Emperor Wen of Sui — Inaugurator of A Unified and Prosperous Dynasty

Yang Jian (541 — 604), also respected as Emperor Wen of Sui, was the founder of the Sui Dynasty.

He ended the centuries of separation and chaos, established a unified empire that brought people stable and wealthy lives, innovated advanced systems that set the political foundation for the next millennium of Chinese history, and promoted national amalgamation.

Hence, despite the intense way he snatched the throne, and a love affair in his late years, Yang Jian always was considered one of the most extraordinary emperors in the history of China.

Portrait of Emperor Wen of Sui, by Artist Yan Liben (601 — 673) — Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Yang Jian’s Dormancy Era and Severe Political Struggles

Yang Jian married Dugu Jialuo (or Qieluo), the love of his life when he was a teenager.

At that time, his wife’s father failed in a political struggle and was forced to commit suicide. Therefore, he and Dugu together suffered from many life and death crisis.

Luckily, Yang Jian’s father kept winning in wars, and his brothers married other noble girls from strong clans.

Their increasing power protected Yang Jian and his love Dugu in the next few years and facilitated the marriage of Yang’s first daughter Lihua to the current crown prince.

26 Facets Official Seal of Dugu Jialuo’s Father — Shaanxi History Museum

Later, the crown prince ascended to the throne, and Yang’s daughter became the queen. Gradually, Yang Jian obtained more power and support because of his exceptional talent in both military and governance.

However, the new king, Yang Jian’s son-in-law, never trusted him and felt threatened by his intelligence and reputation.

So this king demoted Yang Jian to a remote city after having tried but failed to assassinate him.

Soon, this king passed away very young, and his 6-year-old son ascended to the throne.

Yang Jian’s daughter Lihua was honored as the empress dowager; hence, Yang Jian was nominated as the regent to rule the kingdom.

Unearthed Artifacts from Mausoleum of Granddaughter of Lihua — National Museum of China

An Exceptional General and A Cruel Usurper

However, in the next few months, many powerful lords attacked Yang Jian for disagreeing with him as the regent with paramount power.

Encouraged by his wife, Dugu Jialuo, Yang Jian and his followers decisively defeated all of these opponents on the battlefield.

Then he tricked and assassinated six princes that were the legal heirs of the kingdom and again vanquished another talented marshal who wanted to revenge for those princes.

Yang Jian's political enemies were eliminated less than a year later.

Then, he forced the 8-year-old king to abdicate the throne and changed his empire's name to the Sui.

This former king and his two younger brothers were assassinated in the same year.

Stone Lion Unearthed from the Ruins of Palace in City Luoyang of the Sui Dynasty

Stone Lion Unearthed from the Ruins of Palace in City Luoyang of Sui — Luoyang Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Establishment of the Sui Dynasty and Wars of Unification

Outside the Great Wall, however, the Turkic Khaganate sent over 500,000 soldiers to invade Yang Jian in the second year the Sui Dynasty was established, only because he refused to offer tributes.

Then Yang Jian sent his best generals to fight bravely with Tujue while trying to alienate them at the same time.

Around a decade later, the Turkic Khaganate divided into two regimes; the western ones moved further away, and the other on the east complied with the Sui Empire and respected Yang Jian as their honorable monarch.

Unearthed Granaries of the Sui Empire

At the same time, Yang Jian commanded his second son Yang Guang to defeat the kingdoms in the south and unify the nation.

Since then, the Sui Dynasty brought prosperity and unification to the nation after nearly 300 years of separation.

Indeed, Yang Jian was a cruel usurper; however, he was widely considered a great emperor worth countless praises.

Besides the contribution of having put hundreds of years of separation to an end, one of the most important reasons was the innovative policies and systems that he established.

Unearthed Gilding Handle of the Sui Dynasty — Shaanxi Archeology Institute

Gilding Handle of the Sui Dynasty — Shaanxi Archeology Institute (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Exceptional Accomplishments of the Emperor Wen of Sui

The political system of Three Provinces and Six Ministries, which was applied for the next 1,500 years in the history of China, was established to consolidate the centralized power.

Yang Jian also published a new law that included the abrogation of cruel corporal punishment and three independent trials regarding the death penalty.

He changed the population registration system, which released tens of thousands of slaves.

