The Tang Dynasty

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The Tang Dynasty

• Day Two
• Session 3A
• Craig Benjamin

ERA 4China to 1500 Part I
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Introduction Significance of the Tang

• After the fall of the Han in c.220 CE, China
  suffered almost 300 years of division and
  fragmentation, until it was once again unified
  under the Sui Dynasty (581618)
• Political and governmental institutions
  established during this Sui period laid the
  foundation for the growth and prosperity of the
  succeeding Tang dynasty
• Tang Dynasty Era is marked by strong and
• benevolent rule, successful diplomatic
• relationships, economic expansion, and a
• cosmopolitan culture
• Tang China emerged as one of the
• greatest empires in the medieval world

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To Include
Part One After the Han Three Kingdoms and Sui
Dynasty Part Two Tang Government Part Three
Tang Culture and Decline
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Part 1. After the Han Rise of the Warlords

• Following the fall of the Han in 220, China fell
  into disorder
• After the quelling of the Yellow Turbans uprising
  by the Eastern Han, local warlords and tyrants
  sprung up everywhere in a struggle for the
  control of China
• These included
• Military groups under warlords Yuanshao and Cao
  Cao in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow
  River, who were the strongest
• South of the Yangtze River, the weaker Sunquan
  and Liu Bei, which occupied the eastern and
  western areas respectively

Cao Cao Popular Chinese Movie
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The Three Kingdoms(229-280 CE)

• In 220 Caopi (son of Cao Cao) abandoned
• Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and
• proclaimed himself the emperor of the Wei
• Kingdom (220 - 265)
• The following year Liu Bei was crowned as emperor
  of the Kingdom of Shu (221 263)
• And in 229 Sunquan founded the Kingdom of Wu
  (229 - 280)
• So three rival powers came into existence and
  China entered the era of the Three Kingdoms
• In 265 Sima Yan of the Wei, usurped power and
  established his reign as founder of the Jin
  Dynasty (265 - 420)
• Eventually the Jin defeated the other two states,
  and by 280 the Three Kingdoms Period was over

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Illustration of Xiahou Dun swallowing his own
eyeball from a Qing Dynasty edition of the
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
Xiahou Dun in the 84-episode TV serial Romance of
the Three Kingdoms. He was shot in the eye by Cao
Xing in this scene.
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Succeeding Dynasties
Xianbei Imperial Buckle
Xianbei Emperor

• Jin Dynasty historically divided into two
  periods the Western Jin (265 316 with Luoyang
  as its capital) and the Eastern Jin (with Nanjing
  as capital)
• Jin succeeded in unifying the country, although
  this was not lasting
• After the collapse of the Jin many rival regimes
  emerged (during the period of the Sixteen States)
  and China was torn apart between north and south
• At the end of this chaotic period Northern China
  was pillaged by the Xiongnu who established a
  petty state and were gradually Sinotized (as the
  Xianbei)
• In 386 the chief of the Xianbei unified the
  region north of the Yellow River this marks the
  beginning of the Northern Dynasties

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The Wei Dynasty

• By 471 Xiaowen of the Wei (a Xianbei offshoot)
  emerged as a power in his capital in Luoyang and
  promoted the learning of Han culture
• Ordered his men to dress up like the Han, speak
  their language and adopt Han surnames
• Also encouraged the intermarriage between the
  Xianbei and the Han and employed many Han
  officials in the court
• Xiaowen also promulgated a decree to implement a
  land equalization system
• All this contributed to the amalgamation of the
  various nationalities now living in China

Terracotta Models Soldiers of The Northern Wei
Dynasty
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Establishment of the Sui

• Reforms met strong opposition from conservative
  Xianbei aristocrats
• After Xiaowen died conflicts between the Xianbei
  and Han elites led to the fragmentation of the
  Wei Empire (into the Eastern and Western Wei)
• These were later supplanted by the Northern Qi
  (550-557) and the Northern Zhou (557-581)
• In 577 Beizhou conquered Beiqi and in 581, a
  distant relative of the Beizhou royal family
  (also known as Emperor Wen) seized power and
  established the Sui Dynasty (581 - 618)

Emperor Wendi Founder of the Sui Dynasty
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New Capital - Nanjing

• The Sui Dynasty lasted only two generations (37
  years) but successfully reunified much of China
• Leaders ruled from Nanjing (based on Confucian
  ethics of order and harmony) but this was
  increasingly challenged by Buddhism

www.ceotraveler.com
Modern and Ancient Nanjing
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk
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The Sui Monarchs and Buddhism
Buddhist stupa built by the Sui

