Tang Dynasty

Tang dynasty (618 - 906)

 

The Sui Dynasty was in deep crises after exhausting wars with Korea, bad leadership and rebellions specially in the northern region. An internal revolt led by military commander  Li Yuan took control and overthrew the last Sui emperor Gongdi and established the new Tang Dynasty in 618 as Emperor Gauzu.

Gauzu restored many the Sui Dynasty’s misled byrocracy, and strengthened the Confucian ideas of loyalty and struggling and reduced the Buddhistic  influence during Sui dynasty.

He also made an important reform by giving land to the farmers and reducing taxes which led to a boom in the agricultural production and an increasing population.

In the following years the Tang dynasty stopped the threat from the tribes in the north and could expand the Dynasty to the west along the precious Silk-road.

By the 7th century  the Silk Road had been improved and secured with important cities like Kashgar, Turfan and Dunhuang. The Buddhist caves and religious sites along the Silk Road such as the caves in Dunhuang has shown the extraordinary rich cultural exchange between Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu cultures that met here. Everybody wanted to trade with China.

 

The Tang dynasty  is by many considered to be China´s golden age, with the empire stretching from the boarders of todays Korea to Afghanistan. It was at this point that China’s outstanding technological and aesthetic achievements opened to external influences, resulting in the introduction of numerous new forms of self-expression, coupled with internal innovation and considerable social freedom.

The Tang dynasty also saw the birth of the printed novel, significant musical and theatrical heritage and many of China’s best-known painters and artists. The artworks created during this era are among China’s greatest cultural achievements. It was the greatest age for Chinese poetry and painting, and sculpture also developed.

 

 

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. Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence.

 

The Tang dynasty is probably most famous for the extensive amount of tomb figures. Wealth was conspicuous and celebrated in elaborate burial ceremonies that combined real luxury goods and ceramic replicas.

These tomb figures were made on an industrial scale by state controlled, privately run kiln factories. The figures were mostly made from red or pale-white terracotta, and often cold painted after firing either with mineral pigments that are still visible today. Some more  exclusive goods went trough a second firing with  glaze and the color palette was limited to green, brown, amber, beige and the most expensive blue.

Sancai-glaze (meaning three colors) with green, amber and brown was often use for burial models. The models were also fitted with leather straps, wood spears, horsetails etc., but these are long gone. Most figures were placed on wooden shelves in the toms that over the years collapsed, and it is rare to find figures that is not repaired.

During the late Tang Dynasty, restrictions were placed on the number of objects that could be included in tombs, an amount determined by an individual's social rank. In spite of the limitations, a striking variety of tomb furnishings – known as mingqi – have been excavated. Entire retinues of ceramic figures – representing warriors, animals, entertainers, musicians, guardians and every other necessary category of assistant – were buried with the dead in order to provide for the afterlife. Warriors (lokapala) were put in place to defend the dead, while horses/ camels were provided for transport, and officials to run his estate in the hereafter.

The Tang Dynasty took control in 618 AD, when the Li family seized power from the last crumbling remnants of the preceding Sui Dynasty. The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Yet, even when the central government was breaking down and unable to compile an accurate census of the population in the 9th century, it is estimated that the population had grown by then to about 80 million people. With its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and the lucrative trade routes along the Silk Road. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it indirectly controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring East Asian states such as those in Japanand Korea as well as Vietnam.

The Tang dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule, until the Lushan Rebellion (755)  and subsequent disorder resulted in a huge loss of life and large-scale destruction. It significantly weakened the Tang dynasty and led to the loss of the Western Regions. The Tang dynasty hired 4,000 mercenaries from Abbasid territories and the Uyghur Khagnate intervened for the Tang dynasty against An Lushan.

Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a civil service system by recruiting scholar officials rough standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of regional military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century.  There was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asia's first "simultaneous kingship".

There were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. The weakened central government largely withdrew from managing the economy, though the country's mercantile affairs stayed intact and commercial trade continued to thrive regardless, at least until agrarian rebellions in the latter half of the 9th century brought the dynasty to its knees, resulting in damaging autrocities such as the Guangzhou Massacre.