The Tubo Kingdom, established by ancient Tibetans between the 7th and 9th centuries, was a formidable power located on the Tibetan Plateau. During the reign of Songtsen Gampo, the kingdom underwent significant reforms, adopting the central administrative and military systems of the Tang Dynasty. These changes bolstered Tubo’s strength, enabling it to expand its territory, conquer the Tuyuhun, and even pose a direct threat to the Tang Dynasty.
Subsequently, a series of wars, known historically as the Tang-Tubo Wars, broke out between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo over the strategic regions of Western China and the Qinghai area. These conflicts were a pivotal part of the two powers’ struggle for dominance in the region.
The Tang Dynasty’s Wei State: The strategic gateway and battlefield
Located in western Sichuan Province, Wei State, known as Weizhou during the Tang Dynasty, was a crucial military passage for the Tang Dynasty’s campaigns against Tubo. Positioned atop high mountains and surrounded by rivers on three sides, Wei State was easily defensible and hard to attack. Due to its strategic importance, it became a fiercely contested battleground between the Tang and Tubo.
Under Tang rule, the Wei State posed a significant military threat to Tubo. This situation compelled Tubo to repeatedly attempt to seize Wei State over several years. Despite the challenging terrain and the stringent defense of Tang forces, Tubo launched numerous assaults, particularly a fierce attack in the first year of the Shangyuan era (A.D. 674), which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
Perhaps due to prolonged unsuccessful attacks, the Tubo army suddenly withdrew one morning, leading to another victory for the defending Tang army after a fierce battle. Subsequently, Tubo did not launch any further attacks for over 20 years, allowing the region to enjoy peace.
An unlikely visitor to Wei State
In the aftermath of this battle, a young woman from Tubo, carrying an exotic charm and beauty, appeared at the gates of Wei State. She claimed to be a Han Chinese from Longxi, whose parents had settled in the Western Regions for business. After her parents’ demise and the loss of her brother during the chaos of war, she was left searching for him, and believed he could be within the city. Despite her story, the soldiers serving as the city’s guards adhered to strict regulations and denied her entry.
Over time, the woman frequently visited Wei State, developing a friendly rapport with one of the guards in particular. In a land far from home, a bond of love naturally formed between the displaced woman and a homesick soldier.
A soldier’s dilemma
Several months into their acquaintance, the woman arrived looking despondent, as if she had been crying. The soldier asked what had happened, and she tearfully revealed that her brother was still missing and some evil men were targeting her. They would harass her and make advances to her at night.
Hearing this, the soldier intensely desired to confront these men and protect her. However, as a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, he couldn’t cross into Tubo territory, so all he could do was comfort her. The woman stopped crying and suddenly knelt, expressing desperation and willingness to serve him for the rest of her life. This declaration shocked the soldier, who explained that he was a soldier of the Tang Dynasty, and she was a commoner from Tubo, and their countries were at war, so he couldn’t marry her without permission.
A forbidden union and its consequences
Despite the challenges, the highest commander in Wei State, a former scholar turned military leader, approved their marriage. The couple settled in Wei State, leading a seemingly happy life, and had two sons who eventually joined the city’s garrison.
Unknown to the Tang, this sequence of events was part of a meticulously planned Tubo strategy. After realizing that a direct military assault on Wei State was futile, Tubo devised a plan to infiltrate the city through a long-term espionage scheme. The woman was a Tubo spy, and her sons, raised as Tang soldiers, were key to Tubo’s plan to seize Wei State from within.
The fall of Wei State: A plan two decades in the making
One night, the sons, now guards at the city gates, signaled the waiting Tubo army by igniting a torch and opening the gates. The Tubo soldiers who stormed into the city killed and set fires everywhere, turning Weizhou City into a raging inferno. The city fell, leading to a significant shift in the military balance between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty.
A husband’s shock and despair
On the fateful night when Tubo soldiers filled his courtyard, the Tang soldier, awakened from sleep, faced the unimaginable truth revealed by his wife and sons. They knelt before him, tearfully confessing the reality of their lives and urging him to surrender to Tubo. Overwhelmed by the revelation that his beloved wife, a companion of over 20 years, was an enemy spy, and that their children had been turned against him, he succumbed to deep despair. The soldier, bound by his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty, found himself trapped in a web of deception that led to the fall of the Wei State. His anguish was profound, realizing that his own family had been instrumental in the city’s downfall.
A soldier’s final act
In his solitude, grappling with the heavy burden of guilt and betrayal, he chose to end his life. His suicide was a poignant testament to his unwavering loyalty to the Tang Dynasty. In his farewell note, he expressed his inability to live with the shame of Wei State’s capture due to his unwitting role in it, viewing death as the only means to atone for his perceived failure.
The woman’s remorse and ultimate sacrifice
The woman and her sons, left to grapple with the aftermath of the soldier’s tragic decision, were consumed by grief. A few days later, the woman, too, succumbed to the weight of her actions and the loss of her husband. In her final message to her sons, she expressed a complex mix of duty and emotion. While her initial union with their father was a strategic move for Tubo’s benefit, genuine affection had grown over their years together. Torn between her loyalty to Tubo and her love for her husband, she saw her death as the only way to reconcile her conflicting allegiances and find peace.
A family’s legacy in the midst of war
This family’s story is a poignant reminder of the personal costs of war and espionage. Caught between the machinations of empires, their lives and deaths reflect the complex interplay of duty, love, and loyalty in times of conflict. Their tale, set against the backdrop of the Tang-Tubo struggles, offers a deeply human perspective on the historical events that shaped the course of Chinese history.
Translated by Joseph Wu
