Editing Tang dynasty (section)

== Administration and politics ==
{{See also|Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty}}

=== Initial reforms ===
[[File:李隆基像.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] wearing the robes and hat of a scholar]]
Taizong set out to solve internal problems within the government which had constantly plagued past dynasties. Building upon the Sui legal code, he issued [[Tang Code|a new legal code]] that subsequent Chinese dynasties would model theirs upon, as well as neighbouring polities in [[Vietnam]], [[Korea]], and [[Japan]].{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=91}} The earliest law code to survive was established in 653; it was divided into 500 articles specifying different crimes and penalties ranging from ten blows with a light stick, one hundred blows with a heavy rod, exile, penal servitude, or execution. The legal code distinguished different levels of severity in meted punishments when different members of the social and political hierarchy committed the same crime. For example, the severity of punishment was different when a servant or nephew killed a master or an uncle than when a master or uncle killed a servant or nephew.{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|pp=111–112}}

[[File:CMOC Treasures of Ancient China exhibit - tri-coloured figure of a civil official.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Tang [[Tang dynasty tomb figures|tomb figure]] of an official dressed in ''[[hanfu]]''. He is depicted with a tall hat, wide-sleeved belted outer garment, and a rectangular "kerchief" in front. A white inner gown hangs over his square shoes, and he holds a tablet containing a report to his superiors to his chest.]]

The Tang Code was largely retained by later codes such as the early [[Ming dynasty]] (1368–1644) code of 1397,{{sfn|Andrew|Rapp|2000|p=25}} yet there were several revisions in later times, such as [[Society of the Song dynasty#Women: legality and lifestyles|improved property rights for women]] during the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279).{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|p=158}}{{sfn|Bernhardt|1995|pp=274–275}}

The Tang had three departments ({{zhi|c=省|p=shěng}}), which were obliged to draft, review, and implement policies respectively. There were also six ministries ({{zhi|c=部|p=bù}}) under the administrations that implemented policy, each of which was assigned different tasks. These [[Three Departments and Six Ministries]] included the personnel administration, finance, rites, military, justice, and public works—an administrative model which lasted until the fall of the [[Qing dynasty]] (1644–1912).{{sfn|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=78}}

Although the founders of the Tang related to the glory of the earlier [[Han dynasty]] (202&nbsp;BC{{snd}}220&nbsp;AD), the basis for much of their administrative organisation was very similar to the previous [[Northern and Southern dynasties]]. The [[Northern Zhou]] (6th century) [[fubing system|''fubing'' system]] of divisional militia was continued by the Tang, along with farmer-soldiers serving in rotation from the capital or frontier in order to receive appropriated farmland. The [[equal-field system]] of the [[Northern Wei]] (4th–6th centuries) was also kept, although there were a few modifications.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=91}}

Although the central and local governments kept an enormous number of records about land property in order to assess taxes, it became common practice in the Tang for literate and affluent people to create their own private documents and signed contracts. These had their own signature and that of a witness and scribe in order to prove in court (if necessary) that their claim to property was legitimate. The prototype of this actually existed since the ancient Han dynasty, while contractual language became even more common and embedded into Chinese literary culture in later dynasties.{{sfn|Brook|1998|p=59}}

The centre of the political power of the Tang was the capital city of [[Chang'an]] (modern [[Xi'an]]), where the emperor maintained his large palace quarters and entertained political emissaries with music, sports, acrobats, poetry, paintings, and [[Pear Garden|dramatic theatre performances]]. The capital was also filled with incredible amounts of riches and resources to spare. When the Chinese [[prefecture|prefectural]] government officials travelled to the capital in 643 to give the annual report of the affairs in their districts, Emperor Taizong discovered that many had no proper quarters to rest in and were renting rooms with merchants. Therefore, Emperor Taizong ordered the government agencies in charge of municipal construction to build every visiting official his own private mansion in the capital.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=59}}

=== Imperial examinations ===
{{Main|Imperial examination}}
{{Further|Imperial examination in Chinese mythology}}
[[File:Civilserviceexam1.jpg|thumb|A Ming-era painting by [[Qiu Ying]] depicting candidates for civil service gathered around the wall where examination results had been posted]]

Students of [[Confucian]] studies were candidates for the [[imperial examination]]s, which qualified their graduates for appointment to the local, provincial, and central government bureaucracies. Two types of exams were given, ''mingjing'' ({{lang|zh|明經}}; 'illuminating the classics') and ''jinshi'' ({{lang|zh|進士}}; 'presented scholar'). The ''mingjing'' was based upon the [[Confucian classics]] and tested the student's knowledge of a broad variety of texts. The ''jinshi'' tested a student's literary abilities in writing essays in response to questions on governance and politics, as well as in composing [[Chinese poetry|poetry]].{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|pp=91–92}} Candidates were also judged on proper deportment, appearance, speech, and [[calligraphy]], all subjective criteria that favoured the wealthy over those of more modest means who were unable to pay tutors of [[rhetoric]] and writing. Although a disproportionate number of civil officials came from aristocratic families, wealth and noble status were not prerequisites, and the exams were open to all male subjects whose fathers were not of the [[Four occupations|artisan or merchant classes]].{{sfn|Gascoigne|Gascoigne|2003|p=95}}{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=97}} To promote widespread Confucian education, the Tang government established state-run schools and issued standard versions of the [[Five Classics]] with commentaries.{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|p=112}}

