The Greatness and Fall of Ancient Tibet (part 1)
Lev Nikolayevich Gumilev, 1969 – (about 15,000 words, in two parts)
Topics
INHABITANTS OF TIBET
THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY
RULERS OF TIBET
THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE BUDDHIST COMMUNITY
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY
THE WAR FOR TOGON
TIBETO-CHINESE WAR FOR THE WESTERN EDGE
THE COUP IN TIBET
TIBETO-CHINESE WAR
BLACK AND YELLOW
THE MASSACRE
LAMAISM AND ITS FOUNDER
LHASA CATHEDRAL
LET'S LISTEN TO THE OTHER SIDE
THE AGE OF REVENGE
LANGDARMA
THE COLLAPSE OF THE TIBETAN MONARCHY
NOTES
This is a chronicle of Tibet, from its first histories around 429, its unification around 607 and on to 850 its destruction. Much of it has to do with (a political moves of) trying to substitute the Bon religion, (very old and also called the Black Faith), supported by the noble clans, with Buddhism. Religion was the symbol of civil war.
I think that these religions didn’t have a third power in themselves, (between the rulers and the oligarchs), but were just manipulated by the ruler and the noble elite in their struggle for power. It went back and forth many times. Buddhism had little resonance with the populace because it is a complicated teaching. They preferred the magic rites of the traditional Bon religion. The way Buddhism was used, it was no saving grace at all, as we might infer looking from today. Maybe this points to no religion had powerful tenants, they had certain words, but all were utilized for the ruling classes purposes.
The period was made up of continuous terrible clashes and wars, and the country was finally destroyed in 850. It took at least 200 more years to recover as a nation.
_______________
The development of ancient state formations in Asia, on the one hand, is subordinated to the general pattern of the formation of class society, on the other hand, it has its own specific features. In order to understand the relationship between these sides, and in order to separate the general from the particular, it is most expedient to apply the method of historical research, i.e., in chronological sequence, to trace the course of events from the emergence of a cultural tradition to its end, from one angle or another.
The problem we have posed is formulated as follows: why was the naturally poor Tibetan Highlands able to nurture a people who, despite their small number, claimed to be the hegemon of Central Asia, and why did this attempt to become a hegemon fail? For an answer, it is necessary to turn to the secular political history of Tibet, and since there is no such in historiography, we will have to write it and thereby get a solution prompted by the facts themselves.
Unlike our predecessors, we did not base our point of view on the fate of a Buddhist community that penetrated into a wild country, but on the regularity of a developing tribe that was culturally influenced by enlightened neighbors. Having thus changed the aspect of the coverage of events, we got a complete picture: the chain of events in their connection and sequence. It is the establishment of a causal relationship that suggests an answer to the problem posed with clarity, which eliminates the need for additional formulations and maxims on general historical topics.
THE INHABITANTS OF TIBET
The vast Tibetan plateau, separated from the surrounding lowlands by high ridges — the Kunlun from the north and the Himalayas from the south — is divided in the middle by the Trans-Himalayan Ridge, which represents a natural boundary between the dry steppes of the northern plateau and the picturesque river valleys of the Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra) and its tributaries. The high—altitude plain adjacent to Kunlun from the south is a desert that is not inhabited to this day. To the south, along the slopes of mountain ranges, there are grassy steppes where sheep farming is possible, and even further south, along the banks of rivers, agriculture has long existed.[1] The Northern Desert and the Himalayan Range block access to Tibet from the north and from the south. Therefore, Tibet was settled from the west and east.
In the west, in the upper reaches of the Indus, from time immemorial, agricultural tribes — Monas and Dards - have created their settlements.[2] In terms of race, language and culture, these tribes were close to the peoples of Northwestern India and the Pamirs. In the V–VI centuries. Dardistan was part of the power of the Ephthalites, and after its defeat gained independence.[3] There was no political union between the Dards and the Mons. They were divided into many small principalities, independent of each other. Due to the primitiveness of their organization, they could not challenge the primacy of the Tibetan ancestors advancing from the east.
