Tang Taizong, second emperor and co-founder with his father of the Tang
dynasty, demonstrated a combination of military and political skill that made
him one of China’s great emperors. His mastery of the nomadic threat is
especially notable.
Tang Taizong:
“Questions and Answers”
Tang Taizong, the
second Tang dynasty emperor, was a skilled military leader as well as civil
administrator. His military leadership came from practical experience and
through study of the Chinese military classics. In the following selection, the
emperor engages in discussion of his military experience with Li Ching,
possibly the Tang dynasty’s most successful military commander, who was also
deeply knowledgeable regarding the military classics. The emperor wishes to
place his military experience in the context of the ancient Chinese military
classics.
The Taizong said: “At the battle in which I destroyed
Song Lao-sheng, when the fronts clashed our rightward army retreated somewhat.
I then personally led our elite cavalry to race down from the Southern plain,
cutting across in a sudden attack on them. After Lao-sheng’s troops were cut
off to the rear, we severely crushed them, and subsequently captured him. Were
these orthodox troops? Or unorthodox troops?”
Li Ching [one of Taizong’s generals and strategists]
replied: “Your majesty is a natural military genius, not one who learns by
studying. I have examined the art of war as practiced from the Yellow Emperor
on down. First be orthodox, and afterward unorthodox; first be benevolent and
righteous, and afterward employ the balance of power and craftiness. Moreover,
in the battle at Huo-I the army was mobilized out of righteousness, so it was
orthodox. When Jian-cheng fell off his horse and the Army of the Right withdrew
somewhat, it was unorthodox.”
The Taizong said: “At that time our slight withdrawal
almost defeated our great affair, so how can you refer to it as
unorthodox?”
Li Ching replied: “In general, when troops advance to
the front it is orthodox, when they [deliberately] retreat to the rear it is
unorthodox. Moreover, if the Army of the Right had not withdrawn somewhat, how
could you have gotten Laosheng to come forward? The Art of War states: `Display
profits to entice them, create disorder [in their forces] and take them.’
Lao-sheng did not know how to employ his troops. He relied on courage and made
a hasty advance. He did not anticipate his rear being severed nor being
captured by your majesty. This is what is referred to as using the unorthodox
as the orthodox.”
The Taizong said: “As for Huo Qubing’s tactics
unintentionally cohering with those of Sunzi and Wuzi, was it really so? When
our Army of the Right withdrew, Gaozu [Taizong’s father and the emperor] turned
pale. But then I attacked vigorously and, on the contrary, it became
advantageous for us. This unknowingly cohered with Sunzi and Wuzi. My lord
certainly knows their words.”
The Taizong said: “Whenever an army withdraws can it be
termed unorthodox?”
Li Ching said: “It is not so. Whenever the soldiers
retreat with their flags confused and disordered, the sounds of the large and
small drums not responding to each other, and their orders shouted out in a
clamor, this is true defeat, not unorthodox strategy. If the flags are ordered,
the drums respond to each other, and the commands and orders seem unified, then
even though they may be retreating and running, it is not a defeat and must be
a case of unorthodox strategy. The Art of War says: `Do not pursue feigned
retreats.’ It also says: `Although capable display incapability.’ These all
refer to the unorthodox.”
Tang Taizong
Tang Taizong (T’ang T’ai-tsung), meaning “Grand Ancestor of
the Tang,” is the title of the second ruler and real founder of the Tang
(T’ang) dynasty in China (618–909). Born Li Shimin (Li Shih-min), he was the
second son of Li Yuan, the duke of Tang, who was an important governor under
the Sui dynasty. Taizong’s achievements and the policies that he laid down
would make the dynasty the most powerful, successful, and prosperous since the
Han dynasty. The Li family was descended from Li Guangli (Li Kuang-li), a
famous general under Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. As most aristocratic
families in northern China, it had intermarried with nomads who had settled in
the region; Taizong’s mother, the empress Dou (Tou), came from a powerful
Turkic clan.
In 617 the Sui dynasty was collapsing and revolts were
widespread. Eighteen-year-old Li Shimin maneuvered his father to revolt and
played a leading part in defeating numerous other contenders to establish him
on the throne of the new Tang dynasty in 618. Li Yuan is known in history as
Tang Gaozu (T’ang Kao-tsu), meaning “High Ancestor of the Tang.” As second son,
Shimin was the object of jealousy of his older brother, the crown prince, who
planned to murder him. In a final showdown in 624 the crown prince was killed,
Shimin became crown prince and de facto ruler, and two years later Gaozu
retired and Shimin ascended the throne.
