Perspective: Journey Through Tang Dynasty Art

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In the 1960s, archaeologists working in China made an extraordinary discovery. They unsealed the twelve-hundred-year-old tomb of a princess. Its walls were covered in magnificent murals - an unprecedented glimpse into life during the Tang dynasty.
This documentary tells the fascinating story of the great Empire that made those murals, of the Silk Road that connected it to the world, and of the rebellions and disasters that brought the dynasty crashing down.
Perspective is KZbin's home for the arts. Come here to get your fill of great music, theatre, art and much, much more!
From Raiders of the Lost Art
Content licensed from to Little Dot Studios.
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[@alexkalish8288]

The Tang dynasty was not just a powerful dynasty, it was one of the great flowerings of fine art in the history of the world. The art, ceramics and poetry of this period are one of the great artistic periods in the history of mankind. This is a wonderful find and treasure.

[@Eudaimonia88]

Well, the documentary describes just what you are saying. You should watch it! 😉

[@JunoDiovonaDemihof]

@@Eudaimonia88 well said!

[@MonsterMacLLC]

It would be nice to see a fully restored version of the mural next to the original.

[@joyceeleanor2]

Thank you for showing and explaining this history of the World.

[@suziecreamcheese211]

I agree.

[@Korwinexile]

Why does a painting of a Qing dynasty emperor appear at 16:47 when the talk is about Gaozong of Tang?

[@syncmaster915n]

There is a painting of a Song Dynasty empress there too at 20:04.

[@andytlwang]

It's called quiet 'dynasty shuffling'.

[@funwithFred]

Beautiful ceramics and paintings. The craftsmanship superb.

[@andytlwang]

Great piece. The one point I must note to the narration is that Xi'an (Western Peace) is the modern name for the city. So in the context of describing the ancient history, I think Chang'an (Perpetual Peace) would be more appropriate. It's like describing Silk Road and 'Iranian' traders, weird... it should be Persian traders.

[@Sam-cz2bz]

Stunning

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

Thank you! I too find the use of modern terminology for ancient history makes my teeth hurt!

[@phineasbluster2872]

Absolutely agree. Would probably have cost nothing to show the text to a REAL historian, so as not to make such stupid errors. Tang capital was CHANG'AN, not Xian, which grew up around it. (And main narrator also mangles pronunciations.) Basically, a lot of this vid focuses on socio-ec-pol history spanning about 300-800 ad and it is childishly generalized and flattened by false causality and essentialisms.essential isms. Laughingly, they put up a Qiing-era royal portrait when introducing Wu Zetian!!!

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

So exquisite…I’m stunned by its beauty.

[@HANCHANs]

Wonderfully interesting! Thanks for the upload!

[@c10_c10]

Fantastic documentary! I learned a lot from this.

[@euggiemonad2523]

In the history of ideas, it is originality and authenticity that matters. When the idea flowered does not matter. The Tang period is such a blossom.

[@JosedeJezeus]

Isn't it magic when the same idea blossoms in different places, at different times?

[@marylindagail]

I love the authenticity of it. More so for Wu, like Elizabeth 1, having to fight at that level against men. I wish the guys would figure out that a lot of problems can be solved if women and men work together. Too bad men have to chest thump, kill and make war just for profit and power. Most didn't really care about their subjects and only saw them as commodities or work force for free. It's just a thought as I get older and see history repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, old is new.

[@JosedeJezeus]

@@marylindagail the problem with human kind is that our families are structured incorrectly. Human beings evolved to live in matriarchal tribes, not marriages. Humanity will continue our pattern of dysfunction until we restore family to it's proper form. The bond that defines family is the bond between mother and child, not husband and wife.

[@Jake-dh9qk]

@@JosedeJezeus Every society had their own forms of family structure before the aggregation of human society. Who's to say which structure is the "correct" one? If we are talking about restoring the "old ways" as means to return humanity back to our "proper" structure, then we might as well all move back to Africa because the climates, food, terrain and lifestyle there are the true proper old ways of humanity. Yet we don't do that because humans can thrive and survive in any alterations. It doesn't matter if the old matriarchal tribes were the first family structures or not, because humans can survive regardless.

