Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.35

v1.c7.35

The Tibetan region originally practiced the traditional teaching of Bon. The Tibetan king Songzan Ganbu sent people to Sri Lanka to find out an image of Guanyin with 11 faces, made of '*uragasāracandana*' (*sandal*). They also went to the border area of India and Nepal, asking for an image of Guanyin, made of *haricandana* (this image now still is in the Potala palace). Songzan Ganbu adopted a policy of kinship with the nations in the neighbourhood. He asked for Tang princess Wencheng in marriage and became a relative of the Tang Court, establishing friendly relations. Princess Wencheng brought a Buddha image from the Han territory. The Chan School of Han Buddhism had already entered this region. Songzang Ganbu further married princess Chizun (Bhṛkuṭī) who brought a Buddha image from Nepal. During the first transmission of Tibetan Buddhism, the Han Chinese master Da Tianshou, the Tibetans Tunmi Sangbuzha, Damo Kuoxia and Lalong Jingangxiang, the Indian master Gu Sare and the Brahmin Shang Jieluo (Śaṅkara), the Nepalese master Shiluo Manshu and others cooperated with each other translating Buddhist scriptures and restoring temples. In 794 CE, Tibetan King Chisong Dezan personally presided over a debate between the monk of the Chan school, Mohe Yan (Mahāyāna), and Lianhua Jie (Padmaśīla), on the merit of sudden and gradual insight. Mohe Yan finally lost and the Chan School withdrew from Tibetan territory. The esoteric school of Indian Buddhism thus began to spread its influence in the Tibetan territory.