One corner of China’s internet is insisting that the Tang Dynasty never existed

A fringe corner of China's internet has been spreading the false claim that the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), one of China's most celebrated historical periods, never existed, allegedly motivated by ethnic nationalist sentiments since the Tang's founding emperor was not Han Chinese. The hoax, which started with a history influencer using dubious astrological "evidence" in May, has gained significant traction on social media with tens of millions of views, prompting some people to even call tourism bureaus and causing confusion among Chinese schoolchildren. Chinese state media has intervened to address the spreading misinformation, which scholars describe as historically baseless.