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142-469: Haiyuan County has many residents of the Hui ethnicity. They make up 70 percent of the total population. Although agricultural development is important in the county, the arid climate, high alkaline content of the soil, and the course planting kernels make it difficult to retain moisture and fertility. Due to these characteristics, farmers in the county have begun to develop organic fennel in recent years. Haiyuan

284-664: A Chamic -speaking ethnic group which lives southernmost tip of the island near the city of Sanya . They are thought to be descendants of Cham refugees who fled their homeland of Champa in what is now modern Central Vietnam to escape the Vietnamese invasion . Although they are culturally, ethnically and linguistically distinct from the Hui, the Chinese government nevertheless classifies them as Hui due to their Islamic faith. Many Hui are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers. On

426-675: A Chancellor of the Tang dynasty . With this victory, the Turks accepted Taizong as their khagan , a title rendered as Tian Kehan in addition to his rule as emperor of China under the traditional title " Son of Heaven ". Taizong was succeeded by his son Li Zhi (as Emperor Gaozong ) in 649. The Tang engaged in military campaigns against the Western Turks , exploiting the rivalry between Western and Eastern Turks in order to weaken both. Under Emperor Taizong , campaigns were dispatched in

568-518: A West-Eurasian origin and 93.3% are East-Eurasian , reflecting historical records of the population's frequent intermarriage, especially with Mongol women. Studies of the Ningxia and Guizhou Hui also found only minor genetic contributions from West-Eurasian populations. Analysis of the Guizhou Hui's Y chromosomes showed a high degree of paternal North or Central Asian heritage, indicating

710-725: A differential gear was reproduced in several models for Tenji in 666, as recorded in the Nihon Shoki (720). Japanese monks also visited China; such was the case with Ennin (794–864), who wrote of his travel experiences including travels along the Grand Canal . The Japanese monk Enchin (814–891) stayed in China from 839 to 847, and again from 853 to 858, landing near Fuzhou , Fujian and setting sail for Japan from Taizhou, Zhejiang during his second trip to China. The Sui and Tang carried out successful military campaigns against

852-681: A "restored" Tang dynasty, the Later Tang , before toppling the Later Liang dynasty the same year. However, southern China remained splintered into various small kingdoms until most of China was reunified under the Song dynasty (960–1279). Control over parts of northeast China and Manchuria by the Liao dynasty of the Khitan people also stemmed from this period. In 905, their leader Abaoji formed

994-607: A Buddhist memorial service for the casualties of war; in 629, he had Buddhist monasteries erected at the sites of major battles so that monks could pray for the fallen on both sides of the fight. During the Tang campaign against the Eastern Turks , the Eastern Turkic Khaganate was destroyed after the capture of its ruler, Illig Qaghan by the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (571–649), who later became

1136-677: A Hui population of more than one million. In Ningxia, 33.95% of the population are of Hui ethnicity. Hui are the major minority in Qinghai (15.62%), Gansu and Shaanxi and is the overall major minority in Henan and Anhui . Dungan ( simplified Chinese : 东干族 ; traditional Chinese : 東干族 ; pinyin : Dōnggānzú ; Russian : Дунгане ) is a term used in Central Asia and in Xinjiang to refer to Chinese-speaking Muslim people. In

1278-451: A Muslim and wanting to be a Zhongyuan ren (Chinese). Some Uyghurs barely see any difference between Hui and Han. A Uyghur social scientist, Dilshat, regarded Hui as the same people as Han, deliberately calling Hui people Han and dismissing the Hui as having only a few hundred years of history. Pusuman : Pusuman was a name used by Chinese during the Yuan dynasty . It could have been

1420-418: 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 poetry . 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

1562-505: A corruption of Musalman or another name for Persians. It means either Muslim or Persian. Pusuman Kuo (Pusuman Guo) referred to the country where they came from. The name "Pusuman zi" (pusuman script), was used to refer to the script that the HuiHui (Muslims) were using. Muslim Chinese : The term Chinese Muslim is sometimes used to refer to Hui people, given that they speak Chinese, in contrast to, e.g., Turkic-speaking Salars. During

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1704-479: 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 artisan or merchant classes . To promote widespread Confucian education, the Tang government established state-run schools and issued standard versions of the Five Classics with commentaries. Open competition

1846-551: A golden age of economic prosperity and pleasant lifestyles within the imperial court. Xuanzong was seen as a progressive and benevolent ruler, having abolished the death penalty in 747. Previously, all executions had to be approved by the emperor; in 730, there were only 24 executions. Xuanzong bowed to the consensus of his ministers on policy decisions and made efforts to staff government ministries fairly with different political factions. His staunch Confucian chancellor Zhang Jiuling (673–740) worked to reduce deflation and increase

1988-454: A major state". Even after the power of the central government was in decline after the mid-8th century, it was still able to function and give out imperial orders on a massive scale. The Old Book of Tang (945) recorded that a government decree issued in 828 standardised the use of square-pallet chain pumps for irrigation throughout the country. The last ambitious ruler of the Tang was Emperor Xianzong ( r.  805–820 ), whose reign

2130-755: A military alliance with Li Keyong against Zhu Wen but the Khitans eventually turned against the Later Tang, helping another Shatuo leader Shi Jingtang of Later Jin to overthrow Later Tang in 936. Taizong set out to solve internal problems within the government which had constantly plagued past dynasties. Building upon the Sui legal code, he issued a new legal code that subsequent Chinese dynasties would model theirs upon, as well as neighbouring polities in Vietnam , Korea , and Japan . The earliest law code to survive

2272-469: A monopoly of this trade to the Buddhist clergy. 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. In the official census of 609,

2414-455: A period of progress and stability in the first half of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty was formally interrupted during 690–705 when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant . The An Lushan rebellion (755–763) led to devastation and the decline of central authority during the latter half of the dynasty. Like

2556-600: A popular term for Muslim culture since the Yuan or Ming dynasty. Gladney suggested that a good translation for it would be the Arabic tahára . i.e. "ritual or moral purity" The usual term for a mosque is qīngzhēn sì ( 清真寺 ), i.e. "true and pure temple", and qīngzhēn is commonly used to refer to halal eating establishments and bathhouses. In contrast, the Uyghurs were called "Chan Tou Hui" ("Turban Headed Muslim"), and

2698-480: A rebellion by Huang Chao (874–884) devastated both northern and southern China, took an entire decade to suppress, resulted in the sacking of both Chang'an and Luoyang. In 878–879, Huang's army committed a massacre in the southern port of Guangzhou against foreign Arab and Persian Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jewish and Christian merchants. A medieval Chinese source claimed that Huang Chao killed 8 million people. The Tang never recovered from Huang's rebellion, which paved

