The Tang Dynasty was a unified Central Plains dynasty in Chinese history after the Sui Dynasty, with a total of 21 emperors and 289 years of reign. One of the most prosperous periods in Chinese history, standing proudly in all directions, with a land area of 12.37 million square kilometers, together with the Arab Empire at that time, it was called the most powerful empire in the world, and its reputation was overseas. The GDP of the Tang Dynasty accounted for 58% of the world economy.
Map of the Tang Territory
The first volume of the Qingshi depicts for us the prosperous era that lasted 289 years and began in 618 AD. In May 617, in the city of Taiyuan, Li Yuan set up an empty city plan to scare off tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers. At this time, Li Yuan was still a migrant worker under Emperor Sui. The Sui Emperor's three campaigns against Liaodong failed, and the Sui Dynasty also fell into turmoil. At this time, Liu Wuzhou, a captain under Li Yuan, raised troops against Sui, and Emperor Sui also wanted to punish Li Yuan for this. Li Yuan's second son, Li Shimin, had been looking forward to his father Jackie Chan for a long time, and took the opportunity to persuade Li Yuan to raise troops. In just three years, the Tang army fought from Taiyuan to Chang'an, successfully opening the curtain of the Tang Dynasty in 618. After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin defeated Li Ghost of Longxi and Xue Ju of Western Qin, and then eliminated Dou Jiande the King of Xia and Wang Shichong of Luoyang.
Tang Gaozu Li Yuan
After Li Yuan ascended the throne, his eldest son Li Jiancheng was smashed by the crown prince's throne that fell from the sky, but this prince's position was once defeated by Li Yuanxu, the king of Qin, Li Shimin. Seeing that the throne of the hand flew, Li Shimin decided to lead troops to find his brother to theorize theory, and on July 2, 626, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Revolution, Li Jiancheng was sealed by a sword, and Li Yuanji could not escape death. After disposing of his rival for the throne, Li Shimin forced Li Yuan to retire early. After that, Li Shimin became the chairman of the Great Tang Empire. After Li Shimin succeeded to the throne, he worked diligently to make the Datang family business bigger and stronger. Under his rule, the Tang Dynasty became the big brother of all countries in the world, and Tang culture penetrated into Japan, Goryeo and other neighboring countries, and became famous overseas, and Li Shimin also left a good name for the rule of Zhenguan. Li Shimin in his later years. The crown prince Li Chenggan and the Wei king Li Tai fought openly and secretly for the throne, but they were both kicked out, and Li Zhi, who was harmless to humans and animals, became the final winner.
Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin
In 649, Li Zhi ascended the throne, vigorously lined up the people's opinion, and established Wu Zetian as the queen, so as to attack the old ministers Sun Wuji and Chu Suiliang, truly achieving a monopoly of power and expanding the territory of the Tang Dynasty to the maximum. However, due to his poor health, he often asked Empress Wu Zetian to handle imperial politics on his behalf, so the imperial power gradually fell.
Li Zhi and Wu Zetian stills
After the death of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Li Zhi, the crown prince Li Xian ascended the throne for Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, and soon after he was deposed by his own wife as the Prince of Luling, and the throne was succeeded by Emperor Gaozong's fourth son Li Dan, who was for Emperor Ruizong of Tang. After his sons took turns on the throne, Wu Zetian decided to roll up his sleeves and do it himself. In the first year of the early Zai Dynasty (690 AD), Wu Zetian pacified Xu Jingye's rebellion and created Xiangrui, forcing Emperor Ruizong to take the throne, and changed the name of the country to Zhou (historically known as "Wu Zhou"), and set the capital at Luoyang, becoming the only female emperor in Chinese history. Wu Zetian pioneered martial arts, made full use of imperial examination talents, and appointed famous ministers such as Di Renjie, Zhang Xiangzhi, and Yao Chong. But on the other hand, he appointed cool officials to build the Vientiane Divine Palace, which also caused panic among the people in the court. In 696, the Khitans raised troops under the pretext of supporting Li Tang to return to government. Under both internal and external pressure, Wu Zetian had to restore his son Li Xian as the crown prince to quell the rebellion.
In his later years, Wu Zetian was addicted to pleasure and had no intention of dying politics. In the first year of Shenlong (705 AD), Prime Minister Zhang Kamzhi and the general Jing Hui of the Forbidden Army staged a Shenlong coup, forcing Wu Zetian to abdicate, and Li Xian was restored to the throne as emperor and restored the title of the Great Tang Kingdom. Among all the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, Li Xian was the most special, his father was the emperor, his younger brother was the emperor, his son was the emperor, and his nephew was the emperor. Just got rid of his mother's control, and fell into the shadow of his wife's strict control. During his reign, he disposed of many ministers who participated in the Shenlong coup, while allowing Empress Wei and Princess Anle to interfere in imperial affairs, and finally died at the hands of the empress.
However, the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind. In 710, Princess Taiping and Li Longji the Prince of Linzi joined forces to stage a coup d'état in Tanglong, killing Empress Wei and Princess Anle and the remnants of the Wu clan, and supporting Li Dan on the throne. For Li Dan, the throne is like a hot butt, from his mother to his sister and son now, all staring at his dragon, and their burning eyes have stared at the throne to hot.
After Emperor Ruizong was restored, Princess Taiping and Li Longji had a power struggle. In the first year of Yanhe (712), Emperor Ruizong decided to give way to Li Longji for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. In the following year (713), Emperor Xuanzong sent Princess Taiping to death, and her henchmen were either killed or expelled, ending the infighting in the imperial court.
