10/23/2020 Print - Tang Dynasty - Overview

From ABC-CLIO's World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras website https://ancienthistory.abc-
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Time Period: Central and East Asia, 500-1500 CE

Tang Dynasty
Overview

The Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) pushed the borders of China to Korea, Turkistan, Vietnam, and
Persia and provided relative stability within China for several centuries. The Tang also established
many of the cultural, literary, and artistic traditions that have come to de ne Chinese society. To
this day, for example, the Chinese term for the various "Chinatowns" in such places as New York
is Tang Ren Jie, or "Tang People Street," signifying the continued connection the Chinese hold
with the achievements of the Tang. Poetry, painting, and even calligraphy reached new heights in
the rst two centuries of Tang rule. That was made possible, in part, because of the internal
stability that China enjoyed under Tang rule.
Political Context

The Sui dynasty, which was in power only a short time (581–617),
managed to unite northern and southern China and set the stage for
the Tang. Emperor Wendi, the founder of the Sui dynasty, was an able if
ruthless leader who wisely portrayed himself as Buddhist, Confucian,
and Daoist in order to appease various factions. He also reorganized
the giant government bureaucracy and made it more centralized. To facilitate travel and secure
the empire, Wendi also constructed the Da Yunhe, or Grand Canal, a massive project that
connected the Yellow River and Yangtze River. While his three attempts to take Korea failed,
Wendi's son, Yang Di, sent armies into Vietnam, Chinese Turkistan, and Mongolia, helping both to

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expand Chinese territory and secure China against its neighbors. However, the prosperity that
Wendi established was undone by Yang Di, whose expenditures, wars, and repressive rule led to
revolt, and in time, his death in 618.
Yang Di's successor was Emperor Gao Zu, the founder of the Tang dynasty. In 626, Gao Zu was
forced to abdicate by his son, Taizong, who had killed two of his own brothers to solidify his
power base. Despite his initially violent reign, Taizong was an excellent ruler. He continued the
military programs of his forebearers, but he also further centralized and strengthened the
government. In addition, he founded schools that helped train young men in Confucian doctrine
and the literary traditions of China. Not only did those schools turn out able scholars, well versed
in China's rich literary tradition, but they also provided the government with future ministers.
Those o cials, trained in the tenets of Confucianism, which stressed obedience and service,
proved loyal and hardworking. Taizong's rule saw a ourishing of artistic culture, enhanced by the
cultural training of the Tang o cials and China's relatively peaceful conditions. Even when
rebellion and civil war wracked later Tang society, the high level of artistic achievement displayed
by Tang painters and poets became the standard against which future arts and letters were
judged.

Arts of the Tang Dynasty

The Tang dynasty, for many Chinese, represents the pinnacle of cultural attainment. The in uence
of Tang artists, writers, and design was felt far from home as well—the Japanese kimono, for
example, has its origins in the style of dress worn by Tang women. Thanks to political stability,
social harmony, and an openness that did not frown on foreign in uences, Tang art reached a
respect that had hitherto only been shown to the cultural attainments of the Han dynasty. Most
representative of that cultural owering is the eighth-century Tang emperor Xuanzong. An able
and honest ruler, Xuanzong was also an accomplished musician and patron of the arts. He
founded the Hanlin Academy, which trained scholars, and another school for dance and music.

Tang painters represent a watershed in Chinese pictorial art. In addition to

murals, a few examples of which survive at Dunhuang, Tang painters were
renowned for their work on paper and silk. While many of those pieces depict
Buddhist themes, others deal with landscapes, horses, and portraiture. One
seventh-century painter, Yan Liben, produced the Portraits of the Emperors,
but he also painted portraits of court o cials, notable scholars, foreign
visitors, and animals. The most celebrated painter of the Tang period, and in
all of Chinese history according to some scholars, was Wu Daoxuan. Sadly, none of his work
survives today, but he was greatly admired both in his lifetime, when thousands of people are said
to have watched him work, and afterwards when he became the paragon of painters and
someone to emulate.
Of all subjects, the one that is most closely associated with the Tang is landscape paintings.
There were two major styles. The work of such painters as Li Sixun, a practitioner of the so-called
Northern school of painting, was elegant, colorful, and worked well with both religious themes

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and courtly scenes. The Southern school was one associated with well-educated amateur
painters and poets. Wang Wei, one of the chief poets of the Tang period, is a good example.
Given to abstraction, the Southern school is most often associated with the landscape art of
imperial China.

Closely related to painting, calligraphy—the elegant art of handwriting—

thrived as well. While there were several styles of calligraphy, master
calligraphers would adapt tradition to their personal taste, often in uencing
later writers. Calligraphy was even viewed as a window into one's personality;
during the Tang period, a scholar's handwriting was evaluated to determine
what sort of imperial post he should receive. The idea behind this was that
writing revealed one's sense, values, and moral tness.
Du Fu, Li Bo, and Wang Wei, three of the chief poets of the Tang dynasty, represent not only the
brightest luminaries of the period but also some of the best poets China ever produced. Those
men varied widely in experience and outlook, but together they illuminated the major themes
popular in their day. Du Fu, who never passed the civil service exam and whose life at court was
often di cult, wrote about his wanderings and misfortunes. Li Bo, on the other hand, enjoyed an
easier life and wrote about everything from drinking to love to the life of a scholar to music.
Approximately 50,000 poems survive from that period, and to this day, they are required reading
for Chinese students.

In many ways, the artistic accomplishments of the Tang came to represent a "golden age," a time
when the sophistication, beauty, and breadth of skills and subjects blended to create models for
later artists. Everyone, from emperor to peasant, enjoyed the rich poetry, music, and visual arts.
The rst half of the period enjoyed a security that made it possible for the arts to ourish. Later
dynasties continued the traditions re ned by men like Yan Liben, Li Sixun, and Li Bo, even though
they rarely enjoyed the same degree of political stability. In the Song dynasty (907–1276), which
succeeded the Tang, the civil service exam grew in importance alongside a renewed sense of
Confucian piety. That test, and the importance placed on tradition in Confucianism, helped ensure
that the glories of the Tang would be preserved. Artists of the Song, and in every period since,
have looked back to the Tang for inspiration.

James B. Tschen-Emmons
Further Reading

Benn, Charles. Daily Life in Traditional China: The Tang Dynasty. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press,
2002; Capon, Edmund. Tang China: Vision and Splendor of a Golden Age. London: Macdonald
Orbis, 1989; McMullen, David. State and Scholars in Tang China. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1988; Scarpari, Maurizio. Ancient China: Chinese Civilization from the Origins to the Tang
Dynasty. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 2000.

Image Credits

Wendi: Burstein Collection/Corbis

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Tang court ladies play music: Instructional Resources Corporation

 
MLA Citation
Tschen-Emmons, James. "Tang Dynasty." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO,
2020, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1185626?cid=41&sid=1185626. Accessed 23
Oct. 2020.
 
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