Shi Xiong was the Tang commander who found the princess Taihe in the camp of the Uyghur khan Ögä in 843. He brought her home.[1] The Kirghiz had sent her back, and the Uyghur khan had taken her. Shi Xiong’s night attack brought her out of his camp.[2]

Offices

The sources give him three offices. The Xin Tang Shu calls him deputy commander of the Tiande field army. It puts him beside the military governor Liu Mian.[3] The Jiu Tang Shu calls him prefect of Fengzhou.[4] A modern account of the attack calls him Liu Mian’s adjutant. It draws on his biography, which stands in chapter 161 of the Jiu Tang Shu.[5]

The night march

The Xin Tang Shu tells the attack in a few lines. Liu Mian and Shi Xiong picked strong horse and added Shatuo, Qibi and other mixed troops. They left Yunzhou at night. They went by way of Mayi to the Anzhong fort, met the Uyghurs and beat them. Ögä was then pressing Zhenwu. Shi Xiong rode in, broke out of the wall at night and fought. Ögä in alarm drew off. Shi Xiong chased him to Shahu Mountain, where the khan was wounded and fled.[3] There Shi Xiong found the princess and brought her back. The Uyghur tegins and all below them, tens of thousands, surrendered.[3] The Jiu Tang Shu says that Shi Xiong, as prefect of Fengzhou, came upon the princess’s tent with his troops and so brought her home.[4] The Tang Huiyao dates the victory to the first month of 843.[6]

The same modern account gives the plan in more detail. Liu Mian, who had leave to act without the court, ordered Shi Xiong to lead three Shatuo tribes with Qibi and Tangut troops in a surprise attack. The aim was to strike so suddenly that the Uyghurs would abandon the princess in their panic. Liu Mian himself would follow with a large army.[7] Shi Xiong moved from Yunzhou to Mayi and on to Zhenwu under cover of night.[7] He saw felt-covered carts and persons in red and green clothes of a Chinese cut. His spies told him that they belonged to the princess. He sent her word to stay hidden in her cart.[7] At dawn he had ten holes made in the wall of Zhenwu. His men fell on the Uyghurs to the sound of war drums.[5]

The modern account quotes the biography of Shi Xiong in the Jiu Tang Shu. According to the quotation, torches lit up the sky and the din shook the earth. The khan, terrified beyond measure, fled with some cavalry.[8] The princess was rescued unharmed. Shi Xiong assigned thirty foot soldiers to guard her.[8] The pursuit ended in a battle at Shahu Mountain on 13 February 843, in which about 10,000 Uyghurs fell. The princess was escorted to Yunzhou and then to Taiyuan.[8]

A spy named Cai Xi claimed that he himself had found the princess in the Uyghur camp and led her to the Tang lines. He is absent from the list of those rewarded.[9]

Reward

On 23 February 843 the emperor gave honorary titles and promotions to Zhang Zhongwu, Liu Mian and Shi Xiong for their part in the defeat of the Uyghurs.[10] The chief minister Li Deyu wrote the proclamation of the victory.[9]

Fall and death

When Wuzong died in 846, his successor Xuanzong removed Li Deyu from power.[11] A powerful clique at the new court disliked Shi Xiong. The emperor had him cashiered.[12] He died disheartened in 848. Apparently he had fallen ill after learning of Li Deyu’s demotions.[13] The year of his birth and his age are unknown.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 217; Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195
  2. ^ Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195; Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 217
  3. ^ a b c Xin Tangshu (New Book of Tang), juan 217
  4. ^ a b Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 195
  5. ^ a b Drompp 2005, p. 113–114
  6. ^ Tang Huiyao (Institutional History of the Tang), juan 98
  7. ^ a b c Drompp 2005, p. 113
  8. ^ a b c Drompp 2005, p. 114
  9. ^ a b Drompp 2005, p. 114–115
  10. ^ Drompp 2005, p. 115
  11. ^ Drompp 2005, p. 153–154
  12. ^ Drompp 2005, p. 158
  13. ^ Drompp 2005, p. 157–158

Sources

Literature

  • Michael R. Drompp, Tang China and the Collapse of the Uighur Empire: A Documentary History (2005)

Related

What links here6

Persons
Emperor Wuzong of Tang · Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (846–859) · Ögä Khan · Princess Taihe
Battles & Events
Rescue of Princess Taihe (840–843)
Peoples
Heichezi

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Shi Xiong.” Turkic Atlas, revised 22 October 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/shi-xiong/

Last revised: 22 October 2026