[@JosedeJezeus]

@@Jake-dh9qk Humans evolved to live in tribes not marriages. We lived in tribes for hundreds of thousands of years before marriage was invented! Humans used to live in matriarchal tribes, before we learned that life came from a seed (semen). Matriarchy does not mean that women rule men, it simply means that a newborn child belongs to the mother’s tribe, not the father’s tribe. Marriage creates shallow, and broken families, because children are expected to leave the family and start a family of their own, and this doesn’t create unity like tribes do. Marriage was invented when men understood their role in procreation, when men believed children were 100% product of their semen.. (before we learned about women’s ovaries and eggs.) Marriage is an ancient tradition, built upon outdated knowledge. Can a child belong to two tribes? The mother's and the father’s?? .. no. A person cannot be in two places at one time. Family is supposed to stick together 100% of the time, not 50% of the time! You act like there are many ways to structure family…. But there isn’t! We either live in tribes, or marriages. One works better than the other! One is natural, the other isn’t!

[@Ch215t1anxyz]

Excellent information! Thanks.

[@evapita7246]

Very informative And excellent Photography

[@mannyespinola9228]

Thank you for this video

[@user-uf2df6zf5w]

Please, more documentaries on pre 19th century east asia.

[@supremereader7614]

Thanks!

[@a.m.9474]

I felt I lived this documentary, in the way it was told.. you were brought right in to that world and lived it as it was told

[@toocutepuppies6535]

Wonder if a tomb painter ever had to sneak back into the tomb because they forgot to paint the food?

[@ingenuity168]

🤣😂

[@homesteadnewbie1905]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@janvaneyke7026]

Great video.

[@joenroute9646]

Great !

[@christofat2704]

Interesting!

[@SandyRiverBlue]

They glanced over the fact that a primary mover for the Tang collapse was that when the rebellious army reached the capital they killed anyone with education and an administrative position. As much as we may despise them sometimes, a country will collapse without the public servants needed to run it. It is not a job that can be done by just anyone.

[@brainwashington1332]

The Tang royals were not 'Turkic-speaking' aristocrats, they were ethnic Han aristocrats (hence their surname was Li) who were sent to govern the far flung reaches of the empire in the north west where they intermarried local Turkic-speaking nobles. It is possible that they were multilingual, but there is no evidence of that. All the official records from the Tang dynasty were in the Han Chinese script. The founder of the Tang dynasty was Li Yuan, whose grandmother was of Turkic descent.

[@lunassr7212]

The Tang name for sure,for know they call them self is Da-Tang or era Tang exist,the name is just like dictionary era in they lecture

[@brainwashington1332]

@@lunassr7212 idk how's ur comment relevant to mine besides being factually incorrect

[@lunassr7212]

China have many Dynasti,the China civilazation not change,call Tang Chao in England,China call just China,they call Da mean greater just to mark the time periode from Chang-An/Xi-An this time.if Turkey have conected with China it mean Turkey have adopted Kun lun pay blackhand ordo in China black Budha to Imortal live call Yi Bayiyi (Neflix movie)

[@brainwashington1332]

@@lunassr7212 still no relevance to what i said even if i know what u are trying to say, which is there is no evidence that Tang royals were Turkic speaking. END

[@lunassr7212]

True they Turkey are not have conected or adopted with China..because the Vizir/twin Iblis enemy Mehmet 4,is not from China or Black Budha ordo.sorryi justsee from we know from realistic the people trust from the watching.Sasanid Empire in 731 be under Tang Dynasti,they same target have Konstantinopel city.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

It is is an exquisite, extraordinarily beautiful portrayal of the highest of the elite. It is not a portrayal of the life of the majority. From an historical understanding this is very important.

[@guttormurthorfinnsson8758]

exelant tv. thanks.

