Trisong Detsen

Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན
Tsenpo
Trisong Detsen statue at Samye.
38th King of Tibetan Empire
Reign	755–794/804
Predecessor	Me Agtsom
Successor	Muné Tsenpo
Regent	Mashang Drompakye
Born	742
Died	797 (age 55) or 804 (age 62)
Burial	Trülri Tsuknang Mausoleum, Valley of the Kings in Tibet
Spouse	Tsépongza Métokdrön Chimza Lhamotsen Kharchenza Chogyel Droza Trigyel Motsen (aka Jangchup Jertsen) Poyöza Gyel Motsün Yeshe Tsogyal
Issue	Mutri Songpo Muné Tsenpo Mutik Tsenpo Sadnalegs
Names Trisong Detsen
Lönchen	list We Nangshar Sutsen Gos Trisang Yalag Chimshang Gyalsig Shuteng Nganlam Takdra Lukhong Nanam Shang Gyaltsen Lhanang
Dynasty	Yarlung
Father	Me Agtsom
Mother	Nanamza Mangpodé Zhiteng
Religion	Tibetan Buddhism

Trisong Detsen (Tibetan: ཁྲོ་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བརྩན། ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན, Wylie: khri srong lde brtsan/btsan, ZYPY: Chisong Dêzän, Lhasa dialect: [ʈʂʰisoŋ tetsɛ̃]) was the son of Me Agtsom, the 37th king of Tibet. As the 38th king, he ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Trisong Detsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet - Songsten Gampo, Trisong Detsen, Rapalchen - honored for their pivotal roles in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and the establishment of the Nyingma or "Ancient" school of Tibetan Buddhism. Sowa Rigpa or Traditional Tibetan medicine was developed during his reign.^[1]

Trisong Detsen became one of Tibet's greatest kings during its empire era, and an unparalleled Buddhist benefactor^[2] to Guru Padmasambhava, to Khenpo Shantarakshita, to his court, and to the founding of the Vajrayana. By the end of his reign, he grew the extents of Tibet beyond their previous borders, reset the borders between Tibet and China in 783, and even occupied the capitol of China at Chang'an where he installed a king.^[1]

This was a reverse to an earlier trend Trisong Detsen inherited whereby the empire briefly declined somewhat from its greatest extent^{[citation needed]} under the first Dharma King, Songtsen Gampo. Some disintegration continued when, in 694, Tibet lost control of several cities in Turkestan and in 703, kingdoms in Nepal broke into rebellion while Arab forces had vied for influence along the western borderlands of the Tibetan empire.^{[citation needed]}