After the Han Dynasty came the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280),
the Jin Dynasty (265-420), the Southern and Northern Dynasties
(420-589) and the Sui Dynasty (581-618). These were followed by the
Tang Dynasty, established in 618 by Li Yuan. His son, Li Shimin, or
Emperor Taizong (r. 626-649), adopted a series of liberal policies,
pushing the prosperity of China's feudal society to its peak:
agriculture, handicrafts and commerce flourished; technologies for
textile manufacturing and dyeing, pottery and porcelain production,
smelting and shipbuilding were further developed; and land and
water transportation greatly improved. By the 660s, China's
influence had firmly taken root in the Tarim and Junggar basins and
the Ili River valley, even extending to many city-states in Central
Asia. During this period, extensive economic and cultural relations
were established with many countries, including Japan, Korea,
India, Persia and Arabia.
