It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, a half a pack of cigarattes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Your position:Home->tibet china-> Tibet Introduction(2) (B) Dynasty, 7th century to 9th century. (1) The initial contacts between Tibetan, Huen People and Tang (Han) people. Just after the Jian people moved eastward to the central part of China and established their kingdoms, a nomad, Huen people, moved westward from the central-north of China to Jian Land (Qinghai or Amdo in Tibetan). It happened around the 4th century A.D.. Who was the Huen people? It was not clear in the Annals of Tang Dynasty, and was simply called the Huen people. Note that the kings of Huen people had surname `Mu-Yuon' which will classify them as a relative of Manchu nowaday. Huen people firmly established the Kingdom of Tu-Yu (may be wrongly pronounced as Tu-Gu) Huen in the major part of Qinghai in 7th century, while the Tang people held the fertile corner of Qinghai. As usual, there were disputes between the farmers in the fertile corner of Qinghai and the nomads around them. The Emperor, Tang Tai-Chung , sent the famous General Li Jin to lead an army with General Li Dau-Chung (we will read about him later on) to attack Tu-Yu Huen. Tu-Yu Huen was defeated and become a tributary of Tang (635 A.D.). the Emperor selected a girl from the extended royal family and she was given a title of `princess' to marry with the king of Tu-Yu Huen. The system of marrying `princess' with kings of other tribe or countries should be studied further. In general, Tang will marry a `princess' away only if the king had some statues. Although Tang Tai-Chung had 22 daughters, the real princess, none of them was married away. Furthermore, when one of an influential member of the court of Empress Wu went to marry a Turk princess, the whole court was against the marriage. They believed that it was not right and against the rule. Apparently, after Tu-Yu Huen was weakened by Tang army, Tibetan started attack it from the south (Tibet proper). Tibetan further sent a commission to the court of Tang to ask the hand of a Tang princess. However, Tu-Yu Huen was against and blocked the marriage. Tibetan became angry at Tu-Yu Huen and sent a large army to attack and drive it from the valleys around the source of Yellow river. Tu-Yu Huen hid at the northern shore of Lake Qinghai. The conflicts between Tibetan and Tang people started. After several indecisive battles, Tibet resent the commission with the old proposal. The court of Tang apparently recognized Tibet as a local power and became receptive. In the mean time, Tang conquered Turks to the north, and was interested in conquering Korea. A secured front in Qinghai was beneficial, and the marriage proposal was accepted. (2) The marriage of Princess Wen-Cheng and King Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo) It was according to the story of Tibet that there were 27 kings before King Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo). Most of them were just names. The history of Tibet in general began with him. We do not know very much about him either. For instance, we are not sure about his date of birth. Who was Princess Wen-Cheng? We are not sure either. She was a member of the extended royal family of Tang Dynasty of 18 years old when sent off. General Li Dau-Chung (King of Jiang-Xia ) spent 2 years in traveling with her to Tibet. There were at least three versions of the marriage, (a) Tang Annals told us that the marriage happened in 641 A.D.. The King of Tibet was very grateful and behaved properly as a son-in-law in receiving General Li Dau-Chung. He admired the Han clothes and ceremonies. He built a palace for Princess Wen-Cheng and sent royal members to Tang to be educated. The King passed away after 9 years in 650 A.D. and his grandson succeeded him. Princess Wen-Cheng stayed in Tibet for another 30 years. (b) According to the 5th Dalai Lama, the King was 25 years old and sent four columns from all four doors of Lhasa to meet Princess Wen-Cheng. Princess Wen-Cheng used her power of goddess to present her train of court to all four columns of the receptionists. The King had a Nepal Princess Tsu-Tsuang (Bhrikuti, daughter of King Amsuvarman) as wife. Although the Nepal Princess out rank Princess Wen-Cheng as wives, Princes Wen-Cheng out rank Nepal Princess (reincarnation of goddess Frown-Mother ) as goddess. Everything balanced out, the three lived happily thereafter, with some minor problems which made the story interesting. Princess Wen-Cheng built the Potala palace and `Ramoqe (Xiao-Zhau) temple' (which