598-649
Founder Of The Tang Dynasty

Great Monarch. Li Shimin, or Taizong, has been regarded as one of the greatest monarchs in Chinese history, though he obtained the throne by murdering his brother and forcing his father, also named Taizong, to resign. The founder of the Tang dynasty (618-907), Li employed a succession of capable ministers, who came to epitomize the ideal relationship between an emperor and his advisers. Conserving many characteristics of his father's government, he took a personal interest in the careers of regional officials and dispatched commissioners to check on the quality of their work.

Imperial Clan. Li employed some persons in the court from areas other than his native Northwest, but his government remained in the hands of aristocrats of the Northeast, identified as semibarbarians. During his administration the distance between the emperor and the ordinary people began to increase. An...