Day of Empire_ How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--And Why They Fall - Amy Chua [43]
Taizong's egalitarian rhetoric should not, of course, be taken entirely at face value. It was probably more propaganda than a true description of policy, intended more for the Turks than for the Chinese. Still, it is important to keep in mind that Taizong's pronouncements ran directly counter to imperial precedent and the Chinese worldview at the time (and, arguably, the Chinese world-view even today).
By combining Turkic and Chinese forces, Taizong extended Tang control throughout central Asia and across the Pamir Mountains into modern-day Afghanistan. Samarkand, Bukhara, and Tashkent all became Chinese administrative districts. Tibet and Turkic tribes as far west as the Caspian Sea submitted to Chinese suzerainty. Without the nomadic forces behind him, these conquests would not have been possible. Taizong's successors further extended Tang rule, engulfing Manchuria, most of the Korean peninsula, central Vietnam, and parts of present-day Iran. During Taizong's reign, no other empire in the world came close to the Tang in size, population, or military power.
From the start of his reign, Taizong recognized the potential benefits of trade. Early on, while his empire was still recovering from extended warfare, Taizong emptied the coffers of the state to renovate the Silk Road. Simultaneously, he worked to wrest control of the western regions and oasis states from the Western Turks, completing his conquest of that empire in 658. With the Silk Road made safer than ever by greater Tang control and protection, foreigners and their goods poured into Changan, the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, from central and south Asia. Foreign goods and fashions flowed to the rest of China from there. Embassies came from as far west as the Byzantine and Sassanid Persian empires.
Tang China eventually had official contacts with more than three hundred countries and regions. Diplomacy and commerce in-termeshed, often indistinguishable: Much exchange of goods resulted from the tribute system, and foreign missionaries and merchants often traveled in single convoys. A complex bureaucracy worked to manage every aspect of foreign relations: corresponding with foreign envoys; arranging emissaries’ travel and accommodations within China; bestowing Chinese titles on foreign kings; registering tribute goods and gifts to the emperor; employing translators; compiling information on foreign customs, geography, and products. All Chinese foreign officials, bureaucrats, and even Chinese princesses married to foreign rulers were expected to report back with information about foreign states.
The massive increase in foreign interaction corresponded with a broad love of foreign things: “The Chinese taste for the exotic permeated every social class and every part of daily life.” Chinese in Changan and Luoyang wore Turkish and Persian clothing, men and women both favoring barbarian hats, especially when going riding. The fashionability of Turkish things even led some Chinese in the bustle of the capital to live in tents. South Asian forests were denuded for exotic timbers to go into Chinese gaming boards, furniture, decorative and religious carvings, mansions and palaces, temples and monasteries. Chinese cherished foreign drugs, foods, and spices for their medicinal and magical properties. Powerful Indian aromatics were highly coveted. Court ladies were so heavily scented that a procession could reportedly be detected several miles away.
Foreign animals delighted the ruling classes and the common people alike. Lions, rhinoceroses, and elephants were