Tang Dynasty (China)
(618 to 908)
What happened?
China was reunited under the Sui Dynasty. The Li family seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. Li Yuan, Duke of Tang, founded the Tang Dynasty and began a golden age for China. The Tang rulers built China into an expansive and global empire. The first emperors extended Chinese power to Korea and Central Asia.
Economic development was stimulated by the construction of the Grand Canal between the south and the important north, the construction of two capitals and domestic and foreign trade. Traders, scholars, and other people traveled to the capital Chang'an (Xi’an, 2022) via the Silk Road. All these things enriched Chinese culture with new forms of music, dance, religion, and literature. It is traditionally considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry, from such as Li Bai and Du Fu. Innovations during the Tang Dynasty include the development of woodblock printing.
To attract scholar-officials, the dynasty revived the examination system. The government, taxes and justice system were restructured. During 690 and 705, the dynasty was interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne. After the defeat at the Battle of the Talas (751), China lost control of Central Asia. The An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) almost brought the dynasty down. When the rebellion was subdued, central authority was severely weakened. Regional military governors ruled independently. The peasant revolt between 875 and 884 resulted in mass population loss and displacement, widespread poverty and marked the end of the Tang emperors' authority. The warlord Zhu Wen ended the Tang Dynasty in 907 and began the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
Kai Yuan Tong Bao
± 731
The Kai Yuan Tong Bao has been minted since 621. This coin was the first edition of the Tang dynasty (618-907) as cash. The name means "circulating treasure of the inauguration of a new age". Like many other Chinese coins, the value was determined by weight. The calligraphy and inscription of this coin inspired later Central Asian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Ryukyuan coins and became the standard until the last cash coin to use the inscription until the early 1940s. Under the Sui and Tang Dynasties, mother coins reached their final form. Mother coins were produced in molds engraved by ancestor coins. During the same period, the “lost wax method” casting technique was used to cast Kai Yuan Tong Bao money coins. These were cheap to manufacture and were made in enormous quantities.
The older Wu Zhu coins of the Sui Dynasty remained the default currency. In 621, Emperor Gaozu ordered that the Kai Yuan Tong Bao coin be cast with a standard weight of 1/10 Liang (= 50 gr.). The Chinese people themselves had trouble reading the inscription according to the standard order of top-bottom-right-left. Some people read it in the wrong order assuming that the inscription was read clockwise and thus took on new meaning. Another significant difference with the inscription was that it was not written in seal script, but with more simple calligraphic clerical script.
The beating was centrally controlled. Private casting was punishable by death. By 660, the deterioration of the coins due to counterfeiting had become a problem. Forgeries were suppressed in 718 as the precepts were reaffirmed. The first commissioner with overall responsibility for casting was appointed in 737. In the late 740s, craftsmen were employed for casting, rather than conscript farmers. To prevent the hoarding of coins, the holding of cash was restricted in 817. Coins were produced all over China for two centuries, leaving many variants in circulation.