Summary of the Reign of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD). History, Rulers, Main Events and Achievements.

Sui Dynasty 589 AD to 618 AD

Capital City: Xian (Chang An), Shaanxi Province. No additional information

Achievements: Following near 300 Years of Chaos and War, under the Sui Dynasty China was once more United. A Unity that would last throughout the succeeding Tang Dynasty and the year 907 AD. For this reason the Sui Dynasty Era is often seen as a Prelude to the Tang Dynasty Era. The Sui Dynasty Era's political, cultural and economic developments culminated into the Tang Dynasty.

Tang Dynasty 618 AD to 907 AD

During the Tang Dynasty, around 700 AD, Chang' An was the largest City on Earth, counting over

1 million citizens. This was larger than Parallel civilizations in the Indus Valley and the Americas.

The Tang Dynasty was established by General Li Yuan, who with help of his formidable Sons defeated the armies of the declining Sui Dynasty. The Li Family Clan would go on to Rule China for 290 Years with only 1 brief intercession.

Li Yuan had been the Garrison Commander of the City of TaiYuan (current day Capital of Shanxi Province) during the Rule of the Despised Emperor Yang. In the spring of the Year 617 AD Li Yuan raised an army consisting of his Garrison and Shanxi peasants at TaiYuan in bold defiance of Emperor Yang. A potent rebellion was born sweeping the countryside. By November of 617 AD the Capital City of the Sui Dynasty was already conquered. The Evil and Hated Emperor Yang was deposed and killed. However, still an officer of the Sui Empire (TangGuo Gong), subsequently, Li Yuan was forced to leave the Throne to a new Emperor, one Yang You.

Yang You was crowned Emperor of the Sui Dynasty in 618 AD, making him Emperor Sui Gong. In reward of his important efforts Li Yuan, a mere Vassal of the State made it to prime Minister (Da Chengxiang). Soon however Li Yuan was already proclaiming himself King of Tang (Tang Wang). It was clear Li Yuan had greater aspirations, and there were obvious tensions between the Ruling Elite supporting the Emperor, and Li Yuan and Sons, who were responsible for the military success that enabled the Rise of the new Emperor.

During the Tang Dynasty the first maritime silk road paths are established, using the Indian and Persian Coast-lines as well as the Arabian Peninsula and Oceanic Islands.

The Tang Dynasty Era Maritime Silk Road reached across the Indian Ocean as far as Egypt in North-Africa. Ships shuttle between Arabia and China establishing and narrowing cultural and trade ties.

The Tang Dynasty had a Very prosperous reign considered to be among China's classical golden ages. Many cultural and scientific achievements were made. The Tang Dynasty created the first legal code in China (624 AD) to survive to this day (earlier ones existed but have been lost). Agricultural results from new contacts with far away area's include the introduction of rice. In the Tang Age new tools were developed to aid in rice cultivation and land irrigation: the chain-wheel with paddles which allows water to be transferred among levels, the harrow, and the rice field plough. During the prosperous reign of the Tang Dynasty rice cultivation is developed into a full scale section of the agricultural industry making rice a stable of the Chinese diet, especially in the warmer and wetter central & southern area's. Viable and increased production if rice enables growth of population in the Southern Regions of the Yangste River and beyond, creating a new base area for the Han Culture in the Future.

The Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, with its high-point in the 8Th Century AD, is among the Chinese Classics of Literature and still widely appreciated and reproduced worldwide Today.

A Satellite Image Map of the entire Taklamakan Desert and the Tarim River Basin in Xinjiang-Autonomous Region of Western China.

Map gives explanation and backgrounds to Local Geography, the Flow of the Tarim River from the Pamir Mountains in the West to Lop Nur (Dry) in the East, ancient Oasis Cities of the Tarim Basin and Taklamakan Desert, the North and South Routes of the Silk Road in this Area, Past and Current Climate and Historic Backgrounds.

Tang Taizhong (Li Shimin) ruled Tang Dynasty China from 626 AD to 649 AD, a long and stable Reign Period.

