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I would nominate the illustrious period that is known today as the ―Chinese Golden
Age‖, to be one of the greatest periods of time for all Chinese people anywhere in the
world.

Though the Tang Empire (618–907 AD) compared to the other Chinese dynasties that
came before and even after it, was certainly neither the most successful, nor the richest,
largest, nor even the most famous, it was meanwhile however, the most
internationalized, cosmopolitan, open-minded and therefore also the greatest period of
Imperial China not only in my mind, but also in the popular opinion of many other
individuals, regardless of whether they be ethnically Chinese or not.

A Tang era artist’s portrait of a group of Imperial Courtesans:

Because of this great period of cosmopolitanism, Chinese civilization reached its

almighty zenith, enabling it to influence countries even as far away as Persia, Arabia
and Japan. The Chinese Economy meanwhile became the wealthiest in the world, its
cities the largest, all the while Tang society and culture became the ultimate envy of the
entire civilized world.
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Thus, the Tang can be said to clearly be a very admirable period for the Chinese
people, and it is my greatest pleasure as an ―Overseas‖ Chinese of sinitic ancestry, to
proudly present: the Golden Era of the Tang Dynasty.

A map of Tang China at its mighty zenith in 669 AD under Emperor Gaozong, with a
total land area of approximately 12.37 million km^2 (making it 29% larger than Modern
China today), which was then subsequently greatly reduced in magnitude by millions of
km^2 merely 50 years later (Source/Fact Checker: World History Maps & Timelines):

STRONG WARNING: Because my answer is so long, I would highly recommend you

read my answer one chapter at a time (there are 7), perhaps maybe one per day or
hour. If you read it all at once, you might strain your eyes.

Don’t worry I have also included a TL;DR near the bottom ;)

For those of you who have an unholy amount of impatience, it is my obligation to remind
you that this answer of mine will be long (like all my other answers in recent time really),
so long in fact that it is approximately 16,900 words in length. Yes, I guess I really
am covering virtually everything about the Tang.
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Note from author: Yes, you are correct in claiming that I have already previously
written an answer on the Tang Dynasty. However, last time I only wrote 6,700 words
which I now see was very shamefully short indeed when honouring the greatest era of
Imperial China. More was needed then, a need which shall indeed be hopefully satisfied
now.

 Chapter I: ―The New World Order‖: The Rise of the Golden Age, and the
End of the Era of Disunity
 Chapter II: ―Non Filial Piety‖: Great Reforms and Treasonous Usurpations
 Chapter III: ―China’s God Emperor‖: The Great Civilizational Legacy of
Tang Taizong
 Chapter IV: ―Wealth Beyond Measure‖: An Era of Economic Prosperity
 Chapter V: ―The Enlightened Way‖: The Adoption of Buddhism, and the
Great Open-Mindedness of the Tang Empire
 Chapter VI: ―A Cosmopolitan Empire‖: Tang Civil Society and
Achievements
 Chapter VII: ―The Great Envy of the World‖: A Pinnacle of Chinese Power
and Influence
 Final Summary (TL;DR)
 Special Acknowledgments

Chapter I: “The New World Order”: The Rise of the Golden Age, and the End of
the Era of Disunity

In 581 AD, Yang Jian formerly an official of one of the many successive, nomadic led
dynasties in Northern China, adopted the title ―Wen of Sui‖ before subsequently going
on to overthrow the Emperor under whom he formerly served, and in doing so, he
managed to reunify China in 589 AD for the first time in 361 years under the banner of
his newly proclaimed ―Sui Empire‖ (581–618 AD).

The territories of the newly proclaimed Sui Dynasty at its peak:

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This was no trivial matter however, for prior to the reunification of China under Emperor
Wen, the land which was soon to become Sui China was a former shadow of itself; a
stagnated, and slowly decaying collection of divided states, which had regressed from
an earlier high point in China’s long history, now acquiescing instead to chaos, death
and disorder.

After the fall of this aforementioned high point that is the mighty Han Dynasty (206–220
AD), China fell from grace as one of the greater civilizations of the world. In the
aftermath of its collapse, 40 million people, 2/3 of China’s population were slowly
exterminated over a period of 60 years during the post-Han civil war, popularly
remembered today as the ―Three Kingdoms‖ Period (220–280 AD).

During this said civil war, the promises of peace, progress and unity, of which the former
Han Dynasty had claimed to have been the guardian of, had now been completely
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―forgotten‖ by the feuding warlords. Instead, such ―useless‖ ideas now no longer had a
place in this brutal new world, one which could be characterized as being in a state of
eternal disunity, and of course all out war also.

A map of the said Three Kingdoms; the strongest of the three was ―Cao Wei‖ located in
Northern China, ―Shu Han‖ meanwhile was headed by Liu Bei, a distant relative of the
Han ruling family; the Liu, and lastly was the ―Eastern Wu‖ which was lorded over by the
Sun family, masters of the vast fertile southern lands:

Even after the destruction of the three kingdoms ended in 280 AD, its legacy lived on
throughout the ages, as brother continued to turn on brother and war after blood filled
war was fought. And all the while chaos, death, corruption, poverty and destruction, now
the new order of the day, seemed to specifically target those who did not deserve it the
most; the vast untold millions of innocents; women, children and the elderly who all
obediently fell to either war or hunger.

Yet despite all this great suffering which continued all throughout the 361 year long ―Age
of Disunity‖ (220–581 AD), the greatest tragedy was that the rulers of China; those who
should have known better than to neglect their own people, refused to rule and instead
left the people to fend for themselves. The successive dynasties of the divided nation,
were all so poorly managed, that if one did not die as a result of the large scale
continuous wars which were waged across the nation, then one would surely meet their
end due to starvation.
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Regardless, there was no longer such a thing as that of a ―natural death‖. Peace, which
had remained elusive up until now, once more still continued to endlessly elude both
China and its people. Never, not even for a single moment did they nor could they ever
enjoy even the briefest moments of respite. Demand for food at any given time always
exceeded supply, public suffering was still all too common, and political strife yet even
more so.

To make matters worse, by the time Yang Jian was born, China had also become
racially segregated with only the southern lands remaining in the possession of the
―Han‖ Chinese peoples. Northern China meanwhile, had been seized by China’s eternal
enemies; the northern nomads (albeit now sinicised) who ruled over the plains of
Northern China. Here is a map illustrating the geopolitical situation by 560 AD:

It was at this point in time now, more so than ever before that a sense of nostalgia
begun to arise, slowly at first, but then swiftly accelerating as time went on. Chinese
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History as the people of these ―dark ages‖ saw it was cyclical, on many past occasions
their ancestors which came before had always suffered greatly, and to such a similar
standard, resultant from such similar circumstances.

Surely, just surely they dared to hope, a brighter world was just around the corner. For
in each instance where there was a period of great suffering, there was also
subsequently a corresponding period of great peace and stability, where the nation
ceased to be divided, and instead stabilized as a singular, unified state, defined no
longer by war nor death, but by peace and life.

The great Han Dynasty was one such example of this, and whilst none who were alive
now could remember it, all looked back upon it most favourably.

For in their eyes, unity and not division was not only the best option for Chinese
civilization to pursue, it was also the most moral path. Looking back on history, they
observed that China’s greatest times, occurred exclusively during the past periods of
great peace and stability; periods whereby the country was neither divided needlessly
by war nor suffering, but instead united by peace and prosperity.

Thus it was, that a belief in support of a unified China was on the rise and this was the
concept behind which the new Sui Emperor, fought desperately towards, a dream which
was ultimately realized in 581 AD . And thus ended the Age of Disunity, with the
reunification of China under the Sui Empire.

The official Imperial portrait of Emperor Wen of Sui:

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Under the Sui, China emerged once more as a mighty nation, stronger than it had ever
been since the times of the late Han Dynasty 400 years prior.

The gap between the rich and poor was decreased, political officials were appointed
based on merit rather than blood, the Imperial Examination System of the Han Dynasty
was reformed and instituted, and a genuine attempt was made to bridge the cultural
gaps between Northern and Southern China, which had become extremely divided after
400 years of separation. Early in its reign, the Sui Empire was a great celebrated
success story for all China.

The good fortune of the Sui was extremely short lived however, for even though the
Emperor was a good man who ruled wisely with benevolence, his son, the heir in line
for the throne was not. And this was the great issue indeed, for the Emperor who
noticed the ill temperament of his son, a truly clinically insane individual unfit to rule,
sought to revoke his title, and transfer it instead to one his younger brothers.

Shortly thereafter, the Emperor suddenly ―passed away‖, and though official Imperial
records maintained at the time that he had died due to ―poor health‖, many individuals at
the time and even today, believe that in reality his son had strangled him to death in
retaliation.

Wen’s son now became the new Emperor under the title ―Yang of Sui‖. And he
unleashed a terror so greatly sadistic, that it hearkened back to the old days when
China was still disunified.

An Imperial portrait of Emperor Yang of Sui:

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Under the tyrannical terror of Yang, excessive taxes were forced onto the innocents
more viciously than ever before in order to fund his own personal and vain adventures.
Vast untold millions were spent on the Chinese wars against the Korean Kingdom of
Goguryeo, all of which ended in failure.

The remainder meanwhile was spent on rebuilding the Great Wall of China, on
constructing the equally renowned 1,794 km long Grand Canal whilst also going
towards the funding Yang’s own personal holiday voyages, of which several were made
to the city of Jiangdu (Yangzhou).

And each time he did decide to take such a break, he forced a retinue of 200,000
cavalrymen to accompany him on shore for armed protection, whilst additionally also
forcing more than 10,000 mobile towers, to stand by his side in order to drag along the
luxurious holidaying vessels.

Needless to say, Yang of Sui was not a very well loved man, and it was only fear
through which the people obeyed him. After hundreds of years of death and suffering,
the Chinese people begun to wonder (and rightfully so); ―was this the the paradise
which the Yang family had promised us?‖ They were right, if this was heaven, then what
was hell? It was all already too much for them.

And likewise for a very certain legendary aristocratic family, which went by the name of
―Li‖, they too were fed up with Yang’s totalitarian regime, which abused the Chinese
people to an even greater perceived extent than was the case any time during the Age
of Disunity.

A Tang era statue of the famous Lao-Tzu, the famous founder of the Philosophy of
Taoism (the Li family had claimed descent from Lao-Tzu, whose original family name
was also Li):
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Enough was enough. As a result in 617 AD, a young member belonging to the Li Clan
by the name of Li Shimin, observed and guessed correctly, that the Sui Empire was
gasping for its last breath of fresh air after Yang of Sui was finally assassinated, a
comeuppance no doubt equal to his tyranny. Never before had it ever been so clear to
anyone, that the ruling dynasty was destined for collapse.

