154-759: The Old Book of Tang , or simply the Book of Tang , is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty , comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories . Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (10th century AD), it was superseded by the New Book of Tang , which was compiled in the Song dynasty , but later regained acceptance. The credited editor
308-675: A Chancellor of the Tang dynasty . With this victory, the Turks accepted Taizong as their khagan , a title rendered as Tian Kehan in addition to his rule as emperor of China under the traditional title " Son of Heaven ". Taizong was succeeded by his son Li Zhi (as Emperor Gaozong ) in 649. The Tang engaged in military campaigns against the Western Turks , exploiting the rivalry between Western and Eastern Turks in order to weaken both. Under Emperor Taizong , campaigns were dispatched in
462-725: A differential gear was reproduced in several models for Tenji in 666, as recorded in the Nihon Shoki (720). Japanese monks also visited China; such was the case with Ennin (794–864), who wrote of his travel experiences including travels along the Grand Canal . The Japanese monk Enchin (814–891) stayed in China from 839 to 847, and again from 853 to 858, landing near Fuzhou , Fujian and setting sail for Japan from Taizhou, Zhejiang during his second trip to China. The Sui and Tang carried out successful military campaigns against
616-631: A "restored" Tang dynasty, the Later Tang , before toppling the Later Liang dynasty the same year. However, southern China remained splintered into various small kingdoms until most of China was reunified under the Song dynasty (960–1279). Control over parts of northeast China and Manchuria by the Liao dynasty of the Khitan people also stemmed from this period. In 905, their leader Abaoji formed
770-557: A Buddhist memorial service for the casualties of war; in 629, he had Buddhist monasteries erected at the sites of major battles so that monks could pray for the fallen on both sides of the fight. During the Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks , the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was destroyed after the capture of its ruler, Illig Qaghan by the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (571–649), who later became
924-418: A broad variety of texts. The jinshi tested a student's literary abilities in writing essays in response to questions on governance and politics, as well as in composing poetry . Candidates were also judged on proper deportment, appearance, speech, and calligraphy , all subjective criteria that favoured the wealthy over those of more modest means who were unable to pay tutors of rhetoric and writing.Although
1078-417: A description of the regional administration of the Tang empire around the year 752. The section on officials (volumes 42–44) contains a description of the Tang administrative system. The section on the five elements ( 五行 ) contains a description of earthquakes, floods, and other natural events. Volumes 51–200 contain biographical related content, including empresses and consorts (51–52), imperial families, and
1232-479: A disproportionate number of civil officials came from aristocratic families, wealth and noble status were not prerequisites, and the exams were open to all male subjects whose fathers were not of the artisan or merchant classes . To promote widespread Confucian education, the Tang government established state-run schools and issued standard versions of the Five Classics with commentaries. Open competition
1386-551: A golden age of economic prosperity and pleasant lifestyles within the imperial court. Xuanzong was seen as a progressive and benevolent ruler, having abolished the death penalty in 747. Previously, all executions had to be approved by the emperor; in 730, there were only 24 executions. Xuanzong bowed to the consensus of his ministers on policy decisions and made efforts to staff government ministries fairly with different political factions. His staunch Confucian chancellor Zhang Jiuling (673–740) worked to reduce deflation and increase
1540-454: A major state". Even after the power of the central government was in decline after the mid-8th century, it was still able to function and give out imperial orders on a massive scale. The Old Book of Tang (945) recorded that a government decree issued in 828 standardised the use of square-pallet chain pumps for irrigation throughout the country. The last ambitious ruler of the Tang was Emperor Xianzong ( r. 805–820 ), whose reign
1694-755: A military alliance with Li Keyong against Zhu Wen but the Khitans eventually turned against the Later Tang, helping another Shatuo leader Shi Jingtang of Later Jin to overthrow Later Tang in 936. Taizong set out to solve internal problems within the government which had constantly plagued past dynasties. Building upon the Sui legal code, he issued a new legal code that subsequent Chinese dynasties would model theirs upon, as well as neighbouring polities in Vietnam , Korea , and Japan . The earliest law code to survive
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#17327659600171848-469: A monopoly of this trade to the Buddhist clergy. The Tang government attempted to create an accurate census of the empire's population, mostly for effective taxation and military conscription. The early Tang government established modest grain and cloth taxes on each household, persuading households to register and provide the government with accurate demographic information. In the official census of 609,
2002-480: A rebellion by Huang Chao (874–884) devastated both northern and southern China, took an entire decade to suppress, resulted in the sacking of both Chang'an and Luoyang. In 878–879, Huang's army committed a massacre in the southern port of Guangzhou against foreign Arab and Persian Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jewish and Christian merchants. A medieval Chinese source claimed that Huang Chao killed 8 million people. The Tang never recovered from Huang's rebellion, which paved
2156-514: A school to prepare candidates for Taoist examinations. In 726, he called upon the Indian monk Vajrabodhi (671–741) to perform tantric rites to avert a drought. In 742, he personally held the incense burner while patriarch of the Shingon school Amoghavajra (705–774) recited "mystical incantations to secure the victory of Tang forces". Emperor Xuanzong closely regulated religious finances. Near
2310-548: A screen. When Empress Wu's eldest son, the crown prince, began to assert his authority and advocate policies opposed by Empress Wu, he suddenly died in 675. Many suspected he was poisoned by Empress Wu. Although the next heir apparent kept a lower profile, Wu accused him of plotting a rebellion in 680; he was banished and later obliged to commit suicide. In 683, Emperor Gaozong died and was succeeded by Emperor Zhongzong , his eldest surviving son by Wu. Zhongzong tried to appoint his wife's father as chancellor: after only six weeks on
2464-424: A small scale in Sui and Tang times, played a central role in the fashioning of this new elite. The early Song emperors, concerned above all to avoid domination of the government by military men, greatly expanded the civil service examination system and the government school system. From the outset, religion played a role in Tang politics. In his bid for power, Li Yuan had attracted a following by claiming descent from
2618-512: A three-stage model of broad political trends during this time period. The first stage (880–910) consists of the period between the Huang Chao Rebellion and the formal end of the Tang dynasty, which saw chaotic fighting between warlords who controlled approximately one or two prefectures each. The second stage (910–950) saw the various warlords stabilize and gain enough legitimacy to proclaim new dynasties. The third stage (950–979) saw
2772-611: Is mentioned in either Chinese annals or the Tibetan manuscripts of Dunhuang . Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period ( Chinese : 五代十國 ) was an era of political upheaval and division in Imperial China from 907 to 979. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain , and more than a dozen concurrent dynastic states, collectively known as
2926-674: The Old History and the New History . Written from the northern viewpoint, these chronicles organized the history around the Five Dynasties (the north), presenting the Ten Kingdoms (the south) as illegitimate, self-absorbed and indulgent. The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period turned away from the international cultural mood of the Tang dynasty and appears as a transition towards the solidified national culture of
