The Yiwu Tudun Shad was the lord of the oasis town of Yiwu in 609. The Chinese histories know him only by his title.[1] They name him for his part in the journey of the Sui emperor Yang to the west in that year.[1] Yiwu is the later Hami.[2]

In 608 a Sui army under Xue Shixiong had crossed the desert to Yiwu, and the town had surrendered.[3] The emperor then prepared to set out for the west. Before he did, Pei Ju won over the tudun shad of Yiwu and Qu Boya, the king of Gaochang. He promised them great profit and brought them to court.[1] In the sixth month of 609 the two of them and the envoys of twenty-seven western states greeted the emperor at Mount Yanzhi.[1] The tudun shad offered the emperor several thousand li of land in the Western Regions, and the emperor was much pleased.[3] On the next day the Sui set up four new commanderies in the west.[3] A few days later, on the day bingchen, the emperor feasted Qu Boya and the tudun shad in the Guanfeng hall.[3] A modern account dates the meeting to 608.[2] Who bore the title, and what became of him, is not recorded.

Name

The biography of Pei Ju in the Sui Shu calls him 伊吾吐屯設, the tudun shad of Yiwu. At Mount Yanzhi it calls him 伊吾設, the shad of Yiwu.[4] The Zizhi tongjian has 伊吾吐屯設.[3] The title joins two Göktürk ranks, tudun and shad.[2] It may show that a Göktürk tudun governed Yiwu in 609.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 67; Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 181
  2. ^ a b c Chavannes 1903, p. 169
  3. ^ a b c d e Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 181
  4. ^ Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 67
  5. ^ Chavannes 1903, p. 263

Sources

Literature

  • Édouard Chavannes, Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) occidentaux (1903)

Related

What links here1

Persons
Pei Ju

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Yiwu Tudun Shad.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/persons/yiwu-tudun-shad/

Last revised: 8 November 2026