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Tang Dynasty China

500 CE – 1000 CE

China's cosmopolitan golden age, when Chang'an was the largest city on earth and the Silk Road carried ideas as far as Baghdad.

63 events · 179 people · 4 eras

Key events

1. Battle of Talas751 CE
   The Battle of Talas was an armed confrontation between the Abbasid Caliphate along with the Tibetan Empire against the Tang dynasty and its allies in 751. In July of that year, the Tang and Abbasid armies clashed at the Talas River over control of the regions surrounding the Syr Darya. The Tang army under Gao Xianzhi was defeated by the Abbasid army under Ziyad ibn Salih and Karluk mercenaries. Sources differ on whether the Karluks defected to the Abbasids or if they were Abbasid allies from the start. The defeat marked the end of Tang influence in Transoxiana and halted Tang westward expansion.
2. Battle of Salsu612 CE
   The Battle of Salsu was a major battle that occurred in the year 612 during the second campaign of the Goguryeo–Sui War between Goguryeo of Korea and Sui of China. Goguryeo won an overwhelming victory over the numerically superior Sui forces at Salsu River.
3. Goguryeo–Tang War645 CE
   The Goguryeo–Tang War occurred from 645 to 668 and was fought between Goguryeo and the Tang dynasty. During the course of the war, the two sides allied with various other states. Goguryeo successfully repulsed the invading Tang armies during the first Tang invasions of 645–648. After conquering Baekje in 660, Tang and Silla armies invaded Goguryeo from the north and south in 661, but were forced to withdraw in 662. In 666, Yŏn Kaesomun died and Goguryeo became plagued by violent dissension, numerous defections, and widespread demoralization. The Tang–Silla alliance mounted a fresh invasion in the following year, aided by the defector Yŏn Namsaeng. In late 668, exhausted from numerous military attacks and suffering from internal political chaos, Goguryeo and the remnants of Baekje army succumbed to the numerically superior armies of the Tang dynasty and Silla.
4. Battle of Baekgang663 CE
   The Battle of Baekgang or Battle of Baekgang-gu, also known as the Battle of Hakusukinoe in Japan, and as the Battle of Baijiangkou in China, was a battle between Paekche restoration forces and their ally, Yamato Japan, against the allied forces of Silla and Tang China. The battle took place on 27–28 August 663 in the Baengma River or Baek River, which is the lower reach of the Geum River in Jeollabuk-do province, Korea. The Silla-Tang forces won a decisive victory, compelling Yamato Japan to withdraw completely from Korean affairs and crushing the Paekche restoration movement.
5. Goguryeo–Sui War598 CE
   The Goguryeo–Sui War were a series of invasions launched by the Sui dynasty of China against Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, between AD 598 and AD 614. It resulted in the defeat of the Sui and was one of the pivotal factors in the collapse of the dynasty, which led to its overthrow by the Tang dynasty in AD 618.
6. Battle of Hulao621 CE
   The Battle of Hulao, or Battle of Sishui, was a decisive Tang victory over the rival Zheng and Hebei-based Xia polities during the transition from Sui to Tang. The battle took place during the Luoyang–Hulao campaign on 28 May 621 when a Xia army – led by Dou Jiande, ruler of Xia – was defeated attacking a smaller Tang army – led by Prince Li Shimin – entrenched at the strategic Hulao Pass.
7. Battle of Bach Dang River938 CE
   At the Battle of Bạch Đằng River in 938 near Hạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam, the military force of the Viet-ruled domain of Tĩnh Hải quân, led by Ngô Quyền, a Viet lord, defeated the invading forces of the Chinese state of Southern Han and put an end to the Third Era of Northern Domination. It was considered the turning point in Vietnamese history.
8. Battle of Hwangsanbeol660 CE
   The Battle of Hwangsanbeol took place between the forces of Silla and Baekje in Hwangsanbeol in 660.
9. Umayyad campaigns in India664 CE
   During the first half of the 8th century, a series of battles took place in the Indian subcontinent between the Umayyad Caliphate and Indian kingdoms situated to the east of the Indus River, beginning with the Arab conquest of Sindh during 711–713.
10. 946 eruption of Paektu Mountain946 CE
    The 946 AD eruption of Mount Paektu, a stratovolcano on the border of North Korea and China also known as Changbaishan, occurred in late 946 AD. This event is known as the Millennium Eruption or Tianchi eruption. It is one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in recorded history; classified at the most conservative estimate as a VEI 6, and in others, as a VEI 7.
11. Battle of Huoyi617 CE
    The Battle of Huoyi was fought in China on 8 September 617, between the forces of the rebel Duke of Tang, Li Yuan, and the army of the ruling Sui dynasty. Li Yuan, with an army of around 25,000, was advancing south along the Fen River towards the imperial capital, Daxingcheng. His advance was stalled for two weeks due to heavy rainfall, and he was met at the town of Huoyi by an elite Sui army of 20,000 men. Li Yuan's cavalry, under the command of his two eldest sons, lured the Sui out of the protection of the city walls, but in the first clash between the two main armies, Li Yuan's forces were initially driven back. At that point, possibly due to a stratagem on Li Yuan's behalf, the arrival of the rest of the rebel army, or the flanking maneuver of Li Yuan's cavalry, which had gotten behind the Sui army, the Sui troops collapsed and routed, fleeing back towards Huoyi. Li Yuan's cavalry, however, cut off their retreat. The battle was followed by the capture of weakly defended Huoyi and the advance on Daxingcheng, which fell to the rebels in November. The following year, Li Yuan deposed the Sui and proclaimed himself emperor, beginning the Tang dynasty.
12. Xuanwu Gate Incident626 CE
    The Xuanwu Gate Incident was a palace coup for the throne of the Tang dynasty on 2 July 626. During the incident, Prince Li Shimin and his followers assassinated his brothers Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Li Yuanji.

Notable people

• Emperor Taizong of Tang598 CE – 649 CE
• As-Saffah722 CE – 754 CE
• Emperor Gaozu of Tang566 CE – 635 CE
• Abu Muslim al Khorasani718 CE – 755 CE
• Emperor Xuanzong of Tang685 CE – 762 CE
• Songtsän Gampo604 CE – 650 CE
• Tenji626 CE – 672 CE
• Emperor Taizu of Song927 CE – 976 CE
• Kōgyoku594 CE – 661 CE
• Muhammad bin Qasim695 CE – 715 CE
• Taejo of Goryeo877 CE – 943 CE
• Queen Seondeok of Silla606 CE – 647 CE

Cultural works

Eras spanning this view

Related atlas views

• China
• Abbasid Baghdad
• Heian Japan

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Events from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA); base map © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); era boundaries are a hand-curated set in v1. Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].