Mun chang kong co

00156 

Other names / Alternative spellings 

Mun chang kong co (ms. PT 1288 l. 11) 

Mun cang kong co (ms. PT 1288-ITJ 750 l. 11, 85) 

Mun sheng kong co (inscr. Peace treaty l. e24) 

Wencheng gongzhu (pinyin Chinese name) 


Social groups (status, family, lineage...) 

rGya nag (Chinese) 

btsan mo


Period of activity

VIIth century 

Reign of Srong brtsan sgam po 

Reign of Gung srong gung brtsan 

Reign of Mang slon mang rtsan 

Reign of Khri 'Dus srong mang po rje (hegemony of mGar)


Biographical data

After the negotiations for an alliance between [the Tibetan] 'phrul gi lha btsan po Khri srong brtsan and the Lord of China (rgya rje) The'e tsong b'un bu sheng hvang te (i. e. Tang Taizong), Mun sheng kong co was given as a bride to the btsan po in the ceng kvan year (pinyin : zheng guan, 641, inscr. Peace treaty l. e23-e25, see also Jiu Tangshu and Xin Tangshu in Pelliot 1961 p. 4, 83).

Mun chang was brought to Tibet by mGar sTong rtsan yul zung (ms. PT 1288 l. 11). 

Khri srong brtsan lived three years with Mun chang kong co and died (in 649/650, ms. PT 1288 l. 17). 

The funerals of the btsan mo Mun chang kong jo were performed in Sheep year (683) [she died three years earlier, in 680, according to Jiu Tangshu and Xin Tangshu, see Pelliot 1961 p. 10, 89-90] (ms. PT 1288-ITJ 750 l. 85).


Titles 

btsan mo (ms. PT 1288-ITJ 750 l. 85) 


Notes 

Wencheng is also mentioned by Yijing (635-713) in his Datang Xiyu Qiufa Gaoseng Zhuan : she met twice the pilgrim monk Xuanzhao who crossed Tibet on his way to northern India and on the way back, from Nepal to China (transl. in Chavannes 1894 p. 13-14, 20).

The Mun sheng kon[g] co mentioned in the Annals of 'A zha principality (ms. ITJ 1368 l. 22, 28-29) is usually thought to be princess Jincheng (see Dotson 2009 p. 14 for references). However, Yamaguchi Zuihô argues that ITJ 1368 refers to Wencheng whom he also identifies to Khon co Mang mo rje khri skar (see Yamaguchi 1996 p. 231-236).