7th–9th centuries CEReputable sourceWell documented
The Tang Dynasty Golden Age
On the timeline · around 7th–9th centuries CE ·
What happened
Under China's Tang dynasty, the Silk Road reached a golden age. The Tang capital of Chang'an, at the road's eastern end, grew into perhaps the largest and most cosmopolitan city on earth — a metropolis of a million people where Persian, Sogdian, Arab, and Indian merchants, monks, and musicians mingled, and foreign faiths and fashions flourished.
Why it matters
Tang China was open to the world as never before, and its wealth and appetite for foreign goods powered the Silk Road at its height. Chang'an showed how the trade routes could turn a capital into a dazzling meeting place of cultures.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Tang Dynasty · Reputable source
Related timelines
- History of China → — The cosmopolitan golden age of Tang China