Great achievements of Songtsan Gambo

When Namri Luntsan unified the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, except for the capital city of Qoiwa Daze, he built another ruling center along the Lhasa River to administer the newly conquered areas. Tibetan historical sources say Songtsan Gambo, the son of Namri Luntsan, was born at Yarlunzhadui Palace in the Mochu Gongkar on the upper reaches of the Lhasa River (Barsam Wangtui: Question on the Chronicle of Songtsan Gambo, Tibetan Research, Vol. 1, 1995). If we accept the view that Songtsan Gambo ascended to the throne at the age of 13, there has to be at least a doubling of the years of Namri Luntsan's rule after he unified the other small kingdoms. During this time, King Namri Luntsan made great efforts to consolidate the newly built power base. He took steps to crack down on remnant forces of local areas, and continued to launch wars against Suibi, Zhangzhung and other small kingdoms for further unification. He also made efforts to strength the position of the Tubo royal family by trying to coordinate the relationship between the new and old nobles who were engaged in incessant struggles over the distribution of royal powers. According to Tubo Historical Documents of the Dunhuang Edition, King Namri Luntsan dispatched soldiers to suppress a rebellion in the Tabo area, but he was poisoned to death by rebels. So, it was obvious that fierce struggles lasted for a long time in order to consolidate the newly established power.

There are disputes over when Songtsan Gambo was born, but scholars generally believe that his birth took place in 617, and he ascended to the throne in 629. Tubo Historical Documents, the Dunhuang Edition, say that when Songtsan Gambo came to power, subjects on his father's side were dissatisfied and resentful, while some on his mother's side openly deserted him. As the internal political situation was in a mess, Zhangzhung, Subi, Tabo, Gongbo and other small kingdoms near the Tubo Kingdom rose in rebellion against Songtsan Gambo's reign. Although he was only thirteen years old when he ascended the throne and began to handle state affairs, Songtsan Gambo showed his daring and determination by putting down the various rebellions. Historical sources recount, "he ordered killed those who had incited rebellion along with their descendents, while try to win back those common people who once opposed him". From then on, Songtsan Gambo, generally accepted as the founder of the Tubo Kingdom with a crucial role in the development of Tibet, adopted a series of great moves with far-reaching influence in order to consolidate the newly established kingdom.

Three great achievements can be named. Firstly, he created the Tibetan script and established a unified legal system, both of which have lasted until today. Based on the relative degree to which ancient Tibetans had developed, it seems possible that earlier efforts to create a written language could also have been made during the period of small kingdoms competing with each other, and it was highly likely that some of the Tibetan tribes had developed and used several immature written versions of their own dialects. Soon after his reign began, Sontsan Gambo sent the scholar Thonmi Sambhota and other younger nobles to India to study foreign scripts and languages. In the end, Thonmi Sambhota returned with the newly created Tibetan script, with an alphabet to represent the sounds of the spoken language. The new script also played an indispensable role in the administration of the Tubo kingdom. Sontsan Gambo promoted the new script with great enthusiasm and it bought the ancient civilization of Tubo into a brand-new era. Sontsan Gambo also established a series of written laws, which were used to guarantee the ruling position of the royal family and nobles, standardize the actions of all classes in society, suppress people's opposition and uprising. According to the constitution, the king established additional senior ministers to serve the Tibetan state. Besides Tsampo, the highest ruler of the state, there was one Dalun (Prime Minister) although later, there was more than one - one Associate Dalun to be responsible for military and state affairs, one Internal Dalun and one Associate Internal Dalun, both of whom were in charge of internal state affairs, and one Judicial Minister, who was in charge of social order and judicial affairs. The laws also established 12 ranks of officials represented by special badges in gold, turquoise, silver, copper, iron and so on with large and small sizes. The status and positions of different classes were strictly set up and punishments for offenders differed according to the position of the person hurt, with compensation varying from 10 to 11,000 taels of silver. Fines varied from 100 times down to eight the amount that had been stolen from the king, noble, or common people. In addition, those offending against higher ranked people were sentenced to death or deprived of their property. As the rights and properties of different ranks and classes were guaranteed in society, the privileges of the royal family were set up, while the blood relationship among remnant tribal unions gradually weakened.

