Section 4: Death of Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng’s entry into Tibet

The stars and Han people are noisy with their carriages and horses, and the jade pendants and candles are swaying in the wind. How do you know that I am lying in a poor and desolate place, and the sun is shining in the mountains, but the door is still closed.

For feudal empires, marriage is the cheapest and best way to strengthen bilateral relations. During the Han Dynasty in China, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, began to adopt marriage with the Xiongnu in exchange for peace. Along with the Tubo Dynasty and surrounding kingdoms

The exchanges became closer and closer, and marriages began to be introduced into Tubo's political life.

According to legend, when Guanyin Bodhisattva passed through Tubo, he saw that the people here were not happy, so he shed two tears. The two tears turned into two beautiful princesses, and these two princesses will live in Tibet in the future.

Rescue those suffering people in the Western Region. One of these two princesses is Princess Chizun, the Green Tara, and Princess Wencheng, the White Tara.

Princess Chizun comes from the Nibala Thakuri dynasty on the south side of the Himalayas. This country is now Nepal. Nibala is deeply influenced by Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, especially there are many people who believe in Buddhism. Even the king of Nibala

Because he believed deeply in Buddhism, he indulged in Buddhist classics all day long and ignored government affairs. The power fell into the hands of Prime Minister Nibala. Later, the king actually announced his resignation from the throne and became a monk. This reminded me of Nan in Jin Yong's novels.

Master Di Yideng, he was originally the emperor of Dali, and later became a monk. After the king of Nibala became a monk and passed away, the original prime minister Amusu Varma ascended the throne of the king with the support of everyone. Varma

Ma has a smart and beautiful daughter. Not only does she regard her daughter as the apple of her eye, but because of her smartness and beauty, she also has a high status in the hearts of the people of Nepal.

After Songtsen Gampo came to power, he began to lead Tubo to conquer the east and west, which was bound to disturb the tranquility of Nibala. Songtsan Gampo heard that Nibala had a princess as beautiful as a god, so he sent envoys to Nibala with gifts.

Proposal. After the envoy arrived in Nibala, he presented King Varma with generous gifts. However, because the two parties had few previous contacts, people in Nibala had no idea how powerful Tibet was now. Varma's attitude was very arrogant, and he did not know how powerful Tibet was now.

No envoy from Tibet was received.

The Tubo envoy Dongzan Yusong did not give up. He was determined to complete his mission. So he asked to meet the king again. In order to send him away early, Varma reluctantly met him. As soon as they met, he asked him three questions

Questions: Do Tubo have ten virtuous dharma, do they have monasteries, and do they have five kinds of wonderful desires? Dong Zanyu Song took out the three tips that Zan gave him before leaving, and answered the king's questions one by one based on the tips.

Question. Moreover, Songtsen Gampo’s letter to King Nibala also clearly stated his desire to marry Princess Nibala. If English is not available, the 50,000 Tibetan cavalry on the border are already in full formation, ready to conquer Nibala at any time.

Brahma.

After Varma learned about the power of Tubo, she began to change her attitude towards Tubo's envoys, knowing that she could not offend Tubo. Then she asked about Tubo's situation in detail, and agreed to marry Tubo. But the princess of Nibala did not want to abandon herself.

In his hometown, he was crying all day long. Varma told his daughter that he should put the overall situation first. If he rejects Tubo's request now, I am afraid that the people of his country will fall into the suffering of war. This princess

She was a kind-hearted girl. He didn't want his country and subjects to suffer because of him, so he had no choice but to agree to the proposal.

When Dongzan Yusong saw that Varma had agreed to Tubo's proposal, he quickly sent people back to Tubo to tell Songtsen Gampo the good news. After the news that the princess of Nibala was getting married, everyone was busy preparing for the princess.

Wedding. In order to make the princess's wedding grand, Nibala even gave the treasure of the country, the precious eight-year-old statue of Sakyamuni as a dowry. The people of Nibala hope that the Buddha can bless the princess. There are also many things in the capital of Tubo.

