Yilong Carpet has many handmade silk art tapestries in its collection, but the one we are going to introduce today has a special meaning - "Princess Wencheng Entering Tibet". This tapestry is 76cm x 152cm in size, and the pattern depicts the story of Princess Wencheng entering Tibet to marry during the Tang Dynasty in China.
In the history of Tibet in my country, the Tubo Dynasty, which was once glorious, was established. The glory of the Tubo Dynasty coincided with the glory of the Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains. There were both cruel wars and peaceful exchanges between the two. To this day, although the people of later generations have little memory of the fierce war between Han and Tibetans at that time, they have left a deep memory of the peaceful exchanges between the two. The most well-known of these is the story of Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty entering Tibet to marry.
In 640 AD, Songtsen Gampo sent his great prime minister Lu Dongzan, Tunmi Sambhota and hundreds of others to "offer 5,000 taels of gold and hundreds of treasures and toys" to Chang'an to ask for Princess Wencheng's marriage. According to the Tibetan history book "History of Tibetan Kings", in addition to Tubo, there were also the Dharma King of India, King Gesa Wu (Dangxiang), King Dashi Fu (Persia), King Baidahor (Uighur) and others who went to Chang'an to ask for Princess Wencheng's hand in marriage. After weighing the pros and cons, Emperor Taizong of Tang agreed to the marriage.
In the 15th year of Zhenguan, the 17-year-old Princess Wencheng set out from Chang'an, carrying a large amount of gold and silver treasures, Buddhist scriptures, Confucian classics, history books, medicine, calendar, astrology and other books, as well as a 12-year-old golden statue of Sakyamuni, and a large number of skilled craftsmen all the way west, around Xining, Qinghai, to Tibet for marriage.
After Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, Songtsen Gampo specially built the magnificent Potala Palace for her, which is still a major holy place for the Tibetan people. Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet not only brought a brief peace between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, but also brought advanced production technology and materials to the Tibetan people, greatly improving Tubo's productivity and promoting the integration of Han and Tibetan civilizations.
The handmade art tapestry of "Princess Wencheng Entering Tibet" is made of high-quality silk and takes two years to weave by an experienced weaver. It has 450 threads, that is, there are 450 warp threads in every 30 cm long carpet surface, so the pattern is more delicate and realistic than ordinary tapestries. Coupled with the unique gloss of silk, the whole tapestry looks radiant and gorgeous.
The tapestry depicts in detail the main events of Princess Wencheng's entry into Tibet, Songtsen Gampo's wedding, the construction of the Potala Palace, and the Jokhang Temple. The tapestry has gorgeous colors and exquisite patterns. If you use a few words to describe it, it is beautiful, brilliant and poetic. It is a rare Chinese style handmade product, and it has high value as a home decoration or art collection.
This handmade silk tapestry has been collected in the Tianjiang Silk Carpet Exhibition Hall for many years. Today, it was spotted by an American artist. He said that he was attracted by the ancient Chinese style atmosphere in the pattern when he first saw the tapestry. After learning about the moving story in the pattern in detail, he was even more moved by the story of Princess Wencheng marrying for the peace between the two states. He bought the tapestry as an art collection without any hesitation.
