The Zhenguan era was a peak of the glory of the Tang Dynasty, and all the leaders of the Border Cypriot nation were proud to marry Tang princesses. Songtsen Gampo tried all kinds of ways to get the marriage from Emperor Taizong. In the end, Emperor Taizong saw that he had earnestly proposed marriage and promised Princess Wencheng to him. It is said that after Songtsen Gampo's first marriage proposal was rejected by Emperor Taizong, he did not hesitate to use force. So, did Songtsen Gampo really use martial arts to get married?
In lhasa's splendid Potala Palace, the temple of the king is still enshrined in the dignified and elegant statue of Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty. This woman of the Tang royal family became the Han family woman who was remembered the most by the Tibetan people. From the time she left Chang'an in the 7th century and walked into the distant snowy plateau, she has been firmly remembered for more than a thousand years.
<h1>What makes such a daughter's family receive such a lofty courtesy that for thousands of years, people's admiration for her is like a long lamp in front of the Buddha. </h1>
In the mid-winter of the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, Chang'an City was already full of snow, and Princess Wencheng left the bustling capital city of Chang'an and went to Tubo in the early morning after a heavy snowfall. The journey is about 3,000 kilometers, and the journey will cross mountains and rivers, and the hardships in between can be imagined. The Tang Tai Sect sent Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, as an ambassador to accompany Princess Wencheng to Tubo, accompanied by Tubo's envoy Lu Dongzan. After Princess Wencheng's luxurious wedding car, it is a send-off team that has been carefully prepared for more than two months. According to books such as the "Hereditary MingJian of the Tubo Dynasty", when Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, the team was very large, and the dowry given by Tang Taizong was very rich. There are "Shakya Buddha statues, treasures, golden jade bookcases, 360 volumes of classics and various gold and jade ornaments", as well as various cooking foods, brocade cushions with various patterns, 300 kinds of Bu classics, 60 kinds of Ming Jian, construction and craftsmanship works that identify good and evil, 100 kinds of healing prescriptions, 4 kinds of medical treatises, 5 kinds of diagnostic methods, 6 kinds of medical equipment, and also bring various grain seeds from the Central Plains. These dowries brought by Princess Wencheng later had a great impact on the production and life of the Tibetan people.
At the beginning of the seventh century, after several years of war in the Central Plains, Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, made the capital Chang'an in 618 AD and established the Tang Empire unprecedented in Chinese history. Subsequently, Li Yuan's second son Li Shimin ascended the throne. After Emperor Taizong of Tang ascended the throne, Li Shimin made great efforts to rule and created the "rule of Zhenguan". At this time, the Tang Dynasty was very powerful, and Chang'an became the center of Civilization in East Asia at that time. In the fourth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong defeated the Eastern Turks and was revered by the Turkic tribes as the "Heavenly Khan". The rulers of the western regions and the northern frontier came to Chang'an and reconciled with the Tang Dynasty, or were called vassals or paid tribute. Many leaders also asked the Tang king to marry as a great honor for their tribe. In the previous dynasty, there were already acts of peace and affection, such as Wang Zhaojun of the Han Dynasty, but at that time, peace and affinity were a last resort, but it was only for the sake of "eliminating the plague of the Xiongnu", and the marriage of princesses during the Tang Taizong period was more to show the prestige of the Tang Dynasty and spread the culture of the Central Plains. At the time of the Zhenguan dynasty in the Tang Dynasty, a Tubo appeared in the west. In the seventh century AD, the renunciation of Nong Zang succeeded him as Zampu, and people also called him Songtsen Gampo. He was a brave leader. After several years of war, he led an army to unify many tribes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and established the powerful kingdom of Tubo, centered on the cities of Luo.
