In the eighth year of Zhenguan (634), a team of strangely dressed men and horses came to Chang'an from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with gold and silver treasures.
The one who came was the Tibetan ZampuSongtsen GampoAn envoy sent to propose to the Tang Dynasty.
Faced with guests coming from afar from the snowy plateau, Tang Taizong rejected Songtsen Gampo's request. This may be because the Tibetans had "no access to China" before, and Tang Taizong knew very little about them who originated in the Yalong River Valley.
Scholar Lin Guanqun used a metaphor to describe the initial exchanges between Tang and Tibet: Tubo was like an uninvited guest in a banquet posed by Li Tang, and the Tang Dynasty had already arranged the seating of guests, such as Turkic, Hui, Khotan, Gaochang, Khitan, Xi, Goguryeo, Silla, Baekje, Tuyuhun, etc., all of which had been seated, but the unfamiliar Tubo had not yet been arranged.
As the host of the treat, how should Datang arrange this uninvited "guest"?
* The oldest palace in Yongbrakang. Source: Photo.com.
During the Zhenguan period, the name of the Zampu of Tibet was Songtsen Gampo. "Zamp".The word is the name given to the leader of the Tibetan people.
Songtsen Gampo belongsSibu Nobe, 32 Zampu have been passed down before, due to the lack of historical data, this tribe did not attract the attention of the Tang Dynasty.
The Sibuye tribe originated in the Yalong River Valley (now Shannan) on the south bank of the Brahmaputra River, and there were large and small tribes and states in this area. After the 6th century AD, Sibu Nobe sprung up and continued to annex the surrounding tribes. By the beginning of the 7th century, Songtsen Gampo ruled the Sibu Yebu, inherited the cause of his ancestors, and basically completed the unification of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Tubo Dynasty was established.
History, Songtsen Gampo weak crown heir,"Sexual force, more heroic, neighboring countries are all subdued".。After unifying the Tibetan tribes, Songtsen Gampo adopted a series of reform measures in order to consolidate the throne, such as punishing the old nobles and promoting themLu Dongzan(Gar Dongzan) and other virtuous ministers, and moved the capital to the lower reaches of the Lhasa River (now Lhasa), and built a majestic palace on the Red Mountain.
After Tibet became the overlord of the plateau, Songtsen Gampo set his sights on the east.
During the reign of Tang Taizong, he handled relations with surrounding ethnic groups with an open ethnic policy and strong military strength"Since ancient times, China has been noble, cheap and cheap, and I love it as one. ”
For hostile tribes, although the Tang army is far away, it will be punished, and the Tang Dynasty will use attacks to make its subordinates, and for the friendly ethnic groups, the Tang Dynasty will be more restrained and appeased, and sometimes, harmony is also a method, such as Turkic and Tuyuhun have married princesses of the Tang Dynasty.
However, Tang Taizong was more picky about the object of his affinity. Once, the Western Turks sent people to ask for peace, but Tang Taizong refused on the grounds of civil strife in his tribe, saying: "Your country is in chaos, and the monarch and ministers are undecided, so how can you talk about marriage." ”
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, when Songtsen Gampo proposed marriage for the first time, even though his envoys expressed his admiration like a surging river, Tang Taizong also refused. Tang Taizong is very much like the old man who is difficult to get in the blind date market now, in his opinion, Songtsen Gampo is unknown, which is tantamount to riding a motorcycle all over the street "yellow hair".
Songtsan Gampo, who wanted to be his son-in-law, had to take extreme measures to brush his presence in front of Tang Taizong.
Four years after the rejection of the marriage in Tibet, in the 12th year of Zhenguan (638), Songtsen Gampo continued to implement the policy of military expansion, extending his tentacles to the Qinghai region where Tuyuhun was entrenched.
At this time, Tuyuhun's strength was not as good as before, and Tubo"Encroaching on other countries, the land is vast, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers are victorious."。As a result, Tubo used his troops very smoothly this time, defeated Tuyuhun in Qinghai, where his power was declining, and "took all his livestock", and then turned to the southeast and defeated Dangxiang and Bailan Zhuqiang one after another.
