The Tang dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Tang exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring East Asian nations such as Japan and Korea.
About Tang dynasty in brief
The Tang dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. The Tang exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring East Asian nations such as Japan and Korea. The adoption of the title Khan of Heaven by the Tang emperor Taizong was eastern Asia’s first simultaneous kingship. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era. Two of China’s most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang. Notable innovations included the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. In the 840s Emperor Wuzong enacted policies to suppress Buddhism, which subsequently declined in influence. The dynasty and central government went into decline by the latter half of the 9th century; agrarian rebellions resulted in mass population loss and displacement, widespread poverty, and further government dysfunction that ultimately ended the dynasty in 907. Two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries estimated the empire’s population at about 50 million people, which grew to an estimated 80 million by the dynasty’s end.
From its numerous subjects, the dynasty raised professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers for control of Inner Asia and the lucrative trade-routes along the Silk Road. Li Yuan was Duke of Tang and governor of Taiyuan, modern Shanxi, during the SuI dynasty’s collapse. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui. Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who commanded her own troops. In winter 617 he occupied Chang’an, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of regent, and acted as the puppet child-emperor. On June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself the new emperor of a new Tang dynasty, known as Emperor Gaozu of Tang. He was forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin, when he was forcefully removed by General Yuwen Jiande, the Prince of Qin, and known for his effective cavalry charges and lance of lance. He defeated Jiande’s numerically superior army, defeated him, and declared himself emperor of the Tang dynasty. He died in 626, and his son was deposed as Emperor Yang Yuwen. The Li family claimed to be paternally descended from the Taoist founder, Lao Tzu the Han dynasty General Li Guang and Western Liang ruler Li Gao. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (Li Bai), which includes the Tang poet Li Bai.
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This page is based on the article Tang dynasty published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
