Why is the Tang Dynasty the heyday of China?

The Tang Dynasty was the most brilliant dynasty in the history of China. Its national strength is strong, its economy is prosperous, and its culture is splendid, reaching the highest peak in the development history of China feudal society. Its high civilization influenced many countries and regions such as Japan and North Korea, and it was the most powerful and advanced country in the world at that time.

China's socio-economic, political and cultural development since the Warring States Period. It experienced three climaxes, namely three heydays: the first time in the Western Han Dynasty, the second time in the Tang Dynasty and the third time in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The second climax, especially in the early Tang Dynasty, saw the vigorous development of agricultural production, increasingly sophisticated handicrafts, unprecedented prosperity of commodity economy and flourishing urban life. In the late Tang Dynasty, the economy of the south of the Yangtze River developed further, which laid the foundation for the economic level of the south to surpass that of the north in the future. At that time, in politics, "Zhenguan rule" and "Kaiyuan rule" appeared successively, and the country was unified and the society was stable, showing a scene of peace, which surpassed the "Wenjing rule" in the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, it reached its peak in its heyday, and even the "prosperous Tang Dynasty" appeared in the literary world.

The humanities and arts developed rapidly in the early Tang Dynasty. Famous poets, books and paintings come forth in large numbers. Among them, Wang Wei (699-759), the representative figure of "Four Masters in Early Tang Dynasty" and "Pastoral Landscape School"; Cen Can (7 15-770), a "frontier school" poet, and Li Bai (707-762), a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, who is known as a "poetic immortal", and so on. In addition, the famous "painting saints" Wu Daozi, Li Sixun, Li Guinian, etc. are all representatives of the weather in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The unprecedented economic development in the Tang Dynasty was due to the absence of internal troubles and foreign invasion. From Zhenguan to Kaiyuan, the population, land and grain output of the Tang Dynasty greatly exceeded that of the previous dynasty. People live and work in peace. This also provides a strong guarantee for the vigorous development of handicrafts in the future. The level of handicrafts in the Tang Dynasty is superb, even comparable to that of modern handicrafts. We can get a glimpse of one or two works of art in the Tang Dynasty, such as Three Colors in the Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang dynasty, due to years of war in the north, the land was barren and the population was sparse. The relatively stable south gradually became the economic center of the Tang Dynasty. Different from the north, handicrafts play a more important role in the southern economy. Handicraft industry after the middle Tang Dynasty developed on the basis of the previous generation's production. As far as shipbuilding, casting and silk weaving are concerned, they have surpassed the early Tang Dynasty in technology, and with the progress and improvement of handicraft industry, commercial trade has also flourished. Most of the emerging cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are mainly commercial, such as Hongzhou and Suzhou, which were all commercial centers at that time. In the late Tang Dynasty, a number of outstanding literati appeared, among which Du Fu and Bai Juyi were the most famous. Du Fu's Car Shop and Bai Juyi's Three Officials and Three Farewells are both representative works.

Generally speaking, the Tang Dynasty was one of the most important and powerful countries in the world at that time. The feudal powers in Europe mainly include the Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire, but in terms of social development stage, they are far behind the Tang Dynasty. The important countries in the East are India and Japan. India's King Wu just established a feudal system before and after unifying the subcontinent, but after his death, the subcontinent immediately fell apart, and the separatist situation continued until the end of the twelfth century. Although Japan tried to imitate the system of the Tang Dynasty, the reform itself was a transition from slavery to feudalism. Therefore, in the world, the Tang Dynasty not only stood on its own feet among the nations of the world, but also belonged to the most advanced ranks.

2. The Tang Dynasty also played an important historical role in the development of multi-ethnic countries in China. After the ethnic integration and cultural integration in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, China society regained political unity in Sui Dynasty. However, after all, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived. Consolidating and developing the new unity of the Chinese nation and forming and prospering China's new culture became the historical task of the Li and Tang Dynasties. The Tang Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years, with early unification, strong national strength and vast territory. High-level material civilization and high-level culture have enhanced the centripetal force of neighboring ethnic groups, so the contacts and exchanges between ethnic groups in China have developed unprecedentedly and ethnic relations have become closer. Therefore, the Tang Dynasty is another important historical stage of the growth and development of China's unified multi-ethnic country after the Han Dynasty.

3. The lofty international status and brilliant economic and cultural achievements of the Tang Dynasty Empire made Asian countries and even European and African countries sincerely admire it. They scrambled to communicate with the Tang Dynasty, making China a bridge and center for economic and cultural exchanges among Asian countries and playing an important role in the exchanges between the East and the West. In the world at that time, there were mainly Indians, Arabs and China in the Tang Dynasty, among which the position of the Tang Dynasty was the most prominent. The Tang Dynasty is another peak period of economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in the history of China after the Han Dynasty, which has a particularly important position.

4. The Tang Dynasty was in a critical period of the transition from the early stage to the late stage in ancient China. In this sense, the Tang Dynasty also has an important historical position. At that time, the center of social change was: the national cultural environment since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties had a great influence on the traditional China society, which produced many new factors, such as the decline of aristocratic families, the unprecedented development of the economic base and political power of ordinary landlords. Accordingly, various systems are constantly being comprehensively reformed and updated. Many budding new things appeared in the late Tang Dynasty, which had a far-reaching impact on the historical development of more than a thousand years later. The change from rent-agent clearance to two tax laws is not only the reform of the tax system in the Tang Dynasty, but also the origin of the ancient tax system in China from fixed tax to production tax. The "two taxes" in Song Dynasty, the "one whip" in Ming Dynasty, and the "spreading from Ding to Mu" in Qing Dynasty are the continuation and development of the two taxes system in Tang Dynasty. The philosophical thoughts of Han Yu and Li Ao in the middle Tang Dynasty set a precedent for Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties. The "ancient prose movement" advocated by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan laid the foundation for the second climax of the "ancient prose movement" in Song Dynasty, and the wind of writing ancient prose continued until the eve of the "May 4th" vernacular movement. Therefore, during the 200 years from the Middle Tang Dynasty to the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, great changes were brewing in the ancient society of China, and many new things sprouted in the Tang Dynasty. At this historical turning point, there are both the pains of the decline of the old era and the dawn of a new era.

In short, the developed economy, prosperous culture, strong national strength and huge international status in the Tang Dynasty are another prosperous situation in China's history after the Han Dynasty, which is called "when the Han Dynasty is strong, the Tang Dynasty prospers". The development of the late Tang Dynasty initiated the great social changes in ancient China. The Tang Dynasty was indeed a glorious and great era in the history of the Chinese nation!