Under the lanterns and festoons, Songtsen Gampo personally led all civil and military officials out of the city 50 miles to greet the bride from Nibala.

Since Nibala believed in Buddhism, most of the dowries brought by the princess were related to Buddhism. This was the beginning of a large-scale introduction of Buddhism to the land of Tubo. From this moment on, the light of Buddha shines on the snow-covered plateau. Songtsan Gan

In order to win the heart of the princess, Bu built him a luxurious palace. In order to alleviate the princess's homesickness, the palace was built with reference to the architectural characteristics of Nibala. In the end, after more than 400 days of intense construction, a majestic and glorious palace was finally built.

The palace. This palace is the largest palace in Tubo - the Red Palace. It can even be compared with the palace in Zampu. It can be said to be a masterpiece in the history of Tubo architecture.

After Tubo married Nibala, he subsequently proposed to the Tang Dynasty. In 640 AD, Song from Dongzan Region once again served as a proposal envoy and rushed to Chang'an with betrothal gifts and treasures. Because the deputy envoy at that time wanted to marry his daughter to Songtsan

Ganbu, so he deliberately set up various obstacles along the way. Dongzanyu Song still led his men to break through many obstacles and came to Chang'an. After the last battle of Songzhou, the Tang Dynasty readily agreed this time

Tubo's request for marriage.

There are many stories about Princess Wencheng entering Tibet. The news of the successful marriage between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty spread. Countries of all sizes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even in the surrounding areas sent envoys with betrothal gifts to propose to marry Princess Wencheng.

Everyone wanted to marry this smart and beautiful princess of the Tang Dynasty. This incident made Tang Taizong feel very embarrassed. Legend has it that in order to convince the envoys from various countries, Taizong tested the envoys from various countries in the court to see who could win the final victory.

, which country can marry the princess and return to the country.

In the palace, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty presented six difficult problems to test the envoys. It was known as the "Six Difficulties in Wedding Envoys" in history. The first problem was to pass a ribbon through the nine-curved pearl.

The second difficult question is to identify the mother-child relationship between a hundred horses and a hundred foals.

The third difficult question tests the proposer's ability to eat meat, drink wine, and rub sheep's skin.

The fourth problem is to identify the roots and ends of wood of equal thickness.

The fifth problem is to identify the palace route.

The sixth problem is to choose Princess Wencheng among 300 beauties with the same appearance.

When the marriage envoys from all over the world were scratching their heads and scrambling for problems, Dongzanyu Song, who was worthy of being the most capable minister of Tubo, cleverly found a solution after thinking. Regarding the first question, Dongzanyu Song was not like the envoys from other countries.

Still using fixed thinking to solve the problem, he found a magic weapon to win - an ant. First, he coated one side of the pearl with honey, then tied the silk to the ant's waist, and placed it in the small hole on the side without honey.

, the ant must move forward hard when it smells the honey. But the ant's strength is too small. Even though the silk is very light, it is quite difficult to carry on its back. So Dongzanyu Song came up with another way. He kept blowing into the hole.

The air helps the ant move forward, so that the ant brings the silk out from the other side, and the first task is completed perfectly.

For the second question, Dongzan took advantage of the nature of mother and child. He first separated the mare and the foal into two places, deprived the foal of water for one day, and then put it in the place where the mare was raised the next day.

Thirsty foals immediately run to their mothers to nurse, thus making the relationship between mother and child unmistakable.

Eating meat, drinking wine, and kneading sheep skins are the specialties of nomads, but eating hundreds of sheep, hundreds of pounds of wine, and kneading hundreds of sheep skins in one day, while keeping the room clean and tidy, is indeed a task for them.

Test. Except for the Tibetan people, all other ethnic groups ignored one thing and the other. Because the number was very large, they were in a hurry when slaughtering the sheep. The wool and blood were all over the floor. After eating and drinking, they were very drunk, so they didn't even do the part of rubbing the sheep's skin.

