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2016-2017 School of Chinese Seminar 香港大學中文學院講座

Date & Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Monday, July 17, 2017

Venue: Room 730, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Language: Putonghua

此報告主要研究一個名為楊良瑤（736–806）的中國宦官的神道碑銘文中所記載的資訊。神道碑銘文記載了楊良瑤的生平，並稱其在785年作為使節被德宗遣往黑衣大食。這次出使任務似乎是為了向阿拉伯人請求軍事援助以對付吐蕃人。報告將此次出使放置在一個更廣闊的背景之中，並且對那些可能促使這次出使的因素作出分析。尤其是，我希望回答一個問題：為什麼這樣一次重要的外交出使既沒有在其他史料中留下記錄，也沒有在以前的學術敘事中被提及？儘管在中文以及中東史料中能明確證明這次出使是否真實的材料付之闕如，但也沒有一個合理可信的理由可以斷然排除存在這次出使的可能性，或者可以明確質疑是有人偽造了神道碑及其銘文。歷史環境以及與其他文獻中的資訊相校勘，反而暗示了這個使團的確是被派遣了出去，也許甚至是成功的，並且有很多政治理由可以解釋為什麼這次出訪，以及楊良瑤的生平沒有被載入官方史錄。至少就當時的歷史環境而言，他的出使是非常可能的。我們認為，決定派遣楊良瑤出使阿拔斯王朝，求得阿拉伯人的援助以逼退吐蕃人，也非常符合德宗皇帝的外交戰略。

This presentation introduces the information provided in a tomb stele (shendao zhi bei 神道之碑) of a Chinese eunuch, a certain Yang Liangyao 楊良瑤 (736–806), that will be comparatively analysed against the background of the political landscape under the Chinese Emperor Dezong 德宗 (Li Gua 李適; 742–805; r. 780–805), and more specifically against the backdrop of the court’s politics in the face of Tibetan aggression. The stele inscription records the biography of Yang and claims that he was sent as an envoy to the Abbasids (Heiyi dashi 黑衣大食; lit. “Black-dressed Tajik”, i.e. the Arabs) by Emperor Dezong in 785. It seems that the mission was intended to ask the Arabs for military support against the Tibetans. The talk intends to frame Yang’s mission within a broader context and analyse the factors that may have prompted this trip. In particular, I want to address the question of why such an important diplomatic mission is neither mentioned in any other sources, and the question of why it has never been brought up in academic discourse. Although a clear indication that this trip even took place at all is absent in both Chinese and Middle Eastern historiography, there is no plausible reason to automatically rule out the possibility that the mission was carried out, or to assume that somebody might have faked such a story on an epigraphic document like this tomb stele. Historical circumstances and a comparison with information provided in other sources rather suggest that the mission was sent, perhaps even successfully, and there are also quite a few political reasons as to why the mission and information pertaining to Yang Liangyao himself were not included in the official accounts. The article will argue that particular historical circumstances suggest that his mission was very plausible; and that the decision to send him to the Abbasid caliphate to ask the Arabs for assistance in pushing back the Tibetans was at least in line with Emperor Dezong’s foreign policy strategy.

蕭婷，奧地利薩爾茨堡大學的非歐洲區域與世界歷史教授，加拿大麥吉爾大學歷史系印度洋世界中心研究主任暨兼職教授。她1993年從德國維爾茨堡大學獲得博士學位，2000年在慕尼克大學獲得教授資格。她是在線學術期刊“縱橫——東亞世界交流史研究”以及“東亞海洋史”系列叢書的編輯。她的著述涉及中國傳統的歷史文化，中國多元的歷史交流關係及其如何融入歐亞和全球背景等研究領域。

Angela Schottenhammer is professor of Non-European and World History at the University of Salzburg, Austria, and research director and adjunct professor (Chinese History) at the Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC), History Department, McGill University, Canada. She obtained her Ph.D. in 1993 from Würzburg University, Germany, and her Habilitation degree 2000 from Munich University. She is the editor of the Online journal Crossroads – Studies on the History of Exchange Relations in the East Asian World and of the book series East Asian Maritime History and has widely published on traditional Chinese history and culture as well as China’s manifold historical exchange relations and her integration into the Eurasian and global context.