2840-481: A report on what he saw among Hui in 1910. He reported that due to religion, Hui were classed as a different nationality from Han as if they were one of the other minority groups. Huizu is now the standard term for the "Hui nationality" (ethnic group), and Huimin , for "Hui people" or "a Hui person". The traditional expression Huihui , its use now largely restricted to rural areas, would sound quaint, if not outright demeaning, to modern urban Chinese Muslims. Islam

2982-453: A rich variety of historical literature , as well as encyclopaedias and geographical works. Notable innovations included the development of woodblock printing . Buddhism became a major influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, in the 840s, Emperor Wuzong enacted policies to suppress Buddhism , which subsequently declined in influence. The House of Li had ethnic Han origins, and it belonged to

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3124-514: A school to prepare candidates for Taoist examinations. In 726, he called upon the Indian monk Vajrabodhi (671–741) to perform tantric rites to avert a drought. In 742, he personally held the incense burner while patriarch of the Shingon school Amoghavajra (705–774) recited "mystical incantations to secure the victory of Tang forces". Emperor Xuanzong closely regulated religious finances. Near

3266-548: A screen. When Empress Wu's eldest son, the crown prince, began to assert his authority and advocate policies opposed by Empress Wu, he suddenly died in 675. Many suspected he was poisoned by Empress Wu. Although the next heir apparent kept a lower profile, Wu accused him of plotting a rebellion in 680; he was banished and later obliged to commit suicide. In 683, Emperor Gaozong died and was succeeded by Emperor Zhongzong , his eldest surviving son by Wu. Zhongzong tried to appoint his wife's father as chancellor: after only six weeks on

3408-424: 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. 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

3550-419: A traditional dress code, with some men wearing white caps ( taqiyah ) and some women wearing headscarves , as is the case in many Islamic cultures . Hui Muslims descend from Europeans, Arabs , Indo-Iranian Persians, Mongols, Turkic Uyghurs and other Central Asian immigrants. Their ancestors were of Middle Eastern , Central Asian and East Asian origin, who spread Islam in

3692-462: Is no longer accurate, strictly speaking, just as with Bosniaks in former Yugoslavia. The Hui nationality is the most widely distributed ethnic minority in China, and it is also the main ethnic minority in many provinces. There are 10,586,087 Hui people in China (2010 census), accounting for 0.79% of the total population, making them the third largest ethnic group after Han Chinese and Zhuang . Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Gansu Province have

3834-544: Is one of the poorest counties in Ningxia. The county government is located in the town of Haicheng, and the county's postal code is 751800. Haiyuan County administers 5 towns and 12 townships. This Ningxia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hui people The Hui people are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam . They are distributed throughout China, mainly in

3976-508: The Portraits of Periodical Offering , probably painted by Yan Liben (601–673). Having entered Emperor Gaozong's court as a lowly consort, Wu Zetian ultimately acceded to the highest position of power in 690, establishing the short-lived Wu Zhou. Emperor Gaozong suffered a stroke in 655, and Wu began to make many of his court decisions for him, discussing affairs of state with his councillors, who took orders from her while she sat behind

4118-639: The Hexi Corridor and Dunhuang in Gansu ; in 848, the general Zhang Yichao (799–872) managed to wrestle control of the region from the Tibetan Empire during its civil war . Shortly afterwards, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ( r.  846–859 ) acknowledged Zhang as the protector ( 防禦使 ; fángyùshǐ ) of Sha Prefecture, and military governor of the new Guiyi Circuit . In addition to factors like natural calamity and jiedushi claiming autonomy,

4260-635: The Ming and Qing dynasties . It is thought to have had its origin in the earlier Huihe ( 回紇 ) or Huihu ( 回鶻 ), which was the name for the Uyghur State of the 8th and 9th centuries. Although the ancient Uyghurs were not Muslims the name Huihui came to refer to foreigners, regardless of language or origin, by the time of the Yuan (1271–1368) and Ming dynasties (1368–1644). The use of Hui to denote all foreigners—Muslims, Nestorian Christians, or Jews—reflects bureaucratic terminology developed over

4402-587: The Tang period on. Before the " Yihewani " movement, a Chinese Muslim sect inspired by the Middle Eastern reform movement, northern Hui Sufis blended Taoist teachings and martial arts practices with Sufi philosophy. Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty ( / t ɑː ŋ / , [tʰǎŋ] ; Chinese : 唐朝 ), or the Tang Empire , was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It

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4544-597: The Tibetan Empire had fallen apart in 842, followed soon after by the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho , the Tang were in no position to reconquer Central Asia after 763. So significant was this loss that half a century later jinshi examination candidates were required to write an essay on the causes of the Tang's decline. Although An Lushan was killed by one of his eunuchs in 757, this time of troubles and widespread insurrection continued until rebel Shi Siming

4686-562: The Uyghurs . The Hui predominantly speak Chinese , while using some Arabic and Persian phrases. The Hui ethnic group is unique among Chinese ethnic minorities in that it is not associated with a non- Sinitic language . The Hui have a distinct connection with Islamic culture . For example, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork , the most commonly consumed meat in China, and have therefore developed their own variation of Chinese cuisine . They also have

4828-571: The Xuanwu Gate Incident on July 2, 626. Shortly thereafter, his father abdicated in his favour, and Li Shimin ascended the throne. He is conventionally known by his temple name Taizong. Although killing two brothers and deposing his father contradicted the Confucian value of filial piety , Taizong showed himself to be a capable leader who listened to the advice of the wisest members of his council. In 628, Emperor Taizong held

4970-539: The ethnonym Dungan . Joseph Fletcher cited Turkic and Persian manuscripts related to the preaching of the 17th century Kashgarian Sufi master Muhammad Yūsuf (or, possibly, his son Afaq Khoja ) inside the Ming Empire (in today's Gansu and/or Qinghai ), where the preacher allegedly converted ulamā-yi Tunganiyyāh (i.e., "Dungan ulema ") into Sufism . As early as the 1830s, Dungan , in various spellings appeared in both English and German, referring to

5112-628: The first campaign because they failed to overcome the successful defence led by General Yeon Gaesomun . The Tang entered into the Silla–Tang alliance , the Chinese fought against Baekje and their Yamato Japanese allies in the Battle of Baekgang in August 663, a decisive Tang–Silla victory. The Tang dynasty navy had several different ship types at its disposal to engage in naval warfare , these ships described by Li Quan in his Taipai Yinjing (Canon of

