Editing History of China (section)

====Tang dynasty (618–907)====
{{main|Tang dynasty}}
{{see also|Wu Zhou}}

{{multiple image
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| title             = Tang dynasty (AD 618–907)
| image1            = China, 742.svg
| caption1          = Tang Dynasty in 742 AD
| image2            = 河南 洛阳 龙门石窟 - panoramio.jpg
| caption2          = The Fengxian cave ({{c.}} 675 AD) of the [[Longmen Grottoes]], commissioned by [[Wu Zetian]].
| image3            = 洛阳龙门石窟，Luo Yang Dragon Gate Grottoes - panoramio (9).jpg
| caption3          = Inside a cave of [[Longmen Grottoes]], a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]].
| image4            = Dunhuang star map.jpg
| caption4          = The [[Dunhuang map]] is to date the world's oldest complete preserved star atlas.
}}

The Tang dynasty was a [[Pax Sinica|golden age of Chinese civilization]], a prosperous, stable, and creative period with significant developments in culture, art, literature, particularly [[Tang poetry|poetry]], and technology. [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]] became the predominant religion for the common people. [[Chang'an]] (modern [[Xi'an]]), the national capital, was the [[List of largest cities throughout history|largest city in the world during its time]].<ref>{{ cite book
|isbn =  9780674064010
| author-link= Mark Edward Lewis 
| first = Mark Edward | last= Lewis
| title=China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty
| year = 2012 | publisher=Belknap Press
| series = History of Imperial China 3
}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref>

The first emperor, [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang|Emperor Gaozu]], came to the throne on 18 June 618, placed there by his son, Li Shimin, who became the second emperor, [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Taizong]], one of the greatest [[Emperor of China|emperors in Chinese history]]. Combined military conquests and diplomatic maneuvers reduced threats from Central Asian tribes, extended the border, and brought neighboring states into [[Imperial Chinese tributary system|a tributary system]]. Military victories in the [[Tang dynasty in Inner Asia|Tarim Basin]] kept the Silk Road open, connecting Chang'an to Central Asia and areas far to the west. In the south, lucrative maritime trade routes from port cities such as [[Guangzhou]] connected with distant countries, and foreign merchants settled in China, encouraging a [[Cosmopolitanism|cosmopolitan]] culture. The Tang culture and social systems were observed and adapted by neighboring countries, most notably [[Nara period|Japan]]. Internally the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] linked the political heartland in Chang'an to the agricultural and economic centers in the eastern and southern parts of the empire. [[Xuanzang]], a Chinese [[Bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]], scholar, traveller, and translator travelled to India on his own and returned with "over six hundred Mahayana and Hinayana texts, seven statues of the Buddha and more than a hundred [[sarira]] relics."

The prosperity of the early Tang dynasty was abetted by a centralized bureaucracy. The government was organized as "[[Three Departments and Six Ministries]]" to separately draft, review, and implement policies. These departments were run by royal family members and landed aristocrats, but as the dynasty wore on, were joined or replaced by [[Scholar-bureaucrats|scholar officials]] selected by [[imperial examination]]s, setting patterns for later dynasties.

Under the Tang "[[equal-field system]]" all land was owned by the Emperor and granted to each family according to household size. Men granted land were conscripted for military service for a fixed period each year, a military policy known as the ''[[Fubing system|fubing]]'' system. These policies stimulated a rapid growth in productivity and a significant army without much burden on the state treasury. By the dynasty's midpoint, however, [[Standing army|standing armies]] had replaced conscription, and land was continuously falling into the hands of private owners and religious institutions granted exemptions.

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Freer SacklerDSCF8036.JPG
 | caption1 = [[Western Regions|Central Asian]] influence can also be seen in the shape of this cup. The metropolitan and multicultural influences of this era can also be seen in the myriad depictions of foreigners in Tang [[Sancai]] ceramics and wall murals.
 | image2 = Gilt silver jar with pattern of dancing horses.jpg
 | caption2 = A Tang period [[gilding|gilt]]-silver jar, shaped in the style of northern [[nomad]]'s leather bag decorated with a [[domestication of the horse|horse]] dancing with a cup of wine in its mouth, as the horses of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] were trained to do.{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|p=127}}
}}

The dynasty continued to flourish under the rule of Empress [[Wu Zetian]], the only official [[empress regnant]] in Chinese history, and reached its zenith during the long reign of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]], who oversaw an empire that stretched from the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] to the [[Aral Sea]] with at least {{nowrap|50 million}} people. There were vibrant artistic and cultural creations, including works of the greatest Chinese [[Tang poetry|poets]], [[Li Bai]] and [[Du Fu]].

