The History of the World Podcast, written and presented by Chris Hasler. Volume 4, The Medieval World.

Episode 66, The Song Dynasty. Oh, The Tang Dynasty of China emerged from the remnants of the Sui Dynasty in the early 7th century

and quickly rose to become one of the more affluent nations in the world with its access to the Silk Road

being a great advantage. Strong leaders oversaw cultural innovations, technological advancements and territorial expansion.

However, this also led to a large number of ethnic groups and families being integrated into the Tang sphere of influence.

Tang, China was overstretched and local warlords grew in power and rebelliousness as they saw an opportunity

to oppose the Central Imperial Authority and gain followings. This caused Tang China to fragment in the 10th century.

One of the warlords called Ju Wen decided to assist the imperial court by betraying the

rebellion of one Huang Chow and by doing so Ju Wen gained the favour of the Chinese Emperor.

Ju Wen used this favour to raise his own stock and he would use this power for his own

self-promotion. Due Wen then betrayed the

Imperial Court and systematically organized for members of the Imperial Royal Family

to be murdered so that he could ultimately seize the role of Emperor for himself.

He would rule as Emperor Tezou, and the Tang Dynasty was displaced. The new dynasty would be the Liang Dynasty

called Ho-Lang or later Liang to distinguish it from the Leang dynasty that ruled over southern China during the sixth century.

The irony was that the fall of the Tang dynasty saw China fragment and the area which Emperor Tizus, later

Leang dynasty ruled over was restricted to a much smaller area in northern China centered on the Yellow River Valley.

The rest of China and particularly the South fragmented into small states so we

return to the post Han and pre-Sway days of a disunified China.

The oncoming period was not a good period for China as no centralization meant that the infrastructure of

unified China was somewhat abandoned for example flood defenses were not

maintained leading to agricultural difficulties.

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