Volume 196 Biographies 146: Tubo (Tibet) 2

永泰二年二月，命大理少卿、兼御史中丞楊濟修好於吐蕃。四月，吐蕃遣首領論泣藏等百余人隨濟來朝，且謝申好。大歷二年十月，靈州破吐蕃二萬余眾，生擒五百人，獲馬一千五百匹。十一月，和蕃使、檢校戶部尚書、兼御史大夫薛景仙自吐蕃使還，首領論泣陵隨景仙來朝。景仙奏云：「贊普請以鳳林關為界。」俄又遣使路悉等十五人來朝。三年八月，吐蕃十萬寇靈武，大將尚悉摩寇邠州。邠寧節度使馬璘破二萬余眾，擒其俘以獻之。九月，寇靈州，朔方騎將白元光破之。俄又復破二萬眾於婁武，獲羊馬數千計。關內副元帥郭子儀於靈州破吐蕃六萬余眾。十二月，以蕃寇歲犯西疆，增修鎮守，乃移馬璘鎮涇州，仍為涇原節度使。劍南西川亦破吐蕃萬余眾。五年五月，徙置安、悉、拓、靜、恭五州於山陵要害之地，以備吐蕃。

In the second month of Yongtai 2 (766), the court appointed Yang Ji, Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review and concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief, to negotiate renewed friendship with Tibet. In the fourth month, Tibet dispatched its chieftain Lun Qizang and over a hundred followers to accompany Yang Ji to the Tang court and thank the emperor for the renewal of amity. In the tenth month of Dali 2 (767), forces at Ling Prefecture routed more than twenty thousand Tibetan troops, took five hundred prisoners, and seized fifteen hundred horses. In the eleventh month, Xue Jingxian, the peace envoy to Tibet who also served as Acting Minister of Revenue and Censor-in-Chief, returned from Tibet; the Tibetan chieftain Lun Qiling came to court with him. Jingxian reported that the Tibetan ruler had asked to take Fenglin Pass as the border. Soon afterward Tibet sent fifteen envoys led by Lu Xi to the Tang court. In the eighth month of the third year, a hundred thousand Tibetan troops attacked Lingwu, while the general Shang Ximo struck Bin Prefecture. Ma Lin, commissioner of the Bin-Ning circuit, routed more than twenty thousand Tibetans and sent the prisoners he captured to the court. In the ninth month the Tibetans attacked Ling Prefecture, but Bai Yuanguang, a Shuofang cavalry commander, drove them off. He soon routed another twenty thousand Tibetans at Louwu and captured several thousand sheep and horses. At Ling Prefecture, Guo Ziyi, deputy commander-in-chief of Guannei, routed more than sixty thousand Tibetan troops. In the twelfth month, with Tibetan raids harassing the western border year after year, the court reinforced its garrisons, transferred Ma Lin to Jing Prefecture, and kept him as commissioner of the Jingyuan circuit. Western Sichuan forces also defeated more than ten thousand Tibetans. In the fifth month of the fifth year, the five prefectures of An, Xi, Tuo, Jing, and Gong were moved to commanding positions in the mountains and passes as a defense against Tibet.

八年秋，吐蕃六萬騎寇靈武，蹂踐我禾稼而去。十月，寇涇、邠等州，郭子儀遣先鋒將渾瑊與賊戰於宜祿，我師不利，副將史籍等三人死之，村墅居人為驅掠者凡千余人。是夜，瑊收合散卒襲賊營，會馬璘亦襲其輜重，凡殺數千人，賊遂潰。子儀大破吐蕃十余萬眾。

That autumn of the eighth year, sixty thousand Tibetan horsemen raided Lingwu, trampled the Tang grain fields, and withdrew. In the tenth month the Tibetans struck Jing, Bin, and neighboring prefectures. Guo Ziyi sent his vanguard commander Hun Jian to meet them at Yilu, but the Tang forces were beaten; three deputy commanders including Shi Ji were killed, and more than a thousand villagers were carried off. That night Hun Jian rallied his scattered men and stormed the enemy camp, while Ma Lin simultaneously attacked their supply train; together they killed several thousand Tibetans and put the raiders to flight. Guo Ziyi then routed more than a hundred thousand Tibetan troops.

初，吐蕃犯我邠郊，馬璘以精卒二千余人潛夜掩賊營，射賊豹皮將中目，賊眾扶之號泣，遂舉營遁去。璘因收獲朔方兵健二百余人，百姓七百余人，駝馬數百匹。

Earlier, when Tibetans raided the outskirts of Bin, Ma Lin led more than two thousand picked troops in a night assault on their camp, shooting the enemy's leopard-skin-clad general in the eye; his men lifted him up wailing, and the whole camp fled. In the process he recovered more than two hundred Shuofang soldiers, over seven hundred civilians, and several hundred camels and horses.

九年四月，以吐蕃侵擾，預為邊備，乃降敕：

In the fourth month of the ninth year, with Tibetan raids continuing, the emperor issued an edict to prepare the frontier defenses:

宜令子儀以上郡、北地、四塞、五原、義渠、稽胡、鮮卑雜種步馬五萬眾，嚴會栒邑，克壯舊軍。抱玉以晉之高都，韓之上黨，河、湟義徒，汧、隴少年，凡三萬眾，橫絕高壁，斜界連營。馬璘以西域前庭，車師後部，兼廣武之戍，下蔡之徭，凡三萬眾，屯於泗中，張大軍之援。忠誠以武落別授，右地奇鋒，凡二萬眾，出岐陽而北會。希讓以三輔太常之徒，六郡良家之子，自渭上而西合汴宋、淄青、河陽、幽薊，總四萬眾，分列前後。魏博、成德、昭義、永平總六萬眾，大舒左右。朕內整禁旅，親誓諸將，資以千金之費，錫以六牧之馬。其戎裝戰器，軍用邊儲，各有司存，素皆精辦。咨爾將相文武宣力之臣，夫師克在和，善戰不陣，各宜保據疆界，屯據要沖，斥堠惟明，首尾相應。若既悔過，何必勞人；如或不恭，自當伐罪。然後眷求統一，以制諸軍。進取之宜，俟於後命。

Guo Ziyi was to assemble fifty thousand foot and horse troops drawn from Shang, Beidi, the Four Passes, Wuyuan, Yiqu, the Ji Hu, Xianbei, and other frontier peoples, muster them at Xunyi, and restore the army's former strength. Li Baoyu was to take thirty thousand men from Gaodu in Jin, Shangdang in Han, loyal recruits from the He and Huang region, and young soldiers of Qian and Long, stretch their line across the high ramparts, and link camps along the diagonal frontier. Ma Lin was to bring thirty thousand troops from the former Western Regions headquarters, the Rear Cheshi Division, the Guangwu garrison, and Xia Cai levies, encamp in the Si region, and extend the main army's reach. Li Zhongcheng was to lead twenty thousand men from the Wuluo tribal levy and Youdi's crack troops, advance from Qiyang, and join the northern concentration. Li Xirang was to take court retainers from the Three Adjuncts and sons of good families from the Six Commanderies, unite west of the Wei with forces from Bian-Song, Zi-Qing, Heyang, and You-Ji, and deploy forty thousand men in front and rear echelons. Sixty thousand troops from Weibo, Chengde, Zhaoyi, and Yongping were to spread out on the left and right flanks. I shall personally drill the palace guard, swear in the generals myself, supply them with ample funds, and grant horses from the six imperial stud farms. Armor, weapons, military supplies, and frontier stores each have their responsible offices and have long been kept in readiness. I charge you generals, ministers, and all civil and military officials who serve with force: victory depends on unity, and the finest warriors need not rush into battle. Hold your borders, garrison the strategic passes, keep scouts vigilant, and act in concert from front to rear. If they have already repented, why trouble the people at all; but if they remain defiant, we shall punish them as they deserve. Only then shall we seek unified command to direct all the armies. Plans for an offensive will await further orders.

十一年正月，劍南節度使崔寧大破吐蕃故洪等四節度兼突厥、吐渾、氐、蠻、羌、党項等二十余萬眾，斬首萬余級，生擒葛城兵馬使一千三百五十人，獻於闕下。牛羊及軍資器械，不可勝紀。十二年九月，入寇坊州，掠党項羊馬而去。十月，崔寧破吐蕃望漢城。十四年八月，命太常少卿韋倫持節使吐蕃，統蕃俘五百人歸之。十月，吐蕃率南蠻眾二十萬來寇：一入茂州，過汶川及灌口；一入扶、文，過方維、白壩；一自黎、雅過邛峽關，連陷郡邑。乃發禁兵四千人及幽州兵五千人同討，大破之。

In the first month of the eleventh year, Cui Ning, commissioner of Jiannan, routed the four Tibetan commands under Gu Hong and more than two hundred thousand allied troops including Turks, Tuyuhun, Di, Man, Qiang, and Tangut; over ten thousand heads were taken, and thirteen hundred fifty prisoners including the Ge City military commissioner were sent to the capital. The cattle, sheep, supplies, and weapons captured were beyond count. In the ninth month of the twelfth year, Tibetans raided Fang Prefecture, seized Tangut sheep and horses, and withdrew. In the tenth month, Cui Ning captured the Tibetan stronghold of Wanghan. In the eighth month of the fourteenth year, Wei Lun, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, was sent as credentialed envoy to Tibet to return five hundred Tibetan prisoners. In the tenth month, Tibet led two hundred thousand southern tribesmen in a three-pronged invasion: one column entered Mao Prefecture by way of Wenchuan and Guankou; another entered Fu and Wen by way of Fangwei and Baiba; a third came from Li and Ya through Qiongxia Pass and overran a string of districts. The court sent four thousand palace guards and five thousand Youzhou troops against them and won a decisive victory.

建中元年四月，韋倫至。自大歷中聘使前後數輩，皆留之不遣。俘獲其人，必遣中官部統徙江、嶺，因緣求財及給養之費，不勝其弊。去年冬，吐蕃大興師以三道來侵，會德宗初即位；以德綏四方，征其俘囚五百余人，各給衣一襲，使倫統還其國，與之約和，敕邊將無得侵伐。吐蕃始聞歸其人，不之信，及蕃俘入境，部落皆畏威懷惠。其贊普乞立贊謂倫曰：「不知是來也，而有三恨，奈何？」倫曰：「未達所謂。」乞立贊曰：「不知大國之喪，而吊不及哀，一也。不知山陵之期，而賻不成禮。二也。不知皇帝舅聖明繼立，已發眾軍三道連衡。今靈武之師，聞命輒已；而山南之師已入扶、文，蜀師已趨灌口，追且不及，是三恨也。」乃發使奉贄，不二旬而復命。蜀帥上所獲戎俘，有司請準舊事頒為徒隸，上曰：「要約著矣，言庸二乎？」乃各給縑二匹、衣一襲而歸之。五月，以韋倫為太常卿，復使吐蕃。其冬，遣宰相論欽明思等五十五人隨倫至，且獻方物。吐蕃見倫再至，甚歡。既就館，聲樂以娛之，留九日而還，兼遣其渠帥報命。

In the fourth month of Jianzhong 1 (780), Wei Lun arrived in Tibet. Since the Dali era, the Tibetans had detained several successive Tang embassies and refused to let them return. Whenever they captured Tang subjects, eunuch officials were sent to march them off to the Jiang and Ling regions, extorting money and upkeep along the way until the abuses became intolerable. The previous winter Tibet had launched a major invasion in three columns, just as Emperor Dezong had newly taken the throne; seeking to pacify the realm by virtue, he gathered more than five hundred Tibetan captives, gave each a suit of clothes, and sent Lun to escort them home, concluded a peace agreement, and ordered frontier commanders not to attack. At first the Tibetans did not believe their people would be returned; but when the captives crossed the border, every tribe was awed by Tang authority and moved by its kindness. The Tibetan ruler Qili Zan told Lun, "We did not know you were coming, yet we bear three grievances—what can be done about them? Lun replied, "I do not understand what you mean." Qili Zan said, "First, we did not know of the great state's mourning and failed to send condolences in time. Second, we did not know when the imperial tomb would be completed and failed to present the proper funeral gifts. That is the second grievance. Third, we did not know that our imperial uncle had succeeded to the throne and had already marched three armies in concert against us. The Lingwu army has already halted on receiving your orders; but the Shannan army has already entered Fu and Wen, and the Shu army has already advanced on Guankou—we cannot call them back in time. That is the third grievance." He then sent envoys bearing tribute, and within twenty days they returned with the emperor's reply. The Shu commander presented the Tibetan prisoners he had taken; the responsible offices asked to distribute them as bond servants according to precedent. The emperor said, "We have already made our agreement—shall our word count for nothing? Each captive was given two bolts of silk and a suit of clothes and sent home. In the fifth month, Wei Lun was promoted to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and sent again to Tibet. That winter, Tibet sent its chancellor Lun Qinmingsi and fifty-five others to accompany Lun to court, bearing tribute goods. The Tibetans were delighted to see Lun return. After they reached the guest lodge, music was provided for their entertainment; they remained nine days before returning, and also sent their chieftains back with a reply.

