Colin MACKERRAS

A tile mural and stele in the Memorial Hall dedicated to Princess Wencheng in Tibet. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN
Princess Wencheng was the niece of the Chinese emperor Tang Taizong; she was sent to Lhasa to marry the Tibetan king Songzan Gambo. In contemporary China, she is famous as a symbol of “the unity of the nationalities” (minzu tuanjie ????) and credited with the spread of Chinese culture among the