On the western border of China, in the modern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, two different peoples lived side by side: Mongoloid shepherds-Kyans [...]” and medieval Tanguts.[7]
Despite long-term communication with the Chinese, they retained in the III century. their princes and their way of life. Although most of them knew Chinese, they used the Di language at home. Their outfits and rituals were similar to both Chinese and Tibetan, which indicates a close connection of the Tanguts with both of these peoples, but their ethnic independence in the III century. it was not lost. The numbers of individual tribes sometimes exceeded 10 thousand people.[8] Not only by origin, but also by way of life, the Tibetan Kyans and Tanguts differed from each other.
The Si-rong peoples (in this case, the Tibetans. — L. G.) they use animal skins instead of clothes; they do not have permanent homes and lead a nomadic lifestyle, earning their livelihood by cattle breeding. There are no specific names for genera and generations, the name of the father or mother serves as the name and their kind. They are divided into many clans that do not have a sovereign and do not recognize autocracy, but they live in communities. The people are extremely brave, to die in battle is considered happiness among them, to die of illness is a misfortune. Like animals, they are extremely patient with the cold: even women during childbirth do not shy away from the severity of the climate."[9] "The Tangchan Qian (in this case, the Tanguts. — L. G.) constitute a special genus. They have permanent villages and live in houses. Their huts are covered with cavities of buffalo and sheep wool (black). In their possession there are no laws, no service, no taxes. Only in wartime they gather in one place, and in other times everyone is engaged in their craft and have no relations with each other.
Clothes are sewn from furs and woolen fabrics, food is obtained from shaggy buffaloes, sheep and pigs. After the death of their father; uncles and brothers take on stepmothers, aunts and daughters-in-law. They do not have letters, and the course of the years is noticed by the autumn and spring changes. At the end of every three years there is a meeting at which bulls and rams are beaten for sacrifice to Heaven. From the house of the Prince of Liang-ching, the elders descend hereditarily, and those who have won the allegiance of the famous declare themselves kings."[10]
The texts do not need comments. Almost none of the customs are common, and the stages of social development are also different: the Kyans had a tribal system in its heyday, the Junos are at the end of the period. Their subsequent fate was also different: the Zhuns, having absorbed the Tibetan tribe of the Dansyans and the remnants of the southern Huns, subsequently formed the Xi-Xia state, and the descendants of the Kans retained their way of life and wild will until the XIX century.
Descendants of the Kyans can be considered more Ngolok in the upper reaches of the Yellow River than the Tibetan bots, who broke away from the Kyans at an indefinite time before the new era.[11] The Bots, having spread up the middle stream of the Brahmaputra, embarked on the path of creating a class state, and the Kyans, having suffered a series of bloody defeats, retreated to the mountains, from where back in 1899 they intimidated their neighbors with their raids and jealously guarded their independence.
According to P. K. Kozlov, they arrogantly declare: "We, Ngoloks, cannot be compared with other people. You, no matter who it concerns from Tibetans, obey other people's laws: the laws of the Dalai Lama, China and each of your little bosses… you are afraid of everything. Not only you, but your grandfathers and great-grandfathers were like that. We Ngoloki, from time immemorial, obey only our own laws and motives. Every Ngolok will be born already with the consciousness of his freedom and with his mother's milk he will know his laws, which should never be changed. Each of us is almost born with a weapon in his hands... our tribe is one of the highest, most worthy in Tibet, and we have the right to look with contempt not only at Tibetans, but even at the Chinese."[12]
In these words, the ethno-psychological structure of the ancient Kyans is alive, pushing them into bloody wars, in which most of them died.[13] Despite all the arrogance, ngoloki is a relic of the heyday of the tribal system.
Not nomadic tribes, but settled farmers who settled in the middle reaches of the great Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra), created Tibetan culture and statehood. During the reign of Pudekungye, which could not be dated, agriculture and irrigation appeared in Tibet.[14] Wheat, barley, buckwheat and peas grew on the fertile soil of the river valleys.[15] Water was diverted to the fields from mountain rivers by channels, near which stone fortified settlements were erected.
