Emperor Wen of Sui China (541-604), also Yang Jian, Yang Chien, and Sui Wen-ti (posthumous name), was the founder and first emperor of China's Sui Dynasty. He was a hard-working administrator and a micromanager. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state; however, his government officially supported Confucianism.
As a Turkic-Chinese military official in the Northern Zhou Dynasty , Wen-ti seized power in 581. When the heir to the Northern Zhou throne died an untimely death, the next heir became Wen-ti's grandson through his daughter's marriage to the deceased heir. Wen-ti became the regent for the six-year old boy and killed off various rivals. He seized the throne for himself, establishing the new Sui dynasty.
After seizing the throne, Wen-ti declared himself the rightful possessor of the Mandate of Heaven. He invaded the Chen Dynasty in the south to reunite northern and southern China. Before invading, he distributed propaganda flyers in the south, declaring that the Chen ruler had lost the Mandate of Heaven because of his decadent rule, which eased the conquest of the south.
His first accomplishment was to consolidate governmental administration and centralize the political system. He established a more efficient two-body government to replace the existing three-tier system, and created three departments and six ministries for state supervision. Wen-ti took steps to breach the social gap between rich and poor, and to reduce corruption and encourage union of Chinese states. Political officials became qualified based on merit rather than blood, and imperial examinations were instituted. Elite-class privileges, which had long been part of the social system in the northern dynasties, fell. Capable officials from the south were welcomed to join his government.
In this reign, the land-equilization system was created, distributing land equally based on household size, with more land for larger families. However, existing landholders were allowed to keep their property, and land could not be sold off, only farmed. Taxes on farmers and merchants were relaxed, as well, and overall the period became very agriculturally productive.
Wen-ti saw the beginning of the construction of the Grand Canal. This huge project had the purpose of uniting northern and southern China with improved transport. It was completed in the reign of his son, Yang. Another project of his time was the improvement and expansion of the Great Wall.
