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The
Sui Dynasty (581-618)
The prolonged period of disunity finally ended when a general from the
northwest united China by establishing the new dynasty of Sui. A second
great period of imperial unity was begun. The relationship of the Sui
to the succeeding Tang Dynasty was much like that of the Qin to the Han.
It served as the unifying foundation on which its successor could build.
The first Sui emperor, Wen Ti, introduced a series of economic reforms,
such as reduction of the peasants' taxes, a careful census for equitable
tax collection, and restoration of the equal allocation system used in
the Northern Wei. Every taxable male received a grant of land, part of
which was returnable when he ceased to be a taxpayer at age 60 and part
of which he could pass on to his heirs. He also revived the Han system
of examinations based on Confucian classics. Sui WendiĄ¯s premature death
might have been caused by his ambitious son Yang Ti, whose grandiose projects
and military campaigns ultimately led to the Sui's downfall. Some of his
projects were productive, especially the construction of the Grand Canal,
which linked up the Huang, Huai, and Yangtze rivers and connected north
and south China. Yangdi's overly ambitious scheme of expanding his empire
led to disastrous wars against Korea. After a series of futile expeditions,
the Chinese army of over a million was defeated and forced to flee. In
618, Yang Ti was assassinated in an army coup; one of the coup leaders,
Li Shih-min, installed his father as emperor, founding the Tang Dynasty.
After about a decade, during which he was able to secure his father's
abdication, he took the throne himself in 626 as the emperor Tai Zong.