二年十二月，入蕃使判官常魯與吐蕃使論悉諾羅等至自蕃中。初，魯與其使崔漢衡至列館，贊普令止之，先命取國信敕。既而使謂漢衡曰：「來敕云：『所貢獻物，並領訖；今賜外甥少信物，至領取。』我大蕃與唐舅甥國耳，何得以臣禮見處？又所欲定界，雲州之西，請以賀蘭山為界。其盟約，請依景龍二年敕書云：『唐使到彼，外甥先與盟誓；蕃使到此，阿舅亦親與盟。』」乃邀漢衡遣使奏定。魯使還奏焉，為改敕書，以「貢獻」為「進」，以「賜」為「寄」，以「領取」為「領之」。且謂曰：「前相楊炎不循故事，致此誤爾。」其定界盟，並從之。

In the twelfth month of the second year, Chang Lu, adjutant to the Tang envoy to Tibet, arrived with the Tibetan envoy Lun Xinoluoluo and others from Tibet. When Lu and the Tang envoy Cui Hanheng reached the reception lodge, the tsenpo had them stopped and demanded the imperial letter of credence first. An envoy was then sent to tell Hanheng, "Your edict reads: 'The tribute items you presented have all been received; we now bestow a few tokens of trust upon our nephew—come and receive them. Our great Tibet and Tang are uncle and nephew states—why treat us with the ceremony owed a subject? As for the border we wish to fix, we ask that Helan Mountain west of Yun Prefecture serve as the boundary. For the treaty, we ask to follow the Jinglong 2 edict: 'When a Tang envoy arrives in Tibet, the nephew shall swear the oath first; when a Tibetan envoy comes to Tang, the maternal uncle shall also swear the oath in person. He then asked Hanheng to send an envoy to the court to settle these matters. When Lu returned and reported, the court revised the edict, changing "tribute" to "presentation," "bestow" to "send," and "come and receive" to "receive them." The court also explained that the former chancellor Yang Yan had failed to follow precedent, which had caused the error. Both the boundary settlement and the treaty terms were accepted.

三年四月，放先沒蕃將士僧尼等八百人歸還，報歸蕃俘也。九月，和蕃使、殿中少監、兼御史中丞崔漢衡與蕃使區類贊至。時吐蕃大相尚結息忍而好殺，以嘗覆敗於劍南，思刷其恥，不肯約和。其次相尚結贊有材略，因言於贊普，請定界明約，以息邊人。贊普然之，竟以結贊代結息為大相，終約和好，期以十月十五日會盟於境上。以崔漢衡為鴻臚卿，以都官員外郎樊澤兼御史中丞、充入蕃計會使。初，漢衡與吐蕃約定月日盟誓，漢衡到，商量未決，已過其期，遂命澤詣結贊復定盟會期，且告遣隴右節度使張鎰與之同盟，澤至故原州，與結贊相見，以來年正月十五日會盟於清水西。

In the fourth month of the third year, eight hundred Tang subjects including soldiers, monks, and nuns who had been lost to Tibet were released and sent home, reciprocating the return of Tibetan captives. In the ninth month, Cui Hanheng, the peace envoy to Tibet who also served as Vice Director of the Palace Administration and Vice Censor-in-Chief, arrived with the Tibetan envoy Qulei Zan. At that time the Tibetan chief minister Shang Jiexi was forbearing yet bloodthirsty; having been defeated in Jiannan, he sought to erase that humiliation and refused to make peace. The second chief minister, Shang Jiezan, was talented and resourceful; he urged the tsenpo to fix the border and conclude a clear treaty so the frontier peoples could live in peace. The tsenpo agreed; Jiezan eventually replaced Jiexi as chief minister, peace was concluded at last, and the two sides set the fifteenth day of the tenth month for a border alliance ceremony. Cui Hanheng was appointed Director of the Court for Dependencies, and Fan Ze, Vice Director of the Bureau of Review, was made concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief and envoy to arrange the Tibetan mission. Hanheng and the Tibetans had already set a date for the alliance oath, but when Hanheng arrived negotiations were still unfinished and the date had passed. Ze was sent to Jiezan to fix a new date and to inform him that Zhang Yin, commissioner of Longyou, would join the alliance. At the former Yuan Prefecture, Ze met Jiezan and set the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year for the ceremony west of Qingshui.

四年正月，詔張鎰與尚結贊盟於清水。將盟，鎰與結贊約，各以二千人赴壇所，執兵者半之，列於壇外二百步，散從者半之，分立壇下。鎰與賓佐齊映、齊抗及會盟官崔漢衡、樊澤、常魯、於

In the first month of the fourth year, the emperor ordered Zhang Yin and Shang Jiezan to swear the alliance at Qingshui. Before the ceremony, Yin and Jiezan agreed that each side would bring two thousand men to the altar: half armed and stationed two hundred paces from the altar, half unarmed attendants standing below it on either side. Yin, together with his advisers Qi Ying and Qi Kang and the alliance officers Cui Hanheng, Fan Ze, Chang Lu, and Yu

頔等七人皆朝服；結贊與其本國將相論悉頰藏、論臧熱、論利陀、斯官者、論力徐等亦七人，俱升壇為盟。初約漢以牛，蕃以馬，鎰恥與之盟，將殺其禮，乃謂結贊曰：「漢非牛不田，蕃非馬不行，今請以羊、豕、犬三物代之。」結贊許諾。塞外無豕，結贊請出羝羊，鎰出犬及羊，乃於壇北刑之，雜血二器而歃盟。文曰：

Yi and six others—all seven in court dress— Jiezan, with seven Tibetan generals and ministers including Lun Xijianzang, Lun Zangre, Lun Lituo, Siguanzhe, and Lun Lixu, likewise ascended the altar to swear the alliance. The original plan called for the Han to supply an ox and Tibet a horse. Yin was reluctant to treat them as equals and sought to reduce the ritual, telling Jiezan, "The Han cannot farm without oxen and Tibet cannot travel without horses—let us substitute sheep, pigs, and dogs instead. Jiezan agreed. Pigs were unavailable beyond the frontier, so Jiezan offered a ram while Yin supplied a dog and sheep; north of the altar the animals were slaughtered, their blood mixed in two vessels, and the oath was sworn. The covenant text read:

唐有天下，恢奄禹跡，舟車所至，莫不率俾。以累聖重光，歷年惟永，彰王者之丕業，被四海之聲教。與吐蕃贊普，代為婚姻，固結鄰好，安危同體，甥舅之國，將二百年。其間或因小忿，棄惠為讎，封疆騷然，靡有寧歲。皇帝踐祚，湣茲黎元，俾釋俘隸，以歸蕃落。蕃國展禮，同茲葉和，行人往復，累布成命。是必詐謀不起，兵車不用矣。彼猶以兩國之要，求之永久，古有結盟，今請用之。國家務息邊人，外其故地，棄利蹈義，堅盟從約。今國家所守界：涇州西至彈箏峽西口，隴州西至清水縣，鳳州西至同谷縣，暨劍南西山大渡河東，為漢界。蕃國守鎮在蘭、渭、原、會，西至臨洮，東至成州，抵劍南西界磨些諸蠻，大渡水西南，為蕃界。其兵馬鎮守之處，州縣見有居人，彼此兩邊見屬漢諸蠻，以今所分見住處，依前為定。其黃河以北，從故新泉軍，直北至大磧，直南至賀蘭山駱駝嶺為界，中間悉為閑田。盟文有所不載者，蕃有兵馬處蕃守，漢有兵馬處漢守，並依見守，不得侵越。其先未有兵馬處，不得新置，並築城堡耕種。今二國將相受辭而會，齊戒將事，告天地山川之神，惟神照臨，無得愆墜。其盟文藏於宗廟，副在有司，二國之成，其永保之。

Tang holds the realm, spanning the domain of Yu the Great; wherever cart and boat may travel, all submit. Through successive sage rulers whose glory is renewed, the years stretch on, displaying the king's great enterprise and spreading civilizing instruction to the four seas. With the Tibetan tsenpo we have been joined in marriage for generations, firmly bound as neighbors, sharing fortune and peril as one—an uncle-and-nephew state for nearly two hundred years. Yet at times small resentments have turned kindness to enmity, the borders have been troubled, and there have been no years of peace. The emperor has ascended the throne, pitying the people, and has released captives to return to their Tibetan homes. Tibet has shown proper courtesy, sharing in this harmony; envoys have traveled back and forth, repeatedly confirming their agreement. Thus treacherous schemes shall not arise, and war chariots shall not be deployed. They still hold the essentials of our two states and seek their permanence; alliances were sworn in antiquity, and we now request to do the same. The state seeks to give peace to its border subjects, relinquishing former territorial claims, setting aside gain for the sake of righteousness, and standing firm in alliance under the treaty. The borders the state now holds run from Jing Prefecture west to the western mouth of Tanzheng Gorge, from Long Prefecture west to Qingshui County, from Feng Prefecture west to Tonggu County, and along the eastern bank of the Dadu River at the mountains of western Jiannan—this is the Han boundary. Tibetan garrisons lie at Lan, Wei, Yuan, and Hui, extending west to Lintao and east to Cheng Prefecture, reaching the Mosuo tribes at the western frontier of Jiannan and southwest of the Dadu River—this marks the Tibetan boundary. In places where troops are stationed, in counties and prefectures where people presently live, and among the tribal peoples on both sides who are subject to Han—all shall be fixed according to their present allotted places of residence, as before. North of the Yellow River, the boundary runs from the former Xinquan Army post due north to the great desert and due south to Camel Ridge on Helan Mountain; the land between shall remain unoccupied. Anything not covered in the alliance text: where Tibet has troops, Tibet shall hold; where Han has troops, Han shall hold. Each side shall maintain its present garrisons and may not encroach. In places where neither side previously maintained troops, neither may newly deploy forces, build fortifications, or cultivate fields. Now the generals and ministers of both realms receive the oath and assemble, purifying themselves in preparation. They announce it to the gods of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers—may the spirits witness all, and may neither side violate or fall short. The alliance text shall be stored in the ancestral temple, with a copy held by the appropriate offices. May the achievement of both realms be preserved forever.

結贊亦出盟文，不加於坎，但埋牲而已。盟畢，結贊請鎰就壇之西南隅佛幄中焚香為誓。誓畢，復升壇飲酒。獻酬之禮，各用其物，以將厚意而歸。

Jiezan likewise presented the alliance text, but did not place it upon the ritual pit—he merely buried the sacrificial victim. When the rites were complete, Jiezan asked Yin to enter the Buddhist pavilion at the southwest corner of the altar to burn incense and swear the oath. After the oath was sworn, they again ascended the altar to drink wine. In the exchange of gifts and toasts, each side used its own offerings, conveying generous intent as they took their leave.

二月，命崔漢衡持節答蕃，遣區頰贊等歸。上初令宰相、尚書與蕃相區頰贊盟於豐邑裏壇所。將盟，以清水之會疆埸不定，遂罷。因留頰贊未遣，復令漢衡使於贊普。六月，答蕃使判官於頔與蕃使論頰沒藏等至自青海。七月，以禮部尚書李揆加御史大夫，為入蕃會盟使。又命宰相李忠臣、盧杞、關播、右僕射崔寧、工部尚書喬琳、御史大夫於頎、太府卿張獻恭、司農卿段秀實、少府監李昌夔、京兆尹王翃、左金吾衛將軍渾瑊等與區頰贊等會盟於壇所。初，於頔至自蕃中，與尚結贊約：「疆場既定，請歸其使。」從之。以豐邑坊盟壇在京城之內非便，請卜壇於京城之西。其禮如清水之儀。先盟二日，命有司告太廟，監官致齋。三日，朝服升壇，關播跪讀盟文。盟畢，宴賜而遣之。

In the second month, Cui Hanheng was appointed envoy to respond to Tibet, and Qujiazan and the others were sent home. The emperor initially ordered the chief ministers and vice ministers to conclude an alliance with the Tibetan minister Qujiazan at the Fengyi Village altar. Just as the alliance was about to take place, the Qingshui conference failed to fix the borders, and the ceremony was canceled. Qujiazan was therefore detained and not sent home, and Hanheng was again dispatched as envoy to the tsenpo. In the sixth month, Yu Di, judge on the Tang response mission, arrived with the Tibetan envoys Lun Jia, Mozang, and others from Qinghai. In the seventh month, Li Kui, Minister of Rites, was additionally appointed Censor-in-Chief and named envoy to enter Tibet for the alliance conference. The emperor also ordered Chief Ministers Li Zhongchen, Lu Qi, and Guan Bo, Right Vice Director Cui Ning, Minister of Works Qiao Lin, Censor-in-Chief Yu Qie, Chamberlain of the Court of the Imperial Treasury Zhang Xiangong, Chamberlain of the Court of the Imperial Granaries Duan Xiushi, Director of the Palace Stores Li Changkui, Governor of Jingzhao Wang Hong, and General of the Left Golden Guard Army Hun Jian to conclude the alliance with Qujiazan and the others at the altar. Earlier, when Yu Di returned from Tibet, he and Shang Jiezan agreed: "Once the borders are fixed, please send our envoys home." This was agreed to. Because having the alliance altar in Fengyi Ward within the capital was impractical, they requested that a site be chosen by divination west of the capital. The ceremony followed the same rites as at Qingshui. Two days before the alliance, the relevant offices were ordered to announce it at the Grand Ancestral Temple, and supervising officials undertook ritual purification. On the third day, dressed in court regalia they ascended the altar, and Guan Bo knelt to read the alliance text aloud. When the rites were finished, they held a feast, bestowed gifts, and sent the Tibetan party on their way.

