PERSIANS, ARABS IN T'ANG CHINA
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wife could inherit the whole of the property on condition that she had at least a son or a daughter, or she could only inherit one-third.
If any of the above persons mentioned were with the deceased at the time of his death, they could be treated as the legatee accordingly; otherwise, the property had to be put into government custody after paying the necessary funeral expenses awaiting the claims of the parents of the deceased, his first wife, sons or unmarried daughters. Their right to inherit according to T'ang law was a straightforward case if they were in China; otherwise, they had to produce their identification issued by their own governments or authorities and also had to seek a guarantor before they were granted the right of inheritance. If nobody claimed the property of the deceased after three months, the property, again, according to T'ang law, would be confiscated. The three months' period was later extended to an indefinite period by Kung K'uei,1 one of the governors in Kuang-chou.# Kung felt that the deceased's next-of-kin should be given enough time to lodge their claim, for it took nearly six months to travel from Persia or Arabia to China by sea. This was a humanitarian act.14
Based on the above, it is quite obvious that Persians, Arabs and others had a very high social standing in China. Though they were segregated at one stage, they were still allowed to observe their own rites, built their own mosques or temples and enjoyed their own laws, customs and traditions. They were free to take any civil examination sponsored by the Government, and if they passed, they would also be given a title like any T'ang Chinese. Though inter-marriage was not allowed, Chinese mandarins still managed to have one or two Persian or Arabian beauties as their 'entertainers'. Persian or Arabian merchants, on the other hand, were also free to choose beautiful Chinese girls as their life-long companions.15 So there was no racial discrimination and national sentiment. The Chinese were generally not that well-off as the Persians or Arabs, and felt rather humbled by the comparison. Nevertheless, when they realized that these foreigners were but fan-k'o (foreign guests) to China, they immediately took on the airs of a patron and considered they had a duty to do everything to make these foreigners feel at home. It was through the generous hospitality which all these foreigners enjoyed during their stay in China and through this kind of broad and mutual understanding which enabled the