Princess Wencheng · Lablypedia

Marriage proposal

In 634, King Songtsen Gampo sent an envoy to Luoyang, the Tang capital. When Songtsen heard that both the Turks and Tuyuhun had marriage alliances with the Tang, he sent an envoy to the Tang capital to make a marriage proposal. The Tang turned it down and the Tibetan envoy told Songtsen that initially the Tang had accepted but the Tuyuhun were responsible for changing their decision. Songtsen attacked the Tuyuhun and the Dangxiang. Following his attack on the Tuyuhun, Songtsen stationed large numbers of troops on the western border of Songzhou in modern Sichuan and demanded a princess in marriage or else he would lead 50,000 troops to attack. In 638, the Tibetans attacked Songzhou and conquered two prefectures but withdrew after Tang counterattacks. Tibetan sources state that they were victorious while Chinese sources say they were victorious. In 640, Songtsen made a marriage proposal to which the Tang accepted in order to prevent further attacks.

In 638, Tang and Tuyuhun envoys arrived in Tibet. Tibetan sources say they came to pay tribute while Chinese sources say Tibet did not object to being a vassal within their tributary system. Thirteen Tibetan missions arrived at the Tang court during this time which were described as tribute missions.

In 641, Princess Wencheng left for Tibet with Gar Tongtsen Yulsung. Both Chinese and Tibetan sources agree that Wencheng was not a daughter of the Chinese emperor.

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Life in Tibet

According to the Old Book of Tang, Princess Wencheng was married to Songtsen Gampo. Songtsen received the princess at Bohai Lake. A palace was built for the princess to live in. The princess did not like the Tibetans painting their face red so Songtsen banned this custom. In the Biography of Senior Monks Who Went to Western Regions for Scriptures, written by Jing Yi, a Tang monk, Dharma Master Xuanzhao met the princess while passing through Tibet. She gave him a warm reception.

Tibetan sources describe Princess Wencheng as “Rgya-Mo-Bzav”, literally meaning “the goddess from the Central Empire”.

According to Tibetan history, before entering Tibet, she did a geographical observation and found that Tibet's territory was shaped like Brag-srin-mo (an indigenous demoness) lying on her back. Temples were built to suppress the demoness. Princess Wencheng oversaw the construction of the Ramoche Temple. Together with Songtsen's wife from Nepal, Princess Wencheng assisted Songtsen with national affairs and contributed to the development of Buddhism in Tibet.

Legacy

According to the Tibetan history, the Songtsen Gampo's and Princess Wencheng's union brought hopes of promoting a harmonious, matrimonial relationship between the peoples of Tibet and China.

Princess Wencheng's life is depicted in texts such as the Maṇi bka' 'bum and the famed historiographies of Rgyal rabs Gsal ba'i Me long.

Tradruk Temple in Nêdong commemorates Princess Wencheng: a thangka embroidered by the Princess is kept in one of its chapels.

In literature

In the first narrative, which is from Chinese classical literature, Princess Wencheng was treated as an insignificant figure and the text paid much more attention to the ceremony of the “peace-making marriage” than to the princess's individual traits.

In the second narrative, which is from ancient Tibetan literature, the princess was portrayed as the incarnation of “White Tara”, a female deity in Tibetan Buddhism, and supposedly possessed goddess qualities.

The third narrative, which was shaped by the Republic of China nationalist discourse beginning c.1928 depicted a "re-imagined" history and image of Princess Wencheng. The re-imagined image gradually transformed her into a “transmitter of technology.”

In legends

The seated statue of Sakyamuni brought by Princess Wencheng is enshrined in the Jokhang.

According to legend, Rishan and Yueshan (Riyue Mountain) were transformed by the precious mirror of Princess Wencheng. Princess Wencheng walked to the dividing line between Tang and Tubo, and threw the Sun and Moon Mirror given by her parents behind her to cut off the endless thoughts of her relatives.

Legend has it that when Princess Wencheng and her party went to Lhasa by way of Chaya, they made a short stop in the beautiful Renda. In order to commemorate this place that made the princess feel relaxed and happy, the princess showed 9 Buddha statues including the Great Sun Tathagata on the Danma Cliff with her extraordinary good fortune and merit. The princess also plans to build a temple here. However, although there are towering mountains in this area, there is not a single tree. The princess used her magic power, just like Sun Wukong, the great sage of the sky, pulling out a few hairs from her head and blowing it on the mountain. On the cliff rock, a large forest miraculously grows. So the local people cut down the trees and built the Renda Hall. At the same time, the princess also taught the locals to open up wasteland and farm fields, divert water for irrigation, and use water mills. Later, the local people regarded the statue of Renda as a magical creation of Princess Wencheng, and regarded it as a sacred place. Good men and women from far and near came to the Renda Hall to worship the Buddha, burn incense and kowtow, to pray for peace in the world, good weather and happiness for the people.

Modern culture

Since the 2000s, the Chinese state has been presenting a propaganda spectacle in Lhasa which features Princess Wencheng. The spectacle is presented 180 times a year, both in a theatre or outside on a plaza. According to many observers, the propaganda spectacle misrepresents Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan Empire era, and Tibet's historically independent relationship with China.

The work "Princess Wencheng" was written by Zhang Minghe, a famous Chinese lyricist. From when Princess Wencheng first entered Tibet to the life of the Tibetan people, to her being praised and sung by the Tibetan people.

References and further reading

Beckwith, Christopher I. (1987). The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Dowman, Keith (1988). The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0.
Helman-Wazny, Agnieszka (2016). "Overview of Tibetan Paper and Papermaking: History, Raw Materials, Techniques and Fibre Analysis". In Orna Almogi (ed.). Tibetan Manuscript and Xylograph Traditions.
Jay, Jennifer W. (2014). "Li, Princess Wencheng". In Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Wiles, Sue (eds.). Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Tang Through Ming, 618–1644. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 204–205. ISBN 978-0-7656-4316-2.
Laird, Thomas (2007). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama. Grove Press. ISBN 978-0-8021-4327-3.
Peterson, Barbara Bennett (2000). Notable Women of China. M.E. Sharpe. doi:10.4324/9781315702063. ISBN 978-0-7656-1929-7.
Powers, John (2004). History As Propaganda : Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-803884-9.
Richardson, Hugh Edward (1965). "How Old was Srong Brtsan Sgampo" (PDF). Bulletin of Tibetology. 1 (2): 5–9.
—— (1985). A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions. London: Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-947593-00-1.
—— (1997). "Mun Sheng Kong Co and Kim Sheng Kong Co: Two Chinese Princesses in Tibet". The Tibet Journal. 22 (1): 3–11.
Slobodník, Martin (2006). "The Chinese Princess Wencheng in Tibet: A Cultural Intermediary between Facts and Myth". In Gálik, M.; Štefanovičová, T. (eds.). Trade, Journeys, Inner- and Intercultural Communication in East and West (up to 1250). Bratislava: Lufema. pp. 267–276.
Warner, Cameron David (2011). "A Prolegomenon to the Palladium of Tibet, the Jowo (Jo bo) Śākyamuni". In Bue, Erberto Lo (ed.). Proceedings of the Tenth Seminar of the IATS, 2003. Volume 13: Art in Tibet: Issues in Traditional Tibetan Art from the Seventh to the Twentieth Century. BRILL. pp. 3–17. ISBN 978-90-04-15519-0.