When they arrived, Dongzan Yu Song cut the mutton into small pieces and ordered his subordinates to take turns eating and drinking. The sheepskin was rolled and rubbed according to people's seats. Finally, when the meat was finished and the wine was finished, the sheepskin was rubbed appropriately and the room was also

It didn't get messy.

Identifying the roots and tips of the wood seemed to be the easiest for the Tibetan envoys. They threw the wood into the water at a single order. Because the roots were heavy, they quickly sank underwater, while the relatively light wood tips

It floated on the water.

For the envoys from various countries who entered the Tang Palace for the first time, it was not easy to figure out the route in the palace during the day, let alone at night. Therefore, the envoys from various countries who were confused due to the influence of alcohol got lost in the huge and tortuous palace.

Direction. The masters of the Song Dynasty in the East Chan region excelled in secretly carrying lamps when going to banquets, marking the places they passed with indigo and vermilion, and controlling the amount of alcohol consumed at the banquet to keep their minds clear. They would use them all the way back.

With the lights illuminated, we successfully found our residence by following the marked direction.

The last question is to identify the true and false princesses. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty placed the princess among the maids. The envoys from various countries who could identify the true princess could marry them. But how could the envoys who had never met the princess take the princess away correctly? So the Dongzan Region

Song Xinsheng made a plan. He bribed the princess's confidants. The confidants said: "The 50th or more maids from the outside and the 49th maid from the inside are the princesses. The princess has a beautiful appearance, a moderate figure, and the fragrance of green lotus in her mouth.

And there is a cinnabar swastika pattern on her forehead." With this information, there was no suspense for Tubo to marry the princess. The next day, in the main hall, envoys from other countries thought that the beautiful woman and the gorgeously dressed woman were princesses, and they all came back with them.

Unique to the Song Dynasty in Dongzan Region, according to the description of "confidant", he found Princess Wencheng, who was full of green lotus fragrance.

In this battle of wisdom, Dongzanyu Song perfectly completed the mission entrusted to him by Zanpu. Emperor Taizong decided to marry Princess Langya's granddaughter Duan to Dongzanyu Song, and Dongzanyu Song expressed his

His mission had not yet been completed, and he was ashamed of Zampu's high expectations. In addition, he already had a good wife at home, so he politely rejected the emperor's kindness. Based on the perfect performance of Ye Fan's envoy, Emperor Taizong announced that Princess Wencheng would be betrothed to Tubo Zampu, and at the same time granted him the title of Princess Wencheng.

Dongzanyu Song was the right-wing general, and he tried his best to retain Dongzanyu Song, but in fact, he was detained as a hostage in disguise.

In fact, the above story is just a beautiful legend about Princess Wencheng marrying into Tibet. It may express the importance attached by both parties to Princess Wencheng's marriage to Tibet. This legend also gives the story a more interesting modification and is full of romance.

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In 641 AD, the Tang Dynasty selected an auspicious day and asked the Minister of Rites to serve as the wedding envoy. Instead of sending Princess Wencheng to Tubo, Emperor Taizong himself sent Princess Wencheng outside Chang'an. There are two roads to reach Lhasa from Chang'an, one is

One is to take Qinghai to the south to enter Tubo, and the other is to enter Kham directly. The former road is within the sphere of influence of Tuyuhun, and the relationship between Tuyuhun and the Tang Dynasty has not been very good, and they often send troops to harass the Tang Dynasty border. The Tang Dynasty once

In 634 AD, they sent troops to defeat Tuyuhun in the Kushan area, and also pursued King Tuyuhun all the way from Qinghai. They passed through thousands of miles of desert and arrived near Jishi Mountain. The Tang Dynasty knew that this road was very dangerous, so they chose to pass through Kham.

Route to Lhasa.

Then let’s talk about Princess Wencheng’s dowry. The Tang Dynasty attached great importance to this matter, so the precious dowry was very rich. Not to mention pearls, agates, corals and other treasures, there were also porcelain, silk and the like.

