Whenever I read the passage in "Dream of the Red Chamber" in which Tan Chun is married, I will be saddened by the pain of flesh and bone separation that Tan Chun endured. In history, there are also a group of women like Tanchun, they are great, they use their lifelong happiness in exchange for the temporary stability of the motherland, they are even more pitiful, they are facing unknown dangers on the road to their relatives, they need to endure the pain of homesickness, the pain of separation. However, Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty used her relatives to achieve her own happiness, which can be called the most successful princess in history.
First, the eccentric and strange, the five difficult marriages
In the 12th year of Tang Zhenguan, Songzan Gampo sent troops to defeat Tuguhun, Dangxiang, and Bailanqiang, and directly approached Songzhou of the Tang Dynasty, threatening to marry a Tang princess, and if they did not make peace, they led an army to invade the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin sent the vanguard of the Tang army to defeat the Tubo army, and Songzan Gampo was terrified, and before the main force of the Tang army led by the Tang general Hou Junji arrived, he withdrew from Tuguhun, Dangxiang, and Bailanqiang, sent envoys to apologize for their sins, and asked for marriage again.
This time, Songtsen Gampo was not as barbaric and domineering as before, but observed the etiquette and law, and sent the emissary Lu Dongzan to formally give the dowry with five thousand taels of gold and an equal amount of other treasures. Emperor Taizong of Tang then made the daughter of Li Daozong, the nephew of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan, a princess of Wencheng, and married songzan Gampo.
Legend has it that at that time, the kings of Tianzhu and other countries also sent emissaries to propose marriage, and they all hoped to marry Princess Wencheng to achieve a permanent marriage with the powerful Tang Capital. So the eccentric Princess Wencheng thought of a good way to "marry with five difficulties", she came up with five difficult problems, and threatened whoever could crack these five problems she would marry.
The five problems are: First: Aya satin wears the nine-curved pearl, that is, a soft aya satin passes through the nine-curved eye of the pearl. When the other messengers panicked and roughly manipulated the aya satin, Lu Dongzan did not hurry to tie the aya satin to an ant, and coated the eight holes of the pearl with honey, and then placed the ants on one of the holes without honey, and the ants naturally followed the honey fragrance through the other eight holes, and the aya satin naturally succeeded in passing through the pearl.
Second: Identify the mother-child relationship between one hundred horses and one hundred foals. While the other messengers were carefully studying the common characteristics of each horse to judge the mother-child relationship, Lu Dongzan first locked up the two groups of horses and starved them for a day, and the people were puzzled by his behavior. However, the next day, when Lu Dongzan opened the fence, the hungry ponies immediately rushed to their respective mothers and greedily sucked the milk, and the mother-child relationship was clear at a glance, and everyone was impressed.
Third: Princess Wencheng gave the envoys a hundred pieces of pine wood and asked them to distinguish between their roots and stalks. When the other emissaries were carefully studying the pine wood, Lu Dongzan threw all a hundred pieces of pine into the river, and when everyone thought that this move was a great disrespect to the Tang Dynasty royal family, they saw that half of the wood in the river was floating on the water, and the roots of the wood were slightly heavier and sank into the water, while the treetops were lighter and floated on the water, and the wood roots were clear at a glance.
Fourth: Princess Wencheng asked the envoys not to get lost in and out of the palace at night. The clever Lu Dongzan had already made a little trick to mark the important areas of the palace in advance, and naturally would not get lost.
Fifth: Identify the princess among a hundred palace maidens. When the other emissaries were still studying the appearance of each palace girl, Lu Dongzan had already taken the initiative to bribe the princess's nursing mother in advance, and the nursing mother described the princess's appearance and birthmark characteristics in detail to Lu Dongzan.
At present, the murals of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes still have the precious murals of Princess Wencheng's "Five Difficult Marriage Envoys", which has been the key cultural relics protection object of the country.
In this way, the eccentric Princess Wencheng was obedient to the Tubo emissaries, and her heart was full of admiration for her performance of wisdom and courage, perhaps the simple princess was full of beautiful fantasies about Songzan Gampo when she surrendered to Lu Dongzan, because his emissaries were already so powerful, then Songzan Gampo would definitely be more powerful, so Princess Wencheng was full of longing to enter Tibet.