In August, Songtsen Gampo led an army of 200,000 troops into the southwestern border city of the Tang DynastySongzhou(present-day Songpan County, Sichuan), confronting the Tang army in the area of Gansongling. Seeing that Tubo was menacing, some of the Qiang chieftains who had previously belonged to the Tang Dynasty surrendered to Tubo with their troops.
Historical books such as the Book of the Two Tang Dynasty and the "Zizhi Tongjian" believe that the reason why Songtsen Gampo tore his face with the Tang Dynasty was to avenge the previous refusal of marriage.
On the march, Songtsen Gampo said to the left and right:"The princess is not here, I will go deeper. ”
However, Tang Taizong was not a vegetarian.
Hearing that the Tubo army was pressing, Tang Taizong immediately sent Hou Junji, Zhi Zhi Sili, Niu Jinda, and Liu Lan to lead 50,000 foot cavalry to aid Songzhou in four ways.
Fierce generalCattle into the reachtook the lead and led the vanguard troops to reach the city of Songzhou. In September, Niu Jinda led the army to launch a night attack on the Tubo military camp, killing more than 1,000 enemies in the first battle.
After a short confrontation, the Tibetans ran away if they couldn't beat it, and Songtsen Gampo learned that the Tang army had arrived, so he ordered the troops to retreat. Prior to this, there had been anti-war voices within Tibet, and the Tibetan ministers opposed Songtsen Gampo's military expansion policy, "those who do not listen to the advice and hang themselves are all eight generations."
So, after the Battle of Songzhou, Songtsen Gampo had to sue for peace with the Tang Dynasty, sent an envoy to Chang'an to plead guilty, and asked to marry the princess again. Tang Taizong agreed to an armistice and also remembered the name Songtsen Gampo.
Portrait of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Source: Internet.
In October of the 14th year of Zhenguan (640), Songtsen Gampo sent the "Great Commentary" (that is, the prime minister) Lu Dongzan as the "engagement envoy", carrying 5,000 taels of gold and hundreds of treasures as a dowry, and came to Chang'an to meet Tang Taizong.
This is the second time that Songtsen Gampo has proposed to the Tang Dynasty.
In order to facilitate the marriage, Lu Dongzan volunteered to stay in Chang'an as a hostage, showing the sincerity of Tubo's marriage proposal. Tang Taizong saw that this Tubo man was very talented, so he gave him the title of General of the Right Guard.
Tang Taizong appreciated Lu Dongzan very much and wanted to marry Duan, the granddaughter of Princess Langxie, to him. Lu Dongzan politely refused, saying: "The minister already has a wife in Tubo, and he is hired by his parents, so he cannot be abandoned, and my family Zampu has not yet married a princess, how dare the courtier marry first." It seems that Lu Dongzan went to Chang'an to help his master propose marriage, and almost made his blind date successful.
Legend has it that when Lu Dongzan came to the court, the envoys of the Tuyuhun, Khitan, Hui, and Turkic tribes were also in Chang'an, and they asked the Tang Dynasty for marriage. Tang Taizong gave the envoys of each tribe 4 problems, and whoever could answer all of them correctly would marry the princess to their leader.
In the first level, Tang Taizong ordered someone to take out a piece of jade pendant, there is a fine hole in the jade, who can wear the jade pendant with a thin thread, even if it passes. The envoys of the various tribes in the frontier usually lived by riding horses and shooting and hunting, and they had never done needlework, so they were at a loss for this fine hole that was difficult for a single hair to penetrate.
At this time, Lu Dongzan thought of a way, he wrapped a thin thread around an ant, smeared some sugar on the jade, and then let the ant climb on the jade. After a while, the ants smelled the sugar, and led the thin thread through the fine hole on the jade pendant, Lu Dongzan saw this and grabbed the jade pendant, tied a knot to the thin thread, and presented it to Tang Taizong.
In the second level, Tang Taizong ordered people to pull out 500 horses and 500 young horses, and the problem he raised was to clearly distinguish the mother-child relationship between these 1,000 horses.