貞元二年，命倉部郎中、兼侍御史趙聿為入吐蕃使。八月，吐蕃寇涇、隴、邠、寧數道，掠人畜，取禾稼，西境騷然。諸道節度及軍鎮，鹹閉壁自守而已。京師戒嚴。上遣左金吾將軍張獻甫與神策將李升曇、蘇清沔等統兵屯於咸陽，召河中節度駱元光率眾戍咸陽以援之。九月，以吐蕃遊騎及於好畤，上復遣張獻甫等統兵屯於咸陽，又詔遣左監門將軍康成使於吐蕃。初，吐蕃大相尚結贊累遣使請盟會定界，乃命成使之。至上砦原，與結贊相見，令其使論乞陀與成同來。

In the second year of Zhenyuan (786), Zhao Yu, Director of the Granary Bureau and concurrent Attending Censor, was appointed envoy to Tibet. In the eighth month, Tibetan forces raided the Jing, Long, Bin, and Ning circuits, plundering people and livestock and seizing grain. The western frontier erupted in turmoil. The military governors and garrison posts along the frontier merely shut their fortifications and held their ground. The capital was placed under martial law. The emperor sent Left Golden Guard General Zhang Xianfu with Shence Generals Li Shengtan and Su Qingmian to encamp at Xianyang, and summoned Hedong Military Governor Luo Yuanguang to garrison Xianyang with his troops in support. In the ninth month, when Tibetan scouting cavalry reached as far as Haozhi, the emperor again sent Zhang Xianfu and others to encamp at Xianyang, and also ordered Left Gate Guard General Kang Cheng as envoy to Tibet. Shang Jiezan, the great Tibetan minister, had repeatedly sent envoys requesting an alliance conference to fix the borders, and so Kang Cheng was dispatched. When he reached Shangzhai Plain, he met with Jiezan, who had his envoy Lun Qituo accompany Cheng back.

是月，鳳翔節度使李晟以吐蕃侵軼，遣其將王佖夜襲賊營，率驍勇三千人入汧陽。誡之曰：「賊之大眾，當過城下，無擊其首尾。首尾雖敗，中軍力全，若合勢攻之，汝必受其弊。但候其前軍已過。見五方旗、虎豹衣，則其中軍也。出其不意，乃是奇功。」佖如其言出擊之，賊眾果敗，副將史廷玉力戰死之。又寇鳳翔城下，李晟出兵禦之，一夕而退。十月，李晟遣兵襲吐蕃之沙堡，大破之。焚其歸積，斬蕃酋扈屈律設贊等七人，傳首京師。

That month, Fengxiang Military Governor Li Sheng, responding to Tibetan incursions, sent his general Wang Bi to raid the enemy camp by night, leading three thousand elite troops into Qianyang. He instructed him: "The enemy's main force will pass below the city walls. Do not attack their van or rear. Even if you defeat the van and rear, the center will remain at full strength. If they combine and turn on you, you will surely come to grief. Wait only until their advance guard has passed. When you see the five-colored banners and tiger-and-leopard robes, that is their center army. Strike when they least expect it—that will be a brilliant victory." Wang Bi did as instructed and attacked. The enemy was indeed routed, though Vice-General Shi Tingyu fought fiercely and was killed. The Tibetans again raided below Fengxiang; Li Sheng sent troops to repel them, and they withdrew overnight. In the tenth month, Li Sheng sent troops to assault the Tibetan fort at Sha and routed them utterly. They burned the enemy's stored provisions, beheaded seven Tibetan chieftains including Huqulü Shezan, and sent their heads to the capital.

十一月，吐蕃陷鹽州。初，賊之來也，刺史杜彥光使以牛酒犒之。吐蕃謂曰：「我欲州城居之，聽爾率其人而去。」彥光乃悉眾奔鄜州。十二月，陷夏州，刺史拓拔乾暉率眾而去，復據其城。又寇銀州，素無城壁，人皆奔散。

In the eleventh month, the Tibetans captured Yan Prefecture. When the enemy first arrived, Prefect Du Yanguang sent oxen and wine to treat them hospitably. The Tibetans told him: "We intend to occupy the prefectural seat. You may take your people and leave." Yanguang then led all his people in flight to Fuzhou. In the twelfth month, they captured Xia Prefecture. Prefect Tuoba Ganxian led his people away, and the Tibetans reoccupied the city. They also raided Yin Prefecture, which had never had fortifications; the populace fled in all directions.

三年春，命檢校左庶子、兼御史中丞崔浣為入吐蕃使，相次又遣左庶子李銛使之。河東、保寧等道節度使馬燧來朝。初，尚結贊既陷鹽、夏等州，各留千余人守之，結贊大眾屯於鳴沙。自去冬及春，羊馬多死，糧餉不給。時詔遣華州、潼關節度駱元光、邠寧節度韓遊瑰統眾與鳳翔、鄜、邠及諸道戍卒，屯於塞上，又命燧率師次於石州，分兵隔河與元光等掎角討之。結贊聞而大懼，累遣使請和，仍約盟會。上皆不許。又遣其大將論頰熱厚禮卑詞求燧請盟，燧以奏焉，上又不許。惟促其合勢討逐。燧喜賂信詐，乃與頰熱俱入朝，盛言其可保信，許盟約，上於是從之。燧既赴朝也，諸軍但閉壁而已。結贊遽悉其眾棄夏州而歸，馬既多死，有徒行者。及是夏平涼之會，竟渝盟，馬燧亦由此失兵柄而奉朝請矣。

In the spring of the third year, Cui Huan, Acting Left Mentor and concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief, was appointed envoy to Tibet, and soon after Left Mentor Li Xian was also dispatched. Ma Sui, military governor of the Hedong and Baoning circuits, came to court. After Shang Jiezan had captured Yan, Xia, and other prefectures, he left over a thousand men to garrison each one, while his main force encamped at Mingsha. From the previous winter through spring, many sheep and horses died and supplies ran short. An edict dispatched Luo Yuanguang of Hua and Tongguan and Han Yougui of Binning to command forces from Fengxiang, Fu, Bin, and garrisons across several circuits, encamped on the frontier. Ma Sui was also ordered to advance to Shi Prefecture and divide his forces across the river to coordinate with Yuanguang in a pincer attack. Jiezan was greatly alarmed and repeatedly sent envoys requesting peace, proposing an alliance conference as well. The emperor refused each request. Jiezan also sent his senior general Lun Jiare with lavish gifts and humble entreaties asking Ma Sui to petition for an alliance. Sui reported this, and the emperor again refused. The emperor only urged them to combine forces and drive the Tibetans out. Sui, won over by bribes, believed the ruse. He entered court together with Jiare, loudly proclaiming Tibetan trustworthiness and pledging an alliance—and the emperor acceded. Once Sui had gone to court, the frontier armies merely held their fortifications and did nothing more. Jiezan promptly withdrew all his forces, abandoning Xia Prefecture. With so many horses dead, some of his men marched on foot. At the Pingliang conference that summer, the alliance was ultimately broken. Ma Sui also lost his military command and was reduced to a court attendant.

四月，崔浣至自鳴沙。初，浣至鳴沙，與尚結贊相見，詢問其違約陷鹽、夏州之故。對曰：

In the fourth month, Cui Huan returned from Mingsha. When Huan reached Mingsha, he met with Shang Jiezan and asked why he had broken the treaty and captured Yan and Xia. Jiezan replied:

本以定界碑被牽倒，恐二國背盟相侵，故造境上請修舊好。又蕃軍頃年破硃泚之眾於武功，未獲酬亻賞，所以來耳。及徙涇州，其節度使閉城自守，音問莫達。又徙鳳翔，請通使於李令公，亦不見納。及遣康成、王真之來，皆不能達大國之命。日望大臣充使，兼展情禮，實無至者，乃引軍還。及鹽、夏二州之師，二州懼我之眾，請以城與我，求全而歸，非我所攻陷也。今君以國親將命，若結好復盟。蕃之願也。盟會之期及定界之所，唯命是聽。君歸奏決，定當以鹽、夏相還也。

"Originally, when the border demarcation stele was overturned, I feared both realms would break the alliance and attack each other, so I came to the frontier to ask that our old friendship be restored. "Furthermore, in recent years our army defeated Zhu Ci's forces at Wugong but received no reward—that is why I came. "When I moved to Jing Prefecture, its military governor shut the city and held fast; no communication could get through. "I then moved to Fengxiang and asked to send envoys to Duke Li, but he would not receive them either. "When we sent Kang Cheng and Wang Zhenzhi, neither could deliver your court's reply. "Day after day I awaited a high minister as envoy who would also extend courtesy—but none came, so I withdrew my army. "As for Yan and Xia—the two prefectures feared our numbers, offered up their cities, and asked to depart in safety. We did not storm and capture them. "Now that you come bearing the emperor's command as a kinsman of the state, if we renew friendship and alliance— that is Tibet's wish. The time and place of the alliance conference and border demarcation—we leave entirely to your command. When you return and report for the emperor's decision, we will surely return Yan and Xia.

又云：

He added:

清水之會，同盟者少，是以和好輕慢不成。今蕃相及元帥已下凡二十一人赴。靈州節度使杜希全稟性和善，外境所知，請令主盟會。涇州節度李觀，亦請同主之。

"At the Qingshui conference, too few joined the alliance—that is why goodwill was treated lightly and no agreement was reached. "This time the Tibetan chancellor and his subordinate commanders—twenty-one in all—will attend. "Ling Prefecture Military Governor Du Xiquan is known abroad for his good and gentle nature. We ask that he preside over the alliance conference. "Jing Prefecture Military Governor Li Guan also asks to serve as co-presiding officer.

又同章表上聞。浣誘賂蕃中給役者，求其人馬真數，凡五萬九千余人、馬八萬六千余匹，可戰者僅三萬人，余悉童幼，備數而已。

They also jointly submitted a memorial to the throne. Huan bribed Tibetan service staff to learn their true troop strength: fifty-nine thousand-odd men and eighty-six thousand-odd horses in all, but only thirty thousand were fit for battle—the rest were children and youths, present only to pad the rolls.

是日，改崔浣為鴻臚卿，再入吐蕃。令浣報尚結贊曰：「杜希全職在靈州，不可出境。李觀今已改官，以侍中渾瑊充盟會使。」約以五月二十四日復盟於清水。又令告以鹽、夏二州歸於我，才就盟會。上疑蕃情不實，以得州為信焉。五月，渾瑊以充盟會使來辭，且受命。以兵部尚書崔漢衡為盟會副使，司勛員外郎鄭叔矩為判官。渾瑊赴會盟所，上令瑊統眾二萬余人，遣華州潼關節度駱元光赴之。上令宰臣召吐蕃使論泣贊等於中書議會盟之所。

That same day, Cui Huan was appointed Chamberlain for Dependencies and again dispatched to Tibet. Huan was instructed to tell Shang Jiezan: "Du Xiquan's post is at Ling Prefecture; he cannot leave his jurisdiction. Li Guan has been reassigned. Vice Director Hun Jian will serve as alliance conference envoy. They agreed to renew the alliance at Qingshui on the twenty-fourth day of the fifth month. Huan was also instructed to inform them that Yan and Xia must be returned before the alliance conference could take place. The emperor doubted Tibetan sincerity, but took the return of the prefectures as proof of good faith. In the fifth month, Hun Jian, appointed alliance conference envoy, came to audience to receive his commission. Cui Hanheng, Minister of War, was appointed deputy alliance envoy, and Zheng Shuju, duty director in the Ministry of Civil Appointments, was named judge. Hun Jian proceeded to the alliance site. The emperor ordered him to command over twenty thousand troops and dispatched Luo Yuanguang of Hua and Tongguan to join him. The emperor ordered the chief ministers to summon the Tibetan envoys Lun Qizan and others to the Secretariat to discuss where the alliance would be held.

初崔浣與尚結贊約復會於清水，且先歸我鹽、夏二州，結贊云：「清水非吉地，請會於原州之土梨樹。」又請盟畢歸二州。浣遣使與泣贊等同奏，上務懷柔遠人，皆從之。約以五月十五日盟於土梨樹，上召宰臣謀之。先是左神策將馬有麟奏：「土梨樹地多險隘，恐蕃軍隱伏，不利於我。平涼川四隅坦平，且近涇州。就之為便。」由是乃定盟所於平涼川。時蕃使論泣贊已復命，遽追還，告而遣之。

Cui Huan and Shang Jiezan had initially agreed to meet again at Qingshui and to return Yan and Xia first. Jiezan said: "Qingshui is not an auspicious site. We ask that we meet at Tuli Tree in Yuan Prefecture." He also asked that the two prefectures be returned only after the alliance rites were complete. Huan sent envoys to report jointly with Qizan. The emperor, intent on winning over distant peoples, agreed to everything. They agreed to conclude the alliance at Tuli Tree on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, and the emperor summoned his chief ministers to deliberate. Earlier, Left Shence General Ma Youlin had submitted: "The Tuli Tree region is full of narrow defiles. I fear Tibetan troops may lie in ambush there, which would put us at a disadvantage. The Pingliang River plain was open and level on every side, and lay near Jing Prefecture. Meeting there would be more convenient." On that basis the alliance site was set at the Pingliang River plain. By then the Tibetan envoy Lun Qizan had already returned to report. He was hastily recalled, told of the change, and sent back.

