Front Page News Article

New Emperor in Town

CHINA - It’s been a few weeks since there has been a change of power in the Dynasty. Before, the emperor was Gaozu. His son, Li Shimin, suddenly grabbed Gaozu’s power. He took the name of Tang Taizong, meaning “Grand Ancestor Tang.” A local woman asked, “Grand Ancestor? Wouldn’t that be Gaozu?” Well not according him and his officials. They said that he had came up with the idea to over-throw the Sui, and created the Tang dynasty. 

    It wasn’t a surprise that he would try to take the power. Many people thought that his older brother was going to be next in line, and Li Shimin was the second child. He had helped his father with the dynasty, and he felt like he should be the next emperor.

    Some people don’t like the new emperor. “He took the power from his father. He also took it from his older brother, Gaozu’s first son, who should have gotten it. That’s not right, he should follow tradition. I heard that he even killed his older brother, and his younger one to, to make sure that there was no threat of losing his power.”

    But another man disagreed. “Tang Taizong will be a great emperor. He helped with creating the dynasty, and he is talented. He has military leadership. He has been well educated in the Confucian classics."

    Even though Tang Taizong used violence to gain power and went against his family, he has a lot of talent and ideas, and hopefully he will help our empire grow and prosper.

Map

    

This is a map of the Tang Dynasty. (618-906 CE) The area in purple is the territory. The dashed lines show the current borders of China. Expanding the land was an important goal for Tang Taizong. A lot of land was lost during the Age of Division, and he was able to gain a lot of back, due to his military force and skillful diplomacy. He also gained control of trading centers and that helped China. Also on this map are the city of Chang'an and the Grand Canal. Chang'an was the capital, and at the time was the most cosmopolitan capital in the world. The Grand Canal is the longest canal in the world, and was important because it connected north and south China, and made transporting easier. Although modern day China is a lot bigger now, the Tang Dynasty controlled a lot of land.

Inventions

There were a few inventions during the Tang Dynasty, but the one of the most important inventions was gunpowder. This had a huge impact on the world. It was discovered by accident by a few alchemists. They were mixing together different elements, and when they set it on fire it exploded. At first, gunpowder wasn't used for violence. The Chinese used it to make firecrackers and fireworks. They used it during festivals, especially on the New Year, which is a very important holiday for the Chinese. At first it would just make a loud noise when they ignited it, but after they were able to add color, and make designs. After a while, they began to use the gunpowder to make rockets, bombs and cannons. This helped their military because they had more weapons against enemies. Later on it spread to other parts of the world, and other countries used gunpowder. We still use them today, whether it’s for fireworks on the 4th of July, or for weapons. That is why gunpowder is an important invention.

Religion

To do no evil;

To cultivate good;

To purify one's mind:

This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

--The Dhammapada

One of the main religions of the Tang Dynasty was Buddhism. Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It began in India, and spread to the rest of Asia. It's different from other religions because it's not about the relationship between a person and god. It's about the need to get rid of suffering, and finding the path to enlightenment. Nirvana is an important concept of Buddhism; it’s about reaching the most blissful, enlightened, suffer-free state that one can achieve. Gaozu, the man who had created the dynasty and was the first emperor, did not support Buddhism, and made Confucianism and Daoism the official religions. But years later, other emperors began to support it, and it grew, reaching its high point in 700 CE. There were thousands of monasteries built, and a lot of people went to them. Bu after a while, people began to attack the religion and complained, saying that Buddhism was influencing Chinese culture and was conflicting with Confucianism. In 840, the emperor Wuzong started to attack the Buddhists also. He was mentally unstable, and had 4,600 monasteries, 40,000 shrines destroyed. He also made 260,000 monks and nuns stop their practices. Although the person who was next in line stopped the attacks and the religion lasted, it wasn’t as much of an influence on Chinese Culture as it had been before.

Opinion/Editorial

    The Tang Dynasty was one of the greatest ancient Chinese dynasties. It was considered to be one of the greatest dynasties because it was China's golden age. During this time, China was one of the most powerful, wealthiest countries in the world. Tang Taizong (one of the first emperors), expanded the territory of the empire and gained control of trading centers. These trading centers were on the Silk Road, which was a trade route that connected all of Asia. Because of this, China was able to be richer than it ever had been before. Another reason why is that they had a lot of artworks and inventions. They had a lot of spectacular poems, landscape paintings, and ceramic statues. They invented the printed page, made the first bound books, and invented gunpowder. These inventions changed the world, and we still use them today. That is why the Tang Dynasty is one of the greatest dynasties.

Interview.

Hello Gaozu. Thank you for this great opportunity.

It's no problem, thank you for having me.

So, how were you able to create the Tang Dynasty?

China was not in a good state. There were lots of rebellions and uprisings from the peasants because the emperor was not doing a good job, and they were suffering. It was easy to win them over, create peace, and end the Sui dynasty. I declared myself emperor, and changed the empire to the Tang Dynasty.

How did you create peace?

There were lots of rebellious peasants. I created an army, and I was able to win them over. The rebellions were put down, and we overthrew the Sui dynasty. When started my dynasty, I restored peace and fixed all of the problems. I even appointed some of the former Sui family, so that helped create peace with the people who were supporting the Sui.

What were some of the things you did to help your dynasty?

I granted a pardon to the Sui family, and appointed former Sui officials. I revised some laws, and promoted the civil service examination system. I also took away some land from the rich people and rented them to commoners. By doing this, the commoners were happier, the wealthy people had less power, and there was a greater production of food.

What religions do you believe in?

I believe in Confucianism and Daoism. When I was emperor, I had an official decree made, making Confucianism and Daoism the two main religions of Chinese culture. I also had a temple built in honor of Confucius, where people can go and worship him. I am not a Buddhist, and I do not support the religion.
 

How do you feel about your son Li Shimin, or Tang Taizong?

I'm kind of hurt and disappointed in him. He grabbed my power, and forced me to retire. It was predictable that he would, but I can't believe that he would kill his own brothers also. I am sure that he will be a great emperor though. He was the one who helped me create this dynasty, and he is very talented. He has military leadership, and is very intelligent.  

Do you think you were a good emperor?

Yes, I do think I was. I didn't rule for a long time, but during my rule I created peace, and a better empire. I made changes and created strategies that helped the people.

Well that’s all. Thank you for your time.

It was my pleasure.

Food

Both wealthy people and commoners ate well during the Tang dynasty. Food was usually divided into two groups, grains (fan) and vegetables (cai). Grains were the main ingredient of most dishes, and were noodles and dumplings made from wheat, and rice. Anything that wasn't a grain was considered a vegetable. This included fish, fowl, duck, and pork. Meat was rarely consumed though. Food would be cut into small pieces, so they were able to use chopsticks, and never used forks and knives. They added a lot of different spices and seasonings to their food, like salt, ginger, plum and soy sauces, garlic, cinnamon, and honey. Many new, exotic foods were introduced at this time from the Silk Road like dates, dried oysters, melons, sea horses, sugared ginger, and persimmons. It was normal for them to drink a lot of wine because drinking large amounts of alcohol was an old tradition, and they believed that it relaxed them. Tea (cha) was also a popular drink during the Tang Dynasty. People would drink it after they had eaten their meals. They thought that it clears the mind, and help digestion.