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Tang dynasty唐朝

← 618–907 →

China under the Tang dynasty circa 700 AD

Capital Chang'an (618–904)Luoyang (684–705;904–907)

Languages Middle Chinese

Religion Chinese Buddhism,Taoism,Confucianism,Chinese folk religion

Government MonarchyEmperor - 618–626 Emperor Gaozu (first)

- 904–907 Emperor Ai (last)

History - Established June 18, 618 - Usurpation of Wu

ZetianOctober 8, 690 –March 3, 705

- An Lushanrebellion

December 16, 755 –February 17, 763

Tang dynastyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Táng cháo;IPA: [tʰɑ̌ŋ tʂʰɑ̌ʊ]; Middle Chinese: Dâng) (618–907 AD)was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Suidynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and TenKingdoms period. It was founded by the Li family (李),who seized power during the decline and collapse of theSui Empire. The dynasty was briefly interrupted whenEmpress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming theSecond Zhou dynasty (October 8, 690 – March 3, 705)and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant.

The Tang dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an(present-day Xi'an), which at the time was the mostpopulous city in the world, is generally regarded as ahigh point in Chinese civilization: a golden age ofcosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through themilitary campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of theHan dynasty. In two censuses of the 7th and 8thcenturies, the Tang records estimated the population bynumber of registered households at about 50 millionpeople.[2][3] Yet, even when the central government wasbreaking down and unable to compile an accurate censusof the population in the 9th century, it is estimated thatthe population had grown by then to about 80 millionpeople.[4][5][a] With its large population base, the dynastywas able to raise professional and conscripted armies ofhundreds of thousands of troops to contend withnomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and thelucrative trade routes along the Silk Road. Variouskingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, whilethe Tang also conquered or subdued several regionswhich it indirectly controlled through a protectoratesystem. Besides political hegemony, the Tang alsoexerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboringstates such as those in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

The Tang dynasty was largely a period of progress andstability, except during the An Lushan Rebellion and thedecline of central authority in the later half of thedynasty. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynastymaintained a civil service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and

Tang dynasty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_dynasty

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- Abdication to LaterLiang June 1, 907

Area - 715 est.[1] 5,400,000 km²

(2,084,952 sq mi) - 866 est. 3,700,000 km²

(1,428,578 sq mi)

Population - 7th century est. 50,000,000 - 9th century est. 80,000,000

Currency Chinese coin,Chinese cash

Today part of

Tang dynastyChinese 唐朝

Transcriptions

Mandarin

Hanyu Pinyin Táng cháo

Wade–Giles T'ang2 Ch'ao2

Min

Hokkien POJ Tông tiâu

Wu

Romanization Daon dzo

Cantonese

Jyutping Tong4 ciu4

Yale Romanization Tòhng chìuh

Middle Chinese

Middle Chinese Dang ɖjew

recommendations to office. This civil order wasundermined by the rise of regional military governorsknown as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chineseculture flourished and further matured during the Tangera; it is considered the greatest age for Chinesepoetry.[6] Two of China's most famous poets, Li Bai andDu Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famouspainters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang.There was a rich variety of historical literature compiledby scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographicalworks.

There were many notable innovations during the Tang,including the development of woodblock printing.Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture,with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However,Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state anddecline in influence. Although the dynasty and centralgovernment were in decline by the 9th century, artand culture continued to flourish. The weakenedcentral government largely withdrew from managingthe economy, though the country's mercantile affairsstayed intact and commercial trade continued to thriveregardless.

Contents

1 History1.1 Establishment1.2 Administration and politics

1.2.1 Initial reforms1.2.2 Imperial examinations1.2.3 Religion and politics1.2.4 Taxes and the census

1.3 Military and foreign policy1.3.1 Protectorates and tributaries1.3.2 Soldiers and conscription1.3.3 Turkic and Western regions1.3.4 Korea and Japan


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1.4 Trade and spread of culture1.4.1 Silk Road1.4.2 Seaports and maritimetrade

1.5 Empress Wu and EmperorXuanzong

1.5.1 Usurpation of Wu Zetian1.5.2 Rise of Xuanzong

1.6 Decline1.6.1 An Shi Rebellion andcatastrophe1.6.2 Rebuilding and recovery1.6.3 Collapse

2 Society and culture2.1 Leisure in the Tang2.2 Chang'an, the Tang capital2.3 Literature2.4 Religion and philosophy2.5 Tang women2.6 Tea, food, and necessities

3 Science, technology, and medicine3.1 Engineering3.2 Woodblock printing3.3 Medicine3.4 Cartography3.5 Alchemy, gas cylinders, and airconditioning

4 Historiography5 See also6 Notes7 References8 Further reading9 External links


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Portrait painting of Emperor Yang ofSui, commissioned in 643 byTaizong, painted by Yan Liben(600–673)

HistoryEstablishment

On 18 June 618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a newdynasty, the Tang.[7][8] His declaration was made following themurder of Emperor Yang, Li Yuan's first cousin,[2] by GeneralYuwen Huaji.[7][8] Li Yuan (who was later renamed EmperorGaozu of Tang) rose to power after having been Duke of Tangand governor of Taiyuan during the Sui dynasty's collapse, whichwas caused in part by the Sui failure to conquer the KoreanPeninsula during the Goguryeo–Sui War.[9][10] Li Yuan hadprestige and military experience and in 617 he rose in rebellionalong with his son and his equally militant daughter PrincessPingyang (d. 623), who raised her own troops and commandedthem.[7] In 617, Li Yuan occupied Chang'an and acted as regentover Emperor Gong of Sui, a puppet child-emperor. Li Yuanrelegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang orretired emperor/father of the present emperor.[7] With the newsof Emperor Yang's murder by General Yuwen Huaji (d. 619) LiYuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, theTang.[7][8] Emperor Gaozu of Tang would rule as Tang's firstemperor from 618 until 626.

Li Yuan's family belonged to the northwest military aristocracyprevalent during the Sui dynasty[9][11] and claimed to bepatrilineally descended from Laozi (whose personal name was LiDan or Li Er),[12] the Han dynasty General Li Guang,[13][14] and

Western Liang ruler Li Gao.

Li Yuan ruled until 626 before being forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin, Prince of Qin. Li Shiminhad commanded troops since the age of 18, had prowess with bow and arrow, sword and lance and wasknown for his effective cavalry charges.[2][15] Fighting a numerically superior army, he defeated DouJiande (573–621) at Luoyang in the Battle of Hulao on May 28, 621.[16][17] In a violent elimination ofroyal family due to fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushed and killed two of his brothers, Li Yuanji(b. 603) and Crown prince Li Jiancheng (b. 589), in the Xuanwu Gate Incident on July 2, 626.[18]

Shortly thereafter, his father abdicated in his favor and Li Shimin ascended the throne. He isconventionally known by his temple name Taizong (唐太宗).

Although killing two brothers and deposing his father contradicted the Confucian value of filial piety,[18]

Taizong showed himself to be a capable leader who listened to the advice of the wisest members of hiscouncil.[2] In 628, Emperor Taizong held a Buddhist memorial service for the casualties of war, and in629 he had Buddhist monasteries erected at the sites of major battles so that monks could pray for thefallen on both sides of the fight.[19] This was during the campaign against Eastern Tujue, a Göktürk


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Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649)receives Ludongzan, ambassador ofTibet, at his court; painted in 641 ADby Yan Liben (600–673)

khanate that was destroyed after the capture of its ruler, IlligQaghan, by the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (571–649),who later became a Chancellor of the Tang dynasty. With thisvictory, the Turks accepted Taizong as their khagan, a titlerendered as Tian Kehan (天可汗), in addition to his rule asEmperor of China under the traditional title "Son of Heaven".[20][21]

Administration and politics

Initial reforms

Taizong set out to solve internal problems within the governmentwhich had constantly plagued past dynasties. Building upon the Sui legal code, he issued a new legalcode that subsequent Chinese dynasties would model theirs upon, as well as neighboring polities inVietnam, Korea, and Japan.[2] The earliest law code to survive was the one established in the year 653,which was divided into 500 articles specifying different crimes and penalties ranging from ten blowswith a light stick, one hundred blows with a heavy rod, exile, penal servitude, or execution.[22]

The legal code clearly distinguished different levels of severity in meted punishments when differentmembers of the social and political hierarchy committed the same crime.[23] For example, the severity ofpunishment was different when a servant or nephew killed a master or an uncle than when a master oruncle killed a servant or nephew.[23]

The Tang Code was largely retained by later codes such as the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) code of1397,[24] yet there were several revisions in later times, such as improved property rights for womenduring the Song dynasty (960–1279).[25][26]

The Tang had three departments (Chinese: 省; pinyin: shěng), which were obliged to draft, review, andimplement policies respectively. There were also six ministries (Chinese: 部; pinyin: bù) under theadministrations that implemented policy, each of which was assigned different tasks. These ThreeDepartments and Six Ministries included the personnel administration, finance, rites, military, justice,and public works—an administrative model which would last until the fall of the Qing dynasty(1644–1912).[27]

Although the founders of the Tang related to the glory of the earlier Han dynasty (202 BC–220 AD), thebasis for much of their administrative organization was very similar to the previous Southern andNorthern Dynasties.[2] The Northern Zhou (557–581) fubing system of divisional militia was continuedby the Tang, along with farmer-soldiers serving in rotation from the capital or frontier in order to receiveappropriated farmland. The equal-field system of the Northern Wei (386–534) was also kept, althoughthere were a few modifications.[2]

Although the central and local governments kept an enormous number of records about land property inorder to assess taxes, it became common practice in the Tang for literate and affluent people to createtheir own private documents and signed contracts.[28] These had their own signature and that of a


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Tang era gilt-gold bowl with lotusand animal motifs

witness and scribe in order to prove in court (if necessary) thattheir claim to property was legitimate.[28] The prototype of thisactually existed since the ancient Han dynasty, while contractuallanguage became even more common and embedded intoChinese literary culture in later dynasties.[28]

The center of the political power of the Tang was the capital cityof Chang'an (modern Xi'an), where the emperor maintained hislarge palace quarters and entertained political emissaries withmusic, sports, acrobatic stunts, poetry, paintings, and dramatictheater performances. The capital was also filled with incredibleamounts of riches and resources to spare. When the Chineseprefectural government officials traveled to the capital in the year

643 to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts, Emperor Taizong discovered that many hadno proper quarters to rest in and were renting rooms with merchants.[29] Therefore, Emperor Taizongordered the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official hisown private mansion in the capital.[29]

Imperial examinations

Following the Sui dynasty's example, the Tang abandoned the nine-rank system in favor of a servicesystem.[30] Students of Confucian studies were potential candidates for the imperial examinations, thegraduates of which could be appointed as state bureaucrats in the local, provincial, and centralgovernment. There were two types of exams that were given, mingjing ('illuminating the classicsexamination') and jinshi ('presented scholar examination').[31] The mingjing was based upon theConfucian classics and tested the student's knowledge of a broad variety of texts.[31] The jinshi tested astudent's literary abilities in writing essay-style responses to questions on matters of governance andpolitics, as well as their skills in composing poetry.[32] Candidates were also judged on their skills ofdeportment, appearance, speech, and level of skill in calligraphy, all of which were subjective criteriathat allowed the already wealthy members of society to be chosen over ones of more modest means whowere unable to be educated in rhetoric or fanciful writing skills.[33] There was a disproportionate numberof civil officials coming from aristocratic as opposed to non-aristocratic families.[33] The exams wereopen to all male subjects whose fathers were not of the artisan or merchant classes,[34] although havingwealth or noble status was not a prerequisite in receiving a recommendation.[33] In order to promotewidespread Confucian education, the Tang government established state-run schools and issued standardversions of the Five Classics with selected commentaries.[23]

