Four occupationsThe four occupations (), or "four categories of the people" (), was an occupation classification used in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou dynasty and is considered a central part of the fengjian social structure (c. 1046–256 BC). These were the shi (gentry scholars), the nong (peasant farmers), the gong (artisans and craftsmen), and the shang (merchants and traders). The four occupations were not always arranged in this order.
Battle of TalasThe Battle of Talas or Battle of Artlakh (; معركة نهر طلاس) was a military encounter and engagement between the Abbasid Caliphate along with its ally, the Tibetan Empire, against the Tang dynasty. In July 751, Tang and Abbasid forces met in the valley of the Talas River to vie for control over the Syr Darya region of Central Asia. According to Chinese sources, after several days of stalemate, the Karluks, originally allied to the Tangs, defected to the Abbasid side and tipped the balance of power, resulting in a Tang rout.
Uyghur KhaganateThe Uyghur Khaganate (also Uyghur Empire or Uighur Khaganate, self defined as Toquz-Oghuz country; Toquz Oγuz budun, Tang-era names, with modern Hanyu Pinyin: or ) was a Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the mid 8th and 9th centuries. They were a tribal confederation under the Orkhon Uyghur (回鶻) nobility, referred to by the Chinese as the Jiu Xing ("Nine Clans"), a calque of the name Toquz Oghuz or Toquz Tughluq. In the mid 5th century, Uyghurs was a tribe under Tiele which is also under the Turkic Khaganate.
Cí (poetry)Cí (pronounced ci2; ), also known as chángduǎnjù () and shīyú (), is a type of lyric poetry in the tradition of Classical Chinese poetry that also draws upon folk traditions. Cí use various poetic meters derived from a base set of fixed pattern forms, using fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and line-lengths varying according that of the model examples. The rhythmic and tonal pattern of the cí are based upon certain, definitive musical song tunes (cípái), and in many cases the name of the musical tune is given in the title of a cí piece, in a form such as "after (the tune of).
Tibetan EmpireThe Tibetan Empire (, Great Tibet; ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen, and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen, whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty.
Lu (state)Lu (, c. 1042–249 BC) was a vassal state during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China located around modern Shandong province. Founded in the 11th century BC, its rulers were from a cadet branch of the House of Ji (姬) that ruled the Zhou dynasty. The first duke was Boqin, a son of the Duke of Zhou, who was brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent to King Cheng of Zhou. Lu was the home state of Confucius as well as Mozi, and as such has an outsized cultural influence among the states of the Eastern Zhou and in history.
BalhaeBalhae (Korean: 발해; pa̠ɽɦɛ̝, , Бохай, ), also rendered as Bohai, was a multi-ethnic kingdom established in 698 by Dae Joyeong (Da Zuorong) and originally known as the Kingdom of Jin (震, Zhen) until 713 when its name was changed to Balhae. At its greatest extent it corresponded to what is today Northeast China, the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and the southeastern Russian Far East. Balhae's early history involved a rocky relationship with the Tang dynasty that saw military and political conflict, but by the end of the 8th century the relationship had become cordial and friendly.
Emperor Dezong of TangEmperor Dezong of Tang (27 May 742 – 25 February 805), personal name Li Kuo, was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty and the oldest son of Emperor Daizong. His reign of 26 years was the third longest in the Tang dynasty (surpassed only by Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Gaozong). Emperor Dezong started out as a diligent and frugal emperor and he tried to reform the governmental finances by introducing new tax laws.
TürgeshThe Türgesh or Türgish (Türügeš budun; ; Old Tibetan: Du-rgyas) were a Turkic tribal confederation. Once belonging to the Duolu wing of the Western Turkic On Oq elites, Türgeshes emerged as an independent power after the demise of the Western Turks and established a khaganate in 699. The Türgesh Khaganate lasted until 766 when the Karluks defeated them. Türgesh and Göktürks were related through marriage. Atwood (2013), citing Tekin (1968), etymologizes the ethnonym Türgiş as contains gentilic suffix -ş affixed onto the name of lake Türgi-Yarğun, which was mentioned in Kültegin inscription.
Emperor Daizong of TangEmperor Daizong of Tang (9 January 727 – 10 June 779), personal name Li Yu (name changed in 758 after being created crown prince), né Li Chu (), was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty. Emperor Daizong was the eldest son of Emperor Suzong – the first emperor of the Tang dynasty to succeed as the eldest child. During the Anshi Rebellion (which Emperor Suzong's entire reign was dedicated to fighting), he served as a general of Tang and Huige joint operations that recaptured the capital Chang'an and the eastern capital Luoyang from the rebel state of Yan, and the Anshi Rebellion was finally put down early in his own reign, in 763.