The second contribution Songtsan Gambo made to the Tubo people is that he set up an administrative system that combined a military and civilian system. He divided the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung River into four Ru's: Wu Ru, with Lhasa as its center, Gyo Ru, centered on Neitong, Gyas Ru, centered on Namlin, and Ru Lag, centered on Laze. According to Five Remaining Teachings, every Ru was composed of an Upper Ru and Lower Ru, with one General in charge of the former and one Deputy General in charge of the latter. Altogether, there were four generals and four deputy generals in the army of the four Ru's, and every leader among of them had four units with one thousand men each, plus two additional smaller units, one directly belonging to each Ru and the other being an Imperial Guard unit (according to A Happy Feast of the Wisdom), bringing the total to forty units with one thousand men each. A Happy Feast of the Wisdom also has it that after Tubo conquered Zhangzhung and Sobi, the administrative and military system of Ru and one-thousand-men unit was promoted there, too, with Zhangzhung and Sobi contributing eleven and ten units respectively, making sixty-one units in total in the Tubo kingdom. The leader of each unit was appointed directly by the Tsampo, and those who had given outstanding service to the state were entitled to become hereditary leaders of a one-thousand man unit. The Tsambo divided the four Ru's and one-thousand-men units according to regions instead of clans and tribes, which was a royal administrative system breaking away from blood relationship of the tribal unions. Every one-thousand-man unit was divided into numbers of tribes, each of which had a tribal leader, vanguard officer, agricultural officer, financial and taxation official, secretary and other officials in charge of production, military affairs, finance and taxation and so on. Historical evidence of the Tubo kingdom, which include the documents excavated in Dunhuang and inscribed wooden slips found in Xinjuang, show that it was a general phenomenon for there to be various surnames in a tribe, and in some tribes there were even members of former nationalities. So, it can be concluded that the tribes of the Tubo kingdom were transferred to the level of an administrative system.

Thirdly, King Sontsan Gambo continued to make great efforts to unify the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. After the submission of Zhangzhung and Sobi, the Tubo kingdom, which rose to become powerful and thriving, expanded its power further toward the Northeast. At that time, near Qinghai Lake, there stood the kingdom of Tukuhun, which was a branch of the Xianbei nationality on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau migrating from Northeast, and most of its subjects belonged to local Xiqiang tribes. In order to unify those ethnic groups that had the blood relationship with the Tubo people and clear the way for the connection with the Huanghe River where the economy and culture were already highly developed, King Songtsan Gampo led an army in person, together with forces of Zhangzhung, in a war against the Tukuhun kingdom. When the Tubo army had occupied most parts of the Tukuhun Kingdom, the latter turned to China's Tang rulers for help, leading to conflict between Tubo and the new-established Tang Dynasty. The Tubo army laid siege to Sungdro, occupied by a Tang army, but Songtsan Gambo broke the deadlock and requested marriage with a member of the Tang royalty, with an aim to build a friendly relationship with the Tang Dynasty.

As a talented and far-sighted king, Songtsan Gambo made great efforts to widen economic and cultural cooperation with neighboring countries after unifying most of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As part of this effort, he sent his close minister Kartongtsanyusung, also known as Lotongtsan in History of the Tang Dynasty, to Nepal to seek the hand of Princess Tritsun. In 640, the minister was sent to Chang'an (today's Xi'an) to seek a bride from the Tang Dynasty court. Eventually, Tang Emperor Taizong agreed to let Princess Wencheng marry the Tubo king. Accompanied by Li Daozong, Minister of Rites of the Tang Dynasty and the Tubo minister, Princess Wencheng set out for the faraway Tubo kingdom, reaching it in 641, to be greeted at Heyuan by Songtsan Gambo at the head of an army. This showed the great importance that the Tubo kingdom attached to the arrival of Princess Wencheng. Songtsan Gambo's marriages with Princess Wencheng from the Tang Dynasty of the Central Plains and Princess Tritsun from Nepal contributed much to political, economic, cultural cooperation with South Asia and Central Plains. Some production technology and handicrafts, together with some books on medicine and calendar calculation, were introduced into the Tubo kingdom, contributing to its economic and cultural development. In addition, both of the princesses were Buddhists. Princess Wencheng was said to have taken statues of Buddha and Buddhist monks with her. The two princesses also had the temples of Jokhang and Rampoche built, which were the earliest temple to be erected in Tubo. It was said that the statue of Sakyamuni brought by Princess Wencheng was housed in the Rampoche. At that time, Songtsan Gambo built the grand Potala Palace on the Red Hill of Lhasa, which showed the advanced technology and craftsmanship in construction in the Tubo kingdom at this time. Princess Wencheng lived in Tubo nearly forty years, and earned much praise from the local populace for her contribution.

