Tang dynasty · 618-907

Chang'an: capital of the Tang world

Under the Tang, Chang'an grew into a walled city of about a million people at the eastern end of the Silk Road. Students explore its grid of streets, its markets full of foreign traders and the neighbours who copied its plan.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 800
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Under the Tang, Chang'an grew into a walled city of about a million people at the eastern end of the Silk Road. Students explore its grid of streets, its markets full of foreign traders and the neighbours who copied its plan.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the plan of Tang Chang'an: walls, wards, markets and the central avenue.
  • Explain how the Silk Road brought people, goods and religions to the Tang capital.
  • Give one example of how Tang culture influenced Japan or Korea.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 800

A city of a million

Open the map in 800 and turn on the Cities layer. Find Chang'an. Compare its dot with Baghdad and Constantinople. Which of the three is the largest?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 800

East end of the Silk Road

Turn on Trade Routes and follow the Silk Road west from Chang'an. In 800, which empire holds the oasis towns west of the Tang border?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 800

Copied in Japan

Travel to Japan and find Kyoto in the Cities layer. It was founded in 794 as Heian-kyo, with a street grid copied from Chang'an. What else might Japanese envoys have brought home from the Tang?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Chang'an's wards were locked at night when the drums sounded. Why would a government want to control a city like that?
  2. Traders came from Persia, Samarkand, Korea and Japan. What did each side gain from coming to Chang'an?
  3. Buddhist and Daoist temples stood near Christian churches and Persian temples. Why might a ruler allow so many religions?
  4. Japan copied Chang'an's street plan for its new capitals. Why would anyone copy another country's capital?
  5. Around 750 Chang'an was probably the largest city on Earth. What makes a city a world city, then and now?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Wu Zetian, who ruled from Chang'an and Luoyang. Let students take turns deciding on trade, religion and war. Discuss: how did a ruler in Chang'an gain from welcoming foreigners, and what were the risks?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.