Author: enigma
Date: 10-27-03 21:02
The historical significance of the Battle of Talas River
I think one problem of traditional Chinese history is that it has a somewhat "isolationist" approach. It mainly records and analyses events in China and does not focus on China's interaction with the rest of the world. In this sense one may say that traditional Chinese history has a "Sinocentric" approach, which focuses on China and China alone. On the other hand, looking at the way in which Chinese history is described by westerners, sometimes one gets the feeling that somehow China did not interact with any other civilisations (apart from the "barbarian" nomads on China's borders) until the Europeans "discovered" China in the 16th century. This in a sense is actually a very "Eurocentric" approach to world history, which only emphasises on the interaction between Europeans and non-Europeans and not between different non-Europeans.
One example of the inadequacies of both Sinocentric and Eurocentric approaches to Chinese history is the fact that the Battle of Talas River, which occurred in 751AD between the Chinese and the Islamic empires and was certainly a major event in world history by any standards, is often not mentioned and even when mentioned, are not described in enough detail to befit its actual significance. The Chinese historians do not consider it important as it was "outside" China and the European historians tend to focus on the interaction between themselves and the Islamic civilisation rather than between Islam and China.
What happened at the Battle of Talas River?
Background
In the early 8th century AD, two great civilisations were expanding their influence across Asia from its two ends. The Islamic empire under the Arabs expanded from Arabia into Mesopotamia and conquered Persia, while the Chinese Tang Dynasty expanded into Central Asia and reached as far as Afghanistan and Persia. Soon the spheres of influence of these two powers reached each other and conflict became unavoidable. The Battle of Talas River in 751AD marked the first and only major confrontation between the two powerful civilisations of Islam and China.
Causes
The short-term trigger for the battle was due to a conflict between two small Central Asian states, Tashkent and Ferghana. In an often too familiar way of major powers involving themselves in the affairs of smaller states, the Chinese backed Ferghana and the Arabs sided with Tashkent. The real motives for this military involvement, however, were likely to be strategic. Both empires wanted control of Central Asia, and with it, control of the economically important Silk Road. Before the age of large scale sea-faring. It was the Silk Road, which supported virtually all the trade between east and west. Cities on the Silk Road back then were like important coastal cities today so fighting for the control of the Silk Road was as important back then as naval dominance is now. Before the battle it was the Chinese who controlled the eastern part of the Silk Road through Central Asia and with it the trade revenues from the Silk Road flowed into the Central Country.
What happened?
An Arab army marched from Samarkand to attack the Chinese, and, at the town of Atlakh (near the Talas River in what is now Kirghizia), encountered an army of thirty thousand Chinese and allied troops led by the Korean-born general Gao Xian Zhi. The battle lasted for five days and five nights, and the Chinese was defeated due to the defection of the allied Turkish contingent. The remaining Chinese Army fled to forts in the Tian Shan mountains. (Now part of Xinjiang in north-western China)
What were the consequences?
As a result of China's defeat by the Arabs, Chinese influence in the Central and Western Asia ceased. Until this time Persia had been a tributary of China so when the Arabs invaded Persia, the Persians came to Chang An (the Chinese capital during the Tang period, on the eastern end of the Silk Road, now the smaller city of Xi'an), asking for help. But China's exit from Central Asia meant that Persia and Western Asia were cut off from China by the Arabs. The mid-8th century marked the furthest extent of Chinese expansion in the west. Never again would the lands of Western Asia come under the sphere of influence of the Chinese civilisation. Instead, all of Central and Western Asia quickly came under Islamic dominance and influence, a situation kept to the present day.
After the defeat at Talas River, the Tang Chinese still controlled the east most parts of Central Asia, sometimes referred to as Eastern Turkestan. (Now part of Xinjiang) Two provinces were set up in Eastern Turkestan, each with a Chinese governor. The territories to the north of the Tian Shan mountains were called Northern Anxi, while the territories to the south of Tian Shan were called Southern Anxi. But even this did not last long. Just four years after this historically decisive battle, in 755AD a Chinese general named An Lushan rebelled against the state and sacked the Chinese capitals of Chang An and Luoyang. Civil War ensued in China for the next eight years and millions perished. During the Civil War the Tang Dynasty had trouble to even keep the Chinese heartlands safe so it basically had no resources to keep hold of Central Asia any longer. With the loss of Central Asia the Silk Road and Eastern Turkestan also came under Islamic control. Even today most people in Xinjiang are still Muslims. The defeat at Talas River and the Civil War between 755 and 763 AD marked the end of the Golden Age of Chinese Civilisation and the beginning of its long decline. During the next several centuries Chinese power and influence would continue to decline until the Mongols conquered all of China in 1271AD.
