Jingzhou In The Tang Dynasty Political And Economic Change

The Tang Dynasty was an important period for the commencement of the social transformation of ancient China. Consistent with the trends of the time, the internal politics and economic structure of Jing Zhou underwent significant changes during this period.It can be established from an examination of the rise and fall of Jing Zhou’s administrative organizational system during the Tang period, the expansion and contraction of the area under its jurisdiction, and the service conditions for local officials over several dynasties that, generally speaking, Jing Zhou’s political status was higher after the Mid-Tang Dynasty than in earlier periods. The Tang government ceased to pay close attention to Jing Zhou after it stabilized its rule over the entire country. After the An-Shih Rebellion, the transport of national rents and taxes had to pass by Jing Zhou. In order to ensure that the transport of grain was unimpeded, the government began to give a certain degree of attention to Jing Zhou. This was different from the situation in earlier periods with their greater emphasis on military affairs. That is to say, the influence of politics and military affairs on Jing Zhou’s development weakened in the Tang Dynasty.With respect to Jing Zhou’s economic development, its commercial prosperity warrants special commendation, especially its flourishing transit trade. However, the degree of development of Jing Zhou’s real economy in areas like agriculture and handicraft was not enough to support this kind of commercial prosperity. The main reason for the arising of this kind of special prosperity was that the north-south trunk road was forced to change its route after An-Shih Rebellion, leading to Jing Zhou becoming an important transfer station for commercial traffic. Although Jing Zhou’s economy made great progress in the Late Tang Dynasty, the driving force for development was short-lived and unstable. Its importance as a transfer station was also the main reason why Jing Zhou’s economic development was able to replace its militarily strategic position in the mid-and late periods of the Tang Dynasty to become its most important aspect, but it could not improve the city’s worth as a whole.In summary, the main reason for the rise in Jing Zhou’s political and economic status was changes in external political factors. It benefitted from its geographical location, but the internal relations of its politics and economy were rather weak. They were neither able to mutually promote each other, nor could they enable the city to seize the opportunities arising from its advantageous position with respect to transportation. As a result, even though it was the largest city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Jing Zhou was unable to achieve an absolute advantage relative to the surrounding cities. The economic development of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the Tang Dynasty were unable to form a unified core area, resulting in a further widening of the gap in economic development between it and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River’s.