Lu Dongzan's solution was to take 500 foals to the manger to feed the grass, shut the 500 foals out of the door, let them starve for a while, and when the fence was opened, the 500 young ponies immediately galloped into the manger and went to each horse to feed the horse's milk, so that they could be distinguished.
In the third level, Tang Taizong asked people to take out a bundle of seemingly smooth and round wood, and asked everyone to distinguish each wooden stick, which side is the head and which side is the tail.
It's a scientific question. Many envoys were so anxious that they turned the sticks upside down, but only Lu Dongzan proposed to throw the sticks into the water. As a result, the wood is thrown into the water, the heavy one sinks, and the light one comes to the surface, so that the head and tail can be distinguished.
In the last level, Tang Taizong finally let the heroine of this kissPrincess Wenchengappeared, but appeared in front of the envoy with her, as well as 300 beauties selected from the people. The difficulty of the fourth level is that Tang Taizong asks the envoy to find the real princess from these dressed women.
According to legend, there happened to be a housewife in the hostel where Lu Dongzan stayed in Chang'an who was the princess's servant, and she knew the princess's usual makeup and clothing, so she secretly told Lu Dongzan. Lu Dongzan selected them one by one according to these characteristics, and only then did he recognize Princess Wencheng from the many beauties in front of him, which contributed to the marriage between Tang and Fan.
The story of Tang Taizong testing Lu Dongzan with four difficult problems may be just a legend, but it also shows to a certain extent the twists and turns of the Tubo marriage proposal process.
Princess Wencheng and Songtsen Gampo. Source: Film and television stills.
Zizhi Tongjian" records that Zhenguan was 14 years old"Tubo Zan sent his Xianglu Dongzan to offer 5,000 taels of gold and hundreds of treasures to ask for marriage, and promised to become the wife of the princess with Wen".
In the story of Princess Wencheng passed down by word of mouth in later generations, the princess always took the image of a peace messenger and resolutely embarked on the road of harmony.
In fact, this daughter of the Li Tang clan was also an innocent girl.
*Wang Tongji records that when Tang Taizong decided to marry Princess Wencheng to Tibet, the princess cried:"There is no Dharma in Tibet, the land is barren, the roads are far away, it is difficult to see parents and brothers, and children do not want to go. ”
Princess Wencheng may be a Buddhist believer, and at first she was reluctant to marry Tubo, which Buddhism was not yet prevalent, and she could not let go of the land and relatives in her hometown.
Tang Taizong had no choice but to persuade the princess to put the country first, and prepared a rich dowry for her, including "three hundred and six classics of scripture and history", a large number of silk, gold, silver, jade, as well as the Central Plains' diet, construction, technology, medicine, calendar, and astrological works.
Among them, the most valuable treasure is a statue of Shakyamuni and others from India.
*The Legend of the Princes says that this is a dowry that Princess Wencheng asked for from Tang Taizong. During the same period, Songtsen Gampo also married the princess of Nai Bhara (present-day Nepal), who also brought a Buddha statue from Nepal. Since then, Buddhism has taken root in Tibet.
On the fifteenth day of the first month of the fifteenth year of Zhenguan (641), it was supposed to be a reunion and the city was full of jubilation, but Princess Wencheng, who was burdened with heavy responsibilities, let go of her attachment to her hometown, took over the historical mission, and set off from the Anyuan Gate of Chang'an in the west, and embarked on the long Tangbo Ancient Road. This year, she was only 17 years old.
At that time, the distance from Chang'an to Luoqi was more than 5,000 miles, and a round trip usually took 8-10 months.
Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered his brothers of the same clan and the king of JiangxiaLi DaozongEscorted with knots. Li Daozong not only had a high status in the clan, but also a famous general in the early Tang Dynasty, a few years ago he was ordered to pursue Tuyuhun and go deep into the source of the river, and he still remembered this road that would later be known as the "Tangbo Ancient Road", and he would become the main marrying person of this marriage. In addition, there was a guard and a band, as well as wet nurses, maids, craftsmen, etc.
Princess Wencheng and her entourage will pass through Qinghai. Before leaving, Tang Taizong had ordered King Tuyuhun to build a resting house for the princess near the Dahe Dam in present-day Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and to prepare chariots, horses, and food along the way.