渾瑊與尚結贊會於平涼。初，瑊與結贊約，以兵三千人列於壇之東西，散手四百人至壇下。及將盟，又約各益遊軍相覘伺。結贊擁精騎數萬於壇西，蕃之遊軍貫穿我師。瑊之將梁奉貞率六十騎為遊軍，才至蕃中，皆被執留，瑊不虞也。結贊又遣人請瑊曰：「請侍中以下服衣冠劍珮以俟命。」蓋誘其下馬，將劫持之。瑊與崔漢衡、監軍特進宋鳳朝等皆入幕次，坦無他慮，結贊命伐鼓三聲，其眾呼噪而至。瑊遽出自幕後，偶得他馬，跨而奔歸。時馬不加銜，瑊伏於鬣而手加之，凡馳十餘里，銜方及口，故追騎之矢，過而不傷焉。唯瑊之裨將辛榮招合數百人，據北阜與賊接戰，須臾賊眾四合，榮力屈而降。鳳朝及瑊判官韓弇，並為亂兵所殺。漢衡及中官劉延邕、俱文珍、李清朝，漢衡判官鄭叔矩、路泌，掌書記袁同直，大將扶余準、馬寧及神策、鳳翔、河東大將孟日華、李至言、樂演明、範澄、馬弇等六十余人皆陷焉。余將士及夫役死者四五百人，驅掠者千余人，鹹被解奪其衣。

Hun Jian and Shang Jiezan met at Pingliang. At first Jian and Jiezan had agreed that three thousand soldiers would line up east and west of the altar, with four hundred unarmed men at its foot. As the rites were about to begin, they also agreed that each side would post additional patrols to keep watch on the other. Jiezan massed tens of thousands of elite cavalry west of the altar, while Tibetan patrols cut straight through our lines. Jian's commander Liang Fengzhen led sixty horsemen on patrol. They had scarcely entered the Tibetan lines when every man was seized and held. Jian had not seen it coming. Jiezan sent another messenger to Jian with a request: "Let all of you from the Vice Director down put on your robes, caps, swords, and sashes and wait for orders." The point was to lure them off their horses so they could be taken by force. Jian, Cui Hanheng, the army supervisor Song Fengchao, and the rest entered the tent pavilion with no suspicion. Jiezan ordered three beats of the drum, and his men came roaring in. Jian bolted out from behind the pavilion, found someone else's horse by chance, vaulted onto it, and raced away. The horse had no bit in its mouth. Jian pressed himself to the mane and worked the bit in by hand. He galloped more than ten li before the bit finally settled; the arrows of his pursuers flew past and did not touch him. Only Jian's deputy Xin Rong gathered several hundred men, seized a hill to the north, and met the enemy in battle. Within moments the foe closed in from every side. Rong's strength failed and he surrendered. Fengchao and Jian's aide Han Yan were both cut down in the melee. Hanheng; the eunuchs Liu Yanyong, Ju Wenzhen, and Li Qingchao; Hanheng's aides Zheng Shuju and Lu Bi; chief secretary Yuan Tongzhi; generals Fuyu Zhun and Ma Ning; and more than sixty others from the Shence, Fengxiang, and Hedong armies—including Meng Rihua, Li Zhiyan, Yue Yanming, Fan Cheng, and Ma Yan—were all taken. Four or five hundred remaining officers, soldiers, and laborers were killed; more than a thousand were driven off as captives. Every one of them was stripped of his clothes.

初，漢衡為亂軍所擊，其從吏呂溫以身蔽之，刃中溫而漢衡獲免。漢衡乃夷言謂執者曰：「我漢使崔尚書也，結贊與我善，如若殺我，結贊亦殺汝。」乃拾之，盡驅而西。既已面縛，各以一木自領至趾約於身，以毛繩三束之，又以毛繩連其發而約之。夜皆踣於地，以發繩各系一橛，又以毛罽都覆之，守衛者臥其上，以防其亡逸也。至故原州，結贊坐於帳中，召與相見，數讓國家，因怒渾瑊曰：「武功之捷，皆我之力，許以涇州、靈州相報，皆食其言。負我深矣，舉國所忿。本劫是盟，在擒瑊也。吾遣以金飾桎梏待瑊，將獻贊普。既以失之，虛致君等耳，當遣君輩三人歸也。呂溫帶瘡亦至，結贊嘉其義，厚給賫之。結贊率其眾於石門，遣中官俱文珍、渾瑊之將馬寧、馬燧之將馬弇歸於我。遂送漢衡、叔矩等囚於河州，辛榮、扶余準等於故廓州、鄯州分囚之。結贊本請杜希全、李觀問盟，將執二節將，率其銳師來犯京師，希全等既不行，又欲執渾瑊長驅入寇，其謀也如此。上遣中官王子恆賫詔書以遺結贊，蕃界不納而還。

When the mob first turned on Hanheng, his attendant Lu Wen threw himself in the way. The blade found Wen instead, and Hanheng escaped harm. Hanheng then addressed his captors in the Tibetan language: "I am the Tang envoy, Minister Cui. Jiezan and I are friends. If you kill me, Jiezan will kill you in turn." They spared him and drove the whole party west. With their faces bound, each captive had a plank lashed from neck to toe, was wrapped in three woolen ropes, and then had his hair tied up and bound with more wool cord. At night they were forced to lie face down on the ground, each tethered by the hair-rope to a stake, then buried under felt rugs while the guards slept on top to keep them from fleeing. At old Yuan Prefecture, Jiezan received them in his tent and repeatedly rebuked the Tang court. Then, turning his anger on Hun Jian, he said: "Your victory at Wugong was won by our power. You promised Jing and Ling Prefectures in return, and broke every promise. You have wronged us deeply, and the whole realm is enraged. The trap at the alliance was laid to seize Jian. I had brought gilded shackles to receive Jian and present him to the tsenpo. Since he got away, I have only you by mistake. I shall send three of you home. Lu Wen came too, still bearing his wound. Jiezan praised his devotion and gave him a generous reward. Jiezan marched his force to Shimen and sent back to Tang territory the eunuch Ju Wenzhen, Hun Jian's general Ma Ning, and Ma Sui's general Ma Yan. He sent Hanheng, Shuju, and the rest as prisoners to He Prefecture, and split Xin Rong, Fuyu Zhun, and others between old Kuo and Shan Prefectures. Jiezan had first asked for Du Xiquan and Li Guan at the alliance, planning to seize the two frontier commanders and lead his best troops against the capital. When they did not come, he meant to take Hun Jian instead and raid deep into Tang territory. That was his scheme. The emperor dispatched the eunuch Wang Ziheng with an edict for Jiezan, but the Tibetan border posts refused to accept it and sent him back.

初，瑊與駱元光將發涇州，元光謂瑊曰：「本奉詔令營於潘原堡，以應援侍中。竊以潘原去盟所六七十里，蕃情多詐，侍中倘有急，何由知之？請次侍中為營，以虞其變。」瑊以非詔旨，固止之。元光與同進。瑊之營西去盟所二十餘里，元光之營次之。其濠柵頗深固，瑊之濠柵可逾越焉。及瑊單騎奔歸，未及其營，守將李朝彩不能整眾，多已奔散。瑊至，空營而已，器械資糧悉棄之，賴元光之眾陣於營中，瑊既入，賊追騎方退。元光乃先遣輜重，次與瑊俱申其號令，嚴其部伍而還。瑊復鎮於奉天。

Before Jian and Luo Yuanguang left Jing Prefecture, Yuanguang told him: "My orders were to camp at Panyuan Fort and stand ready to support you. But Panyuan lies sixty or seventy li from the alliance site. The Tibetans are treacherous. If you were suddenly attacked, how would I even know? Let me camp nearer to you, so we can guard against treachery." Jian, insisting this was not what the edict authorized, refused. Yuanguang went on with him anyway. Jian's camp stood more than twenty li west of the alliance site, with Yuanguang's camp just beyond it. Yuanguang's ditch and stockade were deep and solid; Jian's could be scaled with ease. By the time Jian came galloping back alone, he had not yet reached his camp. The camp commander Li Zhaocai could not hold the men together; most had already fled. When Jian arrived he found an empty camp, its arms and stores abandoned. Only because Yuanguang's men held formation inside did the pursuing horsemen fall back once Jian was within. Yuanguang sent the baggage train ahead, then marched out with Jian under restored command, ranks tightened, and withdrew. Jian resumed command at Fengtian.

六月，鹽、夏二州吐蕃焚城門及廬舍，毀城壁而歸。七月，詔曰：

In the sixth month, Tibetans in Yan and Xia burned city gates and houses, tore down the walls, and withdrew. In the seventh month, an edict declared:

乃者吐蕃犯塞，毒我生靈，俶擾隴東，深入河曲。朕以兵戈粗定，傷夷未瘳，務息戰伐之謀，遂從通和之請。亦知戎醜，誌在貪婪，重違修睦之辭，乃允尋盟之會。果為隱匿，變發壝宮，縱犬羊兇狡之群，乘文武信誠之眾，蒼黃淪陷，深用惻然。此皆由朕之不明，致其至此。既無德於萬眾，亦有愧於四方，宵旰貽憂，何嗟而及。今兵部尚書崔漢衡等，皆國之良士，朝之藎臣，嬰縶窮廬，眇然殊域。念其家室，或未周於屢空；錄以息男，庶或資於薄俸。漢衡宜與一子七品官，司勛員外郎鄭叔矩、檢校戶部郎中路泌、殿中侍御史韓弇及大將孟日華、辛榮、李至言、範澄、王良賁、樂演明、陽昔、權交成等，各與一子八品官；試左金吾兵曹參軍袁同直、榆次尉裴颋及副兵馬使以下，各與一子九品官。仍並與正員官。余將幹各與一子官，仍委本使即具名銜聞奏。

Lately Tibet has violated our borders, ravaged our people, thrown eastern Long into turmoil, and pushed deep into the river bend. I thought the sword had only just been sheathed and the wounds not yet healed, and so I set war aside and answered their plea for peace. I knew too that the barbarians are greedy by nature, yet even when they broke their pledge of friendship I still agreed to meet and renew the alliance. They proved treacherous after all. Violence broke out at the altar. Their savage hordes fell upon our civil and military officers in good faith, who were overrun in panic and ruin. My grief is deep. All of this arose from my own poor judgment, which brought us to this pass. I have failed in virtue before my people and am ashamed before the realm. Day and night this weighs on me. What good is regret now? Minister of War Cui Hanheng and the others are worthy servants of the state and loyal ministers of the court, yet now they lie bound in exile in a distant land. When I think of their families, their households may still know repeated want; By appointing their surviving sons to office, perhaps their families may be sustained by modest stipends. Hanheng shall receive a seventh-rank post for one son; Merit Vice Director Zheng Shuju, Acting Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue Lu Bi, Palace Aide Han Yan, and the generals Meng Rihua, Xin Rong, Li Zhiyan, Fan Cheng, Wang Liangben, Yue Yanming, Yang Xi, and Quan Jiaocheng shall each receive an eighth-rank post for one son; Probationary Left Golden Guard Army Adjutant Yuan Tongzhi, Yuci Commandant Pei Ting, and all officers below deputy military commissioner shall each receive a ninth-rank post for one son. All these appointments shall be to regular posts. Each of the remaining officers shall receive a post for one son as well, and their commanders are ordered at once to submit the names and titles for memorial.

於是遣決勝軍使唐良臣以眾六百人戍潘原堡，神策副將蘇太平率其眾五百人戍隴州。

The court then sent Decisive Victory Army envoy Tang Liangchen with six hundred men to hold Panyuan Fort, and Shence deputy Su Taiping with five hundred men to garrison Long Prefecture.

八月，崔漢衡至自吐蕃。初，漢衡與同陷者並至河州，尚結贊令召漢衡與神策將孟日華、中官劉延邕，俱至石門而遣之。結贊令五十騎送至境上，且賫表請進。及潘原，李觀使止曰：「有詔不許更納蕃使。」受其表而返其人。自是吐蕃率羌、渾之眾犯塞，分屯於潘口及青石嶺。先是，吐蕃之眾自潘口東分為三道：其一趨隴州，其一趨汧陽之東，其一趨釣竿原。是日，相次屯於所趨之地，連營數十里。其汧陽賊營，距鳳翔四十里，京師震恐，士庶奔駭。賊遣羌、渾之眾，衣漢戎服，偽稱邢君牙之眾，奄至吳山及寶雞北界，焚燒廬舍，驅掠人畜，斷吳山神之首，百姓丁壯者驅之以歸，羸老者鹹殺之，或斷手鑿目，棄之而去。初，李晟在鳳翔，令伐大木塞安化峽，及是，賊並焚之。

In the eighth month, Cui Hanheng returned from Tibet. When Hanheng and his fellow captives first reached He Prefecture, Shang Jiezan had Hanheng, Shence general Meng Rihua, and eunuch Liu Yanyong brought to Shimen and released. Jiezan sent fifty horsemen to escort them to the frontier and dispatched a memorial asking to come to court. At Panyuan, Li Guan sent orders to halt them: "An edict forbids accepting any more Tibetan envoys." He took their memorial and sent the escort back. From then on Tibet led Qiang and Hun troops in raids on the frontier, splitting camps at Pankou and Qingcao Ridge. Earlier, the Tibetan army east of Pankou had split into three columns: one toward Long Prefecture, one toward the country east of Qianyang, and one toward Diaogan Plain. That day they took up camp one after another at their targets, their linked encampments stretching for miles. The Qianyang enemy camp lay forty li from Fengxiang. Terror seized the capital, and officials and commoners fled in panic. The enemy sent Qiang and Hun bands in Tang uniforms, claiming falsely to be Xing Junya's troops. They struck suddenly at Wu Mountain and the northern edge of Baoji, burned houses, drove off people and livestock, cut off the head of the Wu Mountain spirit, marched off the strong and left the weak and old to be killed—or maimed with severed hands and gouged eyes and abandoned on the road. Li Sheng at Fengxiang had earlier ordered great trees felled to block Anhua Gorge. Now the enemy burned them all.

