The T'ang capital was Ch'ang-an, today known as Xian (shee-AHN). Located deep in the heart of China, it would serve as capital for a total of eleven dynasties, but under T'ang rule it reached the peak of its splendor. Laid out on a grid, it covered some thirty square miles. With its two million residents, it may well have been the largest city of its time.
The golden age of the T'ang, which lasted until 751, saw great advancements in the arts and sciences. Aside from block printing, which increased the spread of new ideas, two other notable Chinese inventions, fireworks and the abacus (AB-uh-kus), made their appearance during this era. An early form of calculator, the abacus had existed in one form or another since ancient times and was known to the Romans; but the Chinese abacus, still used in parts of the Far East today, became the most well known version.
The T'ang Chinese were eager to import knowledge of astronomy and mathematics from India, and their own cultural advances spread to Korea and Japan, which modeled their leading cities on the plan of Ch'ang-an. An openness to non-Chinese ways of life characterized the T'ang and distinguished them from most dynasties of the past. Not only did they allow Buddhism to spread, the T'ang emperors tolerated faiths of even more distant origin: Islam, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, and even Judaism.
In such an environment, it is not surprising that the arts flourished. T'ang sculpture became widely noted for its beauty, and the expansion into Central Asia added new musical styles and dances. The era also produced some of China's greatest writers, including the poets Li Po (lee-BOH; 701-762) and Tu Fu (doo-FOO; 712-770). Even after T'ang China had passed its prime, an outstanding intellectual figure made his appearance: the writer and philosopher Han Yu (hahn-YOOEE; 768-824). Han Yu helped revive Confucianism as a living system of thought and established a new, naturalistic, and free-spirited prose style.
World History
