Author: Dr. Ye Deping Studio Dr. Li Junjie (Tibetan Buddhist layman)
When I was a student, I immersed myself in the brilliant achievements of the Tang Empire in all aspects, and focused on the history of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Working in a Buddhist institution, I became obsessed with Tibetan Buddhism. Hearing these two words of Tibet, I felt a special feeling in my heart, like a young girl with a beautiful age who was full of flowers and flowers outlined my soul, making my soul haunt my dreams, and the depths of my soul hid to see a bright lamp that yearns for nature, looking at a shore that makes people turn back to the truth and look up to the sacred. This sentiment drove me to embark on a journey to Tibet, listen to the natural sounds in the mysterious snowy land, respond to the inner call, find my true self, and leave no regrets in life.
Schematic map of the route of the Tang Dynasty Ancient Road
Driven by the dual interests of training in the discipline of history and exploring Tibet, I have revisited this "Tang Dynasty Ancient Road", especially following the footsteps of Princess Wencheng's two legendary stories: the Backward River and the Temple of Princess Wencheng. "TangBo Ancient Road" is the title of the second half of the 20th century, and the academic circles are mostly called "Tubo Road", which is an important passage with a long history in the history of Chinese and foreign transportation. This ancient road lying on the roof of the world is like a human blood vessel connecting the politics, economy, culture and customs of the Tang Empire and Tibet and other places, and it is also an important part of the Silk Road through nibola (Nepal) and Tianzhu (India) and other countries. After decades of combined fieldwork, the "TangBo Ancient Road" has become the focus of academic attention, the main line and branches of this route have been basically cleared, and it is considered to be a road network that includes multiple routes. Based on comprehensive documentary records and archaeological findings, the "Tang Dynasty Ancient Road" covers five provinces and regions in terms of spatial scope, including Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Qinghai, Sichuan and Tibet. It is not difficult to imagine that more than 1,400 years ago, the Tang Empire went out of Kyoto to The West of Chang'an, from Yancheng (Xining, Qinghai Province) to the capital of the Tubo Dynasty (Lhasa, Tibet), on a 3,000-kilometer-long ancient road with a long line of post stations, messengers, merchants and monks. In the "Book of the Two Tang Dynasties", "Tang Huijiao" and "Yuangui of the Imperial Household" and other historical books involving the diplomatic envoys of the two countries, there are more than 200 data records, trade exchanges, religious dissemination, cultural integration and military conflicts are also accompanied.
Statue of Princess Wencheng at the foot of Sun Moon Mountain
Panoramic view of Sun Moon Mountain, the mountain is full of prayer flags
Historically, the Tang Empire and the Tubo Dynasty had two political marriages for more than 60 years, and Tang Taizong and Tang Zhongzong both adopted a policy of peace and affinity to marry the women of the tubo dynasty to the Tubo kings Songzan Gampo and Chide Zuzan, historical books such as the old and new "Book of Tang" and "Yuangui of the Book of Records", and ancient tablets such as the Tibetan inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty alliance at the Jokhang Temple, all of which have solid records of text and physical objects. These clan women are the Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng that we are familiar with. Although the two have the same identity, later generations pay more attention to Princess Wencheng. This shows the stories of Princess Wencheng being woven by the Tibetans, such as the incarnation of Green Tara, mastering the art of divination, and Luo Cha Nu.
Less than 150 kilometers from Xining City, it took about 1:50 a.m. to drive along National Highway 109, and I arrived at Sun Moon Mountain and the Backwater River associated with Princess Wencheng. Sun Moon Mountain belongs to the branch of Qilian Mountain, located at the western end of Laling Mountain, with an altitude of 3520 meters. I stepped out of the car and climbed to the top of the mountain, where I was immediately cooled by the oncoming northwest wind under the hot summer sun. Standing here, I can see the vast and lush grassland. Sun Moon Mountain is recognized by historians as Red Ridge because its rocks are all red. This is the dividing ridge between the Tang Empire and Tubo and Tuguhun, and archaeologists in the 1980s found that it is likely to be the remains of the head of the "Tang Dynasty Boundary Monument", which was later collected in the backyard of the Huangyuan County Museum.
Pour the river
The distance between the Sun Moon Mountain and the Inverted River is about 10 kilometers, and there are two versions of their names, one is the realistic version. This is an orogeny that shaped the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 230 million years ago, the Qinghai Lake area became an inland basin, and 130,000 years later, the Hudong region highlighted the Sun Moon Mountain, and the small river that originally flowed into the Yellow River poured into Qinghai Lake, which is the Inverted River. The romantic version of Sun Moon Mountain is more than 1400 years ago Princess Wencheng set off from Chang'an to arrive here, she came down from the jade to look around, can no longer see the bustling and noisy Chang'an capital city trace, I believe she saw the scene is the earth desolate, snow peaks continuous. She suddenly remembered that her father, Emperor Taizong of Tang, had given her a Sun moon treasure mirror before his trip, and she also told her that chang'an could be seen in the mirror. The innocent heart shattered when he took the mirror above the Red Ridge, and only his own face was full of sorrow. So she angrily threw the Sun Moon Treasure Mirror off the cliff, and since then, the locals have renamed Chiling to Sun Moon Mountain.
