From Xuanzong to the Fall of the Tang Dynasty

Xuangzong's Reign (712--56)

• a) initial period of consolidation and reform;  lasted until 720
• b) a middle period in which constructive policies were still being applied, but serious problems began to emerge; 
• c) a final period during which the emperor withdrew from direct involvement in government and the crisis developed which led to the rebellion of An Lushan.

Initial Period of His Reign

• Xuanzong was helped by several able ministers, especially Yao Chong,
• he put forth a ten-point programme to address problems of administration.
• number of chief ministers was reduced and those that were retained increased their authority. -  those who passed the examinations were promoted - served in neglected areas
• the administrative and penal codes were revised to ensure uniformity
• measures relating to supply and taxes were introduced. 
• supply of grain was improved. 
• significant reforms concerned the military. l
• the system was not able to deal with the threats of eastern Turks, the Khitan, and the Tibetans.
• he frontier of the empire was divided into nine sectors, each headed by a military governor who commanded a large force of professional soldiers 
• these forces were supported by military colonies 
• they were supplied them with food and military reserves.
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Middle Period

• policies were continued but there was a change of emphasis.
• from 721, men of aristocratic background obtained appointments..
• the first one of the aristocratic group to achieve prominence was Yuwen Rong. 
• he suggested that households, that escaped taxation by migrating to other areas, be offered amnesty from arrears of tax.
• Pei Yaoqing tackled another problem by reducing the distance of carrying grain to the capital
• Xuanzong could fix his capital at Chang’an.
•  Li Linfu rose to power and until his death in 752 
• he was virtually a dictator
• he had risen through intrigue and dishonest means
• Lin Linfu tried to improve the efficiency of the administration. L
• legal reforms were instituted and changes were made to the deployment of the military
• reforms to the currency were also introduced.

Final Period

• from the 740s the emperor stopped playing an active role in government 
• he became in love with Yang Guifei, the most famous beauty in Chinese history.
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• at court the relations between aristocratic factions became a problem
• this provided the context for the rebellion of An Lushan which broke out in 755.

Literature & the Visual Arts under Xuanzong

•  the Tang period is usually referred to as a golden age in Chinese culture
• poetry written during that reign was later regarded as a model
• the composition of poetry goes a long way back in China’s literary history. 
• the book of Song, dates back to the Zhou period - was one of the Confucian classics.
• Cao Cao, the military leader of the fall of the Later Han had been a renowned poet
• the most famous poet of the Period of Division was Tao Qian (376-427)
• his poems celebrated the pleasures of the simple life in the country.
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• in the early Tang period poets were closely associated with the court 
• their poems were written to commemorate events there.. 

Painters & Poets

• during Xuanzong’s reign a new generation of writers emerged.
• they expressed their feelings of exile 
• Wang Wei (699-759), who was also a famous painter, was master of a form of brief verse.
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• Li Bo (701-62) was a close contemporary of Wang Wei. 
• he cultivated a reputation fore eccentricity and his poetry made use of Daoist metaphysics.  - many poems refer to the moon and to his love of wine
•  Du Fu (712-70) was a Confucian.
•  his failure in the examination left him with a lasting disappointment
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• Xuanzong’s reign also saw important advances in the visual arts.
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• Wu Daozi (c. 700-60), painted Buddhist subjects and transformed the essentially sculptured ideals of India into the linear, painterly terms of the Chinese tradition.

Landscape Painting

• at this time landscape painting was divided into `southern’ and `northern’ schools occurred.
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• artists of the southern school were amateurs and scholars, 
• the best known early exponent being the poet Wang Wei.
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• those of the northern school were professionals and court painters
• the most famous of whom were Li Sixun and his son Li Zhaodao (d. 735)

The Tang World at the Time of Xuanzong

• this was the period when  China’s relations with the outside world were transformed. 
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• China was surrounded by states that had borrowed culture and institutions from China
• they now aspired to a separate political identity.
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• during the Sui dynasty China had recovered control of Annam 
• in the early Tang, the Chinese dominance of the areas remained secure. 
• North of Annam was the state of Nanzhao, centred on present-day Yunnan,
• it was ruled by the people of Tai origin - they adopted the Chinese language
• they had the same features of Chinese government.
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• in the 8th century China encouraged the emergence of a unified Nanzhao state at Dali
• this acted as a buffer against the rising power of Tibet.

