ABSTRACT
The golden age ushered into China with the Tang dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Sui dynasty, founded by Yang Jian. After the period of political disunion that followed the collapse of the Han dynasty, Yang reunified China, establishing his cap ital at Chang’an. He rebuilt parts of the Great Wall that had collapsed and began the construction of the Grand Canal linking the waterways of the Yellow, Huai, and Yangzi rivers. This ca nal allowed the rich, food-producing areas in South China to export grain to feed North China. The economic prosperity gen erated by the canal laid the foundation for the Tang dynasty. Despite its ambitions the Sui dynasty was short-lived for several reasons. Its rulers attempted too much too quickly and became mired in an ill-fated military campaign in Korea, and resources were overextended in military wars in Vietnam and Taiwan, money was depleted by vast construction projects of palaces, walls and canals, and the frontiers were threatened in the North by the Eastern Turks.
