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Buddhism and the Sui Dynasty Buddhism was popular during the Six Dynasties period that preceded the Sui dynasty, spreading from India through Kushan Afghanistan into China during the Late Han period. Buddhism gained prominence during the period, when central political control was limited. Buddhism created a unifying cultural force that uplifted the people out of war and into the Sui Dynasty. In many ways, Buddhism was responsible for the rebirth of culture in China under the Sui. Wendi and the Start of the Sui Dynasty The Sui Dynasty began when Wendi's daughter became the Emperess Dowager of Zhou, with his grandson as the new emperor. After crushing an army mutiny in the eastern provinces as the prime minister of Zhou, Wendi took the throne by force and claimed himself to be emperor. He abolished the anti-Han policies of Zhou and reclaimed his Han surname of Yang. Having won the support the Confucian scholars that had powered previous Han dynasties, Wendi initiated a series of reforms aimed at strengthening his empire for the war that will reunify China. In 589 CE, Sui troops entered Jiankang and last emperor of the southern Chen dynasty surrendered, thus ended the Age of Fragmentation. An improvement he made during his rule was establishing granaries as sources of food and as a means to regulate market prices from the taxation of crops. Yangdi Yangdi gained the throne after his father's death (possibly by murder). He further extended the empire, but, unlike his father, he did not seek to gain support from the nomads. Instead, he restored Confucian education and the Confucian examination system for bureaucrats. By supporting educational reforms, he lost the support of nomads. He also started many expensive construction projects such as the Grand Canal of China. This combined with his failed invasions into Korea (with Chinese casualties exceeding well over 2 million in all the wars combined), invasions into China from Turkic nomads, and his growing life of decadent luxury at the expense of the peasantry, he lost public support and was assassinated by his own ministers. Goguryeo-Sui wars Main article: Goguryeo-Sui Wars Arguably, the biggest factor that led to the downfall of Sui Dynasty was the numerous expeditions into the Korean Peninsula, by invading Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In one of the biggest war—the soldiers, both conscripted and paid, listed over 3000 warships, 1.15 million infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 5000 artillery, etc. and just as much support laborers and a very expensive military budget including mounds of equipment and rations (which most of the time never reached the Chinese avant-guard for they were captured by Goguryeo armies already) The war that conscripted the most soldiers was caused by Sui Yangdi. The army was so enormous it was actually recorded in historical texts that it took 30 days for all the armies to exit their last rallying point near Shanhaiguan before invading Korea. The army stretched to "1000 lis (a Chinese unit of length), or about 410 kilometers, across rivers and valleys, over mountains and hills." In all 4 main campaigns the military conquest ended in utter failure. Almost all soldiers had to face death by the prominent army leader Eulji Mundeok of Goguryeo. Often the number of returning soldiers were, at most, below 0.5% of the original headcount. The Book of Tang records there were only 2700 soldiers live back from Goguryeo. Soldiers in summer conquests would return several years later, barely living through the cold and famishing winter. Many died of frostbite and hunger, due to remarkable tactics and defending capability (that is, waiting the enemy out so the harsh winter could kill them) of Goguryeo army and navy. Still much more were killed by the famed archers of Korea, with records showing they were able to shoot arrows with seok-gung (Korean bow, possibly crossbows) as far as 2000 feet (600 m). Such was the dramatic losses that every time the Sui emperors ordered conscriptions of soldiers to be sent to invade Korea, people would go into hiding in fear. Eventually the sentiment for the emperor decreased, causing unhappy civilians to form massive riots to overthrow the Sui Emperor. Rulers of Sui Dynasty Some colorful stories of the Sui Dynasty can be found under Legends of the Sui Dynasty Further reading Bingham, Woodbridge (1941). The Founding of the T'ang Dynasty: The Fall of the Sui and Rise of the T'ang. Baltimore: Waverly Press. Wright, Arthur F. (1978). The Sui Dynasty. New York, Alfred A. Knopf. See also | ||||||||||
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