A Cosmopolitan Empire of Many Faiths

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) stands as one of history’s most remarkable periods of religious coexistence and cultural synthesis. Unlike many contemporary civilizations where religious differences often led to conflict, Tang China created an environment where Buddhism, Daoism, Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam not only coexisted but thrived together. This extraordinary religious tolerance became the foundation for unprecedented cultural and scientific achievements that would influence East Asia for centuries.

In the bustling metropolises of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), Luoyang, Liangzhou, and Shazhou (Dunhuang), Persian and Central Asian merchants established Zoroastrian temples while Nestorian Christian churches spread across “ten provinces” with “hundreds of churches” according to the famous Nestorian Stele erected in 781. Manichaeism enjoyed particular popularity during the mid-Tang period. This climate of intellectual openness fostered remarkable innovations in material culture, artistic expression, and technological development that defined Tang civilization as one of history’s most advanced societies.

The Buddhist Transformation of Chinese Civilization

Among all foreign religions, Buddhism made the most profound impact on Tang culture. The transmission of Buddhism followed two major historical movements that shaped Chinese civilization – the westward pilgrimage of Chinese monks to India and the gradual sinicization of Buddhist teachings.

The westward pilgrimage movement began in the 3rd century with Zhu Shixing during the Three Kingdoms period and continued for nearly a millennium. These intrepid monks, either traveling independently or under official sponsorship, journeyed along the treacherous Silk Roads to bring back authentic Buddhist scriptures and knowledge from the source. The movement reached its zenith during the Tang Dynasty with the legendary expeditions of Xuanzang and Yijing, whose travels became the stuff of legend and would later inspire the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.

Buddhist influence permeated all aspects of Tang society. The need to reproduce scriptures in large quantities directly contributed to the development of woodblock printing technology. Buddhist themes dominated the era’s sculpture, painting, music, and dance, while monastic institutions became centers of learning that preserved and advanced knowledge in fields ranging from medicine to astronomy.

Xuanzang: The Monk Who Bridged Civilizations

The story of Xuanzang (600-664) epitomizes the cultural exchange between China and India during the Tang golden age. Born in present-day Henan province, Xuanzang secretly departed Chang’an in 629 without official permission, beginning one of history’s most remarkable intellectual journeys.

His perilous trek took him across the deadly Lop Desert where he nearly perished, through the oasis kingdoms of Central Asia, and finally to the heart of Buddhist learning – Nalanda University in northern India. There, Xuanzang studied under the renowned master Śīlabhadra and became proficient in Sanskrit and Buddhist philosophy. His scholarly achievements grew so formidable that he was invited to preside over the great debate at Kannauj in 643, where his intellectual prowess reportedly astonished the Indian scholarly establishment.

Despite offers to remain in India, Xuanzang returned to China in 645 with 657 Buddhist texts. Under imperial patronage, he established a translation bureau that produced superior Chinese versions of these scriptures over the next two decades. His precise translations introduced new terminology into Chinese, including the standardized term “India” (Yindu) to replace earlier transliterations. Xuanzang’s travelogue, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, remains an invaluable historical source about 7th century Central Asia and India.

Yijing and the Maritime Silk Road

Following in Xuanzang’s footsteps but choosing a different route was Yijing (635-713), who traveled to India via the maritime Silk Road in 671. Departing from Guangzhou on a Persian merchant ship, Yijing spent a decade studying at Nalanda before returning with nearly 400 Buddhist texts. His works, including Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Seas and Biographies of Eminent Monks Who Sought the Dharma in the Western Regions during the Great Tang Dynasty, provide crucial insights into Indian and Southeast Asian Buddhism.

Yijing’s return coincided with Empress Wu Zetian’s rise to power, and his translations played a significant role in her Buddhist-inspired political ideology. Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, actively promoted herself as a Buddhist universal monarch (cakravartin), using religious symbolism to legitimize her unprecedented rule.

The Artistic Legacy of Tang Religious Culture

The religious diversity of Tang China found magnificent expression in its artistic achievements. Though many grand Buddhist structures were lost to time, surviving examples like the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an (originally built under Xuanzang’s supervision) testify to their former glory. At 64 meters tall, this seven-story pagoda dominated the skyline of what was then the world’s largest city, serving as both spiritual beacon and architectural marvel.

The cave temples of Dunhuang and Longmen preserve the most spectacular examples of Tang Buddhist art. The Mogao Caves at Dunhuang contain nearly 500 decorated grottoes with exquisite murals covering 45,000 square meters. These paintings not only depict Buddhist cosmology but also provide vivid snapshots of Tang daily life – from hunting and farming to music and dance performances.

Tang sculpture reached new heights of technical and artistic achievement, exemplified by the 71-meter tall Leshan Giant Buddha carved into a riverside cliff in Sichuan. The period also saw the flourishing of Buddhist painting traditions, with masters like Wu Daozi revolutionizing Chinese art through his dynamic brushwork and mastery of religious subjects.

The Scientific Revolution in a Religious Age

Paradoxically, the Tang’s religious fervor helped drive scientific and technological progress. The need to reproduce Buddhist scriptures contributed to the perfection of woodblock printing, evidenced by the Diamond Sutra of 868 – the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date. Buddhist monasteries became centers of astronomical observation and medical knowledge, while the pilgrimages of monks like Xuanzang facilitated cross-cultural exchange of scientific ideas.

Tang scholars made groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. The astronomer-monk Yi Xing organized the first known measurement of a meridian arc in 724, coming remarkably close to calculating the Earth’s circumference. Medical compilations like Sun Simiao’s Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold incorporated knowledge from Persian and Indian sources, while the state-sponsored Newly Revised Materia Medica of 659 documented 844 medicinal substances, many imported from abroad.

The Poetic Expression of a Multicultural Society

The Tang Dynasty represents the golden age of Chinese poetry, with about 50,000 surviving poems by 2,200 authors. This literary flowering was deeply connected to the era’s religious and cultural diversity. Buddhist concepts permeated the works of Wang Wei, while Daoist themes animated Li Bai’s romantic verses. The cosmopolitan atmosphere of Tang cities, filled with foreign merchants and performers, found expression in both the exuberant celebrations of urban life and the poignant reflections on its transience.

Poetic forms matured during this period, with strict tonal patterns and parallel structure defining the regulated verse (lüshi) that became a hallmark of Tang literary achievement. The works of Du Fu, with their profound humanism and social consciousness, demonstrated how Buddhist compassion and Confucian ethics could merge in artistic expression.

The Enduring Legacy of Tang Pluralism

The Tang model of religious coexistence and cultural synthesis left an indelible mark on East Asian civilization. When Buddhism declined in its Indian homeland, China became the new center of Mahayana Buddhism, which then spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The translations produced by Tang monks formed the core of the East Asian Buddhist canon, while Tang artistic styles influenced religious art across the region.

Perhaps most significantly, the Tang demonstrated how a society could draw strength from diversity rather than see it as a threat. In an age when many civilizations defined themselves through religious exclusivity, Tang China created a cosmopolitan culture where foreign and native traditions interacted creatively rather than combatively. This openness to the world while maintaining cultural confidence remains one of the Tang’s most valuable lessons for our globalized age.

The artifacts that survive – from the cave temples of Dunhuang to the poetry collections preserved in Japan – testify to a civilization that embraced the world while transforming what it received into something distinctly Chinese. In this balance between openness and identity, the Tang Dynasty achieved a cultural synthesis that continues to inspire more than a millennium later.