九月，詔神策軍將石季章以眾三千戍武宮，召唐良臣自潘原戍百里城。是月，吐蕃大掠汧陽、吳山、華亭等界人庶男女萬余口，悉送至安化峽西，將分隸羌、渾等。乃曰：「從爾輩東向哭辭鄉國。」眾遂大哭。其時一慟而絕者數百人，投崖谷死傷者千余人，聞者為之痛心焉。渾瑊遣其將任蒙主以眾三千戍好疇。是月，吐蕃之眾復至，分屯於豐義及華亭。百僚入計以破吐蕃圍。隴州刺史韓清沔與蘇太平夜出兵伏於大像龕。及夜半，令城中及龕各舉火相應，賊大驚，因襲其營，賊乃退散。時吐蕃攻陷華亭。

In the ninth month, the court ordered Shence general Shi Jizhang with three thousand men to hold Wugong Palace and recalled Tang Liangchen from Panyuan to garrison Bailicheng. That month Tibet carried off more than ten thousand men and women from Qianyang, Wu Mountain, Huating, and the surrounding country, marched them west of Anhua Gorge, and prepared to divide them among the Qiang, Hun, and other tribes. Then they told them: "Face east and weep your farewell to your homeland." The captives broke into great wailing. Several hundred died on the spot from grief alone; more than a thousand leaped from cliffs and ravines to their death or maiming. All who heard it were heartsick. Hun Jian dispatched his general Ren Mengzhu with three thousand men to hold Haochou. That month the Tibetans returned and split camps at Fengyi and Huating. The court officials assembled to plan the breaking of the Tibetan siege. Long Prefecture governor Han Qingmian and Su Taiping marched out by night and hid at the Great Image Niche. At midnight they had signal fires lit in the city and at the niche in answer to one another. The enemy panicked, the Tang force fell on their camp, and the raiders broke and fled. By then the Tibetans had taken Huating.

初，賊之圍華亭也，先絕其汲水道。其守將王仙鶴及鎮兵百姓凡三千人，皆在圍中。使人間道請救於隴州，刺史韓清沔令蘇太平率一千五百人赴之。及中路，其遊騎百余沒於賊，太平素懦怯寡謀，遽引眾退歸。賊自是每日令遊騎千余至隴州，州兵不敢復出。凡四日，圍中絕水，援軍不至，賊又積柴城下，將焚之，仙鶴遂降於賊。賊並焚廬舍，毀城壁，虜士眾十三四，收丁壯棄老而去。北攻連雲堡，又陷。堡之三面頗峭峻，唯北面連原，以濠為固。賊自其北建拋樓七具，擊堡中，堡中唯一井，投石俄而滿焉。又飛梁架濠而過，苦攻之。堡將張明遂與其眾男女千余口東向慟哭而降。涇州之西，唯有連雲堡每偵候賊之進退，及是堡陷，涇州不敢啟西門，西門外皆為賊境，樵蘇殆絕，收刈禾稼，必布陣於野而收獲之。獲既失時，所得多空穗。於是涇人有饑憂焉。吐蕃驅掠連雲堡之眾及邠、涇編戶逃竄山谷者，並牛畜萬計，悉其眾送至彈箏峽。自是涇、隴、邠等賊之所至，俘掠殆盡。是秋，數州人無積聚者，邊將唯遣使表賀賊退而已。

When the enemy first besieged Huating, they cut off its water. The defender Wang Xianhe, the garrison, and the townspeople—three thousand in all—were trapped inside. They sent messengers by a secret path to beg rescue from Long Prefecture. Governor Han Qingmian ordered Su Taiping to march with fifteen hundred men. On the way more than a hundred of their patrol horsemen were cut off by the enemy. Taiping, timid and poor in judgment, abruptly turned back. After that the enemy sent more than a thousand patrol horsemen to Long Prefecture every day, and the garrison dared not march out again. After four days the city had no water and no relief arrived. The enemy stacked firewood at the foot of the walls to burn them down. Xianhe surrendered. The enemy burned the houses, tore down the walls, carried off three or four tenths of the defenders and townspeople, took the strong and left the old, and marched away. They struck north at Lianyun Fort and took it as well. Three sides of the fort were steep and sheer; only the north opened onto the plain, where a moat made the defense. From the north the enemy raised seven siege engines and bombarded the fort. It had only one well, and thrown stones soon choked it full. They also threw flying bridges across the moat and pressed the assault hard. Fort commander Zhang Ming then surrendered with more than a thousand men, women, and children, weeping as they faced east. West of Jing Prefecture only Lianyun Fort kept watch on the enemy's movements. When it fell, Jing dared not open its west gate. Beyond the west gate lay enemy country. Fuel grew scarce, and harvesters had to deploy in battle order in the fields to bring in the crop. Harvest came too late, and what they gathered was mostly empty ears. Then the people of Jing faced the threat of famine. The Tibetans drove off the people of Lianyun Fort and the registered households of Bin and Jing who had fled into the hills, along with tens of thousands of cattle and livestock, and marched the whole multitude to Tanzheng Gorge. From then on, wherever the enemy struck in Jing, Long, and Bin, little was left unplundered. That autumn several prefectures had no reserves at all. The frontier generals could only dispatch memorials congratulating the enemy on withdrawing.

十月，吐蕃數千騎復至長武城，韓全義率眾禦之。韓遊瑰之將請以眾助之，遊瑰不許。及暮，賊退，全義亦引還。自是賊之騎常往來涇、邠之間，諸城西門莫敢啟者。賊又修故原州城，其大眾屯焉。

In the tenth month, several thousand Tibetan riders again appeared at Changwu Fort, and Han Quanyi marched out to meet them. Han Yougui's subordinate generals asked to bring their troops to help, but Yougui refused. By evening the raiders had withdrawn, and Quanyi pulled his men back as well. After that the enemy cavalry ranged constantly between Jing and Bin, and no west gate of the frontier towns dared open. The Tibetans also restored the old walls of Yuan Prefecture and massed their main army there.

四年五月，吐蕃三萬余騎犯塞，分入涇、邠、寧、慶、麟等州，焚彭原縣廨舍，所至燒廬舍，人畜沒者約二三萬，計凡二旬方退。陳許行營將韓全義自長武城率眾抗之，無功而還。遊瑰素無軍政，且疾不能興，閉城自守，莫敢禦也。先是，吐蕃入寇，恆以秋冬，及春則多遇疾疫而退。是來也，方盛暑而無患。蓋華人陷者，厚其資產，質其妻子，為戎虜所將而侵軼焉。九月，吐蕃將尚悉董星、論莽羅等寇寧州，節度使張獻甫率眾禦之，斬首百余級，賊轉寇麟坊等州，縱掠而去。

In the fifth month of the fourth year, more than thirty thousand Tibetan riders breached the frontier and fanned out into Jing, Bin, Ning, Qing, Lin, and neighboring prefectures. They burned the yamen of Pengyuan County and torched dwellings wherever they passed. People and livestock taken or killed numbered twenty or thirty thousand, and the raiders did not withdraw until twenty days had passed. Han Quanyi of the Chen-Xu field command marched from Changwu Fort to oppose them, failed to check the invasion, and withdrew. Yougui had never been skilled in military affairs, and now illness kept him from taking the field. He shut the gates and held the city while no one dared meet the enemy. Before this, Tibetan invasions had always come in autumn and winter, and in spring they usually withdrew, stricken by disease. This time they came at the height of summer and suffered no ill effects at all. The reason was that Chinese defectors supplied the Tibetans with wealth, pledged their wives and children as hostages, and then served as guides in the raids. In the ninth month the Tibetan generals Shang Xidongxing, Lun Mangluo, and others struck Ning Prefecture. Military Governor Zhang Xianfu met them in battle and took more than a hundred heads. The raiders then turned on Lin, Fang, and neighboring prefectures, looted at will, and withdrew.

五年十月，劍南節度使韋臯遣將王有道等與東蠻兩林苴那時、勿鄧夢沖等帥兵於故巂州臺登北谷大破吐蕃青海、獵城二節度，殺其大兵馬使乞臧遮遮、悉多楊硃，斬首二千余級，其投崖谷赴水死者不可勝數，生擒籠官四十五人，收獲器械一萬余事、馬牛羊一萬余頭匹。遮遮者，吐蕃驍勇者也，或云尚結贊之子，頻為邊患。自其死也，官軍所攻城柵，無不降下。蕃眾日卻，數年間，盡復巂州之境。

In the tenth month of the fifth year, Jiannan Military Governor Wei Gao sent General Wang Youdao and others, together with the Eastern Man chiefs Juna Shi and Wudeng Mengchong of the Two Lin, to strike at the North Valley of Taideng in old Xi Prefecture. There they routed the Qinghai and Liecheng Tibetan circuits, killed the great army-and-horse commissioner Qizang Zhezhe and Siduo Yangzhu, and took more than two thousand heads. Countless others fell from cliffs or drowned. Forty-five longguan were captured alive, along with more than ten thousand weapons and more than ten thousand horses, cattle, and sheep. Zhezhe was one of Tibet's fiercest warriors. Some said he was Shang Jiezan's son, and for years he had been a scourge on the frontier. After his death, every fort and stockade the Tang army attacked surrendered at once. The Tibetans fell back day by day, and within a few years the entire Xi Prefecture region had been recovered.

六年，吐蕃陷我北庭都護府。初，北庭、安西，既假道於回紇朝奏，因附庸焉。蕃性貪狠，征求無度。北庭近羌，凡服用食物所資，必強取之，人不卿生矣。又有沙陀部六千余帳與北庭相依，亦屬於回紇。回紇肆其抄奪，尤所厭苦。其葛祿部及白服突厥素與回紇通和，亦憾其奪掠，因吐蕃厚賂見誘。遂附之。於是吐蕃率葛祿、白服之眾，去歲各來寇北庭，回紇大相頡幹迦斯率眾援之，頻戰敗績，吐蕃攻圍頗急。北庭之人既苦回紇，是歲乃舉城降於吐蕃，沙陀部落亦降焉。北庭節度使楊襲古與麾下二千余人出奔西州，頡幹迦斯不利而還。

In the sixth year the Tibetans took the Tang Protectorate of Beiting. Beiting and Anxi had long depended on the Uyghurs for access to the capital and had effectively become their dependents. The Tibetans were greedy and ruthless by nature, and their demands knew no end. Beiting lay close to Qiang country, and the Uyghurs forcibly seized whatever clothing, food, and supplies the people needed until life there became unbearable. More than six thousand Shatuo tents also depended on Beiting and likewise fell under Uyghur control. The Uyghurs plundered without restraint, and that was what the people resented most bitterly. The Karluks and the White-Clad Turks had long been allied with the Uyghurs, yet they too resented Uyghur seizure and plunder and were won over by lavish Tibetan bribes. They then went over to Tibet. Tibet then led the Karluk and White-Clad forces. The year before, each had raided Beiting. The Uyghur chief minister E Qagan marched to its relief but suffered defeat again and again, while the Tibetan siege tightened. The people of Beiting, worn down by Uyghur oppression, surrendered the entire city to Tibet that year, and the Shatuo tribes submitted too. Beiting Military Commissioner Yang Xigu fled west with more than two thousand followers to Xi Prefecture, while E Qagan withdrew without gain.

七年秋，又悉其丁壯五六萬人，將復北庭，仍召襲古偕行，俄為吐蕃、葛祿等所擊，大敗，死者大半。頡幹迦斯紿之曰：「且與我同至牙帳，當送君歸本朝也。」襲古從之，及牙帳，留而不遣，竟殺之。自是安西阻絕，莫知存否。唯西州之人，猶固守焉。頡幹迦斯既敗恤，慕祿之眾乘勝取回紇之浮圖川。回紇震恐，悉遷西北部落羊馬於牙帳之南以避之。

In the autumn of the seventh year the Uyghurs mustered fifty or sixty thousand fighting men to retake Beiting and called on Xigu to march with them. Soon Tibet and the Karluks fell upon them and routed the army; more than half were killed. E Qagan deceived him, saying, "Come with me to the royal encampment first, and I will send you back to your own court. Xigu went along. At the encampment he was detained and never released, and in the end was put to death. From then on Anxi was cut off, and no one knew whether it still stood. Only the people of Xi Prefecture continued to hold out. After E Qagan's defeat and humiliation, the Basmyls pressed their advantage and seized the Uyghurs' Fotu River district. Terrified, the Uyghurs moved all their northwestern tribes and flocks south of the royal encampment to escape the Basmyls.