Along the way, Princess Wencheng left behind many moving legends.
According to legend, Tang Taizong gave her a first-class cast sun and moon treasure mirror, and since then the Chiling in the east of Qinghai Lake has been renamed Sun Moon Mountain; She shed tears of homesickness on the shore of Qinghai Lake, turning into an inverted river.
It is said that in order to welcome the princess, the people of Tibet composed a folk song for her, "Alas Ma Lin'er", which has been passed down to this day, to encourage her to move forward bravely, and the lyrics of one passage are to the effect: "...Don't be afraid of the wide steppe, where a hundred good horses welcome you. Don't be afraid of the snowy mountains, there are a hundred well-tame yaks to welcome you. Don't be afraid to wade into a deep river, a hundred horse-headed boats will welcome you. ”
After Princess Wencheng and her entourage passed through the continuous grasslands of the Hehuang region, they could see from a distance that Songtsen Gampo was waiting for the bride to arrive on the shore of the Baihai Sea (present-day Ngoling Lake). In history, Songtsen Gampo paid a visit to Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, as a son-in-law, and then walked to Princess Wencheng, who was dressed gorgeously. The beauty of the dress and etiquette of the princess of the Tang Dynasty amazed Songtsen Gampo, and even "looked down with shame".
After that, Songtsen Gampo welcomed Princess Wencheng to Luozhi and held a grand wedding, finally marrying Bai Fumei and walking on the pinnacle of life. After the marriage, Songtsen Gampo issued an order, saying:"My father and ancestors did not intermarry in the country, and now I have the princess of the Tang Dynasty, which is a lot of luck. Build a city for the princess, that she may boast to her offspring. ”
The palace built by Songtsen Gampo for Princess Wencheng was part of the predecessor of the Potala Palace. According to the record of "** Wangchen Ji", during the time of Songtsan Gampo, "all the palaces and forts are strictly decorated with bells and Buddha dust, pearl treasures, and tassels, which are extremely gorgeous, comparable to the emperor's palace." Between the king and the princess's palace, there are silver bridges and copper bridges as links. On the top of the palaces, sharp swords and spears were erected, about a thousand, with wind flags tied on them, fluttering with the wind." Later, the palace suffered lightning strikes, fires, and wars, and only one Guanyin Hall remained, and the rest of the buildings were rebuilt on the ruined ruins.
Potala Palace. Source: Photo.com.
After Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, Songtsen Gampo accepted the titles of Duwei of the Tang Dynasty and the King of Xihai County, and called himself a "minister" in a letter to the Tang Dynasty, and asked the Confucian scholars of the Central Plains to help him take charge of the documents and chapters, and sent the children of the nobles to study classics such as "poems" and "books".
Under the influence of Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng, Tibet"Gradually Mu Hua Feng".
After putting an end to the chaotic situation of Tibetan division, Songtsen Gampo implemented reforms in Tibet, often modeled after the Tang system.
Songtsen Gampo will be divided into 6 levels and 12 levels, set up the "big treatise" and "small treatise" as the prime minister, in charge of political affairs, in the "Tang Fan League Monument", you can see that the prime minister of Tubo has given the title of "Tongping Zhangshi", which means to participate in the edict. Some scholars believe that "the political organization of Tibet is completely the same as China, and it can be known if you look at the official name of Tubo in the "Monument of the Tang Dynasty Alliance", which imitates China."
In addition, legally, Songtsen Gampo also formulated the "Ten Virtuous Precepts" and the "Sixteen Rules for Being a Human Being" to maintain the ruling order; Economically, he learned the Tang Dynasty's uniform land system, allocated public land, set up household registers, managed households and livestock, and sent people to the Tang Dynasty to "ask for silkworm seeds", and learned from the Han land to raise silkworms, reeling silk, and weaving; Culturally, the Tibetan script was created, so that Tubo got out of the ignorant era of "knotted rope and tooth wood".
History, after the reign of Songtsen Gampo,"In the land of Xirong, Tibet is strong".
