The Tang Dynasty618 - 907

China’s Golden Age

Historical Information

• We know more about the Tang Dynasty than the previous dynasties.

• More artifacts and writings survive from this time than the earlier ones.

Rice Growing & Technology

Gaozu (618 - 626) Li Yuan

• Li Yuan and his son, Li Shimin, fought to renew stability after the collapse of the Sui Dynasty and took power.

• Li Yuan became Emperor Gaozu.

• He spared the last if the Sui Dynasty heirs.

Government & Law under Gaozu

• Government - Four main departments

• Tang Code of 624 - over 500 articles of law

• Penalties based on crime and relation between the criminal and the offended person.

Taizong (626 - 649) Li Shimin

• Hardworking scholar• Many sons, many

plots• Lowered tax and labor

requirements for peasants, using a census.

• Land distribution program

State Religion

• Taizong supported a renewal of Confucianism and founded the Bureau of Historiography.

• The imperial clan Li claimed descent from Laozi and supported Daoism.

• Taizong and others were patrons of Buddhism: Shaolin Monastery.

Taizong at War

• Armies combined aristocrats (cavalry) and peasants (infantry).

• 700,000 horses• Destroyed Eastern Turks• Made peace with Tibetans• Lost twice to Koreans• Extended Chinese power

far into Central Asia

Chang’anCapital of the Tang Empire

The Silk RouteTrade with the West

New Religions & Diversity

Changing Fashions for Women

Polo Comes from Persia.

• Persia conquered by Muslim armies from western Asia, and Persian princes flee to the east.

• The game became a favorite of men and women at court.

The End of Taizong’s Life

• Taizong became vain and grand.• He had a newly built palace destroyed because it

was too hot for him.• He had to exile or execute several of his sons.

Emperor Gaozong (649 - 683)

• Inherited a stable, wealthy country

• Weak Ruler - young, dizzy spells, seizures

• Fell in love with Concubine Wu

Consort Wu

• Concubine Wu became Consort Wu.

• Supported and advised Gaozong

• Took the reins of power• Appointed her own

favorites to run the government

• 660 - Gaozong nearly paralyzed by a stroke.

First Contacts with the new Muslim Empire in West Asia

Final Korean War - 668

• Koguryo• Paikche• Silla• Consort Wu planned

the final attack by land and sea and defeated the three Korean kingdoms.

The End of Emperor Gaozong

• Prince Li Hong exiled for treason, later killed.

• Gaozong’s official will demanded that all final decisions be made by Consort Wu.

• Rebellion against her government after his death - 12 branches of Li Family executed.

Emperors Zhongzong & Ruizong

• Emperor Zhongzong (684) was the son of Gaozong and Consort Wu.

• Appointed his father-in-law as chief minister

• Claimed he could do anything he wanted

• Imprisoned within the palace and replaced

• Ruled for 6 weeks total

• Emperor Ruizong (684 - 690) was the son of Gaozong and Consort Wu

• Stayed in his own rooms and took no part in government

• Finally, resigned and asked his mother to be empress!

Empress Wu Zetian

• The only woman to ever rule China as emperor• Beautiful, intelligent, politically perceptive, and brilliant• Ruled over a time of peace and prosperity• Ruthless with her enemies but generally benevolent• Saw herself as founding the New Zhou Dynasty

Images of Empress Wu in Popular Culture

Empress Wu & Chinese Society

• Sponsor of research about Chinese women and women in Chinese history

• Posthumously made her mother an empress

• Expanded government access for commoners

Empress Wu & Religion

• Named herself “Sage Mother,” the same as Laozi’s Mother

• Her followers discovered the Great Cloud Sutra - proclaimed her the Maitreya Buddha, savior of humanity

The Fall of Empress Wu

• Court became decadent, corrupt, and fearful

• Wu’s supporters assassinated

• Wu abdicated and died a few months later.

• Her sons’ followers began a struggle for power.

Emperors Zhongzong & Ruizong(Again)

• Emperor Zhongzong (705 - 710) emerged from 21 years of imprisonment in the palace.

• His wife, Consort Wei, and her lover actually ran the government. They seized lands, jobs, and priesthoods.

• Zhongzong possibly poisoned.• Consort Wei wanted her

daughter to inherit the throne, but she placed his only son, Chongmai, on the throne, but his sister Princess Taiping and the army took over.

• Emperor Ruizong (710 - 712) took the throne on Princess Taiping’s orders.

• She then tried to replace his heir, Li Longji, so he abdicated.

• Li Longji took the throne as Emperor Xuanzong.

The Legacy of Empress Wu

• “A hen cannot crow.”• Permanently changed

Chinese government, religion, court, but not women’s roles

• Her descendants ruled the empire for several more centuries.

The Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty (710 - 755)

Emperor Xuanzong(712 - 756)

• China’s most popular emperor• Considered warm and kind• Poet, calligrapher, musician,

artist• Reformed government• Kept empress’ family and

eunuchs out of power

Economics & Religion

• Tax Reforms• Stable Currency based

on products like silver, grain, and silk

• Reliable census• Limitations on

Buddhism

The Tang Army

• Armies restored and reformed• Increased autonomy and power

for local commanders• Xuanzong was not a warrior

emperor.• Defeated Tibetans• Long period of peace on

borders

Poetry of the Tang Dynasty

Tea Culture

Government Monopolies

Yang Guifei

• Xuanzong lost interest in governing.

• Followed magical ideas of Taoism and Buddhism

• Concubine Yang Guifei - witty, beautiful, musical

• Yang family grew in power.

Battle of Talas(751)

• Arab armies from the west defeated Chinese armies in what is now Kyrgyzstan.

• Arabs captured Chinese papermakers.• Arabs took control of the Salt Route.• Trouble increased all along the Chinese borders.

An Lushan Rebellion(753 to 766)

• General An Lushan rebelled against his adoptive father, Xuanzong.

• Declared the Yan Dynasty• Death of Yang Guifei• Xuanzong abdicated.• Tibetans sacked Chang’an.• Luoyang fought over twice.• Population of China drops

almost 75% during the civil war.

Decline of the Tang Dynasty(706 - 907)

• Few emperors reigned more than a few years.• Army and officials retreated from all border areas.• Tibetans and Nan Chao invaded and raided repeatedly.• Officials and eunuchs competed for power.• Governors stayed in one place and gain local power.• Not much wealth coming to central government.

Later Emperors

• Government Struggles - Family Infighting

• The eunuchs often decided imperial succession.

• Persecutions of Buddhism

Peasant Uprisings (860 -907)

• Weak emperors• Overtaxed peasants• Government armed the

peasants against the rebels, but they tended to join the rebels.

Sack of Chang’an

• Emperor and court forced to flee to Sichuan.

• Able to return five years later• “Thorns and brambles filled the

city. Foxes and hares ran everywhere.”

• Governors fought over control of empire.