A New Study On Dzungar Invasion Of Tibet In Late Reign Of Kangxi

In A.D.1717,Dzungar general Tseren Donduk Senior led his army into Tibet and established the Tibetan government with Tagtsepa as the prime minister,which marked the end of the Khoshut rule in Tibet.Until being pushed out by Qing army in A.D.1719,they had been occupying Tibet for nearly three years.In the past,the academics often criticized the incident,believing that the Dzungar people had persecuted Buddhism and carried out brutal rule on Tibetans by the puppet regime headed by Tagtsepa.In fact,the Dzungar invasion is not only an incident which brought disasters to Nyingma Sect,but also a campaign which promoted Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.Dzungar people had a strong will and motivation for promoting Gelug Sect.They used sectarian persecution,reinforcement of the commandments and other measures for this purpose.The so-called atrocities of Dzungar people,such as the sharp drop of monks and plunder of Tibetans are still open to question.The Dzungar people cooperated with Tibetan aristocrats and established a government in which Mongolians and Tibetans ruled jointly.Tagtsepa,the prime minister they appointed,was not a puppet but a prestigious and powerful politician.Mainly because of their coalition with Tibetans and promoting movement of Gelug Sect,Dzungar people could have governed Tibet stably almost for three years.Only by fully analyzing different historical data and the reason why there have been so many different opinions even for the same question,can we really grasp the nature of the Dzungar invasion of Tibet in late Kangxi reign.