S17: Original Way

• The rising power of Tibet, which nominally aligned with the Tang in the 630s, expanded north and west.
• The An Lushan rebellion marked a turning point, reversing the balance of power between the Tang and Tibet.
• After Emperor Xuanzong temporarily fled to Sichuan, the Uighurs helped rescue the Tang but later withdrew their support due to unmet expectations.
• In 763, Tibetans occupied parts of modern Qinghai and Gansu, invaded Shaanxi, and pillaged Chang’an.
• The Tang, under Guo Ziyi, managed to recapture the capital but faced a combined Uighur and Tibetan army that took it again in 765.

• In 763, the Tang dynasty managed to suppress the rebellion, but during this period, Uighur mercenaries occupied Luoyang and encountered a Sogdian teacher who introduced them to Manichaeism.
• The Uighur kaghan adopted Manichaeism as the official religion, marking the first instance in history of a state officially endorsing this faith.
• After the kaghan’s conversion, Manichaeism became the official religion of the Uighur Kaghanate.

• Manichaeism is a dualistic religious movement founded in the 3rd century CE by Mani, the “Apostle of Light.”
• He viewed himself as the final prophet in a lineage that included Adam, Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus.
• There are two opposing forces in the world: good (light) and evil (darkness). Mani believed that his teachings offered a universal truth that could bring together ideas from different religions.
• Initially viewed as a Christian heresy, it was a distinct religion with coherent doctrines and a structured organization.

• A split among the Uighurs allowed the Tang to ally with them and regain control.
• For over fifty years, the Tang relied on Uighur support against Tibetan incursions, leading to Uighur disregard for imperial authority in the late eighth and early ninth centuries.
• An internal split in Uighur leadership allowed the Kirghiz to attack, prompting the Tang to ally with them against the Uighurs.
• Despite fluctuating alliances with the Uighurs, the Tang dynasty could not reassert its authority in Central Asia, as Tibet continued to control much of modern Qinghai and Gansu and destroyed the western protectorate-general.

• After defeating the Sasanian Empire in 651, the Arabs targeted Central Asia, capturing Samarkand for the first time in 671.
• Within a few decades, Muslim forces secured the region, leading to the displacement of the Sogdian language by Persian and the replacement of Zoroastrianism with Islam.
• After the mid-8th century, Samarkand and Sogdiana shifted their focus away from China.

• After the collapse of the Tibetan kingdom by 850 and the decline of Nanzhao in the late ninth century, the Tang empire did not regain its influence in Central Asia, which came under the control of expanding Arab powers spreading Islam.
• The An Lushan rebellion and Tibetan conquests in northwest China allowed Arabs to advance into Central Asia, resulting in the loss of Chinese control west of Dunhuang until the Manchu conquest in the 18th century.
• This shift led to the permanent loss of Central Asia as a part of the Buddhist world and removed it from the Chinese cultural sphere.

• Central Asia as a cross-road of empire, influenced by Indo-European, Iranian, Indian, and Chinese elements.
• This led to the region becoming a frontier zone of the Islamic world, shifting away from Chinese cultural and political influence.
• The decline of Buddhism in Central Asia and India, coupled with its suppression in China during the 840s, resulted in Chinese Buddhism losing its Indian inspiration and evolving into a distinctly Chinese religion influenced by local intellectual traditions like Chan and Pure Land.

• The Tang dynasty’s focus shifted from Central Asia to the east, altering China’s relations with Buddhism and its trade connections.
• As Chinese influence waned in Central Asia and ties with India were severed, Chinese culture and Mahayana Buddhism expanded more deeply into East Asia.
• Tibet remained more aligned with Central Asia, turning to India for Tantric Buddhism, which represented the last significant flourish of Indian Buddhism during the Pala period in Bengal (circa 750–1155).

Political system

• Centralized monarchy
• Tang Laws

Buddhism

• Shared Mahayana Buddhist faith across the East Asian cultural sphere.

Chinese writing

• Use of Chinese characters.
• Diverse linguistic groups able read and understand the same texts despite differing pronunciations.

