The Study On The Changes Of The Political Position Of Yuan Family In Tang Dynasty

Yuan is the surname of Hu nationality in the process of noblization in Northern Wei Dynasty.This paper focuses on Yuan family in Tang Dynasty and try to analyze its vicissitude of political status by making a research on Yuan's official and marital status in Tang Dynasty.This paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter mainly illustrates how Tang people regarded the Yuan family in Tang Dynasty by the recordings about the genealogy of Yuan family.From the orthodox history compiled by historians of Tang Dynasty,we find that it describes Yuan family as the descendants of Huangdi(??),which is common in Northern Dynasty.This also gets approval from the epitaphs of Yuan family in Tang Dynasty.The branches of Yuan Wen,Yuan Baize,Yuan Yan,Yuan Rong,Yuan Xiang,Yuan Sheng tended to describe themselves as the descendants of Huangdi(??)in order to integrate into the new regime better.The second chapter mainly focuses on the political circumstances of Yuan family before Tang Dynasty.After Emperor Xiaowen's(??)Reform in Northern Wei Dynasty,Tuoba(??)family of the Xianbeis(??)changed its surname for Yuan,and became a supreme one among the aristocratic families in Northern Dynasty.In the meanwhile,there was a polarization inside the Yuan family:on one hand,the offsprings who were not the descendants of Emperor Daowu(??)no longer had the title of king and became the ordinary noble;on the other hand,royal members,such as Seven Princes of Emperor Xianwen,were promoted and became a force of stabilizing the regime.In Northern Qi Dynasty,Northern Zhou Dynasty and Sui Dynasty,the direct royal descendants and others who were closely related to them,especially the offsprings of five princes of Emperor Wencheng(??),six princes of Emperor Xianwen(??)and five princes of Emperor Xiaowen(??),were strictly supervised and had no chance to expand their families.By the time of Sui Dynasty,they had seldom appeared in the political arena.Other imperial clansmen who were distantlyrelated to the royal members of Northern Wei Dynasty,such as those who were granted as kings under the reign of Emperor Zhaocheng(??)and Emperor Jingmu(??),gained a relatively favorable development environment.Among them,the three descendant branches of Emperor Zhaocheng—Changshan Prince Tuoba Zun(???),Chenliu Prince Tuoba Qian(???)and Pengcheng Duke Tuoba Bo(???)—were prominent examples.Yuan family recorded in Tang Dynasty mainly were the offsprings of kings under the reign of Emperor Zhaocheng(??)and Emperor Jingmu(??)in Northern Wei Dynasty.The third chapter studies the marriage status and political career of the former,and the fourth chapter focuses on the latter.From Emperor Gaozu(??)to Emperor Xuanzong(??),the development of the main branches of Yuan family can be divided into three types:branches of Yuan Wen(??),Yuan Jing(??)and Yuan Rong(??)were on the decline;branches of Yuan Xiang(??),Yuan Ci(??)and Yuan Yi(??)thrived for just a short period;branches of Yuan Sheng(??),Yuan Yan(??),Yuan Gui(??)and Yuan Baize(???)maintained stable development.The fifth chapter will make an analysis of the overall tendency of marriage and official career of the main branches of Yuan family in Tang Dynasty.This paper finds that they went up and down along with the reign of Tang Dynasty.The main branches were active during the period from Emperor Gaozong(??)to Emperor Shunzong(??).From Emperor Gaozu(??)to Emperor Taizong(??),few members of Yuan family engaged in politics,let alone entering the supreme decision-making institution.However,things changed from Emperor Gaozong(??)to Emperor Wuzetian(???).Many secured an official position and played a role in the supreme decision-making institution.During the period from Emperor Zhongzong(??)to Emperor Xuanzong(??),their development reached its climax,which was reflected in both the number entering into the politics and the distribution of official positions.Those who were in high positions geared up to strengthen their families,leading tothe whole improvement of political status of Yuan family.But when it came to Emperor Suzong(??)and Emperor Shunzong(??),the number decreased dramatically and almost none of them were in high position.As from Emperor Xianzong(??)to Emperor Xuanzong(??),most branches of Yuan family had withered,except the four branches,Yuan Sheng,Yuan Yan,Yuan Gui and Yuan Baize,which still kept high official position.After Emperor Xuanzong(??),we could find little record about them and all branches of yuan family gradually declined.Yuan family were mainly allied to Wu family in southeast county and bachelor families in Shandong(??)and Guanzhong(??)county.They would get married with the commoners but seldom with Hu nationality.Branches of Yuan Sheng,Yuan Yan and Yuan Gui were in the aristocratic circle and they mainly married into the purple such as Li family,Qinghe Cui family,Hedong Pei family,Xingyang Zheng family and Jingzhao Wei family.Branches of Yuan Yi,Yuan Ci,Yuan Baize and Yuan Xiang were in middle and lower classes of intelligentsia and they sometimes married noble families such as Zhang family and Wei family.Branches of Yuan Wen,Yuan Jing and Yuan Rong were in the bottom of intelligentsia and we couldn't find records about theirr marriage with noble families.Among those,the marriage with the royal family stimulated the development of the branch of Yuan Gui.While the help from the marriage with other noble family were limited for the branches of Yuan Sheng and Yuan Yan.In a word,the political position of Yuan family in Tang Dynasty was depressed firstly,then it rose and reached its top,but finally went down.In the early time,Yuan family got better position by Menyin(??).While in the latter time,their success mostly depended on their individual effort,and members who could adapt to the imperial examination gained advantageous status and usually had a solid and lasting future such as the branches of Yuan Sheng,Yuan Yan,Yuan Gui and Yuan Baize.During this time,the culture of Yuan family underwent a transition from militarism tohumanism,and came to be assimilated into Han culture.However,unlike other families,Yuan family couldn't develop some tenacious branches,which caused its fall of social reputation and political status after Five Dynasties.