The Tang Dynasty by
Li-Chin Yen
THE FOUNDATION OF THE
TANG DYNASTY
The Sui dynasty ( A. D.590-618 ) only had two emperors; the second one
forced commoners to construct his own palace and vessel. A heavy tax was
levied to continue their construction because of the magnitude and all
the impressive decorations. The commoners suffered a lot. They not only
had to pay a heavy tax, but also construct the palace for the emperor.
Furthermore, the emperor tried three times to invade the northern part
of Korea but never succeeded. All these policies and measures caused many
revolutions all over the country.
Li Yuan, the founder of the Tang dynasty, was urged into rebellion by
his second son, Tai Cung, who, at the age of sixteen, already showed his
outstanding military ability. He suggested to his father to borrow military
power from a formal enemy country of the Sui dynasty.
After the army of Li Yuan took the capital Chang'an, he changed the
name of the empire to the Tang dynasty. His second son, Tai Cung, continued
to command the rebel armies and conquered all other rebellions. As a result,
Li Yuan, who had three sons, had the intention of giving Tai Cung the succession
because of his achievements. This decision pushed the other two sons to
conspire against Tai Cung. In order to protect his future, Tai Cung killed
his elder brothers.
TAI CUNG
Tai Cung was perhaps the greatest emperor of all Chinese emperors. He had
great competence as a civil ruler and initiated many changes such as the
examination system, reforms land tenure and the establishment of a professional
army under the control of the emperor. Some historians believe that the
Tang dynasty ruled the country for more that two hundred years because
of these reforms.
The most significant reform was the examination system. Unlike the earlier
methods of recruiting the civil service for official posts, now candidates
had to pass a written examination on officially chosen texts and subjects.
This system opened the door for all commoners; it gave them the chance
to become officials as only the most talented officials were picked to
rule the country.
Tai Cung also established the "army of the frontier". The Chinese believe
that: " All forms of local autonomy were signs of weakness and would lead
to disorder and the partition of the country." (p.162) So , Tai Cung made
sure that all the military power was controlled by a central imperial power
and used the majority of the army for frontier defense. The rest of the
army was divided into palace guards or provincial troops. Generally, the
provinces were ruled by civil servants. As long as the provinces were well
governed, the provincial troops had no need to be a large group. This ideal
was realized during the first one hundred fifty years of the Tang dynasty.
EMPRESS
WU, the only feminine monarch in Chinese history
Tai Cung didn't choose his oldest son for the heir because of his youth
foulness. Instead, he chose Kao Cung, a dutiful weakling. After the death
of Tai Cung, Kao Cung was seduced by one of his concubines, Wu Zhao, who
eliminated the new empress and obtained the title for herself.
Empress Wu also had great military ability. For example, the army of
Tang dynasty conquered the northern part of Korea by using the strategies
suggested by Empress Wu (A.D.668). The victory of this war, for Empress
Wu, was the proof that she was able to rule the country better than everyone
else. Then she began her domination of China over fifty years, first as
consort of the weak emperor Kao Cung and then in her own name. She became
the only woman in Chinese history to hold the official title of "monarch".
However, because of her ruthless behavior, Wu developed enemies from the
aristocratic military who opposed her incestuous ways. Wu, then simply
killed those who spoke out against her.
Empress Wu understood that most of the great military aristocracy were
unwilling to submit the domination of a woman, so she provided the lower
gentry and men still lower on the social scale with higher status. By doing
this, she would ensure loyalty.
Even though Empress Wu cruelly punished her enemies, her policy: "obscure
men, but those who had talents". Selected many talented officials to rule
the country, so the economy or commoners' life were prosperous and stable
under her domination.
Empress Wu believed in Buddhism; she attached great important to this
religion and also to the Chinese culture. As a result, we can say that
she was a great ruler. She had to use cruel ways to maintain her position
because China is a paternal society. Some initiated policies helped to
develop the future Chinese values and culture.
Nevertheless, when she was old and in bad health, the very men she had
helped raise to power broke into the palace and forced her to abdicate
her position to her son, Zhong Cung. He was then murdered by his ambitious
wife within a few years. It was Empress Wu's grandson, Xuan Cung, who finally
became ruler and who known as " The Brilliant Emperor."
XUAN CUNG, "The
Brilliant Emperor"
Xuan Cung, who was not the oldest son, was chosen over his six brothers
by his father to be the heir. However, this time Xuan Cung's five brothers
lived out their lives in perfect friendship and loyalty to him. This must
be the influence of Confucian education: brotherly love.
During the first half of his reign, Xuan Cung showed that he was able
and attentive to the duties of the monarch. It was also the most prosperous
age in the Tang dynasty. A very competent civil service was in control
of all phases of Chinese life to take detailed enumeration of the population.
According to the four most complete censuses taken between A.D.640 and
754, China contained 321 prefectural cities, 1,538 sub-prefectures, and
16,829 unwalled market towns; moreover, the population increased about
ten millions in just under thirty years.
Most of the literature and arts of Tang dynasty developed in this period.
Xuan Cung is best known as a patron of the arts. At his court two great
poets of the Tang dynasty: Li Bo and Du Fu , held office. The important
development of the literature and arts are: The appearance of the first
form of the novel, artists of durable painted, and the beginning of Chinese
drama.
However, Xuan Cung fell in love with his son's future wife, so he took
her into his harem. Xuan Cung was tired of ruling the country after thirty
years, he gave the gentry class all the power and started to make merriment
with his beloved concubine: Yang Kuei-fei.
That was the beginning of the sad decline of the Tang dynasty. There
was already two problems within Tang dynasty: the difficult transport because
of the location of the capital and the professional army established by
Tai Cung holding the actual military power.
At the same period, in the court, two officials were in competition
for the position of the highest official: one was a frontier general of
barbarian origin named An Lu-shan, the other was Yang Kuei-fei's brother.
Finally, it was Yang Kuei-fei's brother who took the position. An Lu-shan,
recalcitrant, began his revolution and took the capital. The emperor escaped
to the west province of Sichuan. On the road, the gentry class killed Yang
Kuei-fei and all her family members because they believed that they were
An Lu-shan's target.
Even though the rebellion was crushed at the end, the prosperous age
of the Tang dynasty will never come back. After that , there were more
and more revolutions all over the country. The longest began with a mutiny
of the frontier army of the south, this rebellion began at A.D.875, continue
over ten years.
Finally, the last emperor of the Tang dynasty was controlled by the
leader of the largest army. At A.D.906, the Tang dynasty was perished.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
KAO, Min Si, The History of China- the T'ang dynasty, Taipei, Printing
Hsun Hy, 1988, 165 pages.
-
FITZGERALD, C.P.,The Horizon History of China, New York, American
Heritage co., 1969, 400 pages.
cybrport@er.uqam.ca
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