Two large carts were filled, and there were 360 ​​Buddhist scriptures, a variety of cooked food, dry goods and their preparation methods, as well as books on crafts, medicine, astronomy, calendars, farming, etc. Among these dowry items, the most precious

The most important one is the twelve-year-old statue of Sakyamuni Buddha. It is said that Sakyamuni's disciples made a total of 8 Buddha statues, and this Buddha statue is one of them. So how did such a precious thing flow into the Tang Dynasty?

This matter starts with the invasion of Tianzhu by foreigners. At that time, the king of Tianzhu was invaded by foreigners. Because he could not resist with his own strength, he had to ask for help from China. At that time, the emperor did not send troops to assist Tianzhu because there was also a rebellion in the country. However, he sent people

He sent a large amount of gold, silver, treasures, weapons and equipment to the King of Tianzhu. These things were also very important to Tianzhu at that time. With the support of these materials, Tianzhu finally won the defense war. In order to express his gratitude to China

, Tianzhu gave the precious 12-year-old statue of Sakyamuni Buddha to China, which shows the friendship between Tianzhu and China.

The procession of sending off relatives was very large, so it took a long time on the road. The procession of sending off relatives in the Tang Dynasty was traveling in the Gobi Desert. This was probably the first time for these people to come to the desert in their lives. They felt very excited when they saw everything in the desert.

I was curious and at the same time felt the strong pressure to survive here. Along with the wedding procession, many beautiful legends also happened during this period.

Legend has it that when the team arrived at the Nujiang River, there were no bridges on the river that could pass, and there were no ships that could carry people. So, the deputy envoy Dianlunbu, who wanted to sabotage the marriage, took the opportunity to tell Princess Wencheng that there was a water monster in the river.

No matter who comes to the center of the river, he will be swallowed up. However, the brave princess was not frightened by Bian Lun Bu's lies at all. She ordered her subordinates to cut wattle branches and buy cowhide to build cowhide boats. In just a few days, dozens of cowhide boats were built.

It was completed. On a sunny day with gentle wind and calm waves, the team began to cross the river. But as soon as they reached the center of the river, a strong wind suddenly arose and the waves were rough. A wave came over and capsized the boat transporting the sheep.

Sheep in five colors, red, yellow, blue, black and white, instantly rolled in the river. Princess Wencheng hurriedly asked people to salvage them, but the waves were surging and the water was fast. In the end, only the black and white sheep were fished out. Therefore, according to legend,

, vomiting sheep with only these two colors. After everyone’s efforts, they finally crossed the Nu River.

After his first plan failed, he tried another one. When Princess Wencheng was about to arrive at Luoxue City, Dianlunbu sent someone to send a secret letter to Songtsan Gambo, which said: "Our respected Songtsan Gambo

Pu, the princess of the Tang Dynasty has arrived in the land of Tubo, and she will meet Zamp in a few days. The princess is very beautiful, even the proud peacock will be ashamed and dare not open its tail when seeing the princess. But

There is an unbearable strange smell on the princess, which will make you vomit as soon as you get close to it..." So when Songtsen Gampo went to Bohai to see the princess, he kept covering his nose with his sleeves.

, to avoid smelling the disgusting stench. Princess Wencheng also thought that Zamp was really a person without a nose as Bian Lunbu said, and was very sad.

At this time, Dongzanyu Song, who happened to have escaped, arrived and hurriedly told Zanpu about the princess's virtuousness and intelligence. However, Songtsen Gampo was very dissatisfied with Dongzanyu Song's praise of the princess and suspected that he was accepting it.

After receiving bribes from the Tang Dynasty, he reprimanded the Song Dynasty in the Dongzan region. Due to Bianlunbu's slander, Songtsen Gampo did not welcome Princess Wencheng back to the palace, but temporarily placed them in Dongxiguo Mountain.

Inside the cave.

Princess Wencheng had no complaints. They relied on their own efforts, cleaned up the cave, and settled on Dongxiguo Mountain. Wisps of milky white mist curled up in the canyon not far away, and gradually dispersed under the sunlight.

Go, as if a fairy is gently teasing you with her slender jade hands.
To be continued...