During the Northern Wei Dynasty, six military towns were established in Pingcheng, today's Hebei and Inner Mongolia to resist soft forces. However, with the localization reform of Emperor Xiaowen and the relocation of the capital, the military status of the six towns declined, and the contradiction with the central government intensified, which eventually led to the chaos of the six towns. This turmoil triggered the turmoil in the Northern Wei Dynasty, but it also put an army organized by He Bayue on the historical stage. Many generals in this army, such as Yu Wentai and Li Hu, formed the backbone of Guanlong Group. After the establishment of the Western Wei Dynasty, the influence of Guanlong Group continued to grow. With the establishment of the officers and men system, Twelve Generals and Eight Columns became the ruling class of the Western Wei Dynasty and even the Northern Zhou and Sui Dynasties, and these people also became the main components of Guanlong Group.
The history of Shandong gentry can also be traced back to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was chaos in the world, ethnic minorities moved south, and chaos in the northern region. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty moved south, some gentry from the northern region also moved south, such as Wang, Ling and County of Langya. Of course, some of the gentry stayed in the north, such as Qinghe Cui Shi, john young Lushi, Taiyuan Wangs and Xingyang Zhengshi. Therefore, the narrow sense of Shandong gentry refers to the gentry east of Taihang Mountain, which was determined after the reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Most of these gentry's children served as officials in the Northern Dynasties and made outstanding contributions to the sinicization of ethnic minorities.
The concept of Jiangnan literati is not clear. On the one hand, the gentry who went south at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty mentioned above can also be counted as Jiangnan literati in terms of geographical scope. On the other hand, the original aristocratic families in Jiangnan can also be counted as aristocratic families in Jiangnan, such as the four famous surnames in Wuzhong, namely Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang in Wujun. These southern gentry also played a great role in the politics of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
The above is a brief description of these three concepts and their respective histories. Next, let's take a look at the strength of these three forces in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. At the beginning of the establishment of Sui and Tang Dynasties, the gentry was a very important term in political life, not to mention that all the monarchs in Sui and Tang Dynasties came from Guanlong Group, and other aristocratic families also enjoyed a high status in society. At that time, there was a saying that five surnames and seven surnames expected marriage, which had a great influence. Even when Emperor Taizong revised the genealogy, the Shandong gentry still ranked first, even before the royal family in Li Tang. Ordering reconstruction dealt a blow to the gentry in Shandong and Jiangnan, but the Longlong Group remained basically unchanged because of its connection with the royal family, and the status of the ruling group was improved, and the old gentry was suppressed.
During the period of Wu Zetian, the royal family in Li Tang and the nobles in Guanlong were deposed and even killed one after another. People of lower rank were selected as officials, and their surnames were recorded, which dealt a blow to the gentry. At the same time, the implementation of the imperial examination system fundamentally hit the foundation of the old gentry, so their political status in this period was impacted. However, despite this, aristocratic families still occupy a certain lofty position in society, culture, education, family style and marriage. Until the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the party struggle between Niu and Li was still related to the contradiction between the gentry and the new imperial examination class. It can be seen that although the gentry were politically suppressed by the rulers, they still had transcendental privileges in other aspects, and this situation only changed in the Song Dynasty.