• Sui monarchs in the north became Buddhists
• Built splendid Buddhist monuments and revived
  economy by starting to build a huge canal to link
  rice-growing Yangtze with the north

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The Sui Grand Canal

• Most elaborate project undertaken by the Sui was
  the construction of the Grand Canal one of the
  worlds largest pre-modern waterworks projects
• The 2nd emperor Sui Yangdi (604-618) completed
  the canal to make the abundant supplies of food
  grown along the Yangtze available for northern
  populations
• This series of waterways reached from Hangzhou in
  the south to the imperial capital at Xian in the
  north
• Sui Yangdi used many pre-existing canals, but
  linked them together into an extensive network
• In the end the canal stretched for 1240 miles,
  and had roads parallel to the waterway on either
  side

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Fall of the Sui

• Sui Yangdis massive construction projects were
  good for China in the long term, but they
  depended on higher taxes and forced labor, which
  fostered resentment
• Grand Canal alone required the conscripted
  services of an estimated million laborers
• Eventually discontented subjects revolted
• In 618 a disgruntled minister assassinated the
  emperor and brought an end to the Sui Dynasty

Sui Yangdi
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Part Two The Tang Dynasty

• Li Yuan (a governor under the Sui dynasty) rose
  in rebellion after being urged on by his second
  son (later Tang Taizong - pictured)
• Li Yuan installed a puppet child emperor of the
  Sui Dynasty in 617 but he eventually removed the
  child emperor and established the Tang dynasty in
  618
• Tang Dynasty would survive for almost 300 years,
  and Tang rulers organized China into a powerful,
  prosperous and productive society

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Tang Taizong (627-649)

• Li Yuan ruled until 626 before being deposed by
  his son Li Shimin (known as Tang Taizong)
• Much of the Tangs success
• was due to the energy,
• ability and policies of
• Tang Taizong (627-649)
• Although ruthless early in
• his reign, he came to see
• himself as a good
• Confucian leader who
• had his peoples best
• interests at heart

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Administrative Reforms

• Taizong set out to solve internal problems within
  the government, problems which had constantly
  plagued past dynasties
• Created three separate administrations which were
  obliged to draft, review, and implement policies
  respectively
• There were also six divisions under the
  administration that implemented policy, each of
  which was assigned different tasks

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Mature Period Tang Government

• Eventually Tang government became highly
  centralized a complex bureaucracy organized
  into specialized councils, boards and ministries
• Local government was managed by 15 provincial
  governors military commanders collected state
  tribute
• Government officials had degrees from
  universities, had to pass regular exams
• One ministry in charge of the national land
  registry, to check the growth of large estates
  and guarantee land to the peasants

Tang Emperor Xuan Zhong
www.chinapage.com/emperor
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Tang Government Initiatives Transportation and
Communications Policy
Model of a Tang Travelers Inn

• Along with developing (widening and deepening)
  the Sui Grand Canal (principal route for
  long-distance communication in China) Tang rulers
  maintained an extensive communications network
• This was based on roads, horses and human runners
• Tang maintained inns and stables along the main
  routes, providing rest and refreshments for
  travelers, couriers and horses

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The Grand Canal of ChinaBegun By the Sui,
Completed by the Tang
www.traveladdicts.connectfree
artroots.com/art/ art12_index.html
www.chinapage.com
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Speed of Communication Coast to Capital

• Using couriers traveling by horse, Tang court
  could communicate with most distant parts of
  China in eight days
• Relay teams of 9600 runners supplied the Han
  Court at Xian with seafood delivered fresh from
  Ningbo (over 600 miles away)

Ningbo Today
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The Equal Field System

• This system governed the allocation of
  agricultural land
• Purpose was to ensure equitable distribution of
  land, and avoid the concentration of property
  that had caused problems under the Han
• Land allocated to individuals and families
  according to its fertility and the familys needs
• One-fifth of the land became the hereditary
  possession of the recipients
• The rest remained available for redistribution
  when the original recipients needs had changed

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Pressures on the System

• System worked well for about a century, but by
  the early eighth century began showing signs of
  strain
• Rapidly increasing population placed pressure on
  available land plus through bribery and favors,
  influential families retained more than their
  fair share
• Also, large parcels of land fell out of the
  system when they were acquired by Buddhist
  monasteries
• But the system provided stability during the
  first half of the Tang Era

Ancient Buddhist Monastery, Qinghai Province
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Bureaucracy of Merit

