This map shows the territory of the Tang Dynasty's empire in 700 CE. This was the largest the Dynasty's empire had been. (Source 10 [map])
Reason for Takeover
The preceding Sui Dynasty had many peasant rebellions during the end of its reign which made the dynasty very unstable. Li Yuan was appointed as appeasing commissioner, and used his position to stage a rebellion himself. He deposed the Sui Emperor and appointed Sui Gongdi as Emperor. Gongdi was later killed, and Li Yuan became emperor, taking the name Gaozu of Tang and establishing the Tang Dynasty.(Source 2)
Leaders of the Civilization
Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan)He is the founder of the Tang Dynasty and ruled from 618 A.D. to 626 A.D. He had previously overthrown the Sui Dynasty and made himself emperor. He was encouraged by his second son to start the rebellion. (Source 13)(Source 22 [picture])
Taizong of Tang (Li Shimin)
Taizong ruled from 626 A.D. to 649 A.D. He encouraged his father to start the rebellion against the Sui dynasty, and can be considered as a co-founder of the Tang Dynasty. (Source 12) He unified China by subduing the nomadic tribes and creating peace; this allowed him to create trade routes that went all the way to Rome and Syria. (Source 4) His efforts resulted in China becoming the world leader in politics, economy, and culture. (Source 11)(Source 23 [picture])
Wu Zetian (Empress Dowager Wu)Wu Zetian ruled from 610 A.D. to 705 A.D. She used her position to put herself to power and become emperor, disestablishing the Tang Dynasty and proclaiming the Zhou Dynasty. She was the wife of the Third Emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the mother of the Fourth and Fifth Emperor of the Tang dynasty. She had installed them both as puppet emperors. She is the only Female Emperor in Chinese history. She was later overthrown by her own son, who re-established the Tang Dynasty. (Source 2)(Source 25 [picture])
Xuanzong of Tang (Li Longji)
Xuanzong ruled from 712 A.D. to 756 A.D. He had the longest reign in the Tang dynasty and brought unparalleled prosperity to China. This was considered the second flourishing age in China. (Source 5) His later reign was affected by his infatuation with one of his consorts, Yan Guifei, and was later forced to abdicate the throne to his son, the seventh emperor of the tang dynasty. (Source 16)(Source 24 [picture])Wuzong of Tang (Li Yan)
He ruled from 840 A.D. to 846 A.D. He prosecuted Buddhism and Buddhists to solve the country’s financial crisis. In 845, he started to persecute Buddhists, as many Confucian Tang officials told the emperor that Buddhism was disrupting China. More than 4600 monasteries and 40,000 temples and shrines were destroyed. (Source 1) This was one of the four Buddhist Persecutions in China. (Source 7)
Other Leaders at that TimeMuhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah (Mohammed, Muhammed)
He was the founder of Islam. Living from 570 A.D. to632 A.D., he is regarded by Muslims to be the last prophet and messenger of God. He lived in the cities of Mecca and Medina, which are located in present day Saudi Arabia. (Source 9) His death occured during the Tang Dynasty, and during the Tang Dynasty, trade was starting to happen with the Middle East since the nomads were subdued. (Source 20)
This is a picture of Muhammad's name in traditional Thuluth calligraphy. (Source 26 [picture])
Accomplishments
Technology
They made advances in astronomy, medicine, mathematics, and architecture. Many of this was brought by Buddhist monks. The Tang dynasty started to make books more accessible to the public, using the woodblock printing system. (Source 17) This is a picture of the Diamond Sutra, which is the world's first widely printed book. It was printed with the woodblock printing system. (Source 27[picture])
Economy
The Tang Dynasty created an accurate census of the empire’s population. This allowed them to make taxation more effective. They made grain and cloth taxes very low, and these things were used by most people. This made people less likely to avoid taxation. The government was able to have accurate estimates, and they were able to plan out investments. The Silk Road, the most important Eurasian Trade route at the time, was reopened during the Tang Dynasty, which allowed the capital to receive many goods from the West. (Source 7)
Social Ch
angesIn the early years of the dynasty before Buddhist prosecution, the government had advisors from Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist backgrounds. Their ideas helped to make good decisions about daily life and to meet the expectations of citizens of every religion. Women that had elite statuses had more rights and social status. The Tang dynasty used a central government to rule China, as it had unified China. They turned away from the ideology of feudalism. (Source 7)(Source 28 [picture])
Government Changes
The government of the Tang dynasty was incredibly effective and was mimicked by Korean and Japanese cities. They used a central bureaucracy, and did not give princes semi-independent kingdoms. This ensured maximum control. (Source 19) The Tang Dynasty used a new law codex called the Tanglu Shuyi. This codex gave punishments for crimes based on the severity of the crime and the criminal’s relation to the victim. This is the first complete Chinese codex that still exists today. (Source 8)
Current ReligionThe religion in the Tang dynasty was variable. There was Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and some Christianity, although Confucianism was introduced as the state religion. The many religions came to be because of the dynasty’s contact with India and the Middle East. (Source 20) Buddhism declined along with the central government. In 845, Emperor Wuzong of Tang destroyed 4,600 Buddhist Monasteries and 40,000 Buddhist Temples and Shrines. After this, Buddhism never became the dominant religion in Chinese Culture. (Source 7)(Source 29 [picture])
Literature
The Tang dynasty was the golden age of Chinese literature, primarily poetry. Anyone who was educated took poetry as a pastime hobby. There were poems written by Commoners, monks, prostitutes, and even Emperors. (Source 21) There are about 480,900 poems that survived top modern times. These were written by about 2,200 Tang authors. (Source 7) This picture is calligraphy written by Emperor Taizong of Tang himself. (Source 30 [picture])
Reasons for Fall
There were many Peasant rebellions. The Huang Chao rebellions saw the sacking of two large cities, Luoyang and the capital, Chang’an. They took decades to suppress this rebellion, but the government never recovered for it. Zhu Wen surrendered to Tang forces and due to the unstable military situation, gained rapid promotions. As military governor, he deposed Ai of Tang, the last Tang Emperor, and established the Liang Dynasty. It marked the end of the Tang Dynasty’s 274 years in power. (Source 11)
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