Princess Wencheng in historical writing: The difficulty in narrating ethnic history in multi-ethnic China

Abstract

For a multi-ethnic political entity, whether it is an empire or a nation-state, the key to survival is an inclusive order under which multiple ethnic groups with different heritages coexist peacefully. Historical writing on ethnic groups and interactions among them is an important part of this order. To demonstrate this point, this paper offers an examination of three different historical narratives of Princess Wencheng, the heroine of a “peace-making marriage” of the Tang Empire (AD 618–907), who married Songtsen Gampo, the king of Tubo (the ancient name of Tibet). In the first narrative, which is from Chinese classical literature, Princess Wencheng was treated as an insignificant figure and the text paid much more attention to the ceremony of the “peace-making marriage” than to the princess’s individual traits. In the second narrative, which is from Tibetan ancient literature, the princess was portrayed as the incarnation of “Green Tara”, a tantric deity in Tibetan Buddhism, and supposedly possessed goddess qualities and magical powers. This striking difference reflects the different views about the world and its ideal order of the two ancient civilizations. The third narrative, which was shaped by the nationalist discourse during the first part of the 20th century, depicted a new image of Princess Wencheng, gradually transforming her into a “transmitter of technology.” This paper offers a detailed analysis of this evolution and, furthermore, a critical comment on the historical writing done under the guidance of the so-called “progressive view of history”. Our conclusion provides a theoretical discussion of the structural dilemma for modern China as a multi-ethnic nation-state.