Battle of Hulao
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The Battle of Hulao, or Battle of Sishui, was a decisive Tang victory over the rival Zheng and Hebei-based Xia polities during the transition from Sui to Tang. The battle took place during the Luoyang–Hulao campaign on 28 May 621 when a Xia army – led by Dou Jiande, ruler of Xia – was defeated attacking a smaller Tang army – led by Prince Li Shimin – entrenched at the strategic Hulao Pass.
Relief of Li Shimin's charger Saluzi, one of the "Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum" by Yan Liben. The relief shows an incident during the Battle of the Mang Hills, Wang's final attempt to break the siege of Luoyang, when the horse was hit in the chest by an arrow.
Li Shimin as the Emperor Taizong (seated right), gives an audience to the Tibetan ambassador. Later copy of a 641 painting by Yan Liben
Terracotta statue of a Tang-era armoured horseman. Cavalry was scarce in native Chinese armies, and played a decisive role in battles. In contrast to this figurine, most of the Tang cavalrymen were armoured, but their horses were not, giving them greater mobility.
Tang dynasty
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The Tang dynasty, or the Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty.
Portrait painting, dating to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), depicting the first Tang emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan, 566–635)
"Great Tang" (大唐; Dà Táng) in seal characters
Tang emissaries to Sogdian King Varkhuman in Samarkand, 648–651 CE, Afrasiab murals
Sogdian Huteng dancer, Xiuding temple pagoda, Anyang, Henan. Tang dynasty, 7th century