In ancient China, cutting off a prisoner's nose was a punishment. Killing an opponent on the battlefield and cutting off his ear is to record merit. Nanzhao did this, which was a great insult to the people of the Tang Dynasty and a contempt for the government of the Tang Dynasty, but there were also cultural differences. Nanzhao people's custom is to be cremated three days after death, and the ashes are buried directly underground. But before cremation, the ears of the deceased should be cut off, then put into bottles made of gold, silver and other metals, and collected and taken out during the sacrifice. It is a tradition that they regard the cut ears as ancestors. Nanzhao people cut off the ears of the conquered people, which is equivalent to making the other people unable to get the sacrifices of their descendants after their death, which is equivalent to a vicious curse.

First, the history of Nanzhao

As early as the early Tang Dynasty, there were several in Yunnan. Uman? Nanzhao is the largest tribe among the people. In order to balance Tubo, the Tang Dynasty supported Nanzhao, and Nanzhao, with the support of the Tang Dynasty, successfully developed into the existence of controlling the whole Yunnan region. However, with the decline of Tubo, Nanzhao became the only powerful country in Southwest China. For the Tang dynasty, which once stood on its own feet, Nanzhao was not in the eye at this time. In this way, Nanzhao and the Tang Dynasty fought for decades.

Second, the relationship between Nanzhao and Tang Dynasty

In the third year of Yamato in the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao unilaterally tore up the Covenant and sent troops to attack Sichuan. Because the local Tang Jun was unable to resist the Nanzhao army, Nanzhao captured many cities and successfully invaded Chengdu, plundering tens of thousands of people, including countless boys and girls and countless skilled craftsmen. However, Nanzhao did not dare to go to war directly with the Tang Dynasty at this time, and continued to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty in order to paralyze the central government of the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, they kept attacking Sichuan.

In 860 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty passed away, and the Tang Dynasty became weaker and weaker. Nanzhao announced the dissolution of its vassal relationship with the Tang Dynasty. Nanzhao King proclaimed himself emperor and changed his country name at the same time? A gift? He sent his troops to attack Tang.

In the tenth year of Xian Tong, Emperor Li (King Nanzhao, Guilong) led troops to cross the Dadu River, captured southern Sichuan, and surrounded Chengdu the following year, which was stubbornly resisted by Tang Jun, but in the end, the outer city of Chengdu was broken by Nanzhao. Faced with the approaching reinforcements from Tang Jun, Nanzhao had to retreat. In the face of prisoners who could not be taken away, Nanzhao chose to cut off all their ears and noses to show that they had taken away the soul of this person and only put the human body back. According to historical records, eight out of ten people had their noses and ears cut off.

Nanzhao not only invaded Sichuan, but also launched an attack on Annan Dawu, Bozhou and Tanguan under the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Until the late Tang Yizong and Tang Xizong, under the command of Gao Pian and others, Nanzhao was defeated in Annan and Sichuan, and the lost land was recovered.

Third, Nanzhao's influence on the Tang Dynasty.

The long-term war greatly consumed the national strength of the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao. The Tang Dynasty set up a large number of troops in the southwest, which triggered the Pang Xun Uprising and directly planted the seeds of extinction. Tang died in Huang Chao, and the disaster was based on Guilin. ? The belligerence of Nanzhao also led to the emptiness of the national treasury and the outbreak of domestic contradictions, which was destroyed by Zheng Maisi, the powerful minister, in 902.