Relations with Tibet

• Tibet itself had become a centralized monarchy and had adopted Buddhism. 
• Song-tsen Gampo (r. 620-49) had began a period of rapid sinicization.
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• soon  they began a phase of rapid expansion, challenging China’s influence in Central Asia.  
• they began to advance into modern Qinghai. 
• in 696, during the Empress Wu’s reign, a Tibetan army had defeated a large Chinese force 
• this was less than 200 miles from Chang’an.
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• during Xuanzong’s reign Tibetan raiding began again
• this time it was China who won the battle. 
• Tibet finally acknowledged Chinese suzerainty 
• the border between the two countries were defined.
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• on China’s northern borders, political entities were not as clearly established.

Relations with the Eastern Turks

• the beginning of the 8th century, the eastern Turks were China’s main threats.
• they dominated the whole of the steppe region from Manchuria to Ferghana.
• China had to maintain an expensive defence system along the Yellow River.
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• the death of the Eastern Turk leader in 716 and the succession dispute weakened them
• the rise of the Uighur empire in Mongolia got started
• -  they were once vassals of the eastern Turks and they now became clients of the Chinese.
• they had been nomadic tribes, but now they established a capital at Karabalghasun. 
• until 840, the Uighur provided China with a reliable ally on the steppe 
• they received great benefits in terms of trade and subsidies.

Relations with the Korguryo

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• in the north-east, Koguryo had been absorbed by the Silla
• in 676 Korea for the first time became a unified state.
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• over the next century Silla borrowed heavily from the Chinese culture, 
• they encouraged a Confucian scholarship and introduced competitive examinations.
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• the Koguryo fled to Jilin in northern Manchuria where in 713 
• there they established a state known to the Chinese as Bohai,
• in the north-east, Koguryo had been absorbed by the Silla
• in 676 Korea for the first time became a unified state.

Relations with Japan

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• Japan too had emerged as a unified state. under the Sui, 
• Japan had begun to adopt many aspects of Chinese culture

Tributary States

• those states  that had adopted Chinese culture began to admit the superiority of China, 
• they were treated by China as tributaries.
•  at intervals they sent tributary missions to China 
• they brought  gifts but were rewarded with trading privileges.
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• the significance of these missions was not economic but political 
• the ceremonies performed was an acknowledgement of Chinese superiority.
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• the relationship with the nomadic peoples of the steppe was different in character. 
• it varied according to the relative strength of the steppe people and of the Chinese state.
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• the relationship was based on the policy of appeasement -
• marriage arrangements, , trade agreements, payment of subsidies to tribal leaders.

Chang'an

• the Tang empire of the 8th century was the most advanced civilization of its time and 
• its capital at Chang’an was probably the world’s greatest city.
•  the city had a population of about one million living within its walls 
• another million lived in its suburbs.
•  Chang’an was the hub of the empire, 
• it was served by a network of roads and canals which 
• they were linked it to the Silk Road to the West and the expanding population of the Yangzi valley to the south.
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• traders came to the Chang’an’ markets bearing exotic goods from Central Asia.
• - the population included adherents of Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism.
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• the country’s greatest port was Guangzhou 
• it was a cosmopolitan mercantile community had assembled itself
• it included traders from India and Persia.

The Rebellion of An Lushan (755-63)

• between 755 and 763 the Tang empire was shaken to its foundation, by the rebellion 
• it was eventually defeated and the dynasty survived another century and a half
• it never recovered its former authority or glory.
• -  it has been identified as a major turning point in Chinese history.
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• - the cause of the rebellion goes back to 
• a)t he situation at the court and 
• b) the military arrangements on the frontier.

Background to the Rebellion

• a military career came to be less highly regarded by the new literati 
• there was a dangerous tendency to depend upon foreign-born generals 
• An Lushan was one of these, having Sogdian and Turkish parentage.
•  he succeeded in gaining control of three military districts north of the capital,
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• meanwhile Xuanzong, in his sixties, had fallen in love with Yang Guifei, 
• she was the concubine of one of his sons. 
• Yang Guifei adopted him as her son
• t was rumoured that he was her lover.
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• the chief minister Li Linfu died -  An Lushan wanted his post
• he became the rival of Yang Guifei’s cousin, Yang Guozhung for that post.

