The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

• Tibetans and Chinese each have their own accounts
of the origins of their civilizations. The
two peoples have no connection in their ancestry.
The few presumable Tibetans that ancient
Chinese knew about were the Qiangs (羌族).
However, the Chinese always characterized the
Qiangs as aliens or nomadic barbarians. Chinese
anthropologists and historians also admit
that there is no conclusive evidence to show if
the Qiangs are the mainstay of the Tibetans. 169
Ancient Chinese never made it to the Tibetan
plateau. As such, Tibet was never an inseparable
part of China in antiquity.
• The marriage of Songtsen Gampo and Chinese
Prince Wen Cheng brought a period of relative
peace between Tibet and Tang China. Yet it did
not make the union or subordination of Tibet
to China. Songtsen Gampo unfortunately died
young in 650. Her successors soon resumed
warfare with the Chinese. In the next nearly 200
years, Tibet and China continued their fights
and failed attempts to make peace. It was in 823
when the two sides reached a firm agreement
for peace and signed a landmark peace treaty
to settle their animosity and disputes.
• The Tang-Tubo Peace Treaty of 823 AD is not a
treaty of union between Tibet and China, contrary
to the Chinese claim; but a treaty to end
war, settle borders, and make peace between
the two nations. The following are from the
inscriptions on the only surviving stone monument
erected in 823 (according to historical
records, the two sides made three stone monuments;
this surviving one is at the front of the
Jokhang Monastery in Tibet; the second one
158