It's also interesting to note once you consider decline of the largest and most successful Chinese dynasties are associated with re-introduction of government p

It's also interesting to note once you consider decline of the largest and most successful Chinese dynasties are associated with re-introduction of government positions being hereditary and/or being for sale. (The less successful ones simply lose in wars, to natural disasters or through economic mismanagement) The Sui dynasty you referred to was an exception, but the next one Tang (618-907), succumbed to military (whose positions were inherited)'s influence on the civil government (by civil government I also mean the part of the government that is selected by meritocracy). The Ming dynasty (1368–1644), succumbed to overt influence on the civil government by corrupt eunuchs (who were forbidden from learning to write/going into politics, and therefore did not achieve their status through examinations). "any senior official who wanted to discuss state matters had to persuade powerful eunuchs with a bribe simply to have his demands or message relayed to the emperor." (wikipedia) The Qing again here is an "exception". It's decline was due to its "Banner Army" soldiers being ineffective; They were the elite fighting force of China at the time, but during times of peace, the soldiers escaped training for their own profit; This decline was (IMO) due to recruiting soldiers not because people would be good soldiers, but because they were biologically related. The armies weren't even effective at putting down internal rebellions (requiring the assistance of european troops, the same factions that have bullied china into unequal treaties - how humiliating.) All these dynasties have fallen either because the influence of the meritocracy part of the government (civil or military) was greatly reduced; This was also correlated with increased levels of corruption (I don't know which caused what). I can see similarities between historical dynasties and the present day PRC government. They first rebelled and eliminated corruption in the KMT government, and have now succumbed to corruption itself.