Early history of the Tubo Kingdom

After Songtsan Gambo's death in 650, his grandson Manlhun Mangtsan came to the throne as the little emperor's father, Songtsan Gambo's son, had already passed away. Minister Kartongtsanyusung was appointed to assist the little emperor to handle state affairs. Kartongtsanyusung continued the policy of Songtsan Gambo to consolidate the state. He set up and improved the laws, checked the household register, imposed taxes and coped with internal conflicts. At the same time, he led the army several times to attack the Tukuhun kingdom to take advantage of their internal struggles, even at the cost of causing conflict with the Tang Dynasty, which supported the Tukuhun kingdom. In 667, Kartongtsanyusung died in Tukuhun, and the power of the Tubo kingdom passed into the hands of Kartongtsanyusung's son. In 670, in order to support the Tukuhun kingdom, the Tang Dynasty dispatched over 100,000 soldiers to march toward Qinghai, which the Tukuhun kingdom once ruled. Karqinlin assembled more than 200, 000 Tubo forces to face the challenge. At the battle of Dafeichun, on the southern side of Qinghai Lake, the Tang army was overwhelmed. From then on, Tubo took solid control of the area of the Qinghai Lake and in order to gain more economic interest, it further fought with the Tang Dynasty for control of Longyou, the Hexi Corridor and the four towns of Anxi, crucial places along the Silk Road. In 676, Manlhun Mangtsan died and his posthumous child Dosungmang Borgye was named as his successor, while Minister Karqinlin continued de facto rule over the country. But the Kar's monopoly on state power reflected in domineering behavior towards other ministers, aroused resentment among nobles of the Tubo kingdom. At the same time, the supreme power of the Kar's directly threatened royal control. When Dosungmang Borgye grew up, he launched a war against the Kar's from 695 to 698. Karqinlin was defeated at Zongka in Qinghai and committed suicide, while his little brother Zanpo and son Mangbo led his army to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. Zanpo was named as State- Assisting General, the King of Guide, and Mangbo was conferred with the title of An Guogong at first, later promoted to be King of Barchuan for his great feats in war. The Kar's descendants served as officers in the Tang Dynasty for many generations.