Open competition was designed to draw the best talent into government. But perhaps an even greater consideration for the Tang rulers was to avoid imperial dependence on powerful aristocratic families and [[warlord]]s by recruiting a body of career officials having no family or local power base. The Tang law code ensured equal division of inherited property among legitimate heirs, encouraging [[social mobility]] by preventing powerful families from becoming [[landed nobility]] through [[primogeniture]].{{sfn|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=83}} The competition system proved successful, as [[scholar-officials]] acquired status in their local communities while developing an esprit de corps that connected them to the imperial court. From Tang times until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1912, scholar-officials served as intermediaries between the people and the government. The potential of a widespread examination system was not fully realised until the succeeding Song dynasty, when the merit-driven scholar official largely shed his aristocratic habits and defined his social status through the examination system.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=159}}{{sfn|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=95}}{{sfn|Adshead|2004|p=54}}
{{blockquote|The examination system, used only on a small scale in Sui and Tang times, played a central role in the fashioning of this new elite. The early Song emperors, concerned above all to avoid domination of the government by military men, greatly expanded the civil service examination system and the government school system.{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|pp=145–146}}}}

=== Religion and politics ===
[[File:Audience by Emperor Tang Xuanzong.jpg|thumb|right|[[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] giving audience to [[Zhang Guo]], by [[Ren Renfa]] (1254–1327)]]

From the outset, religion played a role in Tang politics. In his bid for power, Li Yuan had attracted a following by claiming descent from the Taoist sage [[Laozi]] ({{floruit|6th century&nbsp;BC}}).{{sfn|Graff|2000|p=79}} People bidding for office would request the prayers of Buddhist monks, with successful aspirants making donations in return. Before the persecution of Buddhism in the 9th century, Buddhism and Taoism were both accepted. Religion was central in the reign of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] ({{reign|712|756}}). The Emperor invited Taoist and Buddhist monks and clerics to his court, exalted Laozi with grand titles, wrote commentary on Taoist scriptures, and set up a school to prepare candidates for Taoist examinations. In 726, he called upon the Indian monk [[Vajrabodhi]] (671–741) to perform [[Vajrayana|tantric]] rites to avert a drought. In 742, he personally held the incense burner while patriarch of the [[Shingon Buddhism|Shingon school]] [[Amoghavajra]] (705–774) recited "mystical incantations to secure the victory of Tang forces".{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=99}}

Emperor Xuanzong closely regulated religious finances. Near the beginning of his reign in 713, he liquidated the [[Chang'an#Northwestern Chang'an|Inexhaustible Treasury]] of a prominent Buddhist monastery in Chang'an which had collected vast riches as multitudes of anonymous repentants left money, silk, and treasure at its doors. Although the monastery used its funds generously, the Emperor condemned it for fraudulent [[History of banking in China|banking practices]], and distributed its wealth to other Buddhist and Taoist monasteries, and to repair local statues, halls, and bridges.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=61}} In 714, he forbade Chang'an shops from selling copied Buddhist sutras, giving a monopoly of this trade to the Buddhist clergy.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=57}}

=== Taxes and the census ===
The Tang government attempted to create an accurate census of the empire's population, mostly for effective taxation and military conscription. The early Tang government established modest grain and cloth taxes on each household, persuading households to register and provide the government with accurate demographic information.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=91}} In the official census of 609, the population was tallied at 9&nbsp;million households, about 50&nbsp;million people,{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=91}} and this number did not increase in the census of 742.{{sfn|Ebrey|1999|p=141}} [[Patricia Ebrey]] writes that nonwithstanding census undercounting, China's population had not grown significantly since [[History of the Han dynasty|the earlier Han dynasty]], which recorded 58&nbsp;million people in 2&nbsp;AD.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=91}}{{sfn|Nishijima|1986|pp=595–596}} Adshead disagrees, estimating about 75&nbsp;million people by 750.{{sfn|Adshead|2004|p=72}}

In the Tang census of 754, there were 1,859 cities, 321 [[Prefecture (China)|prefectures]], and 1,538 [[Counties of the People's Republic of China#History|counties]] throughout the empire.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=45}} Although there were many large and prominent cities, the rural and agrarian areas comprised 80–90% of the population.{{sfn|Benn|2002|p=32}} There was also a dramatic migration from [[Northern and southern China|northern to southern China]], as the North held 75% of the overall population at the dynasty's inception, which by its end was reduced to 50%.{{sfn|Adshead|2004|p=75}} The Chinese population would not dramatically increase until the Song dynasty, when it doubled to 100&nbsp;million because of extensive rice cultivation in central and southern China, coupled with higher yields of grain sold in a growing market.{{sfn|Ebrey|Walthall|Palais|2006|p=156}}