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In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, on the Tibetan plateau, a powerful national regime appeared- Tubo.
Tubo is the ancestor of today's Tibetans, they were originally a branch of the Qiang people of the Han Dynasty, and then gradually moved westward, gradually developing on the south bank of the Brahmaputra River. By the middle of the 7th century AD, Tubo had gradually unified from a split to a new stage.
It was during this period that a national hero, Songtsen Gampo, appeared in Tibet, who implemented a policy of national friendship and established close relations with the Tang Dynasty.
In the first year of Daye (605), Songtsen Gampo was born in Zedang (southeast of Lhasa) on the Tibetan plateau. When he was 13 years old, the remnants of the Tubo Subi royal family were divided and a rebellion broke out. Another tribe in his western region, Yang Tong, attacked from the outside, and for a time Tubo was in the midst of civil unrest.
The young Songtsen Gampo took on the task of quelling the rebellion. With the assistance of the old Tubo clan Shangnang Bai Wusu and Li Lang Ke'er, the civil unrest was quelled and Tubo was reunited. Songtsen Gampo confiscated private land and the land of the Minister of Crime, created a state-owned royal land system, and used slaves to cultivate it. Slave labor was counted on a per-household basis, with each household being given land and then serving in the state in taxation.
On the political front, Songtsen Gampo created a centralized system. In the past, Tubo Zampu ruled over 13 minor kings. Below them, they had jurisdiction over 25 vassals. Each of them had a fortress, and they had no subordination to each other, but only a lax alliance with the king, and they met once every three years.
Songtsan Gampo divided the area under his jurisdiction into 8 major districts, each of which was called "Ru", and each "Ru" was divided into a number of thousand households, and the whole people (free people) were soldiers. Military and civil administration are governed separately. Each "ru" has 1 marshal, adjutant general, and 1 judge, and each "ru" has its own "ru horse" with different coat colors and "ru flag" with different patterns and different colors.
The official who administers the military is named "Higashimoto" (千戶長), and the official who manages the civil administration is "Deba". Eight or more, there are also terracotta marshals and terracotta marshals, and their status is equivalent to that of deputy prime ministers. The head of a thousand households was under the command of the official Shangshu. The prime minister has greater power, is in charge of both military power and civil affairs, and oversees all internal and external state affairs, and is finally decided by the king.
The king and the officials met once a year, and the king demanded that these officials be faithful to their duties, and when the league met, they reviewed the army and surveyed the household.
Songtsen Gampo's newly built systems and policies consolidated the unity within Tibet.
In the north of Tubo, as the Tang Dynasty defeated the Turks and Tuguhuns, the Dangxiang, Duomi, Bailan, Gangsang, and Misang, which had been ruled by the Turkic Tuguhuns in the past, all paid tribute to Songtsan Gampo. Tubo's territory expanded to present-day western Gansu, southern Qinghai, and part of Xinjiang.
Tubo had direct contact with the Tang Dynasty and Tianzhu, and both countries had an important influence on Tubo.
Because of the constant wars between Tubo and Yangtong, Songtsen Gampo and Tang maintained peaceful and friendly relations. In order to establish a close relationship with the Tang Dynasty, Songtsen Gampo sent envoys to Chang'an in the eighth year of Zhenguan (634), and from then on the sino-Tibetan relations developed to a new stage.
Seven years later, Songtsen Gampo sent Lu Dongzan (the Tibetan history book title "Lungar") to Tang. He set out from Luoji (present-day Lhasa) and traveled thousands of miles of grassland to the capital of the Tang Dynasty, where he offered Tang Taizong a large amount of gold jewelry instead of Songzan Gampo for marriage proposals.
Emperor Taizong of Tang, attaching importance to Sino-Tibetan friendship, promised to marry his daughter Princess Wencheng to Songzan Gampo, and sent Li Daozong, the King of Shangshu Jiangxia, to escort him into Tibet.
After the news of Princess Wencheng's marriage reached Tubo, it aroused great joy and interest among the Tubo people. In order to reduce the hardships of the princess's journey, they prepared horses, yaks, boats, food and water in many places to show a warm welcome to the princess.
The Tubo king Songtsen Gampo personally led a large group of attendants and escorts from Luoji (present-day Lhasa) to Qinghai to meet them.
Emperor Taizong of Tang built a palace for Princess Wencheng and her party in advance in Heyuan, in southern Qinghai, and everywhere they passed, officials and people greeted them. More than a month later, the princess arrived at Heyuan and met with Songtsen Gampo, who had come to greet her, in Baihai, near Heyuan. At that time, Songzan Gampo, as the son-in-law of Emperor Tang, met with Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, who had come to see him off, thanked Tang Taizong, and asked Li Daozong to greet Emperor Taizong on behalf of him. Songzan Gampo accompanied Princess Wencheng to Luoji.
Songtsen Gampo originally lived in a tent, and in order to marry Princess Wencheng, he built a gorgeous palace in Luo, which is now the Potala Palace. In this royal palace, he and Princess Wencheng held a grand wedding. Today, the Potala Palace still preserves the remains of the cave house when Princess Wencheng and Songtsen Gampo were married.
Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet is a major event in the history of Tibet and has left many legends over the years. In the legend, she literally became a god. This is not only because Tang Taizong married the kind and talented and beautiful princess to the Tubo king, which is a glorious and memorable event, but more importantly, the princess's entry into Tibet promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between Han and Tibet, and brought vital benefits to the Tubo people.
