The Tang Dynasty of China (618 - 906) - Part 6 (last)

This is part of a series of meetups on learning about China's dynasties in reverse chronological order. Last year we Started with the Qing and went as far back as the Song Dynasty.

This will be the 6th meeting on the Tang Dynasty. This meeting will be mainly on religion and culture during the Tang Dynasty as well as a review of what was covered in the previous meetings.

Brief Intro I stole from Nat Geo:
Many Chinese today revere the Tang Dynasty as a Golden Age of Chinese history, and they have a point. For a nation that had suffered from unrest and civil war for many centuries, the Tang Dynasty offered a period of stability that allowed its population to grow, its trade to prosper, and its arts to reach unprecedented heights of skill and beauty.

Some of the topics that we'll cover in this and future meetings are as follows (not necessarily in that order) :

• The influence and decline of the short lived Sui Dynasty
• Li Yuan a state governor under the Sui, becomes the founder of the Tang
• Emperor Taizong, 626-649 considered one of the greatest in Chinese history
• Empress Wu and her influence
• Emperor Xuanzong's 44 year reign and the golden age the Tang
• Chang An, the greatest city on earth!
• The Battle of Talas, 751, the battle that changed the world
• The An Lushan Rebellion, 755-763, one of the deadliest wars in history with 13-36 million dead
• The Huang Chao rebellion, 877-884
• Trade: Revival of the Silk road, trading goods and ideas with Asia and Africa.
• Cosmopolitanism - due to trade, some Chinese cities had thousands of foreigners including Persians, Arabs, Hindu Indians, Malays, Bengalis, Sinhalese, Khmers, Chams, Jews and Nestorian Christians of the Near East, and many others.
• Religion - Taoism was the official religion of the Tang, while Buddhism and Confucianism played a prominent role. Nestorian Christian Churches were officially recognized.
• Imperial Examinations, its use expanded during the Tang
• Tang Culture - aesthetics, poetry and other aspects
• The Decline of Tang, how did it end, and why did it end the way it did?
• Impact and aftermath

- Please come with at least one question or comment on the topic.

This meeting is not book based so you can use whatever resources you wish including Wikipedia, or course hero: https://tinyurl.com/yy9mh53z

• Please have your video camera 'On' for the meeting.