The Jin river, 金河, is a river of the Sui frontier. The Sui Shu names it on the road to the camp of Yami Khan.[1] Its name was also given to a town.[2] In 600 the Sui emperor sent Zhao Zhongqing to build two towns for Yami, whom the Sui called Qimin Khan: Jinhe and Dingxiang.[2]

The emperor’s journey of 607

In 607 the emperor Yangdi came north to Yulin, where Yami met him at his travelling palace.[1] From there the emperor toured Yunnei. He travelled up the Jin river eastward and then turned north to the place where Yami lived.[1] The Bei Shi and the Tongdian write Yunzhong for Yunnei.[3] At his camp Yami offered the emperor a cup on his knees. The emperor wrote a poem.[1]

The Zizhi tongjian dates the departure from Yulin to the eighth month of 607.[4] By its account the emperor went with more than five hundred thousand armoured men and a hundred thousand horses.[4] He took along a hall on wheels and a portable town wall of boards and painted cloth, built for the journey.[4] The hu took them for the work of spirits. Even ten li from the camp they knelt and did not dare to ride.[4]

Notes in the Tongdian put the Jin river in the Yulin commandery of their own day. They put Yami’s camp in the Mayi commandery.[5]

The Jinhe road

In 629 the Tang sent their armies against Ilig Khan by several roads.[6] The Jiu Tang Shu names the general Chai Shao as the commander on the Jinhe road.[6] His column was one of those under Li Jing that destroyed the eastern khaganate in the Tang conquest.[6]

Location

The Jin river may be the Heihe, south of Guisui county in Suiyuan.[7] The Mangganshui and the Baidao chuan are then given as older names of the same river.[7] The Jin river would then be the river of the Baidao plain.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Sui Shu (Book of Sui), juan 84
  2. ^ a b Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 179
  3. ^ Bei Shi (History of the Northern Dynasties), juan 99; Tongdian, juan 197
  4. ^ a b c d Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), juan 180
  5. ^ Tongdian, juan 197
  6. ^ a b c Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), juan 194
  7. ^ a b Mau-tsai 1958, Turkish edition, p. 93

Sources

Literature

  • Liu Mau-tsai, Çin Kaynaklarına Göre Doğu Türkleri (1958, Turkish edition)

Related

What links here6

Battles & Events
Battle of Mount Dajin (600) · Yangdi's Visit to Yami Khan (607)
Places
Baidao Plain · Dingxiang · Yulin · Yunzhong

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Jin River.” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/places/jin-river/

Last revised: 8 November 2026