Simultaneously obsessed with power, angered at the tyranny of the Sui and frustrated
at the mistreatment of the Chinese people, Li Shimin intercepted his father on one very
particular day in order to have an open, honest yet urgent conversation.
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By the end of the private dialogue between father and son, both Li Shimin and his father
Li Yuan (a governor in Northern China), were wholly committed to plotting only the
highest treason against the Imperial Court: Revolution, which they hoped would
subsequently lead to an immediate end to the power of the Yang Family. After Li Shimin
had also enlisted the help of his older brother Li Jiancheng, they had their commanders
yet no army with which to command.

Now, the danger in revolution was very real indeed, all three individuals knew what was
to become of them under such a totalitarian regime as that of the Sui Dynasty, should
they fail. Indeed if they were to lose, they would suffer only the most vicious and horrific
of tortures available such, that their pain would last for hours if not days on end, before
they were finally killed at last. Death by then would only be the best thing to happen to
them.

However, none of Li family members were actually worried, since Li Yuan assured his
sons that he did in fact have a solution to all their problems. It was no bluff, their father
did in fact turn out to have a plan, granted it was a very risky plan indeed but what
choice does one have when fighting for the sake of the revolution?

Instead, he journeyed to the furthest frontiers of the north, beyond the borders of the Sui
Empire, and met with a mysterious group of nomadic peoples belonging to the Gokturk
Khaganate.

The Territories of the Gokturk Khaganate at their peak of power:

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The manipulative Li Yuan successfully managed to win over the support of the nomads
by subtly deceiving them via the usage of many open ended words in a written pledge,
where he ―promised‖ to make his new post-revolutionary empire a tribute nation of the
Nomadic Empire, if only they gave him 2,000 elite Ferghana Horses and 500 of the
most battle hardened soldiers up front for the revolution.

With the revolution now in full swing, an additional 28,000 men made up of either
civilians or Sui Imperial soldiers joined the revolutionary army, and now with 30,000
men at his disposal, the Revolution headed under the command of the Li Family, spread
like a wildfire across the nation, until at last, all of China was at war, with those loyal to
the Imperial Family on one side, and the Revolutionaries on the other.

In this way, the Capital of ―Daxing Cheng‖ was quickly seized by the Li Family within a
short amount of time, and the Tang Dynasty was subsequently proclaimed, with the
governor Li Yuan seizing power for himself as First Emperor of the Empire, ascending
to the throne under the ruling name of ―Gaozu of Tang‖.

An Imperial portrait of Emperor Gaozu of Tang:

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Chapter II: “Non Filial Piety”: Great Reforms and Treasonous Usurpations

In the aftermath of the revolution, Li Shimin, despite being the one who had both
informed and encouraged his father to revolt, expecting to be fully rewarded for his
efforts was instead relegated to the lowly and embarrassing position of, ―Duke of Qin‖,
his elder brother Li Jiancheng instead was made Crown Prince of the Tang Empire in
accordance with the strict hierarchical ideology of Confucianism, which prioritized the
greater importance of age.

Although Li Shimin was clearly most displeased with this contingency, he said nothing
of the matter to his father, respecting his wishes in accordance with Confucian
traditions, for now at least. Instead, he focused all his attention towards hunting down
the last remnants of the now rebel forces claiming loyalty to the former Sui Empire.

His father, Gaozu of Tang meanwhile set about attempting to ensure the prosperity of
the newly established Tang Dynasty. In order to symbolically remind the people that the
new Tang Empire was yet another great era of Chinese civilization, the Tang Capital of
Daxing Cheng was renamed to its old Han Dynasty title; ―Chang’an‖, which in Old
Chinese meant ―Perpetual Peace‖. Today it is of course better known by its current title;
―Xi’an‖ (Western Peace).
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Tang era mural of the gate towers of the Tang Capital of Chang’an:

Apart from those merely superficial reforms, real progress was especially made
meanwhile in the area of Civil Legislation when Gaozu repealed the totalitarian laws of
the Sui Dynasty, and instead replaced them with the widely renowned and progressive
at the time; ―Great Tang Code‖ instead, introduced in 624 AD.

Though the Laws were not finished until 653 AD under Emperor Gaozong, it was
Emperor Gaozu who first invented and introduced the Code. Described by Sinologist
Jacques Gernet to be, ―an admirable composition of faultless logic in spite of its size
and complexity‖, the Tang Code signalled a new era of prosperity under the new ruling
Li Family.
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Containing more than 500 articles divided into 12 sections (see graph below), this highly
fair and just new system of laws under the Tang allowed not only the government to
strengthen greatly, as the rule of law (rather than rule by law) was upheld, but it also
abolished the worst facets to the many physical punishments which were inflicted on
criminals, characteristic of the previous draconian Sui Regime, for even the most minor
of crimes.

The 12 Sections of the Tang Code (source: Tang Code - Wikipedia):

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Instead, the harshness of certain punishments which could be meted out to the various
corresponding crimes was fundamentally decreased in intensity, and overall lessened
greatly, thus proving the Code to be a system founded upon compassion rather than
sadism, as was the case under Yang of Sui.

The effectiveness of the Code was such that the American Sinologists Wallace Johnson
and Denis C. Twichett once asserted the following regarding the Tang Imperial Laws:

"… it was a very rational system of justice in which both the accuser and the officials
involved had to be careful (of what they said) lest they themselves faced punishment"

Though it of course falls short today when compared to the German influenced ―Civil
Law System‖ which the People’s Republic of China (1949-Present) uses, the Tang
Code was one of the most advanced system of laws in Eurasia during the rule of the Li
Family such, that it would through time be adopted by Vietnam and many neighbouring
countries, and even influenced many of the successive Chinese dynasties afterwards.

An artist’s impression of punishments being carried out during the Tang Dynasty:

The final notable reform was Gaozu’s adoption of the ―Three Departments, Six
Ministries‖ and the ―Sui Reformed Civil Examination System‖, allowing Tang China to
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emerge in the early 7th Century AD, as the most well governed country in the entire
world.

Gaozu not only rejected the worst facets of the totalitarian Sui Regime, but also
accepted its very best aspects. The Examination System was one such aspect,
henceforth, ―Mandarin‖ Government Officials were to be chosen based purely on the
notion of meritocracy, selected via the standardized examination system, first begun by
the Han Empire, then reformed by the Sui Dynasty.

For ultimately successful candidates, there was even a ―job interview‖ stage to pass,
which was more akin to that of an interrogation, where not only were the 5 Confucian
key values of ―Righteousness, Courage, Responsibility, Discipline and Loyalty‖, tested
through and through, but also an individual’s ability to recall by heart only the greatest
Confucian texts on Philosophy, Politics and the Military, in order to see if a potential
official was sound of mind, for nobody wanted another Yang of Sui to rule after all.

By making a process so long and difficult, it was hoped that only the most sincere
candidates actually interested in ruling, unlike the Kings and Emperors during the 361
year period of disunity, would actually apply. In this way, only the most talented yet also
most genuine of Tang China’s citizens, would become a Mandarin Official, thus
maximizing resource allocation, upon full utilization of Tang China’s vast abundances of
Human Capital.

This Examination System was supplemented in addition with the 3 Departments, 6

Ministries system. The aforementioned system split the government up into smaller,
more specific and specialized organization, so as to adequately oversee the
administration of the country to a more effective standard than before:
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The Hierarchy of the ―Three Departments, Six Ministries‖ System:

1. At the top of the Hierarchy was the Tang Emperor.

2. Seizing the ―Middle Ground‖ in governance was the 3 Departments (all
equal to each other): The Chancellery, The General Secretariat and the
Department of State Affairs.
3. And last on the Government Hierarchy were the 6 Ministries (also all equal
to each other) were under the Department of State Affairs: The Ministry
of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Punishments and Public Works.

The 3 Departments itself was also complemented by an early version of the 21st
Century Western Democratic concept known as the ―Separation of Powers‖, in which
there were 3 equal and opposing thus competing Chancellories.

One such department acted to draft the proposed new laws of the Tang Empire, the
second chancellery would then review the said legislation being proposed, and at last
the third and last department would then at last implement those laws, if the previous
chancelleries had approved.
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And thus, it should not come as a surprise to anyone, that in the 7th Century AD, run by
a highly competent, and educated vast army of bureaucrats, Tang China emerged as
the most well governed country in the world, arguably far eclipsing the Byzantine and
Sassanian Administrations, in size, scale, complexity and efficiency.

An artist’s impression of Tang Government Officials:

Apart from also repealing the excessive taxation policies leftover from the Sui Empire,
and redistributing land from the rich to the poor, this was the full extent to which
Emperor Gaozu of Tang, reformed the nation in the wake of the fall of the totalitarian
regime of the Sui Empire. In doing so, the nation had stabilized, and China prospered
once more, such however could not be said the same for his own family on the other
hand however.

Jealous and clearly threatened by the continuing successes of Li Shimin, whose

popularity amongst the Tang Citizenry had skyrocketed in the post-revolutionary world,
two of his brothers including the treacherous Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, sought to
permanently stop their ambitious brother’s ascension and planned instead to stage a
coup against their father, taking the throne for themselves, allowing them to forever
reign over their ―little‖ brother.
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It was too much for Li Shimin to bear upon hearing of the coup. He did not care about
his father, but cared that they intended to limit his power, so he decided to concoct his
very own plan, and instead strike first and strike hard in such a way as to catch his
brothers off guard. He placed soldiers loyal to his province at a certain palace entrance
called ―Xuanwu Gate‖, where he commanded his men to kill them both, and shortly
thereafter, both men breathed no more.

Shortly thereafter, no one knows exactly what convinced him to do so, but perhaps in a
moment of lust for power, Li also went into the Imperial Palace itself, and confronted his
father, forcing him to make him the new Crown Prince, before demanding that he
abdicate the throne in his favour. His father, reluctantly agreeing, abdicated in favour of
the new Emperor, who quickly adopted the ruling title: Taizong of Tang.

An official Imperial portrait of the new Emperor Tang Taizong:

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To secure his power, all who opposed him were quickly executed, including his own
father eventually just in case he decided to take lead an armed revolution against him,
which in all likelihood was not unlikely, since his father had fought alongside him during
their war against the Sui Empire.

Meanwhile, Imperial propaganda was distributed on Taizong’s command, claiming that

his dead siblings and father did not die in vain, but instead were in Heaven looking
down favourably upon him, and were now his ―Celestial Advisers‖, to whom he prayed
regularly.

