Tang dynasty

The Tang dynasty governed China from 618 until 907, with a break between 690 and 705. It came after the Sui dynasty and gave way to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Most historians see the Tang as a peak in Chinese civilization, a cosmopolitan golden age. Through early military campaigns, its rulers gained territory that exceeded the Han dynasty’s reach. The Li family founded the dynasty by exploiting Sui decline, pushing it to collapse, and then starting a period of progress and stability in the first half of their rule. Empress Wu Zetian formally interrupted the dynasty from 690 to 705, taking the throne, creating the Wu Zhou dynasty, and becoming China’s only legitimate female emperor. The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) caused devastation and weakened central authority in the dynasty’s later half. The Tang kept a civil-service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standard exams and recommendations. In the 9th century, regional military governors called *jiedushi* rose up and eroded this civil order. The dynasty and central government declined in the latter part of the 9th century; agrarian rebellions led to massive population loss and displacement, widespread poverty, and more government dysfunction, finally ending the dynasty in 907. For much of the dynasty, the Tang capital at Chang’an (now Xi’an) was the world’s most populous city. Two censuses in the 7th and 8th centuries put the empire’s population at around 50 million, which grew to an estimated 80 million by the dynasty’s end. The Tang raised professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands to fight nomadic powers for control of Inner Asia and the profitable Silk Road trade routes. Distant kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, and the Tang indirectly controlled several regions through a protectorate system. Beyond political dominance, the Tang had a strong cultural impact on neighboring East Asian nations like Japan and Korea. Chinese culture thrived and matured during the Tang era. It is traditionally seen as the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of China’s most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, lived in this period, contributing along with poets like Wang Wei to the monumental *Three Hundred Tang Poems*. Many renowned painters—such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang—were active, and Chinese court music flourished with instruments like the popular pipa. Tang scholars compiled a rich variety of historical literature, encyclopedias, and geographical works. Notable innovations included the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, in the 840s, Emperor Wuzong enacted policies to suppress Buddhism, which then declined in influence. **History**

**Establishment**

Emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan) founded the Tang dynasty. He was previously the Duke of Tang and governor of Taiyuan, the capital of modern Shanxi, during the Sui dynasty’s collapse (581–618). The House of Li had ethnic Han origins and belonged to the northwest military aristocracy common under the Sui. According to official Tang records, they were paternally descended from Laozi (the traditional founder of Taoism, whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), the Han dynasty general Li Guang, and Li Gao, founder of the Han-ruled Western Liang kingdom. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which also included the prominent Tang poet Li Bai. The Tang emperors were partially of Xianbei ancestry, since Emperor Gaozu’s mother, Duchess Dugu, was part-Xianbei. Some historians argue that the Tang imperial family’s ties to the distinguished Longxi Li clan of Han descent may be fabricated. Howard J. Wechsler notes that it has been suggested the Tang House of Li descended from a minor offshoot of the eastern Li clan of Zhaojun in Hebei, which had intermarried substantially with non-Han tribal aristocracy. Chen Sanping argues that the House of Li had a patrilineal Xianbei lineage that was concealed by modifying their genealogy. This argument is partly based on a comparison with Li Xian, a Northern Zhou general whose epitaph states he was descended from both the Han dynasty general Li Ling and Yidigui, a 10th-generation ancestor from the steppes. However, a genetic study of the daughter of the Duke of Longxi (Li Hu), the Tang founder’s paternal grandfather, and her nuclear family shows they were primarily related to agricultural farming communities in northern China (95.8%–97.3%), with minor admixture from Eurasian Steppe pastoralists (2.7%–4.2%). The family’s haplogroups are common in Han and East Asian populations and atypical in Xianbei individuals. Despite possessing Xianbei names (Bulugu and Daye), the findings suggest they did not have true Xianbei ancestry, reflecting the historical policy of granting Xianbei names to Han aristocrats in Western Wei. Li Yuan had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui (their mothers were both Dugu sisters). Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang (d. 623), who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Chang’an, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of *Taishang Huang* (‘retired emperor’), and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor Yang You. Upon news of Emperor Yang’s murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself emperor of the newly founded Tang dynasty.