Tang Dynasty ~ Was It a Golden Age in China?

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Although Buddhism probably came to China during the reign Of Qin Shi Huang Di during the Qin Dynasty (227 to 206 BCE), it became extremely popular during the T'ang Dynasty. Many Buddhist masters were existent, and huge icons including the Grand Buddha of Leshan (image above) were created.

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"As many a dynasty in Chinese history is marked by some phase of success representing the thought and life of that period, the T'ang Dynasty is commonly recognised as the golden age of poetry. Beginning with the founder of the dynasty, down to the last ruler, almost every one of the emperors was a great lover and patron of poetry, and many were poets themselves. A special tribute should be paid to the Empress Wu Zhao or the "Woman Emperor" (690-705 CE), through whose influence poetry became a requisite in examinations for degrees and an important course leading to official promotion. This made every official as well as every scholar a poet. The poems required in the examination, after long years of gradual development, followed a formula, and many regulations were established. Not only must the length of a line be limited to a certain number of the characters, usually five or seven, but also the length of a poem was limited to a certain number of lines, usually four or eight or twelve. The maintenance of rhymes, the parallelism of characters, and the balance of tones were other rules considered essential. This is called "modern" or "ruled" poetry."

... "300 poems of the T'ang Dynasty 618-906", introduced by Dr. Kiang Kang-hu

Legend of Tang Poet Statues in Image Above:

LHS (front) Li Bai (701 to 762 CE)... called the Poet Immortal, and is often regarded, along with Du Fu, as one of the two greatest poets in China's literary history. He is best known for the extravagant imagination and striking Taoist imagery in his poetry, as well as for his great love for liquor.
LHS (2nd) Du Fu (712 to 770 CE)... has been called Poet-Historian and the Poet-Sage by Chinese critics, while the range of his work has allowed him to be introduced to Western readers as "the Chinese Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Wordsworth, Béranger, Hugo or Baudelaire."
LHS (3rd) Bai Ju Yi (772 to 864 CE)... poems are not cheerful, and were themed around his responsibilities as a governor of several small provinces to sympathise with his people. He is renowned in Japan as well, where he is called Hakurakuten.
LHS (4th) Zhang Ji (~766 to 830 CE)... was a notable officer under Wei. At one time, Zhang Ji greatly helped defend Chang An along with Xiahou Yuan. According to the records of history, Zhang Ji later became the protector Yong and then later Liang. Zhang Ji earned quite a bit of merit for his administration.
LHS (5th) Yuan Zhen (779 to 831 CE)... an important Chinese writer in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. He lived in Luoyang and briefly held ministerial rank. He was member of Po Chu-i's literary circle and was a key figure in the ancient literature revival
LHS (6th) Xue Tao (~768 to 831 CE)... was well respected as a poet. A story about her childhood, perhaps apocryphal, suggests that she was able to write complex poems by the age of seven or eight. She may have gained some literary education from her father, but he died before she had come to marriageable age and she ended up being a very successful courtesan (one of the few paths for women in Tang Dynasty China in which conversation and artistic talent were encouraged). She is often considered (with Yu Xuanji) to be one of the two finest female poets of the Tang Dynasty.
LHS (7th) Wang Wei (701 to 761 CE).
LHS (8th) Li Heb (790 to 816 CE).
LHS (9th) Du Mu (803 to 852 CE).

RHS (front) Liu Zong Yuan (773 to 819 CE).
RHS (2nd) Han Yu (768 to 824 CE).
RHS (3rd) Liu Yu Xi (772 to 842 CE).
RHS (4th) Wang Zhi Huan (688 to 742 CE).
RHS (5th) Wang Bo (649 to 676 CE).
RHS (6th) Luo Bin Wang (640 to 684 CE).
RHS (7th) Gao Shi (702 to 765 CE).
RHS (8th) Cen Shen (715 to 770 CE).
RHS (9th) Cui Hao (704 to 754 CE).

jeremybarwick / CC BY 2.0

During the Tang dynasty, one of the most important cultural events took place, the foundation of the academy for dance and music. The emperors of the Tang dynasty began to look for good dancers and brought them into the royal gardens to perform. Three institutions of art were built ~ "The Imperial Academy", "T'ai-ch'ang" Temple and "The Pear Garden Academy".

The last one was built by the emperor "Hsuan Tsung", inside the royalty gardens. Thus was instituted the first professional group of dance and music in China. This group evolved into the "Peking Opera" and the participants were called 'the sons of the pear garden'. These dancers made up the 'Ten Movements Music "dance"' and created a new code of performance. This new method is now known as the "Classic Dance" and helped choreographers to create the first dance performances.