China, Tang Dynasty, (618-907 Ce), Cash Coins(C)

The Tang dynasty is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. A wealthy and prosperous China reached out to the world via the Silk Route across central Asia and maritime routes bringing not only trade but contact with the expanding Islamic world, South and Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea and even the Byzantine empire in the west. The spread of woodblock printing was a notable Tang innovation. Many of China’s most celebrated poets, writers and painters date from the Tang era.