Fubing Militia System

Timeline

1. c. 550–581Guanzhong · GuanzhongYuwen Tai organized fubing troops through hereditary military households combining farming and warfare, assigned to military commands on rotating service, providing the organizational prototype for the Sui and Tang fubing systems.
2. 618–680Chang'an · GuanzhongThe Tang continued the fubing, with commoners serving as soldiers providing their own equipment, rotating guard duty among the Twelve Guards including the Left and Right Guards; under Taizong the fubing was strong, supporting foreign campaigns and capital defense from the Zhenguan era onward.
3. c. 680–755Luoyang · Central PlainsLand annexation and increasing flight dried up fubing recruitment and increased the guard-duty burden; Emperor Xuanzong switched to long-term recruited soldiers, effectively abolishing the fubing system and worsening the situation of frontier generals holding private armies.
4. 801–900Chang'an · GuanzhongBy the ninth century the fubing system had no practical meaning; the central government relied on the Shence Army and other imperial guards and recruits, while regional governors privately maintained their own household troops; fragmented military power became the norm of late Tang military politics.