Directions: In the following question part of the text has been deleted. The deleted text has been indicated as (…..). From the given options, select the one that best fits in place of the space marked (….).

The lives of these three men began in the relative peace and stability of the T’ang Dynasty with its centralised Imperial government based on the Court of the Emperor and his ministers, wives and concubines. (…), before and since, was turbulent and often unstable though the thread of centralised Imperial rule ran through it, and the ethical systems and social rituals provided fundamental continuities.