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Transition from Sui to Tang
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Transition from Sui to Tang
The transition from Sui to Tang (613–628), or simply the Sui-Tang transition, was the period of Chinese history between the end of the Sui dynasty and the start of the Tang dynasty. The Sui dynasty's territories were carved into a handful of short-lived states by its officials, generals, and agrarian rebel leaders. A process of elimination and annexation followed that ultimately culminated in the consolidation of the Tang dynasty by the former Sui general Li Yuan. Near the end of the Sui, Li Yuan installed the puppet child emperor Yang You. Li later executed Yang and proclaimed himself emperor of the new Tang dynasty.
The transition started roughly around the year of 613 when Emperor Yang of Sui launched his first of three campaigns against Goguryeo, leading to a number of desertions in the army and the start of agrarian revolt against the Sui. The transition ended in 628, when Emperor Gaozu's son Li Shimin annexed the agrarian rebel ruler Liang Shidu's state of Liang, thereby once again unifying most of China under a single power.
As of 611, Sui dynasty experienced more than two decades of peace and prosperity, after unifying much of China and ending the Chen dynasty in 589. The Eastern Göktürks, based on the Mongolian plateau, had since become a Sui vassal state under Qimin Khan Ashina Rangan and similarly with Goguryeo, based in the Korean peninsula. There was one brief internal conflict between Emperor Yang of Sui, who became emperor in 604, and his brother Yang Liang the Prince of Han, who had not seen war. When Goguryeo's king Yeongyang refused to pay homage to Emperor Yang in 610, Emperor Yang decided to plan a campaign to conquer it, and both he and the people believed that the conquest would be easy.
However, staging the attack on Goguryeo took much human and other tolls. The building of a fleet and the shipping of food and other supplies to the base of operations, Zhuo Commandery (涿郡, roughly modern Beijing) caused major disruptions in the farming cycle and massive deaths among those conscripted to ship the supplies to Zhuo Commandery. In response, in 611, in northern China, those who refused to be conscripted began to revolt as agrarian rebels, led by leaders such as Wang Bo (王薄) and Liu Badao (劉霸道). While Emperor Yang initially did not consider these rebels serious threats, the local governmental militias were unable to quell them.
Despite this, Emperor Yang launched his first campaign against Goguryeo in 612, crossing the Liao River into Goguryeo territory in spring 612. Emperor Yang personally led part of the army to put the important city Liaodong (遼東, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning) under siege, while he sent the Xianbei generals Yuwen Shu and Yu Zhongwen (于仲文) to lead the rest of the army deep into Goguryeo territory, heading toward the Goguryeo capital Pyongyang, joined by the fleet commanded by the southern Chinese general Lai Hu'er. Emperor Yang, however, was never able to capture Liaodong, while Yuwen and Yu, advancing nearly to Pyongyang, were defeated by the Goguryeo general Ŭlchi Mundŏk and forced to withdraw with heavy losses. By fall 612, Emperor Yang was forced to terminate the campaign and withdraw as well, with only minor territorial gains. About 300,000 men had been lost in the campaign.
Undeterred, Emperor Yang launched a second campaign against Goguryeo in 613, even though the agrarian rebellions were becoming more numerous and serious. He again headed for Liaodong himself and put it under siege, while sending Yuwen Shu with another general Yang Yichen toward Pyongyang. While he was sieging Liaodong, the northern Chinese general Yang Xuangan, in charge of logistics near the Sui eastern capital Luoyang, rebelled and attacked Luoyang. When Emperor Yang heard the news, he withdrew his forces and sent Yuwen and Qutu Tong back to Luoyang ahead of himself, and Yuwen and Qutu joined with Fan Zigai (樊子蓋) and Wei Wensheng (衛文昇), the commanders of forces that Emperor Yang had left at Luoyang and Chang'an respectively, to defeat Yang Xuangan. Emperor Yang carried out heavy-handed reprisals against actual or perceived adherents of Yang Xuangan, but such actions did not deter further rebellions.
Despite this, Emperor Yang launched a third campaign against Goguryeo in 614. As Lai Hu'er reached the Yalu River, however, Goguryeo submitted, sending Yang Xuangan's Turkic confederate Husi Zheng (斛斯政), who had fled to Goguryeo, back to Sui as a sign of submission. Emperor Yang terminated the campaign, but when he again summoned Yeongyang to pay homage to him, Yeongyang ignored his summons. Emperor Yang began to plan a fourth campaign, which, however, he was never able to launch.
Meanwhile, in the fall of 615, while Emperor Yang and Empress Xiao were conducting a tour of the northern frontier, Qimin Khan's son and successor Shibi Khan launched a surprise attack against Yanmen Commandery as a reprisal for the emperor's proposal to give a princess to his brother and for the treacherous murder of one of his close advisors. The khan's wife Princess Yicheng, a relative of the emperor who had been personally honored by the empress during an earlier visit, sent them a secret warning about the Turkic attack. The imperial entourage fled to the fortified commandery seat at present-day Daixian, Shanxi, where Shibi Khan's forces besieged them on September 11. Yu Shiji advised the emperor to raise morale among the soldiers by promising promotion and rewards, as well as promising to abandon the unpopular campaigns against Goguryeo; this had the desired effect and Sui forces loyally rushed to the area to lift the siege. Meanwhile, however, the empress's brother Xiao Yu had gotten the emperor to seek further assistance from Princess Yicheng, who was administering military affairs at home in her husband's absence. She sent a false report to the khan that a northern attack had been launched against the khaganate; between this report and others announcing the Chinese reinforcements, Shibi Khan lifted the siege and returned north. With credit for his salvation muddled, Emperor Yang followed the advice of Su Wei and Yuwen Shu and reneged on most of his promises, causing great resentment among the military.