At the zenith of prosperity of the empire, the [[An Lushan Rebellion]] from 755 to 763 was a watershed event. War, disease, and economic disruption [[An Lushan Rebellion#Death toll|devastated the population]] and drastically weakened the central imperial government. Upon suppression of the rebellion, regional military governors, known as ''[[jiedushi]]'', gained increasingly autonomous status as the central government lost its ability to control them. With loss of revenue from land tax, the central imperial government came to rely heavily on its [[Salt in Chinese history|salt monopoly]]. Externally, former submissive states raided the empire and the vast border territories were lost for centuries. Nevertheless, civil society recovered and thrived amidst the weakened imperial bureaucracy.

In late Tang period the empire was worn out by recurring revolts of the regional military governors, while scholar-officials engaged in fierce [[Niu–Li factional strife|factional strife]] and corrupted [[eunuchs]] [[Sweet Dew incident|amassed immense power]]. Catastrophically, the [[Huang Chao Rebellion]], from 874 to 884, devastated the entire empire for a decade. The sack of the southern port [[Guangzhou]] in 879 was followed by the [[Guangzhou massacre|massacre]] of most of its inhabitants, especially the large foreign merchant enclaves.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/voyagedumarchand00sirauoft |title=Voyage du marchand arabe Sulaymân en Inde et en Chine, rédigé en 851, suivi de remarques par Abû Zayd Hasan (vers 916) |publisher=Paris Éditions Bossard |year=1922 |editor=Ferrand |editor-first=Gabriel |editor-link=Gabriel Ferrand |page=[https://archive.org/details/voyagedumarchand00sirauoft/page/76 76] |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/judaism/kaifung.html |title=Kaifung Jews |publisher=University of Cumbria, Division of Religion and Philosophy |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028113532/http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/judaism/kaifung.html |archive-date=28 October 2008  }}</ref> By 881, both capitals, [[Luoyang]] and [[Chang'an]], fell successively. The reliance on ethnic [[Han Chinese|Han]] and [[Shatuo|Turkic]] [[Jiedushi|warlords]] in suppressing the rebellion increased their power and influence. Consequently, the fall of the dynasty following [[Zhu Wen]]'s usurpation led to an [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period|era of division]].

In 808, 30,000 Shatuo under Zhuye Jinzhong defected from the Tibetans to Tang China and the Tibetans punished them by killing Zhuye Jinzhong as they were chasing them.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm-cEAAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PT248 | title=From the Khitans to the Jurchens & Mongols: A History of Barbarians in Triangle Wars & Quartet Conflicts | isbn=9781663242587 | last1=Yuan | first1=Hong | date=14 November 2022 | publisher=iUniverse }}</ref> The Uyghurs also fought against an alliance of Shatuo and Tibetans at Beshbalik.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=RA1-PA310 | title=History of Central Asia, the: 4-volume set | isbn=9781838608682 | last1=Baumer | first1=Christoph | date=18 April 2018 | publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref> The Shatuo Turks under Zhuye Chixin ([[Li Guochang]]) served the Tang dynasty in fighting against their fellow Turkic people in the [[Uyghur Khaganate]]. In 839, when the Uyghur khaganate (Huigu) general Jueluowu (掘羅勿) rose against the rule of then-reigning [[Zhangxin Khan]], he elicited the help from Zhuye Chixin by giving Zhuye 300 horses, and together, they defeated Zhangxin Khan, who then committed suicide, precipitating the subsequent collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate. In the next few years, when Uyghur Khaganate remnants tried to raid Tang borders, the Shatuo participated extensively in counterattacking the Uyghur Khaganate with other tribes loyal to Tang.<ref>''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷246|vol. 246]].</ref> In 843, Zhuye Chixin, under the command of the Han Chinese officer [[Shi Xiong]] with Tuyuhun, Tangut and Han Chinese troops, participated in a raid against the Uyghur khaganate that led to the slaughter of Uyghur forces at Shahu mountain.<ref>{{multiref2|''Zizhi Tongjian'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷247|vol. 247]].|{{cite book | last= Twitchett | first= Denis | author-link = Denis Twitchett | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nSk7EAAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PA173 | title=Warfare in Chinese History | isbn=9789004482944 | editor=Hans van de Ven | date=2000 | publisher=Brill | page=173 | series= Sinica Leidensia, vol. 47 | doi=10.1163/9789004482944_006 | chapter= Tibet in Tang's Grand Strategy }}|{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzEUAgAAQBAJ&dq=843+shatuo&pg=PA32 | title=Governing China: 150–1850 | isbn=9781603844475 | last1=Dardess | first1=John W. | date= 2010 | publisher=Hackett | page=32 }}}}</ref>