3080-508: The Portraits of Periodical Offering , probably painted by Yan Liben (601–673). Having entered Emperor Gaozong's court as a lowly consort, Wu Zetian ultimately acceded to the highest position of power in 690, establishing the short-lived Wu Zhou. Emperor Gaozong suffered a stroke in 655, and Wu began to make many of his court decisions for him, discussing affairs of state with his councillors, who took orders from her while she sat behind
3234-594: The Han dynasty . The Li family founded the dynasty after taking advantage of a period of Sui decline and precipitating their final collapse, in turn inaugurating a period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant . The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) led to devastation and
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#17327659600173388-639: The Hexi Corridor and Dunhuang in Gansu ; in 848, the general Zhang Yichao (799–872) managed to wrestle control of the region from the Tibetan Empire during its civil war . Shortly afterwards, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ( r. 846–859 ) acknowledged Zhang as the protector ( 防禦使 ; fángyùshǐ ) of Sha Prefecture, and military governor of the new Guiyi Circuit . In addition to factors like natural calamity and jiedushi claiming autonomy,
3542-799: The Later Han fell to the Han Chinese-led Later Zhou in 951. With the protection of the powerful Liao dynasty, the Northern Han maintained nominal independence until the Song dynasty wrested it from the Khitans in 979. The smallest of the southern states, Jingnan (924–963), was founded by Gao Jichang , a former general of Liang. It was based in Jiangling and held two other districts southwest of present-day Wuhan in Hubei . Gao
3696-539: The Liao dynasty still remained in China's north (eventually succeeded by the Jin dynasty ), and the Western Xia was eventually established in China's northwest. Many states had been de facto independent long before 907 as the late Tang dynasty's control over its numerous fanzhen officials waned, but the key event was their recognition as sovereign by foreign powers. After the Tang collapsed, several warlords of
3850-591: The New Book was presented, the original Old Book of Tang went out of print, and over centuries it became very rare. It was during the Ming dynasty when the remaining copies were gathered and the book was once again published, eventually becoming canonised as one of the Twenty-Four Histories . Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty ( / t ɑː ŋ / , [tʰǎŋ] ; Chinese : 唐朝 ), or
4004-483: The Northern Song ; Emperor Renzong of Song , for example, called the book "poorly organised, burdened with unimportant details, wanting in style and poorly researched". These errors even included duplicated biographies of characters. Because of these criticisms, in 1044 a new history of the Tang dynasty was commissioned; with Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi as editors, the New Book of Tang was then produced. After
4158-416: The Song dynasty . Throughout the period, there was marked cultural and economic growth, rather than decline. Several Northern dynasties originated in the northeast, and centralisation of the north led to a migration of provincial elites into the capital, particularly northeasterners, creating a new metropolitan culture. After the unification of China by the Song dynasty, the culture, arts and literature of
4312-508: The Song imperial family , were of mixed Han Chinese-Turkic- Kumo Xi ancestry. The term "Five Dynasties" was coined by Song dynasty historians and reflects the view that the successive regimes based in Kaifeng , controlled the Central Plain and possessed the Mandate of Heaven . The first of the Five Dynasties was founded by Zhu Wen , the rebel defector turned warlord who ultimately ended
4466-602: The Tang Empire , was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of
4620-597: The Tibetan Empire had fallen apart in 842, followed soon after by the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho , the Tang were in no position to reconquer Central Asia after 763. So significant was this loss that half a century later jinshi examination candidates were required to write an essay on the causes of the Tang's decline. Although An Lushan was killed by one of his eunuchs in 757, this time of troubles and widespread insurrection continued until rebel Shi Siming
4774-571: The Xuanwu Gate Incident on July 2, 626. Shortly thereafter, his father abdicated in his favour, and Li Shimin ascended the throne. He is conventionally known by his temple name Taizong. Although killing two brothers and deposing his father contradicted the Confucian value of filial piety , Taizong showed himself to be a capable leader who listened to the advice of the wisest members of his council. In 628, Emperor Taizong held
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4928-628: The first campaign because they failed to overcome the successful defence led by General Yeon Gaesomun . The Tang entered into the Silla–Tang alliance , the Chinese fought against Baekje and their Yamato Japanese allies in the Battle of Baekgang in August 663, a decisive Tang–Silla victory. The Tang dynasty navy had several different ship types at its disposal to engage in naval warfare , these ships described by Li Quan in his Taipai Yinjing (Canon of
5082-429: The "varied landscape" of China was inspired by Taoism . It emphasized the sacredness of mountains as places between heaven and earth and depicted the natural world as a source of harmony. In later tradition, the Five Dynasties is viewed as a period of judicial abuse and excessive punishment. This view reflects both actual problems with the administration of justice and the bias of Confucian historians, who disapproved of
5236-469: The Central Plain crowned themselves emperor. During the 70-year period, there was near-constant warfare between the emerging kingdoms and the alliances they formed. All had the ultimate goal of controlling the Central Plain and establishing themselves as the Tang's successor. The last of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms regimes was Northern Han , which held out until Song conquered it in 979. For
5390-509: The Chinese model, based his state ceremonies on the Chinese model, and constructed his palace at Fujiwara on the Chinese model of architecture . Many Chinese Buddhist monks came to Japan to help further the spread of Buddhism as well. Two 7th-century monks, Zhi Yu and Zhi You, visited the court of Emperor Tenji ( r. 661–672 ), whereupon they presented a gift of a south-pointing chariot that they had crafted. This vehicle employing
5544-463: The Khitans were unsuccessful. He was given great responsibility in Hebei , which allowed him to rebel with an army of more than 100,000 troops. After capturing Luoyang, he named himself emperor of a new, but short-lived, Yan state . Despite early victories scored by the Tang general Guo Ziyi (697–781), the newly recruited troops of the army at the capital were no match for An Lushan's frontier veterans;
5698-587: The Kingdom of Goguryeo was destroyed by 668. Although they were formerly enemies, the Tang accepted officials and generals of Goguryeo into their administration and military, such as the brothers Yeon Namsaeng (634–679) and Yeon Namsan (639–701). From 668 to 676, the Tang Empire controlled northern Korea. However, Silla broke the alliance in 671, and began the Silla–Tang War to expel the Tang forces. At
5852-645: The Later Liang regime. Thus began the Shatuo Later Tang—the first in a long line of conquest dynasties . After reuniting much of northern China, in 924 Cunxu received the submission of Shaanxi's Qi kingdom, and in 925 Cunxu conquered the Former Shu , a regime that had been set up in Sichuan . The Later Tang had a few years of relative calm, followed by unrest. In 934, Sichuan again asserted independence. In 936, Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke ,
6006-580: The Later Zhou. After the death of Guo Wei in 954, his adopted son Chai Rong succeeded the throne and began a policy of expansion and reunification. One month after Chai Rong took the throne, Liu Chong, Emperor of Northern Han , allied with Liao dynasty to launch an assault on Later Zhou. Against the advice of Minister Feng Dao, Chai Rong decided to lead his army against the incursion. When Chai Rong engaged Liu Chong at Gao Ping (in modern Jincheng), two of Chai's generals, Fan Aineng and He Hui, fled from
