The Impact of General Li Jing’s Military Thought on the Fall of the Eastern Türk Qaghanate

Öz The Eastern Türk Qaghanate seemed to enjoy the zenith of its powerduring the 620s, until it suddenly weakened and fell within a very short timebetween the years 627 and 630 because of ecologic, economic, military,administrative and social problems. The death blow to this qaghanatewas struck by General Li Jing, who commanded a field army of the TangDynasty of China and brought destruction upon it. Even though severalreasons caused the decline of this qaghanate, Li Jing’s military abilitiescaused its final fall. A work titled Questions and Replies Between TangTaizong and Li Wei Gong, one of the Seven Military Classics of China,is claimed to be a collection of dialogues between the Chinese emperorTang Taizong and his general Li Jing. While some scholars believe it to beforged, others think that it is based on original drafts kept in the imperialarchives. This work is actually very significant as it contains the militarythought of Li Jing, but until now, it still has not been evaluated in thestudies focusing on Türk history. Thus, examining the general’s militarythought in this work also helps us to better understand how he managed todefeat the Eastern Türk Qaghanate in the campaign of 630. In this study,we have examined Li Jing’s military thought and we have compared hisstatements in this work with his actions during the Türk campaign of 630recorded in the Chinese sources. Our opinion is that because his statementsin this work coincide mostly with his actions during the campaign of 630,the Questions and Replies is mostly based on original drafts that had onlya few later amendments to it.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Eastern Türk Qaghanate, Li Jing, Military Thought, Tang Taizong Li Wei Gong Wen Dui, Tang Dynasty

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