"Going northwards, I crossed the Yuan-pa, over whose waters the unclouded moon shone with dazzling light. When night was far advanced, I climbed Hua- tzu's hill and saw the moonlight tossed up and thrown down by the jostling waves of the Wang River. On the wintry mountain distant lights twinkled and vanished... We must wait for spring to come: till the grasses sprout and the trees bloom. Then walking together in the spring hills we shall see the trout leap lightly from the stream, the white gulls stretch their wings, the dew fall on the green moss..."

(Translation of a prose poem by Wang Wei (born 699, died 759 AD).)

After the many generations of upheaval, warfare and uncertainty that followed the collapse of the Han Empire, China under the T'ang emperors saw a new period of peace. While Emperor T'ai Tsung was also a great military leader, he won the support of the Chinese people through his support of learning and the arts. Much of what was achieved at this time influenced China throughout the following centuries up until the present day. Much the same could be said for the West. The nations that now make up Europe were largely formed at this time. The kingdoms of France, Germany and England took shape. The Bulgarians and Magyars, and the Slavic peoples that would become the Serbs and Croats, had moved into the Balkan region. The Russian and Polish states were forming. Islam arose at this time, coming to dominate West Asia, northern India and North Africa, gradually spreading further into Africa and into Southeast Asia. In the Americas, the Mayas experienced their Golden Age, while the Inca and Aztec empires were just on the horizon.