ABSTRACT
The first thing we should notice about the Tang dynasty that arose in North China and lasted from the early seventh to the early 10th centuries is the political character of its name. By adopting the designation “Tang,” its rulers purported to make its existence orthodox and permanent. “Tang” (or Li-Tang) as a dynastic name derived from the noble title of Li Yuan 李淵 (r. 618–626), who had been named the “state duke of Tang” during the Sui. The name gave a sense of orthodoxy to the new dynasty on the basis of the Confucian concept of dynastic change. While subjected to enormous internal and external pressure, the self-styled Tang regime continually enhanced this aura of orthodoxy, which dissipated with the founding of the Zhou dynasty (690–705) under Wu Zetian 武則天, which broke the continuity of the Tang regime.
