The exact nature of relations between Tibet and the Ming dynasty of China is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. The Mongols were successful armed protectors of the Gelug Dalai Lama, after increasing their presence in the Amdo region.
About Ming–Tibet relations in brief
The exact nature of relations between Tibet and the Ming dynasty of China is unclear. Analysis of the relationship is further complicated by modern political conflicts and the application of Westphalian sovereignty to a time when the concept did not exist. Some scholars note that Tibetan leaders during the Ming frequently engaged in civil war and conducted their own foreign diplomacy with neighboring states such as Nepal. The Ming initiated sporadic armed intervention in Tibet during the 14th century, but did not garrison permanent troops there. The Mongols were successful armed protectors of the Gelug Dalai Lama, after increasing their presence in the Amdo region. This culminated in Güshi Khan’s conquest of Tibet from 1637 to 1642 and the establishment of the Ganden Phodrang regime by the 5th Dalai Lama with his help. In 1207, the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan conquered and subjugated the ethnic Tangut state of the Western Xia. In the same year, he established diplomatic relations with Tibet by sending envoys there. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of China, while the fractured political realm of China saw no threat in a Tibet which was in just as much political disarray, there was little in the way of Sino-Tibetan relations. The Yarlung rulers of Tibet also signed various peace treaties with the Tang, culminating in a treaty in 821 that fixed the bordersBetween Tibet and China.
The Mongol prince Godan summoned Sakya Pandita of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, to his court in what is now Gansu in Western China. With Sakya’s submission to Godan in 1247, Tibet was officially incorporated into the Mongol Empire during the Kublai lron. Starting in 1236, the Mongols granted Godan temporal authority over a still politically fragmented Tibet, stating that this investiture had little impact but it was significant in that it established the unique “Priest-Patron relationship between Sakya lamas and the Monglai. Michael van Praag writes that Godan granted SakyaPandita temporal authority in the 1236 Mongol regency of Töregene Khatun, Tibet’s current name for the Dalai Lama’s school of Buddhism. He also writes that Sakya pandita was granted temporal power over a politically fragmented, still fragmented Tibet that was still politically still fragmented, but it established a unique Priest-patron relationship with the Mongol lamas. In the 1240s, Prince Godan sent envoys to the Mongol court to summon Sakya Pandita, who was the spiritual superior of Drogön Chögyal Phagpa. The Yongle Emperor made a concerted effort to build a secular and religious alliance with Deshin Shekpa, the Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu school. In 1578, the Wanli Emperor made attempts to reestablish Sino and Tibetan relations after the Mongol-Tebetan alliance initiated in 1578.
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This page is based on the article Ming–Tibet relations published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 05, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
