Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, And Legacy
Department
History
Document Type
Book
Files
Description
Looking at the life and legacy of Emperor Yang (569 618) of the brief Sui dynasty in a new light, this book presents a compelling case for his importance to Chinese history. Author Victor Cunrui Xiong utilizes traditional scholarship and secondary literature from China, Japan, and the West to go beyond the common perception of Emperor Yang as merely a profligate tyrant. Xiong accepts neither the traditional verdict against Emperor Yang nor the apologist effort to revise it, and instead offers a reassessment of Emperor Yang by exploring the larger political, economic, military, religious, and diplomatic contexts of Sui society. This reconstruction of the life of Emperor Yang reveals an astute visionary with literary, administrative, and reformist accomplishments. While a series of strategic blunders resulting from the darker side of his personality led to the collapse of the socioeconomic order and to his own death, the Sui legacy that Emperor Yang left behind lived on to provide the foundation for the rise of the Tang dynasty, the pinnacle of medieval Chinese civilization.
Call number in WMU's library
DS749.29.S85 X56 2006
ISBN
978-0791465882
Publication Date
2006
Publisher
State University of New York Press
City
Albany
Disciplines
Asian History
Citation for published book
Xiong, Victor Cunrui. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty : His Life, Times, and Legacy / Victor Cunrui Xiong. 2006. Print. SUNY Ser. in Chinese Philosophy and Culture.
Recommended Citation
Xiong, Victor Cunrui, "Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, And Legacy" (2006). All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors. 634.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/books/634