Sui,+Not+Shuai

=__**Sui Dynasty**__=

**Highlights:**

 * Capital was Chang'an, where many of the northern aristocracies were relocated after Emperor Wendi came to power.
 * First run under bureaucratic system central government, headed by Emperor Wendi.
 * Instated an "Equal-Land" system; the state took entire plots of arable land and distributed it among the peasants. //Every// person, princes and government officials included, was allotted a certain amount of land owned by the state. After the death of the owner, the land would be returned to the state.
 * Emperor Wendi dug the Grand Canal, or the "Great Imperial Canal," which united the Yangtze River to the Yellow River—making transportation throughout China much easier. With the creation of the Grand Canal, an opening to the Silk Road was reintroduced to Chinese trade.
 * Under Emperor Wendi's command, northern and southern China were reunited for the first time in over four hundred years.
 * Went to war with and lost to Korea four times.
 * Under Yang Di, Emperor Wendi's son, over 30,000 people were executed before he was overthrown.
 * The building of the Canal, in addition to Yang Di's expensive travels between cities, bankrupted the Sui Empire and eventually caused its defeat to Korea and the Khan of the eastern Turks—splitting the newly unified country into smaller states once again.

**Key Figures:**
=**Emperor Wendi: **=

[[image:Emperor_Wendi.jpg]]

 * Born with the name Yang Jian in 541 A.D.
 * Family was of Turkic-Chinese descent.
 * Founder of the Sui Dynasty.
 * Took on the project of digging the Grand Canal, and greatly improved China's trade, transportation, and economy.
 * The "great state patron of Buddhism." On his 60th birthday, he ordered the construction of thousands of Buddhist shrines and monuments across the empire.
 * Erected Buddhist temples in every major city of China.
 * Reunified China during 6th Century A.D.
 * Oversaw the rebuiling of much of the Great Wall.
 * Reinstated taxes to pay for his progressive projects.
 * First Chinese Emperor for 369 years; marked the beginning of the Three Kingdoms, or the period of the Six Dynasties.
 * Future members of Wendi's family served in the northern Zhou dynasty.
 * Staged a military coup to seize the throne.
 * "May have been" poisoned by his son, Yang Di, who took the throne—but only for 13 years when a military coup ended Yang Di's poor reign as emperor.

**Sui Artifacts:**
=Sui Alms Bowl: =


 * An Alms Bowl from the Sui dynasty; Overall: 13.5cm (5 5/16in.) Other (diameter of mouth): 13 cm (5 1/8 in.) Northern buff stoneware with pale-yellow glaze over white slip

=Sui Go Board: =




 * Ceramic Go board from the Sui Dynasty. 17 x 17 Go boards were replaced by the 19 x 19 Go boards beginning with the Sui Dynasty.

**Works Cited:**
 Morton, W. Scott. //China: Its History and Culture//. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995.

"Sui dynasty." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras.// ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).
 "Wendi." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).

"Silla Unification Wars." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc- clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).

"Da Yunhe." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).

"Great Wall of China." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc- clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).

"Tang dynasty." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO. http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com (accessed March 1, 2010).

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[|http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/SUI.HTM]

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