The History of China

Military reforms mark our entrance into Xuanzong’s early-middle reign, which is more or less a basket of unicorn foals: external peace, internal stability… now if only that darned economy would fix itself! But the emperor will turn a fateful corner in the 724, when his official Zhang Yue convinces him to conduct the Feng and Shan Sacrifices: the highest ritual a Chinese ruler could conduct – a sacrifice to Heaven and Earth atop holy Mount Tai.Time Period Covered:714 – 726 CEImportant Historical Figures:Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Longji) [r. 714- ]Empress Wang [d. 724]Lady WuChief Minister Zhang YueMinister Yuwen RongMinister Cui Yinfu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wu Zetian’s grandson Li Longji (aka Xuanzong of Tang) is left to pick up the pieces of 50+ years’ worth of overindulgence, royal excess, and the rampant deconstruction of the entire imperial bureaucratic apparatus. Thanks, grandma. Fortunately, he’ll prove uniquely suited to the role of maintenance-man, and under his unexpectedly capable leadership, he’ll reign in his family members, do away with the thousands of excess positions, reform the government, and stabilize the regime. He’s building up to a second Golden Age for the Tang Dynasty… all he has to do is get his obnoxious Aunt Taiping out of the way first…Major Historical Figures:Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) [r. 712-756]Princess Taiping [d. 713]Li Dan (Retired Emperor Ruizong) [r. 710-712, d. 716]Yao Chong [650- ]Song Jing [663 - ] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tang Dynasty has been restored following Empress Wu's eldest son's coup d'etat. But dynastic restoration does not equate to societal reformation, and many of the problems Wu inherited or exacerbated remain. Throw into that mix a decade long period of palatial infighting between princes and princesses, and we have a period so chalk full of intrigue, espionage, and assassination... that classical historians have preferred to steer around this decade rather than even deign to acknowledge it.Time Period Covered:705-712 CENotable Historical Figures:Deposed Empress Wu Zetian [d. 705]Li Xian (Emperor Zhongzong of Tang) [2nd r. 705-710]Li Dan (Emperor Ruizong of Tang) [2nd r. 710-712]Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) [r. 712- ]Princess TaipingEmpress Wei [d. 710]Princess Anlou [d. 710]Wu Sansi [d. 707]Crowned Prince Li Chongjun [d. 707] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wu Zhao sits on the Throne of Heaven as divine sovereign in her own right. But challenges from expansionistic neighbors such as the Tibetans, the Turks, and the Khitan will throw her regime’s stability into question, an ongoing economic crisis will spiral out of control, and her scandalous affair with two pretty-boy half-brothers will throw the entire imperial court into turmoil, potentially spelling an end to her singular era of rule.Time Period Covered:690-705 CEMajor Historical Figures:Tang/Zhou Dynasty:Wu Zhao [The Holy Empress Regnant Zetian] (r. 690-705)Prince Li Xian [former Emperor Zhongzong] (re-confirmed as heir in 698)Prince Li Dan [former Emperor Ruizong]Princess TaipingMinister Wei YuanchengXue Huaiyi, head of White Horse Temple (d. 695)High Inquisitor Lai Junchen (d. 698)Zhang Yizhi (d. 705)Zhang Changzong (d. 705)Turkic Khannate:Qapaghan Khan [Mouchou] (d. 716)Tibetan Empire:Tridu Tsongsan Tsampo [King of Tibet] the mGar Clan (d. 698)Khitan Tribe:Chieftain Li Qincheng (d. 697)Chieftain Sun Wanzheng (d. 697)Major Works Cited:Clements, Johnathan. Wu: the Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become A Living God.Dash, Mike. “The Demonization of Empress Wu” in The Smithsonian found at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-demonization-of-empress-wu-20743091/?no-istFitzgerald, C.P. The Empress Wu.Guisso, Richard W. L. “The Reigns of the empress Wu, Chung-tsung and Jui-tsung (684-712)” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.Guisso, Richard W.L. Wu Tse-T’ien and the Politics of Legitimation in T’ang China.Liu, Xiu. Jiu Tangshu.Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.Woo, X.L. Empress Wu the Great. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A white stone bearing a prophecy tells of an era of eternal prosperity, a disastrous rebellion spells the doom of the majority of the imperial Li Clan, an obscure sutra tells of the reincarnation of a goddess to rule over the world, the written word itself is altered to fit the times… all of these are will fit together today to explain how and why the 66-year-old Empress Dowager of Tang will manage to become the first and only woman Emperor of China in the year 690.Time Period Covered:689-693Major Historical Figures:Empress-Regnant Wu Zhao of Zhou, Sage Mother, Divine Sovereign, Maitreya the Peerless [r. 690-705]Li Dan (Emperor Ruizong of Tang) [r. 689-690]Chancellor Li ZhaodeChancellor Ji XuHeir-Expectant Wu ChengsiPrince Li Chuan of Dengzhou [d. 689]Prince Li Cheng [d. 689]Prince Li Chen [d. 689]High Inquisitor Lai JunchenAn Jingcan (he has guts)Major Works Cited:Guisso, Richard W. L. “The Reigns of the empress Wu, Chung-tsung and Jui-tsung (684-712)” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.Chen, Jinhua. “Sarira and Scepter. Empress Wu’s Political Use of Buddhist Relics” in the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 25 No. 1-2 (2002).Kory, Stephen N. “The Remarkably Resonant and Resilient Tang Dynasty Augural Stone” in Tang Studies, 26 (2008).Liu, Xiu. Jiu Tangshu.Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 206. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With her husband dead, Empress Wu is unrivaled in Chang'an, but that situation is tenuous as she has no legal basis for that power. Her eldest (surviving) son will take up the throne as Emperor Zhongzong for... all of two months before she decides he's got to go. Her timid, youngest son will fit her style much better as Ruizong, but when the high lords of the realm are exposed as conspiring against her, she will unleash her full fury on their ranks, employing tactics and methods that will decimate the literati class.Time Period Covered:683-686 CEMajor Historical Figures:Empress Dowager Wu ZhaoLi Xian (Emperor Zhongzong) [r. 684]Li Dan (Emperor Ruizong) [r. 684-689]Empress WeiWei XuanzhenLi Jingye [d. 684]Chancellor Pei Yan [d. 684]General Cheng Wuding, "Terror of the Turks" [d. 684]High Inquisitor Lai Junchen [d. 697]High Inquisitor Zhou Xing [d. 691]Monk Xue Huaiyi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In celebration of the Year of the Monkey, this week we take a look at China's most famous demonic simian, Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and his Journey to the West guarding the Buddhist monk Xuanzang. Then we'll look at the historical 15 year long westward journey of Xuanzang as he seeks sutras from India to bring enlightenment to China.Time Period Covered:602-664 CEMajor Historical Figures:San Zang Master Xuanzang (Chen Hui) [602-664]Major Fictional Figures:Sun Wukong (The Handsome Monkey King, Mei Hou Wang)Zhu Bajie (Pig of the Eight Commandments)Sha Wujing (The Sandy Friar)Bodhisattva Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy and Compassion)Major Works Cited:Wu, Chang'en, The Journey to the West (1592).Xuanzang, Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records of the Western Regions) (646)."The History of Xuan Zang." http://www.vbtutor.net/Xiyouji/history.htmInternet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang) (602—664 C.E.)" https://web.archive.org/web/20130116083307/http://www.iep.utm.edu/xuanzang/#H1Cao, Shibang. "Fact vs. Fiction" in Dust in the Wind: Retracing Dharma Master Xuanzang's Western Pilgrimage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tang China goes to town on its neighbors over the course of the mid-7th century. First, the Western Regions of central Asia will feel the full force of a reunited Middle Kingdom, culminating in the collapse and Chinese annexation of the whole Western Turkic Khannate, putting Chinese borders (briefly) right up against Persia. Then, Emperor Gaozong will commit himself to completing what his father begun: the final destruction of Goguryeo. but this time he'll enlist the aid of South Korean Silla to carve out a toehold on the peninsula to give himself a better shot at success. But when a Japanese war-fleet responds to North Korean pleas for aid, it will be a showdown on the high seas for which Asian power will control the Korean Peninsula. Time Period Covered: 649-673 CE Major Historical Figures: Tang: Emperor Gaozong (Li Zhi) Empress Wu Zhao General Su Dingfang "The Turk Destroyer" General Li Shiji Western Türkic Kaghanate (Onoq): Dielishi Kaghan Shabulou Khan (Ashina Holu) Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia Karam Skaff. Jonathan. Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Relations Ō no Yasumaro, Prince Toneri. Nihon Shoki. Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian Twitchett, Denis (ed.), Weschler, Howard. The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3 Unger, J.M. "The Role of Contact in the Origins of the Japanese and Korean Languages." Yi, Pae-yong. Women in Korean History Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The more than two-decade period following Wu Zhao’s ascension as Emperor Gaozong’s empress-consort will serve to point out three things: how weak the emperor is, how powerful Empress Wu has become, and how there is absolutely nothing she won’t do to keep it that way. By the middle of the episode, she’ll be considered even at the time the co-equal ruler of her husband, on of the so-called “Two Holy Ones.” But power is a slippery fish to hang on to… especially when you have no legal means of maintaining it, and several sons just waiting in the wing to snatch it all away.Time Period Covered:656-683 CEMajor Historical Figures:Emperor Gaozong of Tang (Li Zhi) [r. 649-683]Empress Consort Wu Zhao Crowned Prince Li Hong (Emperor Xiaojing [posthumous title]) [652-675]Crowned Prince Li Xián [653-684]Crowned Prince Li Xiǎn (Emperor Zhongzong) [b. 656- , r. 684]Li Zhong, Prince of Liang [d.665]Chancellor Zhangsun Wuji [d. 665]Chancellor Shangguan Yi [d. 665]Chancellor Xu Jingzong [retired 670, d. 673]Major Sources:Dash, Mike. “The Demonization of Empress Wu” in The Smithsonian. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-demonization-of-empress-wu-20743091/?no-istJiang, Chen An. Empress of China: Wu Ze Tian.Karem Skaff, Jonathan. Sui-Tang China and Its Turko-Mongol Neighbors: Culture, Power, and Connections, 580-800.Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.Weschler, Howard. The Cambridge History of China. “Kao-Tsung (Reign 649-83) and the Empress Wu: The Inheritor and the Usurper.”Old Book of Tang.New Book of Tang. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Taizong of Tang's death, his ninth son Li Zhi will ascend to the throne as Emperor Gaozong. But his weak will will ensure that his reign will be dominated by those around him. First by his ministerial backers, but more and more by a seductive young concubine who will do anything to win the game of intrigue at the imperial court, and will ruthlessly dispose of anyone who gets in her way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices