Mysterious "Shatuo Clan": They have been displaced for a long time, established four dynasties, and soon disappeared without a trace.

Foreword The history of Chinese civilization has lasted for more than 5,000 years. Although the Han people played the leading role in the historical process for most of the time, there are also a few nomadic peoples outside the Central Plains. It has left a mark in certain specific historical periods. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a very special and mysterious ethnic minority. There were not many members in the tribe, and they had suffered from displacement for a long time. However, they were able to rise up in the turbulent years of war, establish four dynasties in succession, and rule the Central Plains. For nearly half a century, it quickly disappeared into the smoke and dust of history, and even the ethnic group disappeared. It is the mysterious Shatuo tribe. The Shatuo people are an ethnic minority in northern China. Their original name is Chuyue and they are a tribe of Western Turks. ——Baidu Encyclopedia According to historical research, Chuyue at that time was mainly distributed in a large desert area called "Shatuo" in the south of Jinsu Mountain and east of Puleihai. Therefore, it was also called Shatuo Turk, or Shatuo for short. It is roughly located in the area south of Nichijin Mountain in present-day Xinjiang and east of Barkol Lake in northeastern Xinjiang (as shown below). In the documents of the Tang Dynasty, Chuyue was transliterated as ""Zhuxie"" and was regarded as the ruling clan of Shatuo. The surname of the Chuyue tribe in the Tang Dynasty, like other nomadic peoples, the Shatuo people basically had a "military-civilian integration" system, with strong Western Region war horses, superb horse riding skills, and a brave fighting style. The most powerful cavalry of the Shatuo tribe, with amazing combat power. During the Tang Dynasty, the Shatuo cavalry had been on the move for a long time. Due to their limited strength, the Shatuo tribe had been struggling in the cracks of the Tang Dynasty, Turks, Tubo, Uighurs, Tuyuhun and other forces. Survive. Therefore, the early Shatuo clan was never a firm supporter of any political power, but was in a state of wandering and wandering. In the last years of Zhenguan, the Chuyue tribe belonged to the Turkic Ashina Helu. In 654 AD (the fifth year of Yonghui in the Tang Dynasty), after the Tang Dynasty conquered the Ashina Helu rebellion in the Western Turks, two Jisi prefectures of Jinman and Shatuo were established in Chuyue. In 702 (the second year of Wuzhou Chang'an), the Chuyue chieftains were established. Changsha Tuo Jinshan served with the Tang Dynasty army and was awarded the governorship of Jin Manzhou by the imperial court. In 790 AD, the leader of Shatuo led 7000 tribes to surrender to Tubo. After that, Tubo moved Shatuo to Ganzhou (today's Ganzhou). Zhangye, Gansu), with the auxiliary Sun Zhu Xiezhong as their general. The Tubo invaded the Tang border and often used the Shatuo cavalry as the vanguard. In the early 9th century AD, the Uighurs occupied Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu), and the Tubo suspected Shatuo and The Uighurs colluded with each other and planned to move their Shatuo tribe to the west of the Yellow River. After discussion with their eldest son Zhu Xie Zhiyi, Shatuo leader Zhu Xie Zhiyi led his tribe of 30,000 people to join the Tang Dynasty in 808 AD. Zhu Xie Jinzhong was killed by Tibetan pursuers, and his son Zhu Xiezhiyi led the remaining troops to Lingzhou (now northeast of Wuzhong, Ningxia). The Tang Dynasty settled the Shatuo tribe in Yanzhou (now Dingbian, Shaanxi) and established the Yinshan Governor's Palace. , and appointed Zhiyi as the military envoy, and Shatuo, who was scattered in various places, returned to the army one after another, and his power increased. Considering that Shatuo was close to Tubo, and worried about its recurrence, the Tang Dynasty decided to disperse Shatuo, so it issued an edict to Shatuo. The army moved to Hedong. Fan Xichao, who was the governor of Hedong at that time, selected his brave 1,200 riders and named them "Shatuo Army". The rest of the troops were settled in Dingxiangchuan (today's Muma River area in Shanxi); Then he lived in Huanghuadui in Shenwuchuan (today's northeast of Shanyin, Shanxi Province), and was called "Yinshan North Shatuo". During the reign of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Xie, the son of Zhiyi, led the Shatuo cavalry with his heart to help the Tang Dynasty suppress Pang Xun's uprising, and was awarded the title The military governor of Datong was given the surname Li and the name Guochang. Later, he was promoted to the governor of Fuyan and Zhenwu for helping the Tang Dynasty resist the Uighurs. At this point, the Shatuo clan began to play a decisive role in the political and military arena of the Central Plains. The role of Shatuo, the leader of the fourth dynasty and the glorious period, has strong control over the Shatuo cavalry and high tactical execution. The Shatuo cavalry is a cavalry unit that is frightening to the enemy and has extremely strong combat power. There are three reasons: the nomadic people's "military-political" system; the martial spirit flowing in the blood of the Shatuo people, who are brave and aggressive, and are indomitable and invincible in battle. Being subjugated to others for a long time, the Shatuo people could only kill their enemies in order to gain a foothold.

