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Princess Wencheng (Tibetan: Mung-chang Kungco, Traditional Chinese: 文成公主, pinyin: Wénchéng Gōngzhǔ) (d. 680[1]), was a niece of the powerful Emperor Taizong of Tang of Tang China, who left China in 640, according to records, arriving the next year in Tibet to marry the thirty-seven year old Songtsän Gampo (605?–650 CE) the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet, in a marriage of state as part of a peace treaty along with large quantities of gold. She is popularly known in Tibet as Gyasa.[2] The princess was a Buddhist and, along with Songtsän Gampo's Nepalese wife, Bhrikuti Devi, is said to have introduced Buddhism to Tibet.[3]
The Chinese records mention receiving an envoy in 634 from Songtsän Gampo wherein the king requested to marry a Chinese princess and was refused. In 635/636 the Tibetan king's forces attacked and defeated the 'A zha people (Chinese: Tüyühün), who lived around Lake Koko Nor in the northeast corner of Tibet, along an important trade route into China. After a campaign against China in 635–6 (OTA l. 607) the Chinese emperor agreed to marry a Chinese princess to king Songtsän Gampo as part of the diplomatic settlement. As a marriage of state, the union must be considered a success as peace between China and Tibet prevailed for the remainder of Songtsen Gampo's reign.
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The wedding's cultural importance
Myths about Songtsän Gampo and his Chinese bride Wen Cheng that appeared around them during the Middle Ages transformed Songtsän Gampo into a cultural hero for Tibetans, based on his marriages[1]. It is widely believed that his state marriages to Nepalese princess Bhrikuti and Chinese princess Wencheng brought Buddhism to Tibet, and further, that their complicated relationship as co-wives led to the construction of the Jokang Temple, whereupon the city of Lhasa. These stories are included in such medieval romances as the Mani-bka'-'bum, and historiographies such as the Rgyal-rabs Gsel-ba'i Me-long.
Changzhug monastery in Nêdong is also connected with Wencheng: a tangka embroidered by Wencheng is kept in one of its chapels.
External links
- History of Jokang Temple, built by Songtsän Gampo.
Footnotes
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 202.
- ^ Dowman, Keith. (1988) The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide, p. 41. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0.
- ^ Laird, Thomas. (2006). The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, p. 35. Grove Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-8021-1827-1.
References and Further Reading
- Beckwith, Christopher I (1987). The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Richardson, Hugh. (1997). "Mun Sheng Kong Co and Kim Sheng Kong Co: Two Chinese Princesses in Tibet." The Tibet Journal. Vol. XXII, No. 1. Spring 1997, pp. 3-11.
- Richardson, Hugh E. (1965). "How Old was Srong Brtsan Sgampo" Bulletin of Tibetology 2.1. pp 5-8.
