The Sui Dynasty (隋朝, Suí Cháo, 581–618) united the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Strong candidates for the coveted titles of "Most Obscure" and "Shortest Lived" Imperial Chinese dynasty, the Sui turned out to be meteoric in every sense of the word. It arose out of the anarchy following the Jin and the Southern and Northern period from the ashes of Northern Wei, a state that had been founded by the Mongolic Tuoba Xianbei people and had ruled the north for over 150 years. The Sui did this by dint of capable, energetic leadership that swept aside all competition.note They (well, it's more Yang Guang, the infamous Emperor Yang) engaged in some of the most ambitious and large-scale expeditions the Chinese had undertaken until that point and time. Of these undertakings, perhaps the most well known is the completion of the Grand Canal from Beijing (not the capital at this period) to Hangzhou, tying what is now South China together with the North. However, this came at a cost: Yang Guang was considered tyrannical and extravagant while his public works exacted heavy financial and blood tolls.note
Father and son still managed to keep truly massive dissent at bay thanks to their industriousness and Type-A Control Freak tendencies until these very traits did Emperor Yang in when he tried to conquer one of the Korean kingdoms. While figures are still uncertain, this was a truly massive and costly endeavour for the entire Empire that was meant as a grandiose display of Sui Imperial power. Which meant that when it unceremoniously bogged down against a vastly smaller enemy thanks to dogged Korean resistance and the main Obstructive Bureaucrat being the Son of Heaven himself, it was a catastrophe. After a few rounds of trying, the costs broke the back of the Sui and the dynasty dissolved in rebellion and assassinations after only two generations. The succeeding Tang Dynasty happily reaped the benefits of the Sui's costly infrastructure projects, and they were quite aware of that.
In term of statecraft, the Sui codified the imperial examination, which defined Chinese meritocracy for more than a thousand years afterwards.
Of the "24 Histories", the "Book of Sui" (隋書/隋书, Suíshū) covered the history of this era.
Depictions in fiction
- Notably, the Sui campaign in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom merges directly with Tang and the initial successes are pointed out as too much, too fast to sustain the empire.
- Heroes Of Sui And Tang
- Honor of Kings: The only representative of this dynasty in the game that has a roster from various Chinese history, mythology and literature is Empress Dugu Qieluo, usually rendered as Jia Luo. She's an Marksman-class hero.
- In The Royal Diaries series, Lady of Chiao Kuo takes place during the Sui Dynasty.
