A Study on the Marriage Alliances Between the Tang Dynasty and the Two Tribes from the Perspective of “Great Unification”

Facing the new historical situation, the Tang Dynasty expanded and improved the concept of “Great Unification” in terms of national territory and ethnic governance, proposing the viewpoint of “Unity of Han Chinese and Barbarians”, breaking the traditional concept of “the king does not govern barbarians” in the “Great Unification” since the Han Dynasty. In the practice of marriage alliances with the frontier ethnic minorities, the Tang Dynasty’s marriages with Khitan and Xi were quite distinctive. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the strategic policy towards the “Two Tribes” was primarily focused on marriage alliances. The implementation of this flexible ethnic policy promoted the exchanges, interactions, and fusion between the Tang Dynasty and the “Two Tribes,” objectively enhancing the inclusiveness and recognition between the Central Plains ethnic group and the “Two Tribes.” However, from a result perspective, this policy was a failure. This situation was related to the situation in the northwest and northeast borders during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.