•
Brief: This article tells the short-lived Yongzhen Reform under the mute Emperor Shunzong of Tang. After Emperor Dezong empowered corrupt eunuchs, the paralyzed Shunzong and his ministers launched bold reforms to end exploitation. However, eunuchs and warlords staged a coup, forcing abdication. The reform collapsed, exiling its leaders, yet it paved the way for…
•
Yan Zhenqing (709–784 CE) was a renowned calligrapher, statesman, and loyalist of the Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Qingchen, and he was a native of Wannian, Jingzhao (modern-day Xi’an, Shaanxi), though his ancestral home was Langye Linyi (in present-day Shandong Province).
•
Brief: This article explores the outbreak of the An-Shi Rebellion, which ended the Tang Dynasty’s golden age. It traces the rise of the corrupt Yang clan under Yang Guifei, the ambition of the powerful general An Lushan, and his bitter conflict with Yang Guozhong. The rebellion erupted in 755, and a fatal order at…
•
Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) was a renowned calligrapher, painter, and scholar-official of the Yuan Dynasty. As a descendant of the Song imperial family, he played a pivotal role in reviving classical styles of Chinese art and calligraphy. His work Dao De Jing (The Tao Te Ching), handwritten in small regular script (xiaokaishu), is one of…
•
Yan Zhenqing (709–785 CE) was one of China’s greatest calligraphers and a loyal official of the Tang Dynasty. He is especially famous for developing a bold, dignified, and powerful style of regular script (kaishu) that broke from earlier elegant but delicate traditions. His early masterpiece, the Dobao Ta Bei (Stele of the Many Treasures…