The Early Tang Northwest Border Areas Peasant Family Economy

With vast territory, stable council, developed economies and prosperous cultures, the prophase of Tang Dynasty reached a peak through the development of the ancient society, during which the Golden Years, Kaiyuan Spirit are always admired by the posterity. Then what are the reasons of the prosperity of Tang Dynasty? In the traditional ancient society, peasants, who constituted the majority of the society, were the foremost holders of the state taxes. Being families the basic units of the society, the peasant families were the most basic production organizations. Therefore, the most important basis of the booming economy was the developed agriculture and abundant income of the peasants, which is also equivalent to the good operation of the peasant families. Besides the state taxes, peasants could also make a better life not only survived themselves but also had some surplus, otherwise, it is difficult to image a unified, affluent and powerful dynasty based on peasant class which was generally poor and weak.With the domination penetrated deeply, the relationship between the Northwest Territories and central plains became increasingly close. The land equalization system and equal-field system, which were the foundations of the state, were introduced to the northwest gradually. However, in order to be in accordance with the production practices and the actual situation of the farmer groups there, they were revised appropriately, combining the unique natural environment and traditional customs there. Though the land resources in the northwest were extremely limited, and the average lands distributed to the peasants were serious scarce, the peasants cultivated the land according to the local condition successfully with the help of the governments'policies, and they valued both the agricultures and animal husbandries. At the premise of the basic agricultural production, they took various modes of agriculture operations such as livestock breeding, land tenancy and labor employment to broaden the sources of incomes, add the revenue streams, which leaded to a satisfied outcome that the majority of the peasants could afford to the state taxes and daily basic consumptions. Meanwhile, they could still have the surplus to afford to the wedding and funeral arrangements, the cost education of their kids, etc.Being an age of eclectic unity, the rulers through the ages of the Tang Dynasty adopted the positive and open policies towards nationalities to develop the friendly relationship with the minority and assimilated the excellent cultures of theirs, especially the border areas in the northwest, whose strategic position is of vital significance. With the asylum of the Tang government, the cultivations of the land in the northwest developed rapidly, and there was a significant improvement of the peasants'living standards. What's more, the good operation of the family economies promoted the overall progresses of the Northwest Territories. As one of the part of dominions of Tang, it also accelerated the stability of the political situation and the prosperity of the economy, thus drove the progress of the whole dynasty. Meanwhile, the cultural exchanges between the Northwest Territories and central plains became increasingly closer which based on the prosperous life of the peasants there. Both sides involved learned from each other's brilliant cultures and spurred the cultural development of the Tang Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that the good management of the peasant families'economy stimulated the unity between the Northwest Territories and central plains and consequentially lead to the prosperous d dynasty Tang.