The Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) represents one of the high points of imperial Chinese history, reaching its widest territorial extent during the reign of Emperor Gaozong (reign 649–683 CE). By the late 7th century, around 669 CE, the empire controlled vast regions stretching from the Korean Peninsula to Central Asia, sustained by a powerful military and an effective bureaucratic system rooted in Confucian governance. Tang China became a center of cultural and technological innovation, witnessing the flourishing of poetry and painting, major advances in astronomy and medicine, and early developments in woodblock printing. This prosperity was reinforced by the empire’s strategic position on the Silk Road, which connected East Asia to the Islamic world and the Mediterranean, enabling the exchange of goods, ideas, and religions.
Yet the same networks and administrative ambitions that supported Tang expansion also exposed it to long-term pressures. As court politics grew increasingly factionalized and corruption eroded central authority, regional military governors (jiedushi) accumulated independent power. The An Lushan Rebellion (755–763 CE) marked a decisive rupture, weakening the dynasty and accelerating social and economic strain. Over the following century, recurring uprisings, financial instability, and foreign incursions fragmented imperial control. By 907 CE, the Tang state had dissolved into competing regional regimes, closing a formative chapter in Chinese history while shaping political, cultural, and technological patterns that endured long after the dynasty itself had fallen.
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APA Style
Netchev, S. (2025, November 22). Map of the Tang Dynasty of China, c. 669 CE. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18873/map-of-the-tang-dynasty-of-china-c-669-ce/
Chicago Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Tang Dynasty of China, c. 669 CE." World History Encyclopedia, November 22, 2025. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18873/map-of-the-tang-dynasty-of-china-c-669-ce/.
MLA Style
Netchev, Simeon. "Map of the Tang Dynasty of China, c. 669 CE." World History Encyclopedia, 22 Nov 2025, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/18873/map-of-the-tang-dynasty-of-china-c-669-ce/.
