Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
to Islam. In fact, the founding emperors of the Tang dynasty were
themselves part Chinese and part Turkish, and they spoke both
languages and were familiar with both cultures. Their Turkish heritage
was enormously beneficial to them in establishing authority over the
Turks.
By the early eighth century, Tang China was the world's wealthiest,
most powerful state, and its capital, Chang'an was the largest city in
the world and surpassed Constantinople in splendor. Chang'an was
the terminus of the Silk Road, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,
where merchants from all over the Eurasian world gathered to trade
and enjoy the amenities of sophisticated urban culture. Tang Chang'an
was a very cosmopolitan and multicultural city in which many world
cultures and religions flourished. Foreign music, cuisine, dances, and
wines were all the rage in Chang'an, and the Tang Chinese had a taste
for foreign exotica and foreign objets d'art. Powerful, confident Tang
China had no need to fear or despise foreigners or their cultures.
The Tang had a series of competent and energetic emperors, one of
whom was a woman, Empress Wu, who usurped the throne at the end
of the seventh century and reigned for 23 years over the dynasty, which
she renamed Zhou. (Actually, it is technically inaccurate to call her an
empress because an empress was only the wife of the ruling emperor.)
Empress Wu was the first and only female emperor (huangdi) to reign
and rule in Chinese history. Traditional Chinese historians have long
portrayed her as a ruthless, ambitious, and unprincipled woman who
changed the dynasty's name and dealt harshly with her critics and
opponents. But she was by no means a failure, and during her rule
she did see one accomplishment that had eluded her Sui and Tang
predecessors: the submission of Korea to Tang suzerainty.
The Tang eventually overcame Empress Wu's challenge and
restored the dynasty's name and ruling royal clan. During the reign
of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712 to 756), the Tang reached its greatest
height culturally and militarily. Some of Tang China's greatest poets
and painters flourished during his reign. When Xuanzong became
enamored of one of his son's concubines, Yang Guifei, he turned sig-
nificant political and military power over to her. She took advantage
of Xuanzong's doting by appointing her relatives to prominent posi-
tions of leadership in the government and military. One such
appointed relative of hers, An Lushan, came out in open rebellion
against the Tang in 755 and plunged China into years of chaos that
shook the dynasty to its very foundations. Tang China never fully
recovered from this period of rebellion, which was suppressed at
length and with great difficulty in 763 with the help of the Uighurs,
