The rule of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty made the country's economy prosperous and its culture developed, and the surrounding ethnic minorities yearned for it. They sent messengers to repair it and pay tribute to it. Many ethnic minority leaders came to find relatives and were proud to be married into the imperial clan of the Tang Dynasty. In order to ensure the peace of the frontier and the harmonious coexistence of people of all ethnic groups, Emperor Taizong also formulated and implemented the policy of hiding relatives. For example, Emperor Taizong married his sister Princess Hengyang to Ashinashe, the son of Turk Dirokhan, and married Princess Honghua to Tuguhun Khan, thus establishing a friendly relationship between the Tang Dynasty and Turk and Tuguhun. At that time, the powerful Tubo (bū) regime rose on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the southwest of China. In 634, Songtsan Gambu, the King of Tubo, sent an envoy to Chang 'an, hoping to establish friendly relations with the Tang Dynasty.
Songzan Gambu has been proficient in martial arts such as horseback riding, archery and fencing since he was a child, and he is very literate and can write poems. Tubo people love him very much. Shortly after his father's death, the Tubo nobles rebelled in an attempt to seize power. Young Songzan Gambu calmly faced the complicated situation and quickly put down the rebellion with extraordinary wisdom and courage.
Songzan Gambu sent envoys to Chang 'an, on the one hand, to learn the advanced culture of the Tang Dynasty, on the other hand, to ask for relatives from the royal family of the Tang Dynasty. However, Emperor Taizong did not immediately agree. The Tubo emissary was worried that he would be accused by Songzan Gambu after returning to China, so he told a lie, which led to the contradiction between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty. The two sides fought several wars and sat down for peace talks.
In 640 AD, Songzan Gambu sent a team of hundreds of people, led by Lu Dongzan, a clever and capable scholar (prime minister), to prepare a lot of gold and silver treasures and go to Chang 'an to find relatives again.
When Lu Dongzan met with Emperor Taizong, he conveyed Songzan Gambu's desire to get along well with the Tang Dynasty, and skillfully put forward the young king's request to marry the princess of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Taizong appreciated Lu Dongzan's manners and learned more about Songzan Gambu from him. Among the girls in the royal family, Emperor Taizong chose a beautiful and gentle girl with high cultural accomplishment, named her Princess Wencheng, and promised to marry Songzan Gambu.
It is really not easy for Lu Dongzan to complete the mission of seeking relatives. Up to now, there are still moving stories of the five difficult officials among the people. When Lu Dongzan successfully solved a series of difficult problems, finally, Emperor Taizong asked him to find Princess Wencheng from 2500 beautiful girls. Lu Dongzan recognized Princess Wencheng at a glance with his keen eyes.
In 64 1 year, Emperor Taizong sent Shang Shu and Li Daozong, king of Jiangxia, to escort Princess Wencheng to Tubo. With Princess Wencheng, there are many maids, craftsmen and chefs. Princess Wencheng's generous dowry includes not only gold, silver and jewels, silks and satins, but also grain, vegetables, fruit seeds, medicinal materials and silkworm eggs that Tubo lacks, as well as many Confucian classics and books on agriculture, medicine, astronomy, calendars, science and technology.
After learning that Princess Wencheng married Songzan Gambu, the Tubo people prepared gifts and transportation to meet them along the way. According to the etiquette of the Tang Dynasty, Songzan Gambo arrived in Bohai Sea (now Eling Lake in Qinghai) from Luodian, the Tubo capital, and personally greeted Princess Wencheng, where he held a grand wedding. He met Li Daozong as his son-in-law to show his respect.
Later, Songzan Gambo brought Princess Wencheng back to Logue. On April 15 of this year's Tibetan calendar, some people sang and danced to welcome Princess Wencheng into the city like a grand festival.
Songzan Gambo loved Princess Wencheng very much. According to the architectural model of the Tang Dynasty, he built a palace specially for Princess Wencheng in Luodian. Up to now, the Jokhang Temple and Potala Palace are dedicated to the statues of Songzan Gambo and Princess Wencheng.
After the death of Songzan Gambo in 650 AD, Princess Wencheng continued to make unremitting efforts for the cultural exchanges and friendly exchanges between the Chinese and Tibetan peoples. At that time, most of the Tang monks who went to India to study Buddhism passed through Tubo, and some of them were warmly received by Princess Wencheng. Princess Wencheng has lived in Tubo for nearly forty years, and has contributed to the economic development of Tubo. She asked her entourage to teach the local people farming methods and personally guide the trial planting of barley and other grains. She asked the Tang Dynasty to send excellent craftsmen to Tibet to help the Tibetan people build. Since Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, the cultural exchange between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo has been greatly strengthened, and she has also become a symbol of national friendship, so she is still deeply missed by the local people.
After Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, she enhanced the brotherhood between the two ethnic groups and promoted the political, economic, cultural, artistic, scientific and religious exchanges between the Central Plains and the * * * region. The grain seeds she brought were widely planted on the * * * plateau; The craftsmen brought in helped the Tibetan people make farm tools, looms and rice mills, and set up handicrafts such as pottery making, wine making, paper making and ink making. Gong brought to teach Tibetan people to spin. Princess Wencheng also encouraged and helped Minister Tomi Sambuza to create Tibetan. Later, she translated many Chinese books into Tibetan, which promoted the cultural exchange between Chinese and Tibetan.