• Dynasty relied heavily on a bureaucracy selected
  by merit (not family connections)
• Government officials were selected from the ranks
  of candidates who had progressed through the
  Confucian education system, mastering the
  classical works of Chinese literature and
  philosophy
• Members of this talented class were generally
  loyal to the dynasty, and worked hard to preserve
  and advance the state
• This version of the civil service worked so well
  that the system essentially remained intact for
  1300 years, disappearing only after the collapse
  of the Qing in the 20th Century

Tang Confucian Official
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The Empress Wu

• Tang Era also marked by the extraordinary reign
  of Empress Wu (concubine of the 2nd and 3rd
  emperors) - ruled for 20 years
• Only woman ever to rule China - weakened old
  aristocracy, favored Buddhism, strengthened exam
  system, defeated Korea
• Studied music and literature sponsored the
  writing of biographies about famous women
• Had many favorites and lovers (thus several
  enemies at court) - deposed in 712 and replaced
  by Emperor Xuan Zhong (713-756)

web4.si.edu
The Empress Wu (Limestone, Tang Dynasty)
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Empress WuToday TV, Opera and Movie Star!
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Tang Foreign Relations

• Soon after its foundation, powerful and dynamic
  Tang began to flex its military muscles
• In the north Tang forces brought Manchuria under
  Chinese control, and forced the Silla in Korea to
  acknowledge Tang hegemony
• To the south Tang forces conquered the northern
  part of Vietnam

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Engagement With the West
Tang officials meet Sogdian officials, Central
Asia

• To the west the dynasty extended Tang control as
  far as the Aral Sea, and brought some of the high
  plateau of Tibet under its control
• Tang Taizong was fascinated by the monk Xuanzang
  (602-64) who returned to China in 645 to tell
  about his fifteen years traveling across Central
  Asia and India
• Knowledge of the outside world was also
  stimulated by the presence of envoys, merchants,
  and pilgrims who came from the tributary states
  in Central Asia as well as from neighboring
  countries like Japan, Korea, and Tibet

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Xuanzang

• Xuanzang born into a scholarly family near
  Luoyang in 599 as Chen Yi, and died 664 in Yu Hua
  Gong
• Famous for his 17 year-long trip to India, during
  which he studied with many famous Buddhist
  masters, especially at the famous center of
  Buddhist learning in Nalanda
• When he returned, he brought with him some 657
  Sanskrit texts
• With the emperor's support, he set up a large
  translation bureau in Xian drawing students and
  collaborators from all over East Asia
• Credited with the translation of 1,330 fascicles
  of scriptures into Chinese
• The force of his own study, translation and
  commentary of the texts of these traditions
  initiated the development of the Faxiang school
• Its theories regarding perception, consciousness,
  karma and rebirth found their way into the
  doctrines of other more successful schools

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Revival of the Silk Roads

• Goods from these distant regions - horses,
  jewels, musical instruments, and textiles - were
  sources of endless fascination to the court and
  capital elite
• Foreign fashions in hair and clothing were
  copied, and foreign amusement like the game of
  polo became favorite pastimes of the well-to-do
• Caravans that came from Central Asia were so
  appreciated that pottery representations of
  camels and their non-Han grooms were among the
  objects people commonly placed in tombs
• Foreign religions, including Islam, Judaism,
• Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism and Nestorian
• Christianity were practiced among the
• thousands of foreign merchants resident there
• However, none of these religions
• spread into the Chinese population
• the way Buddhism had
• centuries earlier

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Battle of the Talas
Talas Valley Today

• The Battle of Talas in 751 was a conflict between
  the Arab Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty
  for control of Central Asia
• Chinese army was defeated following the routing
  of their infantry by the Abbasid cavalry on the
  bank of the River Talas
• Commander of the Tang forces, Gao Xianzhi,
  realized his defeat was imminent and managed to
  escape with some of his Tang regulars
• Though Gao was able to rebuild his forces within
  months, he never again gained the confidence of
  the local tribes residing in the area.
• Exact location of the battle has not been
  confirmed but is believed to be near Taraz in
  present day Kazakhstan
• Russian historian Barthold argued that this
  battle "determined the question which of the two
  civilizations, the Chinese or the Muslim, should
  predominate in the land (of Turkestan)

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Part Three Tang Culture and Decline

• Government monopolized salt, liquor and tea
  industries receipts they issued to merchants
  evolved into paper money under the Song
• Crafts like papermaking, iron casting, porcelain
  and silk processing popular in the Middle East
  Silk Roads trade flourished again by old land
  routes and by sea
• 100,000 foreign merchants lived in busy southern
  ports (Guangzhou Canton)

