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

10.Foreign Policy

10 Foreign Policy By the time Wendi usurped power and founded his Sui dynasty, his Northern Zhou predecessor Wudi (Yuwen Yong , r. 560–578) had set in motion the trend of unification. It was Wudi who conquered the Northern Qi in 577, thus bringing North China once again under the control of one government for the first time since 534. Wendi determined to follow that trend by striking beyond the North. Not long after accession in 581, he embarked on the road to expansion. In the wake of the bloodless annexation of the Later Liang in the middle Yangzi valley, the Sui army under the general command of Yangdi swept victoriously to the South in 589 and subjugated the rival regime of Chen. These newly added territories, conquered in a short span of twelve years, shared common cultural, linguistic, and ethnic traditions with the Sui, and historically had been under the direct jurisdiction of united Chinese empires. These factors were conducive to the official efforts at assimilation. But the extraordinary growth of the Sui territory in a relatively short period of time often brought it into contact and conflict with neighbors with different cultural traditions. Faced with such a complex international environment, Wendi’s advisers formulated a foreign policy that purported both to facilitate the long-term strategy of territorial expansion and consolidation of power in areas dominated by Chinese cultural influence, and to protect agricultural communities in the Northern and Northwestern frontier regions and trade routes in the Northwest . Focusing on Tujue and Koguryŏ, Wendi strove to reestablish the Chinese world order in East Asia, a concept rooted in the ancient Sinocentric idea of universal overlordship, and in the Middle Kingdom’s centuries-old selfperception of superiority in reference to its neighbors. 197 While seeking to maintain the Chinese world order he inherited from his father, Yangdi pursued a much more expansionist foreign policy, sending expeditionary and explorative missions overseas, and launching full-fledged wars against neighboring states. Under Yangdi, the Sui empire projected its power far beyond China proper: Linyi and Chitu in the Far South; Liuqiu and Yamato in the East; Tiele (Tölös), Tuyuhun , Dangxiang (Tangut), and the Western Regions in the Northwest; Tujue in the North and Northwest; Koguryŏ, Mohe (Malgal), and Qidan (Khitan) in the Northeast (map 10.1). The Far South The faraway kingdoms beyond the Southern frontier received little attention from the Sui court during the first reign. After Yangdi ascended the throne, the focus of foreign policy remained overwhelmingly on the North, but with Tujue posing no immediate threat, he also set his sights on the Southern barbarians (nanman ). The Sui shu contains information on more than ten 198 Yangdi and His Empire Map 10.1 Sui China and its neighbors, 612 Southern tributary states during the Sui period. Of these, detailed records about four have survived: Linyi (Champa), Chitu (in the Malay Peninsula), Zhenla (Cambodia),1 and Poli (Bali) . Although all four sent tributary missions to China, only two, Linyi and Chitu, received missions from the Sui court. And they warrant further attention. Linyi Located in present-day central Vietnam, the kingdom of Linyi2 was a recipient of both Chinese and Indian influences. Towards the end of the Han dynasty, part of its Jiaozhi Commandery broke away to become an independent kingdom, which evolved into Linyi. The produce of Linyi was similar to that of Jiaozhi. Its musical instruments resembled those of China while its mortuary customs, for example, cremation on a pyral fire, were clearly reminiscent of those prevalent in the subcontinent. Buddhism was the universal religion. The written language was believed to be similar to Sanskrit. This land of several thousand li across was inhabited by a people, in the words of the Sui shu, “with deep-set eyes and tall noses.”3 Following the Sui conquest of the Chen, Linyi sent one tributary mission to Wendi, but did not attract much court attention. At the end of the Renshou period (600–604), General Liu Fang , who had just crushed a rebellion in Jiao Prefecture (north Vietnam) led by Li Fozi , was ordered to subjugate Linyi. Given that since the beginning of the 604 Yangdi had been trusted with court affairs by his father, who soon fell sick and died, it is likely that Liu’s mission was sent by Yangdi, even though it is not recorded in the sources...