Throughout the history of the Chinese nation, we will find an interesting and strange phenomenon. Under the feudal monarchy, the change of dynasties will always develop a situation of declining for a long time, splitting and dividing, controlling chaos for a long time, and unifying and strengthening.
Sui and Tang Dynasties (AD 58 1 ~ AD 907) were established under this historical impetus. Before the establishment of the Sui Dynasty (58 1 ~ 6 18) and the Tang Dynasty (6 18 ~ 907), they all experienced the almost extinct "five wild flowers" of the Han nationality and the darkest troubled times "Three Kingdoms, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties". China was thoroughly baptized by the war, and the four great inventions of China, printing in the Central Plains and gunpowder, were all created during this period.
Since the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty has eliminated the last separatist regime "Chen Nan" in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, unified all China, and ended nearly 300 years of troubled times. Through a series of reforms, the Sui Dynasty has shown a prosperous era of "ruling the country by the emperor" and pushed the national strength of the Sui Dynasty to the peak.
After Yang Di Yang Guang ascended the throne, "the rule of opening the emperor" became a flash in the pan; During the reign of Yang Guang, the Sui Dynasty ended in only 37 years, which was characterized by exorbitant taxes and levies, arrogance and extravagance, overdrawn national strength and belligerence.
The Sui Dynasty did not exist for a long time in the history of China, but during the reign of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the society was prosperous and strong, and the politics was clear and stable, which played a transitional role in the rule of the later Tang Dynasty.
In the same year that the Sui Dynasty perished, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor, made Chang 'an his capital, and established the Tang Dynasty. Due to frequent peasant uprisings and constant wars at the end of Sui Dynasty, the wealth of Sui Dynasty and Chen Nan suffered huge losses, agricultural production stagnated, and economic and trade were also destroyed. The Tang Dynasty can only take over the mess left by the Sui Dynasty.
Although the Sui Dynasty did not leave a lot of rich wealth to its successor, the progress in politics, military affairs, economy, culture, diplomacy, agriculture, science and technology and religion in the heyday of the Sui Dynasty laid a solid foundation for the development of the later Tang Dynasty.
First, politics;
During the reign of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, he vigorously reformed the state system, abolished the "nine-product system" and established the "three provinces and six departments system".
Simplifying local administrative institutions and abolishing counties to establish counties not only eliminates the influence of local forces, but also consolidates the power of the central government, killing two birds with one stone. The Tang Dynasty completely inherited the political system of the Sui Dynasty. In order to avoid the lessons and experience of the demise of the Sui Dynasty, the ruling class of the Tang Dynasty put their heads together and formulated corresponding measures and good strategies for governing the country.
In particular, the official selection system "imperial examination system", which originated from the Sui Dynasty, such as "bootstrap" and "examination method", had a clue in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, and its real implementation and establishment period took shape in the Tang Dynasty.
The "supervision system" in the Sui Dynasty was also a systematic system for the central and local governments to select officials according to their academic ability. The imperial examination system evolved in the Tang Dynasty blocked the possibility of nepotism, broke the road to official positions due to hereditary blood relationship and monopoly of aristocratic families, and gave talented and good-natured scholars in the middle and lower classes a better way to enter the upper class of the country.
Second, the law;
Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty enacted the Law of Opening the Emperor, which abolished the cruel criminal laws of the old dynasty and the criminal laws of genocide and serial killings, reduced 8 1 capital crimes, completed the reform process of the criminal system since the Han Dynasty, and played a positive role in promoting the stability of the people and society.
The laws of the Tang Dynasty, such as Five Virtues Law, Zhenguan Law, Yonghui Law, Yi Shu Law of the Tang Dynasty, and Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty, represent the highest level of ancient Chinese laws, and their punishment standards are also based on Huang Kai Law. It was the implementation of these "Tang laws" that led to the prosperity of "Zhenguan rule" in the early Tang Dynasty.
Third, make it capital;
Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, established Daxing City (Chang 'an City) as its early capital; After Yang Di Yang Guang ascended the throne, he named Luoyang "Tokyo" and moved the capital to Luoyang in 605. Although Daxing City has the name of "capital", it has no real name.
Since Emperor Yang Di moved to Tokyo, Luoyang City has become the actual capital. In 6 10, Luoyang, Tokyo was renamed Dongdu.
Chang 'an is the capital of the early Tang Dynasty. As early as 684 AD, the "East Capital" was changed to "God Capital". In 690 AD, Wu Zetian designated Luoyang as the "God Capital" and Chang 'an changed its name to "Xijing".
In 705 AD, "God Capital" was changed to "East Capital", and Chang 'an regained the title of "Shi Jing". In 706 AD, the Tang Dynasty also moved back to Chang 'an.
The capital of Sui and Tang Dynasties moved back and forth between Luoyang and Chang 'an. I don't know if it's idle or feng shui.
Fourth, painting and calligraphy;
During the Sui Dynasty, folk painting skills began to be valued by the public, especially the painting skills of landscape painting tended to mature. In the Tang Dynasty, a large number of famous painters appeared, such as Wu Daozi, Yan, Yan Lide, Zhang Xuanhe. Wang Wei, a representative poet of the Southern School, is good at ink landscape painting, while Li Sixun, a representative poet of the Northern School, is good at landscape painting.
