China (Sui and Tang Dynasties), 581–907

The Sui-Tang period can be described as an age of internationalism and cosmopolitanism. Following the short-lived Sui dynasty, the Tang Empire grew to great heights, spanning the eastern side of the Asian continent, from Korea to Xinjiang province, and exerting its influence far beyond from Japan to Mongolia to today’s Tajikistan. Foodstuffs and goods came from extensive international trade, whether through the Silk Routes on land or by sea. People from every region of Asia, notably merchants and monks, were in China during the three centuries of Sui and Tang rule, occasionally leading to rebellions that nearly toppled the empire. Uprisings in northern China, especially the An-Shi and the Huang Chao Rebellions, eventually led to the fall of the Yang dynasty at the start of the tenth century. Meanwhile, its southern regions remained relatively unaffected by the unrest and continued to prosper through international trade, stimulating architectural advances there. In accordance with its strong intellectual tradition, China wrote its own history and geography during the Tang dynasty, including Jia Dan’s map of 801 that showed international seafaring trade. Emperors and empresses practised both Buddhism and Taoism, and other religions were followed in its many cities. Sui-Tang was an age of some of the most influential poets and painters in China’s history, most of whom were affiliated with the imperial court. Technological innovations included water clocks, water wheels and automata, while natural gas was transmitted in bamboo pipelines. The major rivers of northern and southern China were joined by the greatest engineering feat of the Sui dynasty, the Grand Canal (584–610), the world’s longest canal. Kingdoms and states outside turned to China for imperial models of political, religious and cultural institutions, and specifically for designs of palatial and religious architecture. The major achievements of the Sui-Tang period were the plans of its capitals, Daxing-Chang’an and Luoyang. In these centres, China’s most important cities then, the Tang is the earliest period from which every major type of construction – city, palace, altar, temple, cavetemple, pagoda, tomb and bridge – exists or can be reliably reconstructed. The short Sui dynasty and long Tang that followed were both ages of rulers with grandiose visions. The two Sui Emperors Wen (r. 581–604) and his son Yang (r. 604–618), and the Tang rulers Emperors Gao Zu (r. 618–626), Tai Zong (r. 626–649), Gao Zong (r. 650–683), Empress Wu (r. 690–705) and Emperor Xuan Zong (r. 712–756), all left legacies in monumental architecture. The four oldest wooden buildings survive from this period, all in Shanxi province. The oldest open-spandrel bridge is also from this era. The international population of the empire brought influences from across Asia, Europe and Africa into the Tang dynasty.