The Taizhong Emperor was both an able Politician and an intelligent and experienced Military Leader, due to the education received from his father and his own personal achievements. The Reign could also make use of the 1st Legal Code in China, compiled in 624 AD. During the Reign of Taizhong connections within the Empire had been re-established and the State pacified, providing for a booming in trade and the economy. As a result immediatly the population began to grow and expand.

The Reign of Emperor Tang Taizhong is considered to be the First Golden Age of the long and glorious Tang Dynasty Era.

The Taizong Era of the Tang Dynasty saw the Kingdom of the Koreans subjugated and made a Tributary State to Chinese Rule. In and around 630 AD the Tang began a lenghty military campaign against the Turkic Nomadic Tribes of the West. Conquering strategic lands Lost after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the Tang expanded Chinese Borders to the West starting with the Ordos Desert (a western part of the Gobi Desert in current day Ningxia and Inner-Mongolia AR), then reconquering the Taklamakan Desert and the Tarim River Basin, and subsequently establishing Tang Dynasty Military Power and Borders to Lake Balkash in current day Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The Tang Military expeditions along the Silk Road path reached even further West, with military campaigns attacking and conquering the City of Askhabad (in current day Turkmenistan) on the Silk Road and the shores of the Caspian Sea.

The Western Conquests, by re-opening what would later be dubbed the Silk Road, brought a flourishing of international trade further extending the Post War economic boom. Influx of great wealth aquired through the Silk Road enabled the Tang Dynasty Court at Chang An and nobility throughout the Empire to spend widely on luxury items. Grand Palaces were built for important clans while Arts and Literature flourished once more in peace time. For reasons of the above the Reign of Tai Zhong is also known as the "Flourishing Age" of the Tang Dynasty.

The Next succession to The Tang Throne came at the Death of Emperor Taizhong in 649 AD and was equally noteworthy and even more unusual. In this Case, initially the deceased Emperor Taizhong was succeeded by his 9Th Son Li Zhi, Emperor Gaozhong. The new and Third Emperor Gaozhong however was a weak Ruler and personality who was dominated by his wife, one Wu Zetian. He further possesed an ill health leaving much room for his Empress Wu Zetian to plot her own plans for the State.

To complicate matters the weak Emperor died after only a short Reign, after which his young Son and child of Wu Zetian was promoted to Emperor. Two Sons (Li Xian & Li Dan) were made Emperor in succession. With the Mindstrong Empress Wu Zetian taking actual control over the Powers of the Throne, soon the new Emperors were reduced to mere Stooges (The Stooge Emperor is another mainstay of Chinese Dynastic Politics).

As a result, both the Third, Fourth and Fifth Tang Dynasty Reign Periods were full of political Intrigue.

The Fourth Emperor, Son of Gaozhong, ruled for only a brief period, enough for the Empress-Dowager Wu Zetian to secure her position. He was then discarded as Emperor altogether and replaced by none other his brother. Finally, when the ambitions of the former Empress grew too large on her, the Fifth Emperor was replaced by none other than Wu Zetian herself.

Although a Prosperous Reign, the Xuanzong Reign of the Tang Dynasty was not a happy one entirely. This Period of the Tang Dynasty, the slow decline and later Fall of the Tang is less discussed in sources.

The new Emperor Tang Xuanzong, although diligent at first, later during his Reign became a bitter man disinterested in Imperial Affairs. A Famous Tale of the Tang Dynasty depicts the Tang Emperor indulging himself in Leisure and the Beauties of his voluptuous concubine Lady Yang Yuhuan at the HuaXing Hot Springs of Lintung (East of Xi'An) where an Imperial Pleasure Palace and Garden were located.

(Today the hot-springs are well visited Tourist Hot-spot of Xi'An and recently in 2005 a Luxury Hotel was established inside the Former Palace Halls).

Under the influence of his high courtiers who quickly seized more powers, the court started to see corruption and mismanagement of Affairs.

