Princess Wencheng

She is also known by the name Gyasa or "Chinese wife" in Tibet. Both Wencheng and Songtsen Gampo's first wife, Nepali princess Bhrikuti, are considered to be physical manifestations of the bodhisattvas White Tara and Green Tara respectively.

Princess Wencheng 文成公主 རྒྱ་མོ་བཟའ་མུན་ཆང་ཀོང་ཅོ
Tsenmo
Princess Wencheng
Queen consort of Tibet
Tenure	641–680 or 682 alongside with Bhrikuti, Rithigman, Shyalmotsun, Pogong Mangsa Tricham
Born	620 Tang China
Died	680 or 682 Lhasa, Tibetan Empire
Husband	Songtsen Gampo
House	House of Li House of Yarlung (by marriage)
Father	Unknown, presumptively Li Daozong

 

In 634, King Songtsen Gampo sent an envoy to Luoyang, the Tang capital. When Songtsen heard that both the Turks and Tuyuhun hand marriage alliances with the Tang, he sent an envoy to the Tang capital to make a marriage proposal. The Tang turned it down and the Tibetan envoy told Songtsen that initially the Tang had accepted but the Tuyuhun were responsible for changing their decision. Songtsen attacked the Tuyuhun and the Dangxiang. Following his attack on the Tuyuhun, Songtsen stationed large numbers of troops on the western border of Songzhou in modern Sichuan and demanded a princess in marriage or else he would lead 50,000 troops to attack. In 638, the Tibetans attacked Songzhou and conquered two prefectures but withdrew after Tang counterattacks. Tibetan sources state that they were victorious while Chinese sources say they were victorious. In 640, Songtsen made a marriage proposal to which the Tang accepted in order to prevent further attacks.

In 638, Tang and Tuyuhun envoys arrived in Tibet. Tibetan sources say they came to pay tribute while Chinese sources say Tibet did not object to being a vassal within their tributary system. Thirteen Tibetan missions arrived at the Tang court during this time which were described as tribute missions.

In 641, Princess Wencheng left for Tibet with Gar Tongtsen Yulsung. Both Chinese and Tibetan sources agree that Wencheng was not a daughter of the Chinese emperor.

According to the Old Book of Tang, Princess Wencheng was married to Songtsen Gampo. Songtsen received the princess at Bohai Lake. A palace was built for the princess to live in. The princess did not like the Tibetans painting their face red so Songtsen banned this custom. In the Biography of Senior Monks Who Went to Western Regions for Scriptures, written by Jing Yi, a Tang monk, Dharma Master Xuanzhao met the princess while passing through Tibet. She gave him a warm reception.

Tibetan sources describe Princess Wencheng as “Rgya-Mo-Bzav”, literally meaning “the goddess from the Central Empire”.

According to Tibetan history, before entering Tibet, she did a geographical observation and found that Tibet's territory was shaped like Brag-srin-mo (an indigenous demoness) lying on her back. Temples were built to suppress the demoness. Princess Wencheng oversaw the construction of the Ramoche Temple. Together with Songtsen's wife from Nepal, Princess Wencheng assisted Songtsen with national affairs and contributed to the development of Buddhism in Tibet.

According to the Tibetan history, the Songtsen Gampo's and Princess Wencheng's union brought hopes of promoting a harmonious, matrimonial relationship between the peoples of Tibet and China.

Princess Wencheng's life is depicted in novels such as the Maṇi bka' 'bum and the famed historiographies of Rgyal rabs Gsal ba'i Me long.

Tradruk Temple in Nêdong commemorates Princess Wencheng: a thangka embroidered by the Princess is kept in one of its chapels.

Two traditional days, the fifteenth day of the fourth month and the fifteenth day of the tenth month of each Tibetan year, are marked by singing and dancing in honor of Princess Wencheng.

Historical relics such as the statues of Songtsen Gampo with Princess Wencheng are still worshiped and displayed for all to see along the trail of their wedding trip as well as in the Potala Palace at Lhasa.

Legend

Legend has it that Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wencheng and Princess Chizun took more than three years to build the Jokhang Temple together. The seated statue of Sakyamuni brought by Princess Wencheng is enshrined.

According to legend, Rishan and Yueshan (Riyue Mountain) were transformed by the precious mirror of Princess Wencheng. Princess Wencheng walked to the dividing line between Tang and Tubo, and threw the Sun and Moon Mirror given by her parents behind her to cut off the endless thoughts of her relatives.

Legend has it that when Princess Wencheng and her party went to Lhasa by way of Chaya, they made a short stop in the beautiful Renda. In order to commemorate this place that made the princess feel relaxed and happy, the princess showed 9 Buddha statues including the Great Sun Tathagata on the Danma Cliff with her extraordinary good fortune and merit. The princess also plans to build a temple here. However, although there are towering mountains in this area, there is not a single tree. The princess used her magic power, just like Sun Wukong, the great sage of the sky, pulling out a few hairs from her head and blowing it on the mountain. On the cliff rock, a large forest miraculously grows. So the local people cut down the trees and built the Renda Hall. At the same time, the princess also taught the locals to open up wasteland and farm fields, divert water for irrigation, and use water mills. Later, the local people regarded the statue of Renda as a magical creation of Princess Wencheng, and regarded it as a sacred place. Good men and women from far and near came to the Renda Hall to worship the Buddha, burn incense and kowtow, to pray for peace in the world, good weather and happiness for the people.

In Chinese literature

In the first narrative, which is from Chinese classical literature, Princess Wencheng was treated as an insignificant figure and the text paid much more attention to the ceremony of the “peace-making marriage” than to the princess's individual traits. In the second narrative, which is from Tibetan ancient literature, the princess was portrayed as the incarnation of “Green Tara”, a tantric deity in Tibetan Buddhism, and supposedly possessed goddess qualities and magical powers. The third narrative, which was shaped by the nationalist discourse during the first part of the 20th century, depicted a new image of Princess Wencheng, gradually transforming her into a “transmitter of technology.”

Since the 2000s, the Chinese state has been presenting a propaganda spectacle in Lhasa which features Princess Wencheng. The spectacle is presented 180 times a year, both in a theatre or outside on a plaza. According to many observers, the propaganda spectacle misrepresents Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan Empire era, and Tibet's historically independant relationship with China.

The the work "Princess Wencheng" was written by Zhang Minghe, a famous Chinese lyricist. From when Princess Wencheng first entered Tibet to the life of the Tibetan people, to her being praised and sung by the Tibetan people.