What is “Reign of Zhenguan” in the Tang Dynasty?

After Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, took over the throne he changed his year of reign to be “Zhenguan. ” And what we call the ” Reign of Zhenguan” refers to the achievements made politically, economically, and socially in Tang Dynasty. The Tang Empire was the most civilized and powerful country in the world at that time, and its capital Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) was a world metropolis. For those want to learn about the history of Tang Dynasty, especially the “Reign of Zhenguan”, make sure you travel to Xian.

 

Zhaoling Mausoleum

Overview of the Reign of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty

Emperor Taizong appointed competent and capable officials, encouraged officials to advice and  humbly accept advice, respect the people, and exercise self-control. During his reign, he implemented policies that prioritized agriculture, practiced tight economics, recuperated, revived culture and education, and perfected the imperial examination system, resulting in a stable society.

In addition, he fiercely resisted the invasion from the northern tribes, respected the customs of the border ethnic group, stabilized the border area, and eventually reached the ideal scenario of global authority. The rule of Zhenguan established the groundwork for the affluent Kaiyuan Era and propelled Chinese traditional agrarian civilization to its pinnacle.

History Background of the Reign of Zhenguan

In the early Tang Dynasty, because of the chaos caused by Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty left a situation of serious destruction and people’s livelihood withered. The Northern Zhou “left” the Sui Dynasty a population of 6.9 million households (according to scholars Cen Zhongmian, Yang Zhijiu and others), and there were no big wars. Emperor Yang produced disorder throughout the country, causing the population to fall, and leaving the Tang Dynasty with little more than 2 million households (according to the “Tongdian”). Li Yuan and Li Shimin nified the Central Plains and the South, paving the way for the Reign of Zhenguan.

In the feudal society in ancient China, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty is a well-known military strategist and a great statesman. Seen with his own eyes the torrential onrushes of peasant uprising army at the end of the Sui Dynasty he had a clear vision that it was due to rapaciousness and excessive taxes and levies imposed by Emperor Yang at the dynasty that led to his loosing the state power and being killed. He agreed with what Wei Zheng, his Prime minister said about the analog of the people in which he assimilated the “sovereign to be the boat and the people the water. The water is able to carry the boat but can also overturn it.” So he held that “the way in which a sovereign must do is to take great account of the livelihood of the people. ”

Zhaoling Mausoleum

The Policies of Politics and Military during the Reign of Zhenguan

Juntianzhi

 

In order to maintain the fundamental interests of the feudal ruling class Li Shimin introduced a series of measures good for developing the production the girl of which was the ” System for Averaging the Land” or “Juntianzhi” in Chinese Romanization. According to the system whoever at the 18 years of age would be allocated 100 mu (about 6.7 hectares ) of land to work on it, of which 80 mu were known as ” land allocated per capita,” i. e. In turn back to the state after the death of the person while the rest 20 mu the “land of permanent property. ”

Emperor Taizong also organized the emigration from the densely populated areas to the sparsely inhabited areas. The measures taken had by and large met the requirements of the people for land to till on, thereby playing an active role in developing production and stabilizing the life of the people.

Fubingzhi

Aside from Juntianzhi is what we call “Fubingzhi’” or troops kept by local prefectures for useful need.

According to the rule, soldiers conscripted from places may stay at home for production in normal times and get together to be trained in slack seasons whereas filose in active service must be provided by the local prefectures with provisions and weaponry to station by turns in frontier areas or for protecting the safety and security of the capital city. To disperse in normal times for production and to be called up for the war file way of containing the armed troops in agricultural production worked a great deal in reducing the heavy burden of the farm-laborers at the time.

As a sovereign he is relatively prone to listen to different opinions. According to what Wei Zheng suggested “Listen to both sides and you’ll be enlightened, whereas heed only one side and you’ll be benighted.” And so he “paid attention to “listening to both sides” while trying his best to avoid “heeding only one side. ‘ He’s got a deep understanding of such advice as ‘with bronze as a mirror one can get to know the rises and falls of dynasties in the past and with others as a mirror one is able to tell the advantages from disadvantages’. ”

 

By doing so he roped in a great many proficient officials and competent generals to make efforts and suggestions for the development of the Tang Dynasty, thereby making all businesses at the time to recover and boom at a faster pace ahead.

 

Diplomacy of the Reign of Zhenguan

The Zhenguan Dynasty was one of the few open regimes in Chinese history, with no stringent limits on foreign immigration or Chinese exit. That is, they did not worry about the Chinese out of forgetting their roots and ancestors; nor did they worry about foreigners coming in to dominate the country. This point alone demonstrates the Tang Dynasty during the Reign of Zhenguan had a great level of self-confidence. They were sure that their own country was the most cultured and strong land in the globe and were unconcerned about alien civilizations submerging themselves.

In addition to accepting a large number of foreign immigrants, the Tang Empire also received batch after batch of foreign students to come to China to study advanced culture. The Tang dynasty received seven batches of Japanese students sent by the Japanese government at public expense alone, with several hundred students in each batch.

Today, many take Xian tours to explore this famed capital of the Reign of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty to trace the history at that period.

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