Introduction of China’s Cosmopolitan Empire

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1、IntroductionofChina’sCosmopolitanEmpireMarkEdwardLewis1ThemilitaryconquestsandbrilliantpoetrythatChinesehavetraditionallycelebratedoccurredinthefirsthalfoftheTangdynasty.Theimperialcourtneverrecoveredfromacataclysmicrebellioninthemiddleoftheeighthcentury,andwithinafewdecadesChinesest

2、atesmenandauthorswerealreadywritingofagoldenageinwhoseshadowtheynowdwelled.GlorificationoftheTang’searlyachievementsinpoliticsandartincreasedinlaterdynasties.WithallofChinaoritsnorthernhalfcontrolledbynon-Chinesepeoplesformostoftheempire’ssubsequenthistory,theTangbecamethelastgreat“C

3、hinese”dynasty.Thisidea(whichdismissedthemilitarilyweakMingdynasty)ignoresthefactthattheTangrulinghousewas—bothgenealogicallyandculturally—aproductofthefrontier“barbarian”culturethatdominatednorthernChinainthefifthandsixthcenturies.2Forhistorians,especiallyintheWest,thesecondhalfofth

4、eTangisinmanywaysmoreinterestingthanthefirst.ThebreakmarkedbytheAnLushanrebellionin756wasapivotalmomentnotonlyinthefortunesofthedynastybutintheentiretrajectoryofChina’sdevelopment.TheJapanesehistorianNaitoTorajiroarguedthatthelongtransitionfromtheTangtotheSongthatbeganinthemid-eighth

5、centurymarkedtheshiftfrom“medieval”to“earlymodern”China.WhileitisdangeroustoimposeWesternperiodizationonChinesehistory,substantialscholarshipsinceNaitohasconfirmedhisessentialhypothesis.TheTangdynasty’sabandonmentofkeyeconomic,military,andsocialinstitutionsaftertheAnLushanrebellion,i

6、tsreconfigurationoftheempire’sculturalgeography,theexpansionoftraderelationswiththeoutsideworld,andtheinventionofnewartisticformstodealwiththischangingworldweretheinitialstepsthatbegantodistinguishlaterimperialChinafromwhathadcomebefore.3Thefirstelementinthetransitionwastheabandonmen

7、tofinstitutionswhoseoriginscouldbetracedbacktothecollapseoftheHandynasty,ina.d.220.AtthebeginningoftheTang,theofficiallandholdingpattern,atleastinthenorth,wastheequal-fieldsystem,whichperiodicallyredistributedstate-ownedlandtofamilieswhoheldandworkedit.Associatedwiththislandholdingsy

8、stemwerelevi