[@gobbagu]

Great empires always seem to have the most infrastructure to share

[@yabax]

the Tang capital is not Xi An it's Chang An, Xi An is the modern city name. around 16:45 thats a portrait of emperor QianLong of qing dynasty, their a thousand year apart

[@toddaulner5393]

Wondering why a bunch of the faces on the wall art are destroyed.

[@suziecreamcheese211]

Amazing culture.

[@Nicolas-uu3jr]

Beautiful China :]

[@yadig.]

where did you get some of the soundtrack from?

[@txexmxiii9561]

🔥💥🔥

[@jessicarinaldi7742]

Doucereuse route de la soie ça craint

[@d.l.l.6578]

Also consider the fierce competition in the harem for the Emperor’s favor.

[@skellingtonmeteoryballoon]

❤️

[@BWong1234]

Accusing Wu Zetian as being cruel and rudeless smacks of shear jealousy of a certain group. Wu had demonstrated her capability as great administrator and leader than many subsequent male leaders. She was dissiplined and strict. Her interest to learn and openness foreign to influences enabled Tang to become.THE Golden Period of China.

[@koksalceylan9032]

The same ones who are jelious of The Turks accomplishments in History.

[@brainwashington1332]

that is revisionist history, she literally kill her own sons to sit on the throne. the golden age of the Tang was during the rule of Tang Taizong

[@brainwashington1332]

@Oh Wow she usurped the throne from her sons, not her husband

[@HOTPLATEGAMING]

Fook out of here with this comment

[@ihatenfts501]

@Oh Wow Most dynasties are formed because of people “stealing” the thrones of past emperors. Women were low ranking, so that was the only way Wu Zhetian could’ve gained power, using this as a reason to hate her is not really the smartest thing to do

[@kaiokendo]

3:09 oí o de kewt mae!!!

[@fleetwoodray]

At 27:12, that's Santa Claus!

[@whilmarkmuca9936]

imagine the refinery of these artworks from old times. very formal and intricate. how did they discover these kind of art techniques.

[@joshualayfield768]

more like how did we forget them.

[@verumverba5711]

Why is the printing of a Qing emperor appears at 16:45? The Manchu dynasty is a thousand year after the Tang Dynasty… So much for a documentary that’s drowned in reality by a flawed image.

[@insidethewired]

applause

[@gianfrancoardillo1690]

Traduzione in italiano, grazie

[@johnstrange2214]

Gotta have respect for your elders.

[@royalbloodedledgend]

Unless they decide to unleash COVID & lie about it

[@willagnes8376]

Oh fuck, you guys are still around?

[@ihatenfts501]

16:48 thats CLEARLY an emperor of the Qing dynasty, as the robes and the hat is distinctly worn by manchurian-chinese officials

[@alanpeachey4085]

History is what we Are 🫵Preserving And restoring 😩Worth More Than A failing DAM ☮️🙏

[@danyelnicholas]

Wait a minute, did he say « they started to dress up and imitate European style » (30:30)? In the 8th century CE? really? They imitated Carolingian style (whatever that should be) in Tang China? That is an incredible statement. Who is that gentleman? I know they had Central Asian orchestras at the Tang court, but did they also have a lost Schuhplattler ensemble to be excavated next?

[@Sam-cz2bz]

They were a thousand years ahead of the west.

[@rencechannel2240]

唐朝萬歲!!!

[@honeysucklecat]

And here I thought Tang was for astronauts . Some of you will get this joke, but I bet most will not. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

[@simleoileoi4530]

Wrong pix of Gaozong - its from the Qing Dynasty

[@scottleigh6117]

The Hittites/Anatolians/Syrians made lil clay horse and riders.

[@richardwestwood8212]

The tombs were plundered except for the frescos and damn camels.

[@annwilliams6438]

Would have liked to have seen waaaay more of the murals rather than the American academic….

[@suziecreamcheese211]

Yes a lot of videos have way too much face time.

[@FirstnameLastname-lh2fi]

19:57 that;s a Ming dynasty empress.......

[@brandonlabbe3577]

I'm halfway through and I think they stopped talking about the titular subject after 5 minutes. 5 minutes of a 43 minute video. I'm gonna call that clickbait.