八年四月，吐蕃寇靈州，掠人畜，攻陷水口城，進圍州城，塞水口及支渠以營田。詔河東、振武分兵為援，又分神策六軍之卒三千余人戍於定遠、懷遠二城，上御神武樓勞遣之。吐蕃引去。六月，吐蕃數千騎由青石嶺寇涇州，掠田軍千余人還，及連雲堡，守捉使唐朝臣遣兵出戰，大將王進用死之。九月，西川節度使韋臯攻吐蕃之維州，獲大將論贊熱及首領獻於京師。十一月，山南西道節度嚴震擊破吐蕃於芳州及黑水堡，焚其積聚，並獻首虜。

In the fourth month of the eighth year the Tibetans raided Ling Prefecture, carrying off people and livestock. They took Shuikou Fort, advanced to besiege the prefectural seat, and dammed the water outlet and branch canals to seize irrigated fields. The court ordered Hedong and Zhenwu to dispatch divided forces in relief, and sent more than three thousand men from the six Shence armies to garrison Dingyuan and Huaiyuan. The emperor reviewed them from the Shenwu Tower and sent them off. The Tibetans then withdrew. In the sixth month several thousand Tibetan riders crossed Qingcao Ridge into Jing Prefecture, carried off more than a thousand field troops, and turned back. At Lianyun Fort, Defense Commissioner Tang Chaochen sent men out to fight, and the great general Wang Jinyong was killed. In the ninth month Xichuan Military Governor Wei Gao attacked Tibetan-held Wei Prefecture, captured the great general Lun Zhanre and other leaders, and sent them to the capital. In the eleventh month Southwestern Mountain Military Governor Yan Zhen defeated the Tibetans at Fang Prefecture and Heishui Fort, burned their stores, and presented the heads of captives.

九年二月，詔城鹽州。是州先為吐蕃所毀，自此塞外無堡障。靈武勢隔，西逼鄜坊，甚為邊患，故命城之，二旬而畢。又詔兼御史大夫紇幹遂統兵五千與兼御史中丞杜彥光之眾戍之。是役也，上念將士之勞，厚令度支供給。又詔涇原、湖南、山南諸軍深討吐蕃，以分其力。由是板築之際，虜無犯塞者。及畢，中外咸稱賀焉。是月，西川韋臯獻獲吐蕃首虜。器械、旗幟、牛馬於闕下。

In the second month of the ninth year the court ordered Yan Prefecture fortified. The prefecture had earlier been destroyed by the Tibetans, and since then no fortifications had stood beyond the frontier. Lingwu was isolated and vulnerable, while to the west the frontier pressed close on Fu and Fang. The danger was grave, so the court ordered the city rebuilt, and the work was finished in twenty days. The court also ordered He Qian, concurrent Censor-in-Chief, to take five thousand troops and join Du Yanguang, concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief, in garrisoning the city. For this work the emperor, mindful of the soldiers' labor, ordered the Department of Public Works to supply them generously. The court also ordered the Jingyuan, Hunan, and Mountain circuit armies to launch deep strikes against Tibet to divide its strength. Thanks to this diversion, the Tibetans did not raid the frontier while the walls were going up. When the work was finished, all at court and beyond rejoiced. That month Wei Gao of Xichuan presented captured Tibetan chieftains at court. Weapons, banners, cattle, and horses were displayed below the palace gates.

初，將城鹽州，上命臯出師以分吐蕃之兵，臯遣大將董勔、張芬出西山及南道，破俄和城、通鶴軍。吐蕃南道元帥論莽熱率眾來援，又破之，殺傷數千人，焚定廉故城。凡平柵堡五十余所。

When the fortification of Yan Prefecture was first ordered, the emperor commanded Gao to take the field and divide Tibetan forces. Gao sent the great generals Dong Mian and Zhang Fen out the western mountains and along the southern route, taking Ehe Fort and Tonghe Army. Lun Mangre, marshal of the Tibetan southern route, marched to the rescue but was defeated again. Several thousand were killed or wounded, and Dinglian old city was burned. In all they reduced more than fifty stockades and forts.

十年，南詔蠻蒙異牟尋大破吐蕃於神川，使來獻捷，語在《南詔傳》。十一年八月，黃少卿攻陷欽、橫、潯、貴四州，吐蕃渠帥論乞髯蕩沒藏悉諾律以其家屬來降。明年，並以為歸德將軍。十二年九月，吐蕃寇慶州及華池縣，殺傷頗甚。

In the tenth year Meng Yimouxun of Nanzhao routed the Tibetans at Shenchuan and sent envoys to report victory; the full account appears in the Nanzhao Annals. In the eighth month of the eleventh year Huang Shaoqing captured Qin, Heng, Xun, and Gui prefectures. The Tibetan chieftain Lun Qiran Dangmozang Sinolü defected with his family. The following year they were all appointed Generals of Returning Virtue. In the ninth month of the twelfth year the Tibetans raided Qing Prefecture and Huachi County, killing and wounding many.

十三年正月，邢君牙奏請於隴州西七十里築城以備西戎，名永信城。吐蕃贊普遣使農桑昔賫表請修和好，邊將以聞。上以其豺狼之性，數負恩背約，不受表狀，任其使卻歸。五月十七日，吐蕃於劍山、馬嶺三處開路，分軍下營，僅經一月，進軍逼臺登城。巂州刺史曹高任率領諸軍將士並東蠻子弟合勢接戰，自朝至午，大破之，生擒大籠官七人，陣上殺獲三百人，余被刀箭者不可勝紀，收獲馬畜五百余頭匹、器械二千余事。十四年十月，夏州節度使韓全義破吐蕃於鹽州西北。十六年六月，鹽州破吐蕃於烏蘭橋下。

In the first month of the thirteenth year Xing Junya memorialized asking that a fort be built seventy li west of Long Prefecture against the western barbarians, to be named Yongxin Fort. The Tibetan tsenpo sent the envoy Nongsangxi with a memorial requesting renewed friendship, and the frontier commanders reported it. The emperor, judging their wolfish nature and their repeated betrayals of imperial favor, refused the memorial and sent the envoy back. On the seventeenth day of the fifth month the Tibetans opened routes at three points—Jianshan and Maling among them—split their army into camps, and in barely a month advanced to threaten Taideng Fort. Xi Prefecture Governor Cao Gaoren led the commanders and troops of the combined armies, together with Eastern Man youths, into battle. From morning until noon he routed the enemy, captured seven great longguan alive, killed or captured three hundred on the field, and wounded countless others with blade and arrow. More than five hundred horses and livestock and more than two thousand weapons were taken. In the tenth month of the fourteenth year Xia Military Governor Han Quanyi defeated the Tibetans northwest of Yan Prefecture. In the sixth month of the sixteenth year forces at Yan Prefecture defeated the Tibetans below Wulan Bridge.

十七年七月，吐蕃寇鹽州，又陷麟州，殺刺史郭鋒，毀城隍，大掠居人，驅党項部落而去。次鹽州西九十里橫槽烽頓軍，呼延州僧延素輩七人，稱徐舍人召。其火隊吐蕃沒勒遽引延素等疾趨至帳前，皆馬革梏手，毛繩縲頸。見一吐蕃年少，身長六尺余，赤髭大目，乃徐舍人也。命解縛，坐帳中，曰：「師勿懼。余本漢人，司空英國公五代孫也。屬武後斫喪王室，高祖建義中泯，子孫流播絕域，今三代矣。雖代居職位，世掌兵要，思本之心無涯，顧血族無由自拔耳！此蕃、漢交境也，復九十里至安樂州，師無由歸東矣。」延素曰：「僧身孤親老，懇祈全活。」悲不自勝。又曰：「余奉命率師備邊，因求資食，遂涉漢疆，展轉東進至麟州。城既無備，援兵又絕，是以拔之。知郭使君是勛臣子孫，必將活之，不幸為亂兵所害。」適有飛鳥使至，飛鳥，猶中國驛騎也，云：「術者上變，召軍亟還。」遂歸之。時詔韋臯分遣偏將勒步騎合二萬，出成都西山，南北九道並進，逼棲雞、老翁、故維州、保州、松州諸城，以紓北邊故也。九月，韋臯大破吐蕃於維州。

In the seventh month of the seventeenth year the Tibetans raided Yan Prefecture and also took Lin Prefecture, killed Prefect Guo Feng, destroyed the walls and moat, plundered the inhabitants, and drove off Tangut tribes. Ninety li west of Yan Prefecture, at Hengcao Beacon, the army halted. Seven men including the monk Yansu of Huyan Prefecture said Attendant Xu had summoned them. Mole, an officer of the Tibetan Fire Company, immediately hurried Yansu and the others to the tent. All were bound hand and neck with horsehide manacles and woolen cords. They saw a young Tibetan more than six feet tall, with a red beard and large eyes—it was Attendant Xu. He ordered them unbound and seated them in the tent, saying, "Master, do not be afraid. I am a Han Chinese by birth—the fifth-generation descendant of the Minister of Works, Duke of Ying. When Empress Wu destroyed the imperial house, my ancestors died in the founding uprising and their line was scattered to the ends of the earth. Three generations have passed since then. Though for generations we have held office and commanded armies, my longing for home knows no limit, yet my kin have no way to escape! This is the Tibetan-Han frontier. Anle Prefecture lies ninety li farther on, and you, Master, have no road back east. Yansu said, "I am alone, with aged parents. I beg only that my life be spared." He wept beyond control. Xu also said, "I was ordered to guard the frontier. Seeking supplies, I crossed into Tang territory and marched east in stages until I reached Lin Prefecture. The city was undefended and relief could not reach it, so I took it. Knowing Prefect Guo was the descendant of a meritorious minister, I meant to spare him, but mutinous soldiers killed him. Just then a flying-bird courier arrived—like the Tang relay riders—reporting, "A diviner has reported an omen. Recall the army at once." He then sent them back. At that time the court ordered Wei Gao to dispatch detached generals with twenty thousand foot and horse out the western mountains of Chengdu along nine routes, north and south together, to threaten Qiji, Laoweng, old Wei Prefecture, Bao Prefecture, Song Prefecture, and other strongpoints and so relieve the northern frontier. In the ninth month Wei Gao routed the Tibetans at Wei Prefecture.

十八年正月，韋臯擒吐蕃大首領論莽熱來獻，賜崇仁裏宅以居之。莽熱，吐蕃內大相也。先貞元十六年，韋臯累破吐蕃二萬余眾於黎州、巂州，吐蕃遂大搜閱，築壘造舟，潛謀寇邊，臯悉挫之。於是吐蕃酋帥兼監統曩貢、臘城等九節度嬰嬰、籠官馬定德與其大將八十七人，舉部落來降。定德有計畫，嬰嬰習知兵法及山川地形，吐蕃每用兵，定德常乘驛計議，諸將稟其成算。至是自以邊功不立，懼得罪而歸心焉。其明年，吐蕃昆明城管磨些蠻千余戶又來降。吐蕃以其眾外潰，遂北寇靈、朔，陷麟州。詔韋臯出兵成都西山以紓北邊。臯遂命鎮靜軍兵馬使陳洎等，統兵萬人出三奇路，威戎軍使崔堯臣率兵一千出龍溪石門路南，維保二州兵馬使仇冕、保霸兩州刺史董振等，率兵二千進逼吐蕃維州城中，北路兵馬使邢玼並諸州刺史董懷愕等率兵四千進攻棲雞、老翁等城，都將高倜、王英俊等率兵二千進逼故松州，隴東路兵馬使元膺並諸將郝宗等復分兵八千出南道雅、邛、黎、巂等路。又令邛州鎮南軍使、御史大夫韋良金發鎮兵一千三百續進，雅州經略使路惟明與三部落主趙日進等率兵三千進攻逋租、偏松等城，黎州經略使王有道率三部落郝金信等二千過大渡河深入吐蕃界，巂州經略使陳孝陽與行營兵馬使何大海、韋義等及磨些蠻三部落主苴那時率兵四千進攻昆明、諾濟城。自八月至於十二月，累破十六萬眾，拔其七城、五軍鎮，受降三千余戶，生擒六千余人，斬首一萬余級，遂圍維州。救軍再至，轉戰千餘里，吐蕃連敗，靈、朔之寇引眾南下。於是贊普遣莽熱以內大相兼東境五道節度兵馬使、都統群牧大使率雜虜十萬眾，來解維州之圍。王師萬余眾，據險設伏以待之。先以千人挑戰，莽熱見我師之少也，悉眾來追，入於伏中，請將四面疾擊，遂擒莽熱，虜眾大潰。

