Rise of the Tang Dynasty
Above: Tai-tsung
- The way that the Tang Dynasty rose was much in the same way that the Han Dynasty rose.
- The Tang Dynasty rose after a period of ruthless leadership.
- Once the Sui Dynasty fell, the first emperor, Tai-tsung, of the Tang Dynasty took control, and all political enemies were eliminated by a military official who was also his son.
- However, his son then murdered his brothers and forced his father to give him the throne.
- Once he had taken the throne, the Golden Age of China had begun.
Decline/Fall of the Tang Dynasty
Above: Rebels pursuing fleeing enemies.
- One reason was the corruption of government.
- Another reason was war.
- Another reason was that the different classes in society were conflicting with each other.
- All this led to a big reason for the fall of the Tang Dynasty, which was civil war.
- Peasants, sick of being taxed increasingly to pay for all of this, finally snapped and rebelled.
- A man named Huang Chao led this rebellion against the emperor, Xizong, who was completely ignorant of the needs of the people. Chao was later defeated by his military officials who had defected to the Tang, but those same military officials also helped end the Tang regime.