Abstract
Abstract The next case shifts the focus to the other side of the world, where a great dynasty rose as Europe slipped into a centuries-long economic depression. China’s relative power has waxed and waned over time, but it was indisputably dominant under the Tang Dynasty, which ruled between roughly 618 and 907. These emperors led their country to heights unmatched before or since, a golden age when the arts and economy flourished throughout East Asia. Tang China was different from all the other cases in this book because it could not depend on the greatest military of its time. The empire’s strengths instead rested largely on economics and “soft power,” or cultural leadership. Relying on such tools entails rather substantial risk, which the Tang emperors generally handled with admirable skill. Eventually a bloody rebellion crippled their ability to wield both hard and soft power, but until then they enjoyed an extraordinary level of regional dominance. As it turns out, a martial culture is not a prerequisite for national security and prosperity.
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