The reason behind this was simple, by killing his own brothers and more importantly his
own father, Taizong had shown blatant disregard for even the most important Confucian
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rites, which had the potential to offset his rule. Thus he had to act quickly, and as is
already evident, this he was able to do.

However, this act was only fear, based on groundless assumptions of paranoia, in
reality the Tang people could not care less, because they genuinely loved their new
Emperor, who by this time had already proven over and over that he was a strong, wise
and capable statesman, and administrator under his father as the Duke of Qin. Apart
from his homicidal tendencies, he was in fact the right man for the job.

Thus though he partly resembled the insane Yang of Sui, who had also killed his own
father and usurped his throne, Tang Taizong was actually a just ruler, ensuring that all
other similarities between him and Yang were merely superficial in nature.

Chapter III: “China’s God Emperor”: The Great Civilizational Legacy of Tang
Taizong

Tang Taizong was a very complex individual who was often remembered as an
Emperor who ruled just and wisely. He contrasted the tyrant Yang of Sui in that he
allowed his subjects to critique the way in which he ruled, refusing to execute them even
if they pointed out the errors of his ways. Despite also being an absolute ruler, Taizong
seldom used tyranny to consolidate his power, and instead manipulated events in such
a way, as to play into his favour.

Securing his reign was easy, he merely presented himself as an enlightened and just
ruler, who reigned with benevolence. No one was executed for insurrection including the
great clans of modern day Shandong province in one case, who insisted that their clan
was superior to that of the Li Family.

In response, Taizong ordered the completion of a national compendium of genealogies,

which clearly ranked the Imperial House as being the highest, in this way peacefully
showing that his rule was one defined by great tranquility and egalitarianism.

The system meanwhile of the Tang Code and 3 Departments, 6 Ministries which his
father had introduced, was meanwhile systematically improved and updated by
Taizong, all the while he further limited the excessive taxation system of the tyrannical
Sui Empire.

Another Imperial portrait of Tang Taizong:

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In doing this, the Tang people under his rule need only pay 1/3 of what they used to pay
under Gaozu of Tang, which itself was already dramatically decreased from the Sui
Empire previously. The lower taxes of course stimulated consumer expenditure, which
acted to re-invigorate the Chinese Economy, turning Tang China into an economic
powerhouse under Taizong’s reign.

In this just and righteous reign of Taizong, Mandarins never before to such an
unprecedented standard, were permitted to pass their wise judgement and advice to the
Emperor, helping him to rule to an even higher quality unsurpassed in Chinese history
up until then. Medical schools were established, Official Histories compiled and foreign
ideologies were encouraged by the open-minded Emperor. Under the rule of Tang
Taizong, the Chinese Empire prospered like never before.

Yet, during all this time, the greatest threat to the peace and prosperity of the Tang
Empire, came about not from inside China, but from outside it.

To the northern frontiers, as far back as the Age of Disunity, the Gokturk Khaganate had
existed on the edge of the Chinese periphery. They were not a trivial force to be
underestimated, for during the times of the ―Northern and Southern‖ Dynasties, when
China was divided (ruled by Chinese in the south, and nomads in the north), the Turks
had played off the rivalling dynasties against one another.
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A map of the Tang Dynasty compared to the Gokturk Empire at that time (as is clearly
evident, the Tang people had every reason to fear their horrifying next door neighbour,
which at the time many believed could swallow them with utmost ease, should they feel
a need to, since they had defeated the mighty Sassanid Empire (224–651 AD) many
times previously as well. Note the line in the middle indicating a split between two
factions. By that time the Gokturks had actually split into two factions; the Western and
Eastern Gokturk Khaganates):

The Gokturks had hoped that by playing off the Nomads against the Chinese during the
Age of Disunity, would eventually weaken both peoples to such an extent, that they
could one day conquer both Nomadic Xianbei and Han Chinese peoples alike.

Though it never got to that stage fortunately for China, the Gokturks perhaps further
vexed by Emperor Gaozu’s deception where he had deceived them prior the
Revolution, that he was going to make the Tang Empire a vassal of the Khaganate, now
rallied at the northern frontiers, ready for a war of terrible vengeance.

In preparation of an imminent Gokturk invasion, Tang Taizong pursued emergency

countermeasures and put the country on national lockdown regarding travel to the
outside world. He begun by prohibiting all unauthorized foreign departures from or into
international territories, in order to limit the possibility a threat to National Security by
foreign intelligence agents.

Then, he took command of the Imperial Armies of the Tang Empire, and made ready for
war. Fortunately, having the gift of long term orientation and foresight (as is
characteristic of Chinese culture), and knowing full well of his father’s ―deal with the
devil‖ gone wrong, he had been preparing the Imperial Army up until this very moment,
to not only engage the forces of the Turkic Khaganate, but also to emerge victorious.
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An artist’s impression of the highly formidable, well armed Gokturk Military:

To do this was simple, Taizong did not even have to make many new military
innovations or plans, but looked back on China’s eons old history for solutions. The Han
era ruler, Emperor Wu had once also early in the reign of his Han Dynasty been forced
to deal with such an abominable and troublesome enemy like that of the Gokturks. They
were known as the Xiongnu peoples, and they very much fought in the same way: with
bow and arrow, and on the open fields.

If you dared attack them with your infantry, they would only ride away from you
pretending to retreat, before hurling unfathomable amounts of lethal projectiles in your
direction until you had died. Basically, any normal conventional defeat of the nomadic
invaders, was nigh on impossible using clearly outdated Chinese military tactics at the
time.

Instead, Tang Taizong adopted Emperor’s Wu’s proposed solutions, which had
historically proven to work before, in subduing such a turbulent area as that of the wild
northern Steppe regions. At that time, Tang China was deathly afraid of the barbarians,
a famous sentence from the 6th Century AD had even famously once proclaimed the
following regarding the Gokturks:
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戎狄炽强，古未有也.
―Alas, never before has the power of the Northern Barbarians been so mightily
impressive.‖

And this subjugation of the Steppe would be no small feat either historically, for once
the Xiongnu Empire (209 BC-216 AD) had also clearly outmatched the Han Empire
(although nowhere near how the Gokturks outmatched Tang) as evident from this map
down below, just right before the 222 year long Han-Xiongnu Wars (133 BC-89 AD):

Emperor Taizong adopted a policy of ―using barbarians to fight barbarians‖, a policy

toward which he was able to complete by hiring thousands upon thousands of Steppe
mercenaries, in order to show the Tang Cavalry how to fight like them. Yes, that was the
solution also, to adopt a martial model which prioritized a Cavalry centric army, which
was then supplemented also by an uncanny ability to fight like the nomadic peoples.
 P a g e | 30

In this way, the Tang Cavalry like the Han before it, became one of the most lethal
fighting forces on the Eurasian Continent.

It was a fact which was further intensified with the importing of a ―world‖ famous species
of horse from Central Asia, known as the ―Ferghana Horse‖, whose renowned
endurance far outmatched that of any species of equine in Tang China. Its stamina
would allow the Tang to journey for additional weeks on end, without rest, something
which further contributed to the effectiveness of the Tang Cavalry.

An artist’s impression of the feared (and rightly so) famous Heavy Tang Cavalry and
Bannermen returning home from war with the Tibetan Empire (618–842 AD) in the 9th
Century AD:

It was a start, but not nearly enough. Whilst also adopting a Han influenced Chinese
policy of ―allying with those who are far away (the Western Gokturks) to fight those who
are close (the Eastern Gokturks),‖ Tang Taizong dissatisfied with merely copying, also
begun to innovate for his own solutions to the Tang problem at hand.

Unlike the Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong who was partially of Xianbei Turkic
descent, and was also familiar with the ways, cultures and traditions of the Steppe
 P a g e | 31

having ruled a Northern Chinese province with his father before, used this fully to his
advantage.

Adopting the Turkic title of ―Tenger Khan‖ (turkic for Heavenly or God Emperor), he was
able to not only depict himself as being the Emperor of Tang China, but also the rightful,
true ruler of all the Steppe peoples.

When this was done, he lodged the Tang Empire in between the various other nomadic
tribes, gaining their trust, which allowed for him to convince many of them to take up
arms in the Tang Army as important officers, not only just as soldiers.

Edit: As Chen Yankai has corrected me, the Tang hadn’t started to use foreign
Generals en masse yet, but only to a limited extent. As time went on, and as the Tang
campaigns continued however, then more and more foreign commanders were adopted
for use.

A portrait of the infamous Sogdian General, An Lushan who many decades later
managed to become a powerful Tang Commander directly due to Taizong’s
reformation:

This was a crucial point here, and it could never be overstated. Never, should we
audiences today of the 21st Century view this relationship in a post-modern and
Western way. For it should be noted that not only for Tang China at this time, but also
 P a g e | 32

for the various Kingdoms and Tribes of the Steppe, blood and ethnicity was not such a
huge issue like it is today.

No, instead back then it was as simple as: ―if you and I have even the slightest of
similarities, then I shall fight for you‖. A bit strange from our modern perspectives
indeed, but remember that the world was a bit different 1,400 years ago at the time of
the 7th Century AD.

Indeed, both the Tang and the Turks were all multi-ethnic, religiously tolerant peoples,
who did not see colour for the most part. And thus, when the Steppe saw that here was
a man; Li Shimin who understood and resonated with them, they thought nothing was
odd nor out of place as to pledge their sworn allegiance to him.

In this way, the effectiveness of the Tang Imperial Army, was further exacerbated when
many key posts whether it be for Imperial Generals, Cavalry Majors or Auxiliary
Commanders were given over to the Steppe Nomads, rather than Han Chinese who at
the time looked down upon Military posts as a lowly path to success.

Reconstructed ―Lamellar‖ Armour of a Dismounted Tang Cavalryman (Source - Tang

Cavalry 大唐骑兵):
 P a g e | 33

According to a contemporary at the time, who fought alongside Emperor Taizong, every
Tang Army from then on was to be split as such, that the composition of each warring
legion, now resembled something along the lines of the following: 10% Crossbowmen,
10% ―Normal‖ Archers, 20% Cavalry, and 60% Infantrymen. Interestingly enough, each
Infantryman also carried along a saber, lance and bow for multi-purpose combat, with
which the Imperial Army was well versed in.

Taizong’s strategy meanwhile towards achieving total victory for every single battle now
was very much simple indeed. Like what Emperor Wu of Han had once done, Taizong
 P a g e | 34

intended to draw the Gokturks out to war, and into his own trap, rather than taking the
initiative and chasing the obviously hard to subdue Horse Nomads, who would only cut
his men down with mighty bow and arrow.