Those newly freed people, together with other civilians, were distributed with farmland soon.

Then Yang Jian, the Emperor Wen of Sui, commanded to construct the 83 square kilometers big Da Xing city, the largest one at that time; many granaries were built across the whole country as well.

Reproduced Picture of Da Xing City of Sui Dynasty

Afterward, Emperor Wen of Sui tried to collect, preserve books, and promote Han culture nationwide.

When he passed away, the population of the Sui Empire reached nearly 50 million, and food in all the granaries could support the whole nation for another 60 years.

Within only 23 years of ruling, Yang Jian, the Emperor Wen of Sui, not only unified the nation and defeated the powerful Turkic Khaganate but also established a practical and solid administrative foundation for the following millennium of Chinese history and brought his people wealthy and stable lives.

Calligraphy Work of Yang Jian the Emperor Wen of Sui

Great Love with Queen Dugu and His Love Affair

Yang Jian's love story with his queen Dugu was famous and beautiful.

Besides being a remarkable emperor, Yang Jian was famous for being "hen-pecked".

They got married when they were teenagers and lived happily ever after. From his early dormancy and unstable era to being a great emperor, Dugu accompanied him and played significant roles in his big decisions.

In Yang Jian's later years, he one day saw a beautiful girl serving in the royal palace; she also was the granddaughter of his former biggest enemy.

Then he slept with this gorgeous young woman for once but was soon found out by Queen Dugu.

Unearthed Copper Mirror of the Sui Dynasty

Copper Mirror of the Sui Dynasty — Shaoxing Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

After hearing that Dugu killed this girl because of this affair, Yang Jian was quite angry and sad; he rushed out of the royal palace, wondering why as a powerful emperor of a polygamous society, he couldn’t be with a beautiful maid.

Later, he calmed down, returned, and made peace with his queen again.

Not long after this affair, his queen Dugu passed away.

As a very frugal emperor, Yang Jian commanded his talented prime minister to build a giant mausoleum, construct large memorial palaces, and hold a series of worship ceremonies for his beloved woman.

Around one year after Queen Dugu’s departure, Emperor Wen of Sui got sick and passed away.

Before his death, he commanded his crown prince to bury him and Dugu together, hoping they could meet again in another world.

Unearthed Silver Lotus Glass Bottle of the Sui Dynasty

Silver Lotus Glass Bottle of the Sui Dynasty — Dingzhou Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Alteration of the Crown Prince and the Profound Influences

Emperor Wen of Sui and Queen Dugu raised five boys and five girls together.

Their first son Yong was nominated as the crown prince, a talented young man who lived a luxurious life with many imperial concubines.

However, their second son Guang only had one wife he loved, lived an unadorned life, and played an essential role in subduing the southern kingdom.

Under the strong suggestion of Queen Dugu, the challenger of polygamy, Emperor Wen of Sui finally decided to abolish his first son and nominated the second as the new crown prince.

This decision, in the end, buried the substantial Sui Empire, though, from another perspective, it also pointed a particular direction in Chinese history.

Unearthed Clay Warrior of Sui — Shaanxi History Museum

Their first son Yong was the representative of the old powerful clans in the north, most of which came from the former kingdom that Yang Jian used to serve.

Their second son Guang, on the contrary, was the delegate of the new landlord class, especially those from the southern kingdom he conquered and managed for a long time.

For all reasons combined, Emperor Wen of Sui and Queen Dugu chose the second son and favored a more enormous country and the new landlord class.

Coloured Glaze Chess Piece of Sui — Shaanxi History Museum

Hence, the era of separation when powerful clans manipulated politics was about to end.

A new epoch that one's talent triumphs over the family name would be coming soon, though at expensive costs.

Even though Emperor Wen of Sui gained the throne illegally and deviously killed some decent ministers, he was still highly respected as one of the greatest emperors in China, not only because he used a prosperous empire to put centuries of separation and chaos to an end, but also started a trend, and set a political foundation for the next millennium of Chinese history.

Ink Stone Unearthed from Mausoleum of Emperor Yang of Sui — Capital Museum

Ink Stone Unearthed from Mausoleum of Yang Jian's Second Son Yang Guang — Capital Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Next Story: Smart and Monogamous Worship Queen — Dugu Jialuo