釋氏稽古略 3.277

3.277

In the wuzi year, the ninth year of Xiantong, an imperial edict ordered Kang Chengxun to subjugate Pang Xun and others in Xuzhou. Chengxun submitted a memorial requesting that Zhuye Chixin, commissioner of the three Shatuo tribes, lead his forces to accompany him. They defeated Xun in Xuzhou, and Xun died. The Emperor praised Zhuye Chixin's merits, established the Datong Army in Yunzhou, appointed Chixin as its military commissioner, and bestowed upon him the imperial surname Li and the personal name Guochang. Guochang's son was Keyong, and Keyong's son was Cunxu, who became Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang. Earlier, during the Zhenguan reign of Taizong, when the Western Turks (pronounced qu) were crushed, thirteen prefectural area commands were established, but there had never been a Shatuo prefecture. There were the Chushen, Chumi, and other tribes, which were smaller ones. "Zhuye" was the name of a distinct tribe of the Chushen. By the time of Xianzong, Zhuye Jindzhong and his son Zhiyi first appeared in the Central Plains; they called themselves Shatuo and took Zhuye as their surname. Now "Shatuo" means a great desert; from the time of the Chushen onward, they had lived generation after generation in this desert and were called the Shatuo Turks. Down to the grandson of Jinzhong, they were granted the surname Li; the Li clan flourished again, and the barbarian tribes consequently regarded the Shatuo as a noble stock. (Keyong's merit in destroying Huang Chao was foremost.)