653 · Early law
Tang Code
China
A complete code of criminal and administrative law of the Tang dynasty, with an official commentary that explains each article.
Why it matters
It became the model for law across East Asia. Japan, Korea and Vietnam each built their own codes on it, and later Chinese dynasties kept its basic structure for more than a thousand years.
Built on
No earlier text on this timeline is a documented model for it.
Went on to shape
Countries in the Legal Families Atlas
TheLawToKnow Tools’s timeline lists links of influence only where the borrowing is widely documented. Historians sometimes disagree about how much one text shaped another. It is an educational overview, not legal advice.