In every battle with which he faced the Gokturk Khaganate, and on their own home turf
presumably, he would command his forces to retreat to more level plains instead, where
they would stand no chance against the infamous Tang Light Cavalry, who often also
found it easy to fight on these more level plains as Northern China had more of them,
allowing the Tang to have become familiar with such grounds during training.

The Light Cavalry would then retreat, and the vast companies upon companies of Tang
Archers would then unleash hell on the nomadic forces, greatly stripping away their
numbers, and severely damaging their morale.

And finally at last, regardless of whether the Steppe Nomads had routed or not, the
Tang Heavy Cavalry would run them down, before subsequently charging into the
Gokturk Infantry columns, where they were joined by a parallel co-operative strike by
the Tang Infantry, which wielded lances, halberds and swords.

Thus, in this way, battle after battle was to be won, and eventually also the war itself,
allowing Tang China to reign supreme over the Steppe Nomads. However, as you may
have correctly noted, this was only a highly flexible, general stratagem. Alternate
Contingency plans were of course also adopted, improvised and enacted during the
course of the Tang-Eastern Gokturk Wars (629–630 AD).

A Tang era depiction of the Imperial Army setting off to war:

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Armed with a sound strategy, a mighty army, and a highly talented force of Turkic
officers, Taizong of Tang made ready for war. Thus it was that over the course of two
long and blood filled years, hundreds of thousands of Tang Soldiers were displaced into
the Eastern Khaganate, where they defied popular Chinese sceptical beliefs at the time
 P a g e | 36

regarding China’s ability to emerge victorious, and emerged triumphant over the Armies
of the Steppe.

As a result of the first major threat to China now out of the way, the Tang Empire even
after Emperor Taizong had passed away, was able expand Chinese power physically
and geographically to unprecedented heights, and in time also managed to expand
such as to include Modern China’s western regions (Xinjiang Province), all the while
forcing the Steppe to surrender their freedoms and instead become vassals of the
China, who were now forced to send tribute to the Celestial Empire annually.

And thus it was, that the Tang Empire by the year 669 AD under Emperor Gaozong,
managed to attain a vast territory of 12.37 million km^2. And directly as a result of these
conquests, many profound consequences were resultant soon thereafter due to the
Tang conquests, which now held control over Western China.

Chapter IV: “Wealth Beyond Measure”: An Era of Economic Prosperity

This was a very crucial event, as not only was Tang China’s first major external threat
severely neutralized, but it also allowed Emperor Taizong to fulfil one of his many great
dreams, which up until now had remained a mere fantasy.

The Silk Road, that vast intercontinental system of proto-Globalization which had been
the primary source of the Han Empire’s wealth, allowing the Han Chinese to severely
damage the Roman Economy in Europe, was now once again in service.

On the oceans meanwhile, commercial activities along the various Asian trading routes
which had long been present over time ever since the Han Dynasty also, were further
stimulated and accelerated upon due to the internal economic prowess of Tang China,
and this in turn led to the existence of the Maritime Silk Road.

Thus unlike the Han which had only the Continental Silk Road, the Tang now not only
also had the Han Silk Road (down below in red), but also the Maritime Silk Road (down
below in blue) all by the year 650 AD, merely 1 year after the great Emperor Taizong
passed had away:
 P a g e | 37

In the wake of the opening of the Silk Roads, starting with Emperor Taizong, but
continuing with his successors long after he had died, the Tang Dynasty adopted a
policy of relative ―Free Trade‖, and an ―Open Borders‖ policy, in which traders from
other nations as far away as Greece were allowed to come and trade and live freely in
the Tang Empire.

The effects of course were certainly self-evident. China’s Economy under the invisible
and mighty hand of the Free Market Economy, managed to grow so large, and to such
an extent that at the peak of its power, it accounted for 40% of the world’s wealth, in
comparison to the Han before it which had only managed to seize a comparatively low
25% of the world’s wealth.

80 million people as a result now resided in the Tang Empire, which was approximately
25.8% of the entire world’s population. Of those 80 million in the Tang Empire, 2 million
lived in the Tang Capital of Chang’an, making it the largest and likely also greatest city
throughout the entire Eurasian Continent.

An artist’s impression of a bustling unnamed Tang Monastery, wealthy resultant from

the riches of International Trade:
 P a g e | 38

Speaking on the matter of Chang’an, the city was also filled with expatriates and traders
from a variety of ethnicities including, but not limited to Arabs, Persians, Indians, Jews,
Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Malays, Turks, Tibetans and Byzantines. Entertainers
journeyed to find work in China all the way from India and Afghanistan. And sometimes
on occasion, foreigners even travelled to China to join its Military.

The city of Chang’an itself was much larger than it is today in the 21st Century. The
walls of the city was so extensive and large that if one were to run around it, one would
be able to measure this vast distance as being equivalent to a number somewhere in
the vicinity of 36 km, much more than the 25 km in circumference walls, which existed
under Han era Chang’an.

Within the city itself, there were two marketplaces; an Eastern and Western market
where one could go to purchase both domestic and foreign manufactured goods. 3,000
stall were said to have resided in Chang’an at its peak, allowing the Tang Chinese to
enjoy goods from all over Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, India and the Middle-West.

A miniaturized imagined set of the Western Marketplace in Chang’an:

 P a g e | 39

The Grand Capital of Chang’an itself meanwhile, was planned ever so delicately by the
ruling Li Family. This is perhaps the most curious part about Tang China, in that the city
of Chang’an (and most likely many other cities also) were constructed and planned in
such a way, as to resemble a perfect literal rectangle. Every road was a literal straight
line, and every block of the city was also a smaller yet equally literal rectangle, all the
while the gates remained in perfect uniform harmony.

Here down below is a graph illustrating the City of Chang’an (the mini-map in the left
hand corner was the Sui Dynasty’s former city, the Tang built an all new one
altogether). On the main map, orange stood for the Imperial Palatial Complexes, which
were of course forbidden to commoners.

The areas in yellow meanwhile were places where everyone else would live and
prosper. Each of the rectangles indicated a separate block, and each block had its own
gate which could be closed at night, as during the Tang Era there were curfews at night
time, prohibiting anyone from being out when the Sun was down and out of sight:
 P a g e | 40

Most notably also with the Capital of Chang’an, were the extremely wide main roads,
which were estimated by historians to have been 110 metres wide each, amounting to
30 side by side laid 21st Century super highway lanes.

Here is another map of Chang’an, in English this time:

 P a g e | 41

In addition to merely just Chang’an however, the Tang’s extremely prosperous economy
also attracted merchants from all over Eurasia to China, where they founded either
temporary or even permanent settlements. The southern port city of Guangzhou for
example had a population of 200,000 people, with 2/3 of the population made up of
Arab and Persian immigrants.

Because of the Tang Dynasty’s peaceful relations with the nations it traded with, the
Tang were also able to secure trading advantages and preferences whereby foreign
merchants allowed Tang Capitalists to trade on their own favourable terms, free from
fear of foreign retaliatory trading practices, including tariffs.

The Tang Dynasty in fact grew so rich, that regarding Agricultural Production at its very
peak produced 29.75 billion kg of grain every year. This was a roughly 500 kg per
person after taxes. The Tang invention also of the ―Qu Yuan‖ curved plough, also
allowed this great feat of economic production to have occurred (pictured below), as it
came equipped with a curved shaft which in turn could allow a farmer to transmit a
higher amount of animal power to the plough share, and iron harrows :
 P a g e | 42

In terms of currency production meanwhile, a high of 327 million coins per year was
produced annually. This was a massive improvement on the Han era Agricultural and
Currency Production, which only managed to produce an output of 16 billion kg of grain
per year (53.87% of Tang), 250 kg after taxes (50% of Tang) and merely an annual
production of 220 million coins per year (67.28% of Tang).

An Ancient Chinese coin with origins from the Tang Era:

 P a g e | 43

The Tang Empire was also interconnected with approximately 32,100 km of roads for
the Postal Service to use alone. Thus the prosperity of the Tang Economy could be said
to be clearly self-evident.

But it wasn’t just here where the wealthy Tang Chinese reigned supreme, but also in
matters of International Trade. For all over the coasts of the various Eurasian Kingdoms
and Empires, the Tang Chinese were omnipresent. Tang Merchants manage to have
travelled all over the world and could be found in Aksum (Ethiopia), the ―Horn of Africa‖
near where Somalia is today, Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Arabia and all
throughout East and Southeast Asia.
 P a g e | 44

The evidence we have today which supports a notion of Tang dominance in the realm of
International Trading prowess, is evident as a result of a recent modern discovery. For
merely 9 years ago back in 2008, a shipwreck dated from 826 AD (when the Tang
Empire had been declining also), was discovered to have contained 63,000 pieces of
Tang Ceramic, Silver and Gold, submerged for nearly 1,200 years beneath the ocean.

This was such, that today with our modern knowledge of the Tang Empire, we can know
and take as undeniable fact for sure that Chinese large scale production for overseas
export as had already begun by the time of the late-Tang Dynasty. This was extremely
impressive still, for the Silk Road was very restricted by then, as the declining Tang
China by then was fighting hard indeed merely to stay alive.

One of the many treasures for export which was found from the said wreckage:

Interestingly, even by 785 AD, Merchants from the Tang Empire had already begun to
trade near Sufala (modern village in Bahrain) on the Eastern African Coast, merely to
cut out Arab ―middle-men‖, where the early Chinese learnt of daily life and trading
practices in Eastern Africa, which would be of great practical use nearly 700 years later
when the famous Ming Admiral Zheng He returned to the continent.

The Arab Merchant Shulama also once noted the vast economic supremacy of not just
the Tang Empire, but also of its citizens describing in a greatly admiring way the great
size of private Tang Chinese trading vessels, which were so large that they couldn’t
 P a g e | 45

even enter the large Euphrates River, and were able to carry approximately 700–800
passengers as a result.

Chapter V: “The Enlightened Way”: The Adoption of Buddhism, and the Great
Open-Mindedness of the Tang Empire

In the year 645 AD, the Tang Chinese Buddhist Monk, Xuanzang returned to Chang’an,
where he was greeted triumphantly by a roaring crowd who welcomed him home, as if
he were a long lost hero. There was actually some truth to this perceived treatment, for
he had indeed spent many a years aboard, 17 in fact, all in an effort to bring back to
China many of the original Buddhist texts, in order to translate them into Chinese from
Sanskrit.

Though the monk was originally born as a Confucianist, his brother had introduced him
to the what at the time, was the foreign yet sophisticatedly attractive and peaceful
philosophy of Buddhism. Travelling to the Capital of Chang’an during the reign of Tang
Taizong, he had hoped to study the sacred texts under Buddhist Monasteries which had
been established since the times of the Han Empire.

