Tibetannet

1. Marriage proposal in Chang'an

Fifteen years into the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (641 A.D.)

The King of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, greatly admired Tang Dynasty China. He sent a diplomatic envoy, Lon Tongtsen, to Chang'an for two times with a large number of gold and other treasures, in order to request the permission of the Emperor Taizong to marry his daughter.

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2. Identifying the princess

Legend has it that Lon Tongtsen was very intelligent . He learned that the princess enjoyed applying perfume from a young age, often attracting butterflies to fly around her head. Finally, from 500 identically dressed women, he identified Princess Wencheng and pasted test, eventually wining the marriage.

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3. The Princess goes to Tibet

Accompanied by a special envoy carrying grain seeds, plowing tools, and hundreds of expert craftsmen, Princess Wencheng embarked on her long road to Tibet.

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4. Buddhist Temples

Princess Wencheng was a devout Buddhist. She carried a stupa, many scriptures, and a Buddhist statue with her to Tibet, with the intention of building a sacred temple to keep them in.

With the help of goats, a lake in the centre of Lhasa was filled in with earth and the Jokhang Temple was built on top of it, to house the sacred Shakyamuni statue that the Princess had brought from Chang'an. Since that time, Buddhism began to spread in Tibet.

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5. The Creation of Tibetan Language

At that time there was no written form of Tibetan language, and records were only marked with knotted strings or engraved lines on wood. With Princess Wencheng's proposal, King Songstan Gampo sent his minister Thonmi Sambhota on a special research mission to create 30 Tibetan letters and a grammatical structure for the language.

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6. Turning the Prayer Wheels

As Buddhism became popular, Tibetans began to put rolled scriptures inside small barrels, to create prayer wheels, that when turned would be just like reading the scriptures. They pray for the happiness of all beings' future lives.

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7. Eight Auspicious Symbols

Princess Wencheng also named the mountains surrounding Tibet after the eight auspicious symbols, including Wonderful Lotus, Precious Parasol, White Conch, Knot of Eternity, Victory Banner, Dharma Wheel, Treasure Vase and Goldfish. The eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism are still in popular use today.

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8. The Potala Palace

Songstan Gampo began to have the the Potala Palace constructed soon after marrying Princess Wencheng. The palace was built on a mountain, and looks magnificent with a backdrop of blue sky and snow-capped mountains.

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9. Han-Tibetan Harmony

Princess Wencheng was bold and unafraid of the dangers of traveling to distant Tibet to strengthen the friendly relations between the ethnic Han and Tibetan people.