6160-456: The Liao came to regard the emperor as a proxy ruler for China. In 943, the Khitans declared war and within three years seized the capital, Kaifeng , marking the end of Later Jin. But while they had conquered vast regions of China, the Khitans were unable or unwilling to control those regions and retreated from them early in the next year. To fill the power vacuum, the jiedushi Liu Zhiyuan entered
6314-457: The Liao in an attempt to recover territories ceded during the Later Jin. After many victories, he succumbed to illness. In 960, the general Zhao Kuangyin staged a coup and took the throne for himself, founding the Northern Song dynasty . This is the official end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. During the next two decades, Zhao Kuangyin and his successor Zhao Kuangyi defeated
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6468-621: The Song Dynasty economic boom. This economic shift to the south also led to a vast southward migration. According to Nicholas Tackett, the three provinces of Hebei (Chengde, Youzhou, Weibo) were able to maintain much greater autonomy from the central government in the aftermath of the An Lushan rebellion. With their administration under local military control, these provinces never submitted tax revenues, and governorships lapsed into hereditary succession. They engaged in occasional war with
6622-430: The Song dynasty, when it doubled to 100 million because of extensive rice cultivation in central and southern China, coupled with higher yields of grain sold in a growing market. The 7th and first half of the 8th century are generally considered to be the era in which the Tang reached the zenith of its power. In this period, Tang control extended further west than any previous dynasty, stretching from north Vietnam in
6776-465: The South, gave the South room to innovate free of tight administrative controls. The dominant northern officials had been unwilling to serve in the South during the Tang, and so southerners were recruited by the Tang to serve in a local capacity under the "Southern Selection" supplemental system. These southern officials became the administrative core of the Ten Kingdoms and later dominated the bureaucracy by
6930-495: The Southern states were incorporated into the new regime. The Song dynasty adopted a distinctively Southern Chinese cultural outlook. The preserved cultural traditions of Southern Tang, Wu Yue and Later Shu were used to rebuild the cultural landscape of the north. Southern libraries were transported north, Southeastern architecture was promoted in the new capital, and Southeastern Buddhist icons, clergy and relics were concentrated in
7084-411: The Tang capital Chang'an and with it the imperial family. By 903, he forced Emperor Zhaozong of Tang to move the capital to Luoyang, preparing to take the throne for himself. In 904, Zhu assassinated Emperor Zhaozong to replace him with the emperor's young son Emperor Ai of Tang . In 905, Zhu executed the brothers of Emperor Ai as well as many officials and Empress Dowager He . In 907, the Tang dynasty
7238-529: The Tang census of 754, there were 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures , and 1,538 counties throughout the empire. Although there were many large and prominent cities, the rural and agrarian areas comprised 80–90% of the population. There was also a dramatic migration from northern to southern China , as the North held 75% of the overall population at the dynasty's inception, which by its end was reduced to 50%. The Chinese population would not dramatically increase until
7392-462: The Tang dynasty by Wang Jian, who held his court in Chengdu . The kingdom held most of present-day Sichuan , western Hubei , and parts of southern Gansu and Shaanxi . Wang was named military governor of western Sichuan by the Tang court in 891. The kingdom fell when his son surrendered in the face of an advance by the Later Tang in 925. The Later Shu (935–965) is essentially a resurrection of
7546-444: The Tang dynasty until the end of 755, there were approximately ten Turkic generals serving under the Tang. While most of the Tang army was made of fubing Chinese conscripts, the majority of the troops led by Turkic generals were of non-Chinese origin, campaigning largely in the western frontier where the presence of fubing troops was low. Some "Turkic" troops were tribalised Han Chinese, a desinicised people. Civil war in China
7700-400: The Tang dynasty. The rest of the Five Dynasties as well as the Song dynasty all emerged from a military organization originally led by Shatuo Turks whose commanders replaced each other in frequent coup d'état . The Later Tang was founded by Li Cunxu , the son of Shatuo leader Li Keyong , who was the main military rival to Zhu Wen in the late Tang. The Later Jin founder Shi Jingtang was
7854-571: The Tang exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighbouring East Asian nations such as Japan and Korea . Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era. It is traditionally considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry . Two of China's most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu , belonged to this age, contributing with poets such as Wang Wei to the monumental Three Hundred Tang Poems . Many famous painters such as Han Gan , Zhang Xuan , and Zhou Fang were active, while Chinese court music flourished with instruments such as
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#17327659600178008-411: The Tang government responded effectively to natural disasters by extending the price-regulation granary system throughout the country. The central government was able then to build a large surplus stock of foods to ward off the rising danger of famine and increased agricultural productivity through land reclamation . Although these natural calamities and rebellions stained the reputation and hampered
8162-572: The Taoist sage Laozi ( fl. 6th century BC ). People bidding for office would request the prayers of Buddhist monks, with successful aspirants making donations in return. Before the persecution of Buddhism in the 9th century, Buddhism and Taoism were both accepted. Religion was central in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong ( r. 712–756 ). The Emperor invited Taoist and Buddhist monks and clerics to his court, exalted Laozi with grand titles, wrote commentary on Taoist scriptures, and set up
8316-529: The Ten Kingdoms, were established elsewhere, mainly in South China . It was a prolonged period of multiple political divisions in Chinese imperial history. Traditionally, the era is seen as beginning with the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 and reaching its climax with the founding of the Song dynasty in 960. In the following 19 years, Song gradually subdued the remaining states in South China, but
8470-479: The Turks. As early as the Sui dynasty, the Turks had become a major militarised force employed by the Chinese . When the Khitans began raiding northeast China in 605, a Chinese general led 20,000 Turks against them, distributing Khitan livestock and women to the Turks as a reward. On two occasions between 635 and 636, Tang royal princesses were married to Turk mercenaries or generals in Chinese service. Throughout
8624-543: The Western Regions against Gaochang in 640, Karasahr in 644 and 648, and Kucha in 648. The wars against the Western Turks continued under Emperor Gaozong , and the Western Turkic Khaganate was finally annexed after General Su Dingfang 's defeat of Khagan Ashina Helu in 657. Around this time, the Tang court enjoyed visits by numerous dignitaries from foreign lands. These were depicted in
8778-468: The Western Turks ruled by Ashina Helu. The Tang Empire competed with the Tibetan Empire for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia, which was at times settled with marriage alliances such as the marrying of Princess Wencheng ( d. 680 ) to Songtsän Gampo ( d. 649 ). A Tibetan tradition mentions that Chinese troops captured Lhasa after Songtsän Gampo's death, but no such invasion
8932-618: The White and Gloomy Planet of War) of 759. The Battle of Baekgang was actually a restoration movement by remnant forces of Baekje, since their kingdom was toppled in 660 by a Tang–Silla invasion, led by Chinese general Su Dingfang and Korean general Kim Yushin (595–673). In another joint invasion with Silla, the Tang army severely weakened the Goguryeo Kingdom in the north by taking out its outer forts in 645. With joint attacks by Silla and Tang armies under commander Li Shiji (594–669),
