Editing Sui dynasty (section)

== History ==
{{See also|Military history of the Sui dynasty|Timeline of the Sui dynasty}}

=== Foundation and Emperor Wen ===
During the late [[Northern and Southern dynasties]] period, the [[Xianbei]]-led [[Northern Zhou]] conquered the [[Northern Qi]] in 577, reunifying northern China. By this time, Yang Jian, a Northern Zhou general who would later found the Sui dynasty, became the regent to the Northern Zhou court.<ref name="HMT" /> Yang Jian's clan, the Yang clan of Hongnong, had [[Han Chinese|Han]] origins and claimed descent from the [[Han dynasty]] general Yang Zhen,<ref name="Goodman20102">{{Cite book |last=Howard L. Goodman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLu4J6ffgWEC&q=hongnong+yang&pg=PA81 |title=Xun Xu and the Politics of Precision in Third-Century AD China |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-04-18337-7 |page=81}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rA0iAQAAMAAJ&q=hung+nung+yang |title=Bulletin |publisher=The Museum |year=1992 |page=154}}</ref><ref name="Chen2006 23">{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Jo-Shui |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnKdhb6Ct0oC&q=hung+nung+yang&pg=PA195 |title=Liu Tsung-yüan and Intellectual Change in T'ang China, 773–819 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-521-03010-6 |page=195}}</ref><ref name="Bol19943">{{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Bol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs9MBxcHUSQC&q=hung+nung+yang&pg=PA505 |title='This Culture of Ours': Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China |date=1994 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6575-6 |page=505}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbK5AAAAIAAJ&q=hung+nung+yang |title=Asia Major |publisher=Institute of History and Philology of the Academia Sinica |year=1995 |page=57}}</ref> but had intermarried with the Xianbei for generations.<ref name="HMT" /> Yang Jian's daughter was the Empress Dowager, and her stepson, [[Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou]], was a child. After crushing an army in the eastern provinces, Yang Jian usurped the throne from the Northern Zhou rulers, and became [[Emperor Wen of Sui]]. While formerly the Duke of Sui when serving at the Zhou court, where the character {{zhi|t=隨}} literally means 'to follow', implying loyalty, Emperor Wen created a unique character {{zhi|t=隋}}, morphed from that in his former title, as the name of his new dynasty. In a bloody purge, Wen had 59 Zhou princes eliminated, in contrast to his later reputation as the "Cultured Emperor".<ref name="EWP 89">{{Cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia |last2=Walthall |first2=Ann |last3=Palais |first3=James |page=89 |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-618-13384-4}}</ref> Emperor Wen emphasised Han cultural identity during his reign,<ref name="HMT" /> abolishing the [[anti-Han]] policies of Northern Zhou and reclaiming his Han surname of Yang. Having won the support of Confucian scholars who held power in previous Han dynasties (abandoning the nepotism and corruption of the [[nine-rank system]]), Emperor Wen initiated a series of reforms aimed at strengthening his empire for the wars that would reunify China.

In his campaign for southern conquest, Emperor Wen assembled thousands of boats to confront the naval forces of the [[Chen dynasty]] on the [[Yangtze]]. The largest of these ships were very tall, having five layered decks and the capacity for 800 non-crew personnel. They were outfitted with six 50-foot-long booms that were used to swing and damage enemy ships, or to pin them down so that Sui marine troops could use act-and-board techniques.<ref name="EWP 89" /> Besides employing [[Xianbei]] and other Chinese ethnic groups for the fight against Chen, Emperor Wen also employed the service of people from southeastern [[Sichuan]], which Sui had recently conquered.<ref name="EWP 89" />

{{multiple image|perrow=1/3|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=
| image1   = Tomb of Li Jingxun.jpg
| image2   = Object from the tomb of Li Jingxun, Tianjin Museum.jpg
| image3   = Li Jingxun necklace.jpg
| image4   = Epitaph of Li Jingxun (608 CE).jpg
| footer=Stone sarcophagus of [[Li Jingxun]] ([[Beilin Museum]], Xi'an), a young Sui dynasty princess who died in 608 AD, with some of the artefacts and the epitaph.
}}
In 588, the Sui had amassed 518,000 troops along the northern bank of the Yangtze River, stretching from Sichuan to the [[East China Sea]].<ref>''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'', [[:zh:s:資治通鑑/卷176|vol. 176]].</ref> The Chen dynasty could not withstand such an assault. By 589, Sui troops entered Jiankang (now [[Nanjing]]) and the last emperor of Chen surrendered. The city was razed to the ground, while Sui troops escorted Chen nobles back north, where the northern aristocrats became fascinated with everything the south had to provide culturally and intellectually.

