Early Tang Political Organization

Timeline

1. c. 598–616Taiyuan · ShanxiIn the late Daye era Li Yuan served as governor of Taiyuan, drawing on the Guanlong military aristocracy's hereditary networks and local forces in Hedong and Hebei to accumulate troops, funds, and grain in Jinyang, laying the organizational foundation for rebellion against Sui; at this stage the group was still a latent force within the Sui court's local military-administrative system.
2. 617Jinyang (Taiyuan) · ShanxiAfter the Jinyang uprising in May 617, Li Yuan's group quickly secured Bingzhou and campaigned into Guanzhong; in November they entered Chang'an and installed Emperor Gong of Sui, with Li Yuan as chancellor directing court affairs, forming a transitional military-civilian coalition and preparing organizationally for formal state founding.
3. 618–620Chang'an · ShaanxiIn 618 Li Yuan proclaimed himself emperor and founded Tang, following Sui institutions in establishing the Zhongshu, Menxia, and Shangshu departments and the six ministries of Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works, with the Shangshu Department as the administrative hub; he also restored the fubing twelve guards and the prefecture-county system, incorporating the Guanlong military aristocracy into the new dynasty's bureaucratic-military framework.
4. 620–626Guanzhong and the Central Plains · ChinaEarly Tang integrated the field-command headquarters with prefecture-county administration by defeating separatist powers such as Xue Ju, Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande; after the Xuanwu Gate Incident Li Shimin took the throne, and early Tang political organization moved from its founding stage into the Zhenguan consolidation period.