The Rebellion

• An Lushan failed to secure the position 
• he marched on the capital in 755 in an open revolt. 
• he seized the capital and declared the establishment of a new dynasty. 
• the next eight years the country was caught in a civil war.
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• the emperor was forced to flee but his guards turned against him 
• they refused to proceed until he got rid of Yang Guifei
• he had her strangled. 
• the emperor fled to Chengdu in the south-west 
• later that year abdicated in favour of his son.
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• An Lushan was assassinated in 757 by his own son 
• the rebellion was ultimately suppressed after those eight years
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Problems for the Tang - Decrease of its Power

• a) the rebellion, 
• b) fiscal difficulties, and
• c) the defeat in 751 of the Korean general who commanded Chinese forces against the Arabs 
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•  the dynasty would continue on for another 150 years 
• it would never recover its former vitality or energy .

Consequences of the Rebellion

• a) some parts of the country decreased in population.
• b) other parts of the country suffered serious economic and social displacement
• c) the north-east of the empire became more or less independent but 
• d) elsewhere provinces came under the control of military governors.
• e) some of the aristocracy were forced to move to the south.
• f) writers began to reflect on the lessons of history.
• g) it encouraged the Tibetans to advance, and 
• h) in 763, for a short while they capture Chang'an.
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The Post-Rebellion Restoration

• many government systems continued
• there were important reforms that took place 
• reforms to the taxation and administrative systems were introduced 
• a new frontier policy took effect.
• it was only in the 9th century that the Tang really began to decline.
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• one change was the fiscal reform of an official named Liu Yan
• it was during Emperor Daizong’s reign (762-79) 
• he tried to solve the problem of supplying Chang’an with grain
• he tried to improve the financial situation of the dynasty.
• he used the profits of the salt monopoly to pay for the maintenance of the canals
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• some of his reforms were undone by his successor Yang Yan 
• he worked as chief minister under the reign of Emperor Dezong (r. 779-805).

Taxes

•  an important reform of his was the “two-tax system” 
• one’s taxes were now to be paid twice a year under one tax 
• it had to be paid by all productive groups of society, not just the peasants.
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• this restored imperial control over taxation, which had
• previously it had  fallen into the hands of 
• a) financial specialists of the salt administration and
• b) that of the court eunuchs who controlled the treasury.

Emperor Xianzong (r.805-820)

• administrative reforms took place under the Emperor Xianzong (r. 805-20) 
• his concern was with the autonomy of the provinces 
• it led him to conduct a military campaign to Sichuan 
• there he defeated the general who had usurped the command. 
• the Emperor replaced him with one who was willing to accept a central government. 
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• he continued on with other campaigns, 
• he reduced provincial autonomy 
• was not so successful in the north-east as he was in central areas of Asia.
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• the rebellion had caused the military to abandon the frontier 
• the result was that Tibet now took over the pasture lands 
• this is where China had originally obtained its supply of war horses. 
• now the war horses had to be purchased from very expensively from the Uighur.
• they demanded a large amount of money for refraining from attacking China.

Emperor Dezong and the Uighurs

• between 780 and 787, the Emperor Dezong tried to negotiate a settlement with Tibet, 
• Tibet refused; it was to settle where their borders would be located.
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• so Dezong concluded an alliance with the Uighur,
• Dezong’s daughter was to marry the Uighur leader
• a costly annual exchange of Uighur horses for Chinese silk was in agreement.
• in return Dezong obtained the support of the Uighurs against Tibet.
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• this alliance is said to be the cornerstone of China’s frontier policy 
• it would last until the end of the Uighur empire in 840.

Buddhism During the Tang

• the Sui emperors had an ally in Buddhism, 
• the early Tang rulers, with the exception of Empress Wu, kept their distance from it,
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• Xuanzong took a hard line approach to Buddhism 
• he refused to grant it any imperial favours such as 
• a) building them monasteries, 
• b) ordinate monks or 
• c) have the imperial court participate in Buddhist rituals. 
•  he did require that they commemorate the emperor’s birthday
•  he had them put up images of the Buddha in the likeness of the Emperor.