Although Emperor Wen was famous for bankrupting the state treasury with warfare and construction projects, he made many improvements to infrastructure during his early reign. He established granaries as sources of food and as a means to regulate market prices from the taxation of crops, much like the earlier [[Han dynasty]]. The large agricultural surplus supported rapid growth of population to a historical peak, which was only surpassed during the reign of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] more than a century later.

The capital of Daxing ([[Chang'an]], modern [[Xi'an]]), while situated in the militarily secure heartland of [[Guanzhong]], was remote from the economic centres to the east and south of the empire. Emperor Wen initiated the construction of the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]], with completion of the first (and the shortest) route that directly linked Chang'an to the [[Yellow River]]. Later, Emperor Yang enormously enlarged the scale of the Grand Canal construction.

[[File:China, 610.svg|thumb|left|Sui divisions under Yang (western regions not depicted)]]
[[File:Sui Dynasty.png|thumb|left|Administrative divisions {{circa|610}}]]

Externally, the emerging [[First Turkic Khaganate|Turkic Khaganate]] in the north posed a major threat to the newly founded dynasty. With Emperor Wen's diplomatic manoeuvre, the Khaganate split into [[Eastern Turkic Khaganate|Eastern]] and [[Western Turkic Khaganate|Western]] halves. Later the [[Great Wall]] was consolidated to further secure the northern territory. In Emperor Wen's late years, the [[Goguryeo–Sui War|first war with Goguryeo]], ended with defeat. Nevertheless, the celebrated "Reign of Kaihuang" (era name of Emperor Wen) was considered by historians as one of the apexes in the two millennium imperial period of Chinese history.

The Sui emperors were from the northwest military aristocracy, and they cited the Han {{ill|Hongnong Yangshi|zh|弘農楊氏}} clan as their ancestors.<ref name="Bol1994">{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Bol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs9MBxcHUSQC&pg=PA505 |title='This Culture of Ours': Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China |date=1994 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6575-6 |page=505}}</ref><ref name="Chen2006 2">{{cite book |first=Jo-Shui |last=Chen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnKdhb6Ct0oC&pg=PA195 |title=Liu Tsung-yüan and Intellectual Change in T'ang China, 773–819 |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-03010-6 |page=195}}</ref> They emphasised their Han ancestry, and claimed descent from the Han official Yang Zhen.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rA0iAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA154 |title=Bulletin |publisher=The Museum |year=1992 |page=154}}</ref> The ''[[New Book of Tang]]'' traces their patrilineal ancestry to the [[Zhou dynasty]] kings via the [[Jin (Chinese state)|Dukes of Jin]].<ref>''[[New Book of Tang]]'', [[:zh:s:新唐書]]</ref> The Li of Zhaojun and the Lu of Fanyang hailed from Shandong and were related to the Liu clan, which was also linked to the Hongnong Yangshi of  and other clans of Guanlong.<ref name="Chen2006">{{cite book |first=Jo-Shui |last=Chen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jnKdhb6Ct0oC&pg=PA43 |title=Liu Tsung-yüan and Intellectual Change in T'ang China, 773–819 |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-03010-6 |pages=43–}}</ref>

