History of China

China is the world's oldest continuous civilization, with written records dating back at least 3,500 years. Turtle shells with ancient Chinese writing reminiscent of those of the Shang dynasty have been found and dated to almost 9000 years old. This suggests that the origins of the Chinese civilization, starting first with city-states may be older than 10,000 years. Although 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization when China became a large kingdom or Empire. Successive dynasties developed systems of bureaucratic control, which gave the agrarian-based Chinese an advantage over neighboring nomadic and mountain-dwelling cultures. The forced imposition of a common system of writing by the Qin emperor (200 BC) and the development of a state ideology based on Confucianism (100 BC) strengthened the Chinese civilization. Politically, China alternated between periods of political union and disunion, and was occasionally conquered by external ethnicities, of which many were eventually assimilated into the Chinese identity. These cultural and political influences from many parts of Asia as well as successive waves of immigration and emigration merged to create the familiar image of Chinese culture and people today.

Sui Dynasty: Reunification

The Sui Dynasty (隋朝) managed to reunite the country in 589 after almost 300 years of disjunction.

Related Topics:
Sui Dynasty - 589

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The unification is the second shortest dynasty in the history of China after Qin Dynasty, and during this time, millions laboured on the Grand Canal of China, still the longest canal in the world to date.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Personalities

The 1st Sui Emperor was recorded to be extremely frugal in nature. Having been told by a fortune teller in his youth, that he would ascend the Imperial Throne if he stayed away from excesses and corruptions of power, the 1st Sui Emperor sought to project the image of benevolence in his rule. He cut down on court expenses, and helped revitalize the war torn economy of China.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A fable said, that during a famine, to inspire his ministers to be more considerate of the people, he invited them all to dinner and brought out a simple farmer family's meal, and publicly issued blame for himself as incompetent for not being able to improve the lives of the people.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Under his leadership, many of his ministers strived to take care of the people with compassion and mercy, and China recovered some what.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another fable said, a local prison official was to escort a group of 11 condemned criminals to the capital to be put to death. The official said to the 11 criminals, "You are all condemned men, and by law, you deserve to die, for that is your punishment. But there is famine, and I will not force innocent farmers to take this long journey to escort you to the Capital. So, I will ask you to go by yourselves to the Capital without any escort. And if you do not arrive at the agreed upon time, I will die in your place."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With that, he set the 11 men free. Amazingly, all 11 men reported themselves to the Capital.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Upon hearing this, the 1st Sui Emperor was very pleased by the official's compassion. Immediately, he gave an imperial banquet to the 11 condemned men and their families, and pardoned them. And he promoted the prison official.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The 2nd Sui Emperor was the exact opposite of his father, excessive and brutal in his spending and power. In order to secure his position as heir apparent, he hid his excesses from his father. He had many concubines, but kept them locked away in back rooms, so his father would not see them. He only kept the most old and ugly servants, and old furnitures around in the main house, so as to put up an appearance of piety and frugality.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once he became the Emperor, he mounted spending on the Imperial Household, building new palaces and obtaining exotic displays of his wealth, while levying heavy taxes upon the people. Under his rule, famines ran rampant across the countryside, and he refused to do anything to help. In some provinces, people were reduced to eating tree barks and some even resorted to cannibalism. Yet, he was still obsessed with his public image as a ruler.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When a foreign diplomat was to visit the Capital, he had all the trees decorated with colorful silk, prompting the diplomat to ask, "How is it that your majesty have clothing for trees, when the people have no food?" Eventually, his oppressive rule broke apart, as rebellions flared across China.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

References

Wright, Arthur F. 1978. The Sui Dynasty: The Unification of China. A.D. 581-617. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN 0-394-49187-4 ; 0-394-32332-7 (pbk).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~