| What is it?

Name: Mural of King and Queen of Khotan Kingdom Worshipping Buddha

Year: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–979)

Specification: 2.82 meters high and 1 meter wide

Location: Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang City, Gansu Province.

| What's the story?

In the Thousand Buddha Caves of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the mural of Khotan King and Queen Worshipping Buddha demonstrates the respect for and recognition of the Tang Dynasty (618–907) by the Khotan Kingdom in the Western Regions. In the mural, Li Shengtian, the king of Khotan, and the empress are worshipping Buddha, wearing crowns and in loose robes, very much like the costumes from the Central Plains. The inscription reads: "Da Chao Da Bao, the Great Sage of the Kingdom of Khotan, the Great Emperor of the Ming Dynasty." "Da Chao" here is the honorific title of the Tang Dynasty by the King of Khotan.

Yuchi Clan, 1,000-year-old royal family

Khotan Kingdom, an ancient kingdom in the Western Regions, lasted from 232 BC to AD 1006, that is, from the Warring States Period (476–221 BC) to the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127) in the Central Plains. It was the longest-lived local regime in Chinese history, which lasted for 1,238 years, during which the royal family Yuchi was always in power. Monk Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty traveled westward for Buddhist scriptures and passed through the kingdom, leaving a clear record of it in The Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty.

The ancestors of Khotan were Tocharians who spoke Indo-European languages. But interestingly, among the kingdoms in the Western Regions, only the Khotan people is similar in appearance to the Han people in the Central Plains. The Northern History records: "The people, from Gaochang (Qocho) to the west, all have deep eyes and high nose, but only the people of this kingdom are different, and their features are not like the non-Han tribal people, but quite similar to the Han."

Khotan's national strength waxed and waned from time to time. According to the History of the Han Dynasty, Khotan had 3,300 households, 9,300 people, and 2,400 victorious soldiers. However, in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220), Khotan annexed the cities of Pishan, Qule, Ronglu and Yumi, so it was recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty that "all the thirteen states from the northwest of Jingjue to Shule were obedient," with "32,000 households, 83,000 people, and more than 30,000 victorious soldiers." Because Khotan was located at the hub of the Silk Road, it reached Qiemo and Shanshan in the east and Shache and Shule in the west (all of which were small kingdoms in the Western Regions at that time), and became a distribution center for Chinese and Western merchants and was prosperous for a time.

The everlasting story of brothers' mutual abdication of the throne

In the Tang Dynasty, when Tubo attacked Khotan, the Tang Dynasty sheltered Khotan and conferred titles on it. With this grace, the whole kingdom of Khotan was filled with reverence for the Tang Dynasty. With the establishment of the Anxi Protectorate and the four towns administered under the Anxi Protectorate by the Tang Dynasty, Khotan became the Jimi Prefecture (a governed area under the influence and partial control of the central government) of the Tang Dynasty.

In 649, Yuchi Fuduxin came to Chang'an to pay tributeto Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Gaozong was so delighted that he appointed him as the grand general, and conferred on his son the title of general as well as "a gold belt, a brocade robe, sixty rolls of cloth and silk, and a residence of houses." During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, King Yuchi Sheng came to Chang'an and offered Emperor Xuanzong famous horses, precious jade and other special products. Emperor Xuanzong was very friendly to the king and married the daughter of the imperial clan to him. He also appointed Yuchi Sheng as the general of Biaoqi and the military governor of Pisha Prefecture.

The An Shi Rebellion broke out in 755. After hearing the news, Yuchi Sheng resolutely decided to hand over the affairs of Khotan to his younger brother Yuchi Yao. He hurriedly led 5,000 chosen men to help the Tang Dynasty put down the rebellion, and then decided to stay in the Central Plains. For this reason, he asked Emperor Daizong to allow him to pass the throne to his younger brother Yuchi Yao. In 764, Emperor Daizong formally appointed Yuchi Yao as the king and deputy governor of the four towns of Anxi Protectorate. From then on, Yuchi Sheng gave up the throne, stayed in Chang'an and became an official of the Tang Dynasty.

During the reign of the four Tang emperors of Xuanzong, Suzong, Daizong and Dezong, Yuchi Sheng never changed his feelings for the Tang Dynasty. In 785, Yuchi Yao sent an emissary to Li Shi, Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, asking him to return the throne to Yuchi Rui, the son of Yuchi Sheng, but Yuchi Sheng firmly refused.

This is the everlasting story of the abdication of the throne by the brothers of King Yuchi of Khotan.

Unbreakable centripetal force

In this mural of the Thousand Buddha Caves in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, the king who solemnly worships Buddha is named Li Shengtian.

Why did the thousand-year-old surname "Yuchi" suddenly become "Li"?

According to the historical records about Li Shengtian's appearance and deeds, most historians inferred that Li Shengtian was the King of Khotan (r. 912–966) in the early Five Dynasties (907–979). At that time, the Tang Dynasty was about to end. Because Khotan was occupied by the Tubo and the connections between Khotan and the Central Plains were cut off, the King of Khotan did not know that the Tang Dynasty had perished, and he still regarded Khotan a vassal state of Tang.

In 912, Yuchi Poba ascended the throne as king of Khotan. Because of his admiration for the royal family of the Tang Dynasty and in order to continue the relationship between Khotan and the Central Plains, he decided to change his surname to "Li" and take the Chinese name "Li Shengtian."

In 934, in order to restore contacts with the Central Plains, Li Shengtian married the second daughter of Cao Yijin, the military governor of the Guiyi Army in Shazhou (Dunhuang), and married his third daughter to Cao Yanlu, the grandson of Cao Yijin. As a result, Khotan became closer to the Central Plains in terms of architecture, clothing and folk customs.

In order to further strengthen the relationship with the Central Plains, Li Shengtian sent envoys to the Central Plains in 938 to pay tribute to Shi Jingtang, Emperor Gaozu of the Later Jin Dynasty (936–947), who then sent envoys to Khotan and conferred the title of "King of Khotan" on Li Shengtian. "Dabao Khotan" became the official name of Khotan in the middle of the 10th century.

In 960, Zhao Kuangyin unified the Central Plains and established the Song Dynasty (960–1279). This time, Li Shengtian, who still considered himself a member of the Central Plains and had always longed for national unity and stability, expressed his congratulations and submission to Song Emperor, hoping to renew the "niece-uncle relationship" in the Tang Dynasty with the Song Dynasty.

The Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty recorded that the people of Khotan were gentle and respectful and knew etiquette. Unfortunately, such an ancient kingdom was attacked by the Kara-Khanid Khanate in the early 11th century. Khotan soldiers and civilians fought tenaciously for 40 years and were finally conquered, ending the kingdom that had lasted for more than 1,000 years.

Later, the residents of Khotan stayed in the old place and gradually merged into local ethnic groups after the Kara-Khanid Khanate moved westward.

Source: Becoming the Chinese Nation: The historical memories of multi-ethnic Chinese Nation in 100 cultural relics

Liu Xian /Editor

Yang Xinhua /Chief Editor    Ren Qiang /Coordinator

Zhang Ying /Reviewer

Zhang Weiwei /Copyeditor    Tan Yujie /Image Editor

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