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Transition from Sui to Tang
The transition from Sui to Tang (613–628), or simply the Sui-Tang transition, was the period of Chinese history between the end of the Sui dynasty and the start of the Tang dynasty. The Sui dynasty's territories were carved into a handful of short-lived states by its officials, generals, and agrarian rebel leaders. A process of elimination and annexation followed that ultimately culminated in the consolidation of the Tang dynasty by the former Sui general Li Yuan. Near the end of the Sui, Li Yuan installed the puppet child emperor Yang You. Li later executed Yang and proclaimed himself emperor of the new Tang dynasty.
The transition started roughly around the year of 613 when Emperor Yang of Sui launched his first of three campaigns against Goguryeo, leading to a number of desertions in the army and the start of agrarian revolt against the Sui. The transition ended in 628, when Emperor Gaozu's son Li Shimin annexed the agrarian rebel ruler Liang Shidu's state of Liang, thereby once again unifying most of China under a single power.
As of 611, Sui dynasty experienced more than two decades of peace and prosperity, after unifying much of China and ending the Chen dynasty in 589. The Eastern Göktürks, based on the Mongolian plateau, had since become a Sui vassal state under Qimin Khan Ashina Rangan and similarly with Goguryeo, based in the Korean peninsula. There was one brief internal conflict between Emperor Yang of Sui, who became emperor in 604, and his brother Yang Liang the Prince of Han, who had not seen war. When Goguryeo's king Yeongyang refused to pay homage to Emperor Yang in 610, Emperor Yang decided to plan a campaign to conquer it, and both he and the people believed that the conquest would be easy.
However, staging the attack on Goguryeo took much human and other tolls. The building of a fleet and the shipping of food and other supplies to the base of operations, Zhuo Commandery (涿郡, roughly modern Beijing) caused major disruptions in the farming cycle and massive deaths among those conscripted to ship the supplies to Zhuo Commandery. In response, in 611, in northern China, those who refused to be conscripted began to revolt as agrarian rebels, led by leaders such as Wang Bo (王薄) and Liu Badao (劉霸道). While Emperor Yang initially did not consider these rebels serious threats, the local governmental militias were unable to quell them.
Despite this, Emperor Yang launched his first campaign against Goguryeo in 612, crossing the Liao River into Goguryeo territory in spring 612. Emperor Yang personally led part of the army to put the important city Liaodong (遼東, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning) under siege, while he sent the Xianbei generals Yuwen Shu and Yu Zhongwen (于仲文) to lead the rest of the army deep into Goguryeo territory, heading toward the Goguryeo capital Pyongyang, joined by the fleet commanded by the southern Chinese general Lai Hu'er. Emperor Yang, however, was never able to capture Liaodong, while Yuwen and Yu, advancing nearly to Pyongyang, were defeated by the Goguryeo general Ŭlchi Mundŏk and forced to withdraw with heavy losses. By fall 612, Emperor Yang was forced to terminate the campaign and withdraw as well, with only minor territorial gains. About 300,000 men had been lost in the campaign.
Undeterred, Emperor Yang launched a second campaign against Goguryeo in 613, even though the agrarian rebellions were becoming more numerous and serious. He again headed for Liaodong himself and put it under siege, while sending Yuwen Shu with another general Yang Yichen toward Pyongyang. While he was sieging Liaodong, the northern Chinese general Yang Xuangan, in charge of logistics near the Sui eastern capital Luoyang, rebelled and attacked Luoyang. When Emperor Yang heard the news, he withdrew his forces and sent Yuwen and Qutu Tong back to Luoyang ahead of himself, and Yuwen and Qutu joined with Fan Zigai (樊子蓋) and Wei Wensheng (衛文昇), the commanders of forces that Emperor Yang had left at Luoyang and Chang'an respectively, to defeat Yang Xuangan. Emperor Yang carried out heavy-handed reprisals against actual or perceived adherents of Yang Xuangan, but such actions did not deter further rebellions.
Despite this, Emperor Yang launched a third campaign against Goguryeo in 614. As Lai Hu'er reached the Yalu River, however, Goguryeo submitted, sending Yang Xuangan's Turkic confederate Husi Zheng (斛斯政), who had fled to Goguryeo, back to Sui as a sign of submission. Emperor Yang terminated the campaign, but when he again summoned Yeongyang to pay homage to him, Yeongyang ignored his summons. Emperor Yang began to plan a fourth campaign, which, however, he was never able to launch.
Meanwhile, in the fall of 615, while Emperor Yang and Empress Xiao were conducting a tour of the northern frontier, Qimin Khan's son and successor Shibi Khan launched a surprise attack against Yanmen Commandery as a reprisal for the emperor's proposal to give a princess to his brother and for the treacherous murder of one of his close advisors. The khan's wife Princess Yicheng, a relative of the emperor who had been personally honored by the empress during an earlier visit, sent them a secret warning about the Turkic attack. The imperial entourage fled to the fortified commandery seat at present-day Daixian, Shanxi, where Shibi Khan's forces besieged them on September 11. Yu Shiji advised the emperor to raise morale among the soldiers by promising promotion and rewards, as well as promising to abandon the unpopular campaigns against Goguryeo; this had the desired effect and Sui forces loyally rushed to the area to lift the siege. Meanwhile, however, the empress's brother Xiao Yu had gotten the emperor to seek further assistance from Princess Yicheng, who was administering military affairs at home in her husband's absence. She sent a false report to the khan that a northern attack had been launched against the khaganate; between this report and others announcing the Chinese reinforcements, Shibi Khan lifted the siege and returned north. With credit for his salvation muddled, Emperor Yang followed the advice of Su Wei and Yuwen Shu and reneged on most of his promises, causing great resentment among the military.
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