The Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) stands as China’s most cosmopolitan era, a golden age of poetry, trade, and military expansion that reshaped East Asia. Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the rise of the Li family, the reign of Emperor Taizong, and the unprecedented power of Empress Wu Zetian—the only female emperor in Chinese history. Explore the cosmopolitan capital Chang’an (modern Xi’an), a Silk Road hub where Persian merchants, Nestorian Christians, and Buddhist monks mingled. Delve into the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763) that nearly toppled the empire, the devastating Huang Chao Rebellion, and the eventual fragmentation into the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Cultural highlights include the brilliance of poets Li Bai and Du Fu, the spread of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, and the development of woodblock printing. The show also examines Tang foreign relations: wars against the Göktürks, Tibetans, and Nanzhao, as well as tributary ties with Korea and Japan. Why does the Tang legacy endure? From its legal code influencing later dynasties to its ceramic art (sancai pottery) celebrated worldwide, this series unpacks an empire that defined Chinese civilization.
