Gao Xianzhi, or Go Seonji, (died January 24, 756[1]) was a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo[2] descent. He was known as a great commander during his lifetime. He is best known for taking part in a number of military expeditions to conquer the Western Regions, over the Pamir Mountains and reaching as far as the Talas River. In 751 he commanded the Tang forces during the Battle of Talas, fighting against the Abbasid Caliphate. The Tang defeat at the Talas River is considered to mark the end of both Tang western expansion and Abbasid eastern expansion.[3]
Around the beginning of the year 756, Gao and fellow general Feng Changqing offended the powerful eunuch Bian Lingcheng (邊令誠) while defending the Tong Pass against the rebel An Lushan, who had rebelled in 755. Bian then accused Feng of cowardice and Gao of corruption, and both were executed.
^Volume 217 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Gao was executed on the guimao day of the 12th month of the 14th year of the Tianbao era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This corresponds to 24 Jan 756 in the Gregorian calendar.
^"...The closest one that comes early in this period may be the Battle of Talas, when Muslim armies of the Abbasid dynasty defeated a Tang army under the Korean commander, Kao Sien-Chih, in 751; it is often said that these captives introduced Chinese techniques of paper manufacture into the Islamic world, but what is clearer is that the battle halted Chinese expansionism into Central Asia."
The Oxford History of Historical Writing. Vol. 2. 400-1400, page 3.
^Bo Yang, Outlines of the History of the Chinese (中國人史綱), vol. 2, p. 547.
GaoXianzhi, or Go Seonji, (died January 24, 756) was a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo descent. He was known as a great commander during his lifetime...
to the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. In 747, the Tang general GaoXianzhi, who had successfully fought the Tibetan empire in the Pamir Mountains...
fall, and subsequently served as a general for the Tang before his son GaoXianzhi succeeded him. General Go Sagye was a distant relative of the Go Royal...
Feng was cowardly and that Feng's superior GaoXianzhi was corrupt, executed both Feng and Gao and replaced Gao with Geshu in defending Tong Pass from An's...
Talas after the defeat of the primary army commanded by GaoXianzhi, and his efforts allowed Gao to escape from the pursuit of the Abbasid Caliphate forces...
described as ugly in his appearance, and when he first met GaoXianzhi and asked to be a guard for Gao, Gao initially rejected him, but eventually agreed to take...
checked in 751 by the defeat of a large expeditionary force led by General GaoXianzhi in the Battle of Talas in the modern Fergana Valley, with the Abbasid...
Tibetans. In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of general GaoXianzhi, who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia...
Arab armies of the Caliphate to defeat the Tang force under commander GaoXianzhi. Although the battle itself was not of the greatest significance militarily...
putting himself in the same position as GaoXianzhi. Despite Geshu's protestations that he would rather be like Gao than to surrender, Huoba bound him to...
general GaoXianzhi conquered Kashgar. These records suggest that Lalitaditya provided military assistance and logistical support to GaoXianzhi's forces...
Shenjin (楊慎矜), Wang Hong (王鉷), Yang Guozhong, An Lushan, An Sishun, and GaoXianzhi. The intelligentsia at the time blamed him for the advancement of some...
737, and regained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General GaoXianzhi. While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of...
Samarkand have marched to challenge a Chinese army (30,000 men) under GaoXianzhi. Gao has had a series of military victories in the region, but his Turkish...
of the Tang Dynasty Forggus mac Cellaig, king of Connacht (Ireland) GaoXianzhi, general of the Tang Dynasty Ibn al-Muqaffa', Muslim writer (approximate...
Protectorate TIBETAN EMPIRE CHENLA SRIVIJAYA ◁ ▷ In 747 the Tang general GaoXianzhi captured Lesser Bolü. In 748 the Tang recaptured Suiye and destroyed...
entered the service of the Tang government, such as Go Sagye and his son GaoXianzhi (Go Seonji in Korean), the famed general who commanded the Tang forces...
Three Kingdoms of Korea. In 751, a Chinese general of Goguryeo descent, GaoXianzhi, led the Battle of Talas for the Tang dynasty against the Abbasid Caliphate...
the Abbasid force defeated the Tang Chinese forces led by the General GaoXianzhi over a dispute regarding a client kingdom in the Fergana Valley. The...
officially begin in Merv (modern Turkmenistan). Chinese forces under GaoXianzhi (a Korean in Tang employ) defeat the Arabs and Tibetans, by rapid military...
Tibet. In 747, the hold of Tibet was loosened by the campaign of general GaoXianzhi, who tried to re-open the direct communications between Central Asia...
Zhao Hui, is ranked for his achievements with the Tang dynasty General GaoXianzhi and the Han dynasty Generals Ban Chao and Li Guangli. Both aspects of...
immediately replaced with a Tang puppet by the Anxi Protectorate. In 745, GaoXianzhi marched across the Pamirs with 10,000 men and conquered Little Balur...
Global Information