At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji worked hard to govern. The Tang Dynasty was renewed, and after that, he expanded his territory and revived the economy, finally winning the reputation of the New Century. Chang'an's population and grain production grew rapidly, and other handicrafts and cultural development, such as Tang Sancai and Tang Kai, also flourished. At this time, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, was worthy of the capital of the Son of Heaven, and was five times the size of the city of Rome. At this time, studying abroad in Chang'an has also become a world fashion. The famous Li Bai was contaminated with immortal qi in the prosperous era of the New Century, and he wrote and splashed ink and exported it into poetry. Du Fu is even more praising the prosperous era of the New Century, and when the life is good, the pleasure becomes justified.
Tang Xuanzong Li Yu
In the later period of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang slacked off his imperial government and indulged in Yang Guifei's neon feather dance. Yang Guozhong took advantage of the void, the dictatorship misled the country, the central government gradually weakened, the local forces quickly expanded, and the three towns made An Lushan quietly move his mind. In 755, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang pursued a strategy of running if he couldn't fight, fled in a hurry, and Yang Guifei also died in Ma Huangpo. In order to defeat the rebels, the crown prince Li Heng ascended the throne as Emperor Suzong of Tang. At this time, An Lushan did not know that his son An Qingxu had long been dissatisfied with his father and head for a long time. Zhengyue finally snatched the position of his father King Yan into his hands. At this time, the Tang army fought to the death, Zhang Xun held Yanyang, Li Guangbi held Taiyuan, and Li Yu, the king of Guangping, led Guo Ziyi, Li Siye and other generals to recover Chang'an and Luoyang, and finally saved the country from danger. It took eight years for this Anshi Rebellion to come to a complete end.
In the first year of Baoying (762), Li Heng was critically ill, and his wife Empress Zhang wanted to depose the crown prince Li Yu and establish the Li line of the Prince of Yue instead, and the eunuchs Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen protected Li Yu and arrested Empress Zhang and Li Li. Subsequently, Li Heng died, and Li Yu ascended the throne for Emperor Daizong of Tang. The emperor arrived in the hands of Li Yu, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and the foundation of the Li and Tang dynasties was also destroyed by half in this century-old disaster, and the once prosperous Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. During the reign of Emperor Tang, the chaotic administration of eunuchs and the Tubo attack dealt a blow to the Tang Dynasty, which was still in recuperation. In the fourteenth year of the Great Calendar (779), Emperor Daizong died in the inner hall of the Zichen Palace of the Daming Palace, and the crown prince Li Shi ascended the throne for Emperor Dezong of Tang.
After the death of Emperor Dezong of Tang in the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan (805), his son Li Zhao ascended the throne, namely Emperor Shunzong of Tang. Emperor Shunzong was in poor health and appointed some ministers to carry out the "Yongzhen Reform", but because the reform violated the interests of eunuchs and envoys, Emperor Shunzong was forced to take the place of his son Li Chun, Emperor Xianzong of Tang, after less than two hundred days of reign. During his fifteen-year reign, Kenzō made some political reforms and made many political achievements. Militarily, Emperor Xianzong achieved the results of reducing the domain during the Yuan and Yuan dynasties, and revived the prestige of the central government, and the Tang Dynasty was reunified and known as Yuan and Zhongxing. This was the first time that the Tang Dynasty returned blood after the Anshi Rebellion.
Tang Xianzong Li Chun
After Tang Xianzong, the quality of the monarchs of the Great Tang Dynasty was inferior to the generation, Tang Muzong Li Heng, Tang Jingzong Li Zhan, Tang Wenzong Li Ang were all faint kings, plus since Emperor Suzong, the eunuch dictatorship, and even mastered the central divine strategy army military power, after Daizong, the support of many emperors was decided by eunuchs or with the participation of eunuchs; Individual jiedu envoys (such as the three towns of Heshuo) have even independent management rights over the localities, showing a semi-independent state. As a result, the three towns of Heshuo rebelled again, and the national strength of the Tang Dynasty continued to decline. Although Emperor Wenzong lacked ability, he still had a dream, and in 835, Emperor Wenzong launched the Manna Rebellion to solve the problem of eunuchs. Emperor Wenzong went with all the ministers to see the manna from heaven, but in fact he secretly ambushed at the manna place, intending to kill the eunuchs, but failed.
Until Emperor Wuzong of Tang Li Yan ascended the throne, he reused Li Deyu, the leader of the Li Party, to clarify the rule of officials, develop the economy, and was determined to eliminate accumulated shortcomings. The eunuch forces were contained, weakened the domain, defeated the Hui, and allowed the Tang Dynasty to return a second blood. In 846, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Chen (formerly known as Li Yi) succeeded to the throne with the support of eunuchs, who stabilized the political situation internally, defeated Tubo externally, stabilized northern Saibei, pacified Annan, and returned eleven states such as Gua and Sha in the Hexi corridor to the Tang Dynasty, known in history as the rule of Dazhong. At this time, the Tang Dynasty was already thinning and dying, and Zhongxing at this time was also the return of light before the father of the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Xuanzong Li Chen stills
In 878, the Huangchao Uprising broke out, which directly led to a sharp decline in national strength at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and the once powerful Tang Dynasty became fragmented, and there was no possibility of repair. In 907, the general Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, bringing a complete end to the Tang Dynasty, reigning for 289 years.