Concept

Sui dynasty

Overview

The Sui dynasty ( SWAY) was a Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618 AD. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged period of political division since the War of the Eight Princes. The Sui endeavoured to rebuild the state, re-establishing and reforming many imperial institutions; in so doing, the Sui laid much of the foundation for the subsequent Tang dynasty, which after toppling the Sui would ultimately preside over a new golden age in Chinese history. Often compared to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), the Sui likewise unified China after a prolonged period of division, undertook wide-ranging reforms and construction projects to consolidate state power, and collapsed after a brief period.

The dynasty was founded by Yang Jian (Emperor Wen), who had been a member of the military aristocracy that had developed in the northwest during the prolonged period of division. The Sui capital was initially based in Daxing (Chang'an, modern Xi'an), but later moved to Luoyang in 605 AD, which had been re-founded as a planned city. Wen and his successor Emperor Yang undertook various centralising reforms, most notably among them the equal-field system that aimed to reduce economic inequality and improve agricultural productivity, the Five Departments and Six Boards system, which preceded the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, and the standardisation and re-unification of the coinage. The Sui also encouraged the spread of Buddhism throughout the empire. By the dynasty's mid-point, the state experienced considerable prosperity, enjoying a vast agricultural surplus that supported rapid population growth.

The Sui engaged in many construction mega-projects, including the Grand Canal, the extension of the Great Wall, and the reconstruction of Luoyang. The canal linked Luoyang in the east with Chang'an in the west, with the eastern economic and agricultural centres towards Jiangdu (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu) and Yuhang (now Hangzhou), and with the northern frontiers (near modern Beijing). While the initial motivations of the canal were improving grain shipments to the capital and military logistics—including the transportation of troops—the new, reliable inland route would ultimately facilitate domestic trade, the flow of people, and cultural exchange for centuries. These mega-projects were led by an efficient centralised bureaucracy, but forcibly conscripted millions of workers at a heavy human cost.

After a series of military campaigns against the Goguryeo in the Korean peninsula, which had ended in defeat by 614 AD, the dynasty disintegrated amid popular revolts that culminated in the assassination of Emperor Yang by a minister named Yuwen Huaji in 618 AD. The dynasty, which lasted for only 37 years, was undermined by ambitious wars and construction projects, which overstretched its resources. Particularly, under Emperor Yang, heavy taxation and compulsory labour duties would eventually induce widespread revolts and brief civil war following the fall of the dynasty.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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Seven or eight li to the west of the city there is what is called the King's new monastery, the building of which took eighty years, and extended over three reigns. It may be two hundred and fifty cubits in height, rich in elegant carving and inlaid work, covered above with gold and silver, and finished throughout with a combination of all the precious substances. Behind the tope there has been built a Hall of…
Confucius, Chinese literature
States what Sui dynasty is.
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Everything which the single State required for its maintenance was demanded in a heightened degree by the world empire. Thus, it was the concentration of the means of subsistence and power that led to the displacement of the single State by the world empire, just as it was the same influence, on a smaller scale, that gave to the State its ascendancy over the earlier tribal organization. In extending its authority…
Wilhelm Max Wundt, Elements of Folk Psychology Outline of a Psychological History of the Development of Mankind
Close in meaning to Sui dynasty; the term itself is not named.
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When the German and Scythian nations overran the western provinces of the Roman empire, the confusions which followed so great a revolution lasted for several centuries. The rapine and violence which the barbarians exercised against the ancient inhabitants, interrupted the commerce between the towns and the country. The towns were deserted, and the country was left uncultivated; and the western provinces of Europe…
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Close in meaning to Sui dynasty; the term itself is not named.
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Philosophers who discussed Sui dynasty

Seungnang

Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of Chinese philosophy.

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