Brilliant and precocious, he had by his late teens mastered
the Confucian Classics and literature, had gained experience in administration
and martial skills, and had led men into battle. A dashing and fearless leader
who placed himself at the forefront of cavalry charges and who excelled in
hand-to-hand combat, he boasted that he had personally killed over 1,000
enemies before taking the throne. Taizong was immediately confronted with a
crisis along the northern frontier. Taking advantage of China’s internal chaos
the Eastern Turks had launched massive annual expeditions along the borders
beginning in 623, to plunder and also to instigate revolts against the new
dynasty. The one in 626 reached within a few miles of the capital Chang’an
(Ch’ang-an). Only three weeks on the throne Taizong, who was a man of imperial
and intimidating bearing, led his men to confront the enemy and secured their
retreat with a combination of bravado and bribes. His long-term response was to
train and bolster his army, which allowed him to launch a massive six-pronged
offensive with 720 miles separating the easternmost and westernmost columns in
629.
A combination of superior Tang tactics and internal
disaffection among the Turkic tribes resulted in a one-sided Tang victory at
the battle at Iron Mountain in which some 10,000 nomads were killed and more
than 100,000 surrendered. This campaign ended the Eastern Turkish Khanate and
established Chinese dominion over the Mongolian steppes. Taizong was
acknowledged “Heavenly Khan” by the Turks, the first Chinese ruler to hold that
title. The surrendered Turks were treated with kindness; many were settled
along the Ordos region of the Yellow River and other borderland areas.
Thousands of others settled in Chang’an and served the dynasty. Peace would
reign in the northern borders for 100 years.
Other campaigns broke the power of the Western Turks;
established Chinese power throughout Chinese Turkistan, across the Pamirs into
Afghanistan to the border of Persia; and also brought Tibet under Chinese
suzerainty. The marriage of a Tang princess to the Tibetan ruler, the first of
several throughout the dynasty, would bring Chinese culture to that land. In
648 a Chinese force, with Tibetan assistance, crossed into India and brought an
Indian rebel who had assassinated King Harsha Vardhana of India (Taizong and
Harsha had diplomatic exchanges thanks to the Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang’s
[Hsuan-tsang’s] journey to India) to Chang’an for punishment. Taizong also sent
two expeditions to Korea in the 640s but failed to bring the king of Koguryo to
heel. Taizong rode six horses to battle. Relief carvings of all six, with
accompanying inscriptions detailing their names and deeds, decorate the
entrance to his mausoleum.
Taizong was a rationalist and believed that men, not heaven,
determined the course of history. He was conscientious and hardworking, was
concerned with the welfare of the people, and respected the opinion and sought
the criticism of his advisers. He surrounded himself with able ministers. Wei
Cheng was the most fearless of his critics, yet never suffered from his blunt
rebukes of the emperor. Taizong called Wei his mirror for showing up all his
blemishes and mourned Wei’s death as a great loss to good government. Because
the basic institutions of the Tang were already in place when he ascended the
throne, Taizong’s task was to consolidate, rationalize, and improve where
necessary.
He halted the growth of the bureaucracy, redrew the empire’s
administrative units, and continued the codification of the laws but lightened
many punishments. His economic policies led to recovery and prosperity after
the wars that marked the end of the Sui dynasty and led to surpluses that
financed his military expansion. He established a network of granaries that
provided against natural disasters and stabilized the prices. He also extended
and improved the militia system begun by his father.
Taizong’s last years were marred by poor health; the death
of his wife, the Empress Zhangsun (Chang-sun), who had been his wise and able
adviser; the demotion of his heir for plotting against him; and rivalry among
his other sons for the succession. He finally settled on a younger son by the empress,
who would be known as Emperor Gaozong (Kao-tsung). But in death his reputation
would grow and he would be acknowledged one of the greatest rulers of all
Chinese history. His reign came to represent exemplary civil government,
unrivaled military might, and unmatched cultural brilliance.
Further reading:
Adshead, S. A. M. T’ang China, the Rise of the East in World History. New York:
Palgrave MacMillan, 2004; Graff, David A. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300–900.
London: Routledge, 2002; Wechsler, Howard J. Mirror to the Son Of Heaven: Wei
Cheng at the Court of T’ang T’aitsung. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
1974.
