This article recounts the pivotal Xuanwu Gate Incident in 626 AD. Fearing elimination by Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Li Yuanji, Li Shimin launched a preemptive coup, killing his two brothers. He seized power, forced Emperor Gaozu to abdicate, and ascended as Emperor Taizong, laying the groundwork for the Zhenguan golden age.
This article chronicles early Tang’s unification campaigns. Led by Li Shimin, Tang forces defeated warlords Xue Ju, Liu Wuzhou, Li Mi, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande. It also covers the pacification of the south, unifying China after long chaos. These victories laid the foundation for the Tang golden age.
Huang Chao (?–884 CE) was the leader of a major peasant rebellion at the end of the Tang dynasty. He was a native of Yuanju, Caozhou (in present-day northwestern Cao County, Shandong) and originally worked as a smuggler of salt – a highly profitable but illegal trade under Tang monopoly laws.
The rebellion,An Lushan-Shi Siming Rebellion, launched by An Lushan and Shi Siming during the Tang dynasty, also known as the Tianbao Rebellion.
By Li Bai (Tang Dynasty) Seafarers speak of Penglai Isle –Amid misty waves, faint and far, truly hard to find.But the people of Yue tell of Mount Tianmu –Its peaks gleam through shifting clouds, sometimes visible.
By Wang Bo (Tang Dynasty) The old prefecture of Yuzhang, now the new seat of Hongzhou.Its stars align with the constellations Yi and Zhen; its land borders Mount Heng and Mount Lu.Girded by the Three Rivers and belted by the Five Lakes, it commands the southern Jing region and links Ou and Yue.Here nature’s…
Wang Bo (649 or 650–676) was a renowned literary figure of the Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Zi’an, and he was from Longmen, Jiangzhou (present-day Hejin, Shanxi). At the age of nine, after reading Yan Shigu‘s annotated version of the Book of Han, he composed a ten-volume critique titled Zhi Xia (“Pointing Out…