This competitive procedure was designed to draw the best talent into government. But perhaps an evengreater consideration for the Tang rulers, aware that imperial dependence on powerful aristocraticfamilies and warlords would have destabilizing consequences, was to create a body of career officialshaving no autonomous territorial or functional power base. The Tang law code ensured equal division ofinherited property amongst legitimate heirs, allowing a bit of social mobility and preventing the familiesof powerful court officials in becoming landed nobility through primogeniture.[35] As it turned out, thesescholar-officials acquired status in their local communities and in family ties, while they also shared


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Tang statue of a civil official dressedin Hanfu, made of sancai glazedearthenware; he wears a tall hat,wide-sleeved outer garment tied at thewaist with a wide belt, andrectangular "kerchief" in front. Awhite inner gown hangs over hissquare shoes. He holds a tablet to hischest, preparing to provide a report tohis superiors.

values that connected them to the imperial court. From Tangtimes until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912, scholar-officialsfunctioned often as intermediaries between the grassroots leveland the government. Yet the potential of a widespreadexamination system was not fully realized until the Songdynasty, when the merit-driven scholar official largely shed hisaristocratic habits and defined his social status through theexamination system.[36][37][38] As historian Patricia Ebrey statesof the Song period scholar-officials:

The examination system, used only on a small scale in Suiand Tang times, played a central role in the fashioning ofthis new elite. The early Song emperors, concerned aboveall to avoid domination of the government by militarymen, greatly expanded the civil service examinationsystem and the government school system.[39]

Nevertheless, the Sui and Tang dynasties institutionalized and setthe foundations for the civil service system and the new eliteclass of exam-drafted scholar-officials.

Religion and politics

From the outset, religion played a role in Tang politics. In his bidfor power, Li Yuan had attracted a following by claiming descentfrom the Daoist sage Laozi (fl. 6th century BC).[40] Peoplebidding for office would have monks from Buddhist templespray for them in public in return for cash donations or gifts if theperson was selected. Before the persecution of Buddhism in the9th century, Buddhism and Daoism were accepted side by side,and Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–56) invited monks and clerics of both religions to his court.[41] At thesame time Xuanzong exalted the ancient Laozi by granting him grand titles, wrote commentary on theDaoist Laozi, set up a school to prepare candidates for examinations on Daoist scriptures, and calledupon the Indian monk Vajrabodhi (671–741) to perform Tantric rites to avert a drought in the year726.[41] In 742 Emperor Xuanzong personally held the incense burner during a ceremony led byAmoghavajra (705–74, patriarch of the Shingon school) reciting "mystical incantations to secure thevictory of Tang forces."[41]

While religion played a role in politics, politics also played a role in religion. In the year 714, EmperorXuanzong forbade shops and vendors in the city of Chang'an to sell copied Buddhist sutras, insteadgiving the Buddhist clergy of the monasteries the sole right to distribute sutras to the laity.[42] In theprevious year of 713, Emperor Xuanzong had liquidated the highly lucrative Inexhaustible Treasury,which was run by a prominent Buddhist monastery in Chang'an. This monastery collected vast amounts


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Emperor Xuanzong of Tang wearingthe robes and the hat of a scholar

A Man Herding Horses, by Han Gan(706–783), a court artist underXuanzong

of money, silk, and treasures through multitudes of anonymouspeople's repentances, leaving the donations on the monastery'spremise.[43] Although the monastery was generous in donations,Emperor Xuanzong issued a decree abolishing their treasury ongrounds that their banking practices were fraudulent, collectedtheir riches, and distributed the wealth to various other Buddhistmonasteries, Daoist abbeys, and to repair statues, halls, andbridges in the city.[43]

Taxes and the census

The Tang dynastygovernment attempted tocreate an accurate censusof the size of theirempire's population,mostly for effectivetaxation and matters ofmilitary conscription foreach region. The early Tang government established both thegrain tax and cloth tax at a relatively low rate for each householdunder the empire. This was meant to encourage households toenroll for taxation and not avoid the authorities, thus providingthe government with the most accurate estimate possible.[2] Inthe census of 609, the population was tallied by efforts of thegovernment at a size of 9 million households, or about 50 million

people.[2] The Tang census of 742 again approximated the size of China's population at about 50 millionpeople.[44] Patricia Ebrey writes that even if a rather significant number of people had avoided theregistration process of the tax census, the population size during the Tang had not grown significantlysince the earlier Han dynasty (the census of the year 2 recording a population of roughly 58 millionpeople in China).[2][45] S.A.M. Adshead disagrees, estimating that there were about 75 million people by750.[46]

In the Tang census of the year 754, there were 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures, and 1,538 countiesthroughout the empire.[47] Although there were many large and prominent cities during the Tang, therural and agrarian areas comprised the majority of China's population at some 80 to 90%.[48] There wasalso a dramatic migratory shift of the population from northern to southern China, as the North held 75%of the overall population at the dynasty's inception, but by its end was reduced to 50%.[49]

Chinese population size would not dramatically increase until the Song dynasty period, when thepopulation doubled to 100 million people due to extensive rice cultivation in central and southern China,coupled with rural farmers holding more abundant yields of food that they could easily provide to thegrowing market.[50]


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A bas-relief of a soldier and horsewith elaborate saddle and stirrups,from the tomb of Emperor Taizong, c.650

Military and foreign policy

Protectorates and tributaries

The 7th century and first half of the 8th century is generallyconsidered the zenith era of the Tang dynasty. Emperor TangXuanzong brought the Middle Kingdom to its golden age whilethe Silk Road thrived, with sway over Indochina in the south,and to the west Tang China ruled the Pamir Mountains(modern-day Tajikistan) and established a protectorate overKashmir bordering Persia.[51]

Some of the kingdoms paying tribute to the Tang dynastyincluded Kashmir, Nepal, Khotan, Kucha, Kashgar, Korea,Champa, and kingdoms located in Amu Darya and Syr Daryavalley.[52][53] Turkic nomads addressed the Emperor of TangChina as Tian Kehan.[21] After the widespread Göktürk revolt ofShabolüe Khan (d. 658) was put down at Issyk Kul in 657 by SuDingfang (591–667), Emperor Gaozong established severalprotectorates governed by a Protectorate General or GrandProtectorate General, which extended the Chinese sphere of influence as far as Herat in WesternAfghanistan.[54] Protectorate Generals were given a great deal of autonomy to handle local criseswithout waiting for central admission. After Xuanzong's reign, military governors (jiedushi) were givenenormous power, including the ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their titles onhereditarily. This is commonly recognized as the beginning of the fall of Tang's central government.[55][56]

Soldiers and conscription

By the year 737, Emperor Xuanzong discarded the policy of conscripting soldiers that were replacedevery three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who were more battle-hardened andefficient.[57] It was more economically feasible as well, since training new recruits and sending them outto the frontier every three years drained the treasury.[57] By the late 7th century, the fubing troops beganabandoning military service and the homes provided to them in the equal-field system. The supposedstandard of 100 mu of land allotted to each family was in fact decreasing in size in places wherepopulation expanded and the wealthy bought up most of the land.[58] Hard-pressed peasants andvagrants were then induced into military service with benefits of exemption from both taxation andcorvée labor service, as well as provisions for farmland and dwellings for dependents who accompaniedsoldiers on the frontier.[59] By the year 742 the total number of enlisted troops in the Tang armies hadrisen to about 500,000 men.[57]

Turkic and Western regions

The Sui and Tang carried out very successful military campaigns against the steppe nomads. Chinese


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A Tang period gilt-silver jar, shapedin the style of northern nomad'sleather bag[60] decorated with a horsedancing with a cup of wine in itsmouth, as the horses of EmperorXuanzong were trained to do.[60]

foreign policy to the north and west now had to deal with Turkicnomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group inCentral Asia.[61][62] To handle and avoid any threats posed bythe Turks, the Sui government repaired fortifications andreceived their trade and tribute missions.[32] They sent royalprincesses off to marry Turkic clan leaders, a total of four ofthem in 597, 599, 614, and 617. The Sui stirred trouble andconflict amongst ethnic groups against the Turks.[63][64] As earlyas the Sui dynasty, the Turks had become a major militarizedforce employed by the Chinese. When the Khitans began raidingnortheast China in 605, a Chinese general led 20,000 Turksagainst them, distributing Khitan livestock and women to theTurks as a reward.[65] On two occasions between 635 to 636,Tang royal princesses were married to Turk mercenaries orgenerals in Chinese service.[64] Throughout the Tang dynastyuntil the end of 755, there were approximately ten Turkicgenerals serving under the Tang.[66][67] While most of the Tangarmy was made of fubing Chinese conscripts, the majority of thetroops led by Turkic generals were of non-Chinese origin,campaigning largely in the western frontier where the presenceof fubing troops was low.[68] Some "Turkic" troops werenomadisized Han Chinese, a desinicized people.[69]

Civil war in China was almost totally diminished by 626, along with the defeat in 628 of the OrdosChinese warlord Liang Shidu; after these internal conflicts, the Tang began an offensive against theTurks.[70] In the year 630, Tang armies captured areas of the Ordos Desert, modern-day Inner Mongoliaprovince, and southern Mongolia from the Turks.[65][71] After this military victory, Emperor Taizongwon the title of Great Khan amongst the various Turks in the region who pledged their allegiance to himand the Chinese empire (with several thousand Turks traveling into China to live at Chang'an). On June11, 631, Emperor Taizong also sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuadethe release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang fromthe northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were thenreturned to China.[72][73]

While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu), the Tang governmenttook on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. Like the earlier Han dynasty, the Tangdynasty (along with Turkic allies) conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s.[32]

During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks,but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun, the Xiyu states, and the Xueyantuo. Under EmperorGaozong, a campaign led by the general Su Dingfang was launched against the Western Turks ruled byAshina Helu.[74]

The Tang Empire competed with the Tibetan Empire for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia,which was at times settled with marriage alliances such as the marrying of Princess Wencheng (d. 680)


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A tomb guard (wushi yong), terracottasculpture, Tang dynasty, early-8th-century

to Songtsän Gampo (d. 649).[75][76] A Tibetan tradition mentionsthat Chinese troops captured Lhasa after Songtsän Gampo'sdeath,[77] but no such invasion is mentioned in either Chineseannals or the Tibetan manuscripts of Dunhuang.[78] There was along string of conflicts with Tibet over territories in the TarimBasin between 670–692, and in 763 the Tibetans even capturedthe capital of China, Chang'an, for fifteen days during the An ShiRebellion.[79][80] In fact, it was during this rebellion that theTang withdrew its western garrisons stationed in what is nowGansu and Qinghai, which the Tibetans then occupied along withthe territory of what is now Xinjiang.[81] Hostilities between theTang and Tibet continued until they signed a formal peace treatyin 821.[82] The terms of this treaty, including the fixed bordersbetween the two countries, are recorded in a bilingual inscriptionon a stone pillar outside the Jokhang temple in Lhasa.[83]

