Sui dynasty Chinese history

Sui dynasty

Chinese historySui dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Sui, 

(581–618 ce), short-lived Chinese dynasty that unified the country after four centuries of fragmentation in which North and South China had gone quite different ways. The Sui also set the stage for and began to set in motion an artistic and cultural renaissance that reached its zenith in the succeeding Tang dynasty (618–907). Its capital was at Daxing, which, during Tang times, changed its name to Chang’an (now Xi’an).

The first Sui emperor, Yang Jian, known by his posthumous name Wendi, was a high official of the Bei (Northern) Zhou dynasty (557–581), and, when that reign dissolved in a storm of plots and murders, he managed to seize the throne and take firm control of North China; by the end of the 580s he had won the West and South and ruled over a unified China. The Wendi emperor established uniform institutions of government throughout the country and raised a corps of skilled and pragmatic administrators. He reestablished Confucian rituals last used in government by the Han dynasty. He sought and won the support of men of letters, and he fostered Buddhism. He promulgated a penal code and administrative laws that were simpler, fairer, and more lenient than those of the predecessor Bei Zhou. He conducted a careful census, a practice long lost in chaos, and simplified the taxation. He made his army into a system of militias that was self-supporting when the country was not at war.

The second emperor, Yangdi, completed the integration of southern China into the empire, emphasized the Confucian Classics in an examination system for public employment, and built a second capital at Luoyang in the east. He engaged in great construction projects, including a vast canal system.

The relations of the Sui with the Turks in the west deteriorated; and, when wars in Korea to exact tribute failed, the short regime collapsed in a welter of rebellions. Yangdi was murdered by a member of his entourage in 618, and his successor, Gongdi, reigned less than a year.

The architecture of the Sui was dominated by the great Yuwen Kai, who in nine months designed a vast capital city at Daxing that was six times the size of present-day Xi’an at the same site. Its palace had a rotating pavilion accommodating 200 guests. Painters came from throughout the country seeking patronage at the Sui court. The dynasty established a pattern of patronizing the arts that was later embraced by the Tang rulers. Because of the brevity of the Sui reign and the consonance of its arts with those of the Tang, the arts of the two dynasties are often treated together.

he Li family belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty^[10][11]and claimed to be paternally descended from the Daoist founder Laozi (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er),^[12] the Han dynasty General Li Guang,^[13][14] and Western Liang ruler Li Gao. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (隴西李氏) which includes Li Bai. The Tang Emperors had Xianbei maternal ancestry,^[15][16] from Emperor Gaozu of Tang's Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu.

Li Yuan was Duke of Tang and governor of Taiyuan during the Sui dynasty's collapse, which was caused in part by the Sui failure to conquer the northern part of the Korean peninsula during theGoguryeo–Sui War.^[10][17] He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui (their mothers were sisters).^[4] Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang (d. 623), who raised and commanded her own troops.^[18]In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Chang'an, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui.^[18]On the news of Emperor Yang's murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18, 618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang.^[18][19]

Li Yuan, known as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, ruled until 626, when he was forcefully deposed by his son Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin. Li Shimin had commanded troops since the age of 18, had prowess with bow and arrow, sword and lance and was known for his effective cavalry charges.^[4][20] Fighting a numerically superior army, he defeated Dou Jiande (573–621) at Luoyang in the Battle of Hulao on May 28, 621.^[21][22] In a violent elimination of royal family due to fear of assassination, Li Shimin ambushed and killed two of his brothers, Li Yuanji (b. 603) and Crown prince Li Jiancheng (b. 589), in the Xuanwu Gate Incident on July 2, 626.^[23] Shortly thereafter, his father abdicated in his favor and Li Shimin ascended the throne. He is conventionally known by his temple name Taizong.

Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649) receives Gar Tongtsen Yülsung, ambassador of Tibet, at his court; painted in 641 by Yan Liben (600–673)

Although killing two brothers and deposing his father contradicted the Confucian value of filial piety,^[23] Taizong showed himself to be a capable leader who listened to the advice of the wisest members of his council.^[4] In 628, Emperor Taizong held a Buddhist memorial service for the casualties of war, and in 629 he had Buddhist monasteries erected at the sites of major battles so that monks could pray for the fallen on both sides of the fight.^[24] This was during the campaign against Eastern Tujue, a Göktürk khanate that was destroyed after the capture of its ruler, Illig Qaghan, by the famed Tang military officer Li Jing (571–649), who later became a Chancellor of the Tang dynasty. With this victory, the Turks accepted Taizong as their khagan, a title rendered as Tian Kehan (天可汗) in addition to his rule asEmperor of China under the traditional title "Son of Heaven".^[25][26]