Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, and Legacy

3. The Collapse of the Sui

3 The Collapse of the Sui The Sui empire reached the pinnacle of its power in 609 when its population peaked. Thereafter as signs of social and economic stress became increasingly manifest, the empire began to unravel. The agents of change that eventually brought it down were the multitude of rebellions that sprang up towards the end of the dynasty against a background of economic decline and population depletion, as a result of the prolonged, flagrant abuse of power. Serious trouble with law and order began to emerge in 611 on the eve of the first Liaodong campaign. As compulsory military service, corvée labor for public works, and other fiscal impositions grew more oppressive, rebellion broke out with increasing frequency. The total number of documented late Sui insurgencies, big and small, reputedly exceeds two hundred. In all, an estimated four to five million people were involved in armed rebellion against the government, or about one tenth of the Sui population in 609. Roughly, this last violent stage of the dynasty can be divided into three phases based on the magnitude of insurgencies : Phase One (611–613), Phase Two (613–616), and Phase Three (616–618). The first phase started with relatively small-scale rebellions, and ended with the catalytic event that set in motion the collapse of the empire—the Yang Xuangan rebellion, which took place in 613 in the middle of the second Liaodong campaign. The second phase, starting with the crushing of the Yang Xuangan rebellion, saw the widespread outburst of public wrath against the Sui court, engulfing China in a nationwide turmoil. The third phase was marked by the mass defection of Sui army commanders and officials and their participation in the rebellious effort, which led to the demise of Yangdi and his dynasty1 (map 3.1). 51 52 From Prince to Sovereign Map 3.1 Late Sui rebellion Phase One (611–613): Initial Outbreaks and Yang Xuangan Serious civil unrest began as early as 611,almost two years before Yang Xuangan started his rebellion. Extant sources point to the uprising led by Wang Bo of Zouping in Mount Changbai (northeast of Zhangqiu, north Shandong) as the genesis of large-scale organized rebellion. Around the same time, two major rebellions raged in neighboring areas: one led by Liu Badao to the northwest, in Pingyuan Commandery (seat: Ling County, northwest Shandong); and the other by Gao Shida , southwest of Pingyuan in Qinghe (seat: northwest of Qinghe, Hebei). The timing and geographical distribution of these rebellions are of vital importance for understanding the primary causes of late Sui popular disturbances . The year 611 was a period of major natural disasters, particularly in the North China plain region east of the Taihang Mountains and south of the Yellow River. More than forty prefectures were flooded. Meanwhile, Yangdi’s massive efforts to prepare for the Liaodong campaign began to have a devastating , cumulative impact on an economy already strained by incessant mobilizations of the productive labor force for construction projects. To support his troops on the Liaodong front, Yangdi ordered six hundred thousand laborers to transport strategic grains north on wheelbarrow. The long distance and treacherous road conditions caused delays, and the rice they transported was barely enough for their own consumption. On arriving in Liaodong, the laborers had no rice to deliver to the military, and rather than face severe punishment , they fled. These aggravating developments provided the ideal breeding ground for banditry and rebellion. As for those civilians who did not leave home for the front, “forced on pain of death to meet government requisitions, they had to resort to robbery for survival. In consequence, they began to gather together to form groups of bandits.”These bandit groups were often composed of rebel forces who pillaged randomly, sacked cities, and posed a serious threat to local governments; worse still, some grew into major antigovernment forces with tens of thousands of insurgents.2 It is no coincidence that a large-scale rebellion erupted in northwest Shandong-southeast Hebei. As the hinterland of the former Eastern WeiNorthern Qi area, this region had seen continuous banditry since Northern Qi times. Extreme hardship brought on by natural calamities and an uncaring government created the ideal conditions for insurgency. The story of Sun Anzu , one of the early rebel leaders, provides us with a telling example of how submissive subjects were turned into rebels. Sun lived in Zhangnan , Qinghe...