Today, Lhasa has become a big stage where grandiose projects that aim to change our history by imitating the past are being played out. A big stage where casually dressed plain-clothes police lurk on rooftops of the city’s monasteries and private residences, sometimes even pretending to play with Tibetan beads. But, even when the smallest whispers have been silenced, this big stage fails to hide the countless fears that exist in this city….
At dawn, I take my DSLR camera and see through the lens a ”copycat” Potala Palace now seating across the Lhasa river. This building, labeled by the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the city of Lhasa as their “Number One” project, is a theatre built round the clock to be the stage for the mega-production “Princess Wencheng”.
Under the influence of political and economic agendas, the myth of Princess Wencheng is finally becoming a “brain washing” tool. The play will use the latest modern electronic technology to celebrate the revival of an old “splendor”. But, when we talk about celebrating a “splendor” are we celebrating the splendor of the Tang Dinasty, or rather China’s current big nationalistic splendor? Perhaps this is an attempt to use the Princess Wencheng’s myth to materialize the glorious “China Dream”, which in fact is nothing more than a “Sinicization Dream”.
Several leaders from the Tibetan Autonomous Region have paid visits to inspect the production of the mega-play “Princess Wencheng”, official media reports that a total of 750 million Yuan (equivalent to more than 120 million dollars) have been invested into this unprecedented project. This is clearly a top-project for the TAR’s and Lhasa’s government, it aims at using an art form such as a play to consolidate a historical narrative, which “legitimizes” China’s current ruling over Tibet.
Not long ago, Party cadres organized in Lhasa the first “Symposium on the Princess Wencheng”, according to relevant information, during the symposium the Tibetan Bureau of Tourism had presented proposals for building “Princess Wencheng” themed gardens and theatre plays. Many academics, artists and journalists were invited to the symposium to discuss how to use the historical reference of “Princess Wencheng” as a central piece to promote “national unity between Han and Tibetans”.
According to official media, the play will be unveiled on the 20th of this month, and has hired 500 actors. According to their official microblog (Weibo) the average entrance fee will be 500 yuan (90 USD).
Now, the Party is trying to create a new myth around the Princess Wencheng, attributing to her much more influence than she really had…. The points below illustrate some of the new “achievements” attributed to Princess Wencheng under the new narrative:
1- The Potala Palace was built in her honor by the Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo
2- Princess Wencheng is regarded as one of the main founders of Tibetan Buddhism
3- The sacred mountain Bhumpa in Tibet was named by Princess Wencheng
4- Princess Wencheng invented Tankas
5- Princess Wencheng was responsible for transmitting the greeting “Tashi Delek”
So, clearly we can see that in reality this is a project to re-write history, to “wipe out” the historical memory and culture of a people. In fact, this has been taking place for a long time, but nowadays this policy will flourish under a more consolidated power, and the support of a much more solid economy. We can predict that future tours that visit Tibet will have mandatory visits to this “copy-cat Potala Palace” and attendances to the big propagandistic commercial performances that will take place there. In fact this is a “win-win” project that can both make money and be a tool for “brainwashing” people with propaganda.
Regarding the marriage of the Princess Wencheng to Tibet during the Tang dynasty, Wang Lixiong has written about the “Princess Myth” in his book “Sky Burial” :
“Many Chinese people see Sino-Tibetan relationship through the myth of the Princess Wencheng. As if marriages between Chinese and other cultures will mark sovereignty in favour of China. This is a ridiculous logic.In reality, at the time Tibet was very powerful, its influence reached the Pamir Mountains and other Turkish and Arabic areas located in the West, towards the North it reached what is now Xinjiang and Gansu in the Hebei corridor. Towards the East, it occupied large territories of China’s Sichuan and Yunnan. At that time Tibetans acted as conquerors, and often setup camps and brigades in central Asia. The founders of the Tang dynasty had Turkic ethnic origin, and they viewed cross-national marriages as a political way to appease its neighboring areas. It is easy to understand, to marry a princess was considered a much smaller cost than to deploy the army and its generals. The royal palace had many daughters, and the Emperor did not marry its natural daughters but daughters that belonged to the “imperial clan”. During the Tang dynasty there were more tan 15 princesses married to other nations.
I refer to the history of these princesses to convey how different the reality is from how it is now presented. From a historical perspective, to marry a princess to another nation does not constitute a proof of sovereignty over that nation; but nowadays it has become the norm to “enlarge” the role Princess Wencheng played in Tibet. As if culture and civilization existed in Tibet only after she married to the Tibetan King. We now see that many achievements are being attributed to the Princess, from developing medicine, to help boost industrial artisanship, influencing culinary traditions, bringing vegetable seeds, including Tibetan Buddhism is now said to have been brought by Princess Wencheng.
