Let's start with Wu Ze Tian (武则天)! How does her contemporary viewed her? Modern historians and public viewed her more positively, but I wonder how people during the Second Zhou period viewed her rule.

You mentioned persecutions of Zoroastrians and Nestorians; could you talk a little bit about these religions in Tang China? Did Zoroastrian and Nestorian texts circulate in Chinese translations and redactions or only in Pahlavi, Syriac, or Sogdian? What material evidence exists concerning the presence of these religions. Last, could you talk about the persecution of these religions in comparison to Buddhism?

I am not very versed or well read on China and its history. This may not be a question that your expertise may cover, but I'll ask anyway in hopes of an answer from someone :) China, to my knowledge, has been one of the most populated regions on Earth for quite some time, however you don't hear to much of the Chinese historically attempting to colonize areas around them. My question is was there some point in China's history where colonization was a priority? And if so, where did China try to send colonists and extablish colonies? Was there a particular reason they were not successful or just not really talked about much if they did succeed?

My question requires a bit of build up, so I hope you'll forgive that. This question is a long shot, but I'm curious so why the heck not.

The Qieyun 切韻 and Guangyun 廣韻 rhyming dictionaries have been a staple in Chinese linguistics, and much of Chinese historical dialectology up until somewhat recently has been very reliant on these (and similar). Modern scholars don't deal with them too much anymore, since it's now somewhat well know that they don't reflect real language as used in the period, but still it's quite common that readings of characters derived from these tables (and labeled 唐音) will be cited (often erroneously) as a proto-form of many modern dialects.

Anyway I was just wondering if you ever encountered these sorts of dictionaries in your studies, showing them in a historical light. I deal with them every day, but often entirely without thought of the historical circumstances since it's only relevant to my own work as a potential starting point for more contemporary analyses.

Or really I'd be happy to hear about anything you'd encountered about the language, even if it's just an anecdotal "well isn't that neat!" kind of thing. Neat stuff is neat.

What was the status of upper-class and lower-class women during the Tang Dynasty? Compared with other periods, did women have comparatively more freedom (or power, I guess? I'm trying to not sound anachronistic) or less?

In addition, what was the differences between the land reforms during the Tang Dynasty period and the land reform during the 1950s (if this is a question that you can answer)?

I apologize in advance if my questions are horrendous.

What did Tang China know about Fu-lin, otherwise known as the Byzantine Empire?

The Tang Dynasty is largely regarded as a prosperous and artistically productive time (to the extent that some Chinese still refer to themselves as "Tang Ren"). What are the overlooked massacres/atrocities/oppressions of that time?

Can you talk a little about China's economic expansion under Tang, especially when it comes to international trade?

1. Could you discuss a little bit on the rise of Buddhism and why Confucianism was dying out during the Tang period? Why did Confucianism seem to die out many times during the older dynastic periods (e.g. such as with the revitalization attempts from Han Yu, Zhu Xi,and Wang Yang Ming)?
2. How were theories such as the cosmic resonance theory and cosmology accepted in Tang China? What ways, strategies, or methods of explaining these theories made it so accepted?
3. Can you talk a little about Du Fu? What inspired his poetry and what was his life like?

Can you comment at all on how widespread literacy was? Was it common in most villages, or just among administrators?

The imperial examination 科舉 was very common in the Tang Dynasty, correct? Could you understand the imperial examination the same way a Common Core or SAT test would be understood today, or is it much more important than that?

The Tangs rather famously supported Buddhism earlier before Emperor Wuzong shut down thousands of monasteries in 845 (the third of the Four Buddhist Persecutions).

• 1. Why did he do that?
• 2. How important was Buddhism in non-elite circles before (and after) this? I know in Japan it took centuries for Buddhism to filter down from the court to the peasants.
• 3. Wuzong apparently also persecuted other non-Taoist religious groups (Zoroastrians, Nestorian Christians, and maybe Manicheans and Muslims). Was this moment their death blow? Did they similarly rely on court patronage, or did they have more of a peasant or merchant base? How much support did they even have at this time? Why was Buddhism able to recover in a way that these others were not?

But, like /u/keyilan has said, "Or really I'd be happy to hear about anything you'd encountered about the language religion, even if it's just an anecdotal 'well isn't that neat!' kind of thing. Neat stuff is neat."

