达外国之梯航——曹氏归义军与五代时于阗首次入贡中原之关系再议

Making Good Use of Other Nations——Reexamining the Relationship Between the Gui-yi-jun Regime of the Cao Family and the Kingdom of Khotan's First Payment of Tribute to the Central Government in the Five Dynasties

后晋天福三年(938),于阗实现了对五代中原王朝的首次入贡。关于该次入贡活动与曹氏归义军之间的关系,以前学界受已知史料所限而很少探讨,反而比较关注此后于阗遣使答谢后晋时曹氏归义军使团的一同东行,从而强调曹氏归义军是借于阗之力恢复了与中原王朝的联系。本文则在梳理于阗该次入贡情形及其后续活动、曹氏归义军与于阗答谢使同行入奏的过程与收获的基础上,进一步追寻了于阗对五代时中原王朝首次入贡活动的起因、背景。通过对相关历史记载的分析,提出并论证了于阗该次入贡起源于曹氏归义军的引领与帮助,认为早在后唐长兴年间各方即已开始筹划于阗的该次入贡,其中曹氏归义军"达外国之梯航"的积极作用尤其值得关注,只是后来因曹议金去世等原因,归义军的实力与影响力减弱,中原又发生了后晋取代后唐的重大变故,于阗的入贡对象也随之从出发时拟想的后唐变为后晋,而P.2539v保存的相关记述也不够直接明了,曹氏归义军对于阗该次入贡的促成之功遂湮没不彰。

In the third year of the Tianfu era during the Later Jin dynasty(938) of the Five Dynasties period, the neighboring country of Khotan paid tribute to the central government for the first time. Little discussion has been conducted on the relationship between this event and the Gui-yi-jun Regime of the Cao family due to the limitation of available historical records, yet much attention has been paid to the subsequent event when Khotan sent envoys to express gratitude to the Later Jin government. They traveled east accompanied by envoys sent by the Cao family of the Gui-yi-jun Regime, and it was emphasized that the latter was able to resume its connection with the central Chinese government with the aid of Khotan. By analyzing relevant historical records, it is concluded that this event was ascribed to the guidance and help of the Gui-yi-jun regime led by the Cao family, and that the activity had been planned as early as in the Changxing era during the Later Tang.The positive influence of the Gui-yi-jun regime was particularly noticeable during this diplomatic activity, but with the weakening of the Gui-yi-jun due to the death of Cao Yijin, as well as the larger historical event that the Later Tang was replaced by the Later Jin in the Central Plains, the regime to which the tribute was to be paid changed to be the Later Jin rather than the coexistent but temporarily supplanted Later Tang. The relevant historical document P. 2539 on which a significant portion of this historical analysis relies is not direct and clear enough about this event, with the result that the contribution of the Gui-yi-jun and the Cao family to the activity of tribute payment remains obscure.