Dynastic+Cycle

China's history is made up of many dynasties. The steps of the rise and fall of dynasties are repeated, especially in China's history. These steps are called the Dynastic Cycle. __Dynastic Cycle__
 * HERE IS A GUIDE OF ALL THE DYNASTIES OF CHINA: [|Guide for Dynasties :D]**


 * 1) New emperor claims the "Mandate of Heaven"* and unites the empire.**
 * 2) Golden Age/Accomplishments, a time of prosperity in which the dynasty flourishes**
 * 3) Problems such as high taxes, rebellion, and natural disasters occur**
 * 4) People, such as slaves begin to revolt and overthrow the Emperor who then loses the "Mandate of Heaven"**
 * The cycle is repeated with a new family claiming the "Mandate of Heaven," and a new dynasty is born.**



__DYNASTIC CYCLE OF THE SUI DYNASTY (581-618 CE):__ New Dynasty **- The Dynasty came about when Emperor Wendi put an end to the period of six chaotic dynasties. After uniting China, he reestablished civil service exams, lowered taxes, established granaries to reserve food supply, set up a legal system, and rebuilt the Great Wall of China. After his death, his son,Yangdi, took over and he established a less severe legal system and enforced Confucianism, favoring __#|education__.** Old Dynasty/Problems **- Yangdi became obsessed with luxuries and extravagant building projects. This required a lot of labor from the peasant __#|class__, which lead to revolts. He also angered his people by launching unsuccessful wars on Korea. In addition, China began to split up and fall into the hand of invaders, leading to the end of the Sui Dynasty.**

__DYNASTIC CYCLE OF THE TANG DYNASTY (618-907 CE):__ New Dynasty - **A strong supporter of Yangdi, Li Yuan, later rose during the chaos, declaring himself as king and establishing a new dynasty called the Tang Dynasty. He expanded much of the land, completed the __#|repair__ of the Great Wall, reestablished the imperial bureaucracy, expanded the civil service examinations, and enforced Confucian ideas. Another strong emperor, Xuanzong (713-756), overthrew Empress Wei, who tried to make her young son the new emperor. Xuanzong made political and economic reforms.** Old Dynasty/Problems - **In 755, one of the emperor's main military leaders, An Lushan, led a huge revolt in order to create a new dynasty. This was one of the major causes for the fall of the Tang dynasty.**
 * - In the mid-9th century (~845), Buddhism was persecuted because of envious Confucian and Daoist rivals. Monasteries and shrines were destroyed, and thousands of monks and nuns had to leave their monastic orders.**
 * - During the revolt led by An Lushan, Xuanzong's troops rebelled against him. They killed several members of Yang Guifei's family and later forced the emperor to have Yang Guifei executed. Xuanzong could no longer hold the position of emperor because of his grief. His successors were not as strong as he was, and China once again fell into chaos due to peasant uprising and economic failure.**


 * The** __Mandate of Heaven**__ is an ancient Chinese philosophical concept, which originated during the Zhou Dynasty (was used to justify the overthrowing of the Shang Dynasty). It determines whether an emperor of China is sufficiently virtuous to rule; if he does not fulfill his obligations as emperor, then he loses the Mandate and thus the right to be emperor.

There are four principles to the Mandate:

1) Heaven __#|grants__ the emperor the right to rule. 2) Since there is only one Heaven, there can only be one emperor at any given time. 3) The emperor's virtue determines his right to rule. 4) No single dynasty has a permanent right to rule. ([|Source)]