Reunification:

the Sui and Tang

The three centuries of the Sui-Tang dynasties (589-907)

finally reestablished the Chinese ideal of unity that had
developed under the Han. (?)

A traditional belief that the reunification of the Sui

saved China from non-Chinese rule and influence
and has restored a pure Chinese empire is a myth.

541 907 A.D.

Neither the usurpation of power by General Yang Jian

(541-604) not the accession to the throne of the
Li family, changes in political personnel, type of
society, or basic traditions.

On the other hand, these military aristocrats had

intermarried with Chinese and with each others
families so that they formed a large and homogeneous
group of leaders. The nomad rulers of North China
adopted Chinese ways, including language, dress, and
methods of government.

The
Establishment of
the Sui Dynasty

The Sui, successor of

Northern Dynasty,
conquered the Southern
Dynasty. (589 AD)

Emperor Wen
of the Sui,
the founder of the
Sui Dynasty

North China had been devastated by the nomad

invasions, whereas South China along the Yang-tze
River Delta had propered in relative peace.

Migration of Han-Chinese to the south had begun to

shift Chinas centre of gravity.

In modern times South China would have 2/3 of the Chinese

population gradually.

New legal code and administration rule

The equal field system

The government promised to give each adult male a piece of

farmland.
Tax revenues, and price-regulating

The territorially administered militia - fubing

Every farmer get a duty to be the soldier.

The extension
of the
Grand Canal

Xian

The Grand Canal System

of the Sui (700 AD)
and Song (1000 AD)

Emperor Yang is nothing but a stupid

tyrant ?
a)

the problems of historical source

b)

personality of Emperor Yang

c)

the building of Grand Canal

d)

Warfare with Korea

Founding of the Tang

Tang Taizong

Administrative Institutions

personnel administration
finance
rites (and education)
military
justice
public works

The Xuanwu Gate

incident
and the transfer of
power through
blood and iron

Basic territories after the death of Tang Taizong

Turk and Uighur

Turk
Koera

n
pa
Ja

Arabs

Tibet

Tibet

Tang

Under the second emperor, Tang Taizong, the Tang

armies spread outward in all directions, defeating the
Koreans, expanding south into northern Vietnam, and
most of all pursing their control into Central Asia.
The Tang capital at Changan (Xian ) became
a great international metropolis, a focal point of the
Eurasian world. Between 600 and 900 no Western
capital could compete in size and grandeur.

Korean

Manchurian
tribe

Dancing style

Guo guo fu ren you chun tu

Spring Outing of the Court Ladies

Nestorian

780 A.D., Changan (Xian)

Nestorian, a branch of
Christianity
The Diamond Sutra, printed in 868, is the world's first widely block printed book.

Religions and the State

During the Buddhist age in China from ca. 500 to

850 Buddhism did not diminish the power of the state
as the sole source of political and social order.

High culture was still dominated by the secular elite of

the literati.

Buddhist monks must bow down before the Emperor

since the Sui Dynasty

So little had Buddhism disrupted political tradition.

The Tang government had relatively little difficulty in
reducing the economic power of the Buddhist
monasteries.

Very different from the case of Christianity in Europe

The temple--whether Buddhist or Taoist--was quite

unable to achieve independence from the state.

Its priesthoods and temples remained loosely decentralized,

dependent on modest local support but without organized lay
congregations or any nationwide administration, and passive
in matters of politics. (?)

Taoism was also highly respected.

No struggle between church and state.

to bureaucratize Buddhism through administrative control,

bestowal of titles, sale of ordination certificates, compilation
of a Buddhist canon, and a system of clerical examinations to
select talent.

The Royal Li family of the Tang claimed themselves the

descendents of Lu zhi (Li Er ) who is the founder
of philosophic Taoism.

Taoists contributed to Chinas technology through the

long-developed practices of alchemy.

In their physiological and chemical experiments, they built up

the great Chinese pharmacopoeia. The alchemists contributed
to the great inventions like the compass and gunpowder.
Many of their achievements, as Joseph Needham remarks,
were proto-science rather than pseudo-science.

Xuanzhuang

He arrived India through

the Silk Road.

He studied in India and

knew all Three Baskets of
Buddhism (Tripitaka ).

He brought back a large

amount of Buddhist sutras
and translated into Chinese.

Tang poetry

Li Bai

Du Fu, Soldiers Song

Chariots are rumbling, horses are grumbling.

Soldiers on the march wear bows and
arrows at the waist.
Their parents, wives and children come to
bid adieu in haste.
Xianyang Bridge cant be seen well, for the
sky is covered with dust.
They tug at the soldiers clothes grand,
stamp the feet on the ground, block the
road.
And utter cries piercing through the cloud.

Du Fu

The Tibet

The Tibetan Empire existed from the 7th to 9th centuries

AD, and ruled an area considerably larger than the Tibetan
Plateau, stretching to parts of East Asia, and Central Asia.

The relationship between Tibet and Tang Dynasty (?)

The King Songtsan Gampo of Tibet (centre), Princess Wencheng from

Tang (right) and Princess Bhrikuti Devi of Nepal (left)

Decline of the Tang

Under the Emperor Xuanzong the Tang reached

its height of prosperity, but weaknesses accumulated.

Military over expansion. The fubing militia had

been made gradually into a professional fighting force.

Powerful generals got into court politics.

Employed barbarian soldiers and generals

Outdoor as general, indoor as prime minister

An Lushan Rebellion , 755 - 763 AD

Map of the
Tibetan empire
at its greatest extent
(780s - 790s)

Lady Yang

Social change: the Tang-Song transition

Collapse of Tangs central power

Powerful generals got regional ruling power.

The administrative bureaucrats became increasingly
involved in bitter factionalism. (e.g. )
The emperor used eunuchs to support his control from
the palace.

Huang Chao Rebellion 875 884 AD

907, the Tang ended

The decline of the aristocratic families.

Without clan law, they could decline rapidly if no family

member could become high officer.

The transition from rule by aristocratic families to rule

by a trained bureaucracy selected by merit partly
through the imperial examinations.

The collapse of the equal-field system of land in the

country-side, and of official markets and price-setting in
the cities. (a kind of economic freedom?)