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Tang Dynasty's Alien Policy: Why did China force foreigners to wear specific clothing?
During the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, with the exchanges and exchanges of various foreign ethnic groups, a special alien policy emerged in Chinese history. These policies not only reflected the Tang Dynasty's attitude towards foreigners, but also revealed its deep concerns about cultural assimilation and social order. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, there were frequent interactions between different ethnic groups. How to maintain the cultural purity of the Han people became an important task for the government at that time.
In order to maintain social harmony and order, the Tang government promulgated a series of laws that forced foreigners to wear specific national costumes.
In 779, the Tang Dynasty’s policy towards the Urumqi people showed its strong awareness of cultural preservation. At that time, the government not only required them to wear their own ethnic costumes, but also prohibited them from marrying Han women and deliberately imitating Han customs. At that time, Tang Dynasty administrators such as Lu Xiao were disgusted by the phenomenon of foreigners mixing in Han communities, so they further enacted laws to strictly restrict the social status and behavior of foreigners.
Behind these laws was not only the protection of cultural purity, but also the need for political and social stability in the Tang Dynasty.
In 836, Lu Xiao served as the governor of Guangdong. He discovered that it was common for Han people and foreigners to live together, especially intermarriage between Chinese and different ethnic groups, so he promulgated laws prohibiting such relationships. Lu Xiao's approach was very supported by the upper class of society at that time, because they believed that such separation measures would help maintain social harmony and order.
These policies of the Tang Dynasty have some similarities with those of the later Qing Dynasty. As a dynasty established by the Manchus, the Qing Dynasty also had a strong awareness of ethnic divisions and cultural maintenance. The Manchus in the Qing Dynasty basically followed a similar model in their administration of the Han people, and maintained their own cultural characteristics through laws such as the prohibition of interracial marriages.
Such a policy is not only a reflection of current events to some extent, but also a reflection on the governance of multi-ethnic countries.
However, this forced cultural separation has not been entirely positive. Under such a policy, although conflicts between ethnic groups have been reduced to some extent, it has also inhibited the exchange and integration of cultures of various ethnic groups, causing many unnecessary tensions. Such policies truly reflected the regime's control over the ruled areas and its fear of external cultures in the subsequent historical process.
With the passage of history, these policies gradually entered people's collective memory and became a tragic history in the governance of a multi-ethnic country. The coercion of this policy also prompted some foreigners to occupy and resist, eventually triggering deeper social unrest.
In conclusion, the Tang Dynasty's mandatory clothing policy for foreigners showed the government's deep recognition and maintenance of its own culture, and also reflected the society's desire for stability and the vigilance of foreigners at that time. This intertwined phenomenon of culture and politics deserves our in-depth consideration. Is it enough to give us a new perspective on contemporary ethnic policies?