During the Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656), the son of thelast ruler of the Sassanid Empire, Prince Pirooz, fled to TangChina.[52][84] According to the Old Book of Tang, Pirooz wasmade the head of a Governorate of Persia in what is now Zaranj,Afghanistan. During this conquest of Persia, the Islamic CaliphUthman Ibn Affan (r. 644–656) sent an embassy to the Tangcourt at Chang'an.[67] By the 740s, the Arabs of Khurasan hadestablished a presence in the Ferghana basin and in Sogdiana. Atthe Battle of Talas in 751, Qarluq mercenaries under the Chinesedefected, helping the Arab armies of the Islamic Caliphate todefeat the Tang force under commander Gao Xianzhi. Althoughthe battle itself was not of the greatest significance militarily, thiswas a pivotal moment in history; it marks the spread of Chinese

papermaking[85][86] into regions west of China as captured Chinese soldiers revealed secrets of Chinesepapermaking to the Arabs. These techniques ultimately reached Europe by the 12th century throughArab-controlled Spain. Although they had fought at Talas, on June 11, 758, an Abbasid embassy arrivedat Chang'an simultaneously with the Uyghur Turks bearing gifts for the Tang Emperor.[87] From evenfurther west, a tribute embassy came to the court of Taizong in 643 from the Patriarch of Antioch.[88] In788–9 the Chinese concluded a military alliance with the Uighur Turks who twice defeated the Tibetans,in 789 near the town of Kuch'eng in Jungharia, and in 791 near Ning-hsia on the Yellow River.[89]

Korea and Japan

In the east, the Chinese military campaigns were less successful than elsewhere. Like the emperors ofthe Sui dynasty before him, Taizong established a military campaign in 644 against the kingdom ofGoguryeo in the Goguryeo-Tang War; however, this led to its withdrawal in the first campaign becausethey failed to overcome the successful defense led by General Yeon Gaesomun. Allying with the KoreanSilla Kingdom, the Chinese fought against Baekje and their Yamato Japanese allies in the Battle of


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A clay haniwa model of a ship, fromJapan's Kofun period (250–538)

A 10th-century mural painting in theMogao Caves at Dunhuang showingmonastic architecture from MountWutai, Tang dynasty; Japanesearchitecture of this period wasinfluenced by Tang Chinesearchitecture

Baekgang in August 663, a decisive Tang–Silla victory. TheTang dynasty navy had several different ship types at its disposalto engage in naval warfare, these ships described by Li Quan inhis Taipai Yinjing (Canon of the White and Gloomy Planet ofWar) of 759.[90] The Battle of Baekgang was actually arestoration movement by remnant forces of Baekje, since theirkingdom was toppled in 660 by a joint Tang–Silla invasion, ledby Chinese general Su Dingfang and Korean general Kim Yushin(595–673). In another joint invasion with Silla, the Tang armyseverely weakened the Goguryeo Kingdom in the north by takingout its outer forts in the year 645. With joint attacks by Silla andTang armies under commander Li Shiji (594–669), the Kingdom

of Goguryeo was destroyed by 668.[51]

Although they were formerly enemies, the Tang acceptedofficials and generals of Goguryeo into their administration andmilitary, such as the brothers Yeon Namsaeng (634–679) andYeon Namsan (639–701). From 668 to 676, the Tang Empirewould control northern Korea. However, in 671 Silla beganfighting the Tang forces there. At the same time the Tang facedthreats on its western border when a large Chinese army wasdefeated by the Tibetans on the Dafei River in 670.[91] By 676,the Tang army was driven out of Korea by Unified Silla.[92]

Following a revolt of the Eastern Turks in 679, the Tangabandoned its Korean campaigns.[91]

Although the Tang had fought the Japanese, they still heldcordial relations with Japan. There were numerous Imperialembassies to China from Japan, diplomatic missions that werenot halted until 894 by Emperor Uda (r. 887–897), uponpersuasion by Sugawara no Michizane (845–903).[93] TheJapanese Emperor Temmu (r. 672–686) even established his conscripted army on that of the Chinesemodel, his state ceremonies on the Chinese model, and constructed his palace at Fujiwara on the Chinesemodel of architecture.[94]

Many Chinese Buddhist monks came to Japan to help further the spread of Buddhism as well. Two7th-century monks in particular, Zhi Yu and Zhi You, visited the court of Emperor Tenji (r. 661–672),whereupon they presented a gift of a south-pointing chariot that they had crafted.[95] This 3rd centurymechanically driven directional-compass vehicle (employing a differential gear) was again reproducedin several models for Tenji in 666, as recorded in the Nihon Shoki of 720.[95] Japanese monks alsovisited China; such was the case with Ennin (794–864), who wrote of his travel experiences includingtravels along China's Grand Canal.[96][97] The Japanese monk Enchin (814–891) stayed in China from839 to 847 and again from 853 to 858, landing near Fuzhou, Fujian and setting sail for Japan fromTaizhou, Zhejiang during his second trip to China.[98][99]


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A Tang dynasty tri-color glazedfigurine of a horse

Trade and spread of culture

Through use of the land trade along the Silk Road and maritime trade by sail at sea, the Tang were ableto gain many new technologies, cultural practices, rare luxury, and contemporary items. From theMiddle East, India, Persia, and Central Asia the Tang were able to acquire new ideas in fashion, newtypes of ceramics, and improved silver-smithing.[100] The Chinese also gradually adopted the foreignconcept of stools and chairs as seating, whereas the Chinese beforehand always sat on mats placed onthe floor.[101] To the Middle East, the Islamic world coveted and purchased in bulk Chinese goods suchas silks, lacquerwares, and porcelain wares.[102] Songs, dances, and musical instruments from foreignregions became popular in China during the Tang dynasty.[103][104] These musical instruments includedoboes, flutes, and small lacquered drums from Kucha in the Tarim Basin, and percussion instrumentsfrom India such as cymbals.[103] At the court there were nine musical ensembles (expanded from sevenin the Sui dynasty) representing music from throughout Asia.[105]

There was great contact and interest in India as a hub for Buddhist knowledge, with famous travelerssuch as Xuanzang (d. 664) visiting the South Asian subcontinent. After a 17-year-long trip, Xuanzangmanaged to bring back valuable Sanskrit texts to be translated into Chinese. There was also a Turkic–Chinese dictionary available for serious scholars and students, while Turkic folksongs gave inspirationto some Chinese poetry.[106][107] In the interior of China, trade was facilitated by the Grand Canal andthe Tang government's rationalization of the greater canal system that reduced costs of transporting grainand other commodities.[108] The state also managed roughly 32,100 km (19,900 mi) of postal serviceroutes by horse or boat.[109]

Silk Road

The Silk Road was the most important pre-modern Eurasiantrade route. The Tang dynasty established a second Pax Sinica,and the Silk Road reached its golden age, whereby Persian andSogdian merchants benefited from the commerce between Eastand West. At the same time, the Chinese empire welcomedforeign cultures making it very cosmopolitan in its urban centers.

Although the Silk Road from China to the West was initiallyformulated during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141–87BC), it was reopened by the Tang in 639 when Hou Junji (d. 643)conquered the West, and remained open for almost four decades.It was closed after the Tibetans captured it in 678, but in 699,during Empress Wu's period, the Silk Road reopened when theTang reconquered the Four Garrisons of Anxi originally installedin 640,[110] once again connecting China directly to the West for land-based trade.[111] The Tangcaptured the vital route through the Gilgit Valley from Tibet in 722, lost it to the Tibetans in 737, andregained it under the command of the Goguryeo-Korean General Gao Xianzhi.[112] When the An LushanRebellion ended in 763, the Tang Empire had once again lost control over its western lands, as theTibetan Empire largely cut off China's direct access to the Silk Road.[82] An internal rebellion in 848


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ousted the Tibetan rulers, and Tang China regained its northwestern prefectures from Tibet in 851. Theselands contained crucial grazing areas and pastures for raising horses that the Tang dynasty desperatelyneeded.[82][113]

Despite the many western travelers coming into China to live and trade, many travelers, mainly religiousmonks, recorded the strict border laws that the Chinese enforced.[102] As the monk Xuanzang and manyother monk travelers attested to, there were many Chinese government checkpoints along the Silk Roadthat examined travel permits into the Tang Empire.[102] Furthermore, banditry was a problem along thecheckpoints and oasis towns, as Xuanzang also recorded that his group of travelers were assaulted bybandits on multiple occasions.[102]

The Silk Road also had an impact on Tang dynasty art. Horses became a significant symbol of prosperityand power as well as an instrument of military and diplomatic policy. Horses were also revered as arelative of the dragon.[114]

Seaports and maritime trade

Chinese envoys had been sailing through the Indian Ocean to India since perhaps the 2nd centuryBC,[115][116] yet it was during the Tang dynasty that a strong Chinese maritime presence could be foundin the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, into Persia, Mesopotamia (sailing up the Euphrates River inmodern-day Iraq), Arabia, Egypt, Aksum (Ethiopia), and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.[117] From thesame Quraysh tribe of Muhammad, Sa'd ibn Abi-Waqqas sailed from Ethiopia to China during the reignof Emperor Gaozu. He later traveled back to China with a copy of the Quran, establishing China's firstmosque, the Mosque of Remembrance, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. To this day he is stillburied in a Muslim cemetery at Guangzhou.

During the Tang dynasty, thousands of foreigners came and lived in numerous Chinese cities for tradeand commercial ties with China, including Persians, Arabs, Hindu Indians, Malays, Sinhalese, Khmers,Chams, Jews and Nestorian Christians of the Near East, and many others.[118][119] In 748, the Buddhistmonk Jian Zhen described Guangzhou as a bustling mercantile center where many large and impressiveforeign ships came to dock. He wrote that "many big ships came from Borneo, Persia, Qunglun(Indonesia/Java)...with...spices, pearls, and jade piled up mountain high",[120][121] as written in the YueJue Shu (Lost Records of the State of Yue). During the An Lushan Rebellion Arab and Persian piratesburned and looted Guangzhou in 758,[82] and foreigners were massacred at Yangzhou in 760. the Tanggovernment reacted by shutting the port of Canton down for roughly five decades, and foreign vesselsdocked at Hanoi instead.[122] However, when the port reopened it continued to thrive. In 851 the Arabmerchant Sulaiman al-Tajir observed the manufacturing of Chinese porcelain in Guangzhou and admiredits transparent quality.[123] He also provided a description of Guangzhou's mosque, its granaries, its localgovernment administration, some of its written records, the treatment of travelers, along with the use ofceramics, rice-wine, and tea.[124] However, in another bloody episode at Guangzhou in 879, the Chineserebel Huang Chao sacked the city, and purportedly slaughtered thousands of native Chinese, along withforeign Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and Muslims in the process.[125][126][127] Huang's rebellion waseventually suppressed in 884.