Second, get rid of bad habits, and the couple has a deep affection
After Princess Wencheng was married, Songzan Gampo led his courtiers to Baihai near Heyuan to marry Princess Wencheng, and met Li Daozong, who escorted the princess into Tibet as his biological father, and personally performed the courtesy of his son-in-law to show respect for the Tang dynasty royal family, and then returned with Princess Wencheng.
Worried that Princess Wencheng missed her hometown and was worried that she would not be accustomed to the palace in Tubo, the meticulous Songzan Gampo personally built a city similar to Chang'an City for the princess and personally built a Tang Dynasty-style palace for the princess. Songtsen Gampo's intention for Princess Wencheng can be seen.
After Entering Tibet, Princess Wencheng was puzzled and even a little annoyed by the various bad habits of the Tibetans. According to the New Book of Tang, "The princess of the evil country faced the ochre and ordered the ban in the country. "The ochre painted her face red with red paint, the princess did not like the ochre customs of the Tubo people, and Songzan Gampo did not force Princess Wencheng to accept and learn the Tibetan customs she did not like, but instead ordered the prohibition of the ochre customs of the Tubo people."
Princess Wencheng then continued to propose to Songtsan Gampo to abolish some ugly customs, and Songzan Gampo adopted them one by one after deliberation, and Princess Wencheng made great contributions to the abolition of various bad habits of the Tibetan people and to the improvement of the level of Tibetan civilization. At the same time, under the influence of Princess Wencheng, Songzan Gampo also personally wore silk clothes, gradually admired the Chinese style, and taught the children of Tubo nobles to learn "Poems" and "Books" to promote the culture of the Central Plains.
According to the Dunhuang Tubo Historical Documents, princess Wencheng was crowned by Songtsen Gampo as a queen as a sign of respect after she entered Tibet. And after the death of Princess Wencheng, the history books recorded her as "Princess Zanmeng Wencheng". Being able to be called Zanmeng is the supreme honor of a Tubo woman, and after death, she can not only be called Zanmeng but also enjoy sacrifices, and among the many princesses of Songzan Gampo, only Princess Wencheng can enjoy this honor. Songzan Gampo can be said to both like and respect Princess Wencheng, and the two are also the same match as Lang Cai's female appearance, and they are deeply in love.
Third, spread culture and enjoy glory
After Songtsan Gampo married Princess Wencheng, the relationship between the Central Plains and Tubo improved day by day, and the commercial trade between the two countries became more and more frequent, bringing huge economic income to various countries, and Songzan Gampo admired the Central Plains culture for a long time, so he took the opportunity of peace to introduce the historical books headed by the Four Books and Five Classics into Tibet, and ordered the children of nobles to enter the Chinese academy to study the Central Plains culture.
Princess Wencheng herself was also full of poetry and books, erudite and versatile. She used the confucian and Mexican ideas to enlighten Tibet, advocated peace, consolidated the Tang Dynasty's western border defense, and spread the culture of the Han nationality to Tibet. She personally taught women to raise silkworms and embroider women to attack, personally taught the masters Chinese calligraphy and painting, and recruited apprentices to spread Han culture throughout Tibet with the hands of the master.
At the same time, when she entered Tibet, she brought a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha and three hundred and sixty Buddhist scriptures, after entering Tibet, she was deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, and began to combine it with Central Plains Buddhism, giving Buddhism a new look.
Princess Wencheng also humbly studied the Tibetan language, and after completing her studies, she translated Tibetan Buddhist scriptures with Songtsen Gampo and transmitted a large number of Tibetan Buddhist translations back to the Central Plains, which greatly promoted the development of Buddhism in the Central Plains. Princess Wencheng's great contribution to the development of Buddhism has led to her high reputation in Tibetan Buddhism and is considered to be the embodiment of the Green Tara Bodhisattva.
In the first year of Yonghui, Songzan Gampo died, and Princess Wencheng continued to live in Tubo for 30 years as queen, working to strengthen the friendly relations between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo. She loves her Tibetan compatriots and is deeply loved and respected by the people.
After Princess Wencheng died of illness, the Tubo people felt her kindness and built a temple for Princess Wencheng to commemorate her.
In contrast, Wang Zhaojun, who also went to peace during the Han Dynasty, was not so lucky. Wang Zhaojun and Hu Han Evil Shan Yu were married for only two years, and Hu Han Evil Shan Yu died. She and Hu Han Xiandan Yu had a son named Yi Tu Zhi Yashi. After the death of Hu Han Evil Shan, according to Hu Custom Zhaojun must remarry Hu Han Evil Dan's eldest son Tao Mogao Shan Yu born to the first Fu clan.
