was the largest in Chinese history. He constructed a national network of royal highways, expanded China’s territories, went on a half‐year inspection tour to the northwestern frontiers to enhance the prestige of his empire, and reopened the Silk Road for trade.
But his extraordinary achievements came at a price. He had ascended to the throne by stealing the title of “crown prince” from his older brother, and then killing his father. He turned his father’s practical canal project into an extravaganza to flaunt his wealth and power. He launched three unnecessary and unsuccessful wars against Goguryeo (an ancient state on the Korean Peninsula). To sustain his wars and construction projects, he had to increase taxes and draft millions upon millions of peasants to serve as soldiers and laborers. To further add to the burden of the people, he lived a lifestyle of extreme extravagance, built elaborate palaces, and traveled in extraordinary grandeur. Quite naturally, the burden he placed on the backs of the peasantry generated peasant revolts and rebellions.
He was so full of himself that he would execute high officials and their entire families for speaking disparagingly of him. His despotic behavior caused widespread fear and hatred. Eventually, the commander of his palace guard captured and strangled him to death in a mutiny.
The Tang Dynasty (618–907): The “Golden Age” of Imperial China
Chaos followed the murder of the Sui emperor. A frontier general of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan (566–635), seized the throne and founded the Tang Dynasty. But one of his younger sons, Li Shimin (posthumously titled Tang Taizong, 599–649), soon staged a bloody coup d’état, killing the crown prince and forcing his father to abdicate and pass the throne on to him. He justified his conduct by claiming that the crown prince was plotting to kill him and he was only reacting to the threat.
Emperor Tang Taizong had the nickname “Green‐Eyed Lad,” which is an unmistakable indication of his Xianbei heritage. And that is not surprising, since the ruling families of both the Sui and Tang Dynasties were racially mixed for many generations.
Chinese historians proudly refer to Early Tang as the “Golden Age” of imperial China. The founding of the Tang regime came at the perfect juncture of history, for the nation was ready for great things. The newly reunified country would soon boast of a population of 90 million (in 755) and a territory of 12.50 million square kilometers (in 669). It would be the most powerful and longest‐lasting imperial dynasty in Chinese history.
Emperor Tang Taizong had a proven record of being an outstanding military commander and civil administrator from the days when he was helping his father in the fight to seize the throne. He had also taken to heart the historical lesson of how Sui Yangdi’s despotism had cost him his life and his empire. So, despite his exceptional ability, he modestly sought council and encouraged advice and criticism. He declared upon his coronation that he would adopt policies to ban extravagance, tighten expenditures, reduce taxes and labor service, and select frugal and law‐abiding officials, in order to allow the common people to recuperate and enjoy an abundance of food and clothing. Many historians honor Emperor Tang Taizong as the “model emperor” of imperial China, mainly for his capacity to accept criticism and advice, and his achievements during the 22 years of his reign.
Tang’s Capital Chang’an and the Silk Road
The Tang capital Chang’an (modern Xian) had been the capital of many dynasties, and now Emperor Tang Taizong would personally oversee its redesign on a grand master plan. Designed to impress, the capital was massive, orderly, and magnificent. It was seven times as large as ancient Rome or Constantinople. Surrounded by towering thick walls, it was laid out on a grid and divided into separate zones. The palace was located to the north of the city; to its immediate south were the government buildings; farther south were the residential and commercial zones. The city was shut down at night as soldiers patrolled the streets and enforced curfew. A million residents lived within the city, and another million lived in its suburbs. It was the world’s largest metropolis and a hub of international commercial and cultural exchanges.
It was the starting point of the Silk Road, which was first established in the Han Dynasty and was by now a well‐traveled thoroughfare that connected China with Central Asia, India, and Europe. People, goods, and ideas flowed along the road in both directions in great volume. Among Chang’an’s foreign residents were 30,000 foreign merchants, envoys, students, and monks, who were Persians, Arabs, Jews, and Indians. They brought all the major religions of the world here, including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Judaism, and early Christianity, and established their own houses of worship. Foreign merchants had separate sections where they lived, did business, and worshiped their gods in their own temples. Life in Chang’an was cosmopolitan, sophisticated, worldly, and upbeat.
Government and Law
The Tang Dynasty did not leave good government to the uncertainties of an emperor’s personality and moral choices; rather, it put in place institutional structures and procedures to ensure good government. Emperor Tang Taizong borrowed from the Sui model to develop a highly structured national government bureaucracy. It was centralized, balanced, and efficient. It functioned in compliance with a clear division of duties and strict procedures.
First, he enhanced the power of the emperor by eliminating the powerful position of prime minister and dividing his powers among three specialized secretariats, each with a minister and deputy ministers. Each secretariat had its defined duties: (1) to draft laws and orders in the name of the emperor; (2) to review and approve them after the ministers had discussed them and reached unanimous agreement, and the emperor had signed them; and (3) to oversee their implementation. All major issues were required to be discussed and approved in an open joint session of the three secretariats. An order missing any one of the three‐step procedure was considered legally incomplete.
The secretariat responsible for implementation had one minister and six deputy ministers responsible for the six government departments in charge of such matters as government personnel (the officials), census and revenue (tax collection), law enforcement, war, and land, water, and engineering. There was also a supervision board and a supreme court. This government structure enhanced the emperor’s power by removing the prime minister, but it also checked and balanced his power by creating the other government agencies and procedures.
The 30‐volume Great Book of Tang Law was an expanded version of the laws promulgated by Emperor Tang Taizong. It aimed for simplicity and leniency, in contrast to the earlier harsh and cumbersome Sui laws. A milestone in the history of Chinese legislation, it was also the model for successive Chinese dynasties, and was instrumental in shaping the legal systems of Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
Land and Tax Reform
Tang’s prosperity and stability owed much to its land and tax systems. Early Tang had a law for the “Equal Distribution of Land.” It gave a peasant family “user’s rights” to a grant of land based on the number of people in the family, while upholding the principle that the emperor holds ultimate title to all lands. A portion of the peasant’s land grant was designated to growing food grain, and it had to be returned to the state when the individual died. Another portion was for growing mulberry trees, elm trees, or flax; this land could be passed on in the family, or sold in the event of a death in the family. Aristocrats would receive large land grants that were inheritable and tax‐exempt. Lower‐level officials received land grants that would pay for their salary and office expenses.
The government required a peasant family to pay taxes and provide labor service in proportion to the land grant it received. It could demand 20 days of labor service per year without paying. If it needed more, it must reduce taxes in proportion; but it may not, under any circumstance, demand more than 30 days of labor service per year. Later, a new law allowed a peasant family to pay cash in lieu of labor service. This allowed a peasant to remain on the land continuously in order to keep in pace with the rhythmic cycle of agricultural production. Early Tang law taxed the person, but it was later changed to taxing the land. A tax law based on the person required the government to exert itself