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Figurine of a foreignmerchant of the Tangdynasty, 7th-century

A gilt Buddhist reliquary withdecorations of armored guards, fromKorean Silla, 7th-century

Vessels from Korean Silla, Balhae and Hizen Province of Japan were allinvolved in the Yellow Sea trade, which Silla dominated.[128] After Sillaand Japan reopened renewed hostilities in the late 7th century, mostJapanese maritime merchants chose to set sail from Nagasaki towardsthe mouth of the Huai River, the Yangzi River, and even as far south asthe Hangzhou Bay in order to avoid Korean ships in the YellowSea.[128][129] In order to sail back to Japan in 838, the Japanese embassyto China procured nine ships and sixty Korean sailors from the Koreanwards of Chuzhou and Lianshui cities along the Huai River.[130] It is alsoknown that Chinese trade ships traveling to Japan set sail from thevarious ports along the coasts of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.[131]

The Chinese engaged inlarge-scale production foroverseas export by at least thetime of the Tang. This wasproven by the discovery of theBelitung shipwreck, asilt-preserved shipwreckedArabian dhow in the GasparStrait near Belitung, which had63,000 pieces of Tang ceramics,silver, and gold (including aChangsha bowl inscribed with adate: "16th day of the seventh month of the second year of theBaoli reign", or 826 AD, roughly confirmed by radiocarbondating of star anise at the wreck).[132] Beginning in 785, theChinese began to call regularly at Sufala on the East Africancoast in order to cut out Arab middlemen,[133] with variouscontemporary Chinese sources giving detailed descriptions oftrade in Africa. The official and geographer Jia Dan (730–805)wrote of two common sea trade routes in his day: one from thecoast of the Bohai Sea towards Korea and another fromGuangzhou through Malacca towards the Nicobar Islands, SriLanka and India, the eastern and northern shores of the Arabian

Sea to the Euphrates River.[134] In 863 the Chinese author Duan Chengshi (d. 863) provided a detaileddescription of the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris trade in a country called Bobali, whichhistorians suggest was Berbera in Somalia.[135] In Fustat (old Cairo), Egypt, the fame of Chineseceramics there led to an enormous demand for Chinese goods; hence Chinese often traveled there (thiscontinued into later periods such as Fatimid Egypt).[136][137] From this time period, the Arab merchantShulama once wrote of his admiration for Chinese seafaring junks, but noted that their draft was toodeep for them to enter the Euphrates River, which forced them to ferry passengers and cargo in smallboats.[138] Shulama also noted that Chinese ships were often very large, with capacities up to 600–700passengers.[134][138]


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Palace ladies in a garden from amural of Prince Li Xian's tomb in theQianling Mausoleum, where WuZetian was also buried in 706

Empress Wu and Emperor Xuanzong

Usurpation of Wu Zetian

Although she entered Emperor Gaozong's court as the lowlyconsort Wu Zhao, Wu Zetian rose to the highest seat of power in690, establishing the short-lived Later Zhou dynasty. EmpressWu's rise to power was achieved through cruel and calculatingtactics, popular conspiracy theory stated that she killed her ownbaby girl and blamed it on Gaozong's empress so that theempress would be demoted.[33] Emperor Gaozong suffered astroke in 655, and Wu began to make many of his court decisionsfor him, discussing affairs of state with his councilors, who tookorders from her while she sat behind a screen.[139] WhenEmpress Wu's eldest son, the crown prince, began to assert hisauthority and advocate policies opposed by Empress Wu, hesuddenly died in 675. Many suspected he was poisoned byEmpress Wu. Although the next heir apparent kept a lowerprofile, in 680 he was accused by Wu of plotting a rebellion andwas banished (and later forced to commit suicide).[140]

In 683, Emperor Gaozong died. He was succeeded by EmperorZhongzong, his eldest surviving son by Wu. Zhongzong tried to

appoint his wife's father as chancellor: after only six weeks on the throne, he was deposed by EmpressWu in favor of his younger brother, 12-year-old Emperor Ruizong.[140] Wu was the real power. Thisprovoked a group of Tang princes to rebel in 684; Wu's armies suppressed them within two months.[140]

In 690, she forced Ruizong to step down from the throne. She became China's first female emperorwhile Ruizong became crown prince. She ruled until 705, when a palace coup forced her to abdicate infavor of Zhongzong. She died soon after.[141]

To legitimize her rule, she circulated a document known as the Great Cloud Sutra, which predicted thata reincarnation of the Maitreya Buddha would be a female monarch who would dispel illness, worry,and disaster from the world.[142][143] She even introduced numerous revised written characters to thewritten language, which reverted to the originals after her death.[144] Arguably the most important partof her legacy was diminishing the power of the northwest aristocracy, allowing people from other clansand regions of China to become more represented in Chinese politics and government.[145][146]

Rise of Xuanzong

There were many prominent women at court during and after Wu's reign, including Shangguan Wan'er(664–710), a female poet, writer, and trusted official in charge of Wu's private office.[147] In 706 the wifeof Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Empress Wei (d. 710), convinced her husband to staff governmentoffices with his sister and her daughters, and in 709 requested that he grant women the right to bequeathhereditary privileges to their sons (which before was a male right only).[148] Empress Wei eventually


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The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda,Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an), built in652, repaired by Empress Wu Zetianin 704.

poisoned Zhongzong, whereupon she placed his fifteen-year-oldson upon the throne in 710.[41] Two weeks later, Li Longji (thelater Emperor Xuanzong) entered the palace with a few followersand slew Empress Wei and her faction.[41] He then installed hisfather Emperor Ruizong (r. 710–712) on the throne.[41] Just asEmperor Zhongzong was dominated by Empress Wei, so too wasRuizong dominated by Princess Taiping.[149] This was finallyended when Princess Taiping's coup failed in 712 (she later hungherself in 713) and Emperor Ruizong abdicated to EmperorXuanzong.[41][148]

During the 44-year reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the Tangdynasty reached its height, a golden age with low economicinflation and a toned down lifestyle for the imperial court.[108][146] Seen as a progressive and benevolent ruler, Xuanzongeven abolished the death penalty in the year 747; all executionshad to be approved beforehand by the emperor himself (thesewere relatively few, considering that there were only 24executions in the year 730).[150] Xuanzong bowed to theconsensus of his ministers on policy decisions and made effortsto fairly staff government ministries with different politicalfactions.[149] His staunch Confucian chancellor Zhang Jiuling (673–740) worked to reduce deflation andincrease the money supply by upholding the use of private coinage, while his aristocratic andtechnocratic successor Li Linfu (d. 753) favored government monopoly over the issuance ofcoinage.[151] After 737 most of Xuanzong's confidence rested in his long-standing chancellor Li Linfu,who championed a more aggressive foreign policy employing non-Chinese generals. This policyultimately created the conditions for a massive rebellion against Xuanzong.[152]

Decline

An Shi Rebellion and catastrophe

The Tang Empire was at its height of power up until the middle of the 8th century, when the An ShiRebellion (December 16, 755 – February 17, 763) destroyed the prosperity of the empire. An Lushanwas a half-Sogdian, half-Turk Tang commander since 744, had experience fighting the Khitans ofManchuria with a victory in 744,[55][153] yet most of his campaigns against the Khitans wereunsuccessful.[154] He was given great responsibility in Hebei, which allowed him to rebel with an armyof more than one hundred thousand troops.[55] After capturing Luoyang, he named himself emperor of anew, but short-lived, Yan state.[153] Despite early victories scored by Tang General Guo Ziyi (697–781),the newly recruited troops of the army at the capital were no match for An Lushan's die-hard frontierveterans, so the court fled Chang'an.[55] While the heir apparent raised troops in Shanxi and Xuanzongfled to Sichuan province, they called upon the help of the Uyghur Turks in 756.[155] The Uyghur khanMoyanchur was greatly excited at this prospect, and married his own daughter to the Chinese diplomatic


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The Leshan Giant Buddha, 71 m(233 ft) high; begun in 713,completed in 803.

An 8th-century silk wall scroll fromDunhuang, showing the paradise ofAmitabha

envoy once he arrived, receiving in turn a Chinese princess as hisbride.[155] The Uyghurs helped recapture the Tang capital fromthe rebels, but they refused to leave until the Tang paid them anenormous sum of tribute in silk.[55][155] Even Abbasid Arabsassisted the Tang in putting down An Lushan's rebellion.[155][156]

The Tibetans took hold of the opportunity and raided many areasunder Chinese control, and even after the Tibetan Empire hadfallen apart in 842 (and the Uyghurs soon after) the Tang were inno position to reconquer Central Asia after 763.[55][157] Sosignificant was this loss that half a century later jinshiexamination candidates were required to write an essay on thecauses of the Tang's decline.[158] Although An Lushan was killedby one of his eunuchs in 757,[155] this time of troubles and

widespread insurrection continued until rebel Shi Siming was killed by his own son in 763.[155]

One of the legacies that the Tang government left since 710 wasthe gradual rise of regional military governors, the jiedushi, whoslowly came to challenge the power of the centralgovernment.[56] After the An Shi Rebellion, the autonomouspower and authority accumulated by the jiedushi in Hebei wentbeyond the central government's control. After a series ofrebellions between 781 and 784 in today's Hebei, Shandong,Hubei and Henan provinces, the government had to officiallyacknowledge the jiedushi's hereditary ruling withoutaccreditation. The Tang government relied on these governorsand their armies for protection and to suppress locals that wouldtake up arms against the government. In return, the centralgovernment would acknowledge the rights of these governors tomaintain their army, collect taxes and even to pass on their titleto heirs.[55][159] As time passed, these military governors slowlyphased out the prominence of civil officials drafted by exams,and became more autonomous from central authority.[55] Therule of these powerful military governors lasted until 960, whena new civil order under the Song dynasty was established. Also,the abandonment of the equal-field system meant that peoplecould buy and sell land freely. Many poor fell into debt becauseof this, forced to sell their land to the wealthy, which led to the exponential growth of large estates.[55]

With the breakdown of the land allocation system after 755, the central Chinese state barely interfered inagricultural management and acted merely as tax collector for roughly a millennium, save a fewinstances such as the Song's failed land nationalization during the 13th-century war with theMongols.[160]

With the central government collapsing in authority over the various regions of the empire, it wasrecorded in 845 that bandits and river pirates in parties of 100 or more began plundering settlements


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Xumi Pagoda, built in 636

along the Yangtze River with little resistance.[161] In 858, enormous floods along the Grand Canalinundated vast tracts of land and terrain of the North China Plain, which drowned tens of thousands ofpeople in the process.[161] The Chinese belief in the Mandate of Heaven granted to the ailing Tang wasalso challenged when natural calamities occurred, forcing many to believe the Heavens were displeasedand that the Tang had lost their right to rule. Then in 873 a disastrous harvest shook the foundations ofthe empire; in some areas only half of all agricultural produce was gathered, and tens of thousands facedfamine and starvation.[161] In the earlier period of the Tang, the central government was able to meetcrises in the harvest, as it was recorded from 714–719 that the Tang government responded effectively tonatural disasters by extending the price-regulation granary system throughout the country.[161] Thecentral government was able then to build a large surplus stock of foods to ward off the rising danger offamine and increased agricultural productivity through land reclamation.[108][161] In the 9th century,however, the Tang government was nearly helpless in dealing with any calamity.

