the development, initially agreed. Emperor Taizong then carried out a formal creation ceremony for Ashina Simo, presided by the great general Li Xiaogong, and also held an imperial feast in Ashina Simo's honor. He created the Eastern Tujue princes Ashina Zhong (阿史那忠) and Ashina Nishu (阿史那泥熟) as Ashina Simo's assistants. In spring 641, Ashina Simo's people finally crossed the Yellow River, and he established his headquarters at Dingxiang (定襄, in modern
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 ...
,
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
). He was said to have 30,000 households, 40,000 troops, and 90,000 warhorses. He submitted a petition to Emperor Taizong, stating: Emperor Taizong agreed. In winter 641, indeed, with Yi'nan anticipating that Emperor Taizong would soon be offering sacrifices to heaven and earth at
Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the ''Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...
and would take his soldiers with him, he believed that he could destroy Ashina Simo quickly. He therefore had his son Dadu (大度) to head Xueyantuo troops, along with conscripted troops from vassal tribes Tongluo (同羅), Pugu (僕骨),
Huige The Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; , Tang dynasty, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic peoples, Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mi ...
, Mohe, and Xi (霫), launch a major attack on Eastern Tujue. Ashina Simo could not resist the attack, and withdrew within the Great Wall to Shuo Prefecture (朔州, roughly modern
Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, 2010 PRC Census, ...
,
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
) and sought emergency aid. Emperor Taizong sent the generals Zhang Jian,
Li Shiji Li Shiji (594?The ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that Li Shiji was 75 at the time of his death, while the ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that Li Shiji was 85 at the time of his death. Compare ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 67 with ''New Book of Tang ...
, Li Daliang, Zhang Shigui (張士貴), and Li Xiyu (李襲譽), to attack Xueyantuo to assist Ashina Simo, with Li Shiji in overall command. Around the new year 642, Li Shiji dealt a major defeat to Dadu, who fled after heavy casualties. Emperor Taizong, while sending an emissary to rebuke Yi'nan, did not take further actions against Xueyantuo at this point. It was said that Yi'nan continued to be unhappy with Eastern Tujue's existence, and continued to harass Eastern Tujue. (Yi'nan, however, tried to maintain peaceful relations with Tang, and at one point was engaged to marry Emperor Taizong's daughter Princess Xinxing, but Emperor Taizong regretted the marriage agreement and broke it in 643 under the pretense that Yi'nan's offer of
bride price Bride price, bride-dowry, bride-wealth, bride service or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dowry ...
(with livestock) was not paid for on time.) When Emperor Taizong sent further emissaries to order Yi'nan from attacking Eastern Tujue, Yi'nan's response was: Around the new year 645, Ashina Simo's people, apparently under the Xueyantuo pressure, collapsed and abandoned Ashina Simo. (At this time, Emperor Taizong was deep in his preparation to attack
Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...
, and therefore, if Xueyantuo had attacked, might not have been able to protect Eastern Tujue.) They crossed the Yellow River south, seeking to be settled among Sheng (勝州, also in modern Hohhot, but south of the Yellow River) and Xia (夏州, roughly modern Yulin,
Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
) Prefectures. Despite officials' opposition, Emperor Taizong agreed, and did so. Ashina Simo, with his reconstituted state in shambles, also returned to China, and was again made a Tang general, ending Tang's attempt to recreate Eastern Tujue as a vassal.


After return to Tang

Emperor Taizong soon launched a major attack on Goguryeo, and Ashina Simo followed Emperor Taizong on the campaign. During siege of Baekam (백암성), Ashina Simo was injured by an arrow, and it was said that Emperor Taizong personally sucked the pus out of his wound, which greatly inspired the soldiers. Taizong himself also tended to the injury of another Turkic General who was wounded during the war against Goguryeo, Qibi Heli. It was said that after Ashina Simo returned to the Tang capital
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
(implying that this is after the end of the campaign in fall 645), he died. He was buried with great honors near the tomb of Emperor Taizong's wife Empress Zhangsun, where Emperor Taizong would eventually be buried himself as well.


Physical Appearance

The ''
Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'' described Ashina Simo's appearance as resembling Sogdians more than Göktürks. Simo's Sogdian-like appearance aroused suspicion towards him from Khagans Shibi and Chuluo and prevented Simo from becoming
Shad The Alosidae, or the shads, are a family (biology), family of clupeiform fishes. The family currently comprises four genera worldwide, and about 32 species. The shads are Pelagic fish, pelagic (open water) schooling fish, of which many are anadr ...
.translated by and quoted in Lee & Kuang (2017) "A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and Y-DNA Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples", ''Inner Asia'' 19. p. 201-202. note 13
Simo was a relative of Xieli. Because his face was like that of the ‘barbarian (huren 胡人)’ and not like that of the Tujue, Shibi haganand Chuluo haganwere doubtful of his being one of the Ashina. Thus although he always held the title of Jiabi Teqin 畢特勤; ms. 夾畢特勒during Chuluo and Xieli's time, he could not become a shad (she 設) in command of the army till the end.


In popular culture

* Portrayed by Im Byung-ki in 2006-2007 SBS TV series ''
Yeon Gaesomun Yeon GaesomunSome Chinese and Korean sources stated that his surname was Yeongae () and personal name was Somun (), but the majority of sources suggest a one-syllable surname and a three-syllable personal name. (; 594–666) was a powerful mili ...
''. * Portrayed by Yuan Hong in the 2012 Hunan TV series '' Secret History of Princess Taiping''. * Portrayed by Leo Wu as Ashile sun in 2021 Chinese historical drama he long ballad(TV series)


See also

* Emperor Taizong's campaign against Eastern Tujue * Turks in the Tang military


Notes


References


Sources

* ''
Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'', vol. 194, part

* ''
New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'', vol. 215, part

* ''
Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...
'', vols. 191,
193 Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this ye ...
, 195,
196 Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this yea ...
, 197. {{DEFAULTSORT:Qilibi Khan Göktürk khagans Tang dynasty generals at war against Goguryeo Tang dynasty generals at war against the Göktürks Tang dynasty nonimperial princes 645 deaths Tang dynasty generals at war against Xueyantuo Ashina house of the Turkic Empire 7th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown 583 births Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime