Sasanians at the court of the Liang dynasty (502 - 557 AD)

Author

, Department of History, University of Isfahan

Abstract

In the first half of the sixth century AD, northern China was riven by internal conflict, and in the south, there was a period of peace. The Liang dynasty ruled large parts of southern China from 502 to 557, and their capital hosted foreign monks and merchants. In this period, the historical sources from the Liang period provide us important information about the relations between China and Iran in the Sassanid period. In addition to Liangshu, which reports that the Persian king sent an ambassador to Liang's court in 530, 533, and 535 A.D., Liang Zhigongtu contains a portrait and an inscription of Sasanian Persia and its ambassador which is very interesting. In these sources, for the first time, information about the name of the founder of the Sassanid dynasty and a prince named Qituo is mentioned, which is unique in its kind. Researchers have not yet paid attention to this information or have not been careful in finding their equivalents. Thus, the present article tries to examine this information. Furthermore, while Khosrow Anushirvan was practically the ruler of the country during the last years of the Sassanid Ghobad rule, the inscription of Zhigongtu mentions Qituo who sent an ambassador to Liang's court. Comparing the above inscription with Pahlavi and Islamic texts implies that this prince is Khosrow I.

Keywords

Main Subjects


ابن بلخی، (1384)، فارسنامه، تصحیح گای لیسترانج –رینولدآلن نیکلسون، تهران: اساطیر.
تجدد، نهال، (1369)، «نقش زبان‌های ایرانی در انتشار چند دین در آسیای مرکزی و چین»، ایران‌نامه، ش. 30، صص 261-272.
ث‍ع‍ال‍بی نیش‍اب‍وری، ع‍ب‍دالم‍ل‍ک ب‍نم‍ح‍م‍دب‍ن اسم‍اع‍ی‍ل، (1368)، تاریخ ثعالبی: غرر اخبار ملوک الفرس و سیرهم؛ پاره نخست ایران باستان، ترجمۀ محمد فضائلی، تهران: نشر نقره.
فرای، ریچارد نلسون، (1380)، تاریخ باستانی ایران، ترجمه مسعود رجب نیا، تهران: علمی و فرهنگی، چاپ اول.
فردوسی، ابوالقاسم، (1384)، شاهنامه، به کوشش جلال خالقی مطلق و محمود امیدسالار، نیویورک: بنیاد میراث ایران.
فرنبغ دادگی، (1375)، بندهش، ترجمه مهرداد بهار، چاپ ششم، تهران، توس.
طبری، محمد بن جریر، (1375)، تاریخ طبری (تاریخ الرسل و الملوک)، ترجمه ابوالقاسم پاینده، تهران: انتشارات اساطیر.
نویسندۀ گمنام، (1318)، مجمل التواریخ و القصص، تصحیح ملک الشعرای بهار، تهران: خاور.
 
References
 
Ge, Zhaoguang, (2019), "Imagining a Universal Empire: A Study of the Illustrations of the Tributary States of the Myriad Regions Attributed to Li Gonglin," Journal of Chinese humanities. 5: 124-148.
Crone, Patricia, (1991), "Kavād's Heresy and Mazdak's Revolt," Iran, 29: 21–42.
Daryaee, Touraj, (2014), Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, B. Tauris, London.
Dien, Albert E, (1962), “The 'sa-pao' Problem Re-examined,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Volume 82, 335-346.
Du You 杜佑, Tongdian 通典, j. 193, available at Database of Chinese classic ancient books via http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/01tdf/193.htm
Du You 杜佑, (1988), Tongdian 通典, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, j. 40, 193.
Eberhard, Wolfram, (1971), A History of China, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Flandin, E and P, Cost, (1851- 1854), Voyge en Perse, 2. Vols, Paris.
Frye, R.N., 1983, The history of ancient Iran, München: C. H. Beck'sche Ver- lagsbuchhandlung.
Gu Zuyu, Dushi Fangyu Jiyao (读史方舆纪要), j. 65, available at Database of Chinese classic ancient books via http://www.guoxue123.com/biji/qing/dsfjy/078.htm
Hill, John E., (2009), Through the jade gate to Rome: a study of the silk routes during the Later Han Dynasty 1st to 2nd centuries CE: an annotated translation of the chronicle on the 'Western Regions' in the Hou Hanshu, Charleston, South Carolina: BookSurge Publishing.
Li Yanshou 李延壽, (1975), Nanshi 南史, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Livshits, V.A., (2010), Parfyanskaya onomastika, St. Petersburg.
MacKenzie, D.N., (1986), “Names from Nisa”, in Peredneaziatskii sbornikIV: Drevniaia i srednevekovaia istoriia i filologiia stran perednego i srednego vostoka, Moscow: 105–115.
Mă Duānlín馬端臨, Wenxian Tongkao (文献通考), j. 339, available at Database of Chinese classic ancient books via http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0401/01wxtk/342.htm
Olbrycht, marek, (2016), “Dynastic Connections in the Arsacid Empire and the Origins of the House of Sāsān,” in: The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: Adaptation and expansion, edited by Michael Alram and Touraj Daryaee., Oxford and Philadelphia: Oxbow, 23-35.
Procopius, (1914), History of the Wars, Vol. 1, Books 1-2: The Persian War, translated by H.B. Dewing, New York: Macmillan.
Sigley, Gary, (2013), “The Ancient Tea Horse Road and thePolitics of Cultural Heritage in Southwest China: Regional Identity in the Context of a Rising China,” in: Helaine Silverman and Tami Blumenfield (eds), Cultural Heritage Politics in China, New York: Springer, pp. 235-246.
Skjærvø, P.O. and H. Humbach, (1983), The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli, Wiesbaden.
Sima Guang 司馬光, The Zizhi Tongjian (Chinese: 資治通鑑),j. 199, available at Database of Chinese classic ancient books via http://www.guoxue123.com/shibu/0101/01zztjhz/199.htm
Sprengling, Martin, (1953), Third Century Iran: Sapor and Kartir, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Wang Qinruo. (1960), Cefu yuangui)冊府元龜(, 12 vols, Beijing, Zhong Hua Shu Ju Press.
Yu, Taishan, (2018), “The Illustration of Envoys Presenting Tribute at the Liang Court,” Eurasian Studies, Vol. VI, pp. 68-122.
Yu Huan, (2004), The Peoples of the West from the Weilüe, A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE, Draft annotated English translation by John E Hill, available at:
https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/appendices.html
Zhang Xinglang, (1977), The Collection of the Historical Materials of Communications between China and the West (《中西交通史料汇编》), Vol. III, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Co.
Zhou, Xiuqin, (2009), Zhaoling: The Mausoleum of Emperor Tang Taizong, Sino-Platonic Papers, no. 187. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania.