The Way of the Hegemons: Politics and Hegemony in the Sixth Century and Early Seventh Century North China
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2024
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This is a study of the political history of the 6th to early 7th centuries China. After the Northern Wei北魏 dynasty gradually disintegrated into pieces in the early 6th century, its territories in northern China were controlled by strongmen who valued political and military capabilities and talents. In this circumstance, the author of this dissertation argues that a political culture came to form in northern China, and it had dominant effects on the qualities of the imperial rulers of the successor regimes of the Northern Wei and the patterns of imperial succession of these regimes, as most of the imperial rulers and their designated successors in northern China after the demise of the Northern Wei ended up becoming the hegemons of their eras who had political and military experiences and merits. Those who failed to accumulate experiences and/or merits - if they were not ultimately replaced by more competent candidates - would usually try to consolidate their positions through other methods. The author of this dissertation further argues that this political culture continuously existed for about eighty years as it was shared by the rulers of the Sui隋 and early Tang唐 dynasties after the demises of the two successor regimes of the Northern Wei. Many of the political incidents that took place during the 6th to early 7th centuries were the direct results of this political culture or were heavily influenced by it, and it would only gradually fade away during the early 7th century when the Tang dynasty successfully consolidated itself as one of the major powers in Northeast Asia.
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Asian history, hegemon, imperial succession, medieval China, Northern Dynasties, political culture
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358 pages
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