Yizong was the Tang emperor under whom the last recorded Kirghiz embassies came to Chang’an. He reigned from 859 to 873.[1]
The Kirghiz
The Xin Tang Shu says that in the Xiantong years, 860 to 873, the Kirghiz came to court three times.[2] It names neither their envoys nor their khan. It adds that the court historians kept no record of the embassies and investitures that followed.[3] The Zizhi tongjian adds that in 867, under Yizong, a Kirghiz ruler was again granted imperial appointment.[1] Modern accounts explain the court’s loss of interest in the Kirghiz by the great distance between the two nations and by the growing troubles of the weakening dynasty.[1] The earlier embassies and the investiture of 847 are told in Kirghiz Embassies to the Tang.
The Uyghurs of the west
The same chapter records one act of Yizong’s on the Uyghur side. The great chief Pugu Jun attacked the Tibetans from Beiting. He killed Lun Shangre and took Xizhou, Luntai and other cities. He sent the dagan Mi Huaiyu to court with the prisoners and asked for confirmation. The emperor’s edict allowed it.[3] Afterwards, the text says, the royal house fell into disorder. Tribute and audiences came at no fixed time, and the historians lost the record.[3]
Limits of the sources
The sources name no Kirghiz khan under Yizong and give no title for the investiture of 867.[3] They give no age and no cause of death for the emperor.[3]
References
Sources
- Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 217 (after Jiu Tangshu)
Literature
- Michael R. Drompp, Tang China and the Collapse of the Uighur Empire: A Documentary History (2005)
- Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
What links here1
Cite this article
Yavuz, Emre-E. “Emperor Yizong of Tang.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/emperor-yizong-of-tang/
Last revised: 8 November 2026