In the first month of the eighteenth year Wei Gao captured the great Tibetan chieftain Lun Mangre and sent him to court. He was granted a residence in Chongren Lane. Mangre was Tibet's inner chief minister. Earlier, in Zhenyuan 16 (800), Wei Gao had repeatedly routed more than twenty thousand Tibetans in Li and Xi prefectures. Tibet then mustered its forces on a great scale, built stockades and boats, and secretly planned a frontier raid, but Gao foiled every move. Then the Tibetan chieftain and overseer of the nine circuits including Nanggong and Lacheng, Yingying, the longguan Ma Dingde, and eighty-seven of their great generals defected with their tribes. Dingde was a strategist; Yingying knew military law and the lay of mountains and rivers. Whenever Tibet went to war, Dingde would often ride post to counsel, and the generals obeyed his plans. By then they felt they had won no credit on the frontier, feared punishment, and turned to the Tang side. The following year more than a thousand households of the Mosuo at Kunming Fort in Tibetan territory also defected. With its forces breaking away abroad, Tibet then raided north into Ling and Shuofang and took Lin Prefecture. The court ordered Wei Gao to take the field from the western mountains of Chengdu and relieve the northern frontier. Gao then ordered Zhenjing Army Commissioner Chen Ji and others to take ten thousand men out the Sanqi route; Weirong Army Commissioner Cui Yaochan to lead one thousand men south along the Longxi Shimen road; Wei and Bao Army Commissioner Qiu Mian and Bao and Ba Prefect Dong Zhen to lead two thousand men against Tibetan-held Wei city; Northern Route Commissioner Xing Pi with Prefect Dong Huai'e and others to lead four thousand men against Qiji, Laoweng, and other forts; Commanders Gao Tong and Wang Yingjun to lead two thousand men against old Song Prefecture; and Longdong Route Commissioner Yuan Ying with Generals Hao Zong and others to split eight thousand men along the southern routes through Ya, Qiong, Li, and Xi. He also ordered Qiong Prefecture Zhennan Commissioner and concurrent Censor-in-Chief Wei Liangjin to follow with thirteen hundred garrison troops; Ya Frontier Commissioner Lu Weiming with tribal chiefs including Zhao Rijin to lead three thousand men against Pubzu, Piansong, and other forts; Li Frontier Commissioner Wang Youdao with the three-tribe chief Hao Jinxin and two thousand men to cross the Great River deep into Tibetan territory; and Xi Frontier Commissioner Chen Xiaoyang with Field Commissioners He Dahai and Wei Yi and the Eastern Man chief Juna Shi to lead four thousand men against Kunming and Nuoji. From the eighth month through the twelfth they repeatedly defeated one hundred sixty thousand enemy troops, took seven cities and five army posts, accepted the submission of more than three thousand households, captured more than six thousand alive, took more than ten thousand heads, and then besieged Wei Prefecture. Relief columns arrived again and again. Battle ranged over more than a thousand li. The Tibetans lost again and again, and the raiders in Ling and Shuofang marched south with their armies. The tsenpo then sent Mangre, inner chief minister and concurrent eastern frontier commissioner of five routes, army-and-horse commissioner, and grand overseer of all herds, with one hundred thousand mixed barbarian troops to lift the siege of Wei Prefecture. More than ten thousand Tang troops held the defiles and laid an ambush. First a thousand men were sent to provoke battle. Mangre, seeing how few Tang troops stood before him, pursued with his whole army, walked into the ambush, and was struck from all sides. Mangre was captured and the enemy host broke in rout.

十九年五月，吐蕃使論頰熱至。六月，以右龍武大將軍薛伾兼御史大夫，使於吐蕃。二十年三月上旬，贊普卒，廢朝三日，命工部侍郎張薦吊祭之。贊普以貞元十三年四月卒，長子立；一歲卒，次子嗣立。命文武三品以上官吊其使。四月，吐蕃使臧河南觀察使論乞冉及僧南撥特計波等五十四人來朝。十二月，遣使論襲執、郭誌崇來朝。

In the fifth month of the nineteenth year the Tibetan envoy Lun Binre arrived. In the sixth month Xue Yi, Right Longwu Grand General and concurrent Censor-in-Chief, was sent as envoy to Tibet. In early third month of the twentieth year the Tibetan ruler died. The court suspended audiences for three days and sent Vice Minister of Works Zhang Jian to offer mourning rites. The tsenpo had actually died in the fourth month of Zhenyuan 13; his eldest son succeeded him; He ruled one year and died; the second son then took the throne. Officials of third rank and above, civil and military alike, were ordered to receive and mourn the Tibetan envoys. In the fourth month fifty-four Tibetans came to court, among them Zang Henan Observation Commissioner Lun Qiran and the monk Nanbo Tejibo. In the twelfth month Tibet sent envoys Lun Xizhi and Guo Zhichong to the capital.

十三年十月，吐蕃圍我宥州、鳳翔，上言遣使修好。是月，靈武於定遠城破吐蕃二萬人，殺戮二千人，生擒節度副使一人、判官長行三十九人，獲羊馬甚眾。平涼鎮遏使郝玼破二萬余眾，收復原州城，獲羊馬不知其數。夏州節度田縉於靈武亦破三千余人。十一月，鹽州上言：吐蕃入河曲，夏州破五萬余人。靈武破長樂州羅城，焚其屋宇器械。西川節度使王播攻拔峨和、棲雞等城。

In the tenth month of the thirteenth year Tibet besieged You and Fengxiang while also petitioning to send envoys and renew peace. That same month Ling Prefecture forces at Dingyuan routed twenty thousand Tibetans, killed two thousand, captured a deputy commissioner and thirty-nine chief clerks alive, and seized vast numbers of sheep and horses. Hao Pi, the Pingliang suppressing commissioner, routed more than twenty thousand enemy troops, retook Yuan city, and captured untold sheep and horses. Xia Prefecture Commissioner Tian Jin likewise defeated more than three thousand Tibetans in the Lingzhou theater. In the eleventh month Yan Prefecture reported that Tibet had entered the River Bend and that Xia Prefecture had routed more than fifty thousand of them. Ling Prefecture forces breached the outer wall of Changle Prefecture and burned its buildings and war stores. West Sichuan Commissioner Wang Bo stormed and captured Ehe, Qiji, and other strongholds.

十四年正月，敕曰：

In the first month of the fourteenth year the throne issued this edict:

朕臨禦萬邦，推布誠信。西戎納款，積有歲時，中或虧違，亦嘗苞貸。我有殊德，寧不是思，重譯貢珍，道途相繼，申恩示禮，曾無闕焉。昨者蕃使奉章，又至京輦，將君長之命，陳和好之誠。臨軒召見，館氣加厚，復以信幣，諭之簡書。亦既言旋，才及近甸，遽聞蟻聚，來犯封陲，河曲之間，頗為暴擾。背惠棄約，斯謂無名，公議物情，鹹請誅絕。朕深惟德化之未被，豈慮夷俗不之賓，其國失信，其使何罪！釋其維縶以遂性，示之弘覆以忘懷。予衷茍孚，庶使知感。其蕃使論矩立藏等並後般來使，並宜放歸本國。仍委鳳翔節度使以此意曉喻。

We hold sway over all lands and deal with the world in good faith. The western tribes have long paid homage; when they occasionally broke faith, we still showed forbearance. Our virtue stands apart—surely they must remember it. Envoys bearing tribute came one relay after another; we answered with grace and ceremony and never fell short. Only recently Tibetan envoys arrived at the capital with memorials, bearing their ruler's orders and pledging their wish for peace. We received them at court with exceptional courtesy, sent gifts of trust, and set our intentions down in writing. Hardly had they set out for home and reached the capital's outskirts when word came that they had massed like ants and struck the borderlands, ravaging the River Bend. They repaid kindness with betrayal and broke the pact—a war without just cause. Court and people alike demanded that the envoys be punished and relations severed. We know our civilizing virtue has not yet touched every corner of the earth—why should we doubt that foreign peoples can be won? Their country broke faith; their envoys were guiltless! Loosen their bonds and let them go free; show them magnanimity so they may leave resentment behind. If our own heart holds true, perhaps they will feel gratitude in return. The Tibetan envoys Lun Julizang and the later embassy should all be released to return home. The Fengxiang military commissioner was also instructed to make this intent clear to them.

八月，吐蕃營於慶州方渠，大軍至河州界。十月，吐蕃節度論三摩及宰相尚塔藏、中書令尚綺心兒共領軍約十五萬眾，圍我鹽州數重。党項首領亦發兵驅羊馬以助。閱歷三旬，賊以飛梯、鵝車、木驢等四面齊攻，城欲陷者數四。刺史李文悅率兵士乘城力戰，城穿壞不可守，撤屋版以禦之，晝夜防拒，或潛兵斫營，開城出戰，約殺賊萬余眾。諸道救兵無至者。凡二十七日，賊乃退。

In the eighth month Tibet encamped at Fangqu in Qing Prefecture, and a main army advanced to the He Prefecture frontier. In the tenth month Tibetan Commissioner Lun Sanmo, Chief Minister Shang Tazang, and Grand Secretary Shang Qixin'er together led some one hundred fifty thousand men and ringed Yan Prefecture in layer upon layer of siege. Tangut chieftains also mobilized and drove sheep and horses to the Tibetan camp. The siege lasted thirty days. The enemy assaulted from every side with flying ladders, goose carts, and wooden siege engines; four times the city nearly fell. Prefect Li Wen'yue fought from the ramparts. When the walls were breached beyond repair, his men stripped roof timbers to plug the gaps and held day and night. They raided enemy camps by night, sallied from the gates, and killed more than ten thousand of the besiegers. Relief columns from the other circuits never came. After twenty-seven days the enemy finally withdrew.

十五年二月，以秘書少監兼御史中丞田洎入吐蕃告哀，並告冊立。三月，攻掠我青塞堡。七月，遣使來吊祭。十月，侵逼涇州。命右軍中尉梁守謙充左右神策、京西、京北行營都監，統神策兵四千人，並發八鎮全軍往救援。以太府少卿、兼御史中丞邵同持節入吐蕃，充答請和好使。貶前入吐蕃使、秘書少監田洎郴州司戶。

In the second month of the fifteenth year Tian Ji, Vice Director of the Secretariat and concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief, was sent to Tibet to announce the emperor's mourning and the new succession. In the third month Tibet raided Qingsai Fort. In the seventh month Tibet sent envoys to offer condolences. In the tenth month they threatened Jing Prefecture. Palace Inner Attendant Liang Shouqian was made overall supervisor of the Shence, Jingxi, and Jingbei field commands with four thousand Shence troops, and the full strength of eight frontier garrisons was also sent to relieve the siege. Shao Tong, Vice Director of the Imperial Storehouse and concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief, was dispatched to Tibet with imperial credentials as envoy to answer their plea for peace. Tian Ji, the former envoy to Tibet and Vice Director of the Secretariat, was demoted to registrar of Chen Prefecture.

初，洎入蕃為吊祭使，蕃請於長武城下會盟。洎懦怯，恐不得還，唯唯而已。至是西戎入寇，且曰：「田洎許我統兵馬赴盟誓。」遂貶之。戎人實以邊將擾之致忿，徒假洎為辭也。涇州上言：「吐蕃大將並退。」於是罷神策行營兵。自田縉統夏州，以貪狠侵擾，党項苦之，屢引西戎犯塞。及是大兵入寇，邊將郝玼數襲擊蕃壘，殺戮甚眾，邠州李光顏復以全師而至，戎人懼而退。蓋田縉始生國患，而賴光顏、郝玼之驅戮也。十一月，夏州節度使李佑自領兵赴長澤鎮，靈武節度使李聽自領兵赴長樂州，並奉詔討吐蕃也。十二月，吐蕃千余人圍烏、白池。

When Tian Ji had earlier gone to Tibet as mourning envoy, the Tibetans asked to swear an alliance below Changwu city. Tian Ji was cowardly and afraid he would never get home; he could only murmur agreement. When the western tribes invaded they also declared, "Tian Ji promised us he would bring troops and horses to the oath. He was demoted on that account. In truth the Tibetans were angry because Tang frontier generals had provoked them; Tian Ji was only their excuse. Jing Prefecture reported, "The main Tibetan commanders have all withdrawn. The Shence field army was then stood down. Ever since Tian Jin took command of Xia Prefecture, his greed and cruelty had tormented the Tangut, who repeatedly summoned western tribes to raid the border. When the main invasion came, Hao Pi repeatedly raided Tibetan camps and slaughtered many; Li Guangyan of Bin Prefecture marched up with his whole army, and the Tibetans withdrew in fear. Tian Jin had first brought the realm to the brink of disaster; only the hard fighting of Li Guangyan and Hao Pi drove the enemy off. In the eleventh month Li You of Xia Prefecture marched in person to Changze garrison and Li Ting of Ling Prefecture marched in person to Changle Prefecture, both under orders to strike Tibet. In the twelfth month more than a thousand Tibetans besieged the Wu and Bai salt pools.