Even if there were some truth in these facts, overly emphasizing and underlining them will make a nation’s aspirations seem exceedingly grandiose. As if China marrying a Han daughter to another nation would mean that nation’s history will change instantly, and this would become an irrefutable basis to prove that the two cultures have bonded for generations and centuries. However, reality has proven this is nothing but a myth.”(translation from a dear friend)
——感谢友人帮助将以下相关文字译成英文。这些图片是我于近日拍摄，除了图4拍摄的是布达拉宫背面，其余图片拍摄的皆是“《文成公主》和美大型实景剧剧场”的远景。另，图3右侧状如一架望远镜的高楼是江苏省援藏工程——“拉萨市公安局科技信息大厦”，紧挨着该大厦的吊车所在处是正在修建的“八廓商场”（原城关区政府所在处，位于环绕大昭寺的八廓转经道的东北面）。
山寨布达拉宫与文成公主神话
文/唯色
傍晚，透过数码单反相机镜头看见与布达拉宫遥遥相对的山脚，隔着拉萨河，一座山寨布达拉宫已然成形，那是被当作“西藏自治区、拉萨市的‘一号工程’”，正在日夜建设的“《文成公主》和美大型实景剧剧场”。
有关文成公主的巨大神话在政治与经济双作用下，终于要化作洗脑之利器，以“最先进的声光电技术，彰显‘盛世’气韵”。只是这个“盛世”是往昔之大唐盛世？还是今日之大中华盛世？抑或是古今中国之“盛世”？从而借无以复加的文成公主之神话来实现伟大的“中国梦”——确切地说，是汉化梦。
据官媒报道，西藏自治区若干官员多次来视察号称“目前国内投资最大、规模最宏伟的实景剧《文成公主》”（总投资达7.5亿元）。显然，“西藏自治区、拉萨市的‘一号工程’”是一项承载着以戏说历史来“证明”今日当局统治之合法性的政治任务，需要官员们在政治上严格把关，一再视察。
这之前，党的官员们已经在拉萨举办了“首届文成公主主题论坛”，据介绍，“旨在通过中国西藏文化旅游创意园区的文成公主主题公园及《文成公主》和美大型实景剧，邀请学术界、艺术界、传媒界和企业界的精英，以西藏历史文化为背景，以‘文成公主’文化形象为主题，围绕‘文成公主进藏、藏汉人民团结’，高起点、高层次的展开研讨。”
又据官媒报道：目前，《文成公主》和美大型实景剧已进入合成排演阶段，7月20日将进行首次试演。8月1日，中国人民解放军的“建军节”正式开演。
该剧官方微博介绍：《文成公主》实景剧500多人参演，首演季门票五百元。
党在神话文成公主，诸多意淫之人也跟风一起神话这位文成公主。让我们来看看万能的文成公主已经被渲染成什么样了吧——
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| 此图转自微博，为某博物馆一景。 |
2、“文成公主是藏传佛教的主要奠基人”；
3、拉萨东边的神山朋巴日（汉译宝瓶山）是文成公主命名；
4、唐卡是文成公主发明的；
5、藏语“扎西德勒”是文成公主及其随从所传授；
6、…………
总之，在关于西藏传统文化如何构建的重新叙述中，由于权力者的强势话语改变了整个故事，使得一位古老的汉人女子担负起统一大业的重任。其实她不过是十六岁的少女，但在不容置疑的重塑与重述中，她比孙悟空还神通广大。她会这个会那个，就没有她不会的本事，似乎是全靠她，西藏才有了文明，问题是，你信吗？出于各种用心，这位少女被神化得已不成人样了。
事实上，这是一种改写历史、“洗白”一个民族的文化和记忆的浩大工程。其实持续多年，如今在权力与金钱的支持下，更是遍地开花，所向披靡。可以预见，在这个山寨布达拉宫进行的商业化演出，将属于以后来拉萨旅游的游客必看节目，既可以洗脑又可以赚钱，但遭到损害的却是任被改写的历史与任被宰割的藏民族。