The Tibetan chronicles attribute the beginning of metallurgy to the same indefinite time. Three metals were smelted: silver, copper and iron. Bridges were thrown across rivers, and even loom weaving appeared. A significant rise in the economy dates back to the end of the IV — beginning of the V century, when irrigation was ordered, foraging for livestock used in plowing was widely practiced, and new breeds of mule and hainik (a cross between a yak and a cow) were bred.[16]
Technological progress has created such an abundance of products that the population of Tibet has grown rapidly. By the seventh century it reached 2,860 thousand people,[17] that is, the limit above which it did not rise until the XX century. More, at the specified level of technology, the country could not feed. Naturally, the population growth was at the expense of agricultural areas, and the tribes who settled in the river valleys, according to their way of life, customs and culture, were increasingly moving away from their nomadic brethren. Finally, they were transformed into a people who were to do great things.”
THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY
For a long time, Tibetan tribes lived in a tribal system, not communicating with the outside world. Finally, the outside world paid attention to them: from the west, from Gilgit, the black Bon faith invaded Tibet and took possession of minds and souls, and from the east the Xianbian squad came and conquered bodies and hearts. Then Tibet changed its appearance, and it happened like this:
Once, before the advent of Buddhism, in the country of Shangshun, the teacher Shenrabmibo preached a new religion. The main male deity was called by him "All-good", and his wife acted as an angry "Glorious Queen of the three worlds", then as a gentle "Great Mother of Mercy and love". She was associated with the element of the earth and in Western Tibet was called "Mother Earth". This dual deity accepted bloody sacrifices, including human ones.
The world, according to the ideas of this religion, consists of three spheres: the heavenly region — gods, the earthly region — people and the lower one — the water spirits. A mystical world tree sprouts through these three universes, and it is the path by which the universes are demolished with each other. Communication is carried out by means of mysteries performed by priests who have accepted initiation. The priests, in addition, guess, and conjure, causing illness and bad weather. All this requires high qualifications, and therefore the "Bon religion is difficult to study."
The holy Book of Bon was written by Shenrabmibo in the Tagzig language and translated into other languages. This greatly distanced bon from primitive genotheistic cults, alien to proselytism. Bon was preached and spread, apart from Tibet, along the slopes of the Himalayas and in Southwestern China. One may think that some cults in Siberia have developed not without his influence, but this would be the subject of special research. In Tibet, however, this religion became dominant and militant, creating a church organization with an appropriate hierarchy, clergy, organized cult and a tendency to interfere in state affairs.
This brief description,[18] by no means claiming to be complete, is still enough to conclude that it is impossible to identify Bon and Tunguska shamanism. Although there is a doctrine of three worlds in shamanism, there is no concept of a supreme deity, of initiation and the power of sacrifice. There is no clergy and church organization there, and in principle there cannot be, because the shaman, according to the ideas of the Tungus, is chosen by spirits, and not taught by people. Finally, shamanism is not resorted to, and a person of any faith can resort to the help of a shaman in case of illness, as a doctor, whereas bon combines preaching and exclusivity, like any highly developed religion and like any militant church.
The time of the appearance of bon in Tibet goes back to ancient times. He triumphed not without a struggle and blood. One of the legendary rulers of Tibet, Tri-kum, "in the first half of his life was committed to bon, and in the second half of his life he ordered the suppression of bon "yung-trung" (one of the currents of bon) and broke the head thread "mu" (by which they returned to heaven). Lo-ngam's subjects and adviser killed him with a dagger."[19] In place of the old Bon priests, suppressed by the ruler, new ones came — bon gravediggers.
So, the Bon church snatched a share of power from the tribal leaders, who were constantly indulging in strife. Although they hid from each other in stone castles, the number of principalities steadily decreased as the princes vigorously exterminated each other. In the middle of the first millennium there were 20 small principalities, and a little later, in the VI century, there were only 17.[20]
And so, a new force entered a rich, growing, but divided country in 439. At this time, the militant Tobas created and expanded their Wei Empire, brutally cracking down on other tribes that had previously settled in Northern China. In 439 They captured Hesi and forced Ashin's horde to flee to the north. Like Ashin, another Xianbian prince, Fanni, with his tribesmen retreated to the southwest into inner Tibet. Relying on a disciplined and combat-ready detachment brought from those places where the war did not stop for a minute, the Xianbian leader "attracted Qians",[21] i.e. he took a dominant position among the warring tribes.
