ABSTRACT
The 750s initiated a series of complex changes with profound implications for China's developmental arc in subsequent centuries. As one would expect, characterizing the period from 755 to the end of the dynasty in 907 raises tricky historiographical challenges. The simple fact is that Tang officials and elites remained committed to the continuity of Tang power, looked back to its earlier reigns for guidance, and were unaware of the future to come. The challenges of managing an empire with a population approaching 50 million that extended from the Pacific Ocean to beyond the Tarim Basin in Central Asia required a number of institutional innovations early in the eighth century. The historical forces that initiated the Tang-Song Transition emerged in that changed environment. The institutional decentralization and the shift of court priorities after 755 created space for various forms of economic experimentation.
