ABSTRACT
The dynasties of the period of division, both in the South and the North, were primarily military dictatorships, founded by generals or by the leading families of invading tribal groups. The T'ang functionally divided the central government into six ministries—civil affairs, finance, rites, army, justice, and public works— a system that lasted until modern times. T'ang art was tremendously enriched by the increasing demands of Buddhism for religious representations that engaged most of the sculptors and painters of the time. The core of the T'ang army, its aggressive force, was cavalry. It was the horse that made the steppe people so dangerous to the settled Chinese, and it was the horse that enabled the Chinese to carry the war into the steppe. T'ang China affected Japanese political and social institutions, Japanese language and literature, as well as philosophies and religion, and especially its art and architecture.
