The Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) started with the great ancestor Li Yuan and ended with Emperor Ai, who had 20 emperors. During the Tang Dynasty, China's feudal society reached its peak, with Emperor Taizong Li Shimin's "Government of Zhenguan" at its peak.
In the early Tang Dynasty, agricultural production was booming, handicrafts became increasingly sophisticated, the commodity economy was unprecedentedly prosperous, and urban life was prosperous. In the late Tang Dynasty, the economy in the south of the Yangtze River further developed, laying the foundation for the economic level of the south to surpass that of the north. Politically at that time, the "Government of Zhenguan" and the "Government of Kaiyuan" appeared successively. The country was unified and the society was stable. Its achievements surpassed the "Government of Wenjing" of the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the prosperity reached its peak, and even the "prosperity of the Tang Dynasty" appeared in the literary world.
From a global perspective at that time, the Tang Empire was also one of the most important and powerful countries. The major feudal powers in Europe include the Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire, both of which lagged far behind the Tang Dynasty. Important countries in the East include India and Japan. The feudal system had just been established around the time when King Harsha of India reunified the subcontinent, but the subcontinent immediately fell apart after his death. On a global scale, the Tang Dynasty was not only able to stand on its own among the nations of the world, but was also among the most advanced.
The Tang Dynasty was one of the important dynasties in Chinese history. During the Tang Dynasty, China made brilliant achievements in politics, economy, military, culture, Sino-foreign relations and other aspects.
The Tang Dynasty was in a critical period of transition from the early to the late period of ancient Chinese society. In this sense, the Tang Dynasty also had an important historical position. Many budding new things that appeared in the late Tang Dynasty had a profound impact on the historical development of more than a thousand years. The reforms in the taxation system in the Tang Dynasty, such as the "two taxes" in the Song Dynasty, the "one whip method" in the Ming Dynasty, and the "dividing a small person into an acre" in the Qing Dynasty, are all the continuation and development of the two tax system in the Tang Dynasty. The philosophical thoughts of Han Yu and Li Ao in the mid-Tang Dynasty paved the way for Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties. The "Ancient Prose Movement" advocated by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan laid the foundation for the second climax of the "Ancient Prose Movement" in the Song Dynasty. It can be seen that from the middle of the Tang Dynasty to the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, major changes in ancient Chinese society were brewing in the two hundred years, and many new things sprouted in the Tang Dynasty.
In short, the Tang Dynasty had a developed economy, a prosperous culture, and a strong national power. It was another heyday in Chinese history after the Han Dynasty. It was known as the "Strong Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty" in history. The development of the later Tang Dynasty also provided China with The great changes in ancient society began. The Tang Dynasty was indeed a glorious and great era in the history of the Chinese nation!
Politics:
The rule of Zhenguan
The Taizong period included the Mongolian plateau dominated by the Turks as a sphere of influence. The ethnic groups in the north of the Tang Dynasty were specifically called Li Shimin Khan for God. In terms of internal affairs, he inherited the prime minister system, developed, improved and established the three provinces and six ministries and the imperial examination system that were used in later generations. He also implemented the land equalization system and the rent-to-yong system. Regardless of their origins, he recruited a large number of smart and capable ministers, regardless of whether they were demoted to generals or established. He also reused all his old ministers. For example, Wei Zheng was a minister of the former crown prince Jiancheng. After Taizong ascended the throne, he ignored the past and followed Wei Zheng's advice in everything. During this period, the social order was stable and the economy was prosperous. It was called the "Reign of Zhenguan" in history. The summary of his political achievements, "Zhenguan Zhengyao", became the imperial textbook of Japan and Korea, and also the object of imitation and study by later monarchs.
The prosperous age of Kaiyuan
In the first year of Yanhe (712), Ruizhong gave way to the prince Li Longji, and Li Longji was Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty. Li Longji was Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, also known as Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty. In 713, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Princess Taiping to die, and her party members either killed or expelled her, ending the chaotic political situation known as the "Empress Wei Rebellion" in history. In the same year, it was changed to Kaiyuan. Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty reigned for 44 years. In the early period (Kaiyuan period), the politics were relatively clear and the economy developed rapidly. The Tang Dynasty entered its heyday, known in history as the "Kaiyuan Heyday". This period is considered to be the second heyday in Chinese history after the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (the prosperous age of Han Wu). Chang'an, the capital, became the largest city in the world at that time and the first city in the world with a population of one million.
Economy:
Currency After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, it quickly introduced its own coinage policy. In July of the fourth year of Wude (621), "Waste five baht coins and use Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, eight cents in diameter, weighing two bahts and four lěi", accumulating ten coins weighing one tael, and one thousand coins weighing six catties and four taels. ". The legal tender status of national coinage was established. At the same time, it inherited the tradition of using silk (juàn) as currency during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and implemented a monetary system of "money and silk" - money is copper coins, and silk is the general name for silk fabrics, including brocade, embroidery, damask, Luo, silk, shī, qǐ, jiān, chōu, etc. are actually a diversified currency system that uses both physical currency and metal currency. The Tang government continued to issue laws to severely crack down on private and indiscriminate coining, and banned the use of bad money. However, due to the serious shortage of copper coin supply, the currency value continued to rise and strengthen, and private and indiscriminate coining resulted in huge profits, so the results were not ideal. After the implementation of the Two Taxes Law, a long-standing contradiction in social development is highlighted by the worsening of the so-called "money shortage" problem where money is valued more than materials. The GDP of the Tang Dynasty was 34.8 billion U.S. dollars in the world at that time, accounting for 58% of the world's GDP
Hukou
In 650, the Tang Dynasty counted 3.8 million households. In 705, there were 6.15 million Tang Dynasty clothing households, with a population of more than 37.14 million.
