Why Was The Tang Dynasty Called The Golden Age?

The Tang Dynasty is an important aspect of Chinese history.  Lasting from 618 AD to 907 AD, it received the nickname “The Golden Age of Ancient China” because it was a very prosperous time.  This powerful empire came into control when the reign of the Sui Dynasty before it ended.

The Tang and Song dynasties in China existed between 618 to 1279 CE. Throughout this period, there were many developments in art, poetry, and technology. China was highly influential all around the world. It became known as the Golden Age of China. With advances in technology and ideas that could improve the everyday life, a unified government, and a strong economic system, the Tang and Song dynasties became the Golden Age of China.

The Tang dynasty was by far the best dynasty. It was the best dynasty for many reasons. Some include, their inventions and accomplishments, expansion and trade, government, daily life, and last but not least religion. For these reasons, the Tang dynasty was the best Chinese dynasty.

The definition of a Golden Age is a time of economic, political, technological, and social improvement and advance at a great level. The Tang and Song Dynasties are very important to the history of Chinese civilization. The Tang Era is the most well-known dynasty in Chinese history, mainly because the empire was the largest, richest and most sophisticated state in the world at the time. The Song Era had far-reaching impacts economically, culturally, and socially. During the Song Era, there was major development in urbanization. The Tang and Song Eras are commonly referred to as being the basis of a Golden Age of Chinese civilization because they were two major time periods in which stunning development in China took place.

Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220, China declined into an elongated term of division. China was divided and in a time of war, with a lack of leadership. It was only in the Sui Dynasty (589-618) reunited North and South China as one. The Tang (618-906) and Song (960 - 1279) Dynasties that followed created the “Golden Ages of China”. Although the Tang and Song Dynasties existed in a similar time and had a similar economy, there are also many differences between the influential dynasties such as certain aspects of their society and politics.

From 618-907, the unprecedented leniency and tolerance of the Tang dynasty created a large hyper power, with alliances and trading and such. This empire left a lasting impression on the Chinese. “These and other factors converged to produce a dynasty more tolerant of foreign cultures, religions, and influences than any other in Chinese history.” Taizong was the first emperor of the tang dynasty and set the precedent for his successors. His main goal was to establish equality throughout the regions. He achieved this and became “the first Chinese ruler to establish dominion over the steppes.” As the Tang rule grew larger and larger, it engulfed areas like Manchuria, Vietnam, and parts of Iran. The way they chose to handle the commerce and diplomacy

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

1. Why are the centuries of the Tang and song dynasties in China sometimes referred to as a “golden age”?

A golden age is a specific time where peace, happiness and prosperity flourishes within a civilization. In China. This period was known as the Song Dynasty, which lasted from (920-1279). China’s Golden Age was followed by the Yuan Dynasty, which dated from the years (1271-1368). During this period the Song Dynasty was exciting to people. Agriculture flourished leading to the inventions of the moveable typewriter and magnetic compass, paper money, and even gunpowder. The Song Dynasty led to China’s most significant achievement, Neo-Confucianism. Despite the influential importance art and creativity had on the Chinese people, it did not perform as much of an important, helpful part to the Chinese people as Agriculture and Neo-Confucianism did.

Wu Zhao belonged to the Tang Empire, which according to the author which “…was a true empire, encompassing many lands, many peoples, and many ideologies. Multi ethnic and cosmopolitan, Tang China was perfectly suited for the ascent of a historical anomaly like Wu Zhao…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 11) In a sense, there was a conflict of traditional Confucian values which promoted a patriarchal society and the liberal Steppe culture which gave women more freedom and rights. China at that time was a cocktail of these cultures which led to a significant impact on the lifestyle and values of peoples in that era. Women were bold and tough, and unlike earlier societies, were no longer confined socially and sexually (Rothschild, 2008, p. 12). While did not exist a perfect equality between men and women, women of that era were allowed to live without hiding under the dominance of the male Yang. As the author talks of the Silk Road, it is mentioned that,”…In this free-wheeling milieu, women donned men’s attire and rode horses…” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 15) .This “cosmopolitan” (Rothschild, 2008, p. 16) society was the foundation for the Tang Empire. Another important factor was the prevalence of Buddhism as a religion of the masses. Buddhism, in itself, helped united much of Asia, and was a common platform for men and women, unlike in Confucianism where

“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.

Similar to other hyperpowers, the Chinese Empire was also capable of rising to global dominancy by its interesting method of tolerance. In this section, Amy Chua’s thesis includes how the Tang Dynasty depicts China’s Golden Age because of its period of incredible political, economic, and artistic achievements. At that period in history, China overcame any other empire; of that time it was the most religiously tolerant and culturally diverse.

The fall of the Tang and the song dynasties were both very similar in many ways. First of all the Tang dynasty was a follower of confucianism. They were also well known to be successful in rebuilding the great wall of China and having a successful army, and that is what lead them to flourished for many years. Altho they flourished for many years they still unfortunately fell. The tang fell because their rulers became corrupt with wealth and power and that lead them to being destroyed from the north.

Between the years of 1646 to 1912, the Qing Dynasty proclaimed the longest ruling dynasty in China. Over the 275 years of ruling China, the inevitable fall of the Qing Dynasty is still debated by historians. From key contributing factors such as internal crisis, inability to adequately cope with foreign powers and incompetent rulers who were unable to rise from old tradition led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty.

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.