Just as water vapor condenses around a speck of dust flying in the air and forms a raindrop, so the Tibetan tribal leaders united around the Xianbian chieftain and his descendants, who for two hundred years have completely disappeared and merged with their subjects. From that time, the unification of Tibet began, which ended around 607, after which the ruler of Namri (570-620) was able to start external wars. But before turning to the politics of the seventh century, let us consider the situation created in Tibet after its unification.”
THE RULERS OF TIBET
The order established in Tibet by the beginning of the seventh century can be conditionally called a limited monarchy. But after all, they say the same about England; the name is sometimes misleading if it is not disclosed and explained, and therefore we will proceed to the description.
Theoretically, the full power in Tibet belonged to the ruler, a descendant of the Xianbian princes, who bore the title of tsengpo. Formally, he was assisted by a council staffed by officials appointed and removed by the ruler. In fact, the council held all executive power in its hands,[22] and in fact it carried out the will of the tribal leaders, relying on their armed tribesmen, who were the only real force in the country. Tribal leaders even bore the titles of either "female relative" (shang) or "minor lords" (vassals). Longpo's advisers were appointed only from the nobility. Naturally, they pursued the policy that was determined by their upbringing and connections, i.e. they defended the interests of the aristocracy.[23]
In this situation, the position of tsengpo was very difficult. On the one hand, he received his place by inheritance; his treasury received income from vast lands belonging to the "crown" — taxes, tribute from conquered peoples, extortionate property and property of executed criminals, but he could be removed from office at any moment, and practically he had neither real support nor real the authorities. Even the army was subordinate not to tsengpo, but to a special "military adviser".[24] Poor tsengpo remained, in fact, only honor, and this reminds us of the Hellenic Basileuses in those days when the wealthy aristocracy deprived them of their former power.[25]
Officially, all Tibetans were subjects (bang)[26] their powerless ruler, but they were sharply divided into three layers: aristocrats, free and personally dependent — tran.[27]
Free men were all required to serve in the army. It was organized into "four wings" (ru) and smaller units.[28] Although this division did not coincide with the tribal one, but the command positions in them were occupied by tribal leaders and "female relatives".[29] This greatly strengthened the position of the aristocracy and made it possible to deal with the lower strata of the population at their discretion. Even medieval Chinese note the excessive cruelty of punishments and the lack of control of judges. As a result of their "activities" in Tibet, unfree, i.e. slaves, appeared. Serfs are deprived of their freedom by the ruling authorities as punishment "for harmful thoughts, pride, unrestrainedness."[30] They were used in various jobs, sometimes on state-owned ones, sometimes giving them into the service of aristocrats. Their situation was very unenviable.
Aristocrats for their service as advisers, officials (ngen), courtiers (khab-so) or military leaders received land plots in conditional possession. These sites (khol-yul, lit. "land for service") it could be inherited, but it could not be sold or exchanged. The land was taken to the treasury in case of violation of loyalty to the ruler or termination of service.[31] This institution is very similar to a benefice or estate.[32] For the maintenance of the army and officials, large funds were required, which were collected in the form of a poll tax from the population, fines and tribute from the conquered lands. The bon clergy were exempt from paying the tax.[33]
So, Tibet in the VII century. It was already a real state in which patriarchal relations began to degenerate into feudal ones. But feudalism was still in its infancy. A much greater role was played by eminent patrimonial officials who sought to replace the monarchy with an oligarchy. Thus, as in Rome, as a result of the strengthening of the aristocracy, the royal power was reduced to zero, and then simply abolished.[34] The same thing happened in Phoenicia and in the Hellenic polis.