Songtsen Gampo was always concerned about the old men of the Tang Dynasty, sent envoys to pay tribute many times, and provided military support to the Tang Dynasty with a strong army.
At that time, King Qiuci was rude to the Tang Dynasty and invaded neighboring countries. The Tang Dynasty sent troops to crusade and recruited soldiers from Tubo, Tiele, Turkic, and Tuyuhun to march together. Songtsen Gampo obeyed the dispatch and sent troops to the battle.
Another time, the Tang Dynasty envoy Wang Xuance sent an envoy to Tianzhu (now India), coinciding with the civil strife in Tianzhu, Wang Xuance only 30 people to deal with the rebellious army, and then retreated to the west of Tubo, asked for help from Songtsen Gampo, and was assisted by the army of Tubo and Niboro, and attacked the tea and Luo city in Zhongtianzhu, and won a great victory.
In the twenty-first year of Zhenguan (647), Taizong of the Tang Dynasty sent troops to conquer Goguryeo. After the class, Songtsen Gampo once again sent Lu Dongzan into the court, dedicated a 7-foot "golden goose" to Tang Taizong, presented a congratulatory watch, and wrote: "The Holy Son of Heaven pacifies the Quartet, the country where the sun and the moon shine, and is a concubine, while Goryeo is far away, and he is not a courtier." The Son of Heaven received millions of his own, and he asked for it, and the city fell into battle, and it was just around the corner. Yi Di only heard that His Majesty was driving, and between the few advances, he had heard that he had returned to the country. The geese flew faster, not as fast as His Majesty ......”
The Tibetan congratulatory table also says, "Nu Xi pre-Zixu, happy Baichangyi", which means that I, as the son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty, celebrate your victory even more than any other ethnic group.
Two years later, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty died, and Songtsen Gampo, as the son-in-law of the Tang Dynasty, offered fifteen kinds of gold, silver and jewelry to Zhaoling. He also wrote a letter to the eldest grandson Wuji, the uncle of the new emperor Tang Gaozong, saying: "At the beginning of the reign of the Son of Heaven, if there are disloyal ministers, I can lead troops to fight against them." ”
In the same year (650 years), Songtsan Gampo, who admired the Tang Dynasty and regarded himself as a "son-in-law", came to the end of his life. One said that he died of a plague spread from Mumbra, and the other said that he was assassinated by Bon, a native sect of Tibet that hated Buddhism.
When Songtsen Gampo died, Princess Wencheng was only 26 years old, she did not drown in the vast annals of history, but stayed in Tibet, and followed her maids and craftsmen, together with the Tang Dynasty's metallurgy, farming, textile, construction, pottery, winemaking, papermaking, calendar, ** and other technologies into Tibet.
The lineage of the Tubo Dynasty is in Tibet"Milk is turned into cheese, ghee is taken from milk, and sweetened food is made. Silk weaving, straw ropes, clay pottery. ”Now, the farmers of Shannan will also say that the farming method of "two oxen lifting the bar" was taught by the princess.
From Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet to the third year of Longshuo (663) of Tang Gaozong, there was no war in Tang and Tibet.
According to the New Tang Dynasty Book, Princess Wencheng lived in Tibet for nearly 40 years, and died in the first year of Yonglong (680).
In recent decades, with the discovery of Tibetan historical documents, some scholars have found the cause of the princess's death.
According to the historical documents of Dunhuang and Tibet, when Princess Wencheng was in Tibet, a group of monks from Khotan, the Buddhist kingdom of the Western Regions came to this place, because Buddhism had just risen in Tibet at that time, the monks were difficult to survive in Tibet, some were forced to return to the world, and some died of starvation. When Princess Wencheng learned of this, she asked Tubo Zampu to build a temple to house the monks.
After more than ten years, the monks of Khotan lived in harmony with the surrounding households, until one year, black pox was prevalent, and Princess Wencheng unfortunately contracted pox and died. The Tibetan people were saddened by Princess Wencheng and became suspicious of the Khotanese monks, believing that they had brought the disease, so they drove them away.
This is a historical document that records the cause of Princess Wencheng's death, from which it can also be seen that Princess Wencheng's status in Tubo.
