page_title: Emperor Taizong of Tang
section_title: Treatment of Noble Clan
hierarchical_section_title: Emperor Taizong of Tang / As emperor / Middle reign (634–641) / Treatment of Noble Clan
caption_attribution_description: [唐]李世民 《温泉铭》（局部） 原石早佚，唐拓孤本现藏法国巴黎图书馆 来自
context_page_description: Emperor Taizong of Tang, previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty for his role in encouraging Li Yuan, his father, to rebel against the Sui dynasty at Jinyang in 617. Taizong subsequently played a pivotal role in defeating several of the dynasty's most dangerous opponents and solidifying its rule over China.
  Taizong is typically considered to be one of the greatest emperors in China's history and henceforth, his reign became regarded as the exemplary model against which all future emperors were measured. His era, the "Reign of Zhenguan" is considered a golden age in ancient Chinese history and was treated as required studying material for future crown princes. Under the Zhenguan era, Tang China flourished economically and militarily. For more than a century after his death, China enjoyed prosperity and peace brought about by the solidification of imperial protection over the Chinese regions.
context_section_description: Sometime before 638, Emperor Taizong, disgusted with the traditional noble clans of Cui, Lu, Li, and Zheng and believing that they were abusing their highly honored names, commissioned Gao Shilian, Wei Ting, Linghu Defen, and Cen Wenben to compile a work later to be known as the Records of Clans (氏族志), with the intent of dividing the clans into nine classes based on their past contributions, good deeds, and ill deeds.  In an initial draft that Gao submitted, he nevertheless ranked the branch of the Cui clan that the official Cui Min'gan (崔民幹) belonged to as the highest, a decision that Emperor Taizong rebuked, as he pointed out that Gao was merely again looking at tradition and not the recent contributions.  He therefore personally intervened in revising the work, reducing Cui's clan to the third class.
caption: Fountain Memory, calligraphy of Emperor Taizong on a Tang stele.
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