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Songzan Gampo sent envoys to pay tribute to the Tang Dynasty. Thus, he began to deal with the Central Plains. A few years later, when he heard that the tang princesses had married the Turkic and Tuguhun khans, he sent emissaries to Chang'an twice to propose marriage, but both were politely rejected by Emperor Taizong of Tang. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Songzan Gampo led an army of 200,000 people to take advantage of the fierce battle between the Tang Dynasty and Tuguhun to secretly attack Songzhou and confront the army of Han Wei, the governor of Songzhou in the Tang Dynasty, and began the Battle of Songzhou, an important battle in the history of Tang relations. At the beginning of the Battle of Songzhou, the Tu army had an absolute advantage because it was well prepared. They attacked the Tang army in the area of present-day Ganhaizi and Xianchi, and achieved many victories, even forcing Han Wei's Kuozhou and Nuozhou to surrender to Tubo successively. For a time, the Tang Dynasty border began to panic, and the common people were worried that the Tibetan army would come over. Songzan Gampo's victory in Songzhou aroused the anger of Tang Taizong, who urgently ordered Hou Junji to be the commander-in-chief of the march, mobilize 50,000 iron horses from the Hexi Corridor that could recruit good warriors, and rush thousands of miles to attack Songzhou. Hou Junji led the elite troops to defeat the Tubo army led by Songtsen Gampo in one fell swoop. In the end, the victory in the Battle of Songzhou was achieved.
Although Songzan Gampo suffered defeat, he did not become angry and ashamed, but admired the strength of the Tang Dynasty. Songtsen Gampo was extremely grateful for the tolerance and generosity of the central government of the Tang Dynasty. He bowed down to his subjects, and while writing a letter of apology, he proposed to Emperor Taizong again. In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, he specially sent The Great Lu Dongzan to Chang'an to propose marriage, offering 5,000 taels of gold and hundreds of Tubo treasures. And Tang Taizong also saw the importance of border stability from the Songzhou War. He summoned Lu Dongzan, who presented to him the sincerity of Songzan Gampo's marriage proposal. After some consideration, Emperor Taizong decided to agree to Songtsen Gampo's marriage proposal. At that time, however, there were no women of the right age in the royal family to marry. Later, Emperor Taizong heard that his brother Li Daozong, the King of Jiangxia, had a daughter named Li Xueyan, who was born beautiful and elegant, and was influenced by his family since childhood, knew dali, and believed in Buddhism. Therefore, Emperor Taizong made Xueyan Princess Wencheng and prepared to marry Princess Wencheng to Songzan Gampo.
We don't know what kind of panic and worry this woman of the Li Tang royal family had in her heart when she first heard that she was going to marry away in Tibet. In the end, however, she agreed.
<h1>What kind of snowy holy land would that distant Tubo be? Longing and doubts hit Princess Wencheng's heart. </h1>
After more than a month of arduous trekking against the wind and snow, Princess Wencheng and her party arrived at the source of the Yellow River, where the water and grass were luxuriant, and the cattle and sheep were flocked, changing the desolate scene of the wind and the cold water along the way, which made people feel refreshed, and the sending team made a short rest here. Princess Wencheng was worried about the harsh terrain environment in Tubo along the way, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw the beautiful scenery here. At this time, the welcoming procession led by Songtsen Gampo himself also rushed from Luocheng to Heyuan. When Songzan Gampo saw Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, he worshipped and performed the ceremony of his son-in-law. Li Daozong invited Princess Wencheng to meet with Songzan Gampo, and the Tubo king who was galloping across the plateau fell for her when he saw the princess dressed in gorgeous and luxurious clothes, with a dignified demeanor and elegant demeanor. The Songzan Gampo seen by Princess Wencheng, although it was dark and rough by the scorching sun and wind of the plateau, but with his tall and strong figure and the boldness exuded between his eyebrows, it also looked very heroic. All the doubts that Princess Wencheng had before were swept away after seeing Songtsen Gampo.