7th Century Tang Wallpaper Panel depicting scenes
from the production of porcelain
www.p4a.com/itemsummary
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Prosperity in the South

• Economic development of the south particularly
  impressive, aided by convenient water
  transportation along rivers and streams
• River traffic had grown so heavy that storms at
  Yangzhou in 721 and 751 were said to have led to
  the destruction of over 1,000 boats each time
• Tea, native to the south, was no longer looked on
  as a medicinal herb, useful primarily to those
  trying to stay awake, but had come to be drunk
  all over the country, making it a major trade
  item
• Southern port cities of Canton, Quanzhou, and
  Fuzhou grew in size as maritime trade along the
  coast and throughout Southeast Asia expanded
  greatly, much of it in the hands of Arab
  merchants
• By 742, when a census was taken, the proportion
  of the registered population living in the south
  had increased from only a quarter in the early
  seventh century to nearly a half

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Tang Cities Xian

• Xian (Tang capital) also home to many foreigners
  largest planned city in the world (30 square
  miles)
• One of four Tang cities with populations of one
  million plus

Walls of Ancient Xian
www.asiatravel.com/china
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The Planned City Xian

• Xian a planned city laid out on a square grid,
  but constructed on a much larger scale than any
  previous capital
• Outer walls (made of pounded earth 15 feet thick
  and 35 feet tall) extended over five miles north
  to south and nearly six miles east to west
• Palace was in the north, so the emperor could, in
  a sense, face south towards his subjects, whose
  homes were in the 108 wards, each enclosed by a
  wall
• Certain blocks were set aside for markets, open
  at specified hours each day.
• Great southern gate of the city opened out to an
  extremely board avenue about 500 feet wide
• Foreign envoys seeking to see the emperor all
  traveled along this thoroughfare directly to the
  palace
• This and other main avenues were bordered by
  ditches planted with trees

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Tang Women

• Severe legal codes for wives who disobeyed or
  were unfaithful to husbands
• Some women had power at court, others active in
  the arts, but laws limited their rights to
  divorce, remarriage and inheritance of property
• Tang literature often depicts active, strong
  women fighting against convention

www.palomar.edu/ anthropology/
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Mulan

• Ballad of Mulan (Disneys film Mulan) tells of
  a loyal daughter who dresses as a man and goes
  off to war to save her father from conscription
• After twelve years fighting the barbarians she
  returns to her village and changes back into a
  woman, astonishing her soldier companions
• So she has initiative and can master the world of
  men, but ultimately wants to remain a good
  Confucian daughter

www.usatoday.com
schools.aesd.net
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Extract Ballad of Mulan
Her parents hearing their girl returns, Out to
the suburbs to welcome her back. Elder sister
hearing her sister returns, Adjusts her rouge by
the doorway. Little brother hearing his sister
returns, Sharpens his knife for pigs and lamb.
"I open my east chamber door, And sit on my
west chamber bed. I take off my battle cloak,
And put on my old-time clothes. I adjust my
wispy hair at the window sill, And apply my
bisque makeup by the mirror. I step out to see
my comrades-in-arms, They are all surprised and
astounded 'We traveled twelve years together,
Yet didn't realize Mulan was a lady!'" The
buck bounds here and there, Whilst the doe has
narrow eyes. But when the two rabbits run side
by side, How can you tell the female from the
male?
Ten thousand miles she rode in war, Crossing
passes and mountains as if on a wing. On the
northern air comes the sentry's gong, Cold light
shines on her coat of steel. The general dead
after a hundred battles, The warriors return
after ten years. They return to see the Son of
Heaven, Who sits in the Hall of Brilliance. The
rolls of merit spin a dozen times, Rewards in
the hundreds and thousands. The Khan asks her
what she desires, "I've no need for the post of
a gentleman official, I ask to borrow a camel
fleet of foot, To carry me back to my hometown."

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Musical Courtesans

• Tang poets frequented entertainment quarters of
  the cities where they could call on female
  musicians
• In the late Tang period, courtesans played an
  important part in popularizing a new verse form
  by singing the lyrics written by famous men and
  by composing lyrics themselves

Lyric Poet, Li Qingzhao
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Tang High Culture

• Like the bureaucracy, the arts also attracted
  scholars, many of whom were esteemed for their
  calligraphy
• Almost all educated men wrote an occasional poem,
  and poetic composition was tested on the most
  prestigious of the civil service examinations,
  the jinshi, or presented scholar exam
• Perhaps that contributed to the art of poetry,
  for the Tang produced many of Chinas greatest
  poets, including Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai
  Juyi, and Li Shangyin
• Over 48,900 poems by 2,200 Tang poets have
  survived
• The parting of friends was a common theme of
  these poems, perhaps because officials were
  frequently transferred to the provinces
• The immense distances of the empire, the dangers
  of travel, and the difficulty of keeping in touch
  once separated evidently made every parting seem
  momentous.

