Tang Dynasty Essay

The northern and northwestern border of the Chinese dynasties presented easy pathways for pastoral nomads to access the Chinese dynasty lands and raid the land. One early attempt to deal with these raiders such as the Xiongnu tribes of the Asian Steppe was the building of frontier fortifications now known as the Great Wall of China in order to alleviate the frontier regions of the northern Qin dynasty from the raids of the Xiongnu. The successive dynasties and the wall did little to stop the incursions from the nomads living on the Asian Steppe. The Tang dynasty would supersede the Sui dynasty and expand northwestward, thus creating an environment for the Tang and later dynasties to absorb steppe culture and create a unique military relationship

The Yuan dynasty introduced the extreme case of hybridization between the Chinese and Inner Asian social order as the Mongols replaced the Song dynasty. This period saw the transfer of Chinese Confucian literature into Mongolian. This period experienced migrations such as the Turks migrating into China and even taking control of the throne. The Tang dynasty may have reopened the Silk Road, but the Yuan dynasty continued to maintain the Silk Road and encourage trade until the isolationist Ming dynasty replaced the Yuan

The Qin dynasty had originally built a wall to counter the raids of the pastoral nomads of the steppe, and garrisons were maintained to deal with these steppe people. From time to time, the Chinese military made excursions into the steppe to deal with the nomads, while other times the Chinese recruited the nomads for military service or provided gifts to appease the nomads and prevent them from raiding into China. The interaction with the nomadic tribes provided the Chinese military officers with the understanding of nomadic politics on the