The alliance of the Göktürks with the Northern Zhou was older than the dynasty. Counted from the Wei embassy of 545, the friendship of the Göktürks with the court at Chang’an lasted some thirty years. The marriage of 568 was its seal.[1] The alliance with the Western Wei passed to the Zhou when they took the throne at Chang’an in 557. Its purpose became the war against the Northern Qi. It brought two joint campaigns, a Göktürk empress at Chang’an and a yearly tribute of silk. It broke when Taspar took up the cause of the fallen Qi in 577.

The marriage promise (557–563)

Mukan had promised a daughter to Yuwen Tai. The contract was not settled when Yuwen Tai died. Mukan then promised another daughter to Yuwen Tai’s son, the later Emperor Wu.[2] Soon after the accession of 557 the new dynasty sent Yang Jian, Duke of Yaogu, to the Göktürks to conclude the marriage.[3] The khan’s younger brother, the Ditou Khan, urged him to hand the Zhou envoys to the Qi.[3] Yang Jian rebuked the khan to his face. The khan answered: “Have no doubt. We shall first pacify the eastern bandits together, and then I shall send my daughter.”[3]

The Qi sent envoys with far richer gifts to ask for a marriage of their own. Mukan was ready to go back on his word.[4] The Zhou court sent Yang Jian back to the steppe with Wang Qing as his deputy.[5] They reasoned with Mukan about good faith. Mukan broke with the Qi envoys and settled the marriage. He asked for a war against the Qi with his whole people. This was the bargain with Mukan.[2] Göktürk envoys came to Chang’an nearly every year. The annals record them at the end of 558, in 560, three times in 561, and again in 564, 567, 569 and 574.[6]

The campaigns of 563 and 564

In the ninth month of 563 an edict sent Yang Zhong with ten thousand horse to attack the Qi together with the Göktürks.[7] Mukan came with the Ditou Khan and the Buli Khan and a hundred thousand horse.[8] On the first day of 564 the allies attacked Jinyang. The assault failed.[9] Mukan’s men plundered the country from Jinyang to Pingcheng and went home. That ended the Jinyang campaign.[8] Yang Zhong told the emperor that the Göktürks had bad armour, light rewards, many chiefs and no laws. They were not hard to handle, he said. The emperor did not listen.[2]

In the same year the Göktürks came again at the appointed time. The regent Yuwen Hu feared trouble on the frontier if he broke faith with them. He asked for a second campaign.[10] Yang Zhong went out by Woye to join the Göktürks. Hu marched on Luoyang.[8] The army besieging Luoyang broke in the twelfth month. Hu’s fighting went badly, and Mukan drew back. This was the Woye and Luoyang campaign.[11] One modern account has the Göktürks stay away from this second offensive altogether.[12] The Zhou annals record Göktürk tribute at Chang’an on 4 June 564, in the months between the failed attack on Jinyang and this second offensive.[7]

The empress (565–568)

In the second month of 565 an edict sent four dukes to the Göktürks to fetch the bride, with the insignia of an empress and a hundred and twenty persons of the women’s quarters.[13] Mukan, who had again promised a marriage to the Qi, held them for years.[14] In the tenth month of 567 he sent envoys with gifts to the Qi court, while the Zhou dukes were still waiting.[15] Then a great storm blew down his tents. He took it for a reproof of Heaven and sent the bride off with full ceremony.[16] In the third month of 568 Empress Ashina reached Chang’an. The emperor received her in person with the rite of the bridegroom.[13]

Taspar’s tribute (572–577)

Under Taspar the alliance became a tribute. The Zhou gave a hundred thousand pieces of silk a year and kept the Göktürks at the capital in brocade. The Qi, fearing Taspar’s raids, emptied their treasury likewise.[2] Taspar told his followers that as long as his two boys in the south were filial, he need not fear to lack anything.[2] The silk of both courts is the silk the Sogdian Maniakh carried west to Persia and Byzantium.[17]

Break and the marriage of 580

In 577 the Zhou destroyed the Qi. The Qi prince Gao Shaoyi fled to Taspar, who set him up as emperor of Qi. This was the Qi court in exile.[2] In 578 Taspar raided Youzhou and besieged Jiuquan.[18] In 579 he asked again for a marriage. He was promised the princess Qianjin on condition that Shaoyi be handed over. In 580 he took the princess and, after a further envoy, gave up Shaoyi. This was the marriage of the princess Qianjin.[19] In 581 Yang Jian, Duke of Sui, took the Zhou throne. He was a different man from the envoy of 557. The alliance ended with the dynasty.[20]

References

  1. ^ Yavuz 2025, p. 298, 305
  2. ^ a b c d e f Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  3. ^ a b c Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 33
  4. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 33; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  5. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 5; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 33; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  6. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 4; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 5
  7. ^ a b Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 5
  8. ^ a b c Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 19; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  9. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 19
  10. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 11
  11. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 5; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 19; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  12. ^ Yavuz 2025, p. 298
  13. ^ a b Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 5; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 9
  14. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 9; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  15. ^ Ecsedy 1968, p. 159
  16. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 9
  17. ^ de la Vaissière 2005a, p. 209
  18. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 6; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 7; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  19. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 7; Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 50
  20. ^ Zhou Shu (Book of Zhou), juan 8

Sources

Literature

  • Emre-E. Yavuz, The Gokturk Empire: 2nd Edition (2025)
  • Étienne de la Vaissière, Sogdian Traders: A History (2005)
  • Ildikó Ecsedy, Trade-and-War Relations between the Turks and China in the Second Half of the Sixth Century (1968)

Related

What links here5

Persons
Börü Khan
States
Northern Zhou · Western Wei
Battles & Events
Music of Empress Ashina (568) · The Göktürk–Wei alliance

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “The Göktürk–Zhou alliance.” Turkic Atlas, revised 28 October 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/events/gokturk-zhou-alliance/

Last revised: 28 October 2026