Talking about touching the portrait of his son

197 1 year, the tomb of Wu Zetian's second son (Prince Zhang Huai) was unearthed, and a strange portrait was found in the tomb, which aroused the interest of archaeologists! This strange portrait is called "tourist map". There were two originally, but because one of them was badly damaged and unrecognizable, only one on the east wall was left.

Today, the "guest envoy map" on the east wall has become the only mural with the same theme in the tomb of the Tang Dynasty, which is of high historical value. Strange to say, this portrait is because in the portrait of the guest ambassador, the expert found the portrait of the messenger of the Eastern Roman Empire, not the ordinary businessman.

After textual research, Mr. Wang Renbo, a grave robber, thinks that there are six people on this east wall map. From left to right, the first three are officials of the Tang Dynasty, the fourth is an envoy of the ethnic minorities in Northeast China, the fifth is an envoy of Japan or North Korea, and the sixth is an envoy of the Eastern Roman Empire (controversial in academic circles). See the picture below for details!

One in East Asia and one in Europe. Did you communicate with Europe so frequently during the Tang Dynasty? Why did the emissary of the Eastern Roman Empire come to Datang?

In fact, according to the existing historical data, the cultural and economic exchanges between the Tang Dynasty and neighboring nation countries were very close. As the most powerful, richest and most open dynasty in the world at that time, the Tang Dynasty attracted all kinds of people from Eurasia and Africa. For example, there are records of Kunlun slaves (mostly South Asians and a few Africans) in the Tang Dynasty, and all ethnic groups gathered in Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty.

So, perhaps because of the distance, there are few western businessmen who come to China directly, but it can't be said that it is rare. It is not unusual for the Eastern Romans to appear in the Tang Dynasty.

The question is, why did the emissary of the Eastern Roman Empire come to China (the official of the Tang Dynasty did not receive it, indicating that it was an emissary, not an ordinary businessman)? Some scholars believe that this is to Datang to seek international assistance!

The so-called Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), is called Byzantine Empire in history and Daqin in ancient times. Tang Xuanzang called it "Fufu" in the Book of the Western Regions and "Fufu Country" in the history books of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xian, the second son of Wu Zetian, was forced to commit suicide by Wu Zetian in 684 (he was later named Prince of Zhang Huai). Around this point in time, the main enemy of the Eastern Roman Empire was the rising Arab Empire. For the sake of national interests, the Eastern Rome knows the way of "making friends far away and attacking near", just like Zhang Jian's mission to the western regions and contacting local people to attack the Huns, so the Eastern Roman Empire sent people to the Tang Dynasty to fight with the Arabs.

It is recorded in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty Biography of the Western Regions that the Eastern Roman Empire sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty at least four times. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan (643), Wang Boli sent messengers to offer red glass, green gold essence and other things ..... Because of his arrogance and extravagance, he gradually led countries, but he sent a general to mow their capitals. Because of the agreement, he asked to lose gold and silk every year, so it was a big meal. After two years of dry sealing (667), he sent envoys to offer Di's family. In the first year of Dazu (70 1), he sent envoys to Korea again, and in the first month of the seventh year of Kaiyuan (7 19), his master sent leaders of Tuhuoluo to offer two lions and two antelopes. A few months later, he sent a big monk to pay tribute.

From this historical data, we can see that under the oppression of the Arab Empire, the life of the Eastern Roman Empire was not easy, and even like the Song Dynasty, "ancient coins" were paid every year. In this situation, it is normal for the Eastern Roman Empire to seek military assistance from the Tang Dynasty.

As a European power, the Eastern Roman Empire sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty, which also shows from another angle that the influence of the Tang Dynasty has reached Europe, or that the strength of the Tang Dynasty made the Eastern Roman Empire ecstatic and thought it could be an ally against the Arab Empire, so it sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty four times in less than 100 years. If the Tang Dynasty was not strong, why should it be so? Moreover, judging from the "tribute" ceremony of the messengers of the East Rome, the gesture is very low. Because of this, some scholars think that the Tang Dynasty is really not as powerful as usual, and let the former "Daqin" bow down!

Due to this historical fact, there are portraits of envoys of the Eastern Roman Empire in Li Xian's tomb. The so-called tomb mural actually refers to the fact that the ancients believed that people could be resurrected after death, so they built luxurious tombs for the deceased according to their living conditions before their death, and the messengers of the Eastern Roman Empire belonged to "powerful rare products" (also known as "Daqin" in history), so they were portrayed on the walls.