5254-761: The northwestern provinces and in the Zhongyuan region. According to the 2010 census, China is home to approximately 10.5 million Hui people. Outside China, the 170,000 Dungan people of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan , the Panthays in Myanmar , and many of the Chin Haws in Thailand are also considered part of the Hui ethnicity. The Hui were referred to as Hanhui during the Qing dynasty to be distinguished from

5396-482: The (presumably Chinese-speaking) Muslims more assimilated into the Chinese mainstream society. In the 1930s, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) defined the term Hui as indicating only Sinophone Muslims. In 1941, this was clarified by a CCP committee comprising ethnic policy researchers in a treatise entitled "On the question of Huihui Ethnicity" (回回民族问题, Huíhui mínzú wèntí). This treatise defined

5538-992: The 12th-century founder of the Kara-Khitan Khanate , defeating the Huihui Dashibu ( 回回大食部 ) people near Samarkand —apparently, referring to his defeat of the Khwarazm ruler Ahmed Sanjar in 1141. Khwarazm is referred to as Huihuiguo in the Secret History of the Mongols as well. While Huihui or Hui remained a generic name for all Muslims in Imperial China, specific terms were sometimes used to refer to particular groups, e.g. Chantou Hui (" turbaned Hui") for Uyghurs, Dongxiang Hui and Sala Hui for Dongxiang and Salar people , and sometimes even Han Hui ( 漢回 ) ("Chinese Hui") for

5680-570: The 6,781,500 Sunni Hui in China followed 58.2% Gedimu , 21% Yihewani , 10.9% Jahriyya , 7.2% Khuffiya, 1.4% Qadariyya and 0.7% Kubrawiyya Sufi schools. Among the northern Hui, Central Asian Sufi schools such as Kubrawiyya , Qadiriyya , and Naqshbandiyya ( Khufiyya and Jahriyya ) were strong influences, mostly of the Hanafi Madhhab . Hui Muslims have a long tradition of synthesizing Confucian teachings with Qur'anic teachings and reportedly have contributed to Confucianism from

5822-595: The Chinese government to one of China's ten historically Islamic minorities. Today, the Chinese government defines the Hui people as an ethnicity without regard to religion, and includes those with Hui ancestry who do not practice Islam. Chinese census statistics count among the Hui (and not as officially recognized separate ethnic groups) the Muslim members of a few small non-Chinese-speaking communities. These include several thousand Utsuls in southern Hainan Province , who speak an Austronesian language ( Tsat ) related to

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5964-509: The Chinese model, based his state ceremonies on the Chinese model, and constructed his palace at Fujiwara on the Chinese model of architecture . Many Chinese Buddhist monks came to Japan to help further the spread of Buddhism as well. Two 7th-century monks, Zhi Yu and Zhi You, visited the court of Emperor Tenji ( r.  661–672 ), whereupon they presented a gift of a south-pointing chariot that they had crafted. This vehicle employing

6106-891: The Dutch settlers no longer observe Islam and their descendants embrace the Chinese folk religion . The Taiwanese branch of the Guo (Kuo in Taiwan) clan with Hui ancestry does not practice Islam, yet does not offer pork at their ancestral shrines. The Chinese Muslim Association counts these people as Muslims. Also on Taiwan , one branch of the Ding (Ting) clan that descended from Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar resides in Taisi Township in Yunlin County . They trace their descent through him via

6248-721: The Hui disliked the term Dungan, calling themselves either Huihui or Huizi. In the Soviet Union and its successor countries, the term "Dungans" (дунгане) became the standard name for the descendants of Chinese-speaking Muslims who emigrated in the 1870s and 1880s to the Russian Empire , mostly to today's Kyrgyzstan and south-eastern Kazakhstan . The Panthay are a group of Chinese Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) and Yunnan Province . In Thailand , Chinese Muslims are referred to as Chin Ho ( จีนฮ่อ ). The Utsuls of Hainan are

6390-635: The Hui people of Xinjiang. For example, James Prinsep in 1835 mentioned Muslim "Túngánis" in Chinese Tartary . The word (mostly in the form "Dungani" or "Tungani", sometimes "Dungens" or "Dungans") acquired currency in English and other western languages when books in the 1860–70s discussed the Dungan Revolt . Later authors continued to use variants of the term for Xinjiang Hui people. For example, Owen Lattimore , writing ca. 1940, maintained

6532-565: The Hui-hui say "we do not eat Mongol food". [Cinggis Qa’an replied:] "By the aid of heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves. Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How can this be right?" He thereupon made them eat. "If you slaughter sheep, you will be considered guilty of a crime." He issued a regulation to that effect   ... [In 1279/1280 under Qubilai] all the Muslims say: "if someone else slaughters [the animal] we do not eat". Because

6674-463: The Khitans were unsuccessful. He was given great responsibility in Hebei , which allowed him to rebel with an army of more than 100,000 troops. After capturing Luoyang, he named himself emperor of a new, but short-lived, Yan state . Despite early victories scored by the Tang general Guo Ziyi (697–781), the newly recruited troops of the army at the capital were no match for An Lushan's frontier veterans;

6816-587: The Kingdom of Goguryeo was destroyed by 668. Although they were formerly enemies, the Tang accepted officials and generals of Goguryeo into their administration and military, such as the brothers Yeon Namsaeng (634–679) and Yeon Namsan (639–701). From 668 to 676, the Tang Empire controlled northern Korea. However, Silla broke the alliance in 671, and began the Silla–Tang War to expel the Tang forces. At

6958-477: The Mongols, and descended from a mixture of Chinese, Iranian and Turkic peoples. They also reported that the T'ung-kan were Shafi'ites , as were the Khorezmians . The Hui people of Yunnan and Northwestern China resulted from the convergence of Mongol, Turkic, and Iranian peoples or other Central Asian settlers recruited by the Yuan dynasty, either as artisans or as officials (the semu ). The Hui formed

7100-400: The Muslims of China are not significantly related, East Asians, Han Chinese, and most of the Hui and Dongxiang of Linxia share more genes with each other. This indicates that native East Asian populations were culturally assimilated, and that the Hui population was formed through a process of cultural diffusion . An overview study in 2021 estimated that West Eurasian -related admixture among

7242-697: The Qing dynasty, Chinese Muslim (Han Hui) was sometimes used to refer to Hui people, which differentiated them from non-Chinese-speaking Muslims. However, not all Hui are Muslims, nor are all Chinese Muslims, Hui. For example, Li Yong is a famous Han Chinese who practices Islam and Hui Liangyu is a notable atheist Hui. In addition, most Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kirghiz and Dongxiang in China are Muslims, but are not Hui. John Stuart Thomson , who traveled in China, called them "Mohammedan Chinese". They have also been called "Chinese Mussulmans", when Europeans wanted to distinguish them from Han Chinese . Throughout history,

