RELB 2054 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wencheng, Tibetan People
Document Summary
The tibetan empire and its adoption of buddhism: first decades of 7th century in southern tibet, tsenpo wasn"t an absolute monarch. First among equals just sort of a leader. Had to contend w/ other local aristocrats. Buddhism at-a-glance: the buddha lived in the 5th century bce, eastward expansion > cultural exchange w/ china, songtsen gampo (c. 605-650) began imperial conquest in earnest. Always trying to avoid direct military conflict (tried to trick/deceive instead) Proposed a marriage alliance w/ tang dynasty. At first they denied him, so he pushed further into china and threatened them. In 640 they gave him a princess: princess wencheng. She was supposed to marry songtsen gampo"s son, but he was dead so she married gampo. She brought a buddhist statue and a bunch of people who were able to bring buddhism and chinese learning to tibet. Important person in the introduction to buddhism: empire"s civilizational enterprise.