The Sui Dynasty

Seizing power after three centuries of warring states and Chinese disunity, in 581 AD, military leader Yang Chien seized control of the north from his base in Guanzhong, declaring himself regent a year later, after murdering 59 members of the royal Zhou family to squash the chance of a Zhou Dynasty comeback.

A Massive Army

Amassing an army of over a half million soldiers and a massive fleet of five-deck ships capable of carrying 800 men each, by 589, Yang Chien had proven victorious over the southern states of China, unifying the country for the second time in the nation’s history. Soon known as Emperor Wendi, the new ruler called his dynasty Sui after his father, before improving his centralized government with a civil service exam based on merit, which went far in reducing local corruption.

Multiple Advances

When Wendi passed away in 501 AD, his son Yangdi became the second emperor of the short lived Sui Dynasty, further simplifying China’s legal code, while extending the Equal Field System in agriculture, which better ensured that small farmers were protected from large estate owners hungry to acquire peasant farms, as well as a system of grain reserves that insured the survival of destitute farmers in times of poor harvests and natural disasters.

The Grand Canal

Conscripting thousands of workers to build three massive canals, including the Grand Canal that joined the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, Yangdi’s canals helped to further unify trade between the north and the south, while critics would later say that the immoral ruler simply wanted a way to travel on his royal barge, which was pulled along by hundreds of beautiful young women. Spending lavishly on palaces in each of his three capital cities, including a harem of thousands within his Maze Pavilion pleasure palace, Yangdi added further defenses to the Great Wall to ward off attacks by the Eastern Turks, while expanding his own territory by invading Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Dynasty Downfall

His downfall came after his five failed invasion attempts of present-day Korea, including a third campaign of more than 300,000 soldiers, which took the lives of all but 2,700, who were lucky enough to return home in defeat. Peasant rebellions were to follow from 613 to 617, leading to his assassination by the son of one of his generals, which ushered in the Tang Dynasty to follow, making the Sui Dynasty, the second shortest reign in China’s 3,600-year history.