Shared culture

• Beliefs in ritual behavior, the centrality of family, hierarchy, gender separation, and text-based learning.

• In 630, Japan sent its first delegation to the Tang dynasty, despite geographic distance.
• In 649, Japan initiated major political reforms to establish a centralized monarchy.
• The Japanese government adopted the Chinese writing system for official and literary purposes, adapting it for the Japanese language.
• Chinese elite cultural elements influenced Japan, including clothing, poetry, and music at the Heian court.
• Buddhism became a significant intellectual and religious force in Japan, leading to many Japanese pilgrims traveling to Tang China.

• At the start of the Tang dynasty, the Korean peninsula was divided into three kingdoms: Koguryô, Silla, and Paekche.
• The Sui dynasty fell partly due to costly campaigns against Koguryô, but all three Korean states sent tribute to the Tang court upon its establishment.
• In 622, Tang Gaozu recognized the independence of the Korean states as nominal vassals after returning Chinese prisoners.
• In 640, princes from the Korean states, Gaochang, Japan, and Tibet studied at the Tang imperial academy in Chang’an.

• A Koguryô minister’s coup in 642 led to instability, prompting Tang Taizong to launch unsuccessful military campaigns against Koguryô in 645, 647, and 648.
• Under Emperor Gaozong, the Tang allied with Silla, which adopted Chinese writing and governance, to invade and occupy Paekche, then launched an expedition against Koguryô.
• After the death of Koguryô’s ruler in 666, the Tang occupied the state and took over 200,000 prisoners to Chang’an in 668.

Equal-field System

• In 485, the Northern Wei implemented the equal-field system for land reform.
• The equal-field system involved state-owned land divided into family-sized plots for peasants, who paid taxes and provided labor for imperial projects.
• Each married couple received a land grant for their working lives, with the land remaining state property.
• This system continued with modifications during the Qi, Zhou, and Tang dynasties.
• The main goal of the equal-field system was to cultivate as much abandoned land as possible.

Double tax

• In 780, a two-tax system was introduced, collecting taxes biannually in summer and autumn, replacing the previous equal-field system.
• Each province was assigned a specific revenue quota.
• Special commissioners were appointed by the court to raise revenues through various methods.
• They experimented with selling offices, manipulating the money supply, and taxing trade.
• Salt tax for the state: By 779, the salt monopoly generated half of the central government’s revenue.

Before 755

• Throughout its history, the Tang empire was centered in the capital Chang’an and the surrounding Guanzhong region.
• Large families were forcibly resettled near Chang’an, and funds from across the empire were invested to enhance the economic productivity of the Guanzhong area.

After 755

• Following the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang court lost control over much of the northeast.
• A new geopolitical axis emerged from the northwest to the southeast: the fertile lower Yangzi region provided essential food and income for the court and the northwest.
• A wealthy, demilitarized south that supported a strategically located northern capital, a pattern that influenced later imperial China.

Elite Families and Examination System:

Elite families’ influence declined after the Tang’s fall, while the examination system continued in later dynasties.

Professional Military:

The family-based military system was largely replaced by professional soldiers.

Restructured Trade Relations:

Tang merchants adapted their trade with the outside world, maintaining ties with northern nomadic groups while increasing overseas trade from the fertile south, particularly with Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and the Persian Gulf, integrating China into a global maritime trade system.

Recentralization amid devolution:

• This period involved abandoning old institutions from the Han dynasty, including the equal-field land system and family-based military structures.
• Elite families linked their status to the state through the examination system, which continued after the Tang’s collapse.

Commercialization and urbanization:

• Loss of state control over property and subjects.
• Urban life evolved into a model where commercial establishments mixed with residences, and new market towns emerged in the countryside.

A new cultural geography:

• The Yangzi valley becoming the economic center after the An Lushan rebellion.
• Competitive intra-state relations: Tang, Uyghur, Nanzhao, and Tibetan States.
• “Sinosphere”: A multilingual but culturally interconnect East Asian region.
• Tang merchants restructured trade relations, maintaining contact with nomadic groups and developing maritime trade with Southeast Asia, India, and the Persian Gulf.