Integrity Score 390
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The Snow Lion and the Dragon:
Tibet-China Relations
continues...
In spite of the archaic language, the meaning comes over quite clearly, and it certainly does not look as if Tibet was either subjugated or incorporated into Tibet. But why ‘nephew’ and maternal uncle’? One possible explanation is that King Songtsen Gampo had been given a Chinese princess, Wen Cheng, in marriage, in keeping with the normal custom of nurturing friendly relations with powerful neighbouring kings who are potential adversaries, by entering into matrimonial alliances with them. Hence the Chinese king Tang Tai-tsung had given his daughter in marriage to Songtsen Gampo.
These matrimonial alliances were often rationalized by the Chinese as a method of ‘controlling the barbarians with loose reins’ (Chi-mi). If this Chinese Princess Wen Cheng had been Trisong Dentsen’s grandmother, and the Chinese king Hwang Te (a.k.a. Wang Peng Wang) son of He Hu Hik Wang Te, i.e., her brother’s son, then the two kings indeed did have a 'nephew-uncle’ relationship. But this ‘nephew-uncle relationship’ had nothing to do with the relative positions of their respective kingdoms.
This Agreement in fact proves the opposite to the Chinese claim of Tibet having ‘historically’ been a subordinate province of China, which was only later formally incorporated into China during the Mongol dynasty.
That this ‘non-aggression Agreement’ was later extended by another treaty is clear from another pillar in Lhasa, in front of the main gate of Lhasa’s great Jokhang temple, which also records the simultaneous marriage of another Tang Princess to a Tibetan king in 821 CE. The evidence is clearly that Tibet and Tang China were dealing with each other as equals, with no superior-subordinate or hegemon-vassal relationship.