Sui Yangdi

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

The Sui Emperor Yangdi (煬 帝) (* 560 ; † 618 , personal name Yang Guang楊廣) was the second emperor of this dynasty. He ruled from 604 until his assassination in 618. His name is primarily associated with the construction of the Imperial Canal and is viewed negatively in traditional historiography.

Live and act

The son of Emperor Wendis (ruled 581–604) stayed in southern China for years. He is said to have murdered his father and a brother in order to be able to take over the succession despite wrongdoing. Once on the throne, he continued Wendi's policy with great ambition. Emperor Yangdi avoided the aristocracy of the north-west (usually of Turkish origin) in favor of Confucian scholars and poets when he held court in Luoyang and had Yangzhou (in the south) expanded into the future capital. This deprived him of the support of the Sinised Turkish nobility and promoted his overthrow.

The main reason for his fall, however, was the overstretching of the forces of his state with wars (especially against Korea 612–614) and major construction works (especially the Imperial Canal ) in view of famines caused by floods. Under him, almost eight million people are said to have been obliged to undertake public works (services for the state were usually part of the tax). The peasants rose up from 610 and were promptly supported by the aristocracy of the Northwest.

In this difficult situation, Yangdi withdrew to the south on a pleasure trip, leaving the north alone. As a result, in July 617, a hitherto trusted general named Li Yuan rose . He formed an alliance with the Eastern Turk Khan Shibi (r. 609-21) and conquered the capital Chang'an (now Xi'an ) on November 9, 617 , where he installed an underage grandson of Yangdi (named Yang Yu) as a puppet emperor . He was not the only rebel: around Luoyang, for example, Li Mi, another member of the Northwest aristocracy, had established himself, which had to be complimented aside. There were two or three other rebel leaders.

Emperor Yangdi dispatched General Wang Shichong to Luoyang in the summer of 617 to hold it against Li Yuan, but his advisors decided otherwise. With the reason "Heaven has rejected the Sui, let us take care of ourselves!" Yangdi was strangled in the spring of 618 in Jiangdu (today: Yangzhou ) by counselors led by a certain Yuwen Huaji.

literature

• Victor Cunrui Xiong: Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. His Life, Times, and Legacy . University Press, Albany, NY 2006, ISBN 978-0-7914-6587-5 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Whom	Emperor of China 604–617	gong