Introduction
The Tang Dynasty that existed between June 18, 618 and June 1, 907 was an imperial dynasty of the Republic of China. It was lead by the Sui Dynasty while other five dynasties and ten kingdoms. The dynasty was brought up by the Li family, who apprehended power during the turn down and collapse of the Sui Empire. Tang Dynasty is referred to as high civilization point for China. The region is defined by massive cultural values, which make it unique from other regions in the Republic of China. This dynasty has had extensive influence to the culture of China following borrowing of a significant number of cultural behaviors form the dynasty by China.
Religion
During this era, there were some religious grounds that were defined to the Republic of China. There were two main traditional religions during the era known as Daoism and Buddhism. In the reign of Taizong who was the emperor an eminent Buddhist Monk known as Xuan Zang had gone to India to request the Buddhist Sutra. After a long journey in India, Xuan was able to obtain approximately 657 sutras, which led to the building of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda for the preservation of these Sutras. As they tried to translate the Sutras, which seemed classic, the Buddhist monks gradually formed an established structure of ideology, which were made of different Buddhism sects (Tang, 1991).
Along with the Buddhism religion, which was widely spread in the region, other religions were introduced to the china region. Among the religions that enriched the Tang Dynasty reign include Islam and Christianity (Benn, 2002).
Every religion in the region was competing with each other for dominance in the China region. For example, Buddhist monks were extremely determined in spreading their religion to the Republic of China. They persecuted Jews as they argued that the Buddhist religion was more truthful than the beliefs that Jews had been accustomed to. This competition brought in massive disagreements and tension among the members of the society and supporters of different religion stands. It saw some Christian heretics flee to exile as they hid from the force of the most powerful religion, the Buddhism in the region (China Travel Gude, 1998). This was a clear definition of what may happen to people after exposing them to a certain behavior for a long time. Therefore, most people in the Tang Dynasty are Buddhists.
Poetry
This is an extremely concrete element in the China Society, which has brought in massive influence to the status of the culture of the society. Among the most glorious cultural achievements during the era included the distinguished Tang Poems. During early days, there were Chen Ziang as well as the four dazzling poets, known as Lu Zhaolin, Wang Bo, Luo Binwang, and Yang Jiong. During the middle period, there were Han Yu, Li He, and Bai Juyi. The late Tang Dynasty was represented by Du Mu and Li SHangyin (Benn, 2002).
These poets wrote their work with different themes at the back of their minds. They were out to solve these problems by presenting them in forms of writing. Their stories range from peaceful living, imaginative fancies and historic affairs (Millar, 1996). The influence of the Tang poetry went to a level, which no other cultural element in the society can surpass.
Through this poetry activity, the culture of China has been established. This takes place through presentation of different people to leaders by poets. This means that people access information of their choice, enriching the world society as well as the republic of China with the adverse cultural traits for the region.
Political system
The other element that shaped the culture of China is the political system which was represented by official system and comprehensive administration, strict legal system, as well as equitable majestic examination system (China Travel Gude, 1998).
The Tang Dynasty had come up with an organizational structure known as ‘Dao’ and ‘Fu’ as a tool to divide the political districts. During the reign of Zhen Guan, the territory had been divided into ten political influences known as ‘Dao’, which grew to fifteen in the Heyday of Kaiyuan. The more subsidiary structure of administration was made of Xian, Xiang, Li, Cun, Bao and Lin. These represented town, five Lis, a hundred families, village, five families, and four families respectively. By the end of the reign of Kaiyuan, there society had 1573 Xians and 328 Zhous (Millar, 1996).
The official administration system of the dynasty was both central and local official system. The administration was divided in departments and ministries, which made it easy to conduct the administration in the region (Tang, 1991).
The legal system of the region was embedded to talented leadership and governance. It was upon the wise in the society to advice the administration on initiatives that it would take to ensure coexistence among the people in the society. A peaceful social order had been established in the region, which could have been emulated extremely easily (Millar, 1996).
The use of the most talented people in the society was a sign of a society that was destined for culture of education and high performance. Everyone in the society admired such a level where his ability is recognized and rewarded accordingly (Tang, 1991). This is a formula to shape a reliable society defined by principles of excellence and ability of a culture.
Conclusion
Tang Dynasty is a representation of what any governance should be as it tries to uphold certain cultural values. This dynasty defined the religion of the most people in China, which has remained dominant in the society. The literature, which was also core in expressing certain cultural values that the affiliates of the society were expected to execute. Administration is the core in every society, where it is supposed to dictate cultural excellence.
Work Cited
Benn, Charles D.. Daily life in traditional China the Tang dynasty. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. Print.
China Travel Gude."Political System of China Tang Dynasty." China Travel Agency with 24/7 Tour Service - TravelChinaGuide. N.p., 24 Feb. 1998. Web. 7 Feb. 2013. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/tang.htm
Millar, Heather. China's Tang dynasty. New York: Benchmark Books, 1996. Print.
Tang, Yijie. Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Chinese culture. Peking: University of Peking ; , 1991. Print.
