THE SINO-TIBETAN TREATIES IN THE TANG DYNASTY1

BY

YIHONG PAN Miami University

Between 706 and 822 during the Tang dynasty (618-907) China and the Tibetan kingdom concluded seven "sworn covenants" (meng l§ ) . Throughout the period from the founding of the Qin empire in 221 B.C.E. to 1689 C.E. when the Qing government concluded the treaty of Nerchinsk with the Russian empire, the Chinese entered into many treaties with non-Chinese states. However, in no case did they conclude as many sworn covenants as with the Tibetans: the Xiongnu and Han (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) had frequent peace agree- ments but the only sworn treaty was an unofficial one concluded in 43 B.C. between the Xiongnu and Han envoys on the latter's own initiative without the previous approval of the court; the Khitan- Liao (947-1125) concluded two sworn treaties with the Northern Song (960-1127), and the Jurchen Jin (1115-1234) five with the Northern and the Southern Song (1127-1279) governments, respectively. This paper examines the different problems that Tibet presented to Tang and the attitude that Tang adopted towards Tibet in com- parison with other non-Chinese. It provides a comparative survey of all seven treaties in the light of Chinese tradition, and contrasts the different perspectives of the Chinese and the Tibetans towards the treaty conclusion. The treaty of 821/822 has attracted most attention in the past. However, a detailed study of the six treaties which preceded it will help to put the last treaty in proper perspec- tive and to see it as the end stage in a process of development. 117

Tibet: A Different Challenge

Tibet, called Tufan in the Chinese sources, rose as a unified and powerful kingdom under the Yarlung dynasty around the end of the sixth century and the beginning of the seventh. The Yarlung dynasty had existed previously for a number of generations as chiefs of a smaller tribal state. At that time the main power lying between China and what became Tibet was the Tuyuhun n±?6iW- kingdom in present Q,inghai ? %? province. In his study on the establishment of the Tufan kingdom, Yamaguchi Zuiho describes how the hostile policy of the Chinese towards the Tuyuhun during the Sui and Tang periods not only provided the Yarlung dynasty with the opportunity of expanding and evolving into the Tufan kingdom, but also planted in the minds of its rulers the desire to replace the Tuyuhun as an international power, with the result that Tufan, learning from the Tuyuhun, was able to absorb the latter and eventually surpass it.' The history of Tibet before the Tufan period is not a history to which any dates can be assigned earlier than the sixth century of our era.3 Some scholars have attempted to reconstruct an earlier history,' but it seems clear that there is no record to show the existence of any powerful political organization in Tibet before the formation of the Tufan kingdom, which attracted attention from China or played a role in its foreign policy. The famous btsan-po or the king of Tibet, Srong btsan sgam-po, came to the throne at about the same time as the inauguration of the Tang dynasty in 618.5 Thereafter the Tibetan kingdom appeared on the Tang frontier as a new type of threatening force. Its sudden rise and its equally sudden decline after a little more than two centuries as a great power is a remarkable phenomenon. While the rise of nomadic powers on the northern frontier was a perennial problem for China from Han until Ming, the rise of a powerful kingdom in Tibet was a one-time success. Nevertheless, it posed severe problems to the Chinese, challenging more severely than any other non-Chinese state in the Tang period Chinese security and sense of superiority, and raising types of problems for