By the 740th year of Kaiyuan's heyday, there were 8,412,871 households and 48,143,609 people. In 754, the year before the Anshi Rebellion, the number of households was 9,069,254, and the population was 52,880,488. During the Anshi Rebellion in 760, there were 1,933,174 households, of which 1,174,592 were not subject to education, and a population of 16,990,386, of which 14,619,587 were not subject to education.
Tax revenue
In the mid-Tang Dynasty, the Two-Tax Law was implemented in 780. In that year, the tax revenue was more than 10.898 million yuan and the grain was more than 2.157 million stone. From 821 to 824, the average annual tax revenue was 35.151228 million yuan, shi (yiguan = 1 min). In 853 in the late Tang Dynasty, the tax revenue dropped to more than 9.25 million yuan, of which salt profits amounted to more than 2.78 million yuan.
Agriculture
Agricultural production tools in the Tang Dynasty made new progress. Quyuanli appeared in the Tang Dynasty. New irrigation tools, waterwheels and drum trucks, also appeared. In the early Tang Dynasty, there were more than 160 important water conservancy projects recorded. Among them, the famous ones include Yuliang Canal, Jiangyan Lake, Jinghu Lake, etc. During the Tianbao period, the cultivated land area of ??the Tang Dynasty reached 8.5 million hectares. Grain production has also increased. In the eighth year of Tianbao's reign, the official warehouse's grain storage amounted to 96 million shi. When the price of rice was the lowest in Luoyang, Chang'an, it was only 13 cents per dou, and in Qingzhou and Qizhou, it was only 5 cents per dou.
Handicraft industry
The handicraft industry in the Tang Dynasty was divided into two types: government-run and private. The Ministry of Industry is the most important department in charge of the government-run handicraft industry. The directly managed agencies include the Shaofu Supervisor, the General Supervisor, and the Ordnance Supervisor. The Shaofu Supervisor is in charge of exquisite handicrafts; the General Supervisor is in charge of the construction of civil engineering; and the Ordnance Supervisor is in charge of the construction of weapons. There is a department under the supervision and a workshop under the department. In addition, there are money-casting supervisors and metallurgical supervisors. The products of government-run handicrafts are generally not sold to the outside world and are only consumed by the royal family and government officials. Workers are divided into craftsmen, prisoners, official households, miscellaneous households, etc. The private handicraft industry is less developed than the government-run handicraft industry. The main handicraft industries in the early Tang Dynasty were textile industry, ceramics industry and mining and metallurgy industry. In the late Tang Dynasty, the southern handicraft industry made great progress, especially the silk weaving, shipbuilding, paper and tea industries.
Culture:
Literature
The most remarkable literary achievement of the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as Tang poetry. Since Chen Ziang and the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty", famous poets in the Tang Dynasty have emerged one after another. Li Bai, Du Fu, Cen Shen, and Wang Wei in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li He, Han Yu, and Bai Juyi in the mid-Tang Dynasty, and Li Shangyin and Du Mu in the late Tang Dynasty are just a few of them. representatives. Their poems have different styles, including rich imagination of the mythical world and detailed descriptions of real life, passionate and powerful frontier poems, melancholy and heavy "history of poetry", and fresh and refined pastoral poems. Together, these poems constitute outstanding representatives of Chinese literary achievements. Although there were still outstanding poets in the Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties in later generations, the overall level of rhymed poetry and ancient poetry was not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty poets, making Tang poetry the insurmountable pinnacle of Chinese ancient poetry.
Art
Zhang Xuan's "Spring Outing of the Lady of Guo" painted by Zhang Xuan. As it absorbed the characteristics and religious colors of the Western Regions, the art of the Tang Dynasty was completely different from that of the preceding and following dynasties. Brothers Yan Liben and Yan Lide in the early Tang Dynasty were good at painting figures. Wu Daozi is known as the "Sage of Painting". He is good at both figures and landscapes, and he has absorbed the techniques of the Western Regions School of Painting. His paintings are rich in three-dimensionality, and there is a saying that "Wu is the style". Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang mainly painted pictures of maids. Their famous works include "Picture of Tamping Practice", "Picture of Lady Guo Guo's Spring Outing" and "Picture of Ladies with Hairpins". The poet Wang Wei was good at ink landscape painting, and Su Shi called him "poetry in his paintings." The mural industry in the Tang Dynasty was particularly developed. The murals in Mogao Grottoes and tombs are masterpieces handed down from generation to generation. The sculpture art of the Tang Dynasty was equally outstanding. Dunhuang, Longmen, Maijishan and Binglingsi Grottoes all reached their heyday during the Tang Dynasty. The Lucena Giant Buddha in Longmen Grottoes and the Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan are both amazing. The Six Horses of Zhaoling and the three-color pottery figurines of the tomb are both very exquisite. Among them, the sculptor Yang Huizhi is known as the Sculptor. During the Tang Dynasty, calligraphers emerged in large numbers. Ouyang Xun and Yu Shinan were both famous calligraphers in the early Tang Dynasty. Ouyang Xun's regular script is rigorous and rigorous, and his famous works include "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Ming". Yu Shinan's regular script font is soft and round. Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan were famous calligraphers in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Yan Zhenqing's regular script is thick and full of sinews, and his calligraphy is strong and free. His representative works include "Duobao Pagoda Stele"; Liu Gongquan's calligraphy is strong and strong, and his representative works include "Xuanmi Pagoda Stele". The world calls the calligraphy of Yan and Liu "Yan Jinliu" bone". Zhang Xu and Huai Su are masters of cursive calligraphy.