維唐承天，撫有八纮，聲教所臻，靡不來廷。兢業齊栗，懼其隕顛，纘武紹文，疊慶重光，克彰浚哲，罔忝洪緒，十有二葉，二百有四載。則我太祖，權明號而建不拔，鋪鴻名而垂永久。類上帝以答嘉應，享皇靈以酬景福，曷有怠已？越歲在癸丑，冬十月癸酉，文武孝德皇帝詔丞相臣植、臣播、臣元穎等，與大將和蕃使禮部尚書訥羅論等，會盟於京師，壇於城之西郊，坎於壇北。凡讀誓、刑牲、加書、復壤、陟降、周旋之禮，動無違者，蓋所以偃兵息人，崇姻繼好，懋建遠略，規恢長利故也。

Great Tang, ordained by Heaven, holds the realm in every direction; wherever its civilizing influence reaches, all peoples come to court. In reverent diligence and solemn awe, carrying forward both arms and letters, blessing heaped upon blessing and glory renewed, we have shown deep wisdom worthy of our great inheritance—twelve reigns, two hundred and four years. Thus our Founding Emperor raised a resplendent title and built an empire that none could uproot, spreading a great name to endure forever. We align ourselves with Heaven above to answer its gracious signs and honor the imperial spirits to repay their splendid blessing—how could we grow slack? In the guichou year, on the winter day guiyou of the tenth month, the Filial and Virtuous Emperor of Culture and Arms ordered Chancellor Cui Zhi, Wang Bo, Yuan Zhen, and others, together with the great general and peace envoy to Tibet, Minister of Rites Nehru Lun, to swear alliance at the capital. An altar was raised in the city's western suburb and a covenant pit dug to its north. Every rite was performed without breach—reading the oath, sacrificing the victim, inscribing the pact, burying the text, ascending and descending the altar, circling in ceremony—all to lay down arms, give the people rest, honor the uncle-nephew bond, renew friendship, and secure a lasting peace.

原夫昊穹上臨，黃祗下載，茫茫蠢蠢之類，必資官司，為厥宰臣，茍無統紀，則相滅絕。中夏見管，維唐是君；西裔一方，大蕃為主。自今而後，屏去兵革，宿忿舊惡，廓焉消除，追崇舅甥，曩昔結援。邊堠撤警，戍烽韜煙，患難相恤，暴掠不作，亭障甌脫，絕其交侵。襟帶要害，謹守如故，彼無此詐，此無彼虞。嗚呼！愛人為仁，保境為信，畏天為智，是神為禮，有一不至，抅災於躬。塞山崇崇，河水湯湯，日吉辰良，奠其兩疆，西為大蕃，東實巨唐。大臣執簡，播告秋方。

Heaven looks down from above and Earth bears all below; among the vast multitude of living things government and law are indispensable. Without order even rulers destroy one another. Of the lands now under rule in the central realm, Tang alone is sovereign; In the western marches, Great Tibet is master. Henceforth let both sides lay aside arms, wipe away old resentments and ancient wrongs, and honor once more the uncle-nephew bond sealed in days past. Frontier beacons shall stand down and garrison fires go unlit; in hardship each shall aid the other and violent plunder shall cease; watch posts and buffer zones shall bar mutual incursion. At every strategic pass each side shall hold its ground as before; neither shall deceive the other, nor harbor suspicion. Alas! To cherish others is benevolence; to keep one's borders is good faith; to fear Heaven is wisdom; to honor the spirits is ritual. Fail in any one, and disaster falls on one's own head. The frontier mountains rise high; the river waters surge and boil. On this auspicious day and fortunate hour we fix the boundary of our two realms—Great Tibet to the west, mighty Tang to the east. Let great ministers bearing the written oath proclaim it throughout the western lands.

大蕃贊普及宰相缽闡布、尚綺心兒等，先寄盟文要節云：「蕃、漢兩邦，各守見管本界，彼此不得征，不得討，不得相為寇讎，不得侵謀境上。若有所疑，或要捉生問事，便給衣糧放還。」今並依從，更無添改。

The tsenpo of Great Tibet and Chief Ministers Bocham, Shang Qixin'er, and others had earlier sent the main points of the alliance text: "Tibet and Tang shall each hold the territories they now govern. Neither side shall campaign against the other, punish the other, treat the other as foe, or encroach upon or plot against the other's borders. If either side has doubts or needs to take prisoners alive for questioning, they shall be given clothing and grain and sent home. All of this is now accepted without addition or alteration.

預盟之官十七人，皆列名焉。其劉元鼎等與論訥羅同赴吐蕃本國就盟，仍敕元鼎到彼，令宰相已下各於盟文後自書名。靈武節度使李進誠於太石山下破吐蕃三千騎。

All seventeen officials who took part in the alliance are named. Liu Yuanding and others went with Lun Neluo to Tibet to complete the alliance, and Liu Yuanding was further ordered that once there, every official from chief minister down should sign the alliance text in his own hand. Ling Prefecture Commissioner Li Jincheng routed three thousand Tibetan horsemen below Mount Taishi.

二年二月，遣使來請定界。六月，復遣使來朝。鹽州奏：「吐蕃千余人入靈武界，遣兵逐便邀截。」又言：「擒得與党項送書信吐蕃一百五十人。」是月劉元鼎自吐蕃使回，奏云：「去四月二十四日到吐蕃牙帳，以五月六日會盟訖。」

In the second month of the second year Tibet sent envoys to request demarcation of the border. In the sixth month envoys came to court again. Yan Prefecture reported, "More than a thousand Tibetans crossed into Ling Prefecture territory; troops were sent to cut them off wherever they could. It also reported, "One hundred fifty Tibetans carrying messages for the Tangut were captured." That month Liu Yuanding returned from Tibet and reported, "I reached the Tibetan royal camp on the twenty-fourth of the fourth month last year, and the alliance was sworn on the sixth of the fifth month."

初，元鼎往來蕃中，並路經河州，見其都元帥、尚書令尚騎心兒云：「回紇，小國也。我以丙申年逾磧討逐，去其城郭二日程，計到即破滅矣，會我聞本國有喪而還。回紇之弱如此，而唐國待之厚於我，何哉？」元鼎云：「回紇於國家有救難之勛，而又不曾侵奪分寸土地，豈得不厚乎！」是時元鼎往來，渡黃河上流，在洪濟橋西南二千餘里，其水極為淺狹，春可揭涉，秋夏則以船渡。其南三百餘里有三山，山形如𨫼，河源在其間，水甚清冷，流經諸水，色遂赤，續為諸水所註，漸既黃濁。又其源西去蕃之列館約四驛，每驛約二百餘里。東北去莫賀延磧尾，闊五十里，向南漸狹小，北自沙州之西。乃南入吐渾國，至此轉微，故號磧尾。計其地理，當劍南之直西。元鼎初見贊普於悶懼盧川，蓋贊普夏衙之所，其川在邏娑川南百里，臧河之所流也。時吐蕃遣使論悉諾息等隨元鼎來謝，命太仆少卿杜載使以答之。

On his earlier journeys to and from Tibet, Liu Yuanding had always passed through He Prefecture and met its commander-in-chief, Minister of the Left Shang Qixin'er, who said, "The Uyghurs are a small state. In the bingshen year I crossed the desert in pursuit. Two days' march from their walled towns I would have destroyed them outright—but word came of mourning at home and I turned back. The Uyghurs are as weak as that, yet Tang treats them more generously than us. Why? Liu Yuanding answered, "The Uyghurs saved the dynasty in its hour of peril and never seized so much as an inch of Tang soil. Of course they are treated generously!" On those journeys Liu Yuanding forded the upper Yellow River more than two thousand li southwest of Hongji Bridge. The stream there was very shallow and narrow: in spring one could wade it, but in autumn and summer boats were needed. Some three hundred li south stood three mountains shaped like halberd-blades, with the river's source between them. The water was icy clear; as it passed through other streams it reddened, and as more waters poured in it slowly turned yellow and turbid. From the source westward to the Tibetan relay stations was about four post-stages, each roughly two hundred li or more. Northeast from the tail of the Moheyan Desert the sands were fifty li across, narrowing as one went south; to the north the desert began west of Shazhou. The sands then ran south into Tuyuhun territory; here they thinned to almost nothing, hence the name Desert Tail. By its geography the region lay due west of Jiannan. Liu Yuanding first met the tsenpo at Monjuluchuan, the tsenpo's summer court on a stream one hundred li south of the Luosuo River, where the Zang River ran. Tibet then sent Lun Sinuoxi and others to accompany Liu Yuanding home with thanks, and Du Zai, Vice Director of the Imperial Stud, was dispatched as envoy in reply.

三年正月，遣使論答熱來朝賀。四年九月，遣使求《五臺山圖》。十月，貢牦牛及銀鑄成犀牛、羊、鹿各一。寶歷元年三月，遣使尚綺立熱來朝。且請和好。九月，遣光祿卿李銳為使以答之。太和五年至八年。遣使朝貢不絕，我亦時遣使報之。開成元年、二年，皆遣使來。

In the first month of the third year Tibet sent Lun Dabe to court with congratulations. In the ninth month of the fourth year Tibet requested the Map of Mount Wutai. In the tenth month they presented yaks and silver figures of a rhinoceros, a sheep, and a deer, one of each. In the third month of Baoli 1 Tibet sent the envoy Shang Qilire to court. He also asked to renew friendly relations. In the ninth month Li Rui, Director of the Imperial Banquets, was sent as envoy in reply. From Taihe 5 through Taihe 8. Tibetan tribute envoys came without pause, and the court sent envoys in reply from time to time. In Kaicheng 1 and 2 envoys came both years.

會昌二年，贊普卒。十二月，遣論贊等來告哀，詔以將作少監李璟吊祭之。大中三年春，宰相尚恐熱殺東道節度使，以秦、原、安樂等三州並石門、木硤等七關款塞，涇原節度使康季榮以聞，命太仆卿陸耽往勞焉。其年七月，河、隴耆老率長幼千余人赴闕，上御延喜樓觀之，莫不歡呼抃舞，更相解辮，爭冠帶於康衢，然後命善地以處之，觀者咸稱萬歲。

In Huichang 2 (842), the Tibetan tsenpo died. In the twelfth month, Tibet sent Lun Zan and others to announce the death; the court appointed Li Jing, Vice Director of the Directorate of Palace Buildings, to offer condolences. In the spring of Dazhong 3 (849), the Tibetan chancellor Shang Kongre killed the eastern-route military commissioner and offered Qin, Yuan, Anle, and three other prefectures together with Shimen, Muxia, and seven other passes in submission at the border; Jingyuan Commissioner Kang Jirong reported it, and the court sent Lu Dan, Grand Master of the Imperial Stud, to receive them. In the seventh month of that year, more than a thousand elders and common people from He and Long came to court; the emperor received them from Yanxi Tower. They shouted for joy and danced, unbound their hair, and thronged the streets to don caps and belts before good land was allotted for their settlement. Every spectator cried, "Long live the emperor!"

史臣曰：戎狄之為患也久矣！自秦、漢已還，載籍大備，可得而詳也。但世罕小康，君無常聖，我衰則彼盛，我盛則彼衰，盛則侵我郊圻，衰則服我聲教。懷柔之道，備預之方，儒臣多議於和親，武將唯期於戰勝，此其大較也。彼吐蕃者，西陲開國，積有歲年，蠶食鄰蕃，以恢土宇。高宗朝，地方萬里，與我抗衡；近代以來，莫之與盛。至如式遏邊境，命制出師，一彼一此，或勝或負，可謂勞矣！迨至幽陵盜起，乘輿播遷，戍卒鹹歸，河、湟失守，此又天假之也。自茲密邇京邑，時縱寇掠，雖每遣行人，來修舊好，玉帛才至於上國，烽燧已及於近郊，背惠食言，不顧禮義，即可知也。夫要以神明，貴其誠信，平涼之會，畜其詐謀，此又不可以忠信而禦也。孔子曰：「夷狄之有君，不如諸夏之亡也。」誠哉是言！

The historiographer writes: The scourge of the northern barbarians is an old story. From Qin and Han times onward, the historical records are ample and allow the matter to be traced in detail. Yet the age has rarely known even modest peace, and rulers have not been consistently wise: when China weakened, they grew strong; when China grew strong, they weakened. In strength they raided our borders; in weakness they bowed to our civilizing sway. The policy of gentle reassurance and the methods of precaution divide opinion: Confucian officials often urged marriage alliances, while generals looked only to victory in battle. Such is the broad pattern. Tibet founded its state on the western frontier and, over many years, gnawed at neighboring peoples to enlarge its domain. Under Emperor Gaozong their domain stretched ten thousand li and they stood as our equal; in recent times none has rivaled their strength. Checking the frontier and sending armies back and forth—now one side winning, now the other—has been nothing but exhausting toil. When the An Lushan rebellion broke out and the emperor was driven from the capital, frontier garrisons melted away and the He and Huang regions fell—Heaven itself lent Tibet its chance. From then on they pressed close to the capital and raided at will. Envoys were sent again and again to renew old friendship, yet no sooner had tribute reached the court than beacon fires blazed near the suburbs. They cast aside kindness, broke their word, and scorned ritual propriety—this much is plain. What matters is to match their spirit and value sincerity—but at the Pingliang conference they harbored treachery, which loyalty and good faith alone cannot answer. Confucius said, "The barbarians may have rulers, yet they are not equal to the Central States when these lack rulers. How true those words are!

贊曰：西戎之地，吐蕃是強。蠶食鄰國，鷹揚漢疆。乍叛乍服，或弛或張。禮義雖攝。其心豺狼。

The eulogy says: Among the western barbarians, Tibet is the strong. It gnaws at neighboring states and soars over Han territory. Now rebelling, now submitting; now slackening, now tightening. Though ritual propriety may restrain them, their hearts remain wolf and jackal.

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