His Reign a High Point for China with well over 50 million citizens by the year 742 AD, with the decline of the Reign of Tang Xuanzong, a long decline of the Tang Dynasty and Rule set in. Powers of the Central Government in Chang An were slowly eroded. Meanwhile, the advancing Muslim Conquest of Persia hampered the Silk Road Trade and even put and end to exports of Chinese Silks through land routes through to the Western Nations beyond the Mediterranean Sea.

The Eight Emperor of the Tang Dynasty was Tang Xuanzong (Reign 712 AD - 756 AD), a young and vibrant Man of diligence.

Building upon the considerable achievements of his predecessors the young Emperor saw his Empire further blooming. With the "Silk" Trading Route firmly established and stretching the entire continent to as far away as Syria and Egypt, trade was at an all time high making the State and Ruling families rich as never before. Traders and Diplomatic Delegations came to Chang 'An from All over the World. The Tang Capital City reached the size of well over a million citizens creating the largest and most powerful City the World had ever seen.

The pay off of the earlier economic sucesses and the inclusion of conquered intelligentia by manner of the Imperial Examination System came in many shapes and forms. New Inventions were made and social development during the XuanZong Era was rapid. Influences from other world cultures pervaded China but the Chinese created new forms of their own distinctive Art. As the Tang Dynasty had adopted Buddhism - originating from India - as its State Religion, buddhist art and literature flourished leaving many famous treasures in world museums and museums in China today.

During the long Reign of Tang Xuanzong Indo-China (Annam and Siam) were added to the Chinese Empire. In the West Kashgar, once Chinese under the Han Emperors, was made into a Chinese Protectorate State and the Chinese Border lay as far as the Pamir Mountains and Plateaux in current day Tajikistan. Beyond were Tributary Kingdoms (Khanates) near the Aral Sea and the Valley of the River Syr (Syr Darya) and Amu (Amy Darya) respectively in current day Turkmenistan. Even the (united) Island Kingdoms of Japan were paying Tribute to the Han Chinese Court of Chang 'An.

Due among things to the long lasting stability of the Tang Reign, the many new influences in Tang Society, the well-to-do economy with a safe environment for abundant flocks of learned Feudal Aristocracy to practice the arts as a passtime and for eloquence, the 8Th Century in China rose to highpoint of Poetry and Literature. Especially the Reign of Tang Xuanzong is counted as the Classical period of Chinese and Tang Dynasty Literature. As Poetry was the primary literary form in China from earliest times (not epic or drama as in the West) every literate Person in Tang Society writes poetry Poetry is an essential element of social communication.

The 8Th Century in Tang Dynasty saw the Life's of the two Great Poets Li Bai and Du Fu.

First and foremost should be noted Li Bai also known as Li Po (+/- 700 AD – 762 AD). Li Bai was son to an aristrocratic Family and he had ample

The Fifth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, rising to The Throne in the year 690 AD was a woman.

Wu Zetian was the First Woman to Supremely Rule China. Although during the Ching Dynasty, the Empress-Dowager Hsu-Tzi could claim almost equal powers, the Tang Dynasty Empress remains the only official Female Emperor in Chinese History. And there are more paralels in their stories. Both Ladies had no goodness of caracter whatsoever.

Machiavellian style plotting and Intrigue were their prefered mode of operations. Cixi was no kitten to handle without gloves, but the Empress Wu Zetian even went as far as to murder her own Son, just to blame it on her political rival and be able to Rise to The Throne.

Wu Zetian was able to gain power largely as a result of the hidden support of the Buddhist Church. They called her a reincarnation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, a Buddhist Savior. Many many centuries later the Ching Empress-Dowager would copy the Role of Wu Zetian and receive similar honors. The Intrigues and powers of the new Empress were further supported by close relatives who had been helped to important administrative positions during her liasions as a Concubine to the two earlier Emperors. Since the Empress

A Schematic Map depicting the Full Length and main pathways of the Ancient Silk Road during the Han Dynasty Period (206 BC - 221 AD) and Roman Age (30 BC - 630 AD).

