How did farming change in the tang dynasty?
The Tang rulers combined policies to exact resources from the population with legislation meant to guarantee a livelihood for all farming families. All qualifying males were guaranteed a certain amount of farmland until they reached the retirement age of 60. Although they could pass on some of this land to their sons, they returned most of it to the government for redistribution. In return each adult male owed the government a set amount of grain and cloth and could be called up to perform labor service for 20 days per year. In certain areas males were required to perform military service rather than labor service, a policy that became the basis of Tang military power. This tax system was meant for an agricultural economy of self-sufficient rural communities, and it was based on the assumption that most of the people owned similar amounts of land. However, high officials and members of the imperial clan owned great estates, Buddhist monasteries had sizable tax-free landholdings, and co