The procession of sending relatives and greeting relatives stretched back and forth for several kilometers, and entered the city in a dignified manner. Under the auspices of Li Daozong, Songzan Gampo and Princess Wencheng held a grand wedding in accordance with the etiquette of the Han people. The people of all the cities sang and danced to bless their Zampu and his wife. Songtsan Gambu said to his subordinates inexorably: "My clan and my father have never had a precedent of intermarriage to the kingdom, and today I have received the princess of the Tang Dynasty as a wife, and it is really fortunate that I will build a magnificent palace for the princess to leave behind for future generations." Soon, a beautiful palace, the Potala Palace, was built. The houses inside are magnificent and gorgeous, the pavilions are exquisite and elegant, and the ponds with turquoise waves have been dug, planted with various beautiful flowers and trees, and all the structures imitate the model of the Tang Palace Garden, because Songzan Gampo wants to comfort Princess Wencheng's homesickness. In order to have more common language with Princess Wencheng, Songzan Gampo even took off the fur he was accustomed to wearing, changed into a silk Tang costume sewn for him by Princess Wencheng herself, and tried to speak Chinese to Wencheng Gong. This foreign couple, with harmonious feelings and love for each other, began their new life.
<h1>The arrival of Princess Wencheng brought many changes to Tubo. </h1>
According to traditional customs, the Tubo people use ochre soil to coat their cheeks every day, saying that they can drive away evil spirits and avoid demons. This is not only very ugly, but also very uncomfortable, but because it is a traditional custom, no one has raised any objections, and most Tubo people just follow the custom. After Princess Wencheng arrived in Tubo, she carefully understood and studied this habit and thought that it was unreasonable to do so. Therefore, she gently presented her opinion to Songtsen Gampo. Songtsen Gampo listened to her, felt that it made sense, and immediately ordered the abolition of the custom. At first, some Tibetan people who missed the old were very unaccustomed, but slowly they felt that it was convenient and beautiful to keep their true appearance, and everyone was willing to accept it. They were even very grateful to Princess Wencheng for breaking the stereotypes for them. Those Tibetan women who are like flowers can finally show their beautiful faces. The scribes who came from Chang'an with Princess Wencheng also began to work. They helped to sort out the relevant documents of Tibet and recorded important conversations between Songtsen Gampo and his ministers. Songtsen Gampo was overjoyed, and ordered the ministers and nobles' children to sincerely worship the scribes as teachers, learn Han culture, and study the poems and books they brought. Then he also sent a group of noble children to travel thousands of miles to Chang'an to study poetry and books, and introduced han culture into Tibet.
Along with Princess Wencheng, there were some agricultural technicians who went to Tibet. They planted grain from the Central Plains on the plateau. At first, many Tubo people expressed great incomprehension that they were busy in the land. At that time, although the Tubo people also planted some barley, buckwheat and the like, they often only planted it, so the yield was extremely low. And these Han people sowed the grain seeds brought from the Central Plains on the fertile soil of the plateau, and then carefully irrigated, fertilized, and weeded, and when it was the harvest season, the heavy fruit made the Tubo people's eyes widen. They had to admire the superb planting techniques of the Han agricultural technicians. At the behest of Songzan Gampo and Princess Wencheng, agricultural technicians began to systematically teach agricultural techniques to the Tubo people, so that they could harvest a large amount of grain in addition to nomadic herding, especially after passing on the technology of planting mulberry silkworms to them, Tubo also gradually had homemade silk fabrics, with fine luster and rich flowers, which greatly beautified the life of the Tubo people and made them happy. Songzan Gampo and Princess Wencheng worked hard to carry out reforms in Tubo, and with the proper planning of Lu Dongzan, Tubo at that time achieved rapid development in military, political, economic, cultural and other aspects. Under the influence of Princess Wencheng, the Han crafts of grinding, weaving, pottery, papermaking, and winemaking were successively transmitted to Tubo. The poems, agricultural books, Buddhist scriptures, history books, medical codes, calendars and other classics she brought promoted the economic and cultural development of Tibet and strengthened the friendly relations between the Han and Tibetan peoples. The gold statue of Shakya Buddha she brought with her is still worshipped by the Tibetan people today.
