China History: The Sui Dynasty Unified China in the 6th Century Essay

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China has a rich and vibrant history that includes many periods. Each era implemented new reformations and improvements in the country, thus laying the foundation for the future. This paper summarizes the history of The Sui Dynasty that unified China in the 6th century. Despite the fact that the reign of the Sui Dynasty lasted for almost 4 decades, their decisions provided the basis for the reunion and prosperity of divided China after a long war.

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The rule of the Sui Dynasty officially started when Yang Jian with the help of the military overthrew and killed the previous Emperor’s family. In 581 CE, he became the Emperor, and later in history, he was known under the name of Wendi1. In the beginning, Emperor Wendi controlled regions of Northern China, but in the next ten years, he had united all regions2. Eight years after the beginning of his reign, Yang Jian eliminated the Chen Dynasty, which ruled over southern China, and implemented many successful initiatives during his rule in united China2.

Although Emperor Wendi was celebrated by the Chinese people for unifying the country and changing the structure of the local government, he accomplished other important achievements that improved the government and made life for Chinese citizens easier. Those reformations included coming back to Confucianism and the increasing Buddhism practices and expanding the army2. The rule of Emperor Wendi lasted until 604 AC when he was killed by his son Yang Guang, who is also known as Yangdi3.

The first emperor Wendi was previously a general for the Northern Zhou dynasty. Although the reign of the Sui Dynasty lasted only for roughly thirty to forty years, many developments started during his rule. For example, as it was previously noted that he modified local government in order to make internal administration more transparent. Moreover, he reconsidered and changed the criminal law, as well as several public work projects, that involved developing a complex canal system. It connected three main rivers of China and was named the Grand Canal4.

The first Emperor of the Sui Dynasty also took some serious action to protect the borders of his newly unified empire. At that time, China was surrounded by many strong and dangerous empires. On the northern border the domain of the Yuezhi was located, a federation of nomadic warriors of Turkic heritage. They controlled the territory of Mongolia from Manchuria to the western border of the Byzantine Empire. Nevertheless, on the inside, the confederacy experienced a division into two competing groups, the Greater Yuezhi and Lesser Yuezhi.

The Greater Yuezhi controlled the western half of confederacy territory, up to IIi River. The Lesser Yuezhi controlled the eastern and southern territory on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Emperor Wendi offered his assistance to the Greater Yuezhi and tried to lessen the strength and political power of the Lesser Yuezhi khan. This conspiracy significantly reduced the risk of being attacked by the Greater Yuezhi.

Moreover, the other reasons for the decreased threat included an improved Great Wall and the expansion of Chinese army troops, who constantly patrolled the northern frontiers. At the same time, these strategic moves enabled the reopening of the western trade routes. Thus, a successful trade relationship with Central and Western Asia was established yet again. Considering the changes in political structure, it can be said that during the rule of the Sui Dynasty, both Emperors Wendi and Yangdi developed strong military forces. They were very successful not only in protecting borders but also in fighting the Emperor’s own wars. As a result, the Chinese army was victorious in the conquest of Vietnam and the Champa Kingdom, which allowed the territory of the Empire of China to spread.

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It is also worth noticing that Emperor Wendi contributed to the rise of the Chinese economy by creating improved infrastructures. Apart from this, Yang Jian provided the granaries, which were used to save up food and keep market prices under control. Those reformations played a crucial role in the economic advancement of the empire. Following the success of the Jin dynasty, the economy of the Sui reign thrived. Moreover, the economic field also prospered after the flourishing of agriculture, because after previous wars, soldiers returned home and started farming. Another economic accomplishment of the Sui also was the Juntian system of splitting farming fields evenly among people5. Moreover, in order to encourage trade, the taxes were also lowered.

Historians consider it a significant dynasty owing to the changes that took place during its period. There were notable political changes during the reign Sui dynasty. For the first time in the history of the Chinese Empire, there was a creation of a new political system with a modified structure. Three separate departments and six new ministries were formed. This reformation was studied and analyzed by many history researchers. For instance, Man Meng mentions that the Sui Dynasty also founded Three-Provinces-Six-Department system6.

Additionally, the royal rule was improved, and the labor division in the courts became more informative. Consequently, the system for talent choice was seriously altered. The original hierarchical style of nine ranks of officials was substituted by the imperial examination style.

Wendi’s successor was Yangdi, who in many ways was even more ambitious than his father. Yangdi built a second capital at Loyang in the east to complement the site constructed by Wendi southeast of Changan. He oversaw the return of the southernmost regions of China into the empire and the addition of the Champa kingdom in Vietnam. Yet it was Yangdi’s ambitions, combined with financial mismanagement that ultimately led to the end of the reign of his clan. His attempts to meddle in the internal politics of his nomadic neighbors led to the alienation of the western Yuezhi fraction, which wrested away control of the city-states of the Tarim Basin, formerly under Sui protection7.