The first dynasty of Shatuo cavalry - Li Cunxu established the Later Tang Dynasty. As mentioned above, Zhu Xiechixin was awarded the title of Military Envoy of the Datong Army by the Tang Dynasty because he led the cavalry to help the Tang Dynasty suppress Pang Xun's uprising, and was given the surname Li and the name Guochang. But Li Guochang was arrogant and disobedient because of his achievements. In the sixth year of Qianfu, the Tang court ordered Zhaoyi Jiedu Li Jun, Lulong Jiedu Li Keju, and Tuyuhun Governor Helianduo to jointly attack Li Guochang in Weizhou. Li Guochang and his son Li Keyong were forced to flee north to the Tatars. Li Keyong But not long after, the famous Huangchao Uprising broke out in the Central Plains, and Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was captured by the rebels. In order to suppress the rebels, the Tang Dynasty had no unscrupulous generals available, so it had to lower its profile and send people to recruit Li Keyong, the son of Li Changguo, and asked him to lead the Shatuo and Tatar troops to come to the rescue. It can be said that from one moment to the next, the situation changed. . In 883 AD, Li Keyong led his army to defeat the rebels at Liangtianpo. Huang Chao was forced to withdraw from Chang'an. Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty promoted Li Keyong to Hedong Jiedushi. Li Keyong took advantage of the situation and occupied Taiyuan. He and Zhu Wen, another general who suppressed the rebels, Create a situation of mutual contention. Li Cunxu In 907 AD, Liang Wang Zhu Wen overthrew the Tang Dynasty and established the Later Liang regime. In 923 AD, Li Keyong's son Li Cunxu destroyed the Later Liang Dynasty and established the Later Tang Dynasty. This was the first Central Plains regime established by the Shatuo clan in history to make money from war. The second dynasty - Shi Jingtang established the Later Jin Dynasty Shi Jingtang (April 20, 892 - September 11, 942), the ancestor of the Later Jin Dynasty, was a native of Taiyuan City, Shanxi, and a member of the Shatuo tribe. During the Five Dynasties, dynasties changed like a revolving lantern. After Li Cunxu established the post-Tang Dynasty, the regime was also unstable and he suppressed rebels everywhere. Shi Jingtang followed Li Keyong's son Li Siyuan on many expeditions and became one of Li Cunxu's brave generals. He saved Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan's father and son many times, and became famous and highly regarded. Li Siyuan even married his daughter to him. In the later period, after Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke ascended the throne, Shi Jingtang was suspected and ostracized. In order to protect himself, he asked Khitan Yelv Deguang for help and promised him: cede the sixteen states of Yanyun to Khitan, pay a large amount of property as tribute every year, and call himself the country of Khitan. With the help of the Khitan army, Shi Jingtang defeated the Later Tang army and established the second dynasty, the Later Jin. Although political power was established, it was a humiliation. Shi Jingtang was very cautious in being obedient to the Khitan. He used expressions in every letter to express the distinction between emperor and minister. He called Taizong the ""father emperor"", ""chen"" and ""son emperor"". Shi Jingtang's relationship with the Khitan The third dynasty of Shengzi - Liu Zhiyuan established the Later Han Dynasty. Liu Zhiyuan (895-948), the emperor of the Later Han (reigned 947-948), was from Taiyuan, Hedong, and of the Shatuo tribe. Liu Zhiyuan was originally a general who followed Shi Jingtang in his campaigns. He was extremely brave and had outstanding military exploits. He was Shi Jingtang's capable general. When Shi Jingtang introduced the Khitan soldiers with humiliating conditions, he thought the conditions were too high and opposed them clearly. Later, after Shi Jingtang's death, his son Shi Chonggui ascended the throne and became the Young Emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Willing to surrender to the Khitan again, the Khitan invaded the capital and captured Shi Chonggui to the north. Afterwards, Liu Zhiyuan established the third dynasty - the Later Han Dynasty. Liu Zhiyuan's fourth dynasty - Liu Min established the Northern Han Dynasty (895). - 954), formerly known as Liu Chong, a native of Shatuo, Taiyuan, the founding monarch of the Northern Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and the younger brother of Liu Zhiyuan, the founder of the Later Han Dynasty. Topography of the Northern Han Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty. In 951 AD, Guo Wei overthrew the regime of the Later Han Dynasty and established the Later Zhou Dynasty. Liu Chong then proclaimed himself emperor in Taiyuan and established the Northern Han Dynasty, but there were only twelve states under his rule. Historically, the Northern Han Dynasty was only a continuation of the Later Han Dynasty, and because it was relatively weak, it was not very recognized. They were also destroyed by the Later Zhou Dynasty. Although the Shatuo people were prosperous for a while, they were unable to stabilize their political power in a complex social state. However, due to continuous migration and war, the Shatuo people at this time were in conflict with the Central Plains. The ethnic group had in-depth contact with the Han people. With the frequent interactions with the Han people, such as changing Chinese surnames and adopting Han people, the Shatuo people gradually began to become sinicized. Later, with the collapse of the Shatuo regime, the later Zhou and Northern Song Dynasty regimes followed. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the integration of the Shatuo people with the Han and other ethnic groups has been greatly accelerated. They have also lost their original ethnic characteristics and have gradually been submerged in the dust of history. There will be no Shatuo people in future generations.

Conclusion As a nomadic people of the Western Turks, the Shatuo people, under the special political and military environment of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, relied on the strong combat capabilities of their cavalry troops to seize the opportunity to dominate the Central Plains. There were four dynasties: "Later Jin", "Later Han" and "Northern Han". As the backbone of the central imperial army of the "Four Dynasties", the Shatuo Army was an important force in promoting the political and military reform and development of the Five Dynasties. Its influence was far-reaching and extended to and the two later Song Dynasties. With the existence of a series of problems such as internal strife within the Shatuo Group, the loss of Ma Yuan, and the continued integration of Chinese culture, the Shatuo Army, a heroic cavalry unit, gradually withdrew from the stage of history and disappeared into the vastness. amidst the historical turbulence, but also left a magnificent chapter in China's political and military history.