Tibet was on the same path. The nobles and Bon priests firmly held power in their hands, conquering and robbing the surrounding tribes, since only war fed the army and only the army ensured their power and well-being. Under tsengpo Namri, Tibetan troops invaded Eastern and Central India and defeated the Turkyuts,[35] apparently finishing off the unfortunate Kara-Jurin after he, abandoned by his eastern relatives, tried to find refuge in Togon in 604.
But every success has its downside. New soldiers and subjects joined the army and the country. They were willing to take on a share of military burdens and state concerns, but only for a corresponding share of benefits. And here they had no success, because the nobility was not inclined to share with the defeated.
Antagonism between the aristocracy and the people was bound to arise inevitably, and then the natural leader of the people could become tsengpo, also oppressed by the nobility.[36] Obviously, it was not by chance that the victorious Namri was killed,[37] and under his son Srontsangambo[38] "his father's subjects were outraged, his mother's subjects rebelled, related to shang-shungi Jo-sum-pa, Nyak-nyi-tag-pa, Kong-po, Nyan-po — they all rebelled."[39] This is very similar to a civil war in which different factions and tribes took part.
The uprising still died out, and order was restored, but the intelligent and energetic Srontsangambo[40] drew conclusions that were very important not only for himself, but also for his subjects. He drew attention to a community of poor skinhead monks who preached a strange doctrine about emptiness and non-doing. And he was not mistaken: Buddhism turned out to be a force that, having established itself in Tibet, turned his descendants from tsengpo into kings.”
THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE BUDDHIST COMMUNITY
Buddhist preachers began to penetrate into Central Asia already in the first centuries of the new era, but in the VII century. their energy and perseverance put them in the first place among the rival religious systems at that time. Before we talk about the role and significance of Buddhists in this era, let's take a quick look at the nature of the Buddhist community itself and the goals it pursued.
In general, in the VI and especially in the VII century Buddhism has been exceptionally active in China, Tibet and Central Asia, making its way not so much as a religious idea, but as a social and political grouping. The Buddhist philosophical doctrine was too complex to attract the masses, but the Buddhist community was represented by a group of determined and energetic people who knew how to make themselves be reckoned with. During its existence, it has transformed beyond recognition.
The original Buddhism was one of the Indian philosophical schools with a pronounced atheistic coloring,[41] and had no political significance. In the I century.
This original Buddhism was transformed by Nagarjuna, who announced that he was expounding a more complete and perfect teaching of the Buddha, which he had obtained from snakes, to whom the Buddha also preached, and even more extensively than to people. The philosophical meaning of the new sect, the Mahayana, consisted in the doctrine of Nirvana, but another thing is important: in the new sect, the bodhisattva, the savior of the world, took the central place instead of the arhat and the Buddha. In the system of Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a being who has reached the degree of perfection of a Buddha, but has not yet become a Buddha, because the vocation of a bodhisattva is to instruct suffering humanity and help it get rid of torment. Being above the arhat, who remains just a man, and below the Buddha, who is beyond reach, the bodhisattva, who has both superhuman qualities and accessibility, in the eyes of the masses becomes the main object of veneration and worship, taking the place of the native gods, expelled by Buddhism.
In the system of Buddhism, the world is divided into two unequal parts: the monks of the Buddhist community and everyone else. Only monks are recognized as the salt of the earth, since they have embarked on the "path" that leads them out of the world of vanity (samsara) to eternal emptiness (nirvana). Monks should not work or act at all, since action is a product of passion and leads to sin. Laypeople are obliged to feed, clothe and protect monks, this "merit" will help them in the next reincarnation to become monks and enter the "path". Naturally, the excessive increase in the community of monks was contrary to its interests, since if everyone became monks, there would be no one to feed them. But this danger did not threaten Indian Buddhism. Neither the Brahmins, proud of their knowledge and privileges, nor the rajahs, passionate about luxury, wars and honors, nor the peasants feeding their families and cultivating fields, sought to abandon their favorite pursuits in the name of "emptiness", which a Buddhist monk should strive for.
People of unsatisfied passions went to the Buddhist community, who did not find a place for themselves in life and the application of their active nature. When they became Buddhists, they rejected the life that offended them and the passions that deceived them; in the name of their proclaimed passivity, they developed frenzied activity, and finally they found a use for themselves in this role.
