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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

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

  1. UnknownBornTang
  2. 641Princess Wencheng's JourneyTook partPrincess Wencheng married Songtsen Gampo in a Tang-Tibetan alliance that expanded exchanges of envoys, crafts, and texts between the courts.
    1. Princess Wencheng Travels to TibetIn 641 Princess Wencheng married Songtsen Gampo, creating a concrete node in Tang-Tibetan court alliance and exchange.
    2. Wencheng and the Sun-Moon Mountain LegendPrincess Wencheng's Tang-Tibetan marriage provides the historical setting for her passage by Red Ridge, while the mirror and river stories remain local tradition.
  3. 680 CEDied

Connections

  1. Shared events2
    1. Li Shimin598 CE–649 CE
    2. Songtsen Gampoc. 617 CE–650 CE