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7384-658: The Quanzhou Ding family of Fujian. While pretending to be Han Chinese in Fujian, they initially practiced Islam when they came to Taiwan 200 years ago, but their descendants have embraced Buddhism or Taoism. An attempt was made by the Chinese Islamic Society to convert the Fujian Hui of Fujian back to Islam in 1983, by sending four Ningxia imams to Fujian. This futile endeavour ended in 1986, when

7526-750: The Republic of China at the time and the founder of the Chinese Muslim Association . Some scholars refer to this group as Han Chinese Muslims or Han Muslims , while others call them Chinese Muslims , Chinese-speaking Muslims or Sino-Muslims . The Hui were officially recognised as an ethnic group by the People's Republic of China government in 1954. The government defines the Hui people to include all historically Muslim communities not included in China's other ethnic groups; they are therefore distinct from other Muslim groups such as

7668-573: The Republic of China. A traditional Chinese term for Islam is " 回教 " ( pinyin : Huíjiào , literally "the religion of the Hui"). However, since the early days of the PRC, thanks to the arguments of such Marxist Hui scholars as Bai Shouyi , the standard term for "Islam" within the PRC has become the transliteration " 伊斯蘭教 " (pinyin: Yīsīlán jiào , literally "Islam religion"). The more traditional term Huijiao remains in use in Singapore, Taiwan and other overseas Chinese communities. Qīngzhēn : ( 清真 , literally "pure and true") has also been

7810-430: The Song dynasty, when it doubled to 100 million because of extensive rice cultivation in central and southern China, coupled with higher yields of grain sold in a growing market. The 7th and first half of the 8th century are generally considered to be the era in which the Tang reached the zenith of its power. In this period, Tang control extended further west than any previous dynasty, stretching from north Vietnam in

7952-411: The Tang capital Chang'an and with it the imperial family. By 903, he forced Emperor Zhaozong of Tang to move the capital to Luoyang, preparing to take the throne for himself. In 904, Zhu assassinated Emperor Zhaozong to replace him with the emperor's young son Emperor Ai of Tang . In 905, Zhu executed the brothers of Emperor Ai as well as many officials and Empress Dowager He . In 907, the Tang dynasty

8094-477: The Tang census of 754, there were 1,859 cities, 321 prefectures , and 1,538 counties throughout the empire. Although there were many large and prominent cities, the rural and agrarian areas comprised 80–90% of the population. There was also a dramatic migration from 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%. The Chinese population would not dramatically increase until

8236-444: The Tang dynasty until the end of 755, there were approximately ten Turkic generals serving under the Tang. While most of the Tang army was made of fubing Chinese conscripts, the majority of the troops led by Turkic generals were of non-Chinese origin, campaigning largely in the western frontier where the presence of fubing troops was low. Some "Turkic" troops were tribalised Han Chinese, a desinicised people. Civil war in China

8378-441: The Tang era. It is traditionally considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry . Two of China's most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu , belonged to this age, contributing with poets such as Wang Wei to the monumental Three Hundred Tang Poems . Many famous painters such as Han Gan , Zhang Xuan , and Zhou Fang were active, while Chinese court music flourished with instruments such as the popular pipa . Tang scholars compiled

8520-411: The Tang government responded effectively to natural disasters by extending the price-regulation granary system throughout the country. The central government was able then to build a large surplus stock of foods to ward off the rising danger of famine and increased agricultural productivity through land reclamation . Although these natural calamities and rebellions stained the reputation and hampered

8662-519: The Taoist sage Laozi ( fl.  6th century BC ). 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 ( r.  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

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8804-414: The Turkic Salars called "Sala Hui" (Salar Muslim), while Turkic speakers often referred to Hui as "Dungan". Zhongyuan ren : During the Qing dynasty , the term Zhongyuan ren ( 中原人 ; 'people from the Central Plain ') was the term for all Chinese, encompassing Han Chinese and Hui in Xinjiang or Central Asia. While Hui are not Han, they consider themselves to be Chinese and include themselves in

8946-434: The Turkic-speaking Muslims, which were referred to as Chanhui . The Republic of China government also recognised the Hui as a branch of the Han Chinese rather than a separate ethnic group. In the National Assembly of the Republic of China , the Hui were referred to as Nationals in China proper with special convention . The Hui were referred to as Han people Muslims by Bai Chongxi, the Minister of National Defense of

9088-425: The Turks. As early as the Sui dynasty, the Turks had become a major militarised force employed by the Chinese . When the Khitans began raiding northeast China in 605, a Chinese general led 20,000 Turks against them, distributing Khitan livestock and women to the Turks as a reward. On two occasions between 635 and 636, Tang royal princesses were married to Turk mercenaries or generals in Chinese service. Throughout

9230-402: The Western Regions against Gaochang in 640, Karasahr in 644 and 648, and Kucha in 648. The wars against the Western Turks continued under Emperor Gaozong , and the Western Turkic Khaganate was finally annexed after General Su Dingfang 's defeat of Khagan Ashina Helu in 657. Around this time, the Tang court enjoyed visits by numerous dignitaries from foreign lands. These were depicted in

9372-416: The Western Turks ruled by Ashina Helu. The Tang Empire competed with the Tibetan Empire for control of areas in Inner and Central Asia, which was at times settled with marriage alliances such as the marrying of Princess Wencheng ( d.  680 ) to Songtsän Gampo ( d.  649 ). A Tibetan tradition mentions that Chinese troops captured Lhasa after Songtsän Gampo's death, but no such invasion

9514-499: The White and Gloomy Planet of War) of 759. The Battle of Baekgang was actually a restoration movement by remnant forces of Baekje, since their kingdom was toppled in 660 by a Tang–Silla invasion, led by Chinese general Su Dingfang and Korean general Kim Yushin (595–673). In another joint invasion with Silla, the Tang army severely weakened the Goguryeo Kingdom in the north by taking out its outer forts in 645. With joint attacks by Silla and Tang armies under commander Li Shiji (594–669),

9656-427: The Yuan and Ming dynasties. Arab were white cap , Persians black cap and Jews blue cap Huihui. Islamic mosques and Jewish synagogues at the time were denoted by the same word, Qīngzhēnsì ( 清真寺 : Temple of Purity and Truth). Kublai Khan called both foreign Jews and Muslims in China Huihui when he forced them to stop halal and kosher methods of preparing food: "Among all the [subject] alien peoples only

