Who are the Kunlun slaves in China's history books?

Many years ago, there was a movie "The Promise", which many people must have seen. Zhang Dongjian's role in the play is to play a Kunlun slave. So who are the "Kunlun slaves"? When it comes to Kunlun slaves, many people will think of Kunlun Mountain. In fact, there is no connection between them. The earliest historical period of Kunlun slaves in China can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. At that time, nobles prevailed and slaves were raised at home. This kind of slaves mainly came from tribute and trafficking. At first, they just performed songs and dances and did some heavy servant work.

In ancient times, "Kunlun" not only referred to Kunlun Mountain, but also described people with dark skin. Do you know why they are called Kunlun slaves? At that time, people usually judged whether they were Kunlun slaves by their skin color. Kunlun slaves have short limbs and short stature, but they are flexible, good at swimming and good at water. Some Kunlun slaves came from distant Africa and some from Southeast Asia.

No matter what skills Kunlun slaves have, they can't get rid of the tragic fate of slaves in essence. Some defeated prisoners in their own countries were plundered by the victors and became slaves in Kunlun; The other is from tribute, but in this case, the number of Kunlun slaves who pay tribute is very small. The most important kind of Kunlun slaves comes from trafficking. Because nobles like to raise Kunlun slaves, engage in miscellaneous farming and even tame wild animals. Moreover, the nobles kept up with each other, so some businessmen and nobles began to buy and sell slaves in Nanyang. These slaves are what we call Kunlun slaves.

Now there are some murals about Kunlun slaves in some unearthed Tang Dynasty murals and Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes. Kunlun slaves are not only engaged in odd jobs, but also good at singing and dancing because of their agility, and they will also enter the court to perform related performances.