faces the capital of Tang Dynasty). Nepal Princess built the much larger `Da-Zhua temple' (Jokhang) (which faces Nepal. Later on Princess Jin-Cheng from Tang moved all relics of Princess Wen-Cheng from Xiao-Chau to Da-Chau). Both Princess had no offsprings. The King had several Tibetan wives. Later on, a disease was transmitted from a maid to Nepal Princess and then to the King, and then to Princess Wen-Cheng. The three died at the same time, and lived happily in the heaven. (c) Some Tibetan writers claimed that the King was 70 years old, and the Nepal Princess did not allow them to see each other. After about one year, they finally met and lived together for two years and the king passed away. What can one make out from the above? My guess is that Princess Wen-Cheng was a daughter of General Li, and the King was a middle aged man (35 years old ?) as indicated by the words that the King `behaved properly as a son-in -law to General Li' who fought many battles later on, and hence unlikely to be an old man at that time. The marriage lasted 9 years until the King passed away. In that nine years, the Nepal Princess had more influence (by the sizes of the two temples which had been partially preserved to this date). The Potala palace was built at that time by Tang engeneers under the instructions of Princess Wen-Cheng. The Princess indeed lived for another 30 years as proved by her occasional receptions of Tang monks on their way to visit India. (3) The military and territorial relations between Tang and Tibet (a) The period of stalemate between Tang and Tibet (641--755) From Tang Tai-Chung to Tang Min-Huang, there was a stalemate in the military relations between those two kingdoms. There were very few conflicts during the time of Tang Tai-Chung and Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo). The next Emperor of Tang decided to move Tu-Yu Huen back to its original territory in the southern part of Qinghai (Amdo in Tibetan). The conqueror of Korea, General Hsueh Zen-Kuei, was given a title of `Governor of Lhasa' and led an army of 100,000 strong for this assignment. When his army reached the high plateau of Qinghai, a Tibetan army of 400,000 strong appeared and swept the Tang army away. Then the Tibetan army marched to the southern Xinkiang and captured the four Tang garrisons. Later, General Wang Xiao-Jia recaptures the four Tang garrisons and pushed on to attack the high plateau of Qinghai, and met his defeat there. During this period, there were expansions for Tang and Tibet. Tang's imperial army conquered Turks, Korean, Xinkiang, Central Asia (part of the formal Soviet Union) reached all the way to Persia. In fact, once Tang had a garrison in the capital of Persia. Tibet conquered the kingdoms Shangshung, Greater Yang-Tuung, Lesser Yang-Tung, Su-pi of Tibet, and Tu-yu Huen and all small tribes in Qinghai. At the end of this period, Tang had a population of 52 millions (increased from 15 millions, and the total population of Euro-Asia-Northern Africa was about 150 millions at that time) and an imperial army of 490,000 strong which was divided into garrisons of Mongolia, Northeast Tang, Northern Xinkiang, Southern Xinkiang (including Central Asia) and the Silk-road (Gansu) (including the fertile corner of Qinghai). Tibet had a population of 10 million with 3 million Tibetans (all estimates) and an army of comparable strength facing the two Tang army of Southern Xinkiang (24,000 soldiers) and Silk-road (75,000 soldiers). The disputes involed trade contrals. Tibet wanted the four Tang garrisons at the Southern Xinkiang (which guarded the silk-road from Tang through Xinkiang and Central Asia), and Tang wanted the re-establishment of Tu-Yu Huen as the power in Qinghai (most Tu-Yu Huen moved back to the valleys at the source of Yellow river and were called `Atsai' in Tibetan). Otherwise the relations between them were close and cordial. For instance, when an ambassador of Tang to India, Mr. Wang, was in trouble, he went to Tibet and was given an army to ransack the capital of a kingdom of India. The ambassador brought back, besided others, an Indian expert of making `immortal medicine'. The great Tang Tai-Chung ate the immortal medicine and passed away. The Tang court thought the whole event was embarrassing and hid the truth. (b) The weakening of Tang and the expansion of Tibet (755--841) In 755, the commander of the Northeast garrison of Tang, An Lu-San (Mongol) rebelled. He led an army of 150,000 strong marched to the capital. The public opinion of the capital was condescending. Most people thought the rebellion were a