9798-477: The ability to maintain their own armies, collect taxes, and pass their titles on hereditarily. This is commonly recognised as the beginning of the fall of Tang's central government. By 737, Emperor Xuanzong discarded the policy of conscripting soldiers that were replaced every three years, replacing them with long-service soldiers who were more battle-hardened and efficient. It was more economically feasible as well, since training new recruits and sending them out to

9940-442: 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). Although the founders of the Tang related to the glory of the earlier Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD),

10082-413: The age of 18, had prowess with bow and arrow, sword and lance and was known for his effective cavalry charges. Fighting a numerically superior army, he defeated Dou Jiande (573–621) at Luoyang in the Battle of Hulao on May 28, 621. Due to fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushed and killed two of his brothers, Li Yuanji ( b.  603 ) and crown prince Li Jiancheng ( b.  589 ), in

10224-437: The ailing Tang was also challenged when natural disasters led many to believe that the Tang had lost their right to rule. In 873, a disastrous harvest shook the foundations of the empire; in some areas only half of all agricultural produce was gathered, and tens of thousands faced famine and starvation. In the earlier period of the Tang, the central government was able to meet crises in the harvest—from 714 to 719, records show that

10366-488: The area. Several medieval Chinese dynasties, particularly the Tang , Song and Mongol , witnessed foreign immigration from predominantly Muslim Persia and Central Asia , with both dynasties welcoming foreign Muslim traders from these regions and appointing Central Asian officials. In subsequent centuries, the immigrants gradually spoke Chinese and settled down, eventually forming the Hui. A study in 2004 calculated that 6.7 percent of Hui peoples' matrilineal genetics have

10508-532: The average Northwestern Chinese minority groups was at ~9.1%, with the remainder being dominant East-Eurasian ancestry at ~90.9%. The study also showed that there is a close genetic affinity among these ethnic minorities in Northwest China (including Uyghurs , Huis, Dongxiangs , Bonans , Yugurs and Salars ) and that these cluster closely with other East Asian people , especially in Xinjiang , followed by Mongolic , and Tungusic speakers , indicating

10650-470: 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 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)

10792-727: The beginning of his reign in 713, he liquidated the 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 banking practices , and distributed its wealth to other Buddhist and Taoist monasteries, and to repair local statues, halls, and bridges. In 714, he forbade Chang'an shops from selling copied Buddhist sutras, giving

10934-423: The capital. Students of Confucian studies were candidates for the imperial examinations , which qualified their graduates for appointment to the local, provincial, and central government bureaucracies. Two types of exams were given, mingjing ( 明經 ; 'illuminating the classics') and jinshi ( 進士 ; 'presented scholar'). The mingjing was based upon the Confucian classics and tested the student's knowledge of

11076-580: The censuses of Russia and Central Asian nations, the Hui are distinguished from Chinese, termed Dungans. However, in both China and Central Asia members of this ethnic group call themselves Lao Huihui or Zhongyuanren, rather than Dungan. Zhongyuan 中原, literally means "The Central Plain," and is the historical name of Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Most Dungans living in Central Asia are descendants of Hui people from Gansu and Shaanxi. Hui people are referred to by Central Asian Turkic speakers and Tajiks by

11218-703: The characteristics of the Hui nationality as an ethnic group associated with, but not defined by, Islam and descended primarily from Muslims who migrated to China during the Mongol-founded Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), as distinct from the Uyghur and other Turkic-speaking ethnic groups in Xinjiang. The Nationalist government by contrast recognised all Muslims as one of "the five peoples"—alongside the Manchus , Mongols , Tibetans and Han Chinese —that constituted

11360-521: The conditions for a massive rebellion against Xuanzong. The Tang Empire was at its height of power up until the middle of the 8th century, when the An Lushan rebellion (755–763) destroyed the prosperity of the empire. An Lushan was a half- Sogdian , half- Turkic Tang commander since 744, who had experience fighting the Khitans of Manchuria with a victory in 744, yet most of his campaigns against

11502-534: The court fled Chang'an. While the heir apparent raised troops in Shanxi and Xuanzong fled to Sichuan , they called upon the help of the Uyghur Khaganate in 756. The Uyghur khan Moyanchur was greatly excited at this prospect, and married his own daughter to the Chinese diplomatic envoy once he arrived, receiving in turn a Chinese princess as his bride. The Uyghurs helped recapture the Tang capital from

11644-508: The dynasty in 907. The Tang capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an ) was the world's most populous city for much of the dynasty's existence. Two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries estimated the empire's population at about 50 million people, which grew to an estimated 80 million by the dynasty's end. From its numerous subjects, the dynasty raised professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers for control of Inner Asia and

11786-566: The earlier Han dynasty, the Tang and their Turkic allies conquered and subdued Central Asia during the 640s and 650s. During Emperor Taizong's reign alone, large campaigns were launched against not only the Göktürks , but also separate campaigns against the Tuyuhun , the oasis states , and the Xueyantuo . Under Emperor Gaozong, a campaign led by the general Su Dingfang was launched against

11928-435: The effectiveness of the central government, the early 9th century is nonetheless viewed as a period of recovery for the Tang. The government's withdrawal from its role in managing the economy had the unintended effect of stimulating trade, as more markets with fewer bureaucratic restrictions were opened up. By 780, the old grain tax and labour service of the 7th century was replaced by a semi-annual tax paid in cash, signifying

12070-459: The final Ningxia imam left. A similar endeavour in Taiwan also failed. Until 1982, a Han could "become" Hui by converting to Islam. Thereafter, a converted Han counts instead as a "Muslim Han". Symmetrically, Hui people consider other Hui who do not observe Islamic practices as still Hui, and that their Hui nationality cannot be lost. For both of these reasons, simply calling them "Chinese Muslims"

12212-611: The frontier every three years drained the treasury. By the late 7th century, the fubing troops began abandoning military service and the homes provided to them in the equal-field system. The supposed standard of 100 mu of land allotted to each family was in fact decreasing in size in places where population expanded and the wealthy bought up most of the land. Hard-pressed peasants and vagrants were then induced into military service with benefits of exemption from both taxation and corvée labour service, as well as provisions for farmland and dwellings for dependents who accompanied soldiers on

12354-544: The frontier. By 742, the total number of enlisted troops in the Tang armies had risen to about 500,000 men. In East Asia, Tang military campaigns were less successful elsewhere than in previous imperial Chinese dynasties. Like the emperors of the Sui dynasty before him , Taizong established a military campaign in 644 against the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo in the Goguryeo–Tang War ; however, this led to its withdrawal in