Just as "Princess Wencheng's Entry into Tibet" commented on Princess Wencheng, she"She has won the admiration of the Han and Tibetan peoples, and has become the goddess of light that cannot be blasphemed."
Princess Wencheng stage play. Source: Photo.com.
Princess Wencheng was the first princess of the Tang Dynasty to be close to Tibet, and 30 years after her death, when Tang Zhongzong was in power, she was the daughter of Li Shouli, the king of YongPrincess KaneshiroMarried to the 36th Zampu of TibetRuler with beads(Chide Zuzan).
Princess Kaneshiro is namedLi NunuSome historical books believe that she was the biological mother of the 37th Zanpu Trisong Detsen of Tibet.
The Old Tang Book says: "If I decline, I will prosper, if I prosper, I will decline, if I prosper, I will invade my suburbs, and if I decline, I will obey my teaching." "Before Princess Jincheng got married, the government of the Tubo Dynasty was once in the hands of the son of Lu DongzanOn the Chin TombIn their hands, Tang and Fan went to war again, fighting for Anxi and other places. After the death of the minister, Tubo Zanpu returned to power, and after several defeats to the Tang Dynasty, just like Songtsen Gampo of that year, he sent an envoy to the Tang Dynasty to sue for peace, sacrifice horses, and ask for marriage.
In the first year of Jingyun (710), Princess Jincheng bid farewell to Chang'an, followed the footsteps of Princess Wencheng that year, embarked on the road of harmony, and then lived in Tubo for more than 30 years, continuing to promote the exchange and integration of Tang Dynasty and Tubo culture.
Under her influence, the Tang and Tibetan borders settled for a while. In his letter to the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Tubo Zampu Ruler Dai Zhu Dan wrote:"The nephew is the uncle of the first emperor, and he was the princess of Jincheng, so he became the same family. The people of the world are all happy. ”
After Princess Jincheng entered Tibet, she funded monks to enter Tibet, built temples and translated scriptures, further developed Tibetan Buddhism, and asked the imperial court for Chinese classics such as "Book of Rites", "Zuo Chuan" and "Selected Works", which were translated into Tubo. The ancient Tibetan translations of Dunhuang such as "The Book of Rites" and "Warring States Policy" that have been handed down so far are powerful witnesses of this period of history.
In the twenty-seventh year of Kaiyuan (739), the news of the death of Princess Jincheng reached Chang'an, and Tang Xuanzong mourned for it and dropped out of the dynasty for three days.
Tashilhunpo Monastery. Source: Photo.com.
Peaceful development is one aspect of Tang-Tibet relations, but the military confrontation between Tang-Tibet cannot be ignored either.
After making peace, Tubo also violated the alliance of his uncle and nephew many times, fought with the Tang army, and made peace several times. After the Anshi Rebellion, the vitality of the Tang Dynasty was greatly damaged, and the Tibetans took the opportunity to expand their sphere of influence regardless of the friendship of their nephews and uncles, and once advanced south to the north bank of the Ganges River south of the Himalayas during their heyday.
However, the Tibetans fought for many years, exhausted by their lives, and at the same time formed a backlash against themselves while expanding their forces. By the 9th century AD, the internal contradictions in Tibet intensified, fell apart, and went into decline like the "uncle".
References:
Tang] Wu Jing: "Zhenguan Political Leaders", Zhonghua Book Company, 2022
Later Jin Dynasty] Liu Yun: Old Tang Book, Zhonghua Book Company, 1975
Ouyang Xiu, Song Qi: New Tang Dynasty Books, Zhonghua Book Company, 1975
Song] Sima Guang, Zizhi Tongjian, Zhonghua Book Company, 2011
Zhang Anfu: Tangbo Ancient Road: Re-walking Princess Wencheng's Westbound Road, Guangdong People's Publishing House, 2020
Wang Qilong, "The History and Culture of Tibet before Songtsen Gampo", Northwest Nationalities Review, Vol. 10, 2014
He Yaohua, "*Princess Cheng Enters Tibet", Yunnan Social Sciences, No. 1, 1998.