Upon finally reaching Chang’an, he begun his study of Buddhism most enthusiastically,
but his enthusiasm was short lived and in time turnt further into disappointment, when
he realized that there were present many numerous discrepancies and contradictions in
the translated texts, which lay before him.

When the Abbott failed to explain these errors to him, he became intensely frustrated.
This was unacceptable he argued, how can one study Buddhism when there were a
plethora of highly problematic contradictions and ambiguities? There was no choice, but
to travel to the ―Holy Land‖ itself in the Indian Subcontinent, and correct these errors
himself once and for all.

A portrait of Xuanzang setting off on his ―Journey to the West‖:

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At the time, there was of course Emperor Taizong’s mandate, prohibiting anyone from
leaving or entering China, due to the real threat of imminent Gokturk invasion. As a
result, the monk was forced to leave Chang’an secretly on one particular night in 629
AD in the year of Tang-Gokturk War, where he begun his 17 year journey to South Asia.
 P a g e | 47

To the north of the Taklamakan desert in modern day Xinjiang province he went,
passing through Samarkand, Karashar and Kucha, then from there he journeyed
beyond a place called the ―Iron Gates‖ (an area in between Balkh and Samarkand), into
the Kingdom of Bactria. Thereafter, he sallied forth across the mountains known today
as the Hindu Kush, and into Kapisha, Gandhara, and Kashmir in Northwestern India.

And finally from there after 4 years of endless travel, he finally arrived in the Indian
subcontinent when he sailed down the Ganges River to Mathura, before going onto the
eastern ends of the aforementioned river. At last, he had arrived in mighty India, the
glorious home of Buddhism.

The perilous journey of Xuanzang, illustrated down below on the map of Asia:

There he stayed for 13 more years, studying, alternating from India’s East and West,
and North and South, and from Kingdom to Indian Kingdom, to collect the sacred texts
of Buddhism in order to bring them back to the Tang Empire, in order to translate from
Sanskrit into Middle Chinese.

The vast portion of his stay however, was from his base of operations in the at the time
world renowned Nalanda University; one of India’s and the world’s earliest University-
Monasteries, and therefore academic go to place to acquire knowledge; the great
Buddhist centre of learning, where he perfected his knowledge of Sanskrit, Buddhist
philosophy, and Indian thought and practice.

The last remnants of Nalanda (built 1,600 years ago) below in Bihar, Northeastern India
today:
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Whilst the Tang Chinese monk was studying in India, he caught the attention of even
the powerful, and greatly renowned Indian King Harsha,who was so impressed by
Xuanzang’s great dedication to his studies, that he even offered to personally fund the
monk’s return to the Celestial Empire, an offer which the homesick monk wholly
accepted in 643 AD.

And thus, the great Chinese monk, having completed his sacred mission begun his
journey back to Tang China. It was only two years later when he returned to China, and
was given a hero’s welcome by the Chinese peoples, who had heard of this by then,
legendary individual, who had risked life and limb just in order to acquire more
knowledge.

His heroism was praised to such an extent that even before his return, the Emperor
Taizong soon found himself to also be in the process of waiting for this long lost hero.
Rightfully so, he was resolved to extending towards the monk an invitation requesting
that he come to the Imperial Court afterwards. Upon the acceptance of Taizong’s
request, Xuanzang journeyed to the Imperial Court as depicted by this Tang era
painting:
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Emperor Taizong, impressed by Xuanzang’s great journey had moved to offer the monk
a post in the Tang Government, as a Minister of great importance and status, one of the
most highly desirable positions in China in fact which many may have indeed killed for.
Yet, in all his modesty, the monk rejected Taizong’s offer, instead preferring to live out
the rest of his days in Academia.

Most notably, Xuanzang also translated the Buddhist texts from India, a feat evident via
the 657 scriptures he managed to bring back in 520 cases. Unfortunately, as he died 19
years after his triumphant return, he had only lived long enough to fully and properly
translate 57 out of the 657 items which he managed to bring back. The texts which he
did manage to translate however, formed some of the most famous and crucial
Mahayana Buddhist texts.

Now this is a most vital event, which could not ever be overstated in terms of
importance.

Xuanzang’s great journey, cannot just merely be viewed as a single and trivially
disconnected event. No, in fact even if he did not go to India, then either sooner or later
someone like him, would have made such a trip. For in reality, his adventure was but
one symptom of an ongoing phenomenon in China: the Rise of Buddhism.

An artist’s impression of Tang Citizens visiting a Buddhist Shrine:

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Buddhism was first introduced to China, via the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty, and
though it was accepted by some Chinese at the time, the general attitudes leading up to
Xuanzang’s journey to India, was one of suspicion and perhaps even disdain. Buddhism
as the Chinese saw it, was a strange and uncomfortably foreign ideology, the vast
majority of people wanted nothing to do with it.

However, such feelings of prejudice ceased immediately with the popularization, then
subsequent return of Xuanzang to the Tang Empire.

Because of the perceived heroism of his journeys during and well after his return, many
Chinese begun to come to a belief, that in fact there was no reason why they needed to
fear and despise Buddhism, and as a result, the numbers of Buddhist adherents begun
to greatly skyrocket in the post-Xuanzang world.

Buddhism was eventually officially endorsed by the Tang Imperial Court, and it even
ended up being the official, and main philosophy of the Chinese people, along with
Taoism and Confucianism, whose previous monopoly had been weakened to
unprecedented levels than before.

The Xuanzang Memorial in Bihar, India today, constructed to honour both Xuanzang
and the thousands of years long historic friendship between China and India:
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Thus it was that the once foreign and subcultural phenomenon of Buddhism, entered
mainstream Tang Chinese culture, now wholly accepted by the Tang people, where it
remains even to this day as a vital part of Chinese culture in the 21st Century.

Chapter VI: “A Cosmopolitan Empire”: Tang Civil Society and Achievements

This adoption in time of Buddhism fundamentally contributed to the greatness of the

Tang Empire, in that it brought about onto China as many historians and sinologists
today have argued, a state of increasing open mindedness, and therefore acceptance of
an alternate way of life.

Thus the Chinese people begun to believe that in fact, they did not know everything,
and that always there was a constant need to continuously seek the truth, alternate
ways of doing things and also alternate ways of life being one such resultant belief.

The existence of the Silk Road, through which foreign ideas and influence were
disseminated into the Tang Empire, also contributed to China’s open mindedness at this
point in time. It was a state of existence, which was further exacerbated during the reign
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of Tang Taizong, who set the standard to be followed by the Tang Emperors for the rest
of the dynasty, by his own open-mindedness and egalitarianism.

Such an environment which was friendly to and permitting of relative ―Freedom of

Thought‖, had the effect over time of ensuring that many important innovations were
made during the 300 year long existence of the Tang Empire including:

 Porcelain, during the Tang Dynasty a Chinese alchemist discovered a cream

called Porcelain, it was a dust which had bonding and waterproof qualities
making it highly appropriate to use as the basis to make bowls, jugs and dishes.
 P a g e | 53

 Gas Cylinders were used meanwhile during the Tang period to collect natural
gas through bamboo tubes which could then be transported for dozens of
kilometres all over China.
 Air-Conditioning meanwhile was also invented during Tang China, and the way
it works such, was that it came equipped with a water-powered fan wheels that
functioned like air conditioning, and also had rising jet streams of mountain
water.
P a g e | 54
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 The Automatic Wine Server and many other ―automatons‖ and self-moving
devices were discovered also during the Tang period thanks to the mechanical
engineering expertise of Tang Scientists and Engineers. The Automatic Wine
Server functioned in that it was shaped like a mountain and used a hydraulic
pump to operate. One other such exemplar also was that of a Buddhist
automaton which collected donations from visiting patrons.
 Woodblock Printing meanwhile was a self-explanatory Chinese technology, its
introduction upon which saw skyrocketing literacy rates throughout the Chinese
Empire, which allowed written texts to be made affordable for the vast majority of
peoples for the first time ever.

Seen below is the first printed book in the world; the Diamond Sutra (868 AD), a
Buddhist Manuscript:

 Waterproofing, a process discovered during the Tang was made, which was
found to make objects towards which it was applied, to generally emerge
relatively unscathed from the effects of water.
 Fireproofing, was also a similar process to waterproofing discovered during the
Tang era which allowed objects to which it was applied to, to resist the fierce
heat filled flames of any possible approaching fires.
 P a g e | 56

 The Mechanical Clock and Clock Mechanism were both invented at the same
time in Tang China. The clock was an object introduced by the Chinese to the
world in 723 AD, when the Buddhist Monk Yi Xing created it for Astronomical
purposes. He called it in his own words the ―Water Driven Spherical Birds-Eye-
View Map of The Heavens‖.

 Gas Stoves which every household today has (or should have) were invented
also during the Tang Dynasty, it is an object which uses natural gas as a fuel
source to heat up and was thus greatly helpful in its primary usage in order to
cook food, whether it be for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Those were merely some of the many untold inventions and innovations made during
the 300 long year Tang Era of China. It was likewise a very similar case for Medicine
also in the Tang Dynasty, of which there were many discoveries made during the reign
of the Li Family.

The Physician Zhen Chuan amongst others in the Tang period discovered for example
the usefulness of the Thyroid Glands of Sheep and Pigs, in being used to treat Goiter,
 P a g e | 57

Thyroid extracts were not used to treat patients with Goiter in the West until 1890, only
127 years ago in contrast.

Cartography and mapmaking meanwhile progressed to never before seen,

unprecedented extents under Tang China with the introduction of an Imperial map
under Emperor Dezong of Tang in 785 AD by Court Cartographer, Jia Dan who
compiled a complete map of China and all its vassals, and tributaries which took 16
years to complete.

The finished work was 9.1 m in length and 10 m in height, mapped out on a grid scale of
one inch equaling one hundred li (500 km).

The most important advance in this map, was that it recognized far off regions of the
world, which merely 500 years prior during the Tang had been disregarded as mere
myths. The Tang peoples however, had explored the world to such an extent, that it
knew well the vast neighbouring regions of West, South, Southeast and East Asia.

The famous ―Dunhuang‖ Star Map, was merely one of many of its kind altogether
mapping out entirely, a magnitude of 1,300 Stars altogether in total:
 P a g e | 58

Many similar and vast technological advancements were also made in the realm of
military technology, especially regarding armour development. During the early Tang
period, the Imperial Army was still using ―Lamellar‖ style armour, which had been
introduced as far back as the Han Dynasty, or even earlier.

By the mid-Tang however, vast steps in the right direction of progress had already been
made in the realms of Blacksmithing and Metallurgy, by Tang artisans such that two
new types of armour begun to appear during the Li Era of China.

