Emperor Taizong: The Rise And Fall Of The Tang Dynasty

Empress Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China, ruled during the Tang dynasty, but exerted cruel and malicious methods to gain power. She was born with the name Wu Zhao into a wealthy family and learned to write, read, and play music. Because of her beauty and intelligence, Wu became Emperor Tsung’s fifth favorite concubine, or

A. One of the most important public works projects taken on by the Sui dynasty was the grand canal. This canal was so important due to it facilitating trade between north and south China which then allowed rice and other crops to be available in the north.

During the years 600-900 A.D. of the Chinese Empire, the Tang Dynasty was in power, and was considered the Golden age of Chinese civilization. The dynasty's second emperor, Taizong, started campaigns to deal with threats from the Nomadic Tribes. Due to these campaigns in the Tarim Basin, the Silk Road was able to stay open, allowing for trade in the Middle East and Europe. This trading society encouraged people from distant countries to come and settle in China. Another advancement affecting trade was the “equal-field system” which not only saw that everyone received proper care, but that all land was being farmed. This was possible by making it that people given land did not have to give it up to the military service, called the “Fubing System”,

There was many dynasties and empires to come about between 200 BCE and 600 CE. One specific dynasty was the Han dynasty. This dynasty was involved in the unification of China. This dynasty was formed by Lia Bang and lasted from 206 BCE to 220 CE, with an interruption phase from 9 CE to 23 CE.The Han dynasty was between decentralized and centralized. Han Wudi was the greatest emperor of this dynasty, who pursued centralization and expansion. There was constant attacks from Xiongnu nomads of C. Asia; however, Han Wudi briefly came to control Xiongnu. Wang Mang, the regent for a two year old emperor, took power himself. He tried to redistribute land, but the wealthier people that did not want to get some of their land taken away assassinated him. In the later Han dynasty, emperors manage with struggles to control resentment. Another succession to come about was the Roman empire. The Roman empire started out as a republic, but soon Julius Caesar Seized Rome in 49 B.C.E. Julius Caesar centralized control but was eventually assassinated in 44 B.C.E. After Julius came Octavian, who ran a monarchy that was disguised as a republic. Octavian continued expansion and integration of the empire. There was an extreme amount of poor people; in fact, one third of the population was in slavery. One of the only things that was attempted was giving them bread and circuses to distract them. There was no policy developed for them. The Roman empire went through many rulers. Although these

Women during this time were considered inferior to the men. A stereotypical woman in China was, “passive, dependent, obedient, and helpless”. Women were considered guests in their own houses before marriage and after marriage the women became part of their husband’s family. This must have meant that family loyalty for the women was not as important, but it was more important for the men. The expectation was that women were to agree with their husbands regardless of whether or not they were actually correct. When out in public, they should cover up as much of their skin as possible and not raise their voices when they are spoken to. This was a difficult time for women, but Empress Wu found a way to ignore these stereotypes. Her beauty and intelligence attracted Taizong and he made her part of his concubine. She eventually married the son of Taizong, Gaozong, making her empress of China. After the death of Gaozong their son Ruizong ruled as emperor, but eventually Empress Wu threw him into exile and took the position for herself starting her rule in 690. This represents her more brutal nature and how she would not let anything or anyone get in her way, including her son. Since she had overcome the adversities of women Wu worked hard during her reign to allow more opportunities for women than previously. In

The Han dynasty was a golden era for China. It saw the greatest land confiscation of the nation’s history and economic success. In this paper I will be focusing on the structure of the national government, the monopolizing of iron and salt, the Yumen Pass and the Yellow Turban rebellion. Join me as we take a trip back in time to visit a time in Chinas history that is highly revered.

Under Emperor Wu, Confucian way of thinking eventually became the pillars of the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and transformed Confucius into an uncrowned monarch from the traditional humble teacher that he was. As the official doctrine of the empire the Emperor was held to honor tradition, respecting the lessons of history, and had a responsibility to heaven. They embraced the Zhou based mentality on mandate of heaven to justify their rule and officials used that also to explain natural disasters and famine in the region when the emperor lost his contract with heaven, and paved way for a new ruler to take the throne. Also due to the dense population of the region, Emperor Wu was able to established a university to properly train and educate

Ancient China has a very complex background that has been formed over hundreds of years. Over the years China has had many rulers and they have all ruled in different ways. In Ancient China through all the years they had the same problem. Their problem was that the nomads to their north kept invading them and they couldn't stop them because the nomads had horses. China tried many different strategies to protect themselves: from paying tribute to the northerners, to building walls, or trading over thousands of miles to obtain methods of fighting back, none of these strategies had long term success.