12496-437: The government had to officially acknowledge the jiedushi ' s hereditary rule without accreditation. The Tang government relied on these governors and their armies for protection and to suppress local revolts. In return, the central government would acknowledge the rights of these governors to maintain their army, collect taxes and even to pass on their title to heirs. As time passed, these military governors slowly phased out

12638-531: The identity of Hui people has been fluid, often changing as was convenient. Some identified as Hui out of interest in their ancestry or because of government benefits. These Hui are concentrated on the southeast coast of China, especially Fujian province. Some Hui clans around Quanzhou in Fujian, such as the Ding and Guo families, identify themselves by ethnicity and no longer practice Islam. In recent years, more of these clans have identified as Hui, increasing

12780-447: 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. The examination system, used only on

12922-407: The landed wealth and official positions, was largely destroyed or marginalised. During the last two decades of the Tang dynasty, the gradual collapse of central authority led to the rise of the rival military figures Li Keyong and Zhu Wen in northern China. Tang forces had defeated Huang's rebellion with the aid of allied Shatuo , a Turkic people of what is now Shanxi , led by Li Keyong. He

13064-550: The language of the Vietnamese Champa Muslim minority . According to anthropologist Dru Gladney , they descend from Champa people who migrated to Hainan . A small Muslim minority among Yunnan 's Bai people are classified as Hui as well, although they speak Bai . Some groups of Tibetan Muslims are classified as Hui as well. Huihui ( 回回 ) was the usual generic term for China's Muslims (White Hui), Persian Christians (Black Hui) and Jews (Blue Hui) during

13206-582: The larger group of Zhongyuan ren . The Dungan people , descendants of Hui who fled to Central Asia, called themselves Zhongyuan ren in addition to the standard labels lao huihui and huizi . Zhongyuan ren was used by Turkic Muslims to refer to ethnic Chinese. When Central Asian invaders from Kokand invaded Kashgar , in a letter the Kokandi commander criticised the Kashgari Turkic Muslim Ishaq for allegedly not behaving like

13348-474: The lucrative trade-routes along the Silk Road . Far-flung kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also indirectly controlled several regions through a protectorate system. In addition to its political hegemony , the Tang exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighbouring East Asian nations such as Japan and Korea . Chinese culture flourished and further matured during

13490-463: The majority of whom were Muslims who came from western regions, were labelled as Semu people, but were also mistaken by Chinese for Uyghur, due to them coming from the west (Uyghur lands). The name "Hui Hui" was applied to them, and eventually became the name applied to Muslims. Another, probably unrelated, early use of the word Huihui comes from the History of Liao , which mentions Yelü Dashi ,

13632-403: The money supply by upholding the use of private coinage, while his aristocratic and technocratic successor Li Linfu ( d.  753 ) favoured government monopoly over the issuance of coinage. After 737, most of Xuanzong's confidence rested in his long-standing chancellor Li Linfu , who championed a more aggressive foreign policy employing non-Chinese generals. This policy ultimately created

13774-641: The northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty . According to official Tang records, they were paternally descended from Laozi , the traditional founder of Taoism (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), the Han dynasty general Li Guang , and Li Gao , the founder of the Han-ruled Western Liang kingdom. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which also included

13916-477: The official population. They provided evidence of their ancestry and were recognized as Hui. Many clans across Fujian had genealogies that demonstrated Hui ancestry. These clans inhabited Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. None of these clans were Muslims but they do not offer pork during their ancestral worship . In Taiwan, the Hui clans who followed Koxinga to Formosa to defeat

14058-517: The original forms after her death. Arguably the most important part of her legacy was diminishing the hegemony of the Northwestern aristocracy, allowing people from other clans and regions of China to become more represented in Chinese politics and government. There were many prominent women at court during and after Wu's reign, including Shangguan Wan'er (664–710), a poet, writer, and trusted official in charge of Wu's private office. In 706,

14200-478: The palace with a few followers and slew Empress Wei and her faction. He then installed his father Emperor Ruizong ( r.  710–712 ) on the throne. Just as Emperor Zhongzong was dominated by Empress Wei, so too was Ruizong dominated by Princess Taiping . This ended when Princess Taiping's coup failed in 712, and Emperor Ruizong abdicated to Emperor Xuanzong . The Tang reached its height during Emperor Xuanzong's 44-year reign, which has been characterized as

14342-625: The poor people are upset by this, from now on, Musuluman [Muslim] Huihui and Zhuhu [Jewish] Huihui, no matter who kills [the animal] will eat [it] and must cease slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the rite of circumcision." The widespread and rather generic application of the name Huihui in Ming China was attested to by foreign visitors as well. Matteo Ricci , the first Jesuit to reach Beijing (1598), noted that "Saracens are everywhere in evidence . . . their thousands of families are scattered about in nearly every province" Ricci noted that

14484-947: The population formed through male-dominated migration, potentially via a northern route, followed by massive assimilation of Guizhou aborigines into Han Chinese and Hui Muslims. The East Asian Y-chromosome haplogroup O-M122 is found in large quantities, about 24–30%, in other Muslims groups close to the Hui like the Dongxiangs , Bo'an , and Salar people . While the Y chromosome haplogroup R1a (found among Central Asians , South Asians and Europeans) are found among 17–28% of them. Western mtDNA makes up 6.6% to 8%. Other haplogroups include D-M174 , N1a1-Tat , and Q , commonly found among East Asians and Siberians. The majority of Tibeto-Burmans, Han Chinese, and Ningxia and Liaoning Hui share paternal Y chromosomes of East Asian origin which are unrelated to Middle Easterners and Europeans. In contrast to distant Middle Easterners and Europeans with whom

14626-417: The population was tallied at 9 million households, about 50 million people, and this number did not increase in the census of 742. Patricia Ebrey writes that nonwithstanding census undercounting, China's population had not grown significantly since the earlier Han dynasty , which recorded 58 million people in 2 AD. Adshead disagrees, estimating about 75 million people by 750. In

14768-462: The position of Taishang Huang ('retired emperor'), and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor Yang You . On the news of Emperor Yang's murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself emperor of the newly founded Tang dynasty. Emperor Gaozu ruled until 626, when he was forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin , the Prince of Qin. Li Shimin had commanded troops since

14910-404: The practice of selling merchants the rights to buy monopoly salt, which they transported and sold in local markets. In 799, salt accounted for over half of the government's revenues. S. A. M. Adshead writes that this salt tax represents "the first time that an indirect tax, rather than tribute, levies on land or people, or profit from state enterprises such as mines, had been the primary resource of

15052-525: The previous Sui dynasty , the Tang maintained a civil-service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardised examinations and recommendations to office. The rise of regional military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century undermined this civil order. The dynasty and central government went into decline by the latter half of the 9th century; agrarian rebellions resulted in mass population loss and displacement, widespread poverty, and further government dysfunction that ultimately ended

15194-459: The probability of a shared recent common ancestor of "Altaic speakers". A genome study, using the ancestry-informative SNP (AISNP) analysis, found only 3.66% West-Eurasian-like admixture among Hui people, while the Uyghurs harbored the relative highest amount of West-Eurasian-like admixture at 36.30%. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the term "Hui" was applied by

15336-407: The prominence of civil officials drafted by exams, and became more autonomous from central authority. The rule of these powerful military governors lasted until 960, when a new civil order under the Song dynasty was established. The abandonment of the equal-field system also meant that people could buy and sell land freely; many poor fell into debt because of this and were forced to sell their land to

15478-400: The prominent Tang poet Li Bai . The Tang emperors were partially of Xianbei ancestry, as Emperor Gaozu of Tang 's mother Duchess Dugu was part-Xianbei. Apart from the traditional historiography, some modern historians have suggested the Tang imperial family might have modified its genealogy to conceal their Xianbei heritage. Emperor Gaozu (born Li Yuan) was the founder of the Tang. He

15620-479: The rebels, but they refused to leave until the Tang paid them an enormous sum of tribute in silk. Even Abbasid Arabs assisted the Tang in putting down the rebellion. A massacre of foreign Arab and Persian Muslim merchants by Tian Shengong happened during the An Lushan rebellion in the 760 Yangzhou massacre . The Tibetans took hold of the opportunity and raided many areas under Chinese control, and even after

15762-512: The release of enslaved Chinese prisoners who were captured during the transition from Sui to Tang from the northern frontier; this embassy succeeded in freeing 80,000 Chinese men and women who were then returned to China. While the Turks were settled in the Ordos region (former territory of the Xiongnu ), the Tang government took on the military policy of dominating the central steppe. As during

15904-876: The same time the Tang faced threats on its western border when a large Chinese army was defeated by the Tibetans on the Dafei River in 670. By 676, the Tang army was expelled out of Korea by a unified Silla . Following a revolt of the Eastern Turks in 679, the Tang abandoned its Korean campaigns. Although the Tang had fought the Japanese, they still held cordial relations with Japan. There were numerous Imperial embassies to China from Japan, diplomatic missions that were not halted until 894 by Emperor Uda ( r.  887–897 ), upon persuasion by Sugawara no Michizane (845–903). The Japanese Emperor Tenmu ( r.  672–686 ) even established his conscripted army on that of

16046-579: The second-highest stratum in the Yuan ethnic hierarchy (after the Mongols but above Chinese). A proportion of the ancestral nomad or military ethnic groups were originally Nestorian Christians , many of whom later converted to Islam under the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, Hui peoples from Gansu , along with their Dongxian neighbors, did not receive substantial gene flow from Western and Central Asia or European populations during their Islamization. Most Hui people are Sunni Muslims , and their Islamic sects can be divided into: Ma Tong recorded that

16188-521: The shift to a money economy boosted by the merchant class. Cities in the southern Jiangnan region such as Yangzhou , Suzhou , and Hangzhou prospered the most economically during the late Tang period. The government monopoly on salt production , weakened after the An Lushan rebellion, was placed under the Salt Commission , which became one of the most powerful state agencies, run by capable ministers chosen as specialists. The commission began

16330-494: The south, to a point north of Kashmir bordering Persia in the west, to northern Korea in the north-east. Some of the kingdoms paying tribute to the Tang dynasty included Kashmir , Nepal, Khotan , Kucha , Kashgar , Silla , Champa , and kingdoms located in Amu Darya and Syr Darya valley. Turkic nomads addressed the Tang emperor as Tian Kehan . After the widespread Göktürk revolt of Shabolüe Khan ( d.  658 )

16472-540: The southeast coast (e.g., Guangdong , Fujian ) and in major trade centers elsewhere in China, some are of mixed local and foreign descent. The foreign element, although greatly diluted, came primarily from Iranian ( Bosi ) traders, who brought Islam to China. These foreigners settled and gradually intermarried, while assimilating into Chinese culture. Early European explorers speculated that T'ung-kan (Dungans, i.e. Hui, called "Chinese Mohammedans") in Xinjiang , originated from Khorezmians who were transported to China by

16614-499: The steppe nomads. Chinese foreign policy to the north and west now had to deal with Turkic nomads, who were becoming the most dominant ethnic group in Central Asia. To handle and avoid any threats posed by the Turks, the Sui government repaired fortifications and received their trade and tribute missions. They sent four royal princesses to form heqin marriage alliances with Turkic clan leaders, in 597, 599, 614, and 617. The Sui stirred trouble and conflict among ethnic groups against

16756-699: The term Huihui or Hui was applied by Chinese not only to "Saracens" (Muslims) but also to Chinese Jews and supposedly even to Christians. In fact, when the reclusive Wanli Emperor first saw a picture of Ricci and Diego de Pantoja , he supposedly exclaimed, "Hoei, hoei. It is quite evident that they are Saracens", and had to be told by a eunuch that they actually weren't, "because they ate pork". The 1916 Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics , Volume 8 said that Chinese Muslims always called themselves Huihui or Huizi, and that neither themselves nor other people called themselves Han, and they disliked people calling them Dungan. French army Commandant Viscount D'Ollone wrote

16898-559: The terminological distinction between these two related groups: the Donggan or "Tungkan" (the older Wade-Giles spelling for "Dungan"), described by him as the descendants of the Gansu Hui people resettled in Xinjiang in the 17–18th centuries, vs. e.g. the "Gansu Moslems" or generic "Chinese Moslems". The name "Dungan" sometimes referred to all Muslims coming from China proper , such as Dongxiang and Salar in addition to Hui. Reportedly,

17040-701: The throne, he was deposed by Empress Wu in favour of his younger brother, Emperor Ruizong . This provoked a group of Tang princes to rebel in 684. Wu's armies suppressed them within two months. She proclaimed the Tianshou era of Wu Zhou on October 16, 690, and three days later demoted Emperor Ruizong to crown prince . He was also forced to give up his father's surname Li in favour of the Empress Wu. She then ruled as China's only empress regnant . A palace coup on February 20, 705, forced Empress Wu to yield her position on February 22. The next day, her son Zhongzong

17182-607: The various regions of the empire, it was recorded in 845 that bandits and river pirates in parties of 100 or more began plundering settlements along the Yangtze River with little resistance. In 858, massive floods along the Grand Canal inundated vast tracts of land and terrain of the North China Plain , which drowned tens of thousands of people in the process. The Chinese belief in the Mandate of Heaven granted to