Chandragupta, the enemy of the Greeks, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, despite belonging to a lower caste (sudra), advanced in 313/14 thanks to military talents.[42] The military despotism he founded was established in Northern India, but the brutal regime disappointed the masses of the people who nominated Maurya.[43] Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka, understood that the throne could not hold on to spears for a long time. The military despotism was opposed by the separatist tendencies of local Kshatriya and Brahmin rajas in Bengal and tribal chiefs in Northwestern India. To fight them, he needed a powerful ideological weapon, and this turned out to be the Buddhist teaching that denies castes, clans and peoples. The Buddhist community willingly moved closer to the despot who provided it with patronage. After the demise of the Maurya dynasty, Buddhism was persecuted, which continued until the king of the Indo-Scythians, Kanishka, who was a foreigner in India and, like Ashoka, kept on the spears of his tribesmen, did not see in the Buddhist monks his possible allies in the fight against the conquered Hindus. Again, Buddhist monks were showered with favors until the Kushan empire fell.
Buddhism experienced its third heyday under Harsha Vardan, who conquered almost all of Northern India and created an ephemeral military power in the VII century BC.
Drastic changes in the position of Buddhism in India contributed to its spread outside this country. During the time of prosperity, Buddhism spread to areas that depended on Indian or Indo-Scythian kings; during the period of persecution, monks spread the yellow faith to places where they could be safe. In the first centuries of our era, Buddhists penetrated into China; in 350, Buddhism was established in Nepal,[44] a little earlier, it overcame the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush and won a place in the beliefs of the inhabitants of East Turkestan.
Descriptions of two journeys of Chinese Buddhists — Fa-xiang[45] and Xuanzang[46] - represent East Turkestan as a purely Buddhist country, which, of course, sins with some exaggeration, since both of these pilgrims were interested only in Buddhism and did not describe other beliefs as not worth attention.
This penetration was gradual and took place in several stages, which is evident from the fact that the ancient Hinayana dominated Kashgar, Gumo, Kuch, Harashar. Gaochan and Shanshan, while the Mahayana was strengthened in Khotan and Gebando (Tashkent), i.e. in the areas directly bordering Tibet,[47] and in China.
It should be noted that in the V–VI centuries. Buddhism in China was a foreign body.
The impoverished, shaven-headed Buddhist monks (bikshu), with their preaching of detachment from the world, celibacy and aspiration to the otherworldly, were deeply opposed to the sober and rationalistic practicality of Confucian literates. Buddhist preaching seemed to them senseless nonsense, capable of shaking the foundations of a state based on the principle of power, property and family. Therefore, Buddhist monks were looking for other objects for propaganda and found them among the barbarian leaders who settled in Northern China in the IV century, and a people prone to superstition and in need of consolation.
But the main adherents of Buddhism were women, without distinction of classes. The situation of women in medieval China was so difficult that Buddhists found a grateful flock in them. Even the incarnation of the bodhisattva of mercy, Avalokiteshvara, in China appears in a female hypostasis, Guan Yin, because, according to legend, the bodhisattva took the form of a woman in order to experience the full weight of female disenfranchisement. With the assistance of women, with their money, magnificent temples were erected with thousands of monks and libraries of Buddhist-Chinese literature.
During the Tang Dynasty, more Buddhist books were translated and republished than ever before in China. After Gao-tsung's accession to the throne, his minister, Confucian Fu-yi, persuaded the emperor to convene a council to discuss measures to be taken with regard to Buddhism. Fu-yi's proposal was to force monks and nuns to marry and procreate. "The reasons," he said, "that incline them to an ascetic life are explained only by their desire to avoid contributing to state revenues”. What they say about the fate of a person depending on the will of the Buddha is profoundly false. The life and death of people are at the mercy of fate, which is not controlled by anyone. The reward for virtue and vice lies in the power of the sovereign, and wealth and poverty are the result of our own deeds. Buddhism has led social life to degeneration, and its doctrine of reincarnation has nothing to do with reality. Monks are lazy and useless members of society.