<h1>After years of efforts, Tibet dominated the western region and became a powerful barrier to the west of the Tang Dynasty. </h1>
In the first year of Yonghui, a year after the death of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Songzan Gampo also died. His grandson succeeded to the throne as Zampu, and because Zampu was young, most of the state affairs were controlled by Lu Dongzan, and the family affairs were handled by Princess Wencheng. Things soon changed again. Soon, Lu Dongzan also died, and his son Qin Ling made a big argument along the way. At this time, the relationship between Tubo and Tuguhun deteriorated, and they all wrote to the Tang Dynasty to ask for a judgment on right and wrong, but Tang Gaozong delayed ruling, and Qinling could not hold back, and raised an army to defeat Tuguhun. Unexpectedly, this move violated the majesty of the Tang Dynasty, and Tang Gaozong believed that before he could make a judgment, Tubo was arbitrarily using force, and simply did not take the Tang in his eyes. In the first year of Xianheng, Gaozong sent Xue Rengui to attack Tubo. Who knew that Xue Rengui's army was defeated by the Tubo army in the Area of Dafei River, and hundreds of thousands of troops were buried on the plateau, and Xue Rengui was almost killed. This fierce battle made Xue Rengui relegated to a commoner. The Battle of Dafeichuan was the biggest defeat in foreign wars since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. After the war, the Tubo army occupied the four towns of Anxi. The Tang Dynasty was forced to abolish the four-town system, the Anxi Capital Protectorate was moved to Xizhou, and Tuguhun was incorporated into Tubo and became its other part. Since then, between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet, there have been frequent conflicts between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet. The two sides fell into a hostile situation, and Tibet once became the greatest enemy of the Tang Dynasty.
Du Fu therefore wrote the famous poem "Soldier Carriage Line" that has been hanging for thousands of years:
Jun did not see the head of Qinghai, and the white bones of the ancient lai were not collected.
The new ghosts are annoyed with the old ghosts crying, and the rainy and wet chirping.
When the good news of the Tubo army breaking the Tang army was sent back to the Potala Palace, Princess Wencheng's hand that was reading the Buddhist scriptures was probably trembling slightly. Then, tears, silently falling! Such a situation made Princess Wencheng heartbroken. From the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, princess Wencheng married Songzan Gampo, to the first year of Xianheng Xue Rengui led an army to conquest Tubo, a full thirty years, Princess Wencheng's erudition and versatility had a great influence on the civilization of the Tubo state, not only consolidating the Tang Dynasty's western border defense, but also spreading the culture of the Han people to the western region. This was Tang Taizong's proud work, but unfortunately, due to the provocation of Qinling, Tang Gaozong did not make good use of this hard-won peace and easily launched a war, resulting in an uncontrollable situation, which made the harmonious situation created by Princess Wencheng for many years suddenly come to an abrupt end. In the first year of Yonglong, Princess Wencheng died of illness in Luocheng. The death of Princess Wencheng made all the Tubo people mourn. The Tubo Dynasty held a solemn funeral for her. Princess Wencheng lived in Tubo for nearly 40 years and has always been highly respected. To this day, Lhasa still preserves statues made by Tibetans in her honor, which is more than 1,300 years old.
Regarding the lineage of Princess Wencheng, some people say that she is the daughter of Li Daozong, others say that she is only the daughter of a distant family, and her parents are not available, and some people think that she is just an adopted daughter. But, in any case, in the annals of Chinese history, among so many women whose names were not recorded, she completed her immortality. She used her wisdom to leave a good memory in the hearts of the Han and Tibetan people! Her beautiful face is always as holy as a Buddha. There are words in later generations: "But the king of the world, won the name of the body and the back, poor white happened!" There are many more princesses who marry far away from Saiwai, and they exhaust their youth and bury their bones in exchange for a brief war to subside. If they are heroes, can they have the word "Scarf" inscribed on their tombstones? The wind and sand outside the plug blew their faces old, and their gray hair waddled their steps, but their attachment to their homeland did not fade for a moment. And going home is always so far away.
This group of young women, with their youth, memorialized and inscribed the rise and fall of a dynasty and the glory and disgrace.