9086-477: The ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their titles on hereditarily. This is commonly recognised as the beginning of the fall of Tang's central government. By 737, Emperor Xuanzong discarded the policy of conscripting soldiers that were replaced every three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who were more battle-hardened and efficient. It was more economically feasible as well, since training new recruits and sending them out to
9240-492: The administrations that implemented policy, each of which was assigned different tasks. These Three Departments and Six Ministries included the personnel administration, finance, rites, military, justice, and public works—an administrative model which lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Although the founders of the Tang related to the glory of the earlier Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD),
9394-413: The age of 18, had prowess with bow and arrow, sword and lance and was known for his effective cavalry charges. Fighting a numerically superior army, he defeated Dou Jiande (573–621) at Luoyang in the Battle of Hulao on May 28, 621. Due to fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushed and killed two of his brothers, Li Yuanji ( b. 603 ) and crown prince Li Jiancheng ( b. 589 ), in
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#17327659600179548-437: The ailing Tang was also challenged when natural disasters led many to believe that the Tang had lost their right to rule. In 873, a disastrous harvest shook the foundations of the empire; in some areas only half of all agricultural produce was gathered, and tens of thousands faced famine and starvation. In the earlier period of the Tang, the central government was able to meet crises in the harvest—from 714 to 719, records show that
9702-558: The armies of Later Tang, Later Han, and Later Zhou. Zhao, also a professional soldier, rose through the ranks of the Later Zhou before seizing the throne in the Chenqiao Mutiny in 960, which ended the era of the Five Dynasties. The Qing historian Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692) wrote that this period could be compared to the earlier Warring States period of ancient China, remarking that none of the rulers could be described as " Son of Heaven ". The Five Dynasties' rulers, despite claiming
9856-470: The basis for much of their administrative organisation was very similar to the previous Northern and Southern dynasties . The Northern Zhou (6th century) fubing system of divisional militia was continued by the Tang, along with farmer-soldiers serving in rotation from the capital or frontier in order to receive appropriated farmland. The equal-field system of the Northern Wei (4th–6th centuries)
10010-470: The battlefield along with their troops. At this critical moment, Chai Rong risked his life to break through the defense and crushed Liu's forces. After this campaign, Chai Rong consolidated his power. Between 956 and 958, forces of Later Zhou conquered much of Southern Tang , the most powerful regime in southern China, which ceded all the territory north of the Yangtze in defeat. In 959, Chai Rong attacked
10164-727: The beginning of his reign in 713, he liquidated the Inexhaustible Treasury of a prominent Buddhist monastery in Chang'an which had collected vast riches as multitudes of anonymous repentants left money, silk, and treasure at its doors. Although the monastery used its funds generously, the Emperor condemned it for fraudulent banking practices , and distributed its wealth to other Buddhist and Taoist monasteries, and to repair local statues, halls, and bridges. In 714, he forbade Chang'an shops from selling copied Buddhist sutras, giving
10318-439: The capital is said to have executed suspects without inquiry. The Tang code of 737 was the basic statutory law for this period, together supplemental edicts and collections. The Later Liang promulgated a code in 909. This code was blamed for delays in the administration of justice and said to be excessively harsh with respect to economic crimes. The Later Tang, Later Jin, and Later Zhou also produced recompilations. The Later Han
10472-423: The capital. Students of Confucian studies were candidates for the imperial examinations , which qualified their graduates for appointment to the local, provincial, and central government bureaucracies. Two types of exams were given, mingjing ( 明經 ; 'illuminating the classics') and jinshi ( 進士 ; 'presented scholar'). The mingjing was based upon the Confucian classics and tested the student's knowledge of
10626-437: The central government, or against each other, and Youzhou seemed to conduct its own foreign policy. This meant that the culture of these northeastern provinces started diverging from the capital. Many of the elites in post-Tang China, including the future emperors of the Song dynasty, came from this region. The administrations of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty shared a pattern of being disproportionately drawn from
10780-467: The conditions for a massive rebellion against Xuanzong. The Tang Empire was at its height of power up until the middle of the 8th century, when the An Lushan rebellion (755–763) destroyed the prosperity of the empire. An Lushan was a half- Sogdian , half- Turkic Tang commander since 744, who had experience fighting the Khitans of Manchuria with a victory in 744, yet most of his campaigns against
10934-403: The control of the central government. In common with other periods of fragmentation, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period resulted in a division between northern and southern China . The greater stability of the Ten Kingdoms, especially the longevity of Wuyue and Southern Han, would contribute to the development of distinct regional identities within China. The distinction was reinforced by
11088-534: The court fled Chang'an. While the heir apparent raised troops in Shanxi and Xuanzong fled to Sichuan , they called upon the help of the Uyghur Khaganate in 756. The Uyghur khan Moyanchur was greatly excited at this prospect, and married his own daughter to the Chinese diplomatic envoy once he arrived, receiving in turn a Chinese princess as his bride. The Uyghurs helped recapture the Tang capital from
11242-431: The decentralization and militarization that characterized this period. While Tang procedure called for delaying executions until appeals were exhausted, this was not generally the case in the Five Dynasties. Other abuses included the use of severe torture. The Later Han was the most notorious dynasty in this regard. Suspects could be tortured to death with long knives and nails. The military officer in charge of security of
11396-580: The decline of Tang central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, there was a growing tendency to superimpose large regional administrations over the old districts and prefectures that had been used since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). These administrations, known as circuit commissions, would become the boundaries of the later Southern regimes; many circuit commissioners became the emperors or kings of these states. The historian Hugh Clark proposed
11550-418: The decline of central authority during the latter half of the dynasty. Like the previous Sui dynasty , the Tang maintained a civil-service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardised examinations and recommendations to office. The rise of regional military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century undermined this civil order. The dynasty and central government went into decline by
11704-506: The dynasty's end. From its numerous subjects, the dynasty raised professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers for control of Inner Asia and the lucrative trade-routes along the Silk Road . Far-flung kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also indirectly controlled several regions through a protectorate system. In addition to its political hegemony ,
11858-566: The earlier Han dynasty, the Tang and their Turkic allies conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks , but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun , the oasis states , and the Xueyantuo . Under Emperor Gaozong, a campaign led by the general Su Dingfang was launched against
12012-435: The effectiveness of the central government, the early 9th century is nonetheless viewed as a period of recovery for the Tang. The government's withdrawal from its role in managing the economy had the unintended effect of stimulating trade, as more markets with fewer bureaucratic restrictions were opened up. By 780, the old grain tax and labour service of the 7th century was replaced by a semi-annual tax paid in cash, signifying