Eighty Seven Celestials, draft painting of a fresco by Wu Daozi (c. 685–758)

Rebuilding and recovery

Although these natural calamities and rebellions stained thereputation and hampered the effectiveness of the centralgovernment, the early 9th century is nonetheless viewed as aperiod of recovery for the Tang dynasty.[162] The government'swithdrawal from its role in managing the economy had theunintended effect of stimulating trade, as more markets with lessbureaucratic restrictions were opened up.[163][164] By 780, theold grain tax and labor service of the 7th century was replaced bya semiannual tax paid in cash, signifying the shift to a moneyeconomy boosted by the merchant class.[156] Cities in theJiangnan region to the south, such as Yangzhou, Suzhou, andHangzhou prospered the most economically during the late Tangperiod.[163] The government monopoly on the production of salt,weakened after the An Shi Rebellion, was placed under the SaltCommission, which became one of the most powerful stateagencies, run by capable ministers chosen as specialists. Thecommission began the practice of selling merchants the rights tobuy monopoly salt, which they would then transport and sell in


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Painting of the scholar Fu Sheng, bythe Tang poet, musician, and painterWang Wei (701–761)

local markets. In 799 salt accounted for over half of the government's revenues.[55] S. A. M. Adsheadwrites that this salt tax represents "the first time that an indirect tax, rather than tribute, levies on land orpeople, or profit from state enterprises such as mines, had been the primary resource of a majorstate."[165] Even after the power of the central government was in decline after the mid 8th century, itwas still able to function and give out imperial orders on a massive scale. The Tangshu (Old Book ofTang) compiled in the year 945 recorded that in 828 the Tang government issued a decree thatstandardized irrigational square-pallet chain pumps in the country:

In the second year of the Taihe reign period [828 AD], in the second month...a standardmodel of the chain pump was issued from the palace, and the people of Jingzhao Fu (dfootnote: the capital) were ordered by the emperor to make a considerable number ofmachines, for distribution to the people along the Zheng Bai Canal, for irrigation purposes.

—[166]

The last great ambitious ruler of the Tang dynasty was EmperorXianzong (r. 805–820), his reign period aided by the fiscalreforms of the 780s, including the government monopoly on thesalt industry.[167] He also had an effective well trained imperialarmy stationed at the capital led by his court eunuchs; this wasthe Army of Divine Strategy, numbering 240,000 in strength asrecorded in 798.[168] Between the years 806 and 819, EmperorXianzong conducted seven major military campaigns to quell therebellious provinces that had claimed autonomy from centralauthority, managing to subdue all but two of them.[99][169] Underhis reign there was a brief end to the hereditary jiedushi, asXianzong appointed his own military officers and staffed theregional bureaucracies once again with civil officials.[99][169]

However, Xianzong's successors proved less capable and moreinterested in the leisure of hunting, feasting, and playing outdoorsports, allowing eunuchs to amass more power as draftedscholar-officials caused strife in the bureaucracy with factional parties.[169] The eunuchs' power becameunchallenged after Emperor Wenzong's (r. 826–840) failed plot to have them overthrown; instead theallies of Emperor Wenzong were publicly executed in the West Market of Chang'an, by the eunuchs'command.[163]

Collapse

In addition to natural calamities and jiedushi amassing autonomous control, the Huang Chao Rebellion(874–884) resulted in the sacking of both Chang'an and Luoyang, and took an entire decade tosuppress.[170] Although the rebellion was defeated by the Tang, it never recovered from that crucialblow, weakening it for the future military powers to take over. There were also large groups of bandits,in the size of small armies, that ravaged the countryside in the last years of the Tang, who smuggled


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A Tang sancai-glazed lobed dish withincised decorations, 8th-century

Tang dynasty Kai Yuan Tong Baocoin (開元通寶), first minted in 621CE in Chang'an, a model for theJapanese 8th-century Wadōkaichin

illicit salt, ambushed merchants and convoys, and even besieged several walled cities.[125]

Zhu Wen, originally a salt smuggler who had served under the rebel Huang, surrendered to Tang forces.By helping to defeat Huang, he was granted a series of rapid military promotions.[171] In 907 the Tangdynasty was ended when Zhu Wen, now a military governor, deposed the last emperor of Tang, EmperorAi of Tang, and took the throne for himself (known posthumously as Emperor Taizu of Later Liang). Heestablished the Later Liang, which inaugurated the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. A yearlater the deposed Emperor Ai was poisoned to death by Zhu Wen.

Society and cultureBoth the Sui and Tang Dynasties had turned away from the morefeudal culture of the preceding Northern Dynasties, in favor ofstaunch civil Confucianism.[2] The governmental system wassupported by a large class of Confucian intellectuals selectedthrough either civil service examinations or recommendations. Inthe Tang period, Daoism and Buddhism reigned as coreideologies as well, and played a large role in people's daily lives.The Tang Chinese enjoyed feasting, drinking, holidays, sports,and all sorts of entertainment, while Chinese literatureblossomed and was more widely accessible with new printingmethods.

Leisure in the Tang

Much more than earlier periods, the Tang era was renowned forthe time reserved for leisure activity, especially for those in theupper classes.[172] Many outdoor sports and activities wereenjoyed during the Tang, including archery,[173] hunting,[174]

horse polo,[175] cuju football,[176] cockfighting,[177] and even tugof war.[178] Government officials were granted vacations duringtheir tenure in office. Officials were granted 30 days off everythree years to visit their parents if they lived 1,000 mi (1,600 km)away, or 15 days off if the parents lived more than 167 mi(269 km) away (travel time not included).[172] Officials weregranted nine days of vacation time for weddings of a son ordaughter, and either five, three, or one days/day off for thenuptials of close relatives (travel time not included).[172]

Officials also received a total of three days off for their son'scapping initiation rite into manhood, and one day off for theceremony of initiation rite of a close relative's son.[172]

Traditional Chinese holidays such as Chinese New Year, LanternFestival, Cold Food Festival, and others were universal holidays. In the capital city of Chang'an there


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A mural depicting a corner tower,most likely one of Chang'an, from thetomb of Prince Yide (d. 701) at theQianling Mausoleum, dated 706

was always lively celebration, especially for the Lantern Festival since the city's nighttime curfew waslifted by the government for three days straight.[179] Between the years 628 and 758, the imperial thronebestowed a total of sixty-nine grand carnivals nationwide, granted by the emperor in the case of specialcircumstances such as important military victories, abundant harvests after a long drought or famine, thegranting of amnesties, the installment of a new crown prince, etc.[180] For special celebration in the Tangera, lavish and gargantuan-sized feasts were sometimes prepared, as the imperial court had staffedagencies to prepare the meals.[181] This included a prepared feast for 1,100 elders of Chang'an in 664, afeast for 3,500 officers of the Divine Strategy Army in 768, and a feast for 1,200 women of the palaceand members of the imperial family in the year 826.[181] Drinking wine and alcoholic beverages washeavily ingrained into Chinese culture, as people drank for nearly every social event.[182] A court officialin the 8th century allegedly had a serpentine-shaped structure called the 'Ale Grotto' built with 50,000bricks on the groundfloor that each featured a bowl from which his friends could drink.[183]

Chang'an, the Tang capital

Although Chang'an was the capital of the earlier Han and Jindynasties, after subsequent destruction in warfare, it was the Suidynasty model that comprised the Tang era capital. The roughlysquare dimensions of the city had six miles (10 km) of outerwalls running east to west, and more than five miles (8 km) ofouter walls running north to south.[19] The royal palace, the TaijiPalace, stood north of the city's central axis.[184] From the largeMingde Gates located mid-center of the main southern wall, awide city avenue stretched from there all the way north to thecentral administrative city, behind which was the Chentian Gateof the royal palace, or Imperial City. Intersecting this werefourteen main streets running east to west, while eleven mainstreets ran north to south. These main intersecting roads formed108 rectangular wards with walls and four gates each, and eachward filled with multiple city blocks. The city was made famousfor this checkerboard pattern of main roads with walled andgated districts, its layout even mentioned in one of Du Fu'spoems.[185] During the Heian period, the city of Heian kyō(present-day Kyoto) of Japan like many cities was arranged inthe checkerboard street grid pattern of the Tang capital and in

accordance with traditional geomancy following the model of Chang'an.[32] Of these 108 wards inChang'an, two of them (each the size of two regular city wards) were designated as government-supervised markets, and other space reserved for temples, gardens, ponds, etc.[19] Throughout the entirecity, there were 111 Buddhist monasteries, 41 Daoist abbeys, 38 family shrines, 2 official temples, 7churches of foreign religions, 10 city wards with provincial transmission offices, 12 major inns, and 6graveyards.[186] Some city wards were literally filled with open public playing fields or the backyards oflavish mansions for playing horse polo and cuju football.[187] In 662, Emperor Gaozong moved theimperial court to the Daming Palace, which became the political center of the empire and served as theroyal residence of the Tang emperors for more than 220 years.[188]


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The bronze Jingyun Bell cast 711,height 247 cm high, weight 6,500 kg,now in the Xi'an Bell Tower

Spring Outing of the Tang Court, by Zhang Xuan(713–755)

The Tang capital was the largest city in the world at its time, thepopulation of the city wards and its suburban countrysidereaching 2 million inhabitants.[19] The Tang capital was verycosmopolitan, with ethnicities of Persia, Central Asia, Japan,Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, India, and many other places livingwithin. Naturally, with this plethora of different ethnicities livingin Chang'an, there were also many different practiced religions,such as Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism,Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Islam being practiced within. Withwidely open access to China that the Silk Road to the westfacilitated, many foreign settlers were able to move east toChina, while the city of Chang'an itself had about 25,000foreigners living within.[102][189] Exotic green-eyed, blond-haired Tocharian ladies serving wine in agate and amber cups,singing, and dancing at taverns attracted customers.[190] If aforeigner in China pursued a Chinese woman for marriage, hewas required to stay in China and was unable to take his brideback to his homeland, as stated in a law passed in 628 to protectwomen from temporary marriages with foreign envoys.[191]

Several laws enforcing segregation of foreigners from Chinesewere passed during the Tang dynasty. In 779 the Tang dynasty issued an edict which forced Uighurs inthe capital, Chang'an, to wear their ethnic dress, stopped them from marrying Chinese females, andbanned them from passing off as Chinese.[192]

Chang'an was the center of the central government, the home of the imperial family, and was filled withsplendor and wealth. However, incidentally it was not the economic hub during the Tang dynasty. Thecity of Yangzhou along the Grand Canal and close to the Yangtze River was the greatest economiccenter during the Tang era.[118][193]

Yangzhou was the headquarters for the Tang'sgovernment monopoly on salt, and the greatestindustrial center of China; it acted as a midpoint inshipping of foreign goods that would be organizedand distributed to the major cities of the north.[118][193] Much like the seaport of Guangzhou in thesouth, Yangzhou boasted thousands of foreigntraders from all across Asia.[193][194]

There was also the secondary capital city ofLuoyang, which was the favored capital of the twoby Empress Wu. In the year 691 she had more than100,000 families (more than 500,000 people) from

around the region of Chang'an move to populate Luoyang instead.[118] With a population of about amillion, Luoyang became the second largest capital in the empire, and with its close proximity to theLuo River it benefited from southern agricultural fertility and trade traffic of the Grand Canal.[118]


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Written calligraphy of EmperorTaizong on a Tang stele

However, the Tang court eventually demoted its capital status and did not visit Luoyang after the year743, when Chang'an's problem of acquiring adequate supplies and stores for the year was solved.[118] Asearly as 736, granaries were built at critical points along the route from Yangzhou to Chang'an, whicheliminated shipment delays, spoilage, and pilfering.[195] An artificial lake used as a transshipment poolwas dredged east of Chang'an in 743, where curious northerners could finally see the array of boatsfound in southern China, delivering tax and tribute items to the imperial court.[196]

