唐明皇是唐朝(公元618——907)的第七任皇帝,在中国历史上也是一位数得上的杰出的政治家。他有着文才武略建立了功业，因而出现了“开元之治”的盛唐时期。
一般说起唐明皇都和杨贵妃联系在一起，只知道他是个风流皇帝，很多人并不知道唐明皇还是个懂音律、有着极为灵敏听力的音乐家。
唐明皇的父亲李旦（睿宗）和母亲（德妃）都有着非常好的文化修养。唐明皇从小就受到良好的教育和艺术的熏陶。在他幼年时，仅仅六岁的他，就可以在皇帝的大殿上献艺了，并获得祖母武则天的疼爱和赞赏。
唐明皇就任以后，在皇宫里设教坊，“梨园”就是专门培养演员的地方。唐明皇极有音乐天份，乐感也很灵敏，经常亲自坐阵，在梨园弟子们合奏的时候，稍微有人出一点点错，他都可以立即觉察，并给予纠正。（相当于现在一个好的指挥家！）
唐明皇还很喜欢舞蹈，相传著名的《霓裳羽衣舞》的曲调，就是唐明皇根据河节度使杨敬述将从印度传进来的《婆罗门曲》来润色改编，又称有月宫的神仙托梦与他创作而成的，且不管如何传说，但《霓裳羽衣舞》确实是不可多得的传世佳作。
唐明皇个人能够演奏多种乐器：琵琶、二胡、笛子、羯鼓，无一不通、没有不晓。因此，我们说，唐明皇除了是个政治家还是一位杰出的音乐家，对艺术的普及，尤其是在人才的培养，以及和各地、各国的艺术交流方面都起着巨大的推动作用。

Tang Minghuang is Also a Musician

Tang Minghuang (618-907 BC), also known as Emperor Xuanzong, was the seventh emperor in the Tang dynasty. He lived in the most prosperous period in the Tang dynasty and was a great ruler.
Tang Minghuang was famous for his love affair with Yang Guifei, his imperial concubine in history. But people seldom learn that he had also a very good ear for music.
Tang Minghuang set up Liyuan (Pear Garden) in the palace to train good performers. He often presented at Liyuan's performances, and corrected their mistakes. Some people say that he was the same as a conductor nowadays.
Tang Minghuang liked dances very much and he composed Nishang Yuyi Wu (The Dance in Leathery Clothes) based on Poluomen Qu.
Tang Minghuang was good at playing many instruments including Pipa (lute), Erhu (a two-stringed instrument), Dizi (bamboo flute). He contributed a lot to the art development during that period.