From the beginning to the end of the Tang Dynasty, China experienced great changes. The reason why this dynasty played an important role in history was precisely because of the great changes that took place at that time. The powerful military strength and splendid poetic culture in the early Tang Dynasty have been praised by Chinese people so far. However, after a fierce rebellion in the middle of the 8th century, the imperial regime failed to revive. For historians, especially western historians, the second half of the Tang Dynasty is more interesting than the first half. The historical fracture marked by the Anshi Rebellion in 756 is not only an important turning point in the fate of the dynasty, but also a turning point in the whole historical development track of China. The abandonment of the important economic, military and social systems in the Tang Dynasty after the An Shi Rebellion, the reconstruction of imperial culture and geography, the expansion of foreign trade relations, and the emergence of new literary and artistic forms in view of the changes in the world are the first steps that distinguish the late Chinese empire from the previous historical stages.
"Tang Dynasty" is the third volume of Harvard's China History Series. The author of this book is Lu, a famous American expert in ancient history of China and a professor of China culture at Stanford University. She graduated from the University of Chicago. His research pays attention to different aspects of China civilization, and he is especially good at examining the China issue from the political and social aspects. He is the author of the first three volumes of Harvard China History Series: Early Chinese Empire: Qin and Han Dynasties, Divided Empire: Northern and Southern Dynasties, World Empire: Tang Dynasty, Writing and Authority of Early China, Spatial Structure of Early China, etc.
Lu, the author, seized the dynamic period when the territory of the Tang Dynasty expanded to its limit, chose the historical issue of China that western readers paid more attention to, stood on the edge of China, and observed and described the most brilliant Tang Dynasty in China history as all aspects of the world empire.
0 1. World Empire-the rule of the Tang Dynasty Empire.
The name of the Tang Dynasty is "Tang", which originally meant the ancient name of Jin. Li Hu, the grandfather of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, was one of the eight pillars of the Western Wei Dynasty. He was dubbed "Duke Tang", and later his title was passed on to Li Yuan. Li Yuan stayed in Jinyang, the imperial palace of Sui Dynasty, and set out in the name of respecting Sui Dynasty. He fought a hundred battles and went straight to Chang 'an. After You Yang abdicated, he took Tang as his country name. Because the monarch's surname is Li, it is also called, and he is honored as Datang.
Emperor Taizong realized the power of the masses from the uprising at the end of Sui Dynasty, learned the lessons of Sui Dynasty, and attached importance to people's lives. Attach importance to the management of officials, select talents and appoint people, make suggestions and reuse Wei Zhi and other ministers; And adopted a series of policies such as agriculture-oriented, strict economy, recuperation, revival of culture and education, and improvement of the imperial examination system. , so that the society has a relatively stable situation; He also made efforts to pacify foreign invasion, respect border ethnic customs, promote ethnic integration and stabilize the border areas, while Emperor Taizong was honored as "Tiankhan" by all countries in the Quartet. During the Zhenguan period, with the concerted efforts of the monarch and ministers, there was a situation of ruling the world with relatively clear politics, economic development, social stability and flourishing martial arts, which was called "Zhenguan rule" in history. This was the first rule of the Tang Dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of Kaiyuan later.
After the middle period of Tang Gaozong, the regime was gradually controlled by Wu Zetian. In 690, Wu Zetian put down the rebellion, abolished and succeeded to the throne as emperor, and changed the country name to Zhou, which was called Wu Zhou in history. Wu Zetian became the only female emperor in the history of China. In the first year of Shenlong, Xu Jing mixed with Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi to launch a Shenlong coup, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate and restore the title of Datang. In the first year of Yanhe River, Tang Ruizong gave way to Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty corrected the shortcomings since Wu and Zhou Dynasties and established a set of supervision system to rectify official management. Militarily, the officers and men system was changed to the recruitment system; Recover Yingzhou in western Liaoning and the land of Nine Songs in the west of Tubo River, and once again surrender to the national regimes such as Qidan, Shiwei and Hong. Under the rule of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty gradually entered a prosperous time, which was called "the prosperous time of Kaiyuan" in history.
After the Yuan Dynasty Xuanzong changed his treasure for another day, he gradually lost the spirit of seeking upward governance and began to indulge in pleasure and neglect state affairs. After accepting Yang Yuhuan as the imperial concubine, she became more addicted to debauchery. At that time, the military system was changed from the officers and men system to the recruitment system, which combined our times with the soldiers in military towns, leading to the situation that the border guards would specialize in the army, among which An Lushan, a conference semifinal who mastered heavy forces, was the most famous. In November of the 14th year of Tianbao, An Lushan took advantage of the political corruption and military emptiness in the Tang Dynasty to launch a rebellion with Shi Siming. In December of the following year, the rebels invaded Luoyang, and Tang Xuanzong led his people to flee to Chengdu, which was called "An Shi Rebellion" in history. The eight-year Anshi Rebellion weakened the Tang Dynasty, and from then on it turned from prosperity to decline.