Literature

The Tang period was a golden age of Chinese literature and art.There are over 48,900 poems penned by some 2,200 Tangauthors that have survived until modern times.[197][198] Skill inthe composition of poetry became a required study for thosewishing to pass imperial examinations,[199] while poetry wasalso heavily competitive; poetry contests amongst guests atbanquets and courtiers were common.[200] Poetry styles thatwere popular in the Tang included gushi and jintishi, with therenowned poet Li Bai (701–762) famous for the former style,and poets like Wang Wei (701–761) and Cui Hao (704–754)famous for their use of the latter. Jintishi poetry, or regulatedverse, is in the form of eight-line stanzas or seven characters perline with a fixed pattern of tones that required the second andthird couplets to be antithetical (although the antithesis is oftenlost in translation to other languages).[201] Tang poems remainedpopular and great emulation of Tang era poetry began in theSong dynasty; in that period, Yan Yu (嚴羽; active 1194–1245)was the first to confer the poetry of the High Tang (c. 713–766)era with "canonical status within the classical poetic tradition."Yan Yu reserved the position of highest esteem among all Tangpoets for Du Fu (712–770), who was not viewed as such in hisown era, and was branded by his peers as an anti-traditionalrebel.[202]

The Classical Prose Movement was spurred in large part by the writings of Tang authors Liu Zongyuan(773–819) and Han Yu (768–824). This new prose style broke away from the poetry tradition of the'piantiwen' style begun in the Han dynasty. Although writers of the Classical Prose Movement imitated'piantiwen', they criticized it for its often vague content and lack of colloquial language, focusing moreon clarity and precision to make their writing more direct.[203] This guwen (archaic prose) style can betraced back to Han Yu, and would become largely associated with orthodox Neo-Confucianism.[204]

Short story fiction and tales were also popular during the Tang, one of the more famous ones beingYingying's Biography by Yuan Zhen (779–831), which was widely circulated in his own time and by theYuan dynasty (1279–1368) became the basis for plays in Chinese opera.[205][206] Timothy C. Wongplaces this story within the wider context of Tang love tales, which often share the plot designs of quick


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Small Wild Goose Pagoda, built by709, was adjacent to the DajianfuTemple in Chang'an, where Buddhistmonks from India and elsewheregathered to translate Sanskrit textsinto Chinese[209]

passion, inescapable societal pressure leading to the abandonment of romance, followed by a period ofmelancholy.[207] Wong states that this scheme lacks the undying vows and total self-commitment to lovefound in Western romances such as Romeo and Juliet, but that underlying traditional Chinese values ofinseparableness of self from one's environment (including human society) served to create the necessaryfictional device of romantic tension.[208]

There were large encyclopedias published in the Tang. TheYiwen Leiju encyclopedia was compiled in 624 by the chiefeditor Ouyang Xun (557–641) as well as Linghu Defen(582–666) and Chen Shuda (d. 635). The encyclopedia Treatiseon Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era was fully compiled in 729 byGautama Siddha (fl. 8th century), an ethnic Indian astronomer,astrologer, and scholar born in the capital Chang'an.

Chinese geographers such as Jia Dan wrote accurate descriptionsof places far abroad. In his work written between 785 and 805,he described the sea route going into the mouth of the PersianGulf, and that the medieval Iranians (whom he called the peopleof Luo-He-Yi) had erected 'ornamental pillars' in the sea thatacted as lighthouse beacons for ships that might go astray.[210]

Confirming Jia's reports about lighthouses in the Persian Gulf,Arabic writers a century after Jia wrote of the same structures,writers such as al-Mas'udi and al-Muqaddasi. The Tang dynastyChinese diplomat Wang Xuance traveled to Magadha (modernnortheastern India) during the 7th century.[211] Afterwards hewrote the book Zhang Tianzhu Guotu (Illustrated Accounts of

Central India), which included a wealth of geographical information.[212]

Many histories of previous dynasties were compiled between 636 and 659 by court officials during andshortly after the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang. These included the Book of Liang, Book of Chen,Book of Northern Qi, Book of Zhou, Book of Sui, Book of Jin, History of Northern Dynasties and theHistory of Southern Dynasties. Although not included in the official Twenty-Four Histories, theTongdian and Tang Huiyao were nonetheless valuable written historical works of the Tang period. TheShitong written by Liu Zhiji in 710 was a meta-history, as it covered the history of Chinesehistoriography in past centuries until his time. The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions,compiled by Bianji, recounted the journey of Xuanzang, the Tang era's most renowned Buddhist monk.

Other important literary offerings included Duan Chengshi's (d. 863) Miscellaneous Morsels fromYouyang, an entertaining collection of foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, shortanecdotes, mythical and mundane tales, as well as notes on various subjects. The exact literary categoryor classification that Duan's large informal narrative would fit into is still debated amongst scholars andhistorians.[213]

Religion and philosophy


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A Tang dynasty sculpture of aBodhisattva

Since ancient times, the Chinese believed in a folk religion thatincorporated many deities. The Chinese believed that the afterlifewas a reality parallel to the living world, complete with its ownbureaucracy and afterlife currency needed by dead ancestors.[214]

Funerary practices included providing the deceased witheverything they might need in the afterlife, including animals,servants, entertainers, hunters, homes, and officials. This ideal isreflected in Tang dynasty art.[114] This is also reflected in manyshort stories written in the Tang about people accidentallywinding up in the realm of the dead, only to come back andreport their experiences.[214]

Buddhism, originating in India around the time of Confucius,continued to flourish during the Tang period and was adopted bythe imperial family, becoming thoroughly sinicized and apermanent part of Chinese traditional culture. In an age beforeNeo-Confucianism and figures such as Zhu Xi (1130–1200),Buddhism had begun to flourish in China during the Southernand Northern Dynasties, and became the dominant ideologyduring the prosperous Tang. Buddhist monasteries played anintegral role in Chinese society, offering lodging for travelers in remote areas, schools for childrenthroughout the country, and a place for urban literati to stage social events and gatherings such asgoing-away parties.[215] Buddhist monasteries were also engaged in the economy, since their landproperty and serfs gave them enough revenues to set up mills, oil presses, and other enterprises.[216][217][218] Although the monasteries retained 'serfs', these monastery dependents could actually ownproperty and employ others to help them in their work, including their own slaves.[219]

The prominent status of Buddhism in Chinese culture began to decline as the dynasty and centralgovernment declined as well during the late 8th century to 9th century. Buddhist convents and templesthat were exempt from state taxes beforehand were targeted by the state for taxation. In 845 EmperorWuzong of Tang finally shut down 4,600 Buddhist monasteries along with 40,000 temples and shrines,forcing 260,000 Buddhist monks and nuns to return to secular life;[30][220] this episode would later bedubbed one of the Four Buddhist Persecutions in China. Although the ban would be lifted just a fewyears after, Buddhism never regained its once dominant status in Chinese culture.[30][220][221][222] Thissituation also came about through new revival of interest in native Chinese philosophies, such asConfucianism and Daoism. Han Yu (786–824)—who Arthur F. Wright stated was a "brilliant polemicistand ardent xenophobe"—was one of the first men of the Tang to denounce Buddhism.[223] Although hiscontemporaries found him crude and obnoxious, he would foreshadow the later persecution ofBuddhism in the Tang, as well as the revival of Confucian theory with the rise of Neo-Confucianism ofthe Song dynasty.[223] Nonetheless, Chán Buddhism gained popularity amongst the educated elite.[30]

There were also many famous Chan monks from the Tang era, such as Mazu Daoyi, Baizhang, andHuangbo Xiyun. The sect of Pure Land Buddhism initiated by the Chinese monk Huiyuan (334–416)was also just as popular as Chan Buddhism during the Tang.[224]

Rivaling Buddhism was Daoism, a native Chinese philosophical and religious belief system that found


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A timber hall built in 857,[225]

located at the Buddhist FoguangTemple of Mount Wutai, Shanxi

Beauties Wearing Flowers, by ZhouFang, 8th-century

its roots in the book of the Daodejing (attributed to Laozi in the6th century BC) and the Zhuangzi. The ruling Li family of theTang dynasty actually claimed descent from the ancientLaozi.[226] On numerous occasions where Tang princes wouldbecome crown prince or Tang princesses taking vows as Daoistpriestesses, their lavish former mansions would be converted intoDaoist abbeys and places of worship.[226] Many Daoists wereassociated with alchemy in their pursuits to find an elixir ofimmortality and a means to create gold from concocted mixturesof many other elements.[227] Although they never achieved theirgoals in either of these futile pursuits, they did contribute to thediscovery of new metal alloys, porcelain products, and newdyes.[227] The historian Joseph Needham labeled the work of theDaoist alchemists as "proto-science rather than pseudo-

science."[227] However, the close connection between Daoism and alchemy, which some sinologistshave asserted, is refuted by Nathan Sivin, who states that alchemy was just as prominent (if not more so)in the secular sphere and practiced more often by laymen.[228]

The Tang dynasty also officially recognized various foreign religions. The Assyrian Church of the East,otherwise known as the Nestorian Christian Church, was given recognition by the Tang court. In 781,the Nestorian Stele was created in order to honor the achievements of their community in China. AChristian monastery was established in Shaanxi province where the Daqin Pagoda still stands, and insidethe pagoda there is Christian-themed artwork. Although the religion largely died out after the Tang, itwas revived in China following the Mongol invasions of the 13th century.[229]

Tang women

Concepts of women's social rights and social status during theTang era were notably liberal-minded for the period. However,this was largely reserved for urban women of elite status, as menand women in the rural countryside labored hard in theirdifferent set of tasks; with wives and daughters responsible formore domestic tasks of weaving textiles and rearing of silkworms, while men tended to farming in the fields.[48] There weremany women in the Tang era who gained access to religiousauthority by taking vows as Daoist priestesses.[226] The headmistresses of the bordellos in the North Hamlet of the capitalChang'an acquired large amounts of wealth and power.[230] Theirhigh-class courtesans, who likely influenced the Japanesegeishas,[231] were well respected. These courtesans were knownas great singers and poets, supervised banquets and feasts, knew the rules to all the drinking games, andwere trained to have the utmost respectable table manners.[230]

Although they were renowned for their polite behavior, the courtesans were known to dominate the


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Woman playing polo,8th-century

conversation amongst elite men, and were not afraid to openly castigateor criticize prominent male guests who talked too much or too loudly,boasted too much of their accomplishments, or had in some way ruineddinner for everyone by rude behavior (on one occasion a courtesan evenbeat up a drunken man who had insulted her).[232] When singing toentertain guests, courtesans not only composed the lyrics to their ownsongs, but they popularized a new form of lyrical verse by singing lineswritten by various renowned and famous men in Chinese history.[197]

It was fashionable for women to be full-figured (or plump). Men enjoyedthe presence of assertive, active women.[233][234] The foreign horse-riding sport of polo from Persia became a wildly popular trend amongstthe Chinese elite, and women often played the sport (as glazedearthenware figurines from the time period portray).[233] The preferredhairstyle for women was to bunch their hair up like "an elaborate edificeabove the forehead,"[234] while affluent ladies wore extravagant head

ornaments, combs, pearl necklaces, face powders, and perfumes.[235] A law was passed in 671 whichattempted to force women to wear hats with veils again in order to promote decency, but these laws wereignored as some women started wearing caps and even no hats at all, as well as men's riding clothes andboots, and tight-sleeved bodices.[236]

There were some prominent court women after the era of Empress Wu, such as Yang Guifei (719–756),who had Emperor Xuanzong appoint many of her relatives and cronies to important ministerial andmartial positions.[41]

Tea, food, and necessities

During the earlier Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589), and perhaps even earlier, the drinking oftea (Camellia sinensis) became popular in southern China. Tea was viewed then as a beverage of tastefulpleasure and with pharmacological purpose as well.[197] During the Tang dynasty, tea becamesynonymous with everything sophisticated in society. The poet Lu Tong (790–835) devoted most of hispoetry to his love of tea. The 8th-century author Lu Yu (known as the Sage of Tea) even wrote a treatiseon the art of drinking tea, called The Classic of Tea.[237] Although wrapping paper had been used inChina since the 2nd century BC,[238] during the Tang dynasty the Chinese were using wrapping paper asfolded and sewn square bags to hold and preserve the flavor of tea leaves.[238] Indeed, paper found manyother uses besides writing and wrapping during the Tang era.