Calligraphy in Sui Dynasty inherited from the Southern and Northern Dynasties and started from the Tang Dynasty. Correct writing and skillful calligraphy. In the early Tang Dynasty, everyone's demeanor gradually formed, and personal style and artistic appreciation were very unrestrained.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) diplomacy;
The diplomatic strategy of the Sui Dynasty has the purpose and significance of "serving people with virtue". The vassal States of Sui Dynasty offered sacrifices regularly, and everyone lived in peace. Especially after the reopening of the "Silk Road", the trade of the Sui Dynasty reached Europe and its relations with foreign countries became increasingly close.
Even if it is necessary to confront each other, such as the Sui Dynasty's use of troops against Goguryeo, it is only for submission, not for complete extinction. There was chaos at the end of Sui Dynasty, and Turks took the opportunity to control Hexi Corridor in dispatch troops.
After the destruction of the Turks in the Tang Dynasty, it continued to expand westward, occupied the western regions and reopened the Hexi Corridor. At the same time, in order to stabilize the relationship with the surrounding ethnic minorities, the Tang Dynasty intermarried, such as Princess * * and Ganbu * *. The diplomacy of the Tang Dynasty went deep into the Middle East, and many countries in the world also sent craftsmen and students to the Tang Dynasty to observe and study and conduct exchanges at the accountability level.
Therefore, the Sui and Tang Dynasties were an era of unusually frequent diplomacy between China and foreign countries.
6. Social system and agricultural production;
The feudal social system of Sui and Tang Dynasties was the earliest and most perfect in the world at that time, and it was ahead of the feudal social systems of other countries in the world in politics, economy, culture and military affairs at that time 1000 years.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, agricultural production entered a new stage, and handicrafts and commercial trade were at the leading level in the world. The Sui Dynasty attached importance to agricultural productivity and reduced folk taxes and corvees. Especially during the reign of Yang Guang, the Sui and Tang Grand Canal, which was dug with the help of the state, promoted the trade exchange between the North and the South, promoted the economic development, and benefited the later Tang Dynasty greatly.
Li Shimin made use of these infrastructures left by the Sui Dynasty, which opened the prosperous situation in the early Tang Dynasty and laid a solid foundation for the later development of Kaiyuan Shi Sheng.
7. Territorial integrity and military institutions;
After the great division of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the great unification of the Sui Dynasty, the Sui and Tang Dynasties were the only empire in the world that maintained long-term unification. At a time when countries and regions in the world are in a state of division, the concept of China's territorial integrity and unity has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and the stability of the social situation has provided more favorable conditions for economic and cultural development.
The military establishment of the Sui Dynasty followed the "Twelve Guards" of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was handed over to the central unified command. In the Tang Dynasty, due to the expansion of the territory, the establishment of "Twelve Guards" in the Sui Dynasty was changed to "Sixteen Guards", which reformed the military service system and saved military expenses.
On the basis of the military establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty added the "Central Army" and the "Fanzhen Army", and set up our army everywhere, with a total strength of one million, which is powerful and can be attacked and retreated. But the local military, political and economic affairs are also managed by our time, which makes the area under our jurisdiction in a semi-independent state. Coupled with the self-respect of the generals of Fan Zhenjun, they did not listen to the orders of the central authorities, which eventually led to chaos, such as the famous "An Shi Rebellion" in the Tang Dynasty.
8. Open policy and religious belief;
Sui and Tang Dynasties did not adopt the closed-door policy of most countries in China's history. It is extremely open, absorbs a large number of foreign cultures and spreads the traditional culture of China to all parts of the world.
During the reign of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, he attached great importance to culture and education, and made great efforts to collect books lost in the war, thus enriching the collection resources. It was the Tang Dynasty that inherited the cultural resources of the Sui Dynasty. The ban on literature in the Tang Dynasty was relaxed, and a hundred schools of thought contended in the field of literature and art, especially poetry.
For example, Yang Jiong, Lu, Luo, Wang Wei, Meng Haoran and Wang Changling in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Li Bai and Du Fu, Bai Juyi in the middle Tang Dynasty, Li Shangyin and Du Mu in the late Tang Dynasty. Although there were outstanding poets in the later generations, there were not so many outstanding poets in the Tang Dynasty, which pushed the development of poetry and literature forward.
Taoism, in particular, with the strong support of the national ruling class, has achieved considerable and stable development; With the introduction of Indian Buddhism into the Central Plains, under the influence of the traditional culture of the Central Plains, it became a Buddhism with the characteristics of the Han Dynasty, and reached its peak under the impetus of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. China has also replaced India as the center of Buddhism in the world.
Conclusion;
Sui and Tang Dynasties produced a large number of wise emperors, such as Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty and Li Longji. The Sui Dynasty laid a solid foundation, and the Tang Dynasty developed steadily and became the most powerful empire in the world, which lasted for more than 300 years.
The main reason is that Li Yuanhe is nepotism, and they are the grandchildren of Fu Du in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. After Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, he boldly used the civilian military commanders of the old Sui Dynasty, which played a positive role in inheriting all aspects of the Sui system.
Therefore, it is better to say that the Sui Dynasty made the Tang Dynasty powerful than to inherit everything from the Sui Dynasty. The two dynasties complemented each other and became the most prosperous "Sui and Tang Dynasties" in the eyes of later historians.