Discussion: Your favorite Imperial Chinese Dynasty and Why?

[GameBawesome]

China has a long history of Dynasties. There are major dynasties like Han to Qing, but also minor dynasties, like Wei and Shun. However, we'll be discussing the Major imperial dynasties, meaning everything before Qin Dynasty, although important, weren't Imperial. Imperial Dynasties include:

1. Qin Dynasty
2. Han Dynasty
3. Jin Dynasty
4. Sui Dynasty
5. Tang Dynasty
6. Liao Dynasty
7. Song Dynasty
8. Yuan Dynasty
9. Ming Dynasty
10. Qing Dynasty

So now with that out of the way, which of these Imperial Chinese Dynasties, which is your personal favorite, and why?

My Personal favorite is the Ming Dynasty, for it's art, revitalization of Han Culture, and it's earlier projects, and just how much potential it had if the government was competent

 

[Atterdag]

I’ve always liked the Qin, like how they get to be an entire dynasty despite just being one guy for not even that long (and his son for a little while I guess). It’s also one that makes for an interesting PoD I think, what if it’d survived longer?

 

[Avrorrange]

My favourite is the Tang Dynasty because it’s rulers are just so colourful and it’s society is so cosmopolitan.

 

[Optical_Illusion]

I would say Tang as well as seems to have the most potential for interesting divergence points*, seems probably the relative peak of Chinese sophistication relative to the rest of the world, the real Chinese relative Golden Age**, has I vaguely get the impression the most interesting events (An-Lushan) and the cultural zenith of the great poets (Du Fu and Li Bai). (And on a coarse level its the most evocative period of setting for the Chinese works that seem most approachable to us in the West at least care about - Judge Dee, Journey to the West.) One hell of a 300 years!

*Pre-total solidification of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy, pre-total solidification of civil service exam, the turning point of transition between “Tang-Song transition” with disappearance of the complete disappearance of the great aristocratic clans. Lots of possibilities. Basically lots of opportunities where all the things that seemed to me to perhaps go increasingly wrong with governance and society under Chinese civilization, as the 2nd Millennium rolled on, could be turned aside.

** Maybe Song is more impressive, but seems not so impressive in relative terms to what else is going on in the world at the same time.