12166-531: The eighteenth year of the Song dynasty , when Qian Shu surrendered to the expanding dynasty. The Min (909–945) was founded by Wang Shenzhi, who named himself the Prince of Min with its capital at Changle (present-day Fuzhou ). One of Shenzhi's sons proclaimed the independent state of Yin in the northeast of Min territory. The Southern Tang took that territory after the Min asked for help. Despite declaring loyalty to
12320-454: The emperor's authority. Li Keyong was the jiedushi for the Hedong circuit in present Shanxi, forming a polity called Jin (晉). His son Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang fiercely fought the regime forces to conquer northern China; Li Cunxu succeeded. He defeated Liu Shouguang (who had proclaimed a Yan Empire in 911) in 915, and declared himself emperor in 923; within a few months, he brought down
12474-619: The era's name. Some historians, such as Bo Yang , count eleven, including Yan and Qi but not the Northern Han , viewing it as simply a continuation of Later Han. This era also coincided with the founding of the Liao dynasty in the north, and the Dali Kingdom in the southwest. Other regimes during this period include Zhao , Yiwu Circuit, Dingnan Circuit , Wuping Circuit, Qingyuan Circuit , Yin , Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom , Guiyi Circuit and Xiliangfu . The Yang Wu (902–937)
12628-477: The families of military governors in northern and northwestern China ( Hebei , Shanxi , Shaanxi ), their personal staff, and the bureaucrats who served in the capitals of the Five dynasties. These families had risen to prominence due to the unraveling of central authority after the An Lushan Rebellion, despite lacking esteemed ancestry. The historian Deng Xiaonan argued that many of these military families, including
12782-472: The forceful reunification of China by the Later Zhou dynasty and its successor the Song dynasty, and the demilitarisation of the provinces. Southern China, divided into several independent dynastic kingdoms, was more stable than the North which saw constant regime change. Consequently, the Southern kingdoms were able to embark on trade, land reclamation, and infrastructure projects, laying the groundwork for
12936-695: The form of Qingyuan Jiedushi and Wuping Jiedushi [ zh ] for many years after. With this, Southern Tang became the undisputedly most powerful regime in southern China. However, it was unable to defeat incursions by the Later Zhou between 956 and 958, and ceded all of its land north of the Yangtze River . The Song dynasty, established in 960, was determined to reunify China. Jingnan and Wuping Jiedushi were swept away in 963, Later Shu in 965, Southern Han in 971, and Southern Tang in 975. Finally, Wuyue and Qingyuan Jiedushi gave up their land to Northern Song in 978, bringing all of southern China under
13090-607: The founder of Chu was (according to one source) a carpenter from Xuchang, the founder of Jingnan was a slave from Shanzhou and the founder of Southern Han was a southern tribal chief. The Southern kingdoms were founded by men of low social status who rose up through superior military ability, who were later scorned as "bandits" by future scholars. However, once established, these rulers took great pains to portray themselves as promoters of culture and economic development so as to legitimize their rule; many wooed former Tang courtiers to help administer their states. The economies of each of
13244-490: The fourth emperor of the Later Tang. Shi Jingtang, a Shatuo jiedushi from Taiyuan , was aided by the Khitan -led Liao dynasty in his rebellion. In return for their aid, Shi Jingtang promised annual tribute and the Sixteen Prefectures (modern northern Hebei and Beijing ) to the Khitans. The rebellion succeeded, and Shi Jingtang became emperor in this same year. Not long after the founding of Later Jin,
13398-611: The frontier every three years drained the treasury. By the late 7th century, the fubing troops began abandoning military service and the homes provided to them in the equal-field system. The supposed standard of 100 mu of land allotted to each family was in fact decreasing in size in places where population expanded and the wealthy bought up most of the land. Hard-pressed peasants and vagrants were then induced into military service with benefits of exemption from both taxation and corvée labour service, as well as provisions for farmland and dwellings for dependents who accompanied soldiers on
13552-544: The frontier. By 742, the total number of enlisted troops in the Tang armies had risen to about 500,000 men. In East Asia, Tang military campaigns were less successful elsewhere than in previous imperial Chinese dynasties. Like the emperors of the Sui dynasty before him , Taizong established a military campaign in 644 against the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo in the Goguryeo–Tang War ; however, this led to its withdrawal in
13706-437: The government had to officially acknowledge the jiedushi ' s hereditary rule without accreditation. The Tang government relied on these governors and their armies for protection and to suppress local revolts. In return, the central government would acknowledge the rights of these governors to maintain their army, collect taxes and even to pass on their title to heirs. As time passed, these military governors slowly phased out
13860-539: The imperial capital in 947 and proclaimed the advent of the Later Han , establishing a third successive Shatuo reign. This was the shortest of the five dynasties. Following a coup in 951, General Guo Wei , a Han Chinese , was enthroned, thus beginning the Later Zhou . However, Liu Chong , a member of the Later Han imperial family, established a rival Northern Han regime in Taiyuan and requested Khitan aid to defeat
14014-498: The imperial court. From Tang times until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912, scholar-officials served as intermediaries between the people and the government. The potential of a widespread examination system was not fully realised until the succeeding Song dynasty, when the merit-driven scholar official largely shed his aristocratic habits and defined his social status through the examination system. The examination system, used only on
14168-430: The imperial government, and by the early 10th century the jiedushi commanded de facto independence from its authority. In the last decades of the Tang dynasty, they were not even appointed by the central court anymore, but developed hereditary systems, from father to son or from patron to protégé. They had their own armies rivaling the "palace armies" and amassed huge wealth, as testified by their sumptuous tombs. Due to
14322-407: The landed wealth and official positions, was largely destroyed or marginalised. During the last two decades of the Tang dynasty, the gradual collapse of central authority led to the rise of the rival military figures Li Keyong and Zhu Wen in northern China. Tang forces had defeated Huang's rebellion with the aid of allied Shatuo , a Turkic people of what is now Shanxi , led by Li Keyong. He
14476-473: The late Tang after 847. Volumes 21–50 contain treatises, including rites, music, calendar, astronomy , five elements, geography, officials, carriages and clothes, literature, food and commodities, and law. The section on rites (volumes 21–27) is the longest and most detailed, showing the relative importance placed on ceremonial matters. This section includes descriptions of temple design, sacrifices, and festivals. The section on geography (volumes 38–41) contains
14630-487: The latter half of the 9th century; agrarian rebellions resulted in mass population loss and displacement, widespread poverty, and further government dysfunction that ultimately ended the dynasty in 907. The Tang capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an ) was the world's most populous city for much of the dynasty's existence. Two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries estimated the empire's population at about 50 million people, which grew to an estimated 80 million by
14784-407: The leadership of Liu Yan seized the territory. In the waning years of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the region was ruled by Zhou Xingfeng . In 963, the region was annexed by Song dynasty. Though considered one of the ten kingdoms, the Northern Han was based in the traditional Shatuo stronghold of Shanxi . It was founded by Liu Min ( 劉旻 ), formerly known as Liu Chong ( 劉崇 ), after
