Emperor Wen of Sui

Emperor Wen of Sui 隋文帝
Tang dynasty portrait of Emperor Wen by Yan Liben (c. 600–673)
Emperor of the Sui dynasty
Reign	4 March 581 – 13 August 604
Successor	Emperor Yang
Born	21 July 541 Chang'an, Western Wei dynasty
Died	13 August 604(604-08-13) (aged 63) Renshou Palace, Baoji, Sui dynasty
Burial	Tai Mausoleum (泰陵)
Consort(s)	Empress Wenxian
Issue	Yang Yong Emperor Yang Yang Jun Yang Xiu Yang Liang Princess Leping Princess Xiang Princess Guangping Princess Lanling Princess Wanan
Names Family name: Yang (楊; Yáng) Given name: Jian (堅; Jiān) Era dates Kāihuáng 開皇 (581–600) Rénshòu 仁壽 (601–604) Posthumous name Emperor Wen (文皇帝; Wén Huángdì; lit. "civil") Temple name Gaozu (高祖; Gāozǔ)
House	Yang
Dynasty	Sui
Father	Yang Zhong
Mother	Lady Lü

Emperor Wen of Sui (隋文帝; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604^[1]), personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), alias Narayana (Chinese: 那羅延; pinyin: Nàluóyán) deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founding emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state. He is regarded as one of the most important emperors in Chinese history, reunifying China proper in 589 after centuries of division since the independence of the Cheng-Han and Han-Zhao dynasties from the Western Jin dynasty in 304. During his reign, the construction of the Grand Canal began.

As a Northern Zhou official, Yang Jian served with apparent distinction during the reigns of the Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan. When the erratic Emperor Xuan died in 580, Yang, as his father-in-law, seized power as regent. After defeating General Yuchi Jiong, who resisted him, he seized the throne for himself, establishing the new Sui dynasty. Yang Jian was the first ethnic Han ruler to control the entirety of North China after the Xianbei people conquered the region from the Liu Song dynasty (not counting the brief reconquest by Emperor Wu of Liang).

Generally speaking, Emperor Wen's reign was a great period of prosperity, not seen since the Han dynasty. Economically, the nation prospered. It was said that there was enough food stored for 50 years. The military was also powerful. At the beginning of his reign, Sui faced the threat of the Göktürks in the north, neighbored Tibetan tribes in the west, Goguryeo in the northeast, and Champa (Linyi) in the south. By the end of Emperor Wen's reign, the Göktürks had split into an eastern and a western khaganate, the eastern one being nominally submissive to Sui, as was Goguryeo. Champa was defeated and, while not conquered, did not remain a threat.

Emperor Wen is also famous for having only two concubines. Although he might have had additional concubines not documented by traditional historians, this is the fewest for an adult Chinese emperor, surpassed only by the monogamous Emperor Fei of Western Wei and the Hongzhi Emperor of Ming. Emperor Wen loved and respected his wife Empress Dugu deeply, and he might not have had sexual relations with his concubines until after her death in 602.