Wang Zhaojun could not accept it, and wrote to Emperor Cheng of Han and asked to return to his homeland. However, Emperor Cheng ordered her to follow Hu customs, and Zhaojun had to marry. In 20 BC, The carved Tao Mogao died again, and Zhaojun has been widowed since then, depressed and depressed.
Historical Reflection: Why Do the Same And Pro Have Different Endings?
Why is it that Princess Wencheng and Wang Zhaojun are both harmonious relatives, but the treatment and ending of the two are completely different? In my humble opinion, there are the following reasons:
1. The difference in the national strength of the dynasty to which it belongs.
The Tang Dynasty to which Princess Wencheng belonged was during the reign of Li Shimin Zhenguan, the national strength was very strong, and all the states outside the Central Plains were scrambling to make friends with the Tang Dynasty, so For them, Princess Wencheng was the patron saint who could keep their peace, and it was also a bridge to achieve dialogue and communication with the Central Plains.
Moreover, if Princess Wencheng was not treated well in Tubo, the Tang royal family would surely hold Tubo accountable, and Tubo's strength was not enough to resist the Tang Dynasty's attack. Therefore, Princess Wencheng is a fragile treasure for them, and it must be treated well in the palm of their hands.
And Wang Zhaojun is not so lucky, she belongs to the era is the Han Yuan Emperor and Han Cheng Emperor rule period, because the Han Yuan Emperor favored eunuchs, the Han Dynasty's national strength has long been declining, not much threat to the Xiongnu, so the Xiongnu royal family basically did not put the Han royal family in the eyes, even if Wang Zhaojun was treated badly, the Han royal family did not dare to hold the responsibility too much.
2. The identities of the two and the messengers are different.
Although Princess Wencheng is not Li Shimin's biological daughter, she is also the daughter of the royal family, she has the same blood as Li Shimin, her status is very high, and her speech is more weighty, so she can easily abolish the bad habits in Tibetan areas, and if Tubo is not treated well, she will definitely be condemned by the Tang Dynasty royal family. However, Wang Zhaojun is only a commoner, her words have no weight, and there is no powerful family behind her to support her, so she can only be bullied and go with the flow.
3. The area visited is different from the closeness of the Central Plains culture.
Tibet is closely linked to the culture of the Central Plains, the most influential is the Buddhist culture, Princess Wencheng into Tibet can be said to have a sufficient "common topic" with the people in Tibet, so it is easier to be accepted by the locals. And Wang Zhaojun entered the Xiongnu region is notoriously barbaric, look at the encounter of a generation of talented women Cai Wenji in the Xiongnu can be understood, most of the people in the Xiongnu region know very little about the Central Plains culture, Wang Zhaojun not only has no "common topic" after marrying, there is also a conflict in living habits, it is difficult to be accepted by the people in the Xiongnu region.
Since ancient times, many ancient literati have attacked Heqin, such as the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shanfu has a poem: "Who Chen Emperor and Fan Ce, I am a boy who is ashamed of the country." And "Send a concubine to an ansheji, and I don't know where to use the general." He expressed in a boy's tone the shame that arose in his heart because he needed the happiness of a weak woman to keep peace. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with sacrificing his happiness in the tone of kissing the woman.
But the reason why most literati criticize peace relatives is only because they only see individuals in history, and they only see the inner torment of princesses who are far away. But if we put peace and affinity in the whole grand historical pattern, we will find that peace and affinity is actually a great feat.
Although peace and relatives sacrifice the happiness of a woman, but if there is no peace and relatives, the two countries are at war, then there will be countless generals and soldiers killed, and behind these boys is a family, they are sons, fathers, husbands, if they all die in battle, how many fragmented families will appear in a country, how many women will have to endure the pain of widowhood, the wounds of losing their children, and how many children will have no father since birth.
If you are close, then the sacrifice will only be the happiness of one woman, but this happiness can save the happiness of countless women in two countries, and avoid countless families from becoming fragmented. At the same time, the cultural exchanges and commercial trade brought about by the peace and affinity can create great wealth for the development of the two countries.
Therefore, leaving aside the small pattern of personal gains and losses, and pro-pro has its great role in the development of history.
Author: Hao An, this article is less read of the original works of the Red Chamber. Welcome to my headline number: Read less about the Red Chamber and tell you a different story of famous books.