Nevertheless, Yangdi was an educated Emperor, he encouraged the spread of Confucian culture and restored the principles of Confucian Education. Although Emperor Yang was called the tyrannical monarch, he had been careful before winning the throne and then gave grant indulgence to music after winning the trust of Emperor Wen of Sui and his mother8. Emperor Yang was a talent in literacy, his creation of poetry style and series of policies in music have a great impact on China’s music culture.

Furthermore, one of the most remarkable projects of the Sui Dynasty was the creation of the Grand Canal, which joined the Yellow River together with the Huai and Yangtze Rivers9. From that moment on, the transportation and shipping of goods from north to south was much easier. This improvement laid a crucial foundation for the economic and social advancement of the Chinese Empire. However, those constructions and wars were expensive. People suffered from intensive labor camps. Ten of thousands of able-bodied men were taken from rural farms and other occupations, which damaged the agricultural base and the economy. Peasant uprisings broke out one after another.

The fall of the Sui started relatively early; Emperor Yang was the second and the last Emperor. Several reasons contributed to the end of the Sui Dynasty. For example, the great famine caused peasants’ rebellions across the empire. To be more specific, a rebellion at Mt. Changbaishan in 611 seriously damaged the reputation of Emperor10. The peasants believed that the Emperor was corrupt, and later they united their troops to create and expand the Wagang army11. The movement was controlled by the agrarian leaders Zhai Rang and Li Mi who attacked and took over a granary to steal the food and distribute it among the poor. After this raid, the army killed Emperor Yangdi, thus ending the Sui Dynasty in 618.

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In conclusion, it is worth noting that even though the reign of the Sui Dynasty was relatively short, it had a profound effect on the empire. Two emperors greatly contributed to the prosperity of the political, social and economic life of Chinese citizens. Their decisions and reformations united previously divided regions and laid the basis for future improvements. Understanding these changes is crucial for creating a foundation for understanding Chinese history.

References

Ding, Shuyue. The Music Complex of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication. Atlantis Press. 2017.

Jia, Jierui, Junyang Li, and Ke Gao. The Track of History: Finance and National Governance in Ancient China. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society 4, no. 1. 2019.

Jindong, C. A. I., and P. E. N. G. Jing. Introduction of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and analysis of its heritage values. Journal of Hydro-environment Research 26. 2019.

Jinwung, K. I. M., and Spencer C. Tucker. How did the Weaker Actor Defeat the Stronger Actor? KoguryĹŹ’s War with Sui (612–614) Revisited. Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 18, no. 2 (2018).

Kaili, C. H. E. N. G. Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty and Buddhism. Journal of Chongqing Three Gorges University 6. 2015.

Man, Meng. Rich Sui Dynasty and Strong Tang Dynasty: Dream of Great Power and Humanity Spirit. Journal of PLA Academy of Art 1. 2017.

Rodzinski, Witold. A History of China. Pergamon Press. 2017.

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Xue, Da. Prosperity in Sui and Tang Dynasties. DeepLogic. 2019.

Footnotes

  1. Kaili, C. H. E. N. G. Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty and Buddhism. Journal of Chongqing Three Gorges University 6 (2015) 24.
  2. Rodzinski, Witold. A history of China. Pergamon Press (2017) 47.
  3. Ding, Shuyue. The Music Complex of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication. Atlantis Press (2017) 532.
  4. Jindong, C. A. I., and P. E. N. G. Jing. Introduction of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and analysis of its heritage values. Journal of Hydro-environment Research 26 (2019) 2-7.
  5. Jia, Jierui, Junyang Li, and Ke Gao. The Track of History: Finance and National Governance in Ancient China. International Journal of Education, Culture and Society 4, no. 1 (2019) 13.
  6. Man, Meng. Rich Sui Dynasty and Strong Tang Dynasty: Dream of Great Power and Humanity Spirit. Journal of PLA Academy of Art 1 (2017) 22.
  7. Rodzinski, Witold. A history of China. Pergamon Press (2017) 50.
  8. Ding, Shuyue. The Music Complex of Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication. Atlantis Press (2017) 532.
  9. Jindong, C. A. I., and P. E. N. G. Jing. Introduction of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and analysis of its heritage values. Journal of Hydro-environment Research 26. 2019.
  10. Jinwung, K. I. M., and Spencer C. Tucker. How did the Weaker Actor Defeat the Stronger Actor? KoguryĹŹ’s War with Sui (612–614) Revisited. Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies 18, no. 2 (2018) 225-244.
  11. Xue, Da. Prosperity in Sui and Tang Dynasties. DeepLogic (2019).
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