[[File:Yu Hong Tomb general view.jpg|thumb|[[Tomb of Yu Hong]], a [[Sogdia]]n merchant buried in [[Taiyuan]] in 592. [[Shanxi Museum]].<ref>{{cite journal  |title=The Yu Hong's Tomb of the Sui Dynasty in Taiyuan |journal=Chinese Archeology |script-journal=zh:中国考古) |volume=2 |page=258 |url=http://www.kaogu.cn/en/Chinese%20Archaeology/2/Ar_ch258.PDF}}</ref>]]
The Yang of Hongnong, Jia of Hedong, Xiang of Henei, and Wang of Taiyuan from the Tang dynasty were later claimed as ancestors by Song dynasty lineages.<ref name="Bol1994 2">{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Bol |title='This Culture of Ours': Intellectual Transitions in T'ang and Sung China |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs9MBxcHUSQC&pg=PA66 |date=1994 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6575-6 |page=66}}</ref>
Information about these major political events in China were [[Sino-Roman relations|somehow filtered west]] and reached the [[Byzantine Empire]], the continuation of the [[Roman Empire]] in the east. From [[Turkic peoples]] of Central Asia the Eastern Romans derived a new [[name for China]] after the older ''[[Sinae]]'' and ''[[Serica]]'': ''[[Taugast]]'' ([[Old Turkic]]: ''[[Tabghach]]''), during its [[Northern Wei]] (386–535) period.<ref>Luttwak, Edward N. (2009). ''The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire''. Cambridge and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-03519-5}}, p. 168.</ref> The 7th-century Byzantine historian [[Theophylact Simocatta]] wrote a [[Sino-Roman relations#Roman geography|generally accurate depiction]] of the [[History of China|reunification of China]] by Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty, with the conquest of the rival Chen dynasty in southern China. Simocatta correctly placed these events within the reign period of Byzantine ruler [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]].<ref name="yule 1915">{{cite book |last=Yule |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Yule |year=1915 |editor-first=Henri |editor-last=Cordier |url=https://archive.org/stream/cathaywaythither01yule#page/28/mode/2up |title=Cathay and the Way Thither: Being a Collection of Medieval Notices of China, Vol I: Preliminary Essay on the Intercourse Between China and the Western Nations Previous to the Discovery of the Cape Route |location=London |publisher=[[Hakluyt Society]] |access-date=21 September 2016 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>{{rp|30}} Simocatta also provided cursory information about the [[geography of China]], its division by the [[Yangzi River]] and its capital ''Khubdan'' (from Old Turkic ''Khumdan'', i.e. Chang'an) along with its [[Chinese culture|customs and culture]], deeming its people "[[Ancestor worship in China|idolatrous]]" but wise in governance.{{r|yule 1915|p=30–31}} He noted that the ruler was named "Taisson", which he claimed meant "Son of God", perhaps Chinese ''Tianzi'' ([[Son of Heaven]]) or even the name of the contemporary ruler [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]].{{r|yule 1915|p=29}}

=== Emperor Yang and re-conquest of Vietnam ===
{{Main|Sui–Lâm Ấp war}}
{{further|Third Era of Northern Domination}}
[[File:Tomb of An Bei (panel 3).jpg|thumb|[[Tomb of An Bei]] panel showing a Sui dynasty banquet with [[Sogdian Whirl dance|Sogdian whirl dance]] and music, 589]]
[[Emperor Yang of Sui]] (569–618) ascended the throne after his father's death, possibly by murder. He further extended the empire, but unlike his father, did not seek to gain support from the nomads. Instead, he restored [[Confucian education]] and the [[Confucian examination system]] for bureaucrats. By supporting educational reforms, he lost the support of the nomads. He also started many expensive construction projects such as the [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]], and became embroiled in several costly wars. Between these policies, invasions into China from Turkic nomads, and his growing life of decadent luxury at the expense of the peasantry, he lost public support and was eventually assassinated by his own ministers.

Both Emperors Yang and Wen sent military expeditions into [[Vietnam]] as [[Annam (Chinese province)|Annam]] in northern Vietnam had been incorporated into the Chinese empire over 600 years earlier during the [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD). However the Kingdom of [[Champa]] in central Vietnam became a major counterpart to [[Sui–Lâm Ấp war|Chinese invasions to its north]]. According to Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais, these invasions became known as the Linyi-Champa Campaign (602–605).<ref name="EWP 90">{{Cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia |last2=Walthall |first2=Ann |last3=Palais |first3=James |page=90 |title=East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-618-13384-4}}</ref>

The [[Hanoi]] area formerly held by the Han and Jin dynasties was easily retaken from the [[Early Lý dynasty]] ruler [[Lý Phật Tử]] in 602. A few years later the Sui army pushed farther south and was attacked by troops on [[war elephant]]s from Champa in southern Vietnam. The Sui army feigned retreat and dug pits to trap the elephants, lured the Champan troops to attack then used crossbows against the elephants causing them to turn around and trample their own soldiers. Although Sui troops were victorious many succumbed to disease as northern soldiers did not have immunity to [[tropical disease]]s such as [[malaria]].<ref name="EWP 90" />