After Dosungmang Borgye wiped out the Kar's family dominance, the royal power of the Tubo kingdom was strengthened and consolidated. In 704, however, Dosungmang Borgye passed away during an expedition to Yunnan, and his son, Tride Zhotsan, who was only one year old at that time, succeeded him. As Tride Zhotsan was too young to rule the country, his grandmother, Molu Chimarlei, handled state affairs. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was in the final years of Wu Zetian's reign, the only one female emperor of Chinese history. Tired of ceaseless wars between the two sides, both the Tubo kingdom and the Tang Dynasty hoped for a good and peaceful relationship, and Molu Chimarlei actively sought this. It was said that she requested a marriage with the Tang Dynasty for Dosungmang Borgye during the reign of Emperor Wu Zetian. In 705, Emperor Wu Zetian passed away, to be succeeded by Tang Zhongzong, who later agreed to the marriage proposal. In 707, Tang Zhongzong accepted his nephew Li Shouli's daughter as his adopted daughter and named her Princess Jincheng in preparation for marriage to Tride Zhotsan. In 710, accompanied by the special envoys of the Tang Dynasty and the wedding procession of the Tubo kingdom, Princess Jincheng entered Tubo. Historical sources say Emperor Tang Zhongzong personally led hundreds of officials to Shiping County of Shanxi Province to see her off, at which time the emperor and ministers of the Tang Dynasty and wedding envoys of the Tubo kingdom wrote and recited poems in praise of good relations between the two sides. At the request of Tubo, Emperor Tang Zhongzong gave Princess Jincheng Jiuqu, along the Huanghe River, as her bath place. When Prince Jincheng entered Tubo, she brought with her a large number of craftsmen, acrobats and Buddhist monks, who played an important role in the development of the Tubo economy and culture. From then on, the peaceful and good relations between the Tubo kingdom and the Tang Dynasty were maintained for a number of years. In 731, King Tride Zhotsan and Princess Jincheng sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty for some classic works of the Central Plains, including The Books of Poetry (Mao Heng's version), The Book of Rites, Zuo Zhuan (the famous commentary by Zuo Qiuming on The Spring and Autumn Annals) and so on. They also requested the establishment of border markets. King Tride Zhotsan stated in the documents presented to Emperor Tang Zhongzong: "An uncle-nephew relationship existed in the time of former emperors of the Tang Dynasty, and now I am so lucky as to marry Princess Jincheng. So, the Tubo kingdom and the Tang Dynasty have merged into one family and populaces of both sides lead a happy and peaceful life." In 733, the Tubo kingdom and the Tang Dynasty set up border tablets at Chiling, today's Mountain Sun and Moon of Qinghai Province. They also established Chiling and Gan Songling as bilateral markets. Military leaders and officials of both sides participated in the ceremony and issued an order that a good relationship had been established and robbery was prohibited on both sides.

The good relationship of both sides was not maintained for long before fresh wars broke out, as each side sought stronger power along the mutual border and more military and economic benefits. The Tubo kingdom took steps to combine with Tujishi and Nanzhao respectively to the northern and southeastern sides of its territory. In 751, Gelofen, King of Nanzhao, pledged allegiance to the Tubo kingdom and the letter conferred on the former the title of Tsampo Zong, meaning brother of Tsampo. The united forces of the Tubo kingdom and Nanzhao posed a serious threat to the Tang Dynasty. The scale of war was incessantly upgraded and neither side was willing to give in. In the end, some military leaders with huge forces emerged in the border area and gained military control. Probably in 754, Motongbuze and Nammeise, both serving as Dalun of the Tubo kingdom, openly staged a rebellion and killed Tsampo Tride Zhotsan. It took the Tubo kingdom over one year to suppress the uprising, after which the leaders of the rebellion were killed, their properties confiscated and their relatives banished to remote areas. Trisung Detsan, who was only thirteen years old, took the throne. At that time, the armed forces of the Tubo kingdom and the Tang Dynasty changed greatly, as the latter was embroiled in a rebellion led by An Lushan and Shi Siming. Tang Xuanzong fled to Sichuan from Chang'an, and most of army forces resisting the Tubo army were dispatched to put down the uprising, leading to weak resistance toward the Tubo army's attack. Taking this opportunity, the Tubo army occupied most areas of Longyou, the Hexi Corridor and four towns of Anxi. In October of 763, when the emperor and ministers of the Tang Dynasty fell into disputes, the Tubo army grasped the opportunity to dispatch 200,000 soldiers to proceed toward Chang'an. On hearing the news, Tang Daizong fled in panic toward Shanzhou. During the fifteen days that it controlled Chang'an, the Tubo army helped Prince Guangwu Li Chenghong, Princess Jincheng's nephew, ascend to the throne and appointed hundreds of military and civilian officials. However, disease soon spread through the Tubo army, probably due to the hot weather of Chang'an to which it was unaccustomed. At that time, the forces of Prince Qin of the Tang Dynasty were approaching Chang'an. In order to avoid large casualties, the Tubo army made the choice to retreat. During the reign of Trisung Detsan, the territory of the Tubo kingdom expanded greatly: On the eastern side, it bordered on the Tang Dynasty at Mt Long, and several times it advanced into Baoji to threaten Chang'an; On the northern side, it stretched to Mt Helan in today's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Huihe; On the southern side, it annexed the Nanzhao kingdom; On the western side it had the Four Towns of Anxi. In Central Asia, it could compete well with the empire of Dashi (Persia). Tibetan historical records state the Tubo kingdom once advanced the northern bank of the Ganges. So, it is no exaggeration to state that, at the time of Trisung Detsan, the area of the Tubo Kingdom reached over half a million kilometers.