Another important consequence of the battle is related to the spread of Chinese technologies to the West. The Chinese technology of paper-making was transferred to the Islamic world and from there eventually to Europe in the ensuing centuries as a result of the war. Of the captured Chinese soldiers one of some knew how to make paper and so the technology was passed to his Arab captors. Other important military technologies, such as the construction of catapults and siege engines, were obtained by the Arabs from the Chinese as a result of the battle. The Arabs didn't have these technologies before, as they were originally a nomadic people whose military was based almost exclusively on cavalry. These military technologies gained by the Arabs later had a decisive effect on their military campaigns towards the Byzantine empire and Europe. For example, the Islamic conquest of Spain wouldn't have been possible on horseback alone without siege engines and catapults.
Another lesser-known consequence of this battle is related to the spread of Christianity in China. The Nestorian Christians (sometimes referred to as the Persian Church of Christianity or the Church of the East) came to China from Persia in the 7th century, during a time when Chinese power and influence extended across the Asian lands, all the way from Persia to Japan. During the next 100 years, Christianity spread very widely across China. A Chinese document remarked that Christianity flourished in hundreds of cities. In fact, it was so successful that a stone tablet several metres high were carved by order of the Emperor to celebrate the flourishing creed. The tablet features a classic Christian cross adorned by two Chinese dragons at the top and thousands of Chinese characters were carved onto it. Part of the Chinese text carved onto the stone tablet describes the essential creed of Christianity in elegant Tang Dynasty style classical Chinese. Remains of some Christian churches could still be found in parts of northern China, the most well preserved one is in the Shaanxi Province, which features a Chinese-style pagoda.
At this time China was not the isolationist state the stereotypical image would suggest, and would actually be correct in later centuries. China during the early Tang Dynasty was a very open country. In the 7th and early 8th centuries, China was the most powerful and advanced civilisation in the world. The Chinese people of this time had an air of confidence around them that was not to be found in later centuries of decline. As a result of this confidence in oneself (isolationism and the desire to attack anything "foreign" is often the mark of national insecurity) peoples of other nationalities and religions were tolerated and well respected. There was frequent and free exchange of cultural, religious and academic ideas. This environment was very helpful regarding the spread of Christianity in China as missionaries from West Asia could easily travel to China without any obstruction (all the nomadic tribes that harass travellers on the Silk Road have been defeated by the Chinese). But as a result of the Battle of Talas River, the Arabs broke the link between China and West Asia and the early Christian Church in China was cut off from its source. In addition, the frequent civil wars, economic and military difficulties in later Tang period, plus the fact that China was once again cut off from the rest of the world, meant that the Tang court began to pursue an isolationist and xenophobic policy in which all "foreign" religions like Christianity and Buddhism were banned. Nestorian Christianity was essentially wiped out by force.
Had the Chinese won the battle at Talas River, who can say what would then happen? The Battle of Talas River, I think, was one of those pivotal events in history that determine the paths of civilisations. China's loss meant the decline of China and the rise of Islam. What would happen if China won? Central Asia today might be under the influence of Chinese culture like Japan and Korea instead of Islam. More importantly, the Chinese Golden Age might have continued for longer and Christianity might have taken root in medieval China like Buddhism did. We could therefore today have a Chinese brand of Christianity, with a theology based on Chinese philosophies rather than Greco-Roman philosophies as Western Christianity is. Of the various religious scrolls preserved in Dunhuang, a few were Nestorian Christian texts, many of which interpret the Christian creed from the perspective of Chinese philosophy. Unfortunately, Chinese Christianity died out too early to have had an effect on the world of religion at large.
|
|
The Asiawind forums are provided to you by
InTechTra Inc.