[@goojxue1971]

Many guys here are making some logic errors. You can't say European are american or latino because they are patrially the ancestors of american people today.

[@hojoinhisarcher]

I am 9 minutes in and have no dates......?

[@43painter]

Great documentary. The interrupting and extremely silly ads are fundamentally hyper annoying. Almost as if these ads are màde to annóy and irritate. At least now I knów what NOT to buy. ( sincere apologies for this úrge to ventilate my grudge here ). ps: I hate algorythms ; they make users stúpid. And all in the name of 'user friendlyness enhancing' ps 2: Great docu. Stay save and beware of Covid-19 & Algorythms.

[@user-ve4wx3cz8p]

唐朝統治者，從來沒說過自己不是漢人

[@datamagic7214]

严格意义上只是有一部分混血，和汉化鲜卑贵族联姻

[@jamesanonymous2343]

>>>>>>I'LL TAKE MINE WITH 2 EGG ROLLS, & SOME SWEET/SOUR SAUCE !!! HHMMM !

[@predragjovanovic8464]

+

[@jamiebizness1]

Come on there has to be other versions of art other than these theres so many docs with the same art .

[@carolstevens1722]

I love this but it’s too bad that the KZbin subtitles are so shoddy. I am hearing impaired and , perhaps mistakenly, rely on subtitled to be accurate & well researched enough to at least have the correct spellings of proper names in an historical presentation.

[@annwilliams6438]

Hi. The KZbin captions you are seeing are based on rough translation of the SOUNDS (unless the person uploading the video has also uploaded a script - which is NOT common as it takes a lot of extra work to write down a script for a documentary and the YT uploader is very seldom the same as the team MAKING the documentary). An AI programme is NOT ever going to be able get Proper Names in another language spelled correctly from the audio. Please realise that the content providers on YT are almost always NOT paid professionals at a tv station!

[@carolstevens1722]

@@annwilliams6438 Thank you for the information. I am grateful that subtitles are provided!

[@annwilliams6438]

@@carolstevens1722 I think YT generally does a great job with English subtitles but it obviously has its limitations. I know they are doing it now with a number of other languages although I have no idea which ones. I have seen many hearing impaired people make similar comments though… I don’t take it as a complaint but rather as an indication that many content providers on KZbin are producing materials that could easily be used on television and in some cases is waaaay better than what is found on free-to-view tv stations. And a surprising number of the great content producers are still doing it in ‘studios’ set up in their living rooms / basements etc.

[@annwilliams6438]

@@carolstevens1722 Ooo, and ps, if you like history stuff, look for Dr Kat and her channel Reading the Past. She has a doctorate in British history despite being dyslexic. So while she does not write and upload scripts, she has had to be very logical and precise in her speaking. She also has a lovely sense of humour and is an excellent researcher with a prodigious memory. The result is always interesting videos that are presented in proper English at a good pace - allowing for really good subtitles. I think you might enjoy. :)

[@carolstevens1722]

@@annwilliams6438 Thanks for the recommendation!

[@xnl2396]

Rosamgela C Passport

[@cowholy3031]

Can't imagine so many mistakes in this video.

[@chiangchengkooi9791]

Lot if people in south Chinese, refer them self as Tang people rather then the Han.

[@rencechannel2240]

唐人街

[@chintu8073]

Tang Dynasty gives very foreign and cosmopolitan vibes unlike the Song and the Ming which undoubtedly were great explores and traders but it’s very different from both Han and Tang. And Yuan and Qing both even tho non-Han the Chinese art, tradition and ideas flourished.

[@funwithFred]

The Tang were from northwestern China and Turkic speakers?

[@veronicavv7188]

No, they may have some Turkic or Xianbei blood, but they identified as Chinese and claimed they are descendants of Lao Tzu

[@user-pp7lx1bb4s]

@@veronicavv7188 Even the Qing claimed to be Chinese

[@ysa4473]

당태종 이세민이 돌궐 "Göktürk이라고 함. 한국인(South Koreans) 이 돌궐이니 이세민은 한국인 조상. 오스만제국이 대한제국임이 1903년 미국 신문 St Paul Global지에 나온다. 기원이 잘 알려지지 않은 오스만제국이기 때문에 오스만제국이 대한제국이라는 이 실체가 이 신문기사보다 더 직설적으로 표현된 사료는 없으리라 본다.

