Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
world's most dazzling capital, with its own cosmopolitan foreign quarter, a pop-
ulation of a million, a market where merchants from as far away as Persia
mingled with locals and an astonishing city wall that eventually enveloped 83
sq km.
Taizong was succeeded by Chinese history's sole reigning female emperor,
Wu Zetian (625-705). Under her leadership the empire reached its greatest
extent, spreading well north of the Great Wall and far west into inner Asia. Her
strong promotion of Buddhism, however, alienated her from the Confucian offi-
cials and in 705 she was forced to abdicate in favour of Xuanzong.
Xuanzong appointed minorities from the frontiers as generals, in the belief
that they were so far removed from the political system and society that ideas
of rebellion or coups would not enter their minds. Nevertheless, it was An
Lushan, a general of Sogdian-Turkic parentage, who took advantage of his
command in north China to make a bid for imperial power. The fighting lasted
from 755 to 763, and although An Lushan was defeated, the Tang's control
over China was destroyed forever.
In its last century, the Tang withdrew from its former openness, turning more
strongly to Confucianism, while Buddhism was outlawed by Emperor Wuzong
from 842 to 845. The Tang decline was marked by imperial frailty, growing in-
surgencies, upheaval and chaos.
Open Markets
Further disunity - the fragmentary Five Dynasties or Ten Kingdoms period -
followed the fall of the Tang until the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) was
established. The Song dynasty existed in a state of constant conflict with its
northern neighbours, being eventually driven from Kaifeng to its southern cap-
ital in Hangzhou for the period of the Southern Song (1127-1279).
The age was culturally rich and economically prosperous. The full institution
of a system of examinations for entry into the Chinese bureaucracy was
brought to fruition during the Song. Young Chinese men sat tests on the Con-
fucian classics, obtaining office if successful. The economy thrived during
Song times, as cash crops and handicraft products became far more central to
the wealth of the nation.
