Friends who have been in contact with Tibetan friends must know one thing, that is, Tibetan compatriots like to say "Tashi Delek". Friends who know a little better may know that Tashi Delek is a Tibetan word of welcome and blessing, "Tashi" (bkra shis) means auspicious, and "delek" (bde legs) means good, which can be translated as "auspicious and wishful thinking" when connected. However, do you know how this sentence came about as a blessing?
In fact, this is all because of a beautiful misunderstanding related to Princess Wencheng.
There is a special historical background in this. During the Tang Dynasty, the official language at that time was actually Hokkien. This was due to the Anshi Rebellion during the Tianbao period, and some royal nobles and civil and military officials of the imperial court moved their families south, and it was not until the current Minnan region that they settled down, and over time, there was the current Minnan language. According to research, the Minnan language in the Quanzhou area is actually almost the official language of the Tang Dynasty at that time. Therefore, Minnan language is also called a living fossil of the Chinese language by linguists, leaving extremely valuable information for future generations of research.
After the background is explained, let's return to the previous topic. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin made peace with Tubo Zampu Songzan Gampo, which is equivalent to the Tibetan leader of today's Tibet. When the he and his relatives arrived in Tibet and saw the beautiful Tibetan scenery, they used the official language of the time, which is now Minnan, to ask the person who received the kiss: "Where is this?" However, in Hokkien, "where is this" is pronounced "sandwich Darrow", which sounds like "Tashi Delek" when read together. However, the Tibetan receiving officials could not understand what they were saying, thinking that the Han Chinese were greeting them, and the Han people had a smile on their faces at that time, so the Tibetan officials understood it as a greeting "auspicious and happy".
Later, Princess Wencheng and her relatives succeeded, and the friendship between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo was greatly improved. Moreover, Princess Wencheng was erudite and versatile, and had a great influence on the civilization of the Tibetan state, which not only consolidated the Western Frontier Defense of the Tang Dynasty, but also spread the culture of the Han nationality to Tibet, and Tibet's economy, culture and other aspects also developed by leaps and bounds through the nutrition of Tang culture. The greeting "Tashi Delek" also spread widely.