Overview and History 13first century, but with the fall of the Han, it began to catch
on amid an increasingly eclectic mix of thinking.
Sui (AD 581–618)
At last, unity came again, this time thanks to the sword of
a strong general from the North-west, who conquered the
warring tribes around him and proclaimed the establishment
of a new emperor. As far as dynasties go, the Sui was a short
one. But it did serve to unify China once again and provide
a foundation upon which the ‘Golden Age’ of its successor,
the Tang, could flourish.
Tang (AD 618–907)
The Tang dynasty was founded in 618, after the assassination
of the last Sui Emperor in an army coup. Despite its violent
beginnings (hardly a new means of dynastic succession),
the Tang is revered among Chinese dynasties, second only
to the Han.
During the Tang dynasty, the borders of China stretched
from the area of Mongolia, Manchuria and Korea in the
North to what is now Vietnam in the South; from Tibet and
Central Asia in the West to the Pacific in the East. And the Silk
Road meandered through it into what is today Afghanistan.
Developments in land and water transportation meant that
China was exploring well beyond its borders, establishing trade
and cultural relations with countries throughout the region,
including Japan, Persia, India and Arabia, among others.
These ventures to far-flung lands were supported by a
prosperous economy. Land and economic reforms instituting
equal allocation of taxes and specified values for key
commodities had created an
agricultural surplus that paved the
way for tremendous commercial
growth and the urbanisation
of key parts of the empire.
China can also trace much of its
fame for new inventions to the
Tang —papermaking, powder
and fireworks.
Though plagued, as most
dynasties were, by court intrigue,
restless armies, and ambitious
viceroys in the provinces, the
time of the Tang was one
of geographical expansion, a
renaissance of arts and culture,
ongoing invention and creation,
and the flowering of even more
schools of thought.