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Tang dynasty
618–907· Empire, kingdom or state· Asia
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A Chinese dynasty often seen as a golden age, whose capital Chang'an was among the world's largest and most cosmopolitan cities.
See it on the History map →What happened
Founded by Li Yuan and his son Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong), the Tang ruled the China the Sui had reunited. Chang'an (today's Xi'an) had perhaps a million people, including Persian, Sogdian, Japanese and Korean residents. Allied with Korea's Silla, the Tang destroyed Baekje and Goguryeo in the 660s. Civil-service exams grew, and poets like Li Bai and Du Fu flourished. Wu Zetian ruled as China's only woman emperor. The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) crippled central power; the dynasty ended in 907.
Why it matters
Tang China set the cultural model for East Asia: Silla Korea and Japan modeled their law codes, capital cities, academies and Buddhist schools on Tang examples.
How we know
Official histories, about 50,000 surviving poems, Dunhuang manuscripts including the Diamond Sutra of 868 (the oldest dated printed book), tombs, and Chang'an's excavated street grid.
Still debated
How many died in the An Lushan rebellion is disputed: census totals fell by tens of millions, but much of the drop may reflect lost records.
Inside this (1)
Connections (3)
▸Tang dynasty invented GunpowderMostly agreed
The connection
Under the Tang, Taoist alchemists seeking elixirs of immortality heated mixtures of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. By about 850 a text warned that such mixes flared up, burning hands, faces and even houses. The discovery was accidental and recorded as a hazard; turning it into weapons came mostly under the following Song dynasty.
When and how
China, mid-800s, among Taoist alchemists; the warning appears in a Taoist text called the Zhenyuan miaodao yaolüe.
How sure are we?
That Taoist text; earlier Tang alchemy books that describe heating sulfur and saltpeter together.
Debates and open questions
The text's date is debated, so the discovery may be somewhat earlier or later; no single inventor is known.
▸Tang dynasty was succeeded, after a split, by Song dynastyWell documented
The connection
Rebellions and powerful regional generals broke Tang power, and the dynasty ended in 907. For about 50 years the Five Dynasties ruled the north while the Ten Kingdoms held the south. In 960 the general Zhao Kuangyin seized power as the first Song emperor and reunited most of China, deliberately curbing generals so it could not happen again.
When and how
Northern China, 907–960; Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu) took the throne at Kaifeng in 960, and the Song absorbed the southern kingdoms by 979.
How we know
Official dynastic histories of the Tang, Five Dynasties and Song; surviving coins and documents from the rival states.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate whether the Tang-to-Song shift was a deep social transformation, from an aristocratic to a merchant-and-scholar society, or more gradual.
▸Tang dynasty clashed at Talas (751) with Islamic caliphatesWell documented
The connection
As Tang China expanded into Central Asia and the Abbasids took over the caliphate, their spheres met. In 751 an Abbasid army defeated a Tang force near the Talas River after the Tang's Karluk Turkish allies switched sides. Soon after, the An Lushan Rebellion pulled Tang troops home, leaving Central Asia open to Muslim influence.
When and how
Near the Talas River, in today's Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border region, July 751; Tang general Gao Xianzhi, of Korean (Goguryeo) descent, against Abbasid commander Ziyad ibn Salih.
How we know
Both Chinese and Arabic histories record the battle; Du Huan, a Chinese prisoner, later wrote about his years in the Abbasid world.
Debates and open questions
How decisive Talas was is debated; the Tang retreat owed more to the An Lushan Rebellion (755) than to the battle itself.