Tang dynasty

The Tang dynasty governed China from 618 to 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. Many historians see the Tang as a peak of Chinese civilization and a cosmopolitan golden age. Through early military campaigns, its rulers expanded territory beyond that of the Han dynasty. The Li family founded the dynasty by exploiting Sui decline and hastening its collapse, which brought progress and stability during the first half of Tang rule. Empress Wu Zetian interrupted the dynasty from 690 to 705 when she took the throne, established the Wu Zhou dynasty, and became China’s only legitimate female emperor. The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) caused widespread destruction and weakened central authority in the later half of the dynasty. The Tang maintained a civil service by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized exams and recommendations. During the 9th century, regional military governors called jiedushi rose in power, undermining this civil order. By the latter half of the 9th century, the dynasty and central government declined; agrarian rebellions led to massive population loss, displacement, poverty, and government dysfunction, finally ending the dynasty in 907. For much of the dynasty, the capital at Chang’an (modern Xi’an) was the world’s most populous city. Two censuses from the 7th and 8th centuries estimated the empire’s population at roughly 50 million, growing to about 80 million by the dynasty’s end. The Tang raised professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands to contend with nomadic powers for control of Inner Asia and the Silk Road trade routes. Distant kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the dynasty indirectly controlled some regions through a protectorate system. Beyond political dominance, the Tang exerted strong cultural influence over neighboring East Asian nations like Japan and Korea. Chinese culture flourished and matured during the Tang era, traditionally seen as the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of China’s most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, lived during this time, alongside poets like Wang Wei, contributing to the monumental *Three Hundred Tang Poems*. Famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, and Zhou Fang were active, while court music thrived with instruments like the popular pipa. Tang scholars compiled rich historical literature, encyclopedias, and geographical works. Notable innovations included 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. **History**

**Establishment**

Emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan) founded the Tang dynasty. He had been 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. Official Tang records claim they were paternally descended from Laozi (traditional founder of Taoism, personal name Li Dan or Li Er), Han 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 poet Li Bai. Tang emperors were partially of Xianbei ancestry, since 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 suggestions that 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 concealed by modifying their genealogy. This argument partly relies on a comparison with Li Xian, a Northern Zhou general whose epitaph states he descended from both Han 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 rebelled 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 for 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.