The Effect of the Rebellion

• the An Lushan rebellion had a disastrous effect on the Buddhist community.
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• the government allowed unrestricted ordination to anyone willing to pay the fee
• this was because it needed money
• the quality of the clergy declined as a result
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• the rebellion caused the destruction of many monasteries and 
• it brought the loss of many important collections of manuscripts,
• this damaged the schools of philosophy.
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Emperor Dezong & Buddhism

• Pure Land Buddhism gained popularity 
• it was able to achieve recognition at the imperial court.
• Daizong gave Buddhism imperial patronage 
• he believed that the dynasty owed its survival to Buddhism
• he ended up supporting the construction of many monasteries 
• he made it possible to ordain thousands of monks.
•  he venerated Buddhist relics, 
• he sponsored vegetarian banquets 
• he looked for ways to reduce the economic burden of Buddhism 
• the Buddhist community had always been criticized, due to its cost to the state.

Turning Against Buddhism

• the largest protest took place after in 819, 
• this is when the Emperor Xianzong had the alleged fingerbone of the Buddha 
• he had it brought to Chang’an so he could worship it. 
• the criticism came from Han Yu, a Confucian scholar 
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• the Emperor threatened Han Yu with death 
• later he ordered him to leave in exile in the far south.
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• it was not until the reign of Wuzong (840-6) that action was taken up against Buddhism.
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• Wuzong was totally committed to Daoism and 
•  he did not like to see the sight of Buddhist monks.
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The Great Suppresson

• since the An Lushan rebellion there had been a shortage of copper for the minting of coins 
• part of the reason for this shortage was that copper had been used by the Buddhists
• this was for casting images and bells and chimes for the temples of the Buddhists.
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• the Buddhists were considered too wealthy
• they had tax exemptions – thus they were an economic burden on the state.
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• the great suppression involved
• a)  seizing the private property of Buddhist monks 
• b) restricting of pilgrimages. 
• c) In 845 Wuzong ordered all monasteries to surrender their land and wealth 
• d) all monks and nuns under the age of forty were to be laicized.

Consequences of the Great Suppression

• the results were:
• a) 4600 monasteries and 40,000 temples and shrines were destroyed;
• b) a quarter of a million monks and nuns were laicized;
• c) several millions of acres of land were confiscated
• d) sufficient amount of copper was recovered to resume the payment of salaries in cash.

The Fall of the Tang

• after 820 a series of young emperors were unable to assert their authority  
• the courts by now were filled with factional in-fighting.
•  this involved the eunuchs, who really controlled the palace 
• they were in a position to manipulate the emperor and determine the succession.
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• the influence of eunuchs also stretched to the military 
• the emperor generally relied on them to spy on his generals
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•  Li Deyu, Wuzong’s chief minister, took action against the eunuchs 
• he attempted to restore the bureaucracy.
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• when Xuanzong came to the throne, Li Deyu was dismissed.
• the new emperor tried to reform the grain transport system and salt monopoly.

Issues & Causes of the Fall

• there were more serious issues that needed to be addressed. 
• the most important issues were:
• a) the growth of large landed estates, 
• b) chronic fiscal problems, 
• c) the deterioration of the frontiers.
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• the fall of the dynasty was due to the rise of disorder. 
• mutinies and rebellions were taking place in the lower Yangzi region during Xuanzong’s rule 
• they were suppressed. 
• In the 860’s the state of Nanzhao attacked Annam but retreated 
• it was costly to the Chinese treasury 
• there were other mutinies.

Rebellions

• a rebellion broke out in the area between the Yellow and Huai rivers, where 
• the people there had been overtaxed and had suffered from droughts and flooding.
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• two leaders Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao headed the rebellion. 
• Wang Xianzhi was killed in 878. 
• Huang Chao headed south where he captured and sacked Guangzhou
• in 880 he captured Chang’an which forced the emperor to flee to Chengdu.
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• Huang Chao founded a new dynasty 
• he failed to establish an effective government.
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• the imperial forces, with the help of the Shatuo, a Turkish tribe, defeated the rebels
• Huang Chao was killed in 884.

The Collapse of the Tang

• the emperor returned to Chang’an, 
• the dynasty had collapsed. 
• several things had taken place:
• a)  its power was only concentrated in Chang’an,
• b) in the north, large parts of the country were occupied by non-Chinese forces.
•  c) in the east, military governors had seized territories,
• d) much of central and south China had seceded and formed independent states,
• in 907, Zhu Wen, a former lieutenant of Huang Chao, established the Liang Dynasty.

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