The first was the famous Mingguang Armour, which was worn by officers in the Imperial
Army. This elaborate full breast plate armour was very much superior in terms of
 P a g e | 59

protection than the preceding Heavy Lamellar style armour which officers wore before. It
was also lighter also and therefore greatly more practical.

The Officer’s ―Mingguang Armour‖ (note the shape of his helmet, which would also go
on later in history to influence the Samurai Knights’ helmets of Feudal Japan):
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The second type of armour meanwhile, was known as the Mountain Armour, so called
because each piece of metal which were ―sewn‖ together resembled the Chinese
character for mountain: ―Shan‖ or ―山‖. The Mountain Armour worked as such that the
many metal components of which it is made out of, were interlocked and riveted into a
single cloth against a leather backing.

This effectively allowed the attire to cover not only one’s torso, but also one’s shoulders
and thighs while allowing the user to remain comfortable and flexible enough, so as to
permit rapid short fast paced movement. Ordinary soldiers often had the privilege of
wearing such high quality armour, at the heights of the Tang Empire.

The Tang ―Mountain Armour‖ (this particular one is worn by an officer):

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In terms of Gender Equality meanwhile, the Tang period of China is often seen as the
greatest step towards the equality of the sexes, due to the general open mindedness of
the period, which only slightly fell short of such levels of egalitarianism today in
advanced economies.

Regardless, for almost 300 years the Tang Dynasty is often remembered today as
having had unparalleled rankings in ―Gender Equality‖, unsurpassed by anyone else in
the world at the time.

Women in the Tang for example could wear exceptionally revealing clothing unlike in
other parts of Chinese history like in the Song (960–1279 AD) or Ming (1368–1644 AD)
Dynasties. Under the strict Confucian rulings in the preceeding Han Dynasty for
example, clothing was closely wrapped, under the more open minded Tang, women’s
clothing was permitted to be more loose.

Showing cleavage for example was not such a huge deal for Tang women, and it was
accepted as a social norm:

Women could divorce without raising any eyebrows, even today in China this is
sometimes not possible especially in the most traditional areas. In fact, some women
also took to cross dressing with male attire also.

It was also a fashionable trend for women to be active physically, and assertive also, on
one occasion a courtesan even beat up a drunken nobleman who had insulted her.
Women played a very active role in the Persian sport of Polo and even ignored newly
passed laws requiring them to wear veils for modesty (in 671 AD), some even going so
far as to refrain from even wearing sporting caps for protection, all to prove how tough
they were.
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An artist’s impression of Tang women engaging in the masculine sport of Polo:

Polo was of course primarily a gentleman’s sport, but yet women still took to enjoying
this manly pastime, for it mattered little to them what men thought otherwise.

According to popular Quoran Feifei Wang:

“The Tang was one of the dynasties in Chinese history where women had the most
freedom and power. Women could own property, divorce their husbands (without
suffering too much social scorn) and many had actively involved themselves in
traditionally male dominated activities like hunting, doing business, participating in
politics, and a few even held governmental positions.”

And as for those familiar with Tang China’s history, you will also remember that China’s
first and last Empress; Wu Zetian also rose to prominence during the Tang Empire, and
though she was often demonized after death for her tyranny, is more fairly remembered
by historians today for further centralizing the power of the Tang Government,
weakening the rule of local governors in the Northwestern regions.

A portrait of Wu Zetian, China’s first and last female nominal and de facto ruler:
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Aside from the unparalleled notions of Gender Equality during the Tang period, China
under the Li Family is often remembered in history today for being a ―love‖ of all things
―big‖.

During Tang China, the peoples of Tang China showed off their appreciation for
anything which was large in size of stature, perhaps some have theorized (unlikely as it
is), that the Tang people’s tastes changed unconciously compared to their ancestors, in
order to reflect the great size and domain of the Tang Empire’s domain itself, which was
12.37 million km^2, 29% larger than Modern China as I stated near the beginning.

This obsessive popularly tendency manifested itself in a few key areas including popular
public perceptions of the body of an ideal man and woman.

The ideal woman was not thin anymore, as was the case up in Chinese history up until
then, especially during the Han Dynasty hundreds of years earlier. Instead now, the
ideal woman should be plump, indicating that she was of upper class, for having the
ability to be well fed and fully nourished.
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The infamous Yang Guifei, 1 of the 4 ―Great Beauties of Classical China‖, was one such
example of this phenomenon. She was often contrasted during her life to the Han
Empress Zhao Feiyan, the wife of Emperor Cheng of Han. Yang was described by
contemporaries as being of ―a full and fleshy figure‖, whilst the Han Empress who lived
many years before her was said to have been more ―slender‖ by comparison.

An artist’s impression of Yang Guifei being helped up onto her horse, ready to depart:

A Tang Era painting ―Beauties Wearing Flowers‖ by Tang Painter Zhou Fang, clearly
depicting the ideal woman as being slightly overweight:
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A Tang Era sculptural depiction of three female Tang ideal beauties:

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Yet, it was not only for women for which this applied to, but men also. During the Tang
Dynasty of China, Tang Chinese men often received more sexual interest from the
opposite sex if they were broad-shouldered, fit and ―with a strong physique and build‖.
Like women at the time, men who were very sporty and were good at horse riding,
archery, swordsmanship and martial arts were highly praised, and had a good chance
at attracting Tang Chinese women.

This ―fetish‖ for all things big also extended to the Tang’s natural love of horses, which
was perhaps another reason why they especially adored the particular species of
equine imported from the Kingdom of Dayuan (Ferghana), which were noted as being
especially large in stature and incredibly strong with great stamina, which of course
allowed the Tang to dominate overseas battlefields.
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The creature of the Horse during this time strangely enough, became an especially
important animal, which was now becoming regarded as the relative of the Chinese
Dragon; the ultimate display of Chinese power, thus implying high status and
importance of horses during the Tang Era.

This love for the Ferghana Horse extended also into Tang Art, which were the subject
and focus of many Tang works of visual composition as evident below by this painting
(―Spring Outing of the Tang Court‖ by Zhang Xuan) and sculpture, both dated from the
Tang Era:
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The great era of Internationalism affected Tang China is such a way as to go so far as
to even influence China in terms of music and fashions.

A great many deal of instruments for one, were adopted from the non-Chinese
civilizational periphery. There was the Suona and the Dulcimer, from Persia. Oboes,
Flutes and Drums were imported from the Tarim Basin (Xinjiang) in Northwest China.
Meanwhile, Cymbals and other percussion instruments were adopted from India.

Shown below is the Tang instrument of the Bipa:

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Using these foreign instruments, Tang palace entertainers were able to accurately
recreate foreign musical concerts for the Emperor’s enjoyment. At the Tang court, they
managed to deliver an official 9 musical ensembles representing music from all around
Eurasia, for performance exclusively to the Tang Imperial Court.

Entire dances and folk songs were also adopted from Asia throughout. In fact, many of
the musical instruments and sounds which we today consider to be ―Traditional Chinese
Music‖, were mostly compiled into its modern form all the way back in the Tang
Dynasty. Thus many traditional Chinese instruments which we regard as Chinese today,
in fact actually have foreign origins unbeknownst to most non-Chinese peoples, yet very
well known amongst the Chinese today.
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An artist’s impression of a musical and dance ensemble being performed during the
Tang Dynasty:

In the realm of fashion meanwhile, the peoples of the Tang Dynasty enthusiastically
took to creating, before then subsequently adorning attires with heavy foreign
influences.

For women, the ―Hufu‖ was one such outfit, and most its elements could be traced back
to those who resided in areas West of China, the gowns itself meanwhile were cut low
with a high waist-band. The common clothing for Tang women was comprised of short
shirts or jackets characterised by either half sleeves and long skirts; or loose sleeved
shirts with long skirts and shawls.

The foreign influenced Hufu worn by Tang Women as this image so depicts:
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For men meanwhile, they donned an attire known as the Yuanlingpao. Nomadic Xianbei
and Persian influences were known to have run right through this male (and female due
to cross dressing) attire. The dress itself was Xianbei influenced, the pointy shoes which
were often worn alongside it, were clearly Persian influence.

The foreign influenced attire of the Yuanlingpao worn by Tang Men in this modern day
photoshoot:
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The popular Tang Dynasty sport of Polo, played by the Aristocrats of Tang China was of
course also adopted from Persia, as this Tang painting so depicts a match of Polo down
below:

Speaking on the matter of sports and other leisurely activities, the Tang is often
remembered today in China for as a time of great prosperity for the individual, where
people were encouraged not only to work hard, but to play hard also. On a good day off,
Tang citizens could hope to pursue many hobbies to their hearts’ desire including Polo,
Archery, Hunting, Cuju/Soccer, Betting and Gambling on Cockfighting, and even Tug of
War.

Breaks for hard working government officials were especially in full bloom during the
Tang Empire.

For example, a hard working and righteous official courtesy of the Government for his
hard work and upholding of the nation’s prosperity, were granted 15 days every 3 years
of paid leave, where they were allowed to visit their parents if they lived more than 270
km away. Or perhaps even 30 days every 3 years if they lived more than 1,600 km
 P a g e | 76

away. 9 extra days of paid leave would be granted if your son or daughter was getting
married also.

An artist’s impression of the Qingming Festival during the Tang Empire:

Every day on which there were traditional Chinese holidays, including Chinese New
Year, the Lantern Festival or the Cold Food Festival were all universal holidays where
no one had to work if they did not want to. In fact, between the years 628 AD and 758
AD, a total of 69 unprecedented sized scale celebrations were held and sponsored by
the Imperial Family to commemorate the prosperity of Tang China.

And it was also perhaps during the Tang, that a Chinese tradition that required guests to
drink plenty of alcohol at every social event, was introduced. Thus, self-evident should
be the egalitarianism and great prosperity of the Tang Empire, which were so peaceful,
advanced and generous such that it even allowed its citizens to take a break every once
in awhile.

An artist’s impression of the Spring Festival being celebrated in Tang China:

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The open-mindedness of the Tang was such to such an extent, that it even transferred
over to the realm of sexual openness.

According to popular Quoran Robin Daverman:

“Men and women all could have multiple lovers; the Emperor's lover could have an affair
with another good-looking young man and the Emperor would just smile at it; married
princess having an affair with a Buddhist monk; gays and lesbians and threesomes and
n-somes, whatever.”

The Tang Dynasty was not only just the Golden Age of China overall, it was in particular
also the Golden Age of Chinese Traditional Architecture. For Tang period buildings,
there were two primary influential elements which brought a revolutionary change to the
way Imperial China’s buildings would now be constructed.

