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Cosmopolitan Chang'an, Empress Wu and Li Bai: China's golden age.

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Tang Dynasty · 618-907 AD
唐 · Tang

The Tang Dynasty

From the founding of the Tang and the model reign of Taizong through the pilgrim Xuanzang, the reign of Wu Zetian, China's only empress, and the poetic golden age of Xuanzong, to the catastrophe of the An Lushan Rebellion, the birth of printing, and the dynasty's long fall. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of medieval China's most brilliant age.

618 AD
Founding of the Tang
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The Tang dynasty is founded

Li Yuan proclaims the Tang dynasty at Chang'an, soon to become the greatest city on earth.

618 AD

Founding of the Tang
  • Political

    The Tang dynasty is founded

    Tang three-colour (sancai) glazed pottery, mark of the cosmopolitan age
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    Li Yuan proclaims the Tang dynasty at Chang'an, soon to become the greatest city on earth.

8 milestones

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Around 618 AD

Full Chronicle

The Tang Dynasty

From the founding of the Tang and the model reign of Taizong through the pilgrim Xuanzang, the reign of Wu Zetian, China's only empress, and the poetic golden age of Xuanzong, to the catastrophe of the An Lushan Rebellion, the birth of printing, and the dynasty's long fall. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of medieval China's most brilliant age.

  1. Founding of the Tang

    • The Tang dynasty is founded

      Li Yuan proclaims the Tang dynasty at Chang'an, soon to become the greatest city on earth.

  2. Emperor Taizong

    • Taizong and the Reign of Zhenguan

      Emperor Taizong presides over a model reign of good government, expanding the empire deep into Central Asia.

  3. Emperor Taizong

    • Xuanzang returns from India

      The monk Xuanzang returns from a sixteen-year pilgrimage to India, laden with Buddhist scriptures to translate.

  4. Empress Wu

    • Wu Zetian, China's only empress

      Wu Zetian takes the throne in her own name — the only woman ever to rule China as emperor.

  5. Emperor Xuanzong

    • The brilliant reign of Xuanzong

      Under Emperor Xuanzong the Tang reaches its cultural height, an age of poetry, music, and prosperity.

  6. The An Lushan Rebellion

    • The An Lushan Rebellion

      The general An Lushan revolts, plunging the empire into a catastrophic war from which the Tang never fully recovers.

  7. The Late Tang

    • The Diamond Sutra and printing

      A printed copy of the Diamond Sutra is made — the world's earliest dated, complete printed book.

  8. The Fall of the Tang

    • The fall of the Tang

      After rebellion and warlordism hollow out the dynasty, the last Tang emperor is deposed, opening a new age of division.