8. Tang Dynasty Map
(AD 618 to 907 - 290 Years)

Historians regard the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 to 907), with its capital at Chang'an, as a high point in Chinese civilization -- equal, or even superior, to the Han period. The Tang period was the golden age of literature and art. Tang rule perfected a government system supported by a large class of Confucian literati selected through civil service examinations. They designed this competitive procedure to draw the best talents into government. By the center of the 8th Century AD, Tang power had ebbed. Domestic economic instability and military defeat in 751 by Arabs at Talas, in Central Asia, marked the beginning of centuries of steady military decline for the Chinese empire. Misrule, court intrigues, economic exploitation, and popular rebellions weakened the empire, making it possible for northern invaders to terminate the dynasty in 907. The next half-century saw the fragmentation of China into five northern dynasties and ten southern kingdoms.