In 30 BC the Roman Empire started trading with India, which was already well known from the Conquest of Alexander the Great (+/- 330 BC). In the following 6 centuries the West would Trade with India and indirectly also with China through the Silk Road. The Silk Road only lost its Value after the European Age of Discovery and the Establishment of Maritime Trade Routes with India (16Th Century) and later China. The Yellow River is crossed at Lanzhou, after which Dunhuang is the Last Station in China.

The Court Revolt that toppled Empress Wu Zetian set in motion a new round of infighting and a period of severe strife over the rights to succession to The Throne of China. The parties were split between two power-cliques, one belonging to one Son of the former Emperor Li Zhi aka Tang Gaozong. The other party favored the other Son of the same Emperor, and both had already been Emperor before being side-lined by the rising Empress Wu Zetian. Initially, Li Xian won out for the race to the Highest Seat. Li Xian thus returned in 705 AD as Emperor Zhongzong, the 6Th Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Unfortunately for Emperor Zhongzong, he kept himself a wife with dangerous aspirations.

Only a few years later, in 710 AD, in an attempt to copy the moves of earlier Empress Wu Zetian, Empress Wei used poison to assassinate her Husband the Emperor. The attempted murder was completely successful. However, the political plot was not. Making use of the Confucian and rising suspicions against the Empress at Court, the opposing power-clique (including Princess TaiPing) seized its opportunity and moved in with an army.

The murderous Empress herself was killed violently, after which the second Son of Tang Gaozong and the other ex-Emperor Li Dan took over the Reigns of Power. Li Dan was subsequently crowned

With the task of restoring and reopening the Canal and Roads done, the Tang could start to look outside their Empire. Among things, they would seek to restore the lucrative Trade Routes to the West, the Silk Road first opened and maintained by the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) but since lost to the Influence of the annoying Nomadic Tribes of the North and West, the Xiong-Nu.

The Struggle with the Nomadic Tribes for dominance and control over the West, and in fact the Chinese Heartlands as well, started in earnest during the Han Dynasty and would span well over a 1000 years before the Han Chinese gained Final Victory during the Qing Dynasty.

As it had only recently been created as one continuos waterway during the previous years of the Fallen Sui Dynasty, the Grand Canal of the Tang Dynasty roughly equates to the path of the original Sui Dynasty Canal.

After the pacification of the Empire, during the Tang Dynasty some stretches of the Canal were changed creating short-cuts and reducing traveling Time along the Canal. The Grand Canal of the Tang Dynasty thus connected 4 vital Provincial Areas, which are in current day Zhejiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Shandong Province and finally Hebei Province. Beijing the ancient seat of Yan at the time was not yet an important Capital. In Fact, the there was no City of Beijing at the Time, and the Beijing Area of what is now Hebei was sparsely populated and of lesser importance. Hence, the Beijing Area was not connected to the Grand Canal during the Tang Era.

After conquering the West, naturally the Tang tried to consolidate their new found positions.

Construction on the Great Wall had started in the 5Th Century BC, even before the Glorious Han Dynasty and by the advent of Tang Dynasty many miles of Protective Wall were already in existence in the Northern and Western Territories of China. The Sui Dynasty (581 AD - 618 AD), that preceded the Tang equaled the Han achievements and repaired the Wall.

Since 119 BC sections of the Great Wall of China (of the Han Dynasty) already reached as far West as the Jade Gate, Yu Men and Sun Gate - Yang Guan, at the border of the Taklamakan on the Route to the North-West out of Dunhuang (=Blazing Beacon).

Finally, in 906 AD and 907 AD, a mutinous General led his armies to an impoverished and powerless City of Chang 'An, to put a final end to the Tang Dynasty. By the helping hand of his own Chancellor Zhu Quanzhong the last Tang emperor, Emperor Ai, was forced to abdicate. The Title of the Dynasty was changed to Liang, officially ending the long and prosperous Tang Dynasty Era.

