Sui dynasty

The Sui dynasty (Chinese: 隋朝; pinyin: Suí cháo) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China of pivotal significance. Preceded by the Northern and Southern dynasties, China was reunified after nearly three centuries of north-south division, and the rule of ethnic Han Chinese was reinstalled in the entire China proper, along with sinicization of former nomadic ethnic minorities within its territory. It was succeeded by the Tang dynasty, which largely inherited its foundation.

Founded by Emperor Wen of Sui, the Sui dynasty capital was Chang'an (which was renamed Daxing, 581–605) and later Luoyang (605–614). Emperors Wen and Yang undertook various centralized reforms, most notably the equal-field system, intended to reduce economic inequality and improve agricultural productivity; the institution of the Three Departments and Six Ministries system; and the standardization and re-unification of the coinage. They also spread and encouraged Buddhism throughout the empire. By the middle of the dynasty, the newly-unified empire entered a golden age of prosperity with vast agricultural surplus that supported acute population growth.

Emperor Wen

Emperor Wen, Wendi, or the Wen Emperor may refer to:

Dynasty

A dynasty (UK /ˈdɪnəsti/, US /ˈdaɪnəsti/) is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a "house"; this may be styled "royal", "princely", "comital", etc. depending upon the chief or present title borne by its members. Historians consider many sovereign states' histories, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, within a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the term "dynasty" may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends, and artifacts of that period ("a Ming-dynasty vase"). The word "dynasty" itself is often dropped from such adjectival references ("a Ming vase").

Until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty: that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, the Yamato dynasty, whose reign is traditionally dated to 660 BC.

Shen Yun Performing Arts

Shen Yun Performing Arts is a performing-arts and entertainment company formed in New York City. It performs classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, with orchestral accompaniment and solo performers. The Shen Yun website translates the phrase shen yun as "the beauty of divine beings dancing".

Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, with the mission of reviving "the essence of 5000 years of Chinese culture," which it states to have been nearly destroyed by the Chinese Communist Party government. Performances around the world are hosted by local Falun Dafa Associations.

The group is composed of three performing arts companies: The New York Company, The Touring Company, and the International Company, with of a total of over 200 performers. For seven months a year, Shen Yun Performing Arts tours to over 130 cities across Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia. Shen Yun's shows have been staged in several leading theaters, including New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, Paris' Le Palais de Congrès. The company has performed extensively in Taiwan, but has yet to perform in Mainland China or Hong Kong. The show's acts and production staff are trained at Shen Yun’s headquarters in Cuddebackville, in Orange County, New York.

Tang dynasty

The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝; pinyin: Táng Cháo; Wade–Giles: T'ang Ch'ao), officially the Great Tang (Chinese: 大唐; pinyin: Dà Táng; Wade–Giles: Ta T'ang), also called the Empire of the Great Tang, was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was founded by the Lǐ family (李), who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire. The dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty (690–705) and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant.

The Tang dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), which at the time was the most populous city in the world, is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Yet, even when the central government was breaking down and unable to compile an accurate census of the population in the 9th century, it is estimated that the population had grown by then to about 80 million people. With its large population base, the dynasty was able to raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and the lucrative trade routes along the Silk Road. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it indirectly controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.