[@wettelsolide5556]

singafaka imali

[@ManImJustSomeDude]

Have they discovered anything from the Poon Tang Dynasty?

[@Shiro_Amada]

4:00 lol When you think your occupation by an invading force means you have a larger empire than Rome and not your occupiers.

[@zhugeliang8447]

An invading force that spoke chinese, practiced chinese rites, and descended from classical chinese nobility? What exactly were they invading?

[@Shiro_Amada]

@@zhugeliang8447 lol you trying to claim the Mongol Empire whats next Pursia, the Indus River Valley? You just going to ignore the whole reason the Great Wall of China was even built. Thats going to cost you some social credit. Lol You CCP shills wouldn't be so obiouse if you didnt copy past the propaganda.

[@curtiswong7280]

The Li family, like a lot of the nobility during that time period, had infusions of Turkic and Xianbei blood. However, they were easily considered a deeply entrenched strain of Han nobility and considered themselves Chinese. The Qin and the Chu were not viewed as "Chinese" by the people of the Central Plains, either, but as long as they lay claim to themselves being Chinese(and have the strength to back that up) they are considered Chinese and not an occupying force.

[@yuliusjrt9917]

@@Shiro_Amada cry about it weeaboo

[@6Euphoria6]

​@@curtiswong7280 they are 100% Han Chinese bro, Tang being culturally diverse and open doesnt equal mix blood royalty

[@eriksonyw]

Great video except one thing, Tang ruler was not Turkic!!!! The Li family was Han!!! Some family members had mixed Turkic blood, but that's about all. With all due respect for that Brit historian who had deep interest in Chinese history, he needs to be discredited and FIRED for bending historical fact!! Stop teaching western college kids that the Tang Dynasty was ruled by Turkic people! It wasn't!!!!

[@6principlesforcartography61]

They were mixed with Xianbei, not Turks. Xianbei had established Northern Wei Dynasty in north China way before Turks rise as an empire.

[@eriksonyw]

@@6principlesforcartography61 Well, Sui Dynasty's royal family had already married some Eastern Turk's princesses or female royal relatives according to history, so the Li family probably did it as well since they were one of the most prominent family of Generals for Sui. The Li family then married with some Xianbei princesses during their ruling in Tang Dynasty and took the Xianbei state as a protectorate. Regardless, they were and should be considered as a Han family. Just because Queen Elizabeth and the Romanovs are related, we can't say that Russia was ruled by the Brits.

[@albertomanuelcheung7103]

Listen very carefully the scholar's remark about the Tangs rulers. He said... "They were Turkic speaking"... The British Art historian is not in any moment implying the rulers were Turkic. This was very common practice to speak a different language as the Eastern Romans spoke Greek instead of Latin when they moved their empire from Italy and founded Constantinople in Byzantium, modern Istanbul.

[@hmdnlenovoessential4811]

there is no stone masonry in the empire except the great wall..what a poor country..

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

I LOVE TANG! 🧡🍊🚀 I wish the narrator wasn't so drunk when they recorded him... Well, maybe he wasn't wearing his teeth. Maybe he didn't go to school long enough. Maybe he needed some oxygen?

[@Hackerinsidemyphone_caution]

Apne chutiye communist channels..lo aur nikal lo... ROFL

[@nedimgery-buyukyuksel513]

This is confusing as I thought Tang was invented in 1957 in the US. The more you know!

[@suziecreamcheese211]

I was invented in 1957 in the US. LOL.

[@isabelalina]

"Lost grandeur"??? The grandeur is there alright. But I happen to know whose "grandeur" is now lost forever :D :D And they just can't stand it...

[@suziecreamcheese211]

Who?