How did the politics of Tang Dynasty differ from other dynasties? How about administration-wise and so forth. I am trying to get a clear picture of the Chinese bureaucracy and governance and I have been failing a bit in that regards, if you have any books to recommend on this subject, please do so.

I would like to know more about the general relations between Persia and China. I've read that during this period that the Tang was influenced by Persian dancers and therefore had clothes that showed more breasts than previously. Were there any conflicts, assistance between the 2 against the nomadic tribes/Arabs and or significant exchanges?

The son of the last King of the Sasanian Empire also fled to China. Do you have any more information about him and how he and his descendants were treated by the Tang Court?

What was it like for the common folk during the Tang dynasty? Did anything change from the preceeding Sui dynasty?

Hi there. Can you tell me some interactions between this dynasty and the "barbarians" to the north? (bar-bar!) What happened in this area during this period to contribute to the great Chinese population that we see today?

I've noticed that empresses of the Han dynasty and also the Tang dynasty, up to Yang Gui Fei often have a lot written about them in Wikipedia - lots of personal details, and anecdotes about their lives.

However for later dynasties, like the Song and Yuan, and also the Qing, the information is little and sketchy.

This is surprising, considering that Han and Tang are much earlier, so it would be logical that the biographical info about their empresses should be sparser, not the other way around.

But because I can only see Wikipedia, I have no idea why that is. Is it just that whoever edits Wikipedia has not bothered to put up more details about later empresses?

Or is it that the actual primary sources for empresses are sparser for later dynasties? If so, is that because they play lesser roles in the court, or was it some ideological decision not to write too much about them?

And since the info gets sparser around the Tang dynasty, did something happen at that time that the role of women at court lessened somehow?

Any good chengyu come from this period?

How did they perceive the Battle of Talas? From Western and Middle Eastern perspectives, that was a crucial battle (between the Tang and the Abbasid Caliphate) to which paper making spread to the West and Tang expansion stopped. However, the Tang seem to think of it as only a border skirmish. I'm really curious if normal citizens even knew about this battle.

Have you read the Book of Tang? Is there an English translation, or is it only in Chinese?

During this time in Europe, most of Europe experienced a decentralization and limited re centralization. Did anything similar happen in China during this time or was China relatively successful at keeping everything together?

Another question: how well does Du Fu (杜甫) and Li Bai (李白) actually know each others, given both are contemporary to each other? How they view the An Lushan rebellion, which also happened during their lifetime?

To what extent can the Tang dynasty be characterized as "feudal"?

What policies did the state adopt to combat the concentration of wealth and labour in the monasteries?

In the simplest way, could you help explain how did the late Tang dynasty disintegrated into multiple opposing states/kingdoms?

I'm really curious, what calender was China using in this time period?

I have been told that "BBW" were in vogue during the Tang dynasty, quite opposite the current stereotype of Chinese women.

Any info/opinions on that?

Why is the Tang period considered a Chinese golden age? To what extent did the Tang interact with the Abbasid Caliphate in trade and diplomacy? How did the Tang deal with negative popular attitudes towards conscription sown by the Sui emperors during the construction of the Great Canal?

Where can I still find Tang in a glass?

So the basic recieved wisdom I heard was that Tang writers crapped all over the Sui, specifically for being tyrannical and not properly Confucian and what not. This is infuriatingly vague to me, I'd like something more specific however. An elevator speech and a choice quote or two would perfect if you've got that.

1)What was the reason for the An Lushan Rebellion?

2. How much of a breakdown in order was there as a result of the rebellion? I know there is the widely discredited census. But how much did it hurt the Tang Dynasty economically and military and in terms of casualties.

3. How much was Xuanzong personally to blame?

Why were so many of China's most significant inventions (gunpowder weapons, the compass, and true paper money in the 11th century) invented in the Song dynasty rather than the Tang dynasty? The Song dynasty was not militarily as powerful as the Tang dynasty. They lost northern China to the Jin and did not expand into Central Asia like the Tang did. So what explains the technological and economic success of the Song dynasty?

If you're still answering questions, did Empress Wu really have the previous Empress thrown into a wine barrel with her hands cut off?

I've seen that story in Wikipedia and other places, but I've also read that they were just ordered to commit suicide.

Which version is correct?