---
id:"kb-2026-00393"
title:"Tang Dynasty"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"history"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method:"ai_assisted"
ai_models:["claude-opus"]
derived_from_human_seed:true
primary_sources:
  - title:"China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty (Charles Benn)"
    type:"book"
    year:2002
    url:"https://global.oup.com/academic/product/chinas-golden-age-9780195176650"
    institution:"Oxford University Press"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "MDN Web Docs — HTTP"
    type: "documentation"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP"
    institution: "Mozilla"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) is considered China's golden age — political stability, economic prosperity, cultural flowering. Capital Chang'an (modern Xi'an) was the world's largest city (~1 million). Silk Road trade flourished. Poetry (Li Bai, Du Fu), Buddhism, and the imperial examination system reached their peaks.

## Core Explanation

Tang Taizong (626-649): one of China's greatest emperors. Wu Zetian: only female emperor (690-705). An Lushan Rebellion (755-763): devastating civil war, 13-36 million deaths — decline began. Culture: Tang poetry is China's literary peak, tea culture developed, woodblock printing invented. Japan and Korea modeled their cultures after Tang. Ended with Huang Chao Rebellion (874-884).

## Further Reading

- [China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty (Charles Benn)](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/chinas-golden-age-9780195176650)