[@simplesketch_Yankun]

Whoever made this video does not have any clue of Chinese histories. Completely wrong imagery references and naive definition of some historical moments. Not recommended.

[@leogogo7041]

Lee is turkic? Jesus Christ. Can you do some research....

[@lombohihelingeg1775]

The mere underpants consistently man because clave legally scratch to a superb december. different, glamorous soup

[@thehairywoodsman5644]

I worship the first empress of this clan ....POON !

[@xuyahfish]

One sided view of Wuzetian 武则天, don't think her tactics were much different from other rulers, if they had been slandered by someone, they'd have done the same. But bc she's a woman it's not okay? And her period of rule was one of the richest, most culturally advanced. After her they defamed her (& broke women's influence in general) and the dynasty had a slow decline. Also some of these "children" and "grandchildren" were pebly Not actually biologically related. Other emperors have killed up to several generations of a family ... As for her killing her own baby & claiming it was the empress, imagine ppl stayed rumors that you were THAT ruthless & it made others more scared of you, if you're a woman taking power, might you not encourage or at least allow such rumors to continue?

[@remi_gio]

If the Empress were a man they wouldn’t talk so negatively about her. Ah….Go figure🙄

[@veronicavv7188]

Keep your diversity stuff to yourselves! Li clan might be able to speak Turkic, but don't insinuate that Turkic is their first language or they are Turkic people. Tang is the most open period in the ancient Chinese history, but any suggestion that the openness is due to Tang royalties' minority background is absolute nonsense.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

The Tangs were not han ethnic they were a northern asian ethnic group. The Tang tomb murals show them to look like Ainus people from Hokaido. Don' t believe any Han chinese telling you otherwise. The reason Han Chinese have completely stopped excavating Tang dynasty tombs is that they realized the Han were not the ruling class in ancient China they were the servants. They don't want that to become known more, but it is already obvious from what was already found. Their physical attributes say so.

[@Blue_Azure101]

Lol what a load of bs

[@Haotheman]

lol.

[@goognamgoognw6637]

50 cent trolls quick to deny.

[@yuliusjrt9917]

Clearly you are correct, also the Romans weren’t Latins, they were Africans from the Congo

[@goognamgoognw6637]

@@yuliusjrt9917 clearly you are mad.

[@r2dxhate]

I'm shocked that anything "Made in China" could last that long.

[@r2dxhate]

@@zhongjiang7083 China is the name of the country, ya dip.

[@eng.luizgustavo8153]

So, I guess, the Tang dynasty was probably of the Uyghur ethnicity. How time can change things and render former emperors oppressed peoples in their own land.

[@veronicalogotheti5416]

Those are turkish Tang is han

[@chintu8073]

Stop with this western BS.

[@thefalconflame]

Wut?… early tang emperors were Han and Turkic mix, with Buddhism belief. How you compare them with Muslim Uyghur is beyond me. Also you omitted their Han parts, just like the americans omitted the white origins of Obama.

[@syncmaster915n]

Nice attempt at rewriting history! If truth be told, Uyghurs, or proto Uyghurs, were former ally of Tang Dynasty in defeating the Turkic Khaganate of the north, who once subjected the Uyghurs to oppressive rule. In later centuries, the Uyghurs split into 2 branches, one migrated to middle Gansu area of China while the other migrated westward to present day Ili River valley which spans the border between China and Kazakhstan, as well as the various oases south of the Tianshan Mountains. Here the Uyghurs adopted the Muslim faith and the Turkic language and intermarried with the local people, becoming the present day Uyghurs. Uyghurs and Turks were former enemies at the very beginning.

[@syncmaster915n]

@@thefalconflame The founding father of Tang Dynasty was a descendant of a Han Chinese general (Li) and a Xianbei noble lady (Dugu). Xianbei (the Tobas, Murongs, Dugus, etc.) predated the coming of age of the Turkic Khaganate by at least a century; so it's hard to say whether Xianbei was Turkic or not. Most historians say they were proto-Mongolic.

[@bernardoramos7334]

Yi chen ..why you speak with a British accent??