Search cities, sights, food
Visa-free checkFind it in ChineseHelp cardsRule changes

Language

EnglishDeutschFrançaisEspañolItalianoРусский한국어日本語简体中文
Encyclopedia · Dynasties

Tang dynasty

唐朝Tángcháo618–907

The dynasty (618–907) remembered as China’s golden age of poetry, Buddhism and Silk Road trade, ruled from Chang’an, today’s Xi’an.

The Tang was founded in 618 by Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu) and his son Li Shimin, who ruled as Emperor Taizong, and it is often called China’s golden age. Its capital Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) was one of the largest cities in the world, with Luoyang as a second capital, and merchants, monks and envoys arrived along the Silk Road from Central Asia, Persia, Korea and Japan. This was the age of the poets Li Bai and Du Fu, of the pilgrim Xuanzang, and of Wu Zetian, the only woman to rule China as emperor in her own name. The An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) badly weakened the dynasty, which finally fell in 907. Few Tang wooden buildings survive, so travellers meet the era through brick pagodas, Buddhist cliff carvings, royal tombs and the palace ruins and museum treasures of Xi’an.

Also known as: T’ang dynasty

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda framed by pine trees in evening light
The Big Wild Goose Pagoda framed by pine trees in evening lightPhoto: Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0

Where to see it in China

Xi'anBig Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔A Tang brick pagoda built to house the scriptures Xuanzang brought back from India.Xi'anDaming Palace National Heritage Park 大明宫国家遗址公园The site of the main Tang imperial palace, now a park with a museum and marked-out hall foundations.LuoyangLongmen Grottoes 龙门石窟Cliffs of Buddhist carvings crowned by the giant Vairocana Buddha, carved under the Tang.Xi'anQianling Mausoleum 乾陵The hillside tomb of Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian, approached by a long road of stone statues.ChengduDu Fu Thatched Cottage 杜甫草堂A garden museum where the Tang poet Du Fu lived in exile, with a rebuilt thatched hut.

Where we mention it

Related entries

PeopleWu Zetian 武则天The only woman to rule China as emperor in her own name, proclaiming her own Zhou dynasty (690–705) in the middle of the Tang era.PeopleXuanzang 玄奘The 7th-century Chinese monk who walked to India for Buddhist scriptures; the real traveller behind the novel Journey to the West.Ideas and beliefsSilk Road 丝绸之路The network of trade routes that linked China with Central Asia, India, Persia and the Mediterranean for over 1,500 years.Ideas and beliefsBuddhism in China 中国佛教The faith that came from India around the 1st century AD and shaped China’s temples, cave art, festivals and everyday language.Arts and craftsCalligraphy 书法The art of writing Chinese characters with brush and ink, long ranked among China’s highest arts and still practised everywhere.Food and tea cultureChinese tea culture 中国茶文化China is where tea was first grown and drunk; each region has its own leaf, from Hangzhou’s Longjing to Yunnan’s pu’er, and its own way of drinking it.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-10-05

Found a mistake? Tell us ([email protected])