Take the new building type of the Buddhist Pagoda for instance. Traditionally, before
the love of all things large by Tang, and before the rise of Buddhism, Chinese buildings
were traditionally emphasized starting with the Han Dynasty to be of great width
(extremely emphasized) rather than of great heights.

But in the Tang, with both Buddhism and a fetish for all things huge on an
unprecedented grand scale now on the rise, many hundreds upon hundreds of tall
skyscraper like Buddhist Pagodas were built en masse throughout Tang China.

The Tang era ―Small‖ Wild Goose Pagoda:

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―Large‖ Wild Goose Pagoda build during the Tang Dynasty:

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The ―Three Pagodas‖ in Dali, Yunnan today, all built during the Tang Era:
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In addition to Chinese pagodas, Tang Architecture which is often popularly regarded

today as the pinnacle of Traditional Chinese Architecture, made a few more
improvements in comparison with the previous Han period of China.

Before Buddhist influence was in full swing, the roofs of the Chinese buildings were
often flat like this Han building so depicts below (note how the roofs are flat?):
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But during the Tang Dynasty, when Buddhism was finally made popular upon mass
adoption of the philosophy thanks to the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, and his travels to
India, Buddhism became noticeably visible on Tang China’s buildings.

The roof unlike in the preceding Han Dynasty, was made pointier in accordance with a
Buddhist belief that evil and malevolent spirits who were out to get you, could only travel
in a straight line. So by making the roofs of the buildings pointy, per Buddhist belief the
demonic spirits would not even begin to be able to harm you, since they could not even
jump off the roof of a building in the first place.

And of course you can see this down below in this Tang stylized ―Chi Lin Nunnery‖ in
Hong Kong today, note how the roof is clearly pointed (something which did not exist
during the Han period):
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Meanwhile, the Tang love of all things big, perhaps as stated before in order to reflect
the enormity of their empire whether subconsciously or consciously (nobody knows),
unnecessarily extended the roofs such that they towered well over the buildings of the
Tang, making them more square, more wide and more needlessly expansive than
before.

Unlike the Han period architectures that came before it also, which used many of the
same modest and subdued colours of faded red or brown, the immodest period of the
Tang, affected Tang Architectures in such a way, that their buildings were now often
(but not always) decorated with extraordinarily immodest and outstanding ―Red and
White‖ patterns (Red was sometimes subdued also).

And these patterns were adorned over the exteriors of many important buildings,
regardless of whether they belonged to the rich or poor. Tang Architecture, often
worked also with stone to a greater extent than the preceding Han period, and one may
notice this in some of the Tang period architectures.

Although we do not have many architectures leftover from the Tang period (as wooden
buildings decay quickly), we do however have many Tang reconstructions which
attempt to replicate Tang Architectures, which can be seen today in China as follows
(note the expansive square pointy roofs, and the red and white colouring
characteristic of Tang period architecture):

Dingding Gate in the city of Luoyang today:

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Huaqing Palace in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province today:

―The Imperial Gardens of the Tang Dynasty‖:

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And lastly the ―Tang Paradise‖ of Xi’an City:

Tang Architecture during this period of Imperial China, reached a pinnacle of

development such, that the famous ―Daming‖ Palace (Palace of Great Brilliance) was
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even constructed at this point in time. Built in 634 AD, roughly 1,400 years ago, it
served as the political center and supreme seat of Chinese power for 300 years.

It was extremely large, estimated today to be 3.7 km^2, which makes it 4.5 times the
size of the Forbidden City in Beijing, 12.7 times larger than that of Russia’s political
center; the Kremlin, 15 times the size of Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom,
and roughly the same size as Central Park in New York City, the United States of
America, and therefore one of the largest palaces in Human History by area.

Having been built at the request of Emperor Tang Taizong 1,383 years ago, it is safe to
assume the power, ingenuity and grandeur of Tang Chinese power and supremacy.

Shown below is a computer generated imagined image of the Daming (Illustrious)

Palace:

And finally, last but not least, was the greatly renowned period of Tang Chinese Art and
Poetry, both which were propagated to new heights under the 300 years the Tang
Empire existed for.

Art during the Tang Empire was very foreign influenced, especially the patterns which
one can observe on its many artworks and ceramic creations. The Silk Road and
Buddhism were the biggest instigators of these aforementioned foreign influences.

Apart from the idolization of the Ferghana Horse in Tang Art, Landscape paintings were
a very popular style of visual communication that the Chinese aspired to create in
droves.
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A Tang Era Landscape Painting:

Statues and all other associated manners of art became heavily based around
Buddhism and the depictions of the Buddha.

Such an example is most evident at the Longmen Grottoes in one instance here for
example, a place where there are many Buddhist sculptures to be found; 100,000 in fact
spread throughout a total of 2,345 caves, with heights ranging from 2.5cm to 17m,
attached with approximately 2,500 inscriptions:
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The Great Leshan Giant Buddha was another such example, taking 90 years to make
from 713–803 AD, and is located in Sichuan Province today at 71 metres high:
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In the realm of Ceramics and Porcelain meanwhile, Tang developments regarding these
aspects of art reached a never before seen level of sophistication. The Arab Merchant,
Suleiman in 851 AD once observed the first introductions of Chinese Porcelain to the
world:

“They have in China a very fine clay with which they make vases which are as
transparent as glass; water is seen through them. The vases are made of clay.”

During the Tang, a special artistical method by the name of ―Sancai‖ (three colours) was
used to achieve maximum beautification of Tang China’s ceramic productions.

It was a technique which literally utilized three colours to visually decorate a piece of
ceramic art, by mainly using and or combining three predominant colours for example of
brown, green and creamy white, and using it to decorate a finished work, in order to
prepare for it to be sold on the domestic or even more likely, the international market.

A ceramic offering plate with six eaves and ―three colors" glaze, 8th century AD:
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A ceramic plate with "Sancai" glaze and floral design, 8th to 9th century AD:
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A Sancai glazed offering tray, dated to the late 7th or early 8th century AD:
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The ―noble‖ art of Chinese Calligraphy meanwhile even advanced far beyond art form,
and made its way into the Imperial Service, as a way to test an individual’s personality,
creativity and patience. The Tang Government even set up entire schools of art just to
teach proper, standard calligraphy for China’s vast untold millions of citizens.

Calligraphy eventually became such a form of personality evaluator, that it was even
used to assign government officials to specific places in the Chinese Administration, in
order to maximise Human capital economic efficiency. Everyone, all over the Tang
Empire, even the Emperor himself would practice calligraphy in his spare time.

Emperor Taizong’s personal calligraphy:

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Regarding Tang Poetry meanwhile, this was the arguably greatest cultural contribution
to Chinese civilization from the Tang Empire. Tang Era poems are still so crucial, and
so majestic that even today in Mainland China, school children often find themselves
forced to memorize many tens of hundreds of Tang poems off by heart.

Though thousands have already been lost, China has managed to find and retain at
least 50,000 poems written by over 2,200 different authors with origins from the Tang
Dynasty today.

The Empire of Tang itself most notably, is famously remembered today for being a
―country‖ run by poets. Every government official apart from being a good calligrapher,
also had to be a good, and imaginative poet. Only through poetic expertise and
creativity, could an individual cement one’s position as a permanent member of the
Imperial Administration.
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Here is one influential Tang poem; ―Grasses‖ by Bai Juyi (source: Top 10 Most
Influential Chinese Poems in History):

赋得古原草送别
Grasses

白居易
By Bai Juyi

离离原上草，
Boundless grasses over the plain

一岁一枯荣。
Come and go with every season;

野火烧不尽，
Wildfire never quite consumes them —

春风吹又生。
They are tall once more in the spring wind.

远芳侵古道，
Sweet they press on the old high- road

晴翠接荒城。
And reach the crumbling city-gate….

又送王孙去，
O Prince of Friends, you are gone again….

萋萋满别情。
I hear them sighing after you.

Poems composed during the Tang were often centered around the 3 primary topics of
interest: a special occasion, the beauty of nature and the Philosophy of life.

Tang era poems were very revealing also of the Tang people’s hope, dreams, thoughts
and desires. They often spoke or commented about various social issues, whilst being
precisely careful in capturing the emotions of ordinary people, and their greatest highs,
and gloomiest lows.
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Whether it was mourning the loss of a friend, or simply commenting on one particular
individual’s nostalgia for the past, Tang poets were often careful to capture such
emotions, something which was entirely possible under the egalitarian, and relatively
relaxed rule of the Li Family.

The following written poem below is thought to be an image of the only surviving piece
of calligraphy from the famous Tang Poet Li Bai:

Here is another influential Tang era poem; ―Farewell To Vice-Prefect Du Setting Out For
His Official Post In Shu‖ by Wang Bo (Source: Top 10 Most Influential Chinese Poems
in History):

送杜少府之任蜀州
Farewell To Vice-Prefect Du Setting Out For His Official Post In Shu

王勃
By Wang Bo
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城阙辅三秦，
By this wall that surrounds the three Qin districts,

风烟望五津。
Through a mist that makes five rivers one,

与君离别意，
We bid each other a sad farewell,

同是宦游人。
We two officials going opposite ways….

海内存知己，
And yet, while China holds our friendship,

天涯若比邻。
And heaven remains our neighbourhood,

无为在岐路，
Why should you linger at the fork of the road,

儿女共沾巾。
Wiping your eyes like a heart-broken child?

Note: the translations of these poems in no way do the originals any justice, but
alas, unless you can read written Chinese, then unfortunately the vast majority of
Quora will have been robbed of the original poetic elegance of such classic
pieces of cultural sophistication.

Thus, even if one only read this chapter alone, one should already understand why the
Tang period of China incites such a source of pride for the Chinese people today, all
over the world.

Chapter VII: “The Great Envy of the World”: A Pinnacle of Chinese Power and
Influence

The power and grandeur of the Tang Empire was such, that Chinese power even
managed to reach far beyond the borders of the Empire. Take for example the instance
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where the soon to become Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 AD) had recently completed
their conquest of the dying Persian Sassanid Empire in 654 AD.

As a result of his home having been taken forcibly from him, and with death imminent,
King Peroz III of Persia made the only sane choice left in his increasingly dwindling list
of options: he fled East, not West nor South nor North but East, and to the Tang Empire
he arrived, requesting the help of Emperor Gaozong of Tang in helping to restore him to
the throne.

The fact that China had never once in its history controlled Persia, and yet to China the
Persian King went, implies as to what extent Chinese International ―soft power‖ and
prestige had arisen such, that foreign powers now seeked to enlist the aid of a foreign
nation as faraway as that of China.