Earlier, the first recorded use of toilet paper was made in 589 by the scholar-official Yan Zhitui(531–591),[239] and in 851 an Arab Muslim traveler commented on how he believed the Tang eraChinese were not careful about cleanliness because they did not wash with water (as was his people'shabit) when going to the bathroom; instead, he said, the Chinese simply used paper to wipethemselves.[239]

In ancient times, the Chinese had outlined the five most basic foodstuffs known as the five grains:


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A terracotta sculpture of awoman, 7th- to 8th-century;during the Tang era, femalehosts prepared feasts, teaparties, and played drinkinggames with their guests.

A page of Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea

sesamum, legumes, wheat, panicled millet, and glutinous millet.[240] TheMing dynasty encyclopedist Song Yingxing (1587–1666) noted that ricewas not counted amongst the five grains from the time of the legendaryand deified Chinese sage Shennong (the existence of whom Yingxingwrote was "an uncertain matter") into the 2nd millenniums BC, becausethe properly wet and humid climate in southern China for growing ricewas not yet fully settled or cultivated by the Chinese.[240]

During the Tang, the manycommon foodstuffs and cookingingredients in addition to thosealready listed were barley, garlic,salt, turnips, soybeans, pears,apricots, peaches, apples,pomegranates, jujubes, rhubarb,hazelnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts,walnuts, yams, taro, etc.[241] Thevarious meats that wereconsumed included pork,chicken, lamb (especiallypreferred in the north), sea otter,bear (which was hard to catch,but there were recipes forsteamed, boiled, and marinatedbear), and even Bactriancamels.[241] In the south alongthe coast meat from seafood wasby default the most common, asthe Chinese enjoyed eating cooked jellyfish with cinnamon,

Sichuan pepper, cardamom, and ginger, as well as oysters with wine, fried squid with ginger andvinegar, horseshoe crabs and red swimming crabs, shrimp and pufferfish, which the Chinese called"river piglet".[242]

Some foods were also off-limits, as the Tang court encouraged people not to eat beef (since the bull wasa valuable working animal), and from 831 to 833 Emperor Wenzong of Tang even banned the slaughterof cattle on the grounds of his religious convictions to Buddhism.[243]

From the trade overseas and over land, the Chinese acquired peaches from Samarkand, date palms,pistachios, and figs from Greater Iran, pine nuts and ginseng roots from Korea and mangoes fromSoutheast Asia.[244][245] In China, there was a great demand for sugar; during the reign of Harsha overNorth India (r. 606–647), Indian envoys to the Tang brought two makers of sugar who successfullytaught the Chinese how to cultivate sugarcane.[246][247] Cotton also came from India as a finishedproduct from Bengal, although it was during the Tang that the Chinese began to grow and processcotton, and by the Yuan dynasty it became the prime textile fabric in China.[248]


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Wooden statues of tomb guardians;mechanical-driven wooden statuesserved as cup-bearers, wine-pourers,dancers, and others in this age.[251]

Methods of food preservation were important, and practiced throughout China. The common peopleused simple methods of preservation, such as digging deep ditches and trenches, brining, and saltingtheir foods.[249] The emperor had large ice pits located in the parks in and around Chang'an forpreserving food, while the wealthy and elite had their own smaller ice pits.[250] Each year the emperorhad laborers carve 1000 blocks of ice from frozen creeks in mountain valleys, each block with thedimension of 3 ft (0.91 m) by 3 ft by 3½ ft (1.06 m).[250] There were many frozen delicacies enjoyedduring the summer, especially chilled melon.[250]

Science, technology, and medicineEngineering

Technology during the Tang period was built also upon theprecedents of the past. Advancements in clockworks andtimekeeping included the mechanical gear systems of ZhangHeng (78–139) and Ma Jun (fl. 3rd century) gave the Tangengineer, astronomer, and monk Yi Xing (683–727) inspirationwhen he invented the world's first clockwork escapementmechanism in 725.[252] This was used alongside a clepsydraclock and waterwheel to power a rotating armillary sphere inrepresentation of astronomical observation.[253] Yi Xing's devicealso had a mechanically timed bell that was struck automaticallyevery hour, and a drum that was struck automatically everyquarter hour; essentially, a striking clock.[254] Yi Xing'sastronomical clock and water-powered armillary sphere becamewell known throughout the country, since students attempting topass the imperial examinations by 730 had to write an essay onthe device as an exam requirement.[255] However, the most common type of public and palacetimekeeping device was the inflow clepsydra. Its design was improved c. 610 by the Sui-dynastyengineers Geng Xun and Yuwen Kai. They provided a steelyard balance that allowed seasonaladjustment in the pressure head of the compensating tank and could then control the rate of flow fordifferent lengths of day and night.[256]

There were many other mechanical inventions during the Tang era. This included a 3 ft (0.91 m) tallmechanical wine server of the early 8th century that was in the shape of an artificial mountain, carvedout of iron and rested on a lacquered-wooden tortoise frame.[257] This intricate device used a hydraulicpump that siphoned wine out of metal dragon-headed faucets, as well as tilting bowls that were timed todip wine down, by force of gravity when filled, into an artificial lake that had intricate iron leavespopping up as trays for placing party treats.[257] Furthermore, as the historian Charles Benn describes it:

Midway up the southern side of the mountain was a dragon…the beast opened its mouthand spit brew into a goblet seated on a large [iron] lotus leaf beneath. When the cup was80% full, the dragon ceased spewing ale, and a guest immediately seized the goblet. If he


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A square bronze mirror with aphoenix motif of gold and silverinlaid with lacquer, 8th-century

was slow in draining the cup and returning it to the leaf, the door of a pavilion at the top ofthe mountain opened and a mechanical wine server, dressed in a cap and gown, emergedwith a wooden bat in his hand. As soon as the guest returned the goblet, the dragon refilledit, the wine server withdrew, and the doors of the pavilion closed…A pump siphoned the alethat flowed into the ale pool through a hidden hole and returned the brew to the reservoir[holding more than 16 quarts/15 liters of wine] inside the mountain.[257]

Although the use of a teasing mechanical puppet in thiswine-serving device was certainly ingenious, the use ofmechanical puppets in China date back to the Qin dynasty(221–207 BC)[258] while Ma Jun in the 3rd century had an entiremechanical puppet theater operated by the rotation of awaterwheel.[258] There was also an automatic wine-server knownin the ancient Greco-Roman world, a design of Heron ofAlexandria that employed an urn with an inner valve and a leverdevice similar to the one described above. There are many storiesof automatons used in the Tang, including general Yang Wulian'swooden statue of a monk who stretched his hands out to collectcontributions; when the amount of coins reached a certainweight, the mechanical figure moved his arms to deposit them ina satchel.[259] This weight-and-lever mechanism was exactly likeHeron's penny slot machine.[260] Other devices included one by Wang Ju, whose "wooden otter" couldallegedly catch fish; Needham suspects a spring trap of some kind was employed here.[259]

In the realm of structural engineering and technical Chinese architecture, there were also governmentstandard building codes, outlined in the early Tang book of the Yingshan Ling (National BuildingLaw).[261] Fragments of this book have survived in the Tang Lü (The Tang Code),[262] while the Songdynasty architectural manual of the Yingzao Fashi (State Building Standards) by Li Jie (1065–1101) in1103 is the oldest existing technical treatise on Chinese architecture that has survived in full.[261] Duringthe reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (712–756) there were 34,850 registered craftsmen serving thestate, managed by the Agency of Palace Buildings (Jingzuo Jian).[262]

Woodblock printing

Woodblock printing made the written word available to vastly greater audiences. One of the world'soldest surviving printed documents is a miniature Buddhist dharani sutra unearthed at Xi'an in 1974 anddated roughly from 650 to 670.[263] The Diamond Sutra is the first full-length book printed at regularsize, complete with illustrations embedded with the text and dated precisely to 868.[264][265] Among theearliest documents to be printed were Buddhist texts as well as calendars, the latter essential forcalculating and marking which days were auspicious and which days were not.[266] With so many bookscoming into circulation for the general public, literacy rates could improve, along with the lower classesbeing able to obtain cheaper sources of study. Therefore, there were more lower-class people seenentering the Imperial Examinations and passing them by the later Song dynasty.[36][267][268] Although


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The Diamond Sutra, printed in 868, isthe world's first widely printed book(using woodblock printing).

the later Bi Sheng's movable type printing in the 11th centurywas innovative for his period, woodblock printing that becamewidespread in the Tang would remain the dominant printing typein China until the more advanced printing press from Europebecame widely accepted and used in East Asia.[269] The first useof the playing card during the Tang dynasty was an auxiliaryinvention of the new age of printing.[270]

Medicine

The Chinese of the Tang era were also very interested in thebenefits of officially classifying all of the medicines used inpharmacology. In 657, Emperor Gaozong of Tang (r. 649–683)commissioned the literary project of publishing an official materia medica, complete with text andillustrated drawings for 833 different medicinal substances taken from different stones, minerals, metals,plants, herbs, animals, vegetables, fruits, and cereal crops.[271] In addition to compiling pharmacopeias,the Tang fostered learning in medicine by upholding imperial medical colleges, state examinations fordoctors, and publishing forensic manuals for physicians.[248] Authors of medicine in the Tang includeZhen Chuan (d. 643) and Sun Simiao (581–682), the former who first identified in writing that patientswith diabetes had an excess of sugar in their urine, and the latter who was the first to recognize thatdiabetic patients should avoid consuming alcohol and starchy foods.[272] As written by Zhen Chuan andothers in the Tang, the thyroid glands of sheep and pigs were successfully used to treat goiters; thyroidextracts were not used to treat patients with goiter in the West until 1890.[273] The use of the dentalamalgam, manufactured from tin and silver, was first introduced in the medical text Xinxiu Bencaowritten by Su Gong in 659.[274]

Cartography

In the realm of cartography, there were further advances beyond the map-makers of the Han dynasty.When the Tang chancellor Pei Ju (547–627) was working for the Sui dynasty as a CommercialCommissioner in 605, he created a well-known gridded map with a graduated scale in the tradition ofPei Xiu (224–271).[276] The Tang chancellor Xu Jingzong (592–672) was also known for his map ofChina drawn in the year 658.[277] In the year 785 the Emperor Dezong had the geographer andcartographer Jia Dan (730–805) complete a map of China and her former colonies in Central Asia.[277]

Upon its completion in 801, the map was 9.1 m (30 ft) in length and 10 m (33 ft) in height, mapped outon a grid scale of one inch equaling one hundred li (Chinese unit of measuring distance).[277] A Chinesemap of 1137 is similar in complexity to the one made by Jia Dan, carved on a stone stele with a gridscale of 100 li.[278] However, the only type of map that has survived from the Tang period are starcharts. Despite this, the earliest extant terrain maps of China come from the ancient State of Qin; mapsfrom the 4th century BC that were excavated in 1986.[279]

Alchemy, gas cylinders, and air conditioning

The Chinese of the Tang period employed complex chemical formulas for an array of different purposes,


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The Dunhuang map, a star mapshowing the North Polar region. circa700.[275] Constellations were dividedinto three "schools" distinguishedwith different colors: white, black andyellow for stars of Wu Xian, Gan Deand Shi Shen respectively. The wholeset of star maps contained 1,300 stars.

