---
title: "Sui Dynasty Emperors (581–618): Reuniting China"
url: https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/
language: en
description: The four emperors of the Sui dynasty (581–618), who reunited China after centuries of division, built the Grand Canal and gave way to the Tang in 618.
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  zh-Hant: https://realrareantiques.com/zh-hant/sui-dynasty-emperors/
  zh-Hans: https://realrareantiques.com/zh-hans/sui-dynasty-emperors/
---

# Sui Dynasty Emperors

The Sui dynasty (581–618) reunited China after centuries of division. It was short-lived, but it laid foundations the Tang would build on. It had four emperors: Emperor Wen, his son Emperor Yang, and two boy emperors, Emperor Gong and Yang Tong, who were placed on the throne by rival warlords in its final years.

**Dates:** 581 to 618
**Rulers:** 4

## **A Brief History of the Sui Dynasty**

After the fall of the [Han dynasty](https://realrareantiques.com/han-dynasty/) in 220, China was divided for most of the next three and a half centuries, apart from a brief reunification under the Western Jin. From the 5th century the country was split between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, part of the era often called the [Six Dynasties](https://realrareantiques.com/the-six-dynasties/).

Yang Jian, a leading official and regent of the Northern Zhou, seized the throne in 581 and founded the Sui, reigning as [Emperor Wen](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-wendi/). In 589 his armies conquered the Chen dynasty in the south, and China was united under a single government once more.

Emperor Wen reformed the administration and the legal code, and built a new capital, Daxing, beside the old city of Chang'an.

His son, [Emperor Yang](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-yang/), who succeeded him in 604, undertook enormous public works: the Grand Canal linking north and south, a new eastern capital at Luoyang and repairs to the Great Wall. They were built with forced labour at a huge cost in lives. Three failed campaigns against the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo, between 612 and 614, turned discontent into open rebellion.

As the empire broke apart, Emperor Yang withdrew to Jiangdu (modern Yangzhou), where he was murdered in 618. Rival warlords set up boy emperors of their own: Emperor Gong at Chang'an in 617, under the control of Li Yuan, and Yang Tong at Luoyang in 618, under Wang Shichong. In 618 Li Yuan deposed Emperor Gong and founded the [Tang dynasty](https://realrareantiques.com/tang-dynasty/), and in 619 Wang Shichong deposed Yang Tong.

Sui ceramics are scarce. Potters in the north were already making high-fired white wares in this period, forerunners of the white porcelain of the Tang.

## **The Zhaozhou Bridge of the Sui Empire**

The Zhaozhou Bridge, also called the Anji Bridge, crosses the Xiao River in Zhao County, in the south of Hebei Province. It was built between 595 and 605, and its design is credited to the craftsman Li Chun.

It is the oldest surviving open-spandrel stone segmental arch bridge in the world: small arches set into each end of the main span lighten the structure and let floodwater pass through. It is traditionally counted among the Four Treasures of Hebei.

## Timeline of reigns, 581–619

1. [Emperor Wendi](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-wendi/)
2. [Emperor Yang](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-yang/)
3. [Emperor Gong](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-gong/)
4. [Yang Tong](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/yang-tong/)

- [Emperor Wendi581–604 · 開皇 仁壽Reunified China after nearly three centuries of division and rebuilt the institutions the Tang would inherit.](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-wendi/)
- [Emperor Yang604–618 · 大業Built the Grand Canal and rebuilt Luoyang, but costly wars in Korea brought the dynasty down.](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-yang/)
- [Emperor Gong617–618 · 義寧A child placed on the throne at Chang'an by Li Yuan, who took it for himself as the first Tang emperor.](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/emperor-gong/)
- [Yang Tong618–619 · 皇泰The last Sui claimant, enthroned at Luoyang and deposed within a year by the general Wang Shichong.](https://realrareantiques.com/sui-dynasty-emperors/yang-tong/)

The porcelain that followed: [Song dynasty ceramics](https://realrareantiques.com/song-dynasty-ceramics/) and [Song pieces in our collection](https://realrareantiques.com/product-category/antique-chinese-porcelain/song-dynasty-porcelain/).