14938-486: The mid-Song. North China South China During the Tang dynasty, the warlord Zhu Wen was originally a member of Huang Chao 's rebel army, he took on a crucial role in suppressing the Huang Chao Rebellion. For this function, he was awarded the Xuanwu Jiedushi title. Within a few years, he had consolidated his power by destroying neighbours and forcing the move of the imperial capital to Luoyang , which
15092-403: The money supply by upholding the use of private coinage, while his aristocratic and technocratic successor Li Linfu ( d. 753 ) favoured government monopoly over the issuance of coinage. After 737, most of Xuanzong's confidence rested in his long-standing chancellor Li Linfu , who championed a more aggressive foreign policy employing non-Chinese generals. This policy ultimately created
15246-463: The most powerful of the southern states. Wuyue was known for its learning and culture. It was founded by Qian Liu , who set up his capital at Xifu (modern-day Hangzhou ). It was based mostly in modern Zhejiang province but also held parts of southern Jiangsu . Qian Liu was named the Prince of Yue by the Tang emperor in 902; the Prince of Wu was added in 904. After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, he declared himself king of Wuyue. Wuyue survived until
15400-581: The neighboring Wuyue , the Southern Tang finished its conquest of Min in 945. The Southern Han (917–971) was founded in Guangzhou by Liu Yan . His brother, Liu Yin , was named regional governor by the Tang court. The kingdom included Guangdong , Guangxi , and Hainan . It was finally conquered by the Song dynasty. The Ma Chu (927–951) was founded by Ma Yin with the capital at Changsha . The kingdom held Hunan and northeastern Guangxi . Ma
15554-420: The new capital so as to reintegrate these traditions into the imperial culture. This was distinct from the five Northern dynasties, who never supported extended monastic lineage networks but instead typically sought to restrict them and draw on their economic and military resources. Although short, the period saw cultural innovations in different areas. Pottery saw the appearance of "white ceramics"/ In painting,
15708-497: The next several centuries, although the Song controlled much of South China, they coexisted alongside the Liao dynasty, Jin dynasty, and various other regimes in China's north, until finally all of them were unified under the Yuan dynasty . Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, the imperial government granted increased powers to the jiedushi , the regional military governors. The An Lushan (755–763) and Huang Chao rebellions weakened
15862-545: The northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty . 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 , the founder of the Han-ruled Western Liang kingdom. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which also included
16016-517: The original forms after her death. Arguably the most important part of her legacy was diminishing the hegemony of the Northwestern aristocracy, allowing people from other clans and regions of China to become more represented in Chinese politics and government. There were many prominent women at court during and after Wu's reign, including Shangguan Wan'er (664–710), a poet, writer, and trusted official in charge of Wu's private office. In 706,
16170-443: The other remaining regimes in South China, conquering Northern Han in 979, starting the Song dynasty era in 982. Unlike the dynasties of northern China, which succeeded one another in rapid succession, the regimes of South China were generally concurrent, each controlling a specific geographical area. These were known as "The Ten Kingdoms" (in fact, some claimed the title of Emperor, such as Former Shu and Later Shu ). Each court
16324-478: The palace with a few followers and slew Empress Wei and her faction. He then installed his father Emperor Ruizong ( r. 710–712 ) on the throne. Just as Emperor Zhongzong was dominated by Empress Wei, so too was Ruizong dominated by Princess Taiping . This ended when Princess Taiping's coup failed in 712, and Emperor Ruizong abdicated to Emperor Xuanzong . The Tang reached its height during Emperor Xuanzong's 44-year reign, which has been characterized as
16478-479: The peoples populating the areas bordering the Tang empire (194–200). The book's compiling began when the Later Jin 's founding emperor Shi Jingtang ordered its compilation in 941. The original chief editor was Zhao Ying , who was also the chancellor then. However, by the time of its completion, Liu Xu had become chancellor and taken over the work of organisation; as a result he was credited as chief editor when
16632-496: The popular pipa . Tang scholars compiled a rich variety of historical literature , as well as encyclopaedias 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 subsequently declined in influence. The House of Li had ethnic Han origins, and it belonged to
16786-417: The population was tallied at 9 million households, about 50 million people, and this number did not increase in the census of 742. Patricia Ebrey writes that nonwithstanding census undercounting, China's population had not grown significantly since the earlier Han dynasty , which recorded 58 million people in 2 AD. Adshead disagrees, estimating about 75 million people by 750. In
16940-409: The position of Taishang Huang ('retired emperor'), and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor Yang You . On the 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. Emperor Gaozu ruled until 626, when he was forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin , the Prince of Qin. Li Shimin had commanded troops since
17094-404: The practice of selling merchants the rights to buy monopoly salt, which they transported and sold in local markets. In 799, salt accounted for over half of the government's revenues. S. A. M. Adshead writes that this salt tax represents "the first time that an indirect tax, rather than tribute, levies on land or people, or profit from state enterprises such as mines, had been the primary resource of
17248-499: The previous Shu state that had fallen a decade earlier to the Later Tang . Because the Later Tang was in decline and Li Cunxu was killed in a revolt, Meng Zhixiang found the opportunity to reassert Shu's independence. Like the Former Shu, the capital was at Chengdu and it basically controlled the same territory as its predecessor. The kingdom was ruled well until forced to succumb to Song armies in 965. The Southern Tang (937–975)
17402-407: The prominence of civil officials drafted by exams, and became more autonomous from central authority. The rule of these powerful military governors lasted until 960, when a new civil order under the Song dynasty was established. The abandonment of the equal-field system also meant that people could buy and sell land freely; many poor fell into debt because of this and were forced to sell their land to
17556-400: The prominent Tang poet Li Bai . The Tang emperors were partially of Xianbei ancestry, as Emperor Gaozu of Tang 's mother Duchess Dugu was part-Xianbei. Apart from the traditional historiography, some modern historians have suggested the Tang imperial family might have modified its genealogy to conceal their Xianbei heritage. Emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan) was the founder of the Tang. He
17710-422: The rebels, but they refused to leave until the Tang paid them an enormous sum of tribute in silk. Even Abbasid Arabs assisted the Tang in putting down the rebellion. A massacre of foreign Arab and Persian Muslim merchants by Tian Shengong happened during the An Lushan rebellion in the 760 Yangzhou massacre . The Tibetans took hold of the opportunity and raided many areas under Chinese control, and even after
17864-512: The release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China. While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu ), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. As during
18018-414: The rulers of the Southern states were almost all military leaders from the North with their key officers and elite forces also hailing from the North since the bulk of the Tang army was based in the North. The founders of Wu and Former Shu were 'rogues' from Huainan and Xuchang respectively, the founder of Min was a minor government staffer from Huainan, the founder of Wuyue was a 'rogue' from Hangzhou ,
