The Tale of the Chinese Bride: Remarks on War, Wedding, and Worship

Petr Jandáček, PhD student in Tibetan Studies at the Institute of Asian Studies, Charles University, Prague, gives the talk The Tale of the Chinese Bride: Remarks on War, Wedding, and Worship in Sino-Tibetan Relations and Intercultural (Miss)understandings and (Re)interpretations in Veröld - House of Vigdís, 2nd floor, on 18th November at 4:30 pm. 

Abstract:
In my talk, I would like to focus on the wedding of a Tibetan emperor Tri Songtsen, better known under the epithet Songtsen Gampo (†650 AD) and Tang princess Wencheng Kongjo in 641-642 AD. This event was a resolution of negotiations led by a Tibetan minister Gar Tongtsen Yulzung (†667-668 AD) after a Tibetan military campaign towards the Tang empire and its vassals in the late 630s. All three actors (princess, emperor, and minister) became Tibetan cultural heroes, characters in folktales, and Buddhist "saints" as well. This alliance marriage, which could have been based on a cultural difference in interpretation of the status of the bride giver and the bride receiver, became the model for Tibetan wedding per se, a metaphor for political and cultural relations and a legitimizing narrative (both in Tibet and China). Today, the story is still alive and well in folklore, folklorism, religion, policy, propaganda, and even a soap opera. I believe that its analysis might enrich a perception of Chinese dominance over Tibet and Tibetan response, which is interpreted on the later metaphor of the priest and patron.

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