Paper long abstract:

The Shatuo Turks, a nomadic people from Inner Asia, migrated to China during the Tang Dynasty in the eighth century. Following the collapse of the Tang in 907, this group of migrants came to wield power in Central Plain, founding three short-lived dynasties: Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Han. Ever since the Shatuo Turkic rulers, through generations of administration, established a firm command over Hedong, previously a region of the northern part of Tang, the Shatuo Turks had legitimized themselves as a significant political force in the region. Interestingly, although the Shatuo Turks have been living in North China for generations as an elite political group, Song historians who compiled history for this period in time predominantly characterized the Shatuo Turks as a people with a primarily pastoral occupation.

In this paper, I explore the description of Shatuo Turks' nomadic identity by historians from later periods, or in other words, outsiders. Specifically, I focus on the metaphor "raising horses and sheep" Song historians used in their characterization of Li Cunxu (885-926), Zhuangzong of Later Tang. Did the migrants really raise horses and sheep? Was this pastoral livelihood limited to the Shatuo Turks or did Han-Chinese also raise the horses and sheep? I argue that by associating the Shatuo Turks with the stereo-typically nomadic lifestyle of "raising horses and sheep", later historians attempted to confirm their depiction of the Shatuo Turks as foreigners and "barbarians", which seemingly disregarding China's active engagement in similar pastoral livelihood.

Conjointly, I examine the identity of the Shatuo Turks from their own perspective. What strategy did the Shatuo Turks use in order to maintain their group identity? I explore how this migrant group's identity was preserved and constructed through the practice of "ethnicity without blood" in practical life. Especially during the late Tang, the migrant group maintained their bonds with military groups through a unique use of genealogy. This research ultimately helps contribute to medieval Sino-Inner Asian history by rethinking etic perspectives of migrant groups and strategies in which migrant groups were able to forge their own identity.