The Sui Dynasty and The Tang Dynasty
3 min readThe Sui Dynasty(581-618)
China was reunified by the Sui dynasty founded by emperor Sui Wendi, Yang Jiang, with the capital at Chang’ an. The dynasty was short-lived, lasting for 38 years with only three emperors.
However, in this time period, the social economy underwent rapid recovery and development. Governmental power was centralized and the “Three Departments and Six Ministries”system officially instituted. Great efforts were devoted to the improvement of the national defense and the expansion of the Great Wall. The land equalization system was exercised in order to enhance agricultural productivity and reduce the gap between the rich and poor social groups. The Sui dynasty witnessed various reforms and achievements such as the construction of the engineering feats like the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou and Zhaozhou Bridge. Confucianism began to regain popularity, and Buddhism was further spread and encouraged throughout the empire to reunite the people of different regions.
However, due to the crushing burden of taxes and forced labor imposed on people, the disastrous military warfare against Koguryo, and Yang Dis extravagance and corruption, peasant uprisings broke out and soon swept the whole country, which finally brought about the downfall of the dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty(618-907)
The Tang Dynasty was established by Li Yuan in 618 with its capital at Chang’ an, lasting290 years with 21 emperors. The Tang dynasty is considered to be a high point in Chinese civilization in history. The boundaries of China were extended to Siberia in the North, Korea peninsula in the east, Vietnam in the South, and west in Aral Sea in mid-Asia.
The Tang Dynasty witnessed a period of political, economic and cultural boom in China.
At that time, China was so powerful and prosperous that it ranked among the most advanced countries in the world. It established friendly ties with Japan and many countries in West Asia, Europe and even Africa, which secured peace and safety on overland trade routes reachingas far as Syria and Rome, with its capital Chang’ an as center of economical and culturalexchange between various countries.
During the Tang period, Buddhism flourished and gradually became localized as an important part of Chinese traditional culture.A Buddhist monk called Xuan Zang traveled from Chang’ an through Gansu, Xinjiang and central Asia to India for the furtherance of Buddhist classics. The imperial examination system was perfected under Tang rule to discover and attract the best talents without social connections to serve as government officials.
The Tang period was also the golden age of literature and art, which produced the most brilliant poetry of the country. Among the hundreds of poets of the Tang Dynasty, the best known are Li Bai, Du Fu and BaiJuyi.
In the mid-8th century, the “An Lushan and Shi Siming Rebellion”brought about political disturbance and considerably weakened the power and authority of the court.
Misrule, court intrigues, rebellions and peasant uprisings weakened the empire, finally put the ever powerful and mighty Tang Dynasty to an end in 907. The next half-century saw the fragmentation of China into five northern dynasties and ten southern kingdoms.
