Discovering China - Warrior Guan Yu, The Sui Dynasty and Shen Yun

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• published: 14 Dec 2012
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Hi, and welcome to Discovering China. On this week's show... The story of Guan Yu, legendary general of China's Three Kingdoms Period. The Sui Dynasty, the violent unification that leads to China's Golden Age. And Shen Yun tickets go on sale in Taiwan. 1 This week Margaret Trey introduces you to another famous general from the Three Kingdoms period. Guan Yu, who served Liu Bei, was instrumental in the battles leading to the fall of the Han Dynasty, and the creation of the Shu Han state. 2 The Tang Dynasty is considered the pinnacle of Chinese civilization, yet how did it start? It was the brief and little known Sui Dynasty that helped to unify China. There seems to be a lot of repetition in Chinese history. The short-lived Qin Dynasty violently united the empire and led to the Han—China's first Golden Age. And in a similar way the Sui Dynasty, which lasted just 36 years, re-united China after almost 400 years of division, setting the stage for the Tang—the greatest of China's dynasties. The Sui Dynasty was established in 581 AD. China had been divided since the end of the Han Dynasty in around 220 AD. After passing through the battles of the Three Kingdoms Period and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty saw their chance to conquer "all under heaven," the Chinese term for the area considered as China at the time. Due to multiple palace coups, the rulers of Wei ended up with the surname Sui. They conquered Sichuan in 533 AD, the North East in 577, and then set their sights on the south. The Southern campaign involved a massive naval assault with thousands of ships sailing up the Yangtze River. In 589 AD, the campaign was completed and Emperor Wen, or the "cultured" emperor, founded the Sui Dynasty. One of Emperor Wen's first actions as ruler of the Sui was to move the nobles from the defeated capital of the Southern Chen Dynasty to the new Sui capital at Chang'an. Keeping the nobles close by eliminated them as a separatist threat and allowed their cultural traditions to be incorporated into the new dynasty. During the period of disunity, Buddhism spread across China—proving to be the force that played a role in uniting the empire once again. Emperor Wen and his empress converted to Buddhism. Wen tried to use this conversion to legitimize his military conquest, presenting himself as a monarch who uses military force to defend the Buddhist faith. But Emperor Wen and his successor tried to do too much, too soon. Their military campaigns were enormous. Over 1 million men were called up for compulsory military service in a war against Korea in 612 AD, and this was one war among many. This all took its toll on the populace, and after less than four decades of Sui rule, a rebellion started. In 618 AD, Li Yuan, who was actually a cousin of the second Sui emperor, overthrew the Sui. Li reigned as Emperor Gaozong, and he and his son Taizong, started the Great Tang Dynasty. The Tang lasted until 907 AD—and has come to be regarded as the highest point of Chinese civilization. 3 NTD Television is a proud media sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world's premier classical Chinese dance company. This week, tickets went on sale for Shen Yun's shows in Taiwan. Shen Yun's Taiwan shows are part of a world tour. To find out how to get tickets for shows near you, visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org. That's all for this week, but stay tuned. Discovering China will still be on air over the holiday period, with another regular episode next week, and then followed by a recap of some of our best—featuring the most memorable stories of our 2012 season on December the 28th. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, we'll see you next time.