joke. A good general Fon Chang-Jin (possibly a native from a tribe of Southern Xinkiang, Conqueror of Da-Bo-Lu, i.e., Gilgit) agreed with the public opinion and was ordered by the Emperor to lead the totally untrained garrison of Loyang to face An Lu-San's army. A famous Korea general Guo Xieng-Ze (Victor of Central Asia and the loser of a war with Persia) led the palace guards and a portion of the Silk-road (Gansu) army as the second wave. General Fon, when met General Guo (a friend and formal superior of General Fon), told General Guo that An Lu-San's army was surprisingly strong, and the fact that after a blooded continuous battle of 50 km, Gen Fon was forced to withdraw, and the only way to protect the capital was to guard the castle area (Tong-Kuan). Through good military sense, General Guo did accordingly and took a defense posture at the castle area. An Lu-San's army was stopped. The Emperor Min-Huang was impatient and was moved by the public opinion. He sent someone to kill the two generals. In the meantime, the Silk-road army and the best troops from the garrisons of Northern and Southern Xinkiang were called back to protect the capital. The Emperor sent the famous Turk General Gow-Su Han to lead the army at hand. The old General saw the situation himself and decided to defend from the castles to wait for the gathering of all imperial garrisons from distances. Emperor Min-Huang did not want anything like that. He sent a strict order to attack An Lu-San's army. The old General wept openly and obeyed the order and was captured by An Lu-San's army. The war lasted until 763 after Tang court adapted a strategy of dividing the whole Tang into `military zones' (similar to what Mao did in the CR, after the victory over An Lu-San, the `military zones' became semi-independent and brought down the Tang dynasty, Mao switched the policy just in time to avoid a repetition of history), and An Lu-San's army was squeezed and bled to death eventually. After the withdrawing of the Silk-road army and the passaging of the best troops from the garrisons of Northern and Southern Xinkiang, Tibetan army swept through and captured the Silk-road which was the richest part of Tang at that time. Thus Tibet bordered Hue-He (Mongol) and cut off Silk-road completely. The residues of the Northern and Southern garrisons of Xinkiang organized successive defenses and lasted many decades. During the time, they were waiting for the imperial army to re-open the Silk-road. After some 10 years, they sent a messenger through Mongolia to report to the imperial court. Finally, Northern garrison of Xinkiang was eliminated (790) after all old soldiers faded away, and Southern garrison disappeared into the murky history. Later on, during the conquering of Mongolia Genghis Khan, some Han tribes in the central Asia were mentioned. They were likely to be the descendents of the Southern Xinkiang garrison (which covered the central Asia). Years later, after the downfall of Tibetan Dynasty, Tang recovered Silk-road (848). This story will be discussed later in this article. In the mean time, Tibet attacked Szechuan and fought many inconclusive battles with Tang army. The part Yunnan of Tang rebelled and established a local kingdom. First, Yunnan got the protection from Tibet by being a tributary of Tibet. Later on Tang recognized Yunnan, and Yunnan switched side and became a tributary of Tang. Sometimes the Tibetan army became mercenaries of Tang to fight with several rebels. Other time, the Tibetan army simply attacked Tang. Once Tibetan army ransacked the capital of Tang and crowned a new Emperor who lasted for a few days (763). Just before the downfall of Tibetan Dynasty, Tibetan governed Tibet, Qinghai, Silk-road, part of southern Xinkiang, part of central Asia. Tibet bordered with India, Tang, Persia, Mongolia. This was the largest area which was ever controlled by Tibetan. It had a population of 15 millions and an army of 400,000 strong (all estimates). At that time, Tang had a population of 16 millions and an army of 150,000 strong. (4) The story of Tibet (641--877) (a) The stories of Kings. To help the reader, I will add an numeral artificially at the end of the names of Tibetan Kings. As pointed in my previous sections, a grandson of Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)) succeeded him. The throne passed down successively to the fourth King, Khri-de-tsung-tsan (TseDeTsuZan(4)) (704). His grandmother was the regent and she sent a missionary to Tang court asking the hand of a Tang princess for the King (6 years old). During this time, Tang was ruled by the gentleman