In 629, the 32nd tibetan zampulangzhi Songtsam was poisoned, and his 13-year-old son Songtsen Gampo succeeded his father to the throne.
Subsequently, with the support of his uncles Tankor and The Chancellor Shangnang, Songtsen Gampo swept away the internal rebellion after three years of conquest, and in 632 AD, led his people across the Brahmaputra River and moved the capital to Lhasa (Lhasa).
In 644, Songtsen Gampo marched on Yangtong, killed the king of Yangtong, and incorporated the vast area and people of Yangtong into Tubo. As a result, Songtsen Gampo unified Tibet and established a powerful Tubo kingdom.
(Songtsen Gampo)
At the same time, in Chang'an, thousands of kilometers away from Lhasa, the Tang Dynasty also achieved unprecedented development under the rule of Li Shimin, creating the famous "Rule of Zhenguan" in history. The prosperous and fertile Tang Dynasty also had a powerful deterrent effect on the surrounding tribes, and an unprecedented grand situation of "all nations coming to the dynasty" appeared. Li Shimin was therefore revered by various tribes as "Heavenly Khan".
Songzan Gampo admired the fame of the Tang Dynasty for a long time, so he had a profound idea that had a profound impact on future generations: he wanted to marry the Tang and marry the princess of the Tang Dynasty as a concubine.
In 634, Songtsen Gampo sent emissaries thousands of miles to Chang'an to propose marriage to the Tang Dynasty, but he was rejected by Li Shimin's gentle words and did not succeed. When the messenger returned to Lhasa, he explained to Songtsan Gampo the reason for the failure of the marriage proposal, because King Tuguhun was obstructing it.
Songzan Gampo, whose self-esteem had been severely damaged, decided to attack Tuguhun by force, and at the same time attacked Songzhou on the border of The Tang Dynasty. The fighting continued and was glued. Eventually, relying on a surprise attack, the Tang army defeated the Tubo army and forced Songtsen Gampo to retreat.
In 640, the defeated Songzan Gampo sent the chancellor Lu Dongzan to Chang'an again to propose marriage to the Tang. Li Shimin did not want to rekindle the war on the frontier, and agreed to Songzan Gampo's request, ordering Princess Wencheng and pro-Tubo.
Princess Wencheng was actually just a clan maid. There is no record of her origins in the history books, and historians believe that Princess Wencheng should be the daughter of Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia County.
In 641, Li Shimin made Li Daozong an envoy and escorted Princess Wencheng to Luoji. Songtsen Gampo "greeted Heyuan with his own eyes, saw Daozong, and held the courtesy of his son-in-law." It can be seen that Songzan Gampo attaches great importance to this Tang princess.
(Princess Wencheng)
As the world's number one power at that time, Li Shimin's dowry for Princess Wencheng was extremely rich. In addition to a variety of jewelry, gold and silver antiques and various books, the most precious is a statue of Shakyamuni Shakyamuni's 12-year-old buddha. This Buddha statue is still enshrined in the Jokhang Temple, becoming a sacred Buddha that Tibetan Buddhists yearn for and worship all their lives.
After Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, she was greatly treated by Songzan Gampo, who not only personally crowned Princess Wencheng, but also crowned her as queen, ranking first among all princesses. At the same time, the palace was specially built for Princess Wencheng, and the murals of the palace depict in detail Princess Wencheng's difficult journey into Tibet and the unprecedented courtesy she received after arriving in Lhasa.
Songtsen Gampo also ordered people to build colorful statues of Princess Wencheng in the Da and Xiaozhao monasteries for Tibetan worship.
Of course, Princess Wencheng also brought the culture and advanced technology of the Tang Dynasty, such as cooking, textiles, medicine, sericulture and so on. Therefore, her peace and kinship are not political marriages in the traditional sense. She not only won a peaceful development environment for the Tang Dynasty, but more importantly, Princess Wencheng was the first emissary to sow the seeds of Central Plains culture on the Tibetan plateau, and the earliest cultural pioneer of the Tibetan plateau.
After Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, the relationship between Tubo and Datang entered a honeymoon period. Songtsen Gampo has always regarded himself as a "son-in-law", and the two sides have exchanged views and learned from each other in the political, military, cultural, commercial and other fields, making the Tibetan and Chinese communities a community, just as described in the poem "Since your lord and your relatives, half of the Hu style is like a Han family".
In 650, Songtsen Gampo died, and Princess Wencheng was once extremely saddened.
(Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng statues)
Although she was a bong and a relative, she did not have a love affair with Songtsen Gampo before, but the 9 years of married life made her deeply fall in love with this heroic Zampu. Songtsen Gampo's untimely death caught her off guard, and she fell into a deep longing for her husband.
Princess Wencheng and Songzan Gampo were unable to have children, and according to the rules of the Tang Dynasty at that time, the princess and her relatives could return to Chang'an after the death of their husbands. But Princess Wencheng dismissed this idea, and she wanted to continue to stay in Tibet and continue to contribute to the friendship between Tibetans and Han dynasties.
As a result, Princess Wencheng lived alone and lonely in Tibet for 30 years. During this period, she always cared for the Tibetan people and cared about Tubo, and made great contributions to the economic and cultural development of Tubo.
In 680, Princess Wencheng died of smallpox, and Tubo held an unprecedented funeral for her, and the Tang Dynasty also sent emissaries to pay homage.
After the princess's death, her noble character was greatly respected and loved by the Tibetan people. They built temples in the place where the princess once lived, enshrined her statues, and worshipped and worshipped her in the most respectful way of the Tibetans.
In the temple belonging to Princess Wencheng, the butter lamp is not extinguished all day long, the incense is flourishing, and the sound is swirling. In the hearts of the Tibetan people, Princess Wencheng is the Bodhisattva Niangniang, the "Buddha" sent by heaven to save them. The story belonging to Princess Wencheng was adapted into a Tibetan drama, which continued to be staged under wei Wei's snowy mountains for thousands of years, which made people tired of watching it.
For more than 1,300 years, on the snowy plateau of Tibet, anywhere on the roof of the world, we can still feel the breath emitted by Princess Wencheng, feel her ubiquity, and touch the deep imprint she has left on Tibet.
(References: Old Book of Tang, Records of the Tibetan Kings)