The Jiu Tang Shu names gold or silver vessels three times among the gifts of the Tang court to the Uyghurs.[1] The gifts belong to the years 757, 758 and 813.[1] Silk always came with the vessels.[1]

The banquet of 757

In the eleventh month of 757 the Uyghur yabgu came from Luoyang to Chang’an, after the two capitals had been retaken.[1] The emperor feasted him in the Xuanzheng Hall. The yabgu went up into the hall, and his other chiefs stood in rows below the steps.[2] The emperor gave them embroidered silks of many colours and gold and silver vessels.[2] When they took leave, he told them that the great work had been done by their strength.[2]

The state gifts of 758

In 758 the Tang sent Princess Ningguo to be the wife of the Uyghur khan Bayanchur.[1] The Prince of Hanzhong, Yu, a cousin of the emperor, led the embassy and invested the khan with the title Yingwu Weiyuan Bilge Khan.[1] The state gifts that Yu brought were silks, clothes and gold and silver vessels.[3] The khan shared all of them out among his officers and chiefs.[3] When Yu went home, the khan sent with him five hundred horses, sable coats and white cloth.[1]

The silver of 813

In 813 a Uyghur commissioner, Inanju, had come to ask for a marriage alliance.[4] Before he returned to his own country, the emperor feasted him in the Three Halls and gave him silver vessels and silk.[4] The text names no gold in this gift.[1]

Content of the notices

None of the three notices gives the number, the weight or the shape of the vessels.[1] The Jiu Tang Shu lists the vessels beside the silk, as one gift. The notice of 758 shows what the khan did with them. He passed the gift on to his officers and chiefs, so that the vessels did not stay in his treasure.

The Orkhon inscriptions of the Göktürks name gold and silver among the gifts of the Chinese court as well. The article on gold and silver in the inscriptions tells them.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195
  2. ^ a b c Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195; Mackerras 1972, p. 60
  3. ^ a b Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195; Mackerras 1972, p. 64
  4. ^ a b Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195; Mackerras 1972, p. 108

Sources

Literature

  • Colin Mackerras, The Uighur Empire According to the T'ang Dynastic Histories (1972)

Related

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Gold and Silver Vessels as Tang Gifts to the Uyghurs.” Turkic Atlas, revised 7 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/tang-gold-and-silver-vessels-for-the-uyghurs/

Last revised: 7 November 2026