Henghai And The Political Situation Of Hebei District In Middle And Late Tang Dynasty

Research on military governor is the focus of the Tang and Five Dynasties history research,and research on Hebei MIlitary Governor is the focus of military governor research. There are few works on Henghai,while previous studies concentrated in Youzhou, Weibo and Chengde.I studied the government and jurisdiction of Henghai in Middle and Late Tang Dynasty in this thesis.I also investigated the relationship between Henghai and the royal court of Tang Dynasty, the relationship between Henghai and other military governors.Henghai has its important strategic position in Middle and Late Tang Dynasty, because of the geographic location and favourable natural conditions. Henghai was situated in the middle of Hebei District,surrounded by Youzhou,Chengde,Weibo and Ziqing.Hence,Henghai became the town which can pin down other military governors in complex Hebei political situation.Henghai impacted on Hebei political situation in Middle and Late Tang Dynasty importantly, although it was weaker than other military governors.At the same time,the development of Henghai was affected by the political measures of the royal court of Tang Dynasty and Hebei political situation.The main reason why Henghai developed its power is that the royal court considered it as affiliation of Hebei.The royal court supported Henghai mostly,for the strategy of controling all the military governors of Hebei.The strategic deployment changed while the political situation in Hebei changed.In Middle and Late Tang Dynasty,every change of Henghai represented the political strategy of the royal court,and the change influenced the political situation in Hebei.In Late Tang Dynasty, the royal court couldn’t recover Hebei,along with the gradual decline of national power.Therefore, the role of Henghai in Hebei Planning gradually fade away.Henghai was affiliated to powerful military governors in Hebei.In the Late Five Dynasties,Henghai became the main power of the central court to resist Qidan.Its strategic role in the external side is also reflected.