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Tang Literature

• Literature thrived under the Tang, strengthened
  by papermaking and block printing (in about 600
  CE)
• History writing also achieved great heights under
  the Tang history a mirror for Emperors in which
  they could foresee the rise and fall of empires
• Poetry achieved great heights under Li Bai
  (701-763) who loved wine during a drinking party
  he leaned out of a boat to scoop the moon out of
  the water, fell in and drowned!

Tang poet Li Bai
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Li Bai Drinking Alone by Moonlight

• A cup of wine, under the flowering treesI
  drink alone, for no friend is near.Raising my
  cup I beckon the bright moon,For he, with my
  shadow, will make three men.The moon, alas, is
  no drinker of wineListless, my shadow creeps
  about at my side.Yet with the moon as friend and
  the shadow as slaveI must make merry before the
  Spring is spent.To the songs I sing the moon
  flickers her beamsIn the dance I weave my
  shadow tangles and breaks.While we were sober,
  three shared the funNow we are drunk, each goes
  his way.May we long share our odd, inanimate
  feast,And meet at last on the Cloudy River of
  the sky

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Highpoint of Tang Culture

• High point came in the first half of the eighth
  century during the reign of Xuanzong (r.712-56)
  whose court became the focal point of high
  culture
• Xuanzong conducted state ceremonies
• on a grand scale and authorized a
• major codification of state ritual
• Buddhist and Daoist clerics were
• also welcome at his court
• Xuanzong invited teachers of the new
• Tantric school of Buddhism, in 726
• calling on the Javanese monk
• Vajrabodhi to perform Tantric rites
• to avert drought

Xuanzong and Yang Gueifei
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Dancing Horses!

• To liven up the poetry written at his court and
  amuse him on his outings with palace ladies,
  Xuanzong established a new academy for poets
• Poet Li Bai served in this academy for a few
  years, writing light sensual poems celebrating
  the beauty of the imperial parks and the ladies
  in them
• Xuanzong also enjoyed music and horses and even
  kept a troupe of dancing horses
• Han Gan, a great horse painter, served at his
  court.

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• Costumes of the High Tang Dynasty Beijing Opera

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Revolt of An Lushan

• While the Tang had outstanding rulers who focused
  on government, it remained strong and powerful
• But Xuanzangs casual rule and neglect of public
  affairs for his mistresses, poetry and music led
  to Tang decline
• In 755 CE, one of the dynastys foremost military
  commanders, An Lushan, mounted a rebellion and
  captured Xian
• By 757 An Lushan had been murdered and Tang
  forces recaptured Xian, but the dynasty was
  badly weakened

From the movie House of Flying Daggers about
An Lushans revolt
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Tang Decline

• Late in the 750s,
• Uighur Turks gained
• control of Mongolia
• military governors
• took over the
• provinces
• One was a woman
• (Yang Guifei) who
• marched on Xian in 755 remembered in China
  today as conniving, power-hungry and sexually
  manipulative
• She left her husband (the Emperors son) for the
  Emperor himself, later became close to a Turkish
  general, and was eventually executed by the old
  emperor Xuanzong who died of sorrow a month later

members.tripod.com
Yang Guifei, often described as one of the four
most beautiful women of ancient China
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End of the Tang

• Succession of weak rulers presided over a
  disintegrating China until the last Tang emperor
  was killed in 907
• Near the end of the Tang Dynasty, regional
  military governors (jiedushi) became increasingly
  powerful, and began to function more like
  independent regimes on their own right
• The dynasty was ended when one of the military
  governors Zhu Wen deposed the last emperor and
  took the throne for himself, thereby beginning
  the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period

Five Dynasties Map 907-923
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Although division returned to China following the
fall of the Tang, one of the states of divided
China (the Song) almost instituted an industrial
revolution that would have dramatically impacted
subsequent world history
Tang Dynasty was one of the great imperial
structures of the post-classical world, rivaled
only by the Islamic caliphate of the
Abbasids Remains one of the most fascinating
historical eras for contemporary China, and is
featured in numerous films, television serials,
books and opera
Conclusion