Tsao Tsao (Cao Cao) Reunifies China

@darthfanta So interestingly, a China united by the north in the early 3rd century means said region continues to serve as the political, cultural, and agricultural center of the empire for at least a few more centuries. That right?

Because that by itself just might have some major implications for the evolution of Chinese civilization. One thing that comes to mind -- is it accurate to say that, during the Late Han and Three Kingdom eras, that the south was the stronghold for the Taoist revival? And that this revival (the Yellow Turbans, etc) played a key role in the evolution and/or growth of Taoist philosophy in the centuries to come? If so, would keeping the core of China's civilization in the north (for longer) butterfly this development, making said civilization "less Daoist" (for want of a better term) in subsequent centuries?
All I can say is that the South will likely be far less developed.
 
Thinking about how this plays out longer term -- like how long can China plausibly remain unified before undergoing a warring states period? OTL, the Song to Qing period lasted eight and a half centuries, so could TTL hold off until the 7th Century (when, ironically, the Sui were reuniting the empire OTL)?

And if the Cao dynasty (or "dynasty") is overthrown by another, from the south say, but still holds together All Under Heaven, would that, in itself, undercut the kind of effects we're talking about (less developed south, curbed Neo-Daoism and Buddhism, etc); or does the empire holding together in itself keep most of these changes in place?
 
Thinking about how this plays out longer term -- like how long can China plausibly remain unified before undergoing a warring states period? OTL, the Song to Qing period lasted eight and a half centuries, so could TTL hold off until the 7th Century (when, ironically, the Sui were reuniting the empire OTL)?

Probably not, I'd say. The longer China stayed united, the more a united China seemed the natural and proper state of affairs, and the less powerful centrifugal forces became. That's why each period of disunion in Chinese history was generally shorter than the one that preceded it. During the Han period this process wasn't as far advanced as it would be by the time of the Song, so there would be less to keep the country united and more impetus to division.
 
So it appears to be absolutely possible, with this PoD, for China to hold together for two more centuries, and then the northern part of the kingdom managed to hold together until AUH could be reunified, right? As @darthfanta mentioned earlier, no Updising of the Five Barbarians in the early 4th century means the economic and cultural center of the empire remains in the north, so that doesn't seem like it should be too hard. In which case, we've completely altered the face of Chinese civilization -- even if Buddhism grows in the south, the north is likely to then see itself as a bulwark of traditional Han civilization.
 
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