On the way to Tubo by Princess Wencheng, the Tubo people associated many place names with Princess Wencheng. For example, qinghai has a sun and moon mountain, which is where the Qinghai-Tibet Highway must pass now. It is said that 1300 years ago, when Princess Wencheng arrived here, she felt that after passing through this mountain, it was another heavy day, and the sadness of being far away from home was inevitably touched by the scenery. In order to comfort her, Tang Taizong specially cast a model of the sun and moon with gold, sent it from afar, and asked her to take it with him, so as not to avoid suspense. Since then, this mountain has been named Sun Moon Mountain. At present, there is still a stele on the mountain, and the three characters of "Sun Moon Mountain" engraved on the stele are still faintly visible.
Qinghai also has an inverted river, which flows into Qinghai Lake from east to west. Legend has it that Princess Wencheng started from this river and wanted to abandon the car and ride a horse and enter the grassland. She felt that the distance between her and her hometown was getting farther and farther away from now on, and she couldn't help but cry bitterly. The princess's cry touched the heavens and the earth, and as a result, the phenomenon of "all the rivers under the heavens go east, and only this water flows westwards" occurred here. It is said that this is how the name of the River of Inverted Flows came from.
Princess Wencheng made significant contributions to the economic and cultural development of Tibet.
Princess Wencheng arrived in Tubo and brought not only various grains and vegetable seeds, but also handicrafts, medicinal herbs, tea leaves and various books.
Before Princess Wencheng, Tubo already had agriculture, but the operation was rough. They only surrounded a large piece of land with stones, cultivated it, and did not know how to prepare the land or maintain the water and soil. After the introduction of advanced production technology in the Tang Dynasty, small plots of farmland appeared and learned to prevent soil erosion and level the land.
A large part of the handicraft industry in Tibet was directly established by Han craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty, such as winemaking, papermaking, and ink making. Princess Wencheng and her maids assisted Tibetan women in improving textile technology. Especially in the dyeing and pattern design, it has provided many improvements to Tubo, making Tubo's tritium a distinctive textile.
In the past, Tubo people all lived in tents, and after Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, the upper echelons all changed their houses. In terms of clothing, the Tubo people wear felt fur, which is clumsy and heavy. After the two sides made peace, some people began to use Aya luo silk. At the same time, the processing of grain with Tang-style stone grinding not only saves labor, but also reduces losses, thereby improving people's lives.
In the past, there was no writing in Tibet, and everything was knotted with rope or carved symbols on wood. Princess Wencheng advised Songzan Gampo to try to create a character. So he instructed Sanzab to study it, and later created a grammar of 30 letters and pinyin sentences. Songtsen Gampo carefully studied the new script and carved these words on the stone cliffs of the palace, and since then Tubo has had his own script. They translated the Confucian and Buddhist scriptures of the Tang Dynasty in Tubo, which promoted the development of culture.
Tubo itself did not have a formal and reliable calendar, starting the year in March, when the wheat was ripe. Princess Wencheng brought the astronomical calendar to Luo, and Tubo began to use the lunar calendar of the Tang Dynasty, calculating the time according to the twelve genera and sixty koshi, which was conducive to the development of agriculture.
Due to the close economic and cultural relationship between The Tang and Tubo, it inevitably led to a political alliance between the two sides. After Songzan Gampo married Princess Wencheng, he made a vassal of Emperor Taizong of Tang. When Emperor Taizong of Tang returned to Chang'an after marching on Goguryeo, he sent his chancellor Lu Dongzan to Beijing to pay tribute, and sent a golden goose, seven feet high, which could be served with wine and three axes.
In the twenty-second year of Zhenguan (648), the Tang Tai Sect sent the right guard to lead the governor Shi Wang Xuance to send an envoy to Tianzhu, and on the way encountered the Alona Shunfa army of Zhongtianzhu to plunder, and Wang Xuance sent people to borrow troops from Songzan Gampo. He immediately sent 1,200 troops and 7,000 Nibora soldiers to assist in the battle, quelling the rebellion, enabling Wang Xuance to reach Tianzhu and making contributions to strengthening Sino-Indian friendly relations.
In the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649), Tang Taizong died, and Songzan Gampo went to Chang'an to mourn, and offered 15 kinds of gold and silver jewelry, "please place before the spiritual seat of Emperor Taizong". Emperor Gaozong of Tang made Songzan Gampo the title of "Lieutenant of the Horse" and "King of Xihai County", and gave him 2,000 duan.
Songtsen Gampo wrote to Sun Wuji, the chancellor of the Tang Dynasty, saying: "The Son of Heaven is on the throne at the beginning of the throne, and if there are disloyal people under his subjects, they are willing to ask the soldiers to discuss it." This reflects that Songtsen Gampo cherished his friendship with the Tang Dynasty and regarded the protection of the security of the Tang Dynasty as the duty of a human subject. Emperor Gaozong of Tang praised him and rose from "King of Xihai County" to "King of Bin".
In the first year of Yonghui (650), Songzan Gampo died, and his grandson Mangsong Mangzan succeeded him to the throne of Zanpu and sent envoys to Chang'an to report the funeral, and Tang Gaozong sent the Right Wu Wei general Xian Yu Kuangji to mourn.
After Songtsan Gampo's death, Princess Wencheng lived for another 30 years and continued to devote herself to the great cause of friendship and unity between Tang and Tibet.
During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, the grandmother of The Tubo King Zhi Dai Danzhu proposed to the Tang government for his grandson, and Zhongzong married The Princess of Jincheng to Danzhu Zhi. In the first year of Jingyun (710), Princess Jincheng went to Tibet, bringing with her thousands of silk horses, as well as a large number of handicrafts and guizi music. Later, the Tubo King sent people to Chang'an to take "Mao Poems", "Ritual Records", "Zuo Zhuan", "Selected Writings", etc., which further promoted economic and cultural exchanges.
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The content of this article is compiled from the Sui and Tang Dynasties History of the Chinese reading book "Classic Chinese General History" jointly created by China International Broadcasting Publishing House and "Reading History".
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