Why sui dynasty fell

The Yuezhi controlled the Mongolian steppes from Manchuria to the edge of the Byzantine Empire in the west; internally, however, the confederacy was undergoing a split into two rival groups, one controlling the western half of Yuezhi territory and one controlling the eastern.

Wendi offered his support to the Western Yuezhi, and worked to undermine the strength and authority of the Eastern Yuezhi khan. These political machinations, as well as a reinforced Great Wall and an increase in the number of troops patrolling the northern borders greatly reduced the threat of attack by the Eastern Yuezhi.

Simultaneous, this policy also allowed for the reopening of the western trade routes, and once again a prosperous trade relationship with Central and Western Asia was developed. Wendi's successor was Yangdi , who in many ways was even more ambitious than his father. Yangdi built a second capital at Loyang in the east to complement that constructed by Wendi at Changan. He oversaw the return of the southernmost regions of China into the empire, and the addition of the Champa kingdom in Vietnam.

Yet it was Yangdi's ambition combined with financial mismanagement that ultimately led to the loss of the empire. His attempts to meddle in the internal politics of his nomadic neighbors led to the alienation of the western Yuezhi faction, which wrested away control of the city-states of the Tarim Basin, formerly under Sui protection.

In Yangdi began a series of campaigns to subdue the Korean kingdom of Koguryo, which had until then refused to offer tribute. Disastrous flooding compounded the cost of these failed campaigns, both in terms of resources and human life. Within a few years rebellion broke out throughout the empire, and in Yangdi was killed by his own attendants. Another of his goals was to conquer Vietnam. He sent an army south in and captured Hanoi. As the army went further south, although it won battles, the troops died from tropical diseases.

Emperor Wen was a Buddhist and tried to spread Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism had spread and became popular in the region in the various kingdoms since the Eastern Han era 25— In the year , Emperor Wen passed the edict:.

During the Han era, educated Confucian bureaucrats ruled the Western Han empire. Their influence waned in the Eastern Han empire, and they didn't rule in the Northern Zhou state. Emperor Wen followed the example of the Western Han empire and recruited officers using the imperial examination system , placing Confucian literati into his administration of power.

Yang Guang — April 11, was the second son of Emperor Wen. He came to power in the year , when many believe he killed his father. He was titled Emperor Yang. Emperor Yang ruled for 14 years from to , and continued his father's policies of installing a Confucian bureaucracy, starting wars, and carrying out major construction projects.

However, he exhausted the empire's resources with these projects, and the people rebelled. He was even more like the First Emperor than his father, and he was also known for expending a lot of money on luxuries. He commanded that the Great Wall was to be rebuilt.

During his reign, millions of laborers were forced to extend a section that stretched into Inner Mongolia. A major engineering achievement was finishing the construction of much of the Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing. He urged his people to finish it quickly because he wanted to use it to transport resources for his war against Goguryeo.

Although building the canal impoverished his own empire, the relative ease of traveling across it added to the Tang empire's prosperity.

The Grand Canal is the world's longest canal and artificial river. It extended from the merchant city of Hangzhou in the south, across the Yangtze River, and up to Luoyang , which was the capital of the empire.

He used the Grand Canal to send large armies for his campaigns into the Korean Peninsula to invade Goguryeo. A costly expedition was said to involve about 1. It is said that large amounts of equipment and rations were captured by the Goguryeo troops. Altogether, there were about three campaigns, and the Goguryeo troops defeated them all. Many died in the severely cold winters. There was a lot of discontent about the loss of life, the forced labor, and the heavy taxes.

Heavy taxation and compulsory labor duties caused widespread revolts and a brief civil war. Emperor Yang was assassinated in by his adviser, Yuwen Huaji. He had nothing to do with the Yuwen royal family of the Northern Zhou, who his father had usurped.

In the northern part of the empire, Li Yuan — and his clan emerged as powerful rulers. Li Yuan was actually Emperor Yang's cousin. Their mothers were sisters. Along with the Qin Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty was one of the two dynasties that had the shortest duration. The Qin Dynasty had ruled much of the same region years beforehand, although their great empire only lasted for 15 years.

Just as the Qin Dynasty did, the Sui Dynasty united China after a period of warring kingdoms, then used the people to carry out huge construction projects and fight large-scale wars to invade other countries. Qin's Great Wall and Sui's Grand Canal ranked among the world's greatest feats of engineering at the time. However, both Sui and Qin dynasties cleared the way and built the foundation for prosperous and long-lasting dynasties that followed.

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