很多中国人都是通过文成公主的神话认识中国与西藏的历史关系，似乎中国把公主嫁到哪，哪就从此属于中国了。这是一种有些可笑的逻辑。事实上当时的西藏非常强大，势力范围向西越过帕米尔高原，波及阿拉伯和土耳其控制区，向北到今日的中国新疆和甘肃的河西走廊，向东曾经占领中国四川、云南的大片领土。那个时期的藏民族以征服者的姿态，在整个中亚到处安营扎寨。唐朝开国的李氏家族本身带有突厥血统和文化背景，把联姻当作一种平定边疆的政治行为──可想，嫁一个公主远比调遣大军来得便宜。王室的女儿多得很，何况帝王并不嫁自己的亲生女儿（文成公主亦只是宗室之女）。唐朝前后嫁到“诸蕃”的公主有15人之多……
不知是因为松赞干布态度倨傲，还是因为那时唐太宗对西藏没给予充分重视，反正一开始唐太宗没同意。松赞干布大怒，带领大军先讨伐吐谷浑，继而攻入唐境，并致书唐太宗：“若不许嫁公主，当亲提五万兵，夺尔唐国，杀尔，夺取公主” ，何其豪迈。
固然，以唐朝之强，不至于屈服松赞干布的武力，不过双方打了一阵互有胜败的战争，足以使唐太宗认识到吐蕃（西藏的古名）不可轻视。当松赞干布再次缓和姿态，撤兵并重派使者带礼物到长安求婚时，唐太宗便立刻同意将文成公主许配给松赞干布，连其所派的求婚使者都被赐予了琅琊公主的外孙女为妻，可见太宗抚慰吐蕃之心的迫切，所以文成公主进藏在一定程度上应该算是无奈。
文成公主之所以比其他外嫁的公主更留名，大概主要是因为她被嫁得最远，嫁到最荒僻的地方，一去三十九年，至死没回中原，因而从惜香怜玉的角度更值得同情。她在去吐蕃的路上哭得连河都改变了流向（青海境内倒淌河之名的来源），此传说足以反映后人对她的怜悯。文成公主死后三十年，唐朝又有一位金城公主（注：亦是宗室之女）被嫁到吐蕃。她的传说就更惨了……
不能说中国的公主进藏对发展中国与西藏的关系没有作用。比如松赞干布自打娶了文成公主，吐蕃十年没有再对唐朝用兵。然而十年在历史长河中不过是一瞬间。松赞干布死后，文成公主守寡二十九年，其在世之时吐蕃与唐就不断发生冲突。以后的百年期间中国几无宁日。有人历数那一时期吐蕃与中国的大规模战争如下：
唐高宗咸亨四年（公元六七三年）命薛仁贵率师十余万以讨吐蕃，为吐蕃大将钦陵所败；武后如意元年（六九二）吐蕃入寇，武后遣武威将军王孝杰大破之；万岁通天元年（六九六）吐蕃寇凉州，官军败绩；长安二年（七０二），吐蕃入寇，四役皆破之；玄宗开元十二年（七二七）吐蕃入寇，王君奂大破之；十六年肖嵩败吐蕃于祁连；代宗广德元年（七六三）吐蕃寇长安，郭子仪击败遁；德宗贞元二年（七八六）吐蕃入寇陷监州等地；贞元五年（七八九），韦皋大破吐蕃，隔年又连破吐蕃，获其大将论赞热；贞元十六年（八０一）吐蕃又大举入寇。
……
讲了这么多公主，为的是说明以一厢情愿的立场，距离事实真相可能远到怎样程度。固然，正经从事史学研究的人还不至于把嫁公主当成国家主权的证明，但是过份夸大文成公主对西藏的重要性，却是一种相当普遍的现象。似乎是因为文成公主进藏才使西藏有了文明，包括医疗知识、技术工艺、烹调知识、蔬菜种子，甚至西藏的佛教都是文成公主带去的。就算这中间有若干真实，然而过份强调，就成了一种民族自大的倾向，似乎只要汉民族嫁出去一个女儿，就能改变另外一个民族的文明和历史，并且成为两个民族世世代代不可分割的根据。事实已经证明这不过是一厢情愿的神话。
附带补充一段历史：吐蕃君主松赞干布娶有五个王妃，前三个是藏人：芒妃墀嘉、象雄妃勒托曼、木雅茹妃嘉姆增；第四个是尼泊尔的墀尊公主，最后一个是唐朝文成公主。文成公主主要负责赞普松赞干布的生活起居，相当于侍者。最早的吐蕃史料都把她排在五位王妃的最后一个。
松赞干布为五位王妃都建有佛殿或神庙：芒妃墀嘉的神庙建在东郊扎耶巴山谷；象雄妃的神庙建在大昭寺北的梯布廓水泉附近；木雅妃的神庙建在铁山（药王山）东麓，即保留至今的查拉鲁普洞窟庙；尼泊尔的墀尊公主的佛殿即大昭寺；中国的文成公主的佛殿即小昭寺。
松赞干布与芒妃墀嘉生王子贡松贡赞，延续吐蕃赞普王统，与其余四位王妃无子。
图为7月18日夜里，可能是该《文成公主》实景剧试灯光吧。7月20日夜里将试演，但天气预报有中雨，为了试演成功，党的官员们会不会把雨也拦住？人定胜天嘛。
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