Tang+Dynasty

 (Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty expansion comparison map) __State and Religion__ >
 * Tang Dynasty: 618-907 (a website with some general information regarding the Tang Dynasty) **
 * Extended to parts of Tibet in the west, the Red River valley homeland of the Vietnamese in the south, and Manchuria in the north
 * Li Yuan: Duke of Tang
 * Loyal supporter of Sui ruler (Yangdi)
 * After Yangdi's death, Li Yuan emerged as emperor.
 * With his son Taizong, they created the Tang Empire.
 * [[image:http://www.history-of-china.com/img/lishimin.jpg width="160" height="234" caption="Image of Li Yuan"]] [[image:http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9zxvrPYkj1rtn3ufo1_400.jpg width="219" height="229" caption="Li Yuan's son:Taizong"]]
 * Emperors completed the repairs begun by the Sui and earlier dynasties on the Great Wall.
 * Created frontier armies (recruited from Turkish nomadic peoples) that conquered deep into Central Asia in order to have those nomadic peoples who have dominated China during the Six Dynasties era submit to Tang rule.
 * In 668 under Emperor Kaozong, Chinese armies overran Korea and conquered it.
 * Korean vassal kingdom called Silla was established and remained loyal to the Tang for a long period of time.
 * Rebuilt and expanded imperial bureaucracy.
 * Reworked Confucian ideology
 * Used the scholar-gentry bureaucrats to offset the power of the aristocracy.
 * Bureaucracy was soon passed down from the imperial palace, down to the subprefecture (district level), which consisted of two secretariats :
 * One Secretarirat and the other - drafted imperial decrees and the other for monitored reports of regional and provincial officials and petitions of local notables
 * Executive department was divided into six ministries which ran the empire on a day to day basis
 * Bureau of Censors whose task was to keep track of officials and report their failings.
 * Examination system greatly expanded.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Several different kinds of examinations were administered by the Ministry of Rites.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Highest offices could be gained only by those who were able to pass philosophical or legal classics exams and even more difficult exams on Chinese literature.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Success in exams → earns the title of jinshi; special social status- gained the right to wear certain types of clothing and were exempt from corporal punishment. Also gained access to higher level of material comfort.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">State supported Confucian ideas. This threatened Buddhist monastic orders and old aristocratic families.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Masses converted to Mahayana Buddhism (provided refuge from an age of war and turmoil) however the elite believed in Chan/Zen Buddhism (stress on meditation).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Emperors such as Taizong and Empress Wu were supportive of Buddhism.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Confucious and Daoist people were envious of Buddhist success and argued that if Buddhist monasteries and lands within them were not taxed, the state would lose tax revenues.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Emperor Wuzong allowed thousands monasteries and Buddhist shrines to be destroyed, and forced the monks and the nuns to abandon their monastic orders.
 * [|Here's a link to a page on Buddhism in the Tang and Song Dynasties.] (This website has other great resources on different topics that belong under this chapter so check it out!)

(A painting of Xuanzong)
 * __Fall of Tang Dynasty__**
 * Tang assault on the Buddhist monastic order started to weaken the imperial control.
 * Emperor Xuanzong (713-756) marked the peak of the power of the Tang and the rise of the Chinese civilization under the dynast y
 * At the age of 60 Emperor Xuanzong fell in love with one of his son's concubines (second wife), Yang Guifei, and made her his royal concubine.
 * Yang Guifei used her power to fill the state with her relatives, giving her and her family commanding power in politics which angered the members of rival cliques at court.


 * Xuangzong's long neglect of state affairs resulted in economic distress and the weakening of the military ( which left the government unable to deal with the disorders effectively)
 * Tang Dynasty was further weakened due to a rebellion lead by General An Lushan trying to overthrow the emperor and establishing a new dynasty. The rebellion was crushed but the Tang dynasty was never the same. Tang dynasty ultimately prevailed but due to mutinous troops, members of the Yang family were killed. Later, the emperor was forced to execute Yang Guifei. Due to his grief he could not be Emperor.
 * The emperors after Xuanzong could not compare to the leaders who ruled during the first century and a half of the Tang Dynasty. There became less of a central government as provincial governors gain control, collecting their own taxes. This lead to a worsening economic conditions, which lead to revolts by the peasant class. As a result of all this, the Tang Dynasty fell, leading to a period of chaos.

You can find more info about the Tang Dynasty in these videos below: China During the Tang Dynasty Part 1: (skip to 2:45) media type="youtube" key="OQsZe-wNN8Q" width="560" height="315" China During the Tang Dynasty Part 2: (skip to 2:45) media type="youtube" key="sI8ymLN5da8" width="560" height="315"