Editing History of Asia (section)

=====Tang dynasty=====
{{main|Tang dynasty}}
[[File:Battle of Talas.png|thumb|380px|[[Battle of Talas]] between Tang dynasty and [[Abbasid Caliphate]] c. 751]]

Fortunately, one of Yang's most respectable advisors, Li Yuan, was able to claim the throne quickly, preventing a chaotic collapse. He proclaimed himself [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang|Emperor Gaozu]], and established the [[Tang dynasty]] in 623. The Tang saw expansion of China through conquest to Tibet in the west, [[Vietnam]] in the south, and Manchuria in the north. Tang emperors also improved the education of scholars in the Chinese bureaucracy. A Ministry of Rites was established and the examination system was improved to better qualify scholars for their jobs.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 270|quote=In the Tang and Song periods, the examination system was greatly expanded, and the pattern of advancement in the civil service was much more regularized. This meant that in the political realm more than any previous political system (and those yet to come for centuries), the Chinese connected merit as measured by tested skills with authority and status.}} In addition, Buddhism became popular in China with two different strains between the peasantry and the elite, the [[Pure Land Buddhism|Pure Land]] and [[Zen]] strains, respectively.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|pp. 271–272|quote=Among the masses, the salvationist pure land strain of Mahayana Buddhism won widespread conversions because it seemed to provide a refuge from an age of war and turmoil. Members of the elite class, on the other hand, were more attracted to the Chan variant of Buddhism, or Zen as it is known in Japan and the West.}} Greatly supporting the spread of Buddhism was [[Wu Zetian|Empress Wu]], who additionally claimed an unofficial "Zhou dynasty" and displayed China's tolerance of a woman ruler, which was rare at the time. However, Buddhism would also experience some backlash, especially from Confucianists and Taoists. This would usually involve criticism about how it was costing the state money, since the government was unable to tax Buddhist monasteries, and additionally sent many grants and gifts to them.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 273|quote=Because monastic lands and resources were not taxed, the Tang regime lost huge amounts of revenue as a result of imperial grants or the gifts of wealthy families to Buddhist monasteries.}}

The Tang dynasty began to decline under the rule of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]], who began to neglect the economy and military and caused unrest amongst the court officials due to the excessive influence of his concubine, [[Yang Guifei]], and her family.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 274|quote=The arrogance and excessive ambition of Yang Guifei and her family angered members of the rival cliques at court, who took every opportunity to turn Yang&apos;s excesses into a cause for popular unreast.}} This eventually sparked a revolt in 755.{{sfn|Stearns|2011|loc=Chapter 12}}{{rp|p. 274|quote=The deepening crisis came to a head in 755 when one of [Xuanzong]&apos;s main military leaders&nbsp;... led a widely supported revolt with the aim of founding a new dynasty to supplant the Tang.}} Although the revolt failed, subduing it required involvement with the unruly nomadic tribes outside of China and distributing more power to local leaders—leaving the government and economy in a degraded state. The Tang dynasty officially ended in 907 and various factions led by the aforementioned nomadic tribes and local leaders would fight for control of China in the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]].