Emperor Chung-Chung who showed his respect to his mother, Empress Wu, every 10 days after she was de-throned, and was very soft to his sister, wife, and daughters. After hesitation and self doubt, he decided to let go his adopted and beloved daughter, Princess Jin-Cheng of 16 years old. According to the 5th Dalai Lama, the story was different. The beautiful Tang Princess heard about the handsome crowned prince, a son of Khri-de-tsung-tsan (TseDeTsuZan(4)), and decided to marry him. When Tang princess arrived, the crowned prince just passed away, and then she married the King. According to Tang Annals, Princess passed away in 739 (possibly 45 years old). According to Tibetan history the King was murdered in 754 (possibly 56 years old). The next king, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)), was born in 742. This is very possible. At least, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) could not possibly be a son of Princess Jin-Cheng. However, the 5th Dalai Lama told us a different story: Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was a son of the Tang Princess Jin-Cheng. Just after birth, Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was stolen by a Tibetan wife of the King. When he could walk, during a party of the court, he was requested by the King to bring a cup of wine to his uncle on the mother side. To every body's surprise, he went directly to the side of Princess Jin-Cheng, and showed every body who his mother really was, and was thus nicknamed. Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) was a important figure in promoting Buddhism. He will be discussed later on. He passed away in 797, and Tibet Dynasty was decaying. His son, Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)), succeeded him. Mu-ne-tsan-po (MuNiZanBoo(6)) was a true believer of Buddhism, and ruled three times that all properties should be equally distributed. On the other hand, he married a young wife of his father, possibly while his father was still alive. Note that this was not against the rule. Anyway, for one reason or other, his mother got him murdered, and the throne passed to another son of his mother and his father, Khri-de-srong-tsan (TseDeSonZan(7)). The King passed away in 815, and his son Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)) succeeded. For Buddhism, the three Kings, Srong-tsan-gam-po (Songtsen Gampo(1)), Khri-srong-de-tsan (TseSonDeZan(5)) and Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)), were important, and were named Guardian-Kings (Fa Wang). Khri-tsug-de-tsan (TseTsuDeZan(8)) ruled for some time, and was murdered by the prime minister. The throne was passed to his brother Dar-ma(9) who married Khri-tsug-de-tsan's (TseTsuDeZan(8)) wives. After a couple years of promoting Buddhism, Dar-ma(9) changed side and decided to destroy Buddhism and to revive the native religion `Bon'. The Buddhists believed that Dar-ma(9) was a re-incarnation of an ox, and called him Lang (ox) Dar-ma(9). A Buddhist (non-monk) dressed in a clothes which was black outside and white inside, and rode on a white horse which was colored by black charcoals, killed Dar-ma(9) with an arrow at Lhasa (842). Once the deed was done, the Buddhist ran away. He passed a river where he turned his clothes inside out which became white, and his horse was washed white in the river. Therefore, the chasers lost his tracks. According to Buddhism, this Buddhist was a re-incarnation of a god, who befriended the ox in the past reincarnation. After Dar-ma(9) passed away, his second wife produced a son after a few months. His first wife produced a baby too. However, the baby was old enough to have teeth. Therefore, rumors spread, and the royal family was divided into two groups to fight a 20 years war. The hell broke loose in Tibet, every one fought the next person. It was described as `one bird flies high, the whole flock follows'. The royal families fought against each other, the warlords fought against each other, the slaves fought against the masters. The Dynasty was completely destroyed (877). Since then, Tibet entered the feudal period and lost all conquered lands, Central Asia, Southern Xinkiang, Silk-road (Gansu) and Qinghai (Amdo in Tibetan). The Tibetan tribes and the descendents of Tibetan army occasionally set up local powers and kingdoms in Qinghai and Silk-road (Gansu) where there were pots of racial mixing. Otherwise Tibet almost became a geographic term, and there were very little news about Tibet for long time. We have to use Tibetan documents for this period. Those are the topics of my later reports. 
|