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Princess Wencheng
Tang imperial clanswoman married to the Tibetan ruler Songtsen Gampo in 641, who lived in Tibet for almost forty years until her death in 680
Mural of the event “Princess Wencheng's Journey”, which this person took part in.
The Tibetan Empire rose on the Plateau, and its tsenpo Songtsen Gampo sought alliance with the great power of the Central Plains and the introduction of advanced institutions. He strongly expressed to Emperor Taizong of Tang a political demand for marriage alliance.
Also known as Li Shi · Wen Cheng
Princess Wencheng was a woman of the Tang imperial clan; the Tang histories give neither her father's name nor her birth year. In 640 the Tibetan chief minister Gar Tongtsen came to Chang'an to ask for a bride, and the next year Emperor Taizong sent her to the Tibetan ruler Songtsen Gampo, escorted by Li Daozong, Prince of Jiangxia, while the groom met her at Lake Bohai. The Old Tang History (Jiu Tang shu) says he built a walled town for her, that she disliked the Tibetan custom of painting the face with red ochre, and that he had it stopped for a time and himself took to wearing silk. She stayed in Tibet for thirty years after his death in 650 and died in 680, when Emperor Gaozong sent envoys with offerings. Tibetan histories and Lhasa tradition credit her with bringing the statue of the Buddha at twelve now enshrined in the Jokhang, and with founding the Ramoche temple.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–680 CE