With the Fall of Tang Dynasty, the Han Chinese Empire disintegrated into separate fiercely competing fiefdoms, leading to half a century of warring Kingdoms. The Kingdoms were ruled by Feudal Clan Families who survived the Empires' Demise and often helped in its ending in order to start out as Sovereigns for themselves. This was the so called Five Dynasty Period (or 10 Kingdoms).

General An Luan was a Tang Dynasty General of born out of conquered lands of the Silk Road in the former Sogdian Kingdom. He was therefor part of the Turkic / Turcmenic Ethnic group and Non-Han. Rising to Power under the Han Emperor Tang Taizhong, An Luan was appointed Commander in Chief of no less than than 3 Garrisons guarding and protecting in the North against the recurring attacks of the Northern Nomadic Tribes. In this position, the General was the de facto Military Ruler of all Territories North and beyond the Lower Flows of the Yellow River, a strategic and powerful position he would come to abuse when the Time was right. In 755 AD the time was near perfect. Taking advantage of the absence of the Imperial Guard, protectors of the Imperial Palace at Chang 'An, and of discontent within the Empire in the aftermath of recent Natural Disaster, Luan Decided it was Time to make his moves. Under the pretence of punishing a political Rival, General An Luan commanded his troops to move south in an open attack and uprising against all other Tang Dynasty Troops. Due to the strategy and the considerable political discontent after the decline and corruption the Taizong Reign, the Rebellion was quite succesful and moved rapidly South from its base area in current day Hebei province (Fanyang City), along the economically vital Grand Canal, to reach LuoYang, Capital of Henan Province within the Year. This was a serious situation indeed.

The TianBao Rebellion lasted for eight years in total until 763 AD and send the Empire into formidable turmoil. It was grandiose Civil War and was nearly successful in toppling the Tang Dynasty. Afterwards, more Rebellions and Attacks by separatist forces in local areas continued to be frequent.

Hollowed out by internal strife, the factual boundaries of the Tang Empire began to shrink as control over outlying area's fell away. Loss of Territory and increased vulnerability of trade routes in turn meant a decrease in trade and tax revenues. To make matters worse, Tax Revenues were generated and leveled at county and provincial level, leaving this money to be usurped by local Rulers (Military Governors) who would used it to keep their armies and fiefdoms at strength against possible rivaling neighbors eroding and endangering central authority.

In 762 AD already, the Emperor Suzong abdicated in favor of his Heir apparent Prince Li Yu, Emperor Dai Zong (Reign 762 AD -779 AD). However, this time eunuchs would provide the intrigue and infighting surrounding the true powers of The Throne. In 766 AD, four years after crowning the New Emperor Dai Zong was placed under house-arrest by his Eunuch Chancillor, Li Fuguo, attempting to usurp the Throne. Li failed however and payed with his life. As did countless other

The Xuanzong Emperor died in that year, having his Son Li Heng succeed as Emperor Tang SuZong. Suzong inherited an Empire with powerful Fiefdoms and large armies allowed for by his Father the Xuanzhong Emperor.

This problem lay at the root of the current rebellion but would later proof a key factor in the undoing of the Tang Dynasty.

Meanwhile, at LuoYang at the Yellow River in Henan, the mutinous General An Luan finally revealed his true intend by declared himself Emperor of the Yang Dynasty, newly founded by himself and his Clan of followers. Having established a firm and impressive power-base, the new Great Yan Emperor now ambitiously prepared to move on the Tang Capital City of Chang 'An and the heartland of Tang Powers. He however miscalculated badly in his estimates.

The Battle for Southern and Central China did not go as planned.

Although in control of a powerful army, the new Yan Emperor failed to conquer key strategic

area's beyond LuoYang, preventing a further march on South China and a quick Victory over the Tang. The Struggle for the SuiYang District lasted for a full 2 years, after which the element of surprise in any move on South China had long passed. The only reason for the eventual Victory and Capture of the SuiYang District lay in the strategic error of the Imperial Minister of War to order the Tang Armies to abandon the mountain passes protecting the District and fight the Yan Troops on Open Ground. Naturally, they were then routed by the more numerous Yan Attackers.

