SUI DYNASTY (581-617) & TANG EMPIRE (618-907) |
POLITICAL CHANGE |
Early Tang: Strong Central
Court; Confident & Cosmopolitan Li Yuan, first cousin to the
second Sui emperor, became Tang Gaozu (r. 618-626) the first Tang ruler. His second son Li Shimin became the ambitious
second emperor Tang Taizong (r. 626-649). Empress Wu (Wu Zhao) (ca. 625-706): concubine
of the third emperor Gaozong and founder of the erstwhile “Zhou” dynasty. (Portrait) An Lushan Rebellion (755): widespread rebellion,
launched by powerful Turkish frontier commander An Lushan
(703-757). This revolt contributed to
the gradual but inevitable decline of the Tang. Yang Guifei (d. 756): daughter of a high
official and concubine
of the great Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756). Yang has long been known as "the most beautiful woman of China." (See Patrick Caddeau’s Amherst site on Princess Yang) Late Tang on Defensive! |
INTELLECTUAL CHANGE |
Daoism and Buddhism of
Early Tang finally give way to Confucianism in Late Tang 841: Court Attacks
Buddhism Han Yü (768-824): high official, known as a political and cultural
reformer. Han was the self
-proclaimed “savior” of Confucius and the “patron saint” of later
Neo-Confucians. Han Yü's
"Ancient Literature" Movement rejects the decorative writing
style popular in the late Tang. |
SOCIAL CHANGE |
Promotion by Examination and
by Birth-right National Elite still very important
Women hold some important
social position in Early Tang; gradually lose ground during dynasty |