State · 618–907 CE
The Tang dynasty
Chang'an (Xi'an, China)
The Tang dynasty, founded in 618 after the collapse of the Sui, ruled China for nearly three centuries from Chang'an, a walled grid city of about 78 km² whose population inside the walls is estimated at 800,000 to 1 million. Merchants, monks and envoys from Central Asia, Persia, India and Arabia filled its markets, and the era is counted the greatest age of Chinese poetry, the age of Li Bai and Du Fu.
The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) badly weakened the dynasty, which ended in 907.
Why it mattered
Tang China was one of the most cosmopolitan societies of its time, and Chang'an's grid plan was copied for Japan's capitals at Nara and Kyoto and for Silla Korea's capital at Gyeongju.
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