Tri Songdetsen () was the son of
Me Agtsom, the 38th
emperor of Tibet. He ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Tri Songdetsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet, playing a pivotal role in the introduction of
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
to
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Tama ...
and the establishment of the
Nyingma
Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...
or "Ancient" school of
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in m ...
.
The empire Tri Songdetsen inherited had declined somewhat from its greatest extent under the first Dharma King,
Songtsen Gampo
Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Ne ...
. Disintegration continued when, in 694, Tibet lost control of several cities in
Turkestan
Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang.
Overview
Known as Turan to the Persians, western ...
and, in 703,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
broke into rebellion. Meanwhile,
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
forces vied for influence along the western borderlands of the Tibetan empire. Nevertheless, Tri Songdetsen became imperial Tibet's greatest ruler and an unparalleled Buddhist benefactor.
Tri Songdetsen and his support for Buddhism
Tri Songdetsen is very important to the history of
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in m ...
as one of the three 'Dharma Kings' (Tibetan:''chögyel'') who established
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Tama ...
. The Three Dharma Kings were
Songtsen Gampo
Songtsen Gampo (; 569–649? 650), also Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire, and is traditionally credited with the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet, influenced by his Nepali consort Bhrikuti, of Ne ...
, Tri Songdetsen, and
Ralpacan.
The ''Skar-cung'' pillar erected by
Sadnalegs (ruled c. 800-815) says that during the reign of Tri Songdetsen, "shrines of the
Three Jewels
In Buddhism, refuge or taking refuge refers to a religious practice, which often includes a prayer or recitation performed at the beginning of the day or of a practice session. Since the period of Early Buddhism until present time, all Theravad ...
were established by building temples at the centre and on the borders, ''Bsam-yas'' in ''Brag-mar'' and so on". The first edict of Tri Songdetsen already mentions a community of monks at ''Bsam-yas'' (
Samye
Samye (, ), full name Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during the reign ...
), consisting of the former army.
Indian traditions
Songdetsen became emperor in 755, at the young age of 13. His conversion to Buddhism took place in 762 at age 20. In post-imperial sources, is claimed to have invited
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... Accordi ...
,
Śāntarakṣita
(Sanskrit; , 725–788),stanford.eduŚāntarakṣita (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)/ref> whose name translates into English as "protected by the One who is at peace" was an important and influential Indian Buddhist philosopher, particul ...
,
Vimalamitra
Vimalamitra () was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk. His teachers were Buddhaguhya, Jñānasūtra and Śrī Siṃha. He was supposed to have vowed to take rebirth every hundred years, with the most notable figures being Rigzin Jigme Lingpa ...
, and various other
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n teachers to come to Tibet to spread the latest understanding of the teaching. The two pandits began by establishing
Samye
Samye (, ), full name Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during the reign ...
as the first
vihara in Tibet. Several Tibetans were eventually initiated as monks and a vast translation project was undertaken translating the Buddhist scriptures from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the la ...
into
Classical Tibetan
Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from oth ...
.
Yeshe Tsogyal, previously either the consort or wife of Tri Songdetsen, became a great master after studying with Padmasambhava, and is considered the Mother of Buddhism.
Chinese traditions
The first documented dissemination of
Chan Buddhism
Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit '' dhyāna'' (meaning " meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and ...
to Tibet, chronicled in what has become known as the ''Statements of the Sba Family'', occurred in about 761 when Tri Songdetsen Detsen sent a party to the
Yizhou region to receive the teachings of
Kim Hwasang Kim Hwasang (), also known in Chinese as Wuxiang (, , 684–762), was a Korean master of Chan Buddhism who lived in Sichuan, China, whose form of Chan teaching was independent of East Mountain Teaching and Huineng. His teachings were amongst the fi ...
, a
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
* ...
Chan master, who they encountered in
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
. The party received teachings and three Chinese texts from Kim, who died soon after.
[Ray, Gary L.(2005). ''The Northern Ch'an School and Sudden Versus Gradual Enlightenment Debates in China and Tibet''. Source]
(accessed: December 2, 2007)
Tri Songdetsen patronised a second party to China in 763. This second expedition was headed by a high minister, Sba Gsalsnan. There is scholarly dissent about whom Gsalsnan encountered in Yizhou. Early scholarship considered Kim, but this had been revised to
Baotang Wuzhu (714-774), head and founder of Baotang Monastery in
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese provi ...
. Both Kim and Baotang Wuzhu were of the same school of Chan, the
East Mountain Teaching
East Mountain Teaching () denotes the teachings of the Fourth Ancestor Dayi Daoxin, his student and heir the Fifth Ancestor Daman Hongren, and their students and lineage of Chan Buddhism.
''East Mountain Teaching'' gets its name from the East ...
.
Debates
Tri Songdetsen, hosted a famous two-year debate from 792-794, known in Western scholarship as the "Council of Lhasa" (although it took place at
Samye
Samye (, ), full name Samye Mighur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during the reign ...
at quite a distance from
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...