Xiau-yu, a follower of Buddhism, replied to this: "The Buddha was a sage, and, speaking ill of the sage, Fu-yi turned out to be guilty of a grave crime." His opponent objected that loyalty to the oath and filial piety are the greatest virtues, and the monks, refusing to honor their sovereign and their parents, show them neglect and indifference, and Xiau-yu, defending their teachings, was himself guilty along with them. To this, Xiau-yu only said that "hell was created for people like his detractor."
Confucian "philosophers" — military and civil officials - resisted this "ideological contagion". Their rise to power has always been accompanied by persecution against Buddhism; therefore, the opposite pattern can be established: the persecution of Buddhism in medieval China meant the coming to power of a military-official caste, patronage of Buddhism is associated with the dominance of a court clique consisting of eunuchs, women and monks. This is exactly the antithesis we met in the empires of Bei Zhou and Bei Qi.
The Buddhist community itself has always been very active, but its goals did not coincide with the goals of the secular state, often went directly against them, and therefore Buddhists could flourish only under a mediocre and short-sighted sovereign. It follows from this that the prosperity of Buddhism is associated with the weakness of secular power, and over time it weakens even more.
Under the first emperors of the Tang dynasty, Buddhism gained the same dominant position in China as it had in the rest of Asia. Buddhism triumphed from Samarkand and Peshawar in the west to Sumatra and Java in the east, penetrated even into wild Tibet, but especially strengthened in China, although it underwent significant changes. A Chinese saying refers to this time: "A Buddhist is like the Tang Dynasty.[48]”
“The rulers of the Tang dynasty saw Buddhism as a means of subjugating supernatural forces and mainly sought to find the elixir of immortality. Patronizing Buddhism, they did not forget their old religion and treated Nestorians very favorably, who from time to time penetrated into China.
Buddhists had no less success among the masses of China, which was greatly facilitated by the external similarity of their religion with Taoism. The Chinese, surprised by this similarity, were inclined to consider Lao Tzu the true ancestor of Buddhism.[49] The Buddhist community grew and absorbed an increasing share of state revenues, giving nothing in return. Undoubtedly, this circumstance played a role in the fall of the great Tang Empire along with other, even more significant reasons. And if during the Tang dynasty Buddhism in China won a complete victory, then at the same time in Tibet it met such resistance, before which it retreated three times and only on the fourth time, already in the XI century, achieved confident, firm successes. In Tibet, the opponent of Buddhism — the yellow faith — was the aristocracy and the black faith, or the bon religion, and the ally and patron was the monarchical power.
The frightening forms of the mysteries of the black faith dominated the consciousness of the highlanders, who believed that the world was inhabited by a host of evil spirits, from which only the intervention of sorcerers could save. To this day, the population of the eastern Himalayas, Southeastern Tibet and the foreigners of Yunnan and Sichuan venerate the formidable spirit Lepcha,[50] which even Buddhists consider stronger than the Buddha himself.[51]
The social significance of the bon religion in Tibetan society is clear: sorcerers together with the nobility so limited the power of the king that his power turned into fiction. It was the struggle of the nobility against the throne. There was no suitable occupation for the tsar, the masses of the people became an obedient army in the hands of the council of nobles. The nobles and priests firmly held power in their hands, subjugating more and more tribes of Qians and Dards, since only war fed the army and only the army kept them on the surface. By the middle of the seventh century, the empire covered the whole of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam and came into contact with the Chinese Empire.”
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY
Unlike his ancestors, Srontsangambo found a way to get rid of the annoying guardianship of his uncooperative nobles. He killed eight of them with his own hand when they started contradicting him.[52] But he could not cope with the sorcerers; for this he needed outside help, and he found it in the person of Buddhist monks who appeared in the retinue of princesses from Nepal and China.[53] These people were not afraid of spirits, so they were stronger than them; they brought scribbled scrolls with spells more effective than the nightly broadcasts of the Bon sorcerers.
