Tang China

The Tang made China the centre of Asia. Chang'an, with a million people, welcomed Persian merchants, Buddhist monks, Nestorian Christians and envoys from Japan and Korea, who went home and copied its government.

In 751 the Tang lost to the Arabs at Talas, and in 755 the general An Lushan rebelled. The war killed millions; Tibet took the western provinces and briefly Chang'an itself.

The dynasty limped on for 150 years with generals running the provinces. Rebellion finally ended it in 907, but Tang poetry, printing and law outlived it.