The largest territory of the Tang Dynasty was in the Longshuo period in Tang Gaozong. At that time, the oasis in Central Asia was ruled by the Tang Dynasty. Its largest area is now Vietnam in the south, Russia in the north, Uzbekistan in the west, Gobi in the east and Tonghua in Jilin, with a land area of 654.38+02.37 million square kilometers.
There were many ethnic minorities in the Tang Dynasty. In order to effectively manage the Turkic, Uighur, Tiele, Shiwei, Qidan, Mohong and other ethnic groups, six states, namely Anxi, Anbei, Anton, Annan, Chanyu and Beiting, as well as a large number of states and Jimi states belonging to the six states, were established respectively. However, in the decades after the Anshi Rebellion, because a large number of border guards in Helong participated in the rebellion, the border defense was empty, and the Tubo took advantage of the situation to occupy the areas of Helong and Huangshui, while the Hetao area was still under the jurisdiction of the German army and Zhenwu army. Until the end of the Tang Dynasty, from Dazhong to Xian Tong, Zhang Yichao, a native of Shazhou, rose up, recovered the Helong area, reopened the Silk Road, defeated Tubo in Xian Tong for seven years and split into more than 100 tribes.
Militarily, powerful military power is a remarkable feature of the Tang Dynasty. China was unified in the Tang Dynasty, and warlords were separated in the late Sui Dynasty. When Emperor Taizong was in power, he conquered East and West Turkistan, Xue Yantuo, Gaochang, Koguryo, Baekje and other countries successively, and defeated Japanese reinforcements in the Battle of Baicunjiang, and recruited Hong, Tiele, Shiwei, Qidan and other ethnic groups to fight. At that time, the military system, economy and scientific and technological advantages of the Tang Dynasty in Asia were the basis of these achievements.
02. Cities and commerce in the Tang Dynasty.
The main features of cities in the Tang Dynasty were inherited from centuries ago. These features include: the division of different parts of politics, residence and commerce, and the semi-public space provided by sacrificial buildings, temples and gardens that distinguishes the Imperial Capital from other cities. However, great changes have taken place in the cities of the Tang Dynasty. Most importantly, commerce and trade changed the urban structure and connected them into a larger network.
Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty was the largest city in the world at that time. The length from east to west is 972 1 m, the width from north to south is 865 1 m, the circumference is 36.7 km, and the area is about 84 square kilometers, which is 4 times that of Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasties and 7 times that of ancient Rome. There are three buildings in Chang 'an City: Miyagi, located in the middle of the north, is where the emperor and the royal family live; To the south of Miyagi is the imperial city, which is slightly larger than Miyagi and is the seat of the central government. Outside Miyagi and Imperial City is Guo Cheng, which is a residential and commercial area.
The entire Chang 'an City is large in scale, rigorous in layout, symmetrical in structure and neatly arranged. There are three gates around the outer city, and six streets running through the twelve gates are the main roads in the city. Suzaku Street, which runs through the north and south, is the standard central axis. It connects Chengtian Gate in Miyagi, Zhuque Gate in Imperial City and Mingde Gate in Outer City, and divides Chang 'an into two parts: Dongwannian County and West Chang 'an County. The east and west business districts are called Dongcheng and Xicheng respectively. There are 1 1 streets in the north and south of the city, and 14 streets in the east and west, which divide the residential area into neat 1 10 squares with a shape similar to a chessboard.
Dongcheng and Xicheng were the economic activity centers of Chang 'an in Tang Dynasty, the national industrial and commercial trade centers at that time, and the important places for economic exchanges between China and foreign countries. Businessmen gather here, shops are numerous, goods are dazzling, and trade is extremely prosperous.
The East City is close to the three big houses, and there are many royal families, nobles and dignitaries gathered in the surrounding squares. The west market is far away from the three cities, and the business is more prosperous than the east market. It is the main industrial and commercial area and economic activity center of Chang 'an, so it is also called "Huang Jincheng". Xi Shi is close to Kaiyuan, the starting point of Chang 'an Silk Road in Tang Dynasty, surrounded by many foreign businessmen, thus becoming an international trade market. There are many shops opened by foreign businessmen in the western market, such as Persian mansions, jewelry stores, warehouses and hotels. Among them, many western girls sing and dance for Ji Hu Hotel.
In Li Bai's Youth Journey, there are poems of "Five Ling Teenagers' Gold Market East" and "Laughing into Huji Wine Shop". The Tang government implemented strict regular trading and night market ban system for Chang 'an market, especially for East and West cities. The gates of the two cities also opened and closed with the gates, street gates and square gates of Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty in the morning and evening, and were guarded by doormen.
Datang is the first country to issue paper money in the world, and Feiqian is the earliest paper money in the world. This is the earliest paper money prototype in the world, and it is also the earliest paper money recognized and recognized by scholars all over the world since modern times. In the big cities of the Tang Dynasty, cabinets and flying money appeared. The counter handles the payment of goods and goods, and customers who save money at the counter can pay by bookkeeping. All these indicate the prosperity of commerce in the middle Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, because of the Huang Chao Rebellion and the war of the buffer region, the number of households dropped sharply, and the social and economic scale never reached the level of the prosperous era of Kaiyuan.