=== War with Goguryeo ===
{{Main|Goguryeo–Sui War}}
{{Continental Asia in 600 CE|right|The Sui dynasty and main Asian polities circa 600.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Haywood |first1=John |title=Atlas of world history |date=1997 |publisher=New York : Barnes & Noble Books |isbn=978-0-7607-0687-9 |page=Map 36 |url=https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist00hayw/page/n86/mode/1up}}</ref>||Map of the Sui Dynasty.png}}
The Sui dynasty led a series of massive expeditions to invade [[Goguryeo]], one of the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea]]. Emperor Yang conscripted many soldiers for the campaign. This army was so enormous it recorded in historical texts that it took 30 days for all the armies to exit their last rallying point near [[Shanhaiguan District|Shanhaiguan]] before invading Goguryeo. In one instance the soldiers—both conscripted and paid—listed over 3000 warships, up to 1.15&nbsp;million infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 5000 artillery, and more. The army stretched to 1000 ''[[Li (unit)|li]]'', or about {{convert|410|km|abbr=on}}, across rivers and valleys, over mountains and hills. Each of the four military expeditions ended in failure, incurring a substantial financial and manpower deficit from which the Sui would never recover.

=== Collapse ===
[[File:Chinese swords Sui Dynasty about 600 found near Luoyang.jpg|thumb|left|Chinese swords of the Sui dynasty dated {{circa|600}}, found near [[Luoyang]]. The P-shaped furniture of the bottom sword's scabbard is similar to and may have been derived from sword scabbards of the [[Sarmatians]] and [[Sassanians]].<ref>[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] permanent exhibit notice.</ref>]]
[[File:Stroll About InSpring.jpg|thumb|left|''Strolling About in Spring'', by Sui-era artist [[Zhan Ziqian]]]]

One of the major work projects undertaken by the Sui was construction activities along the [[Great Wall of China]]; but this, along with other large projects, strained the economy and angered the resentful workforce employed. During the last few years of the Sui dynasty, the rebellion that rose against it took many of China's able-bodied men from rural farms and other occupations, which in turn damaged the agricultural base and the economy further.<ref name="benn 2">Benn, 2.{{Dubious|Source 24 dubious?|date=December 2024}}</ref>{{Dubious|Source 24 dubious?|date=December 2024}} Men would deliberately break their limbs in order to avoid military conscription, calling the practice "propitious paws" and "fortunate feet."<ref name="benn 2" />{{Dubious|Source 24 dubious?|date=December 2024}} Later, after the fall of Sui, in the year 642, [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] made an effort to eradicate this practice by issuing a decree of a stiffer punishment for those who were found to deliberately injure and heal themselves.<ref name="benn 2" />{{Dubious|Source 24 dubious?|date=December 2024}}

Although the Sui dynasty was relatively short (581–618), much was accomplished during its tenure. The Grand Canal was one of the main accomplishments. It was extended north from the Hangzhou region across the Yangtze to Yangzhou, and then northwest to the region of Luoyang. Again, like the Great Wall works, the massive conscription of labour and allocation of resources for the Grand Canal project resulted in challenges for Sui dynastic continuity. The eventual fall of the Sui dynasty was also due to the many losses caused by the failed military campaigns against Goguryeo. It was after these defeats and losses that the country was left in ruins and rebels soon took control of the government. Emperor Yang was assassinated in 618. He had gone South after the capital being threatened by various rebel groups and was killed by his Yuwen clan advisors. Meanwhile, in the North, the aristocrat Li Yuan ({{lang|zh|李淵}}) held an uprising after which he ended up ascending the throne to become [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang]].

There were Dukedoms for the offspring of the royal families of the Zhou dynasty, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty in the [[Later Jin (Five Dynasties)]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Ouyang |first=Xiu |others=Richard L. Davis, translator |title=Historical Records of the Five Dynasties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R0QpslzUi50C&pg=PA76 |date=2004 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50228-3 |pages=76–}}</ref> This practice was referred to as {{ill|Erwang-sanke|simple|Er Wang San Ke|zh|二王三恪|lt=èrwáng-sānkè|italics=y}} ({{lang|zh|二王三恪}}).