This is a very specific request for assistance concerning the famous so-called '61 statues of foreign officials' at Gaozong's and Wu Zentian's Qianling. I'm currently trying to identify the identity of some of the surviving statues. Originally all of them carried inscriptions on their backs mentioning their names and titles. A list of 36 of these inscriptions has been preserved in the "Chang'an Zhitu" (mid 14th century) - and has been repeatedly discussed in recent scholarship. Today however, there are only some very faint traces of them left. In 1960 traces of inscriptions on six statues where published in Wenwu, number 3, p. 54, fig. 15 which can be linked to the Chang'an Zhitu list (they pertain to a king from Qiemo, a king from the Tokharistan, a prince from Tokharistan, a king from Khotan, a king from Zhujuban [modern Yecheng] and an emissary from the Eastern Turks). In principle, this is would be a good starting point for further analysis. However, the article in Wenwu does not indicate WHICH of the surviving figures carries WHICH of those surviving six inscriptions on its back. There are also no further hints in Chen Gaocun's substantial study on the same subject (Tang Qianling shirenxiang jiqi xianming de yanjiu", Wenwu jikan 2 [1980], pp. 189-203). Has anyone some more information or could point me to literature or persons which or who might be able to answer this question? Thanks in advance!

PS. Sorry for having crossposted this topic also in the Archaeology Board. Only afterwards I realized that this board here might be more appropriate to this subject.

No worries, I've deleted the duplicate post for you.

Here are two passages in Chinese that I found:
据文献记载，高宗埋葬时，有61个友邦和少数民族曾派特使前来参加葬礼。武则天为了向他们炫耀葬礼的盛况，遂将61王宾刻为石像立在乾陵。这些石像长袍紧袖，腰束宽带，足登尖头靴，两手前拱。头部绝大多数毁于明清之际。尚残存头部的为高鼻、深目形象。背部原刻有国名、官职和姓名，目前能辨清字迹的有木具罕国王斯陀勒”，“于阗口尉迟敬”、“吐火罗王子特勒羯达健”等七个，他们大都是各少数民族羁縻国的首领，是唐朝民族交往、对外关系的真实写照。
http://www.jllib.cn/ffy/tlsd/qianling/index.htm

在两通石碑的紧北边，竖立着61尊蕃臣石像。东群29尊，西群32尊。这些石人是当时唐王朝属下的少数民族官员和邻国王子、使节。武则天为炫扬高宗及武周朝的威势，将他们雕像立于陵前。在石人像的背部刻有国别、官职和姓名，今字迹可辨认者有“木俱罕国王斯陀勒”、“盛于阗王尉迟璥”、“吐火罗王子持羯达犍”、“默啜使移力贪汗达干”、“播仙城主何伏帝延”等七尊。
http://baike.baidu.com/view/724636.htm

Here are photos of the 61 statues:




As for which statues bear which inscriptions, you should definitely look for this article:
http://scholar.ilib.cn/abstract.aspx?A=xianysfxyxb200303002

Thanks Yun for deleting my duplicate posting as well as for your quick response!
In fact I've had already consulted the article you mentioned - as well as the following papers:

乾陵六十一蕃王考述 Research of the 61 Portraits of Vassal States Kings of the Qian Tomb [文博 Relics and Museology] 梁子, 文军, Liang Zi, Wen Jun

乾陵61蕃臣像补考 Make - up Study of the 61 Nationalities subject Portraits of the Qian Tomb [文博 Relics and Museology] 樊英峰 , Fan YingFeng.

Nowhere I found any information as to which extant statue bears which extant inscription. When I visited the spot I was only able to establish a connection between inscription and statue for two figures with certainty: the one of a king from Zhujuban and the one of a tegin-prince of Tokharistan (both in the western group). Do you or anyone else have any further ideas how to solve this problem?

Hmm, if this information is not even contained in the archaeological excavation report for Qianling, and the inscriptions are so difficult to discern on the statues themselves, then the only way to check might be to talk to the archaeologists or the staff of the Qianling museum.