) outside the capital. He sponsored a
Dharma
Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ''d ...
debate between the
Chan Buddhist Moheyan
Heshang Moheyan () was a late 8th century Buddhist monk associated with the East Mountain Teaching. ''Moheyan'' (摩訶衍) is a brief translation of ''Mahayana'' in Chinese, so the name literally means a Mahayana monk. He became famous for repr ...
, who represented the third documented wave of Chan dissemination in Tibet, and the scholar
Kamalaśīla
Kamalaśīla (Skt. Kamalaśīla; Tib. པདྨའི་ངང་ཚུལ་, Pemé Ngang Tsul; Wyl. pad+ma'i ngang tshul) (c. 740-795) was an Indian Buddhist of Nalanda Mahavihara who accompanied Śāntarakṣita (725–788) to Tibet at t ...
, a student of
Śāntarakṣita
(Sanskrit; , 725–788),stanford.eduŚāntarakṣita (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)/ref> whose name translates into English as "protected by the One who is at peace" was an important and influential Indian Buddhist philosopher, particul ...
. Effectively the debate was between the Chinese and Indian Buddhist traditions as they were represented in Tibet.
Sources differ about both the nature of the debate as well as the victor. Stein (1972: p. 66-67) holds that Kamalaśīla disseminated a "gradualist approach" to enlightenment, consisting of purificatory
sādhanā
''Sādhanā'' (; ; ) is an ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
Sadhana is done for ...
such as cultivating the
pāramitā
''Pāramitā'' ( Sanskrit, Pali: पारमिता) or ''pāramī'' (Pāli: पारमी), is a Buddhist term often translated as "perfection". It is described in Buddhist commentaries as noble character qualities generally associated wit ...
s. Kamalashila's role was to ordain Tibetans as Buddhist monks and propagate Buddhist philosophy as it had flourished in India. Stein (1972: p. 66-67) holds that Kamalaśīla was victorious in the debate and that Tri Songdetsen sided with Kamalaśīla.
Stupa construction
Tri Songdetsen is also traditionally associated with the construction of
Boudhanath in the
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Provi ...
Valley in Nepal.
The role of
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... Accordi ...
on the other hand was to establish the teaching of Buddhist
Tantra
Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...
in Tibet. During the reign of Tri Songdetsen the combined efforts of Padmasambhava, Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla established both the Indian Buddhist philosophical interpretation and Buddhist tantra in Tibet.
Political and military activities
In 763 Tri Songdetsen sent an army of 200,000 men to the border with Tang China, defeating the forces there and then continuing on to take
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
, the Tang Chinese capital, forcing
Emperor Daizong of Tang
Emperor Daizong of Tang (9 January 727 According to Daizong's biography in the '' Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 9 Jan 727 ...
to flee the capital. In 783 a peace treaty was negotiated between China and Tibet giving Tibet all lands in present-day
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest ...
.
The King also formed an alliance with
Nanzhao
Nanzhao (, also spelled Nanchao, ) was a dynastic kingdom that flourished in what is now southern China and northern Southeast Asia during the 8th and 9th centuries. It was centered on present-day Yunnan in China.
History
Origins
Nan ...
in 778, joining forces to attack the Chinese in
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...
.
Tri Songdetsen next sought to expand westward, reaching the
Amu Darya
The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...
and threatening the
Abbasid Caliph
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came t ...
,
Harun ar-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
. The Caliph was concerned enough to establish an alliance with the Chinese emperor. Tri Songdetsen Detsen would be preoccupied with Arab wars in the west, taking pressure off his Chinese opponents to the east and north, until his rule ended in 797.
Retirement, death and succession
Tri Songdetsen had four sons: Mutri Tsenpo,
Muné Tsenpo, Mutik Tsenpo, and
Sadnalegs. The eldest son, Mutri Tsenpo, died early.
Tri Songdetsen retired to live at the palace at Zungkar and handed power to his second son,
Muné Tsenpo, in 797. From this point there is much confusion in the various historical sources. It seems there was a struggle for the succession after the death of Tri Songdetsen. It is not clear when Tri Songdetsen died, or for how long Mune Tsenpo reigned. The ''
Testament of Ba'', a Tibetan historical text which may date back to the 9th century, claims that Muné Tsenpo insisted that his father's funeral be performed according to Buddhist rather than traditional rites.
It is said that Mune Tsenpo was poisoned by his mother, who was jealous of his beautiful wife.
Whatever the case, both the ''
Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...
'' and the Tibetan sources agree that, since Mune Tsenpo had no heirs, power passed to his younger brother, Sadnalegs, who was on the throne by 804 CE.
The other brother, Mutik Tsenpo, was apparently not considered for office as he had previously murdered a senior minister and had been banished to
Lhodak Kharchu near the
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
ese border.
[Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. ''Tibet: A Political History'' (1967), p. 47. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.]
References
Tibetan emperors
Buddhist monarchs
8th-century rulers in Asia
8th-century Tibetan people
Nyingma
8th-century births
Date of birth unknown
Date of death unknown
8th-century Buddhists
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