The more the civil war was prolonged, the more the Rebellion started to run out steam and optimism.

No other options remained but to try and conquer the Capital of Chang 'An directly and make a head-on assault on the Tang Forces. The Tang were awaiting and ready.

The Tang Dynasty Wall was intended not only to protect the core Chinese Heartlands in the Central Provinces and the North China Plains, it further served to protect travelers along the vital economic artery, the Silk Road as far West as was plausible at the Time. Hence the Tang Dynasty Great Wall of China extended further, as far as the ever shifting sands of the Taklamakan Desert, which were held in check by the Tarim River and the extensive Lop Nur with its swamps during this Age. The Situation would change around a 1000 AD, after which the Oases, The River Tarim and thus Lop Nur suffered drought and began to shrink in size.

Currently, due to changing climate conditions and continuous desertification of the Tarim River Basin and the former Lop Nur marshes, more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) of the Han and Tang Dynasty Wall in Gansu province near the Yu Men Gate may disappear within the next 20 years, due to erosion from sandstorms. In places, the height of the wall has been reduced from more than five meters (16.4 ft) to less than two meters. Other parts around JiaYuGuan City are threatened by development. The same sands that Threaten the Tang Dynasty Wall are also encroaching on the Han and Tang

Dynasty Buddhist Holydom and World Cultural Heritage Site the Mogao Caves (Dunhuang, Gansu).

The western section of the Tang Dynasty Great Wall was made out of rammed earth, reinforced internally with layers of straw and twigs copying the building method of the earlier Han Dynasty who's Great Wall consisted of layers of bundles of twigs, six to twelve inches thick, alternated with thinner layers of coarse clay or gravel. Maintaining the Wall was a continuous process. Other more central sections with a better supply of building materials consisted of Earth or Taipa, stones, and wood, materials better able to withstand the harsh climates that reign along the length of China's Great Wall.

Traditionally it was held that natural disasters such as devastating earthquakes, giant floods, famines or a combination of them were Bad Omens for the Reigning Imperial Dynasty. It seemed the Mandate of Heaven was slipping from the Tang regime. The Central Government was now clearly collapsing in various regions, pirates and bandits were no longer under control and other woes shook the Empire.

With the Grand Canal partly ruined by the earlier floods, the system of Granaries along the Canal destroyed and pirates on the Rivers and Bandits on roads, distribution of grain and rice among the various stricken provinces was no longer viable.

In 873 AD, the books record another wide-spread Famine, causing economic collapse within the Tang Empire.

Due to the inability of the Tang Administration to transport food and relief famine, Grain and Food prices soared in the stricken North, sending the local economies into chaos and setting local sentiments further against the Ruling Court. Again many perished from hunger and disease.

Starting just before the beginning of the 8Th Century, the Tang Rule made something resembling a come-back. Between the years 806 and 819, the Emperor Xianzong Reign 805 AD - 820 AD), supported by his Divine Strategy Imperial Army out of Chang 'An conducted no less than seven major military campaigns against rebellious provinces that had claimed autonomy from central authority, managing to subdue all but two of these and restoring unity and order to large parts of the Lands.

Unfortunatly the revival of the Tang Dynasty culminating in the Peace achieved by XianZhong was shortlived. With his demise, the steady decline of morals at the Court continued and succeeding Emperors were more interested in such joys as hunting, drinking tea, rendering poems and the pursuit of the Ladies of the Court. The earlier tendency to leave the day to day powers of Court to the Eunuchs and the Imperial Officials and their factual strives left the door once again wide open for intrigue, plotting, mutiny, rebellion, corruption and the Like. And it so happened. The next Emperor, Tang Jinzong (Reign 820 AD - 824 AD), was murdered by his own Eunuchs.