These monks were honored by the Chinese emperor, the almighty Tai-tsung, and by the victorious Indian king Harsha Vardana, autocratic sovereigns independent of their subjects. Srontsangambo decided that he had obtained a means to become like these kings, and very cheaply, since ascetic monks did not require special maintenance costs. As experienced and educated people, they could be used for the needs of the newly emerged military despotism, and they were not connected with seditious nobles and were completely dependent on the royal mercy.
In fact, Tsengpo's conversion to Buddhism was a monarchical coup. Opportunities for such decisive actions were provided by the aristocracy itself, where, as in any oligarchy, influential clans fought for power. At the accession of Srontsangambo to the throne, the "great adviser", i.e. the head of the government (Prime Minister), was the nobleman Pungse of the Khyungpo clan. The strength of his influence on tsengpo is sufficiently confirmed by the fact that the Tsangbed region he conquered was granted to him as a gift, i.e. he conquered a country with a population of 20 thousand families for himself, not for the state. However, he had to fight the intrigues of his rivals all the time. In the end, according to the denunciation of a nobleman from the Gar family, he was accused of conspiracy and beheaded, and the Gar family seized power.[54]
Against the background of such bitterness and unscrupulousness, Srontsangambo managed to seize the initiative. In 639 he moved the capital to a new location and founded the beautiful city of Lhasa,[55] which became the citadel of the new order. Any resistance was suppressed mercilessly: "Torn out eyes, severed heads, limbs and other body parts of people continuously appeared at the foot of the Iron Hill in Lhasa."[56]
And in this harsh country, which was going through a cruel time, new advisers of the king appeared in the retinue of Chinese and Nepalese princesses.[57] They were intelligent, educated, experienced in politics, diplomats and psychologists. Srontsangambo received a support, without which the new system could not hold on.
Tsengpo's conversion to Buddhism meant peace and alliance with China and Nepal.[58] In domestic politics, it was marked by profound reforms. Two embassies were sent to India for the sacred books, of which one went missing, and the second, led by Tongmi Samboda, returned in 632. with manuscripts and a developed alphabet, after which an intensive translation of Buddhist books into Tibetan began.[59] Magnificent temples were built in Lhasa, but not a single monastery arose,[60] because only foreigners were Buddhists, and Tibetans, busy with everyday life, were striving not for nirvana, but for well-being in this world. Wanting to encourage his subjects to a peaceful life, Srontsangambo asked for silkworms in China for breeding and masters for making wine and for building mills.[61]
However, the Bon opposition was not asleep. "The subjects began to vilify the tsar. The king heard, but nevertheless prescribed a religious law for the observance of ten good deeds."[62] The discontent of the nobles is quite understandable, but the discontent of the people should be explained.
Indeed, Buddhist monks themselves were inexpensive, but in order to observe the cult, it was necessary to erect idols, cast images of bodhisattvas, buy and bring manuscripts and icons from afar. All this fell on the shoulders of the taxable population. Instead of campaigns that brought booty and glory, it was proposed to sit in caves on lean food and save the soul, ruining the body. The Tibetans could not like the fact that the king surrounded himself with lamas who arrived not only from India, with which there was no war at that time, but also from Khotan and China. Therefore, it is not surprising that Tibetans reacted to the new faith without the slightest enthusiasm.[63]”
“Probably, resistance to a too cool and pious king caused complications that led to the removal of Srontsangambo from the throne. The reformer's son, Gunriguntsan, sat on the throne for five years until he died for unexplained reasons.
Srontsangambo returned to power again and ruled, however, very restlessly, until 650, when he either died or was again dismissed. But one way or another, his grandson Manromanzan, a 13-year-old boy, whom Chinese chroniclers, generally quite knowledgeable, call "nameless", turned out to be on the throne.[64] One can imagine how little this child meant on the throne.
Even this vague and fragmentary information shows how intense the struggle for power was. The victory remained with the nobility and the priesthood. The "great adviser" Dontsan[65] from the Gar family, who "did not know the letters", [66] i.e. did not read religious literature, became the master of the situation. But he "guarded all the destinies of Tibet,"[67] whose foreign policy flowed along the old channel.
