China Popular Itineraries |
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Culture in the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty |
Feudal society underwent a period of disunity in the Three Kingdoms, the Jin, the Southern and Northern dynasties, and the short-lived Sui Dynasty and achieved its reunification in the Tang Dynasty, one of the most glorious eras in Chinese history since the Qin and the Han dynasties. In 589, the uni-fication of China by the founder of the Sui Dynasty put an end to the period of division and turmoil which lasted more than three centuries. The foundation of the Tang Dynasty ushered in a mighty Tang empire. The Tang Dynasty was at that time the largest and, economically and culturally speaking, the most developed empire in the world. The cultural progress of the Sui and the Tang dynasties resulted from the following factors: first, the economic development in the south of the Yangtze River acted as a catalytic in the leap of economic strength of ancient China; second, the declining of the influential and privi-leged families of scholar-officials and of hereditary power and the landlords made it possible for the clan of commoners to enter the historical arena and for the newly-emerging forces to rise rapidly to the domination; third, the inte-gration of the cultures of different nationalities infused the social development with vitality so that the magnificent culture in Sui-Tang held forth her self-confidence, her vigor and her integrity in front of the world.
As for the system, two significant reforms in this period exercised far-reaching influence on the social development. Sui abolished the system prac-tised since the Wei-Jin period, by which officials were selected according to family-status. The Wei and Jin system of officials selection was replaced in the Sui and the Tang dynasties by a system of competitive examinations, namely the imperial civil examination system, from which candidates with fine aca-demic records were nominated for appointment according to the results of their performance in the official exam. Examination for the degree of Jin Shi (palace graduate) covered current affairs, poetry and rhymed prose, mainly testing the examinees' ability and originality. This opened a new channel for more people to enter upon an official career and thereby helped broaden the class basis of feudal rule. Another reform initiated in this period was con-cerned with the tax. Before the Tang Dynasty, by means of the Zu Yong Diao System, taking the number of adults as the tax-levying basis, the gov-ernment had a strict control over the population. The Tang court issued a de-cree, i.e., the Two-Tax Law, providing for tax payment in proportion to the amount of one's property, mainly the land property, thus bearing the nature of assets tax instead of capitation tax. From then on, tax levy began to shift from per capita field to the land. The burden of the peasant was somewhat lightened, and the personal constraints imposed on laborers by the state were gradually decreased.
The Sui and the Tang dynasties were magnanimous and tolerant in the a-cademic and cultural policy. There was to a certain extent freedom of thought. Scholars did research on Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Tao-ism won special royal favor in the "Fang period, because Li Er, who was sup-posed to be the founder of that school, had the same family name as the ruling house. In one of his edicts, Emperor Gao Zu Li Yuan explicitly said that Tao ism should be given priority over all other religious faith. Emperor Gao Zong conferred on Li Er the posthumous title of the Supreme Emperor of the Pro-found Heavens and on Zhuangzi the title of the True Man of Nanhua. Bud dhism was an equally prevailing religion in this period. Emperor Yang Jian in the Sui Dynasty advocated Buddhism and declared that it was the will of Bud dha for Yang to replace Zhou as the sovereign. Empress Wu Ze Tian promoted and popularized Buddhist doctrines. Encouraged by the monarehy, Buddhism as a religious faith had a mass adherence, and left a deep mark in the political, economic and cultural spheres during the height of Tang. There arose many Buddhist sects such as the Tiantai sect, the Huayan sect and the Chan sect. The absorption of Buddhism in the traditional Chinese culture accelerated in this period. Confucianism remained an effective weapon of the sovereign to control people's ideology. Together with the great national unity, the north-ern and southern branches of the study of Confucian classics collaborated. Em-peror Tai Zong of the Tang Dynasty entrusted Kong Yingda and others with a task of annotating the Five Classics. They completed the 180-volume Annota-tions to the Five Classics. Tai Zong also authorized Yan Shigu to collate and edit the texts of the Five Classics, which were entitled Definitive Edition of the Five Classics. They were a uniform interpretation of the Confucian classics stipulated by royalty. With few changes to Confucian doctrines, Emperor Xuan Zong of the Tang Dynasty addressed Confucius respectfully as Wenxuan Wang, meaning king of culture. The sovereigns' tolerance of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism was helpful for the three branches to as-similate and merge with each other, resulting in the integration of the three, on the basis of which the Confucian school of idealist philosophy of the Song and the Ming dynasties took shape. Besides, the golden age of Sui-Tang wit-nessed closer relations between China and foreign countries. The Tang empire developed extensive ties with many countries and regions. People of the mi-nority nationalities in China as well as foreign emissaries, ecclesiastics and merchants came to Chang' an en masse, bringing with them exotic products, music, dance, customs and religions, such as Buddhism, calendric system, medical science, linguistics, music, paintings of South Asia, music and dance from Central Asia, Christianity from the west. The growing international contacts enriched the cultural life of the Han people. The open policy of Sui-Tang indicated the self-confidence and great momentum derived from the overall national strength and the advanced culture and ideology.
Supported by the full-fledged national strength, the culture in the golden age of the Tang Dynasty saw its achievements surpassing those in the previous dynasties. Tang poetry attained its peak in the celebrated poets Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi, who left behind tens of thousands of poems, the inexhaustible treasury and incomparable heritage. In the meantime, a galaxy of calligra-phers were produced, of whom the most influential were Yan Zhenqing and Huai Su. Included in the names of great Tang painters were Yan Liben and Wu Daozi. As a noted Tang astronomer, Monk Yi Xing was remembered for his unparalleled achievements in this field. The engravings were exquisite. Papermaking and block printing also reached a high level of development. Those techniques were passed on to the abroad, as a result the Chinese made a tremendous contribution to the world culture. |
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