The Chinese Dynasties



Introduction

The history of China is full of versatile dynasties, and their styles of ruling. Chinese culture has a wide civilization underneath, ruled by different political classes. Each manifested a different style and political philosophy. Few blessed China with enormous development while few created resentfulness and plague among masses. The paper discusses three major Chinese dynasties namely, The Sui dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Song dynasty. It studies the changes occurred during the reign of each one of them. It also discusses the social impact of each dynasty towards peoples' life.

Discussion

The Sui Dynasty

The Sui dynasty ruled for a definite period from 589 to 618. It was an imperial dynasty. The dynasty was tyrannical in nature with excessive tax burden as well as mandatory labor for the masses. The Sui dynasty initiated the amalgamation of northern and southern China. Their achievements include the development of Grand Canal.

Sui dynasty also contributed to political and economic developments. They developed the agriculture by emphasizing per acre yield in the entire region. Huge increases were generated, and food surpluses were observed. Secondly, skill industry was flourished after the development of shipbuilding technology. The Chinese Commerce made significant progress and tax revenues were always in surplus throughout their reigning period (Gascoigne, 2003).

Their political system comprised of three departments and six ministers, and there was no concept of civil service examination and powerful bureaucracy. The building of Grand Canal was an effort to connect northern and southern Chinese region. It led to great economic development with respect to trade and communication. Means of transportation were also advanced during Sui dynasty. Another achievement was rebuilding of the Great Wall of China that connected the region with far distant lands ( Gascoigne, 2003).

Social life during Sui dynasty was restrained and ruthless. Taxation on necessities was so heavy that masses were finding it unaffordable. No major cultural developments were made in terms of literature, art or other social facets. Labor was compulsory for all, the young and the old. Cruel punishments were given on trivial crimes and violations of law. Therefore, people were offended and unhappy with their ruling establishment (Gascoigne, 2003).

The Tang Dynasty

The reigning period of Tang dynasty dates from 618 to 907. The Tang Dynasty was Imperialistic in nature. It emerged after the downfall of Sui Dynasty following the five dynasties as well as the ten kingdom period. The dynasty belongs to the family 'Li, who clenched the power with the downfall of Sui dynasty. The tang period was well known for growth and economic stability for Chinese region (Indiana University, 2008).

It was a period of major political, social and economic changes. Initially, they gave China a new legal code which implied that all future decisions would be taken by Chinese government pertaining to their internal issues as well as, neighboring regions including Japan, Korea and Vietnam falling under Chinese authority. Their newly proposed administration model encompassed six ministers and three departments. To address civil affairs, they initiated a system of ...