18172-876: The same time the Tang faced threats on its western border when a large Chinese army was defeated by the Tibetans on the Dafei River in 670. By 676, the Tang army was expelled out of Korea by a unified Silla . Following a revolt of the Eastern Turks in 679, the Tang abandoned its Korean campaigns. Although the Tang had fought the Japanese, they still held cordial relations with Japan. There were numerous Imperial embassies to China from Japan, diplomatic missions that were not halted until 894 by Emperor Uda ( r. 887–897 ), upon persuasion by Sugawara no Michizane (845–903). The Japanese Emperor Tenmu ( r. 672–686 ) even established his conscripted army on that of
18326-521: The shift to a money economy boosted by the merchant class. Cities in the southern Jiangnan region such as Yangzhou , Suzhou , and Hangzhou prospered the most economically during the late Tang period. The government monopoly on salt production , weakened after the An Lushan rebellion, was placed under the Salt Commission , which became one of the most powerful state agencies, run by capable ministers chosen as specialists. The commission began
18480-485: The son of a Shatuo commander in Li Keyong's army and became the son-in-law of the Later Tang general and emperor Li Siyuan , who was himself an adopted son of Li Keyong. The Later Han founder Liu Zhiyuan was a Shatuo officer under Li Siyuan and Shi Jintang. The father of the Later Zhou founder Guo Wei fought in Li Keyong's army and Guo served under Liu Zhiyuan. The father of Song founder Zhao Kuangyin served in
18634-494: The south, to a point north of Kashmir bordering Persia in the west, to northern Korea in the north-east. Some of the kingdoms paying tribute to the Tang dynasty included Kashmir , Nepal, Khotan , Kucha , Kashgar , Silla , Champa , and kingdoms located in Amu Darya and Syr Darya valley. Turkic nomads addressed the Tang emperor as Tian Kehan . After the widespread Göktürk revolt of Shabolüe Khan ( d. 658 )
18788-498: The southern regions had prospered in the late Tang. Guangdong and Fujian were the sites of important port cities trading exotic goods, the middle Yangtze and Sichuan were centers of tea and porcelain production, and the Yangtze delta was a center of extremely high agricultural production and an entrepot for the other regions. The regions were economically interdependent. Sui and Tang's policies, while paying little attention to developing
18942-508: The status of emperor , sometimes dealt with each other on terms of diplomatic equality out of pragmatic concern. This concept of "sharing the Mandate of Heaven" as "sibling states" was the result of the brief balance of power. After the reunification of China by the Song dynasty, the Song embarked on a special effort to denounce such arrangements. The Southern regimes generally had more stable and effective government during this period. Even
19096-560: The steppe nomads. Chinese foreign policy to the north and west now had to deal with Turkic nomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group in Central Asia. To handle and avoid any threats posed by the Turks, the Sui government repaired fortifications and received their trade and tribute missions. They sent four royal princesses to form heqin marriage alliances with Turkic clan leaders, in 597, 599, 614, and 617. The Sui stirred trouble and conflict among ethnic groups against
19250-701: The throne, he was deposed by Empress Wu in favour of his younger brother, Emperor Ruizong . This provoked a group of Tang princes to rebel in 684. Wu's armies suppressed them within two months. She proclaimed the Tianshou era of Wu Zhou on October 16, 690, and three days later demoted Emperor Ruizong to crown prince . He was also forced to give up his father's surname Li in favour of the Empress Wu. She then ruled as China's only empress regnant . A palace coup on February 20, 705, forced Empress Wu to yield her position on February 22. The next day, her son Zhongzong
19404-553: The various regions of the empire, it was recorded in 845 that bandits and river pirates in parties of 100 or more began plundering settlements along the Yangtze River with little resistance. In 858, massive floods along the Grand Canal inundated vast tracts of land and terrain of the North China Plain , which drowned tens of thousands of people in the process. The Chinese belief in the Mandate of Heaven granted to
19558-417: The way for the later overthrow of the Tang. Large groups of bandits in the size of small armies ravaged the countryside in the last years of the Tang. They smuggled illicit salt, ambushed merchants and convoys, and even besieged several walled cities. Amid the sacking of cities and murderous factional strife among eunuchs and officials, the top tier of aristocratic families, which had amassed a large fraction of
19712-488: The wealthy, which led to the exponential growth of large estates. With the breakdown of the land allocation system after 755, the central Chinese state barely interfered in agricultural management and acted merely as tax collector for roughly a millennium, save a few instances such as the Song's failed land nationalisation during the 13th-century war with the Mongols . With the central government collapsing in authority over
19866-475: The wife of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Empress Wei ( d. 710 ), persuaded her husband to staff government offices with his sister and her daughters, and in 709 requested that he grant women the right to bequeath hereditary privileges to their sons (which before was a male right only). Empress Wei eventually poisoned Zhongzong, whereupon she placed his fifteen-year-old son upon the throne in 710. Two weeks later, Li Longji (the later Emperor Xuanzong) entered
20020-545: The work was presented in 945 to Emperor Chu of Jin . Being a relatively quickly compiled work of official history, the Old Book of Tang was a compilation of earlier annals, now lost; it further incorporates other monographs and biographies, using as sources (for instance) the Tongdian of Du You . These sources were often directly copied from records and earlier histories, and the result would be severely criticised during
20174-445: Was a brief end to the hereditary jiedushi , as Xianzong appointed his own military officers and staffed the regional bureaucracies once again with civil officials. However, Xianzong's successors proved less capable and more interested in the leisure of hunting, feasting, and playing outdoor sports, allowing eunuchs to amass more power as drafted scholar-officials caused strife in the bureaucracy with factional parties. The eunuchs' power
20328-490: Was a center of artistic excellence. The period is noted for the vitality of its poetry and for its economic prosperity. Commerce grew so quickly that there was a shortage of metallic currency. This was partly addressed by the creation of bank drafts, or "flying money" ( feiqian ), as well as by certificates of deposit. Wood block printing became common during this period, 500 years before Johannes Gutenberg 's press. The Ten Kingdoms were: Only ten are traditionally listed, hence
20482-570: Was aided by the fiscal reforms of the 780s, including a government monopoly on the salt industry. He also had an effective and well-trained imperial army stationed at the capital led by his court eunuchs; this was the Army of Divine Strategy, numbering 240,000 in strength as recorded in 798. Between 806 and 819, Emperor Xianzong conducted seven major military campaigns to quell the rebellious provinces that had claimed autonomy from central authority, managing to subdue all but two of them. Under his reign, there
20636-517: Was almost totally diminished by 626, along with the 628 defeat of the Ordos warlord Liang Shidu ; after these internal conflicts, the Tang began an offensive against the Turks. In 630, Tang armies captured areas of the Ordos Desert, modern-day Inner Mongolia province, and southern Mongolia from the Turks. After this military victory, On June 11, 631, Emperor Taizong also sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade
20790-483: Was also filled with incredible amounts of riches and resources to spare. When the Chinese prefectural government officials travelled to the capital in 643 to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts, Emperor Taizong discovered that many had no proper quarters to rest in and were renting rooms with merchants. Therefore, Emperor Taizong ordered the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official his own private mansion in
