The Top 5 most interesting things about the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties

5) Ruan Ji
 I honestly think Ruan Ji was one of the most fascinating things to come from the third wave. Not only because of his poems and works, but also just because of his general attitude towards everything.

Hey man *hiccup* keep bringing me that wine, I feel a poem coming.

 Ruan ji is an idol to many people: poets, writers, drunks...
Not only did he make spectacular poems, but he made them while intoxicated. I've heard of people doing amazing things while under the influence, but this guy's poems are just intimidatingly good.
Here is one example:
"Being sleepless at midnight,
I rise to play lute.
The moon is visible through the curtains
And a gentle breeze sways the cords of my robe.
A lonely wild goose cries in the wilderness
And is echoed by birds in the woods.
As it circles, it gazes
At me, alone, imbued with sadness"
For more, click here.

4) Xuanzong and the LuShan Rebellion
Xuangzong was a great emperor: he was great at curbing power, great at ringing up military provinces, great at permitting the Taiping Princess to commit suicide, great at giving his concubine Yang Guifei anything she wanted, and great at losing the throne because of it. His way of messing things up because of women is pretty impressive though. It's not like women had a lot of power at the time...

3) Girl Power
Empress Wu, or Wu Zetian although being a little (a lot) narcissistic, she helped the women in China raise in power. You could even say that she is an idol towards feminists, some one to look up to while trying to conquer a kingdom or even a small nation. I mean, she WAS Emperor of an enormous chinese empire; that has to count for something.

my interpretation of what Empress Wu looked like.

2) Kung Fu
You know, I give all my respect to some one who knows kungfu, I just find it to be ridiculously awesome when someone knows it, especially if it is shaolin kung fu (the original kung fu). Those guys can do really cool stuff, they can do backflips, own you with their spear/sword/stick/what have you, and they can do this.

I don't know what this is, but they can do it.

 But it's not only that, it's also their history. How a Buddhist temple could go all the way from being all peaceful and loving to being able to beat the c**p out of anyone that stands in their way of enlightenment. Something dramatic must have happened between those two stages, and I'm dying to find out what.


1) the Seven Sages
Don't think that after Ruan Ji, the other six sages will be a let down. No, if anything they are even cooler than him. These guys were like very old college students that made magnificent poetry, they loved to party and they loved to get drunk. Much like our modern day college/highschool students, but unlike us they got drunk for a very specific reason. They got drunk to write, you have no idea how many times I've wished to be able to write even a quarter as good as them while under the influence. Unfortunately though my writing just comes out like this....
jasdn ,amsdcnjv
(just kidding, I'm too young to drink...)