Emperor Taizong initiated construction of Daming Palace on Longshou Plateau, laying groundwork for what became the Tang court’s primary palace complex and a key locus of Chang’an’s imperial geography.
A Syriac Christian (Church of the East) mission led by Alopen arrived in Chang’an during Emperor Taizong’s reign, illustrating the capital’s role as a cosmopolitan crossroads for religions and ideas.
The Giant (Great) Wild Goose Pagoda was built in Chang’an in 652, associated with Xuanzang’s project to preserve and disseminate Buddhist scriptures brought from India—an emblem of Tang Chang’an’s Buddhist institutions and learning.
The imperial household began relocating from Taiji Palace to Daming Palace, which became the new seat of the imperial court and political center—reorienting ceremonial and administrative life within Chang’an.
Wu Zetian formally proclaimed her own Zhou dynasty (690–705) with Luoyang as capital, creating a major interruption in Chang’an’s status as sole imperial center even as Chang’an remained a critical metropolis of the empire.
A Tang census for Jingzhao (the capital region) recorded 362,921 households and 1,960,188 people, reflecting Chang’an’s position among the world’s largest cities and underscoring the administrative reach required to govern the capital region.
In mid-756, forces aligned with An Lushan captured and looted Chang’an, prompting mass flight and destabilizing the empire; the occupation marked a major rupture in the capital’s security and the Tang state’s authority.
Loyalist Tang forces won a decisive victory near Xiangji Temple and recaptured Chang’an, restoring the court’s access to the capital even as the broader rebellion continued for years and permanently weakened Tang governance.
Rebel leader Huang Chao seized Chang’an and proclaimed himself emperor of a short-lived regime, demonstrating the late Tang state’s inability to secure its capital and accelerating the dynasty’s political fragmentation.
Tang forces, aided by allied Shatuo Turks, expelled Huang Chao from Chang’an, but the capital’s repeated capture highlighted the erosion of central power and the growing autonomy of regional military forces.
Warlord Zhu Quanzhong compelled Emperor Zhaozong to abandon Chang’an and move the capital to Luoyang, signaling Chang’an’s effective loss as a functioning imperial center in the dynasty’s final years.
Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu) proclaimed the Tang dynasty and renamed the Sui capital Daxing as Chang’an, making it the dynasty’s principal imperial capital and administrative hub.
Chang'an as Tang Dynasty Capital (c. 618–907 CE)
