Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dates of power and a map of the Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty began when Tang Gaozu whose real name is Li Yuan took power and became emperor. The Tang dynasty lasted from 618 to 907 A.D, and it was hailed by the historians as the highest point in imperial China’s civilization. But in 690 to 705 A.D the Zhou dynasty which was formed by Wu Zetian took power and made herself the only female emperor in Chinese history. Through her time of reign, she reduced the size of armies, was merciless in her desire to reach and keep power, and was fair to peasants by lowering taxes and raising agricultural production. She also supported Buddhism over Taoism and built many temples, but soon after, one of her sons rebelled against her and re-established the Tang Dynasty. Li Xian, her son, then became the 6th emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

(http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/classical_imperial_china/tang.html)
(http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/classical_imperial_china/tang.html) [Picture]

Reasons for Take-over

The Tang dynasty took over the Sui dynasty in 618 A.D which was lead by Li Yuan who became emperor. The Sui dynasty had many peasant rebellions during its reign, which did cause some problems. With the position Li Yuan was in, he formed a rebellion to rebel against the Sui Dynasty. As the rebels took the capital Chang'an, emperor Yangdi was deposed and a new emperor immerged, Sui Gongdi was appointed emperor. Shortly after, Sui Gongdi was killed, and Li Yuan became emperor.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-event.html)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Sui_Yangdi_Tang.jpg/180px-Sui_Yangdi_Tang.jpg) [Picture]

Leaders of the Civilization

Li Yuan (Gaoza of Tang)
Li Yuan is the one that started the Tang dynasty and ruled from the beginning, 618-626 A.D. He overthrew the Sui dynasty by forming a rebellion and created his own dynasty.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-event.html)
(http://www.numismondo.com/pm/chn/tang/Emperor_Gao_Zu_sm.jpg) [Picture]

Li Shimin (Taizong of Tang)
Li Shimin was the second son of Li Yuan. He ruled the Tang dynasty from 626 - 649 A.D. He was actually the son that encouraged his father Li Yuan to rebel against the Sui dynasty. Li Shimin created peace in China, which allowed him to create trade routes up to Syria and Rome. With his great efforts, it resulted in having China great economy, politics, and culture.

(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang/emperor_taizong.htm)
(www.numismondo.com/pm/chn/tang/) [Picture]

Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian ruled from 690 - 705 A.D. Wu Zetian took power and made herself the only female emperor in Chinese history. Through her time of reign she did many things and they are all mentioned in the first paragraph of this blog.

(http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/classical_imperial_china/tang.html)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian) [Picture]

Li Longji (Xuanzong of Tang)
Li Longji was the emperor of the Tang dynasty from 712 – 756 A.D. Li Longji had the longest reign in the Tang dynasty compared to all the other emperors.

(http://www.gochinatravel.com/n234c147.aspx)
(http://www.gochinatravel.com/n234c147.aspx) [Picture]


Li Yan (Wuzong of Tang)
Li Yan ruled the Tang dynasty from 840-846 A.D and was a later emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He is mainly remembered for the religious persecution that occurred during his reign. He ascended from the throne in the time of economic and political crisis and his solution to the financial crisis was to go after the Buddhist monasteries.

(http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Emperor_Wuzong_of_Tang_China/id/579222)

Other Leaders at that Time
One of the leaders from another civilization outside of China was Charlemagne. He believed that he was born on April 2, 742 but nobody really knows the truth. He expanded the Frankish kingdoms to a Frankish empire. One of the most significant event that occured was that he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III.
(http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm)

Accomplishments

Literature
The Tang period was the golden age of art and literature. There are over 480,900 poems penned by about 2,200 Tang authors that have survived until modern times. Poetry styles that were popular during the Tang dynasty included gushi and jintishi.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty#Literature)
(http://www.art-virtue.com/styles/li/TangLi.jpg)


Religion

During the Tang dynasty there were many religions including Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Confucianism. Throughout the Tang dynasty, Buddhism was destroyed by Li Yan. Taoism started as a combination of psychology and philosophy and the founder of Taoism is believed to be Lao-Tse. Confucianism was founded by K'ung Fu Tzu.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-religion.html)
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm)
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/confuciu.htm)


Technology

Technology during the Tang dynasty were brought by the Buddhist monks. Technology advances were in medicine, astronomy, architecture and mathematics. The greatest invention during the Tang dynasty was the invention of bookprinting. The invention of bookprinting was first used by Buddhist monks, to spread their sermons and illustrations in a cheap and easy way.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-tech.html)

Economy
The Tang dynasty made taxation more effective by making taxes of things that most people used very low. By doing this, it ensured that people were more likely to pay their taxes instead of avoiding them. The canals built by the Sui dynasty really helped the Tang dynasty and its economy development. These canals were used for communication to all parts of the empire, and transport of goods from the south to the north.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-econ.html)

Social Changes
Before all the destroying and killing, ideas from each religion helped to make good decisions for the Chinese citizens. Woman during the time of the Tang dynasty had more rights and had better social statuses.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-religion.html)

Government Changes
The Tang dynasty stood in the tradition of a central bureaucracy which was created in the Han dynasty. But unlike the Han dynasty, the Tang dynasty did not bestow semi-independent kingdoms to the imperial princes. The Tang dynasty used a new law codex called the Tanglü Shuyi.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-admin.html)


Reasons for fall

There are many reasons why the Tang dynasty ended, reasons such as peasant rebellions and military situations. These problems lead one after the other, resulting in the end of the Tang dynasty and a new beginning of the Liang dynasty.

(http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/tang-event.html)

Sources
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