Tang Dynasty is one of the most powerful and prosperous king doms in the historv of China. Central Plains of China and the Western Regions entered into a grand unification. In the first 100 years of Tang Dynasty its prosperity allowed it to reach an unprecedented height ill the exchange and communication with the outside world. Contemporary historians both in China and abroad call Tang Dynasty. "an open empire" and Chang'an "a capital of the world." Traders of Persia,priests of Rome, sailors of Arabia, and students of Japan, as well as Buddhist and Islamic scholars, all of them gathered in China. Because of rapid development of its economy, China's trade exchange with the Western Regions and beyond increased a great deal during the period.A golden era in the history of the Silk Road started with the arrival of Tang Dynasty.

Buddhist paintings, brought back to France by Paul Pelliot.

Chang'an: an International Metropolis

Chang'an of Tang Dynasty was a magnificent, grand capital, and it was the largest metropolis in the world at that time and the center of Orient civilization. It attracted tens of thousands traders, tourists, scholars and followers of different religions from around the world.

As a consequence, the city of Chang'an was a masterpiece of ancient Chinese architecture. The design of the city was rectangle with an area of 81.8 square kilometers. The north-south axis was 8.4 kilometers and west-east axis 9.7 kilometers. Grand royal palace -Daming Palace stood high on the Longshou Mountain to the north of the city Lofty Hanyuan Hall was the place, where the en,peror interviewed foreign diplomatic envoys. The layout of the city was neat and balanced. The bustling and hustling downtowns, the graceful pagodas of Dayanta and Xiaoyanta,temples and shrines of various religions, picturesque Qujiang Pool, all of them evoked the praises of the travelers who came to the city Zhuque boulevard, the main trunk in the city, was as wide as 155 meters, in comparison tbe widest street in Rome was only 12 meters at that time.The East and X,Vest Markets were two major commercial districts in Chang'an, a square of 1050 meters both in width and length, boasting of nearly 40,000 shops and stores. They resembled a world commodity fak. Foreign businessmen brought products to the markets from southern and western Asia as well as Europe, and such as jewels, ivories, pearls,tortoise shells, rhinoceros horns, hawksbill, corals, diamonds, glassware,coats, haircloths, spices, medicines and horses were daily items traded at the markets. They in turn bought Chinese commodities, such as bullion products, bronze ware, porcelains, teas and papers and took with them on the journey home.

Some merchants from Persia and Central Asia opened and operated stores in Chang'an themselves and made big fortunes in the city Persian businessmen were good at identifying and appraising treasures. One story told about a monk, a Persian merchant and a piece of Buddhist treasure. A monk got a piece of treasure but he didn't know what it was.He consultcd a Persian merchant. The latter wanted to buy it at an expensive price. The monk asked for 100,000 in cash. Thc merchant said,this wasn't the right price. The monk asked for 500,000 in cash. The merchant smiled and said, "This is a piece of Buddha bone, worthy of tells of millions in cash."

Persian and Central Asian merchants were engaged in commerce not only in Chang'an but also else where in China, such as Luoyang,Yangzhou,Guangzhou and many other cities. They were buying and selling jewelries and also operating financial institutions such as banks and pawnshops.

In the time o f Tang Dynasty, Chang'an had 12 city Gates. The Kaiyuan Gate in thc western city was considered to be the starting point of the Silk Road. The guests from the Western Regions entered Chang'an through this gate. At that time, Tang Kingdom had close, friendly relations with more than 70 countries.

When Tang Emperor Gaozong died, many chiefs and their representatives of minority nationalities in the Western Regions attended his funeral.In order to commemorate the event, the famous empress Wu Zetian ordered to came stone figures of the envoys, which were laid in front of Gaozong mausoleum. On the back of the stone figures were carved the names and identities of the envoys. Thousand years elapsed and the relics of the 61 stone sculptures remain where they were.

In Tang Dynasty,the prosperity of the Silk Road promoted the exchanges of art and culture. The people in Central Asia were skilled in singing and dancing. The music of the Western Regions was famous for its beautiful and exquisite melody When Tang emperor Taizong conquered Gaochang in the western Regions, he ordered m bring an entire Gaochang band back to Chang'an. In Tang royal palace frequently played ten musical compositions, half of which were from Kizil, Shale, Gaochang and other countries in the Western Regions.

Merchants travelling in endless desert.

The increased Sine-foreign exchange in Chang'an was directly related to the liberal policy adopted by Tang Dynasty Tang Emperor Taizong himself was a hybrid of Hah and Xianbei nationalities. He adopted an all-embradng attitude to foreign cultures. He respected Chinese or thodoxy but at the same time didn't exclude and reject foreign things. It was just due to the exchange and integration of different national cultures that traditionl Chinese culture developed to its bright climax.

The Great Wall viewedJrom an vbservation tower near Dunhuang by Stein.

During the period of Tang Dynasty,most of the world commodities can be found in Chang'an; musical compositions and dances fi'om different countries were performed; monks and believers of diverse religions coexisted peacefully in this capital. The features of international metropolis made Chang'an attractive to peoples from far away.Especially, Japan in the Orient sent a great numbers of students to study in China each year. Nara, the ancient Japaixese capital, was constructed according to the pattern of Chang'an. Japanese characters were derived from the cursive scripts of Tang Dynasty Even today, Japan's national costumes and festival celebrations preserved the relics of Tang Dynasty.

Dunhuang: A Metropolis of Sino-foreign Integration

Hexi Corridor was a famous route from ancient China's northern western continent to the rest of Asia and Europe. It was a battlefield to guard and protect the Silk Road 2,000 years ago. Here happened many heroic historic events. After having its wars against Hun, Han Dynasty instituted four counties in the Hexi Corridor from 121 BC to III BC They were: Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang.

Dunhuang, situated at the western part of the Hexi Rorridor, was a strategically important city and a hub of international trade, it was a interjunctlon to the northern and southern section of the Silk Road.The Western Regions, Tutian and Kizil in particular, were deeply influenced by Indian Buddhist culture. Dunhuang, as the gate to the Western Regions, was the first to receive the Indian influence and became one of China's early Buddhism centers. In Dunhuang there were many Buddhist temples. In Tang Dynasty, there were at least 16 grand Budhist temples in the city of Dunhuang with a total of more than 900 monks.

Buddhists not only built temples, but also excavated caverns, molding the figures of Buddha and drawing mural paintings on the cave walls.They were many craftsmen, officials and devotees to Buddha, who spent their life to created the art of Dunhuang. In this way, the Dunhuang Buddhist arts were gradually took its current shape. Dunhuang was also the center of translating the China's early Buddhist literature. The scholars of Buddhism translated numerous Buddhism classics. In AD 1899,in Dunhaung Thousand-Buddha Caves discovered more than 30,000 volumes of ancient books, hand copied or block-printed, most of them were Buddhist classics. Dunhuang, as a city of international culture exchange, also in their mural paintings recorded Chinese and visitors interacting in their ordinary daily life. For example, during thc period of Three Kingdom, it was a fashion for women in Dunhuang wear Indian-styled costumes.

Desert is spacious, boundless and monotonous, but 1O kilometers to the south of Dunhuang there is a place called Singing Sand Mountain. It is a place full of fascinating natural phenomena: When the wind is blowing, the Mountain sends out the sound of roaring thunder. Ancient people were surprised at this phenomenon and called it the Divine Sand Mountain. In the Mountain there is a Crescent Fountain. Thousand years elapsed, but the Singing Sand Mountain is still staying where it was. Each year at the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, boys and girls in the city of Dunhuang go in groups to the Singing Sand Mountain and the Crescent Fountain.