03. Cultural development in the Tang Dynasty
The economy and society of the Tang Dynasty were developed, and the culture was also in the leading position in the world. Cultural exchanges with many countries in the world are very frequent. In Chang 'an, Yangzhou, Guangzhou and other cities, there are many businessmen from the Silk Road, which has become an important channel to communicate with Chinese and foreign economies, cultures and political contacts. Students from Asian countries come to China to study. Chao Heng, who had a deep friendship with Li Bai, was also a Japanese student studying in the Tang Dynasty. Many foreigners served in the court of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The envoys, monks and businessmen of the Tang Dynasty also emerged in an endless stream. In the Tang dynasty, there was a crack temple to receive the guests of diplomatic envoys from various countries, and kiosks were set up in various places to entertain foreign businessmen, and mutual market supervisors and trading companies were set up to take charge of foreign trade. Chang 'an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, Lanzhou, Liangzhou and Dunhuang are important foreign trade cities in the Tang Dynasty. Chang 'an is particularly famous, and guests gather all over the world. Many foreign businessmen run shops in the "West Market" and live there for a long time. Imperial academy accepted many foreign students, and as many as four or five thousand "conference semifinals" stayed in Chang 'an.
It is such an open society that makes the Tang Dynasty appear generous in social atmosphere. Li Bai's confident poem "Since God has given talents, let them find jobs!"! , spin a thousand silver, all come back! " It is a portrayal of the spirit of that era. Foreign trade and cultural interaction spread along the Silk Road, and colorful Tang Wenhua was formed in the collision of different civilizations. China also contributed advanced material civilization and spiritual civilization to the world.
The Tang Dynasty is an outstanding literary dynasty in the history of China, which is famous for its great literati and outstanding poems. The most remarkable literary achievement of the Tang Dynasty can be described by Tang poetry. Since Chen Ziang and the "four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty", famous poets in the Tang Dynasty have emerged one after another. Their poems have different styles, including rich imagination of the mythical world and detailed description of real life, including passionate frontier poems, gloomy and heavy "poetic history" and fresh and refined pastoral poems. These poems * * * isomorphic became the outstanding representative of China ancient literature. Although there were still outstanding poets in the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the overall level of regular poetry and classical poetry was not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty, which made Tang poetry an insurmountable peak of classical poetry in China. Luoyang, Chang 'an and Jinling are the big cities with the largest number of "complete Tang poems".
Tang poetry has a wide range of themes, many schools, diverse styles, popular authors and wide spread. Regardless of political life, singing history, funeral march in the Deep Palace, frontier bonfires, pastoral landscapes, love songs, vagrancy, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc. , can use poetry to describe and sing. The prosperous Tang Dynasty was the prosperous period of classical poetry, with the greatest achievements and numerous poets. Pastoral schools include Meng Haoran and Wang Wei; Frontier poems include Gao Shi and Cen Can; Li Bai, a romantic poet, and Du Fu, a realistic poet, respectively represent the highest peaks of these two schools and are called "Du Li". Meng Haoran's "I wake up in the spring dawn, and birds are singing all around", Gao Shi's "The grey sand is exhausted in autumn, the grass is exhausted, and a few watchmen are left on the lonely wall", and Cen Can's "This September night, the wheel tower blows cold, and the valley is full of rubble, such as pecking measures, so it goes down, heads down, with the wind" are all famous sentences. Li Bai's poems and songs are rich in imagination, exaggerated in artistic techniques, fresh and exciting in rhyme, heroic in style and vivid in language, reaching the peak of romanticism; Du Fu's poems profoundly reflect the historical process of Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline. Their style is gloomy and vigorous, and their artistic achievements are superb, which represents the highest peak of realistic poetry. Li Bai's difficult Shu Dao, looking at Lushan Waterfall, and Du Fu's "Three Officials and Three Farewells" are all eternal songs.
As an empire with extensive influence in East Asia and even the world, the Tang Dynasty can be seen from Emperor Taizong, who claimed to be Tiankhan, to the sacrificial ceremony of the royal family, from the title of emperor to the revision of the calendar. It should be said that the Tang Dynasty provided the necessary foundation for the prosperity of the Song Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty was the "golden age" of China, which made almost unparalleled achievements in commerce, religion, culture and especially in literary creation. In its heyday, it made great achievements in culture, politics, economy and diplomacy, and it was also one of the world powers at that time. Since the Tang dynasty, the nation has not divided the boundaries between the enemy and ourselves, and its ability to absorb and integrate other national cultures has been proved time and again. In Chang 'an and Luoyang in the north, Jiangdu and Panyu in the south, there are envoys and businessmen from all over the world. Any thought, religion and culture can find a place to live in the land of the Tang Dynasty, which also makes the Tang Dynasty a peak of cultural prosperity in China. The poet Wang Wei wrote: "Nine doors of heaven reveal the palace and its courtyards, and many countries bow their pearls", and "thousands of officials look to Chang 'an, and all countries worship Yuan", which is exactly the scenery that describes the envoys of various countries paying homage to Daming Palace.