As for the romantic version of the Backward River, it has a bit of a sad tone, and Princess Wencheng descends the Sun Moon Mountain and changes horses into the grassland. She felt that the elite soldiers under her father's command would not go to the frontier to defend the country, but instead exchanged peace with a woman and relatives. As she walked farther and farther away from her hometown, her tears flowed into a river, forming this backward river where "all the rivers in the world are to the east, only this stream flows westward". Yuxing's sister Princess Honghua had married the Tuguhun king Nuoyu Bowl a year earlier (640 AD), and they led their subjects to welcome her at the River of Falling. The sisters have the same fate, for the national interests in a strange country, dedicate their youth, when they meet, there is naturally an indescribable faint sorrow, the only thing that can be done at the moment is to empty everything, board the handlebar of the jade incense and swim with Qinghai Lake.
The appearance of the Wencheng Princess Temple, the cliffs are covered with prayer flags and wind horses
After saying goodbye to Princess Honghua and Princess Nozomi, Princess Wencheng crossed the Bayankara Mountains, crossed the Qingshui River, and arrived at the Tongtian River Zhimenda Ferry. This is a key point of the Tangbo Ancient Road, crossing the river in the winter when the ice is frozen, by taking the ice bridge to cross the river, summer and autumn by cowhide raft ferry. At that time, Princess Wencheng was riding a special cowhide raft, which was protected by subordinates who understood water on both sides, and there were horses in the water, and they reached the other shore safely in the rough seas. This is the place where the last difficulty of the famous Tang monks and disciples going to the Western Heavens to learn the scriptures in the famous "Journey to the West" is here. There is a sundeck on the east side of the Tongtianhe Bridge, which is where they come ashore to dry the warp scrolls. After crossing the Tongtian River, Princess Wencheng stayed in Jiegu Town for a month. The town has long served as an important trade distribution center between Xining, Kangding and Lhasa. After walking along the Batang River for more than 10 kilometers, then crossing the bridge and turning back along the green mountain, turning into the Bena Ditch to see the quiet valley, I saw a three-story temple with two corners standing against the cliff. It is the Wencheng Princess Temple that Tibetans worship for many years. The temple was built in 1311 (710) years ago, when another Princess Jincheng who had entered Tibet and was close to her, when she passed through Benagou and found that Princess Wencheng had left nine statues of Buddha, she sent people to the statue to build a temple and gave it the name Princess Wencheng Temple.
Wencheng Princess Temple
It is said that Princess Wencheng and Songtsen Gampo spent their honeymoon here for a full month, and the most legendary story is the story of the mountain god cutting down the tree and clearing the road, and the dragon king appearing to meet the driver. The Princess ordered the Accompanying Chang'an craftsmen to help the Tibetans cultivate land, and also taught the techniques of growing vegetables, grinding noodles, brewing wine, and more importantly, directing the craftsmen to carve dozens of Buddha statues and many pagodas on the rock walls in the ditch to promote Buddhism.
I entered the temple, and the incense case was lit with rows of butter lamps, and two ribbons of silk draped down from the beams, hanging with dedicated hada. Nine reliefs of the Great Buddha are enshrined on the cliff wall, with the Great Sun Rulai in the middle, which is said to have the same blessing as Shakyamuni Buddha at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. On both sides stood eight bodhisattvas, including Puxian, Manjushri, Vajrapani, Vajrapani, Void, Guanyin, Maitreya, and Jizo. The whole group of reliefs is still mountainous, magnificent and magnificent, and the craftsmanship can be described as exquisite. The guide diagram standing in front of the temple describes that this is the earliest large-scale relief group of Buddhist cliffs in Qinghai, and in 1957 it was listed as a key cultural relics protection unit at the provincial level in Qinghai. Princess Wencheng's follow-up story is that she left Yushu for Lhasa, and the Tibetans, clinging to her teachings, carved the footprints and appearance of the tabernacle where she lived in stone, poured ghee, and glued wool to show her highest courtesy blessings. To this day, many Tibetans still come to worship and pray for Princess Wencheng to continue to bless them.
Wencheng Princess Temple Scenic Area Guide
Although the role of the Tangbo Ancient Road has now been replaced by modern transportation, the ancient relics and colorful ethnic customs left along the way, as well as the rich and varied landforms, have become the objects of pilgrims' pursuit. I am no exception. I continued my journey to explore Tibet, ending in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. This trip put a beautiful end to my quest for Princess Wencheng 1400 years ago, whose entry into Tibet built a cultural bridge between the two countries, and the import of Central Plains cultures such as craftsmanship, farming, wine, classics, and zhanzheng brought earth-shaking changes to its society, economy and culture. Princess Wencheng's historical achievements are like shooting stars forever shining in the sky over the snowy land, leaving endless memories and remembrances for future generations.