In 649 A.D., the Emperor died and he was succeeded by his son, Gaozong, who also became fascinated by Wu’s beauty and talents. After earning the Emperor’s trust, Wu wanted a higher status in the palace and to achieve her goal,

“The future depends on what we do in the present” - Gandhi. Have you ever wondered what life would be like if Karl Benzin hadn’t created the first car, or Thomas Edison hadn’t invented the light bulb? Things that we take for granted now, were once a dream, an idea, a plan. The inventors probably had little idea about the impact it would have on the future. 4,000 years ago people wouldn’t have even dreamed of things that we take for granted now. But many of the people back then had ideas and made decisions that affected the future of the world. Around 3,000 years ago in China, the 3rd of China’s dynasties occurred. This dynasty is called the Tang Dynasty and is often referred to as the Golden Age because of its great advancements. The Tang dynasty was the most impactful of China’s Dynasty because of the cultural advancements, economic growth, useful inventions, important studies, and government code changes that took place.

Wu Zetian, born in a well of family became interested in ruling as an emperor at a young age. Unlike other younger girls, Wu spent most of her time reading about politics. She learnt how to read, write Chinese classics and play music. By the age of thirteen, Wu became popular due to her beauty, outstanding wits, talents and intelligence earning her a place at the court of Emperor Tsai Sung. Wu was easy to love, therefore becoming the emperor’s favorite concubine within a short period of time. Tsai Tsung died later then succeeded by his son Kao Tsung. (Richard, Harper 1998) By this time Zetian was already twenty seven years old. She immediately became the favorite concubine of the new emperor giving him sons. Zetian strangled her own daughter and blamed Koa’s wife making her the only

The definition of power is the ability to direct or influence the behavior of others. Literature is one of the major mediums used to influence a person. One common medium that determines if the writing has power to influence the behaviors of others is the literary skill of the author. During the Tang Dynasty in China, there were many imperial pieces on politics matter that had power and authority to influence people. Writers such as Ban Zhao and Han Yu BaiJuyi successfully wrote many pieces that had much influence and impact over their intended audience. Literary skill contributes to the writer’s power and authority due to their ability to evoke an emotional response from their chosen audience or to influence their response.

Wu Zhao was born into a family of nobility in Wenshuai the Shanxi province. Her father was Wu Shihuo had her educated in politics, history, and music, she had refused to do other things other girls her age would do. She had also traveled with her parents. She had come to be the Empress by becoming a concubine to the Emperor, Tang Taizong, in 638 C.E. the emperor had heard about her beauty so she was brought to him. After his death, she became a concubine to his son and successor. She soon rose above the other wives and became the emperor’s chief wife. She had given birth to two sons in 652 and 653 C.C., which angered the wife of Gazong, to get rid of her Wu Zhao accuses her of murdering her daughter in 654 C.E. she was found guilty. Wu Zhao

Han dynasty of China acknowledged the strength, size and endurance of western horses from Ferghana Basin in Central Asia. The early Han emperors were keen to promote trade with the West and first sent an imperial envoy out to Ferghana in the second century BC. Zhang Qian in The Silk Road: Two thousand years in the heart of Asia was the first reported that the horses of Central Asia were the much more important to Han emperors as the most formidable aspects of the Xiongnu invasions of China had been their superior steeds and superior horsemanship. Thus, they decided to import these horses through trade along the Silk Road. The Celestial Horse is a bronze statue created in 25-220 CE that represents one of the “heavenly horses” in Eastern Han

Rhoads Murphey describes the history of China history is on the succession of dynasties that ruled it over a period of time until around 1912 when Republic of china was formed before rising to the current People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. In China, a dynasty was made up of Kings or emperors that came from the same family. They ruled in succession where a king could be inherited by his son or his immediate relatives. Although china’s history is majorly regarded on the basis of dynastic ruling, other small kingdoms were established that ruled different part of china. For example, in 200AD, the fall of great Han dynasty triggered formation of smaller kingdoms all over the china which were later united by a short lived Sui Dynasty that reigned between 580 and 618 AD.