In
617, Li Shih-min, the 16-year-old son of the Duke of T'ang,
led a revolt against the Sui emperor. China at this time was
split by revolt and invasion. By 618, Li with the help of Turkish
mercenaries had reunited China and placed his father on the
throne as emperor. Li himself took the throne under the name
T'ai Tsung in 627. For the next 300 hundred years, the T'ang
dynasty ruled China and made it into the most civilized and
powerful nation on earth at that time.
All forms of culture flowered under the T'ang in what is seen
as the Golden Age of China, but poetry was the most outstanding
achievement. The collection of T'ang poetry includes more than
48,900 poems by 2200 authors. Li Po, Tu Fu and Wang Wei are
considered the three greatest Chinese poets. Wang Wei was also
a gifted painter, musician and calligrapher. The foundation
of Chinese history writing was established by Ssu-ma Ch'ien,
Pan Ku and Liu Chih-chi. Most Chinese painting in the centuries
after were based on the principles established by T'ang artists
such as Yen Li-pen, Chang Hsuan, Chou Fang and Han Kan, famous
for his paintings of horses.
While Buddhism declined in India, it expanded greatly in China
at this time. Book printing using carved wooden blocks began
under the T'ang, although it would not reach its height until
the time of the Sung emperors.
T'ang China was also a great military power, expanding China's
borders in all directions. Trade along the Silk Route flourished.
But in 751 the Arabs stopped the Chinese at the battle of the
Talas River. The Turkish Uighurs, the Mongol Khitans and the
Tibetan kingdom of Tufan all threatened China.
By 907, China fell into civil war again lasting five decades.
In 960, the Sung dynasties (960-1279) ended the chaos. A second
period of cultural and technical innovation occurred with an
expansion in book printing, the invention of gunpowder and the
mass production of porcelain. Foreign trade expanded greatly,
with Chinese merchants competing with Persians and Arabs in
southeast Asia.
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years ago / 50 years ago
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