Sui Wendi

Ideal portrait of Emperor Wen on the Thirteen Emperor Scroll by Yan Liben (600–673) from the Tang Dynasty .

The Sui Emperor Wendi (隋文帝, * 541 ; † 604 ), born as Yang Jian (楊堅) ruled from 581 to 604. He unified China in 589 after more than 200 years of division and founded a short-lived and vigorous dynasty.

His family was based between the two capital cities of Chang'an and Luoyang, and served the non-Chinese dynasties of northern China for two centuries. She improved her position by carefully marrying the non-Chinese elite. Yang Jian's wife was for example. B. from the Dugu family, one of the most influential of the time.

Yang Jian embarked on a military career at the age of 14 and became one of the leading military officers of Emperor Wu Di (aka Yuwen Yong) of the Northern Zhou . He was at the head of the army that overthrew the Northern Qi Dynasty in 577/578 and thus unified northern China.

When Wu Di died in 578, heir to the throne Yuwen Pin came to power as Emperor Xuan. He was the son-in-law of Yang Jian and also a pathological despot. He raped the wife of a henchman, killed her and then made her his fifth wife. To raise her rank, he intended to wipe out Yang Jian's daughter and her entire family, but they didn't give him the slightest cause. When the emperor suddenly fell ill, Yang Jian apparently hastened his death by appointing himself to be the bedguard (580).

His friends at court now supported Yang Jian in taking the reign of the 8-year-old heir to the throne as a preliminary stage to the seizure of power. He then ordered the leading princes of the imperial Yuwen clan to attend the emperor's funeral or a wedding in the capital to keep them under control. Yang Jian had the capital under control, but in the provinces the military rose in favor of the Yuwen clan and its small heir, a process in which the Kök Turks interfered. One of his followers, Gao Jiong, resolutely crushed this opposition. In mid-February 581, Yang Jian was able to proclaim himself Emperor Wendi. In the summer, all the princes of the Yuwen clan (around 59 people) were dead.

During his reign, the already aloof and unattractive man remained marked by severe mistrust of most of his followers. B. he sent his daughter to the monastery and viewed his sons as potential rivals. As a balance, he followed Buddhism, as was customary at the time. His death has not been clarified, either he was murdered by his son Yang Guang for fear of punishment, or he died of an illness.

predecessor	Office	successor
Northern and Southern Dynasties	Emperor of China 581-604	Yang