ABSTRACT

Li-yuan, who is known to posterity as Kau Tsu, signalized the commencement of his reign by the attention he paid to learning. Kau Tsu felt that it was time for him to endeavour to conquer Honan, for it was too important a province to be left in the hands of the men that ruled it. In the year A. D. 625 the Turcomans, under the leadership of their chief, Chieh-li, invaded Shensi. Some of the ministers represented to Kau Tsu the advisability of removing the capital to Lohyang. T'ai Tsung began his reign by an act that showed well the character of the man. He dismissed three thousand of the ladies of the palace to their homes. This year, A. D. 629, the whole empire was divided into ten circuits or provinces, viz., Kwan-nei, Ho-tang, Ho-nan, Ho-peh, Shan-nan, Lung-yu, Hwai-nan, Kiang-nan, Chien-nan and Ling-nan. The year A. D. 630 was a glorious one in the reign of T'ai Tsung.