China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty (History of Imperial China)

This was the first book in the History of Imperial China series that I've read, and if the other volumes live up to the informative and comprehensive quality of this one, I can see this series perhaps supplanting the unwieldy Cambridge series.Mr. Lewis provides a surprisingly detailed survey of one of the most interesting Chinese dynasties in about 300 pages (plus appendices, notes and index). No small feat, considering the vast wealth of in-depth scholarly work available regarding the Tang. That is not to say, of course, that this is a merely a brief skimming of the highlights; to the contrary, Mr. Lewis gives us a wonderful grounding in the geographic and political climate before taking us deep into the streets of Chang'an and Luoyang, to the countryside of the Central Plain, or to the mountain retreats of the eremitic Tang poets. Ample citations of Tang prose and poetry, as well as cultural anecdotes, are present to give the reader a learned picture of what it meant to be a student of the 'jinshi' examinations, a singer in the pleasure quarter, or a court poet.This is, however, a scholarly work through and through. Well cited and referenced, the information given is well-chosen and aimed squarely at those seeking to learn about the Great Tang, as opposed to being simply entertained by its many colorful nuances. Mr. Lewis is a strong writer for this kind of book, and his prose is easy to follow and to the point. This may not be the best choice for bedtime reading, but it is accessible to all readers, especially those new to the subject.I highly recommend this book to any beginning student of Chinese imperial history, and to any reader interested in learned writing on one of the most important eras in one of the most important civilizations in the world.

The emergence of the Tang Dynasty in 618 followed the Yellow River in northern China from present-day Xian across Shaanxi's plateau to the east, and westward through Gansu's mountain corridor through the deserts of Xinjiang. It was a tremendous expansion that rivaled and surpassed the Han Dynasty. At its greatest extent, it reached parts of Vietnam and influenced Korea and Japan's development.The rise was abruptly curtailed in 756 by the An Lushan rebellion in the west, which led to civil unrest and border wars until the Tang's collapse in 907. During the decline of the empire frequent fighting with Tibetans, Uighurs and Arabs reversed Tang pre-eminence among bordering kingdoms. After this period, China's center of gravity would shift permanently south to the Yangtze river valley.This volume of Harvard's recent six-part history of Imperial China is authored by Mark Lewis, who also wrote the two earlier volumes on the Qin-Han and Southern-Northern dynasties. Lewis is a professor of history at Stanford University in California. The high standard of writing in the series is maintained here. His first book on the Han won a prize from the Belles-Lettres Academy of France.As with the other volumes, this is a hybrid of chronological and thematic history. After the basic narrative of the dynastic foundation, rebellion and dissolution is told, chapters on cities, countryside, family, religion, and literature follow. There is an extended look at Tang relations with the outer world. Commerce and religion on silk road routes brought conflict with Turks to the west and nomads in the north.Although written in a scholarly manner, this book may be enjoyable for a general reader. It contains enough cultural information beyond dates, places, and events to maintain interest. Compressing three centuries of civilization into three hundred pages becomes too abbreviated. I wish there were more histories of the Tang dynasty beyond the basic textbooks​. This is the best I've found, and it's very good.

Good

I would actually like to give this 4.5 stars but I dont have that option!I like this series of books--there is one on early Chinese empires and on the Ching Dynasty as well. They are quite comprehensive, covering the broad contours of the empires, in this case the Tang Empire. In addition, though these are scholarly works, they are written as much as possible with the lay reader in mind. I am an academic, so I appreciate all the paraphernalia that goes along with these books, particularly the notes and bibliographies. But, I am not a China expert, so I appreciate the presentation in a fairly clear and readable format.In this volume, I do have one small criticism. I love the chapters devoted to religion, ideas and culture. But, they do, in this particular volume on the Tang, require a certain amount of pre-existing knowledge on the part of the reader. This is especially the case in the chapters on religion dealing with Buddhism and Taoism. The author tends to introduce concepts and personalities and presumes that the reader has some background knowledge. If it gets someone to go to the notes and bibliography and read more for themselves, that is great. But it may turn some people off. He writes about culture, poetry and ideas in a similar vein.I also may have a small quibble with the author's use of evidence from the Song dynasty, the Tang successor, which he sometimes uses to illustrate events and ideas from the Tang--arguing that the origins of the Song practice is rooted in the Tang. This is a very very small criticism, however.All in all, this is a very nice, comprehensive introduction to Tang dynasty China, written for a general audience by an expert.

I enjoyed reading about the Tang Dynasty for a Chinese history elective class. The book was fairly easy to read and provided nice graphics with timelines.