17324-417: The way for the later overthrow of the Tang. Large groups of bandits in the size of small armies ravaged the countryside in the last years of the Tang. They smuggled illicit salt, ambushed merchants and convoys, and even besieged several walled cities. Amid the sacking of cities and murderous factional strife among eunuchs and officials, the top tier of aristocratic families, which had amassed a large fraction of

17466-539: The wealthy, which led to the exponential growth of large estates. With the breakdown of the land allocation system after 755, the central Chinese state barely interfered in agricultural management and acted merely as tax collector for roughly a millennium, save a few instances such as the Song's failed land nationalisation during the 13th-century war with the Mongols . With the central government collapsing in authority over

17608-475: The wife of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, Empress Wei ( d.  710 ), persuaded her husband to staff government offices with his sister and her daughters, and in 709 requested that he grant women the right to bequeath hereditary privileges to their sons (which before was a male right only). Empress Wei eventually poisoned Zhongzong, whereupon she placed his fifteen-year-old son upon the throne in 710. Two weeks later, Li Longji (the later Emperor Xuanzong) entered

17750-445: Was a brief end to the hereditary jiedushi , as Xianzong appointed his own military officers and staffed the regional bureaucracies once again with civil officials. However, Xianzong's successors proved less capable and more interested in the leisure of hunting, feasting, and playing outdoor sports, allowing eunuchs to amass more power as drafted scholar-officials caused strife in the bureaucracy with factional parties. The eunuchs' power

17892-570: Was aided by the fiscal reforms of the 780s, including a government monopoly on the salt industry. He also had an effective and well-trained imperial army stationed at the capital led by his court eunuchs; this was the Army of Divine Strategy, numbering 240,000 in strength as recorded in 798. Between 806 and 819, Emperor Xianzong conducted seven major military campaigns to quell the rebellious provinces that had claimed autonomy from central authority, managing to subdue all but two of them. Under his reign, there

18034-517: Was almost totally diminished by 626, along with the 628 defeat of the Ordos warlord Liang Shidu ; after these internal conflicts, the Tang began an offensive against the Turks. In 630, Tang armies captured areas of the Ordos Desert, modern-day Inner Mongolia province, and southern Mongolia from the Turks. After this military victory, On June 11, 631, Emperor Taizong also sent envoys to the Xueyantuo bearing gold and silk in order to persuade

18176-483: Was also filled with incredible amounts of riches and resources to spare. When the Chinese 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

18318-447: Was also kept, although there were a few modifications. 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

18460-650: 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 warlords 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 . The competition system proved successful, as scholar-officials acquired status in their local communities while developing an esprit de corps that connected them to

18602-545: Was different when a servant or nephew killed a master or an uncle than when a master or uncle killed a servant or nephew. The Tang Code was largely retained by later codes such as the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) code of 1397, yet there were several revisions in later times, such as improved property rights for women during the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Tang had three departments ( 省 ; shěng ), which were obliged to draft, review, and implement policies respectively. There were also six ministries ( 部 ; bù ) under

18744-658: Was ended when Zhu deposed Ai and took the throne for himself (known posthumously as Emperor Taizu of Later Liang). He established the Later Liang , which inaugurated the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . A year later, Zhu had the deposed Emperor Ai poisoned to death. Zhu Wen's enemy Li Keyong died in 908, having never claimed the title of emperor out of loyalty to the Tang. His son Li Cunxu (Emperor Zhuangzong) inherited his title Prince of Jin along with his father's rivalry against Zhu. In 923, Li Cunxu declared

18886-421: 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

19028-470: Was killed by his own son in 763. After 710, regional military governors called jiedushi gradually came to challenge the power of the central government. After the An Lushan rebellion, the autonomous power and authority accumulated by the jiedushi in Hebei went beyond the central government's control. After a series of rebellions between 781 and 784 in present-day Hebei, Henan , Shandong , and Hubei,

19170-491: 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. 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 dramatic theatre performances . The capital

19312-465: Was made a jiedushi , and later Prince of Jin , bestowed with the imperial surname Li by the Tang court. Zhu Wen, originally a salt smuggler who served as a lieutenant under the rebel Huang Chao, surrendered to Tang forces. By helping to defeat Huang, he was renamed Zhu Quanzhong ("Zhu of Perfect Loyalty") and granted a rapid series of promotions to military governor of Xuanwu Circuit. In 901, from his power base of Kaifeng , Zhu Wen seized control of

19454-719: Was not challenged following the Ganlu Incident , where Emperor Wenzong ( r.  826–840 ) failed in his plot to have them overthrown; instead, Wenzong's allies were publicly executed in Chang'an's West Market on the eunuchs' command. Decades after the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang was able to muster enough power to launch offensive military campaigns, including its destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate in Mongolia from 840 to 847. The Tang managed to restore indirect control over former territories as far west as

19596-532: Was originally called Dashi Jiao during the Tang dynasty , when Muslims first appeared in China. "Dashi Fa" literally means "Arab law" in Old Chinese . Since almost all Muslims in China were exclusively foreign Arabs or Persians at the time, it was rarely mentioned by the Chinese, unlike other religions like Zoroastrism or Mazdaism , and Nestorian Christianity , which gained followings in China. As an influx of foreigners, such as Persians, Jews and Christians,

19738-480: Was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilisation, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivalled that of the Han dynasty . The Li family founded the dynasty after taking advantage of a period of Sui decline and precipitating their final collapse, in turn inaugurating

19880-572: Was previously Duke of Tang and governor of Taiyuan , the capital of modern Shanxi , during the collapse of the Sui dynasty (581–618). Li had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui (their mothers were both one of the Dugu sisters ). Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang ( d.  623 ), who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Chang'an , relegated Emperor Yang to

20022-533: Was put down at Issyk Kul in 657 by Su Dingfang (591–667), Emperor Gaozong established several protectorates governed by a Protectorate General or Grand Protectorate General, which extended the Chinese sphere of influence as far as Herat in Western Afghanistan. Protectorate Generals were given a great deal of autonomy to handle local crises without waiting for central admission. After Xuanzong's reign, jiedushi were given enormous power, including

20164-554: Was restored to power; the Tang was formally restored on March 3. She died soon after. To legitimise her rule, she circulated a document known as the Great Cloud Sutra , which predicted that a reincarnation of the Maitreya Buddha would be a female monarch who would dispel illness, worry, and disaster from the world. She even introduced numerous revised written characters for the language, though they reverted to

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