In case the distance between the Sassanid Persian Capital Zabul and Tang Chang’an
wasn’t clear (it’s separated by over 4,500 km of wilderness), here it is visually displayed
for you on the Eurasian map:

Responding to Peroz III’s request, Tang China backed the Persian King and in 661 AD
announced to the newly proclaimed Arab Umayyad Caliphate, that only the new
―Governorate of Persia‖, led by Peroz III was the legitimate ruler of Iran. The Imperial
Court meanwhile donned Peroz III once more as King Peroz III.

For 14 years China supported Peroz in winning his throne back, and though they
ultimately failed (only after Peroz managed to reconquer, and rule ―Sistan‖; a region in
Persia once again for some time), this exposes the status of Tang China; as that of an
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interventionist Great Power, with strong capabilities to mount faroff intercontinental

expeditionary campaigns.

A Tang Era depiction of Peroz III in Tang China:

When the campaigns failed, Peroz lived the rest of his days in peace within the Tang
Capital of Chang’an, his son Narsieh meanwhile was made Commander of the Chinese
Imperial Guards, and fleeing refugees meanwhile of the former Sassanian Empire, were
meanwhile permitted through the great generosity of China, to settle in the Tang
Empire, where they begun a new life free from danger.

It was not just Iran however with whom the Tang Chinese enjoyed cordial relations with.
The Tang under Emperor Taizong especially enjoyed a greatly healthy relationship with
Fulin (the Byzantine Empire) who the Tang viewed as merely an extension (and
correctly so) of ―Da Qin‖ (the Roman Empire).

An artist’s impression of the Byzantine Embassy to Tang China, seen below were
Byzantine emissaries coming before the Imperial Court to pay homage to the great
Tang Emperor Taizong:
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The Arabs meanwhile, through the many private accounts of Arab traders and
merchants, convey to historians of a very positive image of Tang China.

The second Caliph meanwhile, of the mighty Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 AD and
1261–1517 AD) and great builder of Baghdad (the second largest city in the world after
Chang’an at 500,000 people); Al-Mansour, was once quoted as insisting, whilst
standing next to the famous Tigris River:

“Here is the Tigris, and nothing bars the way between it and China!”

The famous Prophet Muhammad, the great founder of Islam likewise also once insisted
to his followers, taking it a step further:

“Seek knowledge, even if you have to go as far as China”

The official histories meanwhile of the Abbasid Caliphate, meanwhile note the Tang
society as one which was, ―highly organised and regulated‖, deeply praising the
Chinese Government for ruling well to such an extent, that it operated as such that, ―if a
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sick person was poor, the Government would cover the cost of his medicine from the
public treasury itself.‖

Contemporary historian Abu Zayd al-Sirafi, who translated Arab historic accounts of
China observed that the Abbasid Era Arabs were highly fond of Tang China, describing
it as a place protected by the, ―rule of law. Right is done wherever it is due and no blind
eye is turned to the misdeeds of those of high status.‖

“Of all God’s creation, the Chinese are among the most dexterous at engraving and
manufacturing and at every kind of craft. Indeed, no one from any nation has the edge
on them in this respect.”

-Popular Abbasid Proverb, Anonymous

The territories of the Abbasid Empire at its heights, a contemporary of Tang:

Though the Arabs did not like everything about Tang China, evident of their disapproval
for a common Tang practice of engaging in sexual intercourse, even when a woman
was on her period, the overall attitude of Arabia to China was also very highly one of
great respect.

The cultural exchange between the Tang Dynasty and the International community was
also not just a one sided affair however. China did not just borrow elements from other
countries, the Middle Kingdom also influenced a lot of other countries in many
civilizational aspects. The Island Nation of Japan for one, is the most obvious place to
see this influence. So thus went the popular saying on the Chinese topic section of
Quora in 2015: ―if you want to see Tang China, visit Japan instead.‖
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Inevitably, as the Tang Empire became stronger, richer, and more prestigious in the
eyes of the International community, its neighbours were bound to sooner or later follow
in its ways.

Politically, no matter how much some people might deny it, the fact is that Japan’s first
modernization efforts: ―The Taika Reforms‖ (645 AD), or ―Great Change‖ Reforms were
carried out by Japanese students who had studied in Tang China, who inspired by what
they observed, sought to make Japan into a version of ―Little Tang‖.

It was a strong attempt to turn Japan into a centralized bureaucratic nation like the Tang
Empire, an attempt which eventually failed to be fully realized due to the omnipresence
of influential aristocrats which bullied the Japanese Emperors, controlled the
bureaucracy, and held large landholdings.

An artist’s impression of Fujiwara Kamatari (note that he is wearing the Chinese male
attire of the Yuanlingpao), one of the enactors of the Taika Reforms (along with
Emperor Tenji):

The Chinese way of life, from architecture, culture, legal system and customs were all
adopted by the Japanese. This helped the island nation to abolish slavery thanks to the
influence of Tang China. Even the Japanese capital of Nara and later Kyoto was
modelled on the Tang capital of Chang’an.
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From 710 to 794 AD, an era called the ―Nara Period‖ took place, it was here that the
height of conscious and active Japanese borrowing from Tang China occurred. During
this time, the people of Japan were actively encouraged by the Imperial Court to build
Chinese-style buildings and wear Chinese style clothing.

Shown below is the armour of the Tang Imperial Guard (Japan’s world renowned
Samurai armour would also go on later in history to adopt the Tang Imperial Guard style
of military attire, note the Tang helmet and mask which clearly resembles the headgear
of a Samurai Warrior’s helm):

Confucianism and Buddhism were adopted (albeit after being changed to conform to
Japanese culture) and the Chinese written script was also adopted by the Japanese.
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Tang literary forms as poetry and calligraphy, as well as landscape painting, also
became popular in Japan.

Japanese Architecture as can be seen today (was influenced by the Tang period of
architecture, characterized mainly by red and white exterior paintings, and the use of a
roof which was like Tang: more wide, more square and more expansive than any other
dynasties throughout Chinese history):
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A similar story was the case also for Korea. Although the Koreans held onto most of
their own unique social institutions, the Chinese Character system was also adopted.
When the Korean Kingdom of Silla became a vassal of the Celestial Empire, it became
a dedicated importer of Tang culture and institutions. Confucian Schools and the
Meritocratic Examination system were even set up in Korea as a result.

Even regarding Ly (1009–1225 AD) and Tran (1225–1400 AD) Dynasties of Imperial
Vietnam long after the Tang Dynasty had collapsed, were still being influenced by this
particular period of Chinese History. The clothing and architecture of the Ly Dynasty
most notably was adopted by the Vietnamese Imperial Court.

The Temple of Literature in Vietnam, the first University of the Vietnamese nation built in
1010 AD was constructed to follow in the architectural styles of the Tang Empire (and
that of Song Architecture in addition also):
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Meanwhile, the Tran Dynasty adopted the Tang’s foreign policy of aggression, using it
to vastly strengthen their military with Cataphracts. Though Vietnam in the years it was
independent of Chinese rule often copied the successive Chinese dynasties, in the very
particular facet of the military, it followed the example of Tang, rather than its
contemporary; the neighbouring Song Dynasty, successor of Tang.

The Song most notably in Chinese History is considered as a very ignoble, and
inglorious period of time as it was militarily weak.

Song China’s First Emperor, Taizu of Song purposely weakened their military when he
passed the ―Wen-Wu Suppression Policy‖, Tran Vietnam, seeing that in fact a policy of
military aggression was greatly needed by Vietnam, in order to maintain their
independence, decided instead to copy Tang China’s example, and instead greatly
strengthened their military, which allowed them to defeat the Mongol Empire (1206–
1368 AD) on 3 separate occasions in a row, when they inevitably invaded the
Vietnamese Empire.

And thus, the power and influence of the Tang Empire should be clear.
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Final Summary (TL;DR)

Many Chinese people I’m sure, will be quick to remind me that in fact, Modern China
today is the only ―true‖ golden age. This is true I suppose, yet it does not take away
from, nor diminish the pride that Chinese people today still feel towards the Tang
Empire.

Though it was neither the longest dynasty like the Han, nor the richest like the Song, nor
the most internationally recognized like the Ming, or even the largest like the Qing, it
was however by far the most open minded, sophisticated, advanced, and cosmopolitan
period of Imperial China. When the Tang Empire fell, it left a huge metaphoric tear in the
fabric of Chinese civilization which could rarely be replaced by any succeeding dynasty
since then.

At its heights, the Tang Empire was the greatest country in the world for an entire
century and a half, never before has China done so much with so little, and in such a
small amount of time also. And unlike the Han Dynasty which merely only rivalled the
Roman Empire (27 BC-476 AD), the mighty Tang Empire had no serious rivals for the
entire first half of its reign, anywhere in the world.

It was so powerful in fact, that far off countries such as the Byzantine Empire and
Abbasid Caliphates-all mighty contemporaries- often highly praised Tang China as a
highly ordered society. Tang China was even so powerful military, that it could launch
armed invasions of countries thousands of kilometres away, just to restore kings like the
Sassinian Monarch, Peroz III to his rightful place as King.

An artist’s impression of the Tang Emperor receiving an envoy from the Tibetan Empire:
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It defeated the mighty Gokturk Khaganate, re-opened the Silk Road and thus became
the largest economy in the world with 40% of the world’s wealth, and it also became the
largest country on Earth with 80 million people. Gender Equality reached an all time
high, and the first (and last) female ruler, Wu Zetian rose to power as a result.

Out of the 200,000 in the port city of Guangzhou, 2/3 were Persian and Arab immigrants
alone. Mighty Tang influenced neighbouring Vietnam, Korea and Japan, and in turn got
influenced by India from which it took Buddhism, and also by Persia and Central Asia
which gave the Tang its fashion, sporting leisures and music.

Great works of art and poetry were attained during the Cosmopolitan Tang, an era
which saw many Chinese cities bustling with immigrants and expatriates from all over
the world. Yet, it was not a one sided affair, for the Tang Chinese could also be found all
over the world, living and trading beyond China.

Relative to the rest of the world, never again has China been so powerful, and since the
Tang collapsed, never again even to this day was or is China as powerful as it once was
compared to everyone else, during the Golden Age of the Tang Empire.

Thus, how then can the Chinese people not be proud of the Tang Era? That is the
real question.

After all, “Li”; the name of the Ruling Family of the Golden Era of Tang, is a
surname of Mainland China, where approximately 7.19% of China as of the 2007
National Census, a total of 92,074,000 people are named as such, proving thus
the importance of the Tang Era of China, where under the wise rule of the Li
Family, Tang emerged as the most powerful country in the world by most metrics,
and according to most historians.