It was obvious that the military expansion of the Tubo kingdom brought huge woes and disasters to people of all nationalities; however, on the other side, it did contribute to the economic and cultural cooperation among various nationalities. For instance, the items of silk, tea, produced in the Han areas, became daily necessaries among people of various classes of Tubo, while animal products, medicine materials and so on were introduced into the Han areas. In addition, the Tubo people's dress, crafts, activities of horse ball and so on played an important role in the period of the Tang Dynasty.

Later history of the Tubo Kingdom

In the later history of the Tubo kingdom, Buddhism played an important role. As early as the time of King Songtsan Gambo, statues of Buddha had been introduced. Later, there were intense struggles over whether Buddhism was allowed to be promoted. After Trisung Detsan came to the throne, he eliminated ministers opposed to Buddhism. He also invited from India the Abbot Santaraksita and the Guru Padmasambhava, heralding a new era of promoting Buddhism on a large scale. In order to advocate Buddhism in Tubo, Guru Padmasambhava adopted the spirits of mountains, lakes, and dragons, which had been believed since Tubo prehistory into the spiritual system of the Buddhist Mahayana on the basis of the theory of worldly deities of Buddhism. Thus, a set of religious rituals of sacrifices and offerings were set up. From 767 to 779, the Samye Monastery, the first formal monastery in Tubo was built and the First Seven Buddhist Monks fully ordained, laying a foundation for the development of Tibetan Buddhism in Tubo that enjoyed great support from King Trisung Detsan and his son, Moni Tsampo, who were devoted believers. The king contributed to the expenses of the monasteries and Buddhist monks, from taxes imposed on ministers and the populace. At the same time, every monastery and Buddhist monk were under the strict control of the royal court. In order to administer Buddhist affairs, special officials were appointed. Later, King Trisung Detsan conferred on Ding'eizemwei, his Buddhist teacher in childhood, the position of Boshanbo and huge lands and subjects as his personal property. Ding'eizemwei was the second only to the emperor, and he was in charge of military and political affairs, so was also known as Buddhist Prime Minister. In 815, when King Tride Songtsan was succeeded by his son Ralpachen, the cause of Buddhism was further promoted. They made great efforts to build monasteries, accept more Buddhist monks and translate on a large scale the Buddhist classics. The large quantities of delicate Buddhist scriptures of Tibetan edition kept in Dunhuang was second only to that of Chinese edition in terms quantity, and were rare cultural relics. In addition, King Ralpachen ordered that every seventh household should support a Buddhist monk, making the latter into a special class enjoying privileges. Laws also protected these privileges, and if one dared to express any dissatisfaction toward Buddhist monks, he would face severe punishment. As a result, the resentment toward Buddhist monks and the ruling class was so intense that it led to the assassination of King Ralpachen in 841 by factions opposed to Tibetan Buddhism. Lang Darma, King Ralpachen's brother, was supported as the successor. In 843, he banned Tibetan Buddhism and took many steps to prosecute Buddhist monks and their monasteries. Leaders of Tibetan Buddhism were killed, while monks were forced to resume secular life; monasteries were ordered to close and statues of Buddha as well as Buddhist scriptures were destroyed. But this failed to ease the social contradictions, and actually stirred up stem opposition of Buddhist monks. In 846, King Lang Darma was shot to death by the Buddhist monk Lhalhung Beigye Dorgye.

After his death, internal wars among ministers broke out led by Lang Darma's two sons, Yundain and Wosung. Generals holding military power waged wars against each other lasting over twenty years. In 869, when the ruling classes were locked in tangled warfare, an uprising occurred among slaves and the general populace. In 877, the rebel army excavated the mausoleums of the kings of Tubo and killed members of the royal family and nobles, marking the collapse of the Tubo kingdom.