A Study On Puzhou In Tang Dynasty

Puzhou boasts beautiful landscape and remarkable talents. Despite the late emergence of the name, the place has a long history as it was believed to be the capital when Emperor Yao and Shun were on the throne. In the last years of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin Kingdom established a county here, thus ushering in the history of this place as an administrative unit. The establishment of the Hedong (meaning "East of the River") Prefecture in the Warring States Period here made "Hedong" a byword for this place. The name "Puzhou" emerged during the reign of the Northern Zhou Kingdom. In Sui and Tang Dynasties, the place was also named Hedong or Hezhong Prefecture. But the territory of Puzhou in the Tang Dynasty was only the southern half of the Kingdom of Wei during the Warring States Period and half of the Hedong Prefecture in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Compared with the Hedong Perfecture or Puizhou after the Kingdom of Wei and Jin, the territory of Puzhou was almost the same, lying in the Yunchen Basin south of the Jishan Mountain, east and south of the Yellow River, and west of the Zhongtiao Mountain. In the Tang Dynasty, Puzhou became a prefecture in618and was regarded as one of the six strategic prefectures, one of the four adjacent prefectures and one of the100prefectures. In760, Puzhou once again became the capital of the Hezhong Province until the end of the Tang Dynasty.The gentry of Puzhou had very close relations to the politics of the Tang Dynasty. Since the Western Wei Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the gentry represented by clans surnamed Pei, Xue and Liu, being strong supporters of the central regime, had played an important role in the succession of the Tang Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty and become part of the central regime in the early years of that dynasty. They actively sought marriage alliance with the imperial family to elevate their own political status. As they were involved in such political incidents as "impeaching the emperor and pledging loyalty to Empress Wu Zetian" when Emperor Gaozong was in reign,"requesting to give some power to the empress dowager" when Empress Wu was on the throne, and the "party disputes over Princess Taiping" in the period of Emperor Xuanzong, these clans also experienced ups and downs amidst the political changes. When Emperor Xuanzong was in the reign, the Pei Clan was exceptionally prestigious, with Pei Guangting and Pei Yaoqing serving as prime ministers, Pei Youxian serving as the Minister of Industry, Pei Dunfu as the Minister of Law and Justice, Pei Cui as the Minister of Personnel, and Pei Kuan as the Minister of Education and Foreign Affairs. They were the major players on the political stage at that time, contributing their talents during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty.The population of Puzhou continued to rise from the early years to the middle of the Tang Dynasty, reaching its peak during the last years of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. However, its population plunged to its lowest during the years of the rebellion of An and Shi Clans. Despite some slight increase after the riot, its population stayed at a low level. The population of Puzhou varied basically in line with the general trend across the country, differing only in degrees. It thus can be inferred that the labor forces of Puzhou were no longer that abundant and its economic status as the supply base for the capital had undergone changes.With even land, Puzhou Basin was the granary of China in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. As it lied in the middle of the three capitals and foreign merchants had to commute between Chang’an, Luoyang and Taiyuan via Puzhou, its industry and commerce was rather developed. Anyi and Jiexian were two largest salt production bases, and their income from salt accounted for one third of the country’s total income from salt, thus being an important component of the financial revenue of the central government. To crack down on salt smuggling and safeguard the nation’s revenue from salt, the government had very rigorous laws on these two salt lakes after785when Emperor Dezong came to the throne.Puzhou, providing natural defense for the capital Chang’an on its east, had close bearing on the central regime and national security. In the reunification war, the victory in Hedong Battle made Puzhou an important and solid citadel for the army to fight eastwards, northwards, or southwards. During the rebellion of the An and Shi Clans, the military officials and soldiers launched attacks to the flanks of the Luoyang and Chang’an rebel forces, thus laying a solid foundation for the later counterattacks and recapture of the two capitals. And in the course of suppressing the military governors in outlying prefectures, Puzhou was again used as a base to root out the separatists such as Pugu Huai’en, Zhou Zhiguang and Li Xilie.