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

Notes

Notes Introduction 1. This book treats the Qin-Han periods as early imperial; the Six Dynasties, SuiTang and Five Dynasties periods as medieval; and the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing periods as late imperial. 2. For a discussion of Sui contributions to the Tang with a focus on the first reign, see Somers 1978. In addition to the prefecture-county local administrations, there was a higher level of government, da zongguan (superior area command) or dao (circuit), under Wendi, to take charge of the military and civil affairs of dozens of prefectures . It was abolished under Yangdi (see chapters 1 and 6) and revived later as circuit under Taizong of the Tang dynasty. 3. For example, ZGZY 1.5–6; 8.248; 2.17; 5.57. 4. On traditional Chinese biographical writing, see Twitchett 1961, 95–114. 5. See Han Sheng 1998, 533. For Wright’s works, see Wright 1978, 1979. 6. Han Guopan 1957. On the modern debate on the merit or demerit of Yangdi, see Yuan Gang 2001, 336. 7. Hu Ji 1995, esp. 242–43. 8. Yuan Gang 2001. 9. Miyazaki 1965. 10. Nunome 1980. 11. For a discussion on the Sui shu, see Wright 1978, 14–15. 12. JTS 73.2597. 13. JTS 73.2598. Gardner 1961, 88 poignantly points out, “It must be admitted that at least the later standard histories have a valid claim on grounds of authenticity as well as form to recognition as standard. Their peculiarly authentic character is derived from the official manuscript sources upon which they are based.” 14. ST 24.192–93; Gardner 1961, 16–17. 15. ST 12.371–73; SuS “Chuban Shuoming,” 1–2. 263 16. On the issue of inclusion and exclusion, see Twitchett 1979b, 42. On numbers in the sources, see Graff 2002, 9–10. 17. On the genesis of the Sui shu, see Balazs 1953, 114–120. For an authoritative assessment of the Sui shu, see SKTY 45.408c–409a. A discussion of the significance of the Sui shu is found in Gardiner 1975, 49–50. 18. Kenneth Gardiner sums up the value of such early standard histories as Sui shu and Bei shi well, “Nevertheless, with all their faults, the standard histories before T’ang provide an unrivalled source of information; it is hard to imagine the shape which Chinese history would assume were it not for them.” See Gardiner 1975, 50. 19. For a typical traditional assessment of ZZTJ, see SKTY 47.420c–421a. For a critical study of ZZTJ, see Franke 1930, 103–44. In the words of Denis Twitchett (1979a, 38–39), the Zizhi tongjian “is one of the finest achievements of traditional Chinese historiography.” 20. The court historian Wang Zhou and his associates did compile The Court Diary of the Daye Reign, but it was lost in the great turmoil at the end of the dynasty. See ST 12.370–71. 21. Some of these sources are treated briefly in Wright 1978, 15–16. 22. Commenting on the textual sources for the study of Tang history, Twitchett (1979b, 39) laments that “the T’ang remains the last major period of Chinese history for the study of which the modern historian is almost wholly dependent upon officially compiled histories and works deriving from them.” Needless to say, it is much more so for students of the Sui, a period earlier than the Tang. This fact helps explain the dependence of the present study on official or semi-official historiography. 23. See, for example, Zhou Shaoliang and Zhao Chao 1992; Wu Gang 1991; Cen Zhongmian 1974, 348–78. The most complete collection of rubbings of Sui epitaphs is in Zhao Wanli 1956. 24. Key economic documents from Turfan and Dunhuang are those of Tang not Sui vintage. They can only be used retroactively to study the Sui economy. 25. On the limitations of epigraphic evidence, see Twitchett 1979b, 46. Chapter 1 1. Sovereigns are normally referred to in traditional sources by posthumous title or temple name even before enthronement. I follow this practice as well and consistently refer to Yang Guang as Yangdi. 2. For critical assessments of the Yangs’ ancestral history, see Chen Yinke 1995, 323–24; Yuan Gang 2001, 26–32. Note: Huayin was part of Hongnong Commandery in Eastern Han times, and was under Yong Prefecture or Jingzhao Commandery in Sui times. 3. On Yangdi, see SuS 3.59; BS 12.439; Han Guopan 1957, 3–21; Wright 1978, 157–71; Wright...