Brief Introduction About Chinese Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD)

🌏 The Glorious Tang Dynasty: A Millennium of Globalism—An Eastern Epic for Cultural Explorers

“Palaces open to the Nine Heavens, and leaders from across the world bow in homage.”
— Wang Wei’s poetic description of the diplomatic scene in Chang’an, akin to a “UN summit” over a thousand years ago.

Between the 7th and 10th centuries, the Tang Dynasty was not only the first global metropolis with a population over a million (Chang'an), but also a melting pot of civilizations along the Silk Road, a golden era of poetry and scientific advancements. While Europe sank into the silence of the medieval period, the East flourished with stories of Persian caravans, Japanese scholars copying texts, and exotic dancing girls serving wine. Today, let’s unveil the secrets of this "most cosmopolitan dynasty"—how its inclusivity and innovation forged a cultural legacy that spans over a thousand years.

🏯 1. Capital of the World: The Globalization Code of Chang'an

1.1 A Cosmic View in a Chessboard City

• 84-square-kilometer megacity: Chang’an was a modern urban model with meticulously planned districts—Zhuque Street, over 100 meters wide, and 108 "fangs" (neighborhoods) divided into residential, commercial, and diplomatic sectors. This was a full century before Baghdad’s city planning.

• International Community: The Western Market housed Persian merchants selling jewels, while Sogdian traders operated winehouses. The Guozijian (Imperial Academy) hosted 30,000 international students, including Japanese envoys, like Abe no Nakamaro, who rose to become a regional governor in the Tang court.

1.2 A Culinary Silk Road

• Exotic Cuisine: Royal banquets featured roast camels (invented by An Lushan) and Persian date wine; Wu Zetian, China’s first female emperor, invented “Hundred-Flower Cake”, blending Indian sugar with Chang’an’s floral aromas.

• Tea Culture Revolution: Lu Yu’s “The Classic of Tea” standardized tea preparation, and the discovery of gold-plated tea sets at Famen Temple revealed the royal tea rituals—a practice that spread east to Japan, laying the foundation for the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

🎨 2. Artistic Explosion: From Dunhuang’s Heavenly Maidens to the Universe of Poetry

2.1 Musical and Dance Revolutions Across Continents

• “Song of Rainbow Dress”: Emperor Xuanzong reworked an Indian Buddhist melody into “Brahman Music”, while Yang Guifei choreographed dances that fused Central Asian rhythms with Chinese elegance.

• “Hu Xuan” Dance Craze: Despite his 200-pound frame, An Lushan performed acrobatic pirouettes that captivated Chang’an, while Dunhuang murals immortalized Central Asian dancers swaying to the winds.

2.2 Poetry and Calligraphy: The Golden Age

• 50,000 Tang Poems Database: Li Bai’s “The Hard Road to Shu” has been translated into 86 languages, and Du Fu’s “The Rich Have Stale Wine” is considered one of the first social critique poems.

• Calligraphy Innovation: Yan Zhenqing revolutionized calligraphy with his “Memorial to My Nephew”, breaking from the delicate style of Wang Xizhi and influencing even Japan’s royal family.

2025 Hong Kong Exhibition Highlights

⚖️ 3. Institutional Innovation: The Eastern Blueprint for Modern Civilization

3.1 The Imperial Examination: A Millennial Head Start on Meritocracy

• From Peasant to Prime Minister: With the imperial examination, even commoners, like Zhang Jiuling, could become high-ranking officials. This system later influenced the modern civil service exams in Europe, introduced by Arab traders.

3.2 Peak of Female Power

• Empress Wu Zetian: The first and only female emperor in China, Wu Zetian not only introduced the palace exams but also promoted agriculture and the arts. The Longmen Grottoes’ Lu Sheshan Buddha is modeled after her, marking the first sculpture of a female monarch in history.

• Noble Women’s Liberation: Princess Taiping rode horseback and played polo, while Dunhuang murals depicted noblewomen in transparent shawls, hundreds of years before Europe embraced the Renaissance.

3.3 Law and Technology

• Tang Code: The Tang Code became the model for East Asian legal systems.

• Monk Yi Xing: An astronomer and mathematician, Yi Xing calculated the meridian line, with only a 3% margin of error—paving the way for modern geographic science.

🌊 4. Spiritual Highways: Religious Fusion on the Silk Road

4.1 Religion without Borders

• Chang’an’s Religious Diversity: In the western part of the city, Nestorian Christians, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists all coexisted.

• Dunhuang Cave 220: The Amitabha Sutra depicted Indian flying apsaras alongside Chinese emperors, embodying the cultural and spiritual convergence along the Silk Road.

4.2 Hong Kong’s Maritime Silk Road Secrets

• Discovery of Fragmented Silver at Chek Lap Kok revealed the tax system for foreign trade in the Tang Dynasty, while glazed rings confirmed a vast Southeast Asian jewelry trade network.

🐉 5. Latest Archaeological Discoveries: Resurrecting the Spirit of the Tang Dragon

In 2024, the excavation of a Tang Dynasty Painted Dragon Head from the Xiong'an Ancient City site has challenged our understanding of dragon culture:

• Spiral Horns and Flaming Mane: The bull-shaped dragon design merges nomadic and Chinese auspicious symbols.

• Millennium-Old Fingerprints: Craftsmen’s fingerprints found on pottery shards highlight the Eastern philosophy of "spirit in objects".

🏮 6. The Tang Legacy: Awakening the Golden Age in the Present Day

1. Immersive Hong Kong Exhibition

The “Tang Spirit for a Thousand Miles” exhibit at the Hong Kong Museum (until Dec 31, 2025):

• Experience an AR Hu Xuan dance costume, performing with flying apsaras from the Dunhuang murals.

• An interactive sandbox recreates the bustling Western Market in Chang’an.

2. Silk Road-Inspired Fashion Resurgence

• Milan Fashion Week: Gucci’s 2025 Spring/Summer collection revives the “Yuan Yang Jin”, the famous Tang dynasty fish-patterned stockings, worn by Yang Guifei.

• Paris Tea House: “Lu Yu Tea Pavilion” presents an interactive Tang tea ceremony with sancai tea sets.

Why Is the West Rediscovering the Tang Dynasty?
As Silicon Valley uses a “grid system” to plan its campuses, and Cambridge scholars take civil service exams, the institutional wisdom, cultural confidence, and cross-disciplinary innovations of the Tang Dynasty offer solutions to the modern dilemma.