Sui Dynasty

The Sui Dynasty, founded by Emperor Wen (aka "Yang Jian"), held its capital at Chang’an. It was marked by the reunification of Southern and Northern China and the construction of the Grand Canal, though it was a relatively short Chinese dynasty. It saw various reforms by Emperors Wen and Yang who made the land equalization system, initiated to reduce the rich-poor social gap and resulted in enhanced agricultural productivity. Governmental power was centralized, coinage was standardized and re-unified, military strength improved, and the Great Wall was expanded. Buddhism was also spread and encouraged throughout the empire, uniting the varied people and cultures of China.

The Sui dynasty's early demise was attributed to the government's tyrannical demands on the people, who bore the crushing burden of taxes and compulsory labor. These resources were over-strained in the completion of the Grand Canal, a monumental engineering feat and in the undertaking of other construction projects, including the reconstruction of the Great Wall. Weakened by costly and disastrous military campaigns against Goguryeo, which ended with defeat of Sui in the early seventh century, the dynasty disintegrated through a combination of popular revolts, disloyalty, and assassination.

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