The Sui dynasty

Question 1

The Sui dynasty

Answer 1

• The Sui dynasty (581–618), which reunified China after nearly four centuries of political fragmentation during which the north and south had developed in different ways
• Wendi (reigned 581–604), the founder of the Sui dynasty
• He built himself a grand new capital, Daxing, close to the site of the old Qin and Han capitals, and this great city remained (later under the name Chang’an) the capital of the Sui and Tang dynasties and the principal seat of government until the beginning of the 10th century.
• By the late 580s Wendi’s state was stable and secure enough for him to take the final step toward reunifying the whole country.

Question 2

Wendi’s institutional reforms

Answer 2

• revived the Confucian state rituals to win favour with the literati and to establish a link with the empire of the Han, and, at the same time, they fostered Buddhism
• he had been responsible for a revision of the laws, and one of his first acts on becoming emperor was to promulgate a penal code, the New Code of 581
• The central government under Wendi developed into a complex apparatus of ministries, boards, courts, and directorates.
• rationalized the chaotic rural administrative units into a uniform system of townships
• soldiers served regular annual turns of duty but lived at home during the rest of the year and were largely self-supporting.

Question 3

Integration of the south

Answer 3

• second Sui emperor, Yangdi (reigned 604–617/618)
• Yangdi’s principal achievement was the integration of the south more firmly into a unified China
• His identification with the southern interest was one of the reasons he began establishing an examination system, based upon the Confucian Classical curriculum
• By 611 the entire eastern plain had a canal system linking the major river systems of northern China and providing a trunk route from the Yangtze delta to the northern frontier.