20944-447: Was also kept, although there were a few modifications. Although the central and local governments kept an enormous number of records about land property in order to assess taxes, it became common practice in the Tang for literate and affluent people to create their own private documents and signed contracts. These had their own signature and that of a witness and scribe in order to prove in court (if necessary) that their claim to property
21098-448: Was chief minister Liu Xu , but the bulk (if not all) of the editing work was actually completed by his predecessor Zhao Ying . The authors include Zhang Zhao , Jia Wei ( 賈緯 ), and Zhao Xi ( 趙熙 ). The Old Book of Tang comprises 200 volumes. Volumes 1–20 contain the annals of the Tang emperors. Twitchett notes that coverage over time in the annals is most dense during the early and middle Tang, including only very sparse information in
21252-650: Was designed to draw the best talent into government. But perhaps an even greater consideration for the Tang rulers was to avoid imperial dependence on powerful aristocratic families and warlords by recruiting a body of career officials having no family or local power base. The Tang law code ensured equal division of inherited property among legitimate heirs, encouraging social mobility by preventing powerful families from becoming landed nobility through primogeniture . The competition system proved successful, as scholar-officials acquired status in their local communities while developing an esprit de corps that connected them to
21406-545: Was different when a servant or nephew killed a master or an uncle than when a master or uncle killed a servant or nephew. The Tang Code was largely retained by later codes such as the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) code of 1397, yet there were several revisions in later times, such as improved property rights for women during the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Tang had three departments ( 省 ; shěng ), which were obliged to draft, review, and implement policies respectively. There were also six ministries ( 部 ; bù ) under
21560-595: Was ended when Zhu deposed Ai and took the throne for himself (known posthumously as Emperor Taizu of Later Liang). He established the Later Liang , which inaugurated the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . A year later, Zhu had the deposed Emperor Ai poisoned to death. Zhu Wen's enemy Li Keyong died in 908, having never claimed the title of emperor out of loyalty to the Tang. His son Li Cunxu (Emperor Zhuangzong) inherited his title Prince of Jin along with his father's rivalry against Zhu. In 923, Li Cunxu declared
21714-421: Was established in 653; it was divided into 500 articles specifying different crimes and penalties ranging from ten blows with a light stick, one hundred blows with a heavy rod, exile, penal servitude, or execution. The legal code distinguished different levels of severity in meted punishments when different members of the social and political hierarchy committed the same crime. For example, the severity of punishment
21868-478: Was established in modern-day Jiangsu , Anhui , and Jiangxi . It was founded by Yang Xingmi , who became a Tang dynasty military governor in 892. The capital was initially at Guangling (present-day Yangzhou ) and later moved to Jinling (present-day Nanjing ). The kingdom fell in 937 when it was taken from within by the founder of the Southern Tang . The Wuyue was the longest-lived (907–978) and among
22022-423: Was formally absorbed into the Song dynasty. Although more stable than northern China as a whole, southern China was also torn apart by warfare. Wu quarreled with its neighbours, a trend that continued as Wu was replaced with Southern Tang. In the 940s Min and Chu underwent internal crises which Southern Tang handily took advantage of, destroying Min in 945 and Chu in 951. Remnants of Min and Chu, however, survived in
22176-459: Was in the service of the Later Liang (the successor of the Tang in North China). Gao's successors claimed the title of King of Nanping after the fall of the Later Liang in 924. It was a small and weak kingdom, and thus tried to maintain good relations with each of the Five Dynasties. The kingdom fell to advancing armies of the Song in 963. Former Shu (907–925) was founded after the fall of
22330-470: Was killed by his own son in 763. After 710, regional military governors called jiedushi gradually came to challenge the power of the central government. After the An Lushan rebellion, the autonomous power and authority accumulated by the jiedushi in Hebei went beyond the central government's control. After a series of rebellions between 781 and 784 in present-day Hebei, Henan , Shandong , and Hubei,
22484-491: Was legitimate. The prototype of this actually existed since the ancient Han dynasty, while contractual language became even more common and embedded into Chinese literary culture in later dynasties. The centre of the political power of the Tang was the capital city of Chang'an (modern Xi'an ), where the emperor maintained his large palace quarters and entertained political emissaries with music, sports, acrobats, poetry, paintings, and dramatic theatre performances . The capital
22638-465: Was made a jiedushi , and later Prince of Jin , bestowed with the imperial surname Li by the Tang court. Zhu Wen, originally a salt smuggler who served as a lieutenant under the rebel Huang Chao, surrendered to Tang forces. By helping to defeat Huang, he was renamed Zhu Quanzhong ("Zhu of Perfect Loyalty") and granted a rapid series of promotions to military governor of Xuanwu Circuit. In 901, from his power base of Kaifeng , Zhu Wen seized control of
22792-473: Was named regional military governor by the Tang court in 896, and named himself the Prince of Chu with the fall of the Tang in 907. This status as the Prince of Chu was confirmed by the Southern Tang in 927. The Southern Tang absorbed the state in 951 and moved the royal family to its capital in Nanjing , although Southern Tang rule of the region was temporary, as the next year former Chu military officers under
22946-719: Was not challenged following the Ganlu Incident , where Emperor Wenzong ( r. 826–840 ) failed in his plot to have them overthrown; instead, Wenzong's allies were publicly executed in Chang'an's West Market on the eunuchs' command. Decades after the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang was able to muster enough power to launch offensive military campaigns, including its destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate in Mongolia from 840 to 847. The Tang managed to restore indirect control over former territories as far west as
23100-572: Was previously Duke of Tang and governor of Taiyuan , the capital of modern Shanxi , during the collapse of the Sui dynasty (581–618). Li had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui (their mothers were both one of the 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
23254-533: Was put down at Issyk Kul in 657 by Su Dingfang (591–667), Emperor Gaozong established several protectorates governed by a Protectorate General or Grand Protectorate General, which extended the Chinese sphere of influence as far as Herat in Western Afghanistan. Protectorate Generals were given a great deal of autonomy to handle local crises without waiting for central admission. After Xuanzong's reign, jiedushi were given enormous power, including
23408-554: Was restored to power; the Tang was formally restored on March 3. She died soon after. To legitimise her rule, she circulated a document known as the Great Cloud Sutra , which predicted that a reincarnation of the Maitreya Buddha would be a female monarch who would dispel illness, worry, and disaster from the world. She even introduced numerous revised written characters for the language, though they reverted to
23562-410: Was the successor state of Wu as Li Bian (Emperor Liezu) took the state over from within in 937. Expanding from the original domains of Wu , it eventually took over Yin, Min, and Chu, holding present-day southern Anhui, southern Jiangsu, much of Jiangxi, Hunan, and eastern Hubei at its height. The kingdom became nominally subordinate to the expanding Song in 961 and was invaded outright in 975, when it
23716-441: Was within his region of influence. In 904, he executed Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and made Zhaozong's 13-year-old son Emperor Ai of Tang a subordinate ruler. Three years later, he induced the boy emperor to abdicate in his favour. He then proclaimed himself emperor, thus beginning the Later Liang . In the final years of the Tang dynasty, rival warlords declared independence in the provinces they governed—not all of which recognized
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