Emperor Taizong of Tang (January 23, 599—July 10, 649), personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. As he encouraged his father, Li Yuan (later Emperor Gaozu) to rise against Sui Dynasty rule at Taiyuan in 617 and subsequently defeated several of his most important rivals, he was ceremonially regarded as a cofounder of the dynasty along with Emperor Gaozu.

He is typically considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, emperor in all of Chinese history. Throughout the rest of Chinese history, Emperor Taizong’s reign was regarded as the exemplary model against which all other emperors were measured, and his “Reign of Zhen Guan” (贞观之治) was considered a golden age of Chinese history and required study for future crown princes. During his reign, Tang China flourished economically and militarily. For more than a century after his death, Tang China enjoyed peace and prosperity.

In 630, Emperor Taizong sent his general Li Jing against Eastern Tujue—to which Tang had once submitted—defeating and capturing its Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi and destroying Eastern Tujue power. This made Tang the dominant power in East and Central Asia, and Emperor Taizong subsequently took the title of Tian Kehan (“Heavenly Khan”).

Emperor Taizong was, in opposition to nobility of the time, a frank rationalist, openly laughing of superstitions and heaven's claimed signs, and modifying important rites in order to ease agricultural labour. The modern Chinese historian Bo Yang opined that Emperor Taizong achieved greatness by accepting criticism that others would find difficult to accept and trying hard not to abuse his absolute power (using Emperor Yang of Sui as a negative example), as well as employing capable chancellors Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng. Emperor Taizong’s wife Empress Zhangsun served as a capable assistant to him as well.

The small town of Hay, on the River Wye, sits between England and Wales. It was a quiet place until 1961.That year, a man named Richard Booth came back from a trip to the US with a lot of secondhand books. He bought the town’s old fire station and changed it into a shop to sell them. For the next 10 years, he bought more empty shops and made them into bookshops too. Hay became the world’s first “book town”.

With the money he made, Booth bought the town’s old castle（城堡）. On April 1, 1977, he jokingly called himself King of Hay and said the town was now a country! Some local people thought he was a little crazy.

But he wasn’t crazy at all. The joke made more people come to Hay and buy secondhand books. By the 1980s, there were 1 million books on sale in the town’s over 30 bookshops. Then in 1988 the first literature（文学）festival began in the town. Writers from all over the world came to talk about their new books, along with scientists, reporters and even the President of the US! Now there are book towns in Europe, Australia, Canada and even Malaysia. No one could believe that everything started from the little town with only 1300 people.

The ancient silk road was a once in a life time journey. It was one of the most important milestones of trade and culture in world history, and the pioneer, Zhang Qian, could not be easily forgotten by history. He was an outstanding diplomat, traveler and explorer in the Han Dynasty of China, honored as the “the first Chinese to open their eyes to see the world” and “the Columbus of the east”.

In 138 BC, at the reign of Emperor Wudi, Zhang Qian was sent to the west of China for an alliance with the Yue-chi people to fight against the Xiongnu. He started his trip from Chang’an (now Xi’an in Shaanxi Province) to Longxi (in Gansu Province). Along the way, no matter how difficult the environment was, his faith was firm. But unfortunately, Zhang was caught by the Xiongnu people just as he left Han, and was held prisoner for ten years.

Zhang finally managed to escape with some of his men and continued to travel west without any dry food or drinking water. Due to the excellent skill of' shooting arrows, they survived by eating some birds and other animals along the way. When Zhang at last reached the Yue-chi in Northern India, he was disappointed to find that they didn’t want to fight against the Xiongnu people. On the return journey, Zhang Qian and his men were again caught. It was not until 125 BC that they returned to Chiang’an.

Though Zhang hadn’t finished his mission, he brought back first-hand information on the geography, ethnography, and societies of Central Asia. The paths Zhang Qian explored later served as the highways connecting Europe, the Middle East, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and East Asia. Commodities, crops, animals, religions, ideas, music, technology, and artifacts have been transported by diplomats, merchants and soldiers along this network of highways, which have, since the 19th century been known as the “Silk Road”. Zhang Qian has been remembered as the great explorer that opened up a new area of cultural exchange between East and West with long-lasting treasure well observable today.