A rounded ceramic plate with "threecolors" (sancai) glaze design,8th-century

often found throughexperiments of alchemy.These included awaterproof anddust-repelling cream orvarnish for clothes andweapons, fireproofcement for glass andporcelain wares, awaterproof cream appliedto silk clothes ofunderwater divers, acream designated forpolishing bronze mirrors,and many other usefulformulas.[280] The

vitrified, translucent ceramic known as porcelain was invented inChina during the Tang, although many types of glazed ceramicspreceded it.[137][281]

Ever since the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), the Chinese haddrilled deep boreholes to transport natural gas from bamboopipelines to stoves where cast iron evaporation pans boiled brine to extract salt.[282] During the Tangdynasty, a gazetteer of Sichuan province stated that at one of these 182 m (600 ft) 'fire wells', mencollected natural gas into portable bamboo tubes which could be carried around for dozens of km (mi)and still produce a flame.[283] These were essentially the first gas cylinders; Robert Temple assumessome sort of tap was used for this device.[283]

The inventor Ding Huan (fl. 180 AD) of the Han dynasty invented a rotary fan for air conditioning, withseven wheels 3 m (10 ft) in diameter and manually powered.[284] In 747, Emperor Xuanzong had a"Cool Hall" built in the imperial palace, which the Tang Yulin (唐語林) describes as having water-powered fan wheels for air conditioning as well as rising jet streams of water from fountains.[285] Duringthe subsequent Song dynasty, written sources mentioned the air conditioning rotary fan as even morewidely used.[286]

HistoriographyThe first classic work about the Tang is the Old Book of Tang by Liu Xu (887–946 AD) et al. of the LaterJin, who redacted it during the last years of his life. This was edited into another history (labelled theNew Book of Tang) in order to distinguish it, which was a work by the Song historians Ouyang Xiu(1007–1072), Song Qi (998–1061), et al. of the Song dynasty (between the years 1044 and 1060). Bothof them were based upon earlier annals, yet those are now lost.[287] Both of them also rank among theTwenty-Four Histories of China. One of the surviving sources of the Old Book of Tang, primarilycovering up to 756, is the Tongdian, which Du You presented to the emperor in 801. The Tang period


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This Tang yellow-glazed potteryhorse includes a carefully sculptedsaddle, which is decorated withleather straps and ornamentalfastenings featuring eight-petalledflowers and apricot leaves.

was again placed into the enormous universal history text of theZizhi Tongjian, edited, compiled, and completed in 1084 by ateam of scholars under the Song dynasty Chancellor Sima Guang(1019–1086). This historical text, written with 3 million Chinesecharacters in 294 volumes, covered the history of China from thebeginning of the Warring States (403 BC) until the beginning ofthe Song dynasty (960).

See also

Di RenjieEight Immortals of theWine CupYijing (monk)Kaiyuan Za Bao(government newspaperfor officials)List of emperors of theTang dynastyList of tributaries ofImperial China

Nine Pinnacle PagodaQianling MausoleumChinese emperors familytree (middle)Tang dynasty in InnerAsiaTang poetryWei ZhengYan ZhenqingTaxation in premodernChina

Notes

^ During the reign of the Tang the world population grew from about 190 million to approximately240 million, a difference of 50 million. See also medieval demography.

a.

References

^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation ofHistorical Empires" (http://www.jwsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jwsr-v12n2.pdf). Journal of World-Systems Research 12 (2): 219–229. ISSN 1076-156X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1076-156X). RetrievedAugust 12, 2010.

1.

^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2006, p. 91.2. ^ Ebrey 1999, pp. 111, 141.3. ^ Du 1998, p. 37.4. ^ Fairbank & Goldman 2006, p. 106.5.


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^ Yu 1998, pp. 73–87.6. ^ a b c d e Adshead 2004, p. 40.7. ^ a b c Graff 2000, p. 78.8. ^ a b Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2006, pp. 90–91.9. ^ Graff 2000, pp. 78, 93.10. ^ Adshead 2004, pp. 40–41.11. ^ Latourette 1934 (http://books.google.com/books?id=ultxAAAAMAAJ&q=family+descent+lao+tzu+patronymic), p. 191.

12.

^ Drompp 2005 (http://books.google.com/books?id=NB6DEdAxLOsC&pg=PA126&dq=li+ling+kirghiz&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hAAvT-3QOeSE0QHuktzJCg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=li%20ling%20kirghiz&f=false), p. 126.

13.

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Steinhardt, Paul Rakita Goldin, ed. Hawai'i reader in traditional Chinese culture (http://books.google.com/books?id=XdouAQAAIAAJ&q=li+ling+kirghiz&dq=li+ling+kirghiz&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hAAvT-3QOeSE0QHuktzJCg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA) (illustrated ed.). University of Hawai'i Press. p. 376.ISBN 0824827856. Retrieved February 8, 2012.Needham, Joseph (1986a), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of theHeavens and the Earth, Taipei: Caves Books—— (1986b), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Engineering, Part 2,Mechanical Engineering, Taipei: Caves Books—— (1986c), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, CivilEngineering and Nautics, Taipei: Caves Books—— (1986d), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1,Paper and Printing, Taipei: Caves Books—— (1986e), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 4,Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts, Taipei: Caves BooksNishijima, Sadao (1986), "The Economic and Social History of Former Han", in Twitchett, Denis; Loewe,Michael, Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 545–607, ISBN 0-521-24327-0Pan, Jixing (1997), "On the Origin of Printing in the Light of New Archaeological Discoveries", ChineseScience Bulletin 42 (12): 976–981, doi:10.1007/BF02882611 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02882611),ISSN 1001-6538 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1001-6538)Reed, Carrie E. (January–March 2003), "Motivation and Meaning of a 'Hodge-podge': Duan Chengshi's'Youyang zazu' ", Journal of the American Oriental Society: 121–145Reischauer, Edwin O. (1940), "Notes on T'ang Dynasty Sea Routes", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 5(2): 142–164, doi:10.2307/2718022 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F2718022), JSTOR 2718022(https://www.jstor.org/stable/2718022)Richardson, H. E. (1985), A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions, Royal Asiatic Society, Hertford: StephenAustin and SonsSchafer, Edward H. (1985) [1963], The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A study of T’ang Exotics (1stpaperback ed.), Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-05462-8Sen, Tansen (2003), Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400,Manoa: Asian Interactions and Comparisons, a joint publication of the University of Hawaii Press and theAssociation for Asian Studies, ISBN 0-8248-2593-4Shen, Fuwei (1996), Cultural flow between China and the outside world, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press,ISBN 7-119-00431-XSkaff, Jonathan Karem (2009). Nicola Di Cosmo, ed. Military Culture in Imperial China. Harvard UniversityPress. ISBN 978-0-674-03109-8.Song, Yingxing (1966), T'ien-Kung K'ai-Wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century, translated withpreface by E-Tu Zen Sun and Shiou-Chuan Sun, University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press


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Stein, R. A. (1972) [1962], Tibetan Civilization (1st English ed.), Stanford: Stanford University Press,ISBN 0-8047-0806-1Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman (2004), "The Tang Architectural Icon and the Politics of Chinese ArchitecturalHistory", The Art Bulletin 86 (2): 228–254, doi:10.2307/3177416 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F3177416),JSTOR 3177416 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3177416)Studwell, Joe (2003), The China Dream: The Quest for the Last Great Untapped Market on Earth, NewYork: Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-3975-2Sun, Guangqi (1989), History of Navigation in Ancient China, Beijing: Ocean Press, ISBN 7-5027-0532-5Tang, Zhiba (1991), "The influence of the sail on the development of the ancient navy", Proceedings of theInternational Sailing Ships Conference in ShanghaiTemple, Robert (1986), The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention, with aforeword by Joseph Needham, New York: Simon and Schuster, ISBN 0-671-62028-2Twitchett, Denis (2000), "Tibet in Tang's Grand Strategy", in van de Ven, Hans, Warfare in Chinese History,Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, pp. 106–179, ISBN 90-04-11774-1Wang, Yongxing (2003), Draft Discussion of Early Tang Dynasty's Military Affairs History, Beijing: KunlunPress, ISBN 7-80040-669-5Whitfield, Susan (2004), The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith, Chicago: Serindia,ISBN 978-1-932476-13-2Wood, Nigel (1999), Chinese Glazes: Their Origins, Chemistry, and Recreation, Philadelphia: University ofPennsylvania Press, ISBN 0-8122-3476-6Woods, Frances (1996), Did Marco Polo go to China?, United States: Westview Press, ISBN 0-8133-8999-2Wong, Timothy C. (1979), "Self and Society in Tang Dynasty Love Tales", Journal of the American OrientalSociety 99 (1): 95–100, doi:10.2307/598956 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F598956), JSTOR 598956(https://www.jstor.org/stable/598956)Wright, Arthur F. (1959), Buddhism in Chinese History, Stanford: Stanford University PressXi, Zezong (1981), "Chinese Studies in the History of Astronomy, 1949–1979", Isis 72 (3): 456–470,doi:10.1086/352793 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1086%2F352793)Xu, Daoxun (1993), The Biography of Tang Xuanzong, et al., Beijing: People's Press, ISBN 7-01-001210-5Xue, Zongzheng (1992), Turkic peoples (突厥史), Beijing: 中国社会科学出版社, ISBN 7-5004-0432-8Yu, Pauline (December 1998), "Charting the Landscape of Chinese Poetry", Chinese Literature: Essays,Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), pp. 71–87Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198,199.

Further reading

Abramson, Marc S. (2008), Ethnic Identity in Tang China, Philadelphia: University ofPennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-0-8122-4052-8


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Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to Tangdynasty.

Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to Art of theTang dynasty.

Wikisource has the text ofthe 1905 NewInternationalEncyclopedia articleT’ang.

Cotterell, Arthur (2007), The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside View of the Celestial Empire,London: Pimlico, ISBN 978-1-84595-009-5de la Vaissière, E. (2005), Sogdian Traders. A History, Leiden: Brill, ISBN 90-04-14252-5Schafer, Edward H. (1967), The Vermilion Bird: T’ang Images of the South, Berkeley and LosAngeles: University of California Press

External links

The Tang Dynasty (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tang/hd_tang.htm) at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtHome of 300 Tang Poems (http://etext.virginia.edu/chinese/frame.htm), University of VirginiaTang art with video commentary (http://www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/history/dynasty-tang.cfm), from theMinneapolis Institute of ArtsPaintings of Sui and Tang dynasties(http://www.xabusiness.com/china-resources/sui-tang-chinese-paintings.htm)

Preceded bySui dynasty

Dynasties in Chinese history618–907

Succeeded byFive Dynasties and Ten

Kingdoms

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tang_dynasty&oldid=642304385"

Categories: Former monarchies of Asia Former countries in Chinese history Former empiresStates and territories established in 618 States and territories disestablished in 907 Tang dynastyImperial China 7th century in China 8th century in China 9th century in China10th century in China 618 establishments in China 907 disestablishments in Asia

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