The repulse of the Tibetan armies from Sichuan was followed by the creation of a chain of garrisons and forts to contain the Tibetans. This was partly successful but subsequent eruptions of Tibetan armies took place, often on a opportunistic basis, as for example in the defeat of Chinese forces by Nanchao armies in Yunnan or else in the Rebellion of An Lushan in the C8th, which stripped so many Chinese forces from the south.
Attacks on Gansu and Shaanxi in the C8th were so successful that they encouraged the Tibetans to go on to attack the imperial capital of Chang'an itself, which they looted in 763. This led to annual raids on Chinese territory for the next thirteen years, raids which proved so exhausting to both sides that in 784 both sides signed a peace treaty that ceded vast tracts of territory to the Tibetans. This was politic for the Chinese in the short term but the massive imbalance in populations meant that it could never be a long-term solution. The Chinese subsequently negotiated a treaty with the emergent Uighurs, who occupied the region north of the Tibetan plateau, while also managing to detach the Tibetans from their long-term alliance with Nanchao. This policy was combined with intensive sinicisation of the Tibetans - exposing them to Chinese institutions and culture and providing incentives to those involved to follow Chinese ways. While this was successful to some extent in containing the Tibetans within their territory, it was only when a particularly vicious internecine religious civil war amongst the Tibetans broke out that effectively destroyed them as an important international power.
In the centuries since then, Tibet has remained essentially an inward looking country and its position on top of a plateau has acted to isolate it from a great deal of external influence and interaction with other peoples. Its occupation by the Chinese in the twentieth century is widely regarded by outsiders as an illegal occupation. However, to the Chinese state, it is merely the culmination of a centuries' long policy to secure its borders and to reduce the possibilities of unruly forces.
Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article When the Tibetan Armies Threatened China - Page 2 in East Asian History is owned by . Permission to republish When the Tibetan Armies Threatened China - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
