Tang dynasty

The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Tángcháo) (18 June 618 – 4 June 907) was an imperial dynasty of China. It came after the Sui Dynasty and was followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li (李) family, who came to power during the fall of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was interrupted for a short time by the Zhou dynasty (周) (16 October 690 – 3 March 705) founded by Empress Wu Zetian who managed to claim the throne, becoming the first and only Chinese Empress.

Tang 唐
618–907 690–705: Zhou dynasty
Tang dynasty c. 669. Map of China during the Tang Dynasty.
Capital	Chang'an (618–684 and 705–904) Luoyang (684–705 and 904–907)
Common languages	Middle Chinese
Religion	Chinese Buddhism Taoism Chinese folk religion Nestorianism Manichaeism Zoroastrianism
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 618–626 (first)	Emperor Gaozu
• 626–649	Emperor Taizong
• 712–756	Emperor Xuanzong
• 904–907 (last)	Emperor Ai
History
• Established	June 18, 618
• Usurped by Wu Zetian	690–705a
• An Lushan Rebellion	755–763b
• Abdication in favour of the Later Liang	June 1, 907
Area
715	5,400,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi)
Population
• 7th century	50 million
• 9th century	80 million
Currency	Chinese coin Chinese cash
Preceded by Succeeded by Sui dynasty Eastern Turkic Khaganate Western Turkic Khaganate Goguryeo Later Liang Wu Wuyue Min Former Shu Khitans
a October 8, 690 – March 3, 705. b December 16, 755 – February 17, 763.

Tang dynasty
"Tang dynasty" in Han characters
Chinese	唐朝
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táng cháo Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tarng chaur Wade–Giles T‘ang2 ch‘ao2 IPA [tʰǎŋ ʈʂʰǎu] Wu Romanization Dáõn záu Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Tong4 chiu4 IPA [tʰɔ̏ːŋ tsʰȉːu] Jyutping Tong4 ciu4 Southern Min Tâi-lô Tông tiâu Middle Chinese Middle Chinese dang djew

The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an (today Xi'an), was the biggest city in the world at the time. It is considered by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization—maybe even greater than the earlier Han Dynasty—as well as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture.

Empress Wu, the first woman to ever rule in China, was also included in the Tang Dynasty. Her methods were sometimes vicious, but she was very intelligent and talented.

Other websites

• The Tang Dynasty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Home of 300 Tang Poems, University of Virginia
• The Tang Dynasty Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine at AsianSpiritGallery