China was reunified after the Northern and Southern dynasties period by the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618 CE). The first Sui emperor Yang Jian dethroned the Northern Zhou emperor and conquered the southern Chen dynasty.
[1]
The Sui were able to unify China but did not create a stable, lasting imperial house.
[2]
The second Sui emperor Yangdi is villainized for his extravagant spending and endless military campaigns. Yangdi undertook massive infrastructure projects including the fortification of the Great Wall, and the construction of a third capital at Jiangdu, and the Grand Canal. He also conducted many military campaigns including multiple attempts to conquer the Korean Peninsula.
[1]
His overuse of conscripted corvee labor coupled with natural disasters led to famine, and the dynasty was overthrown by massive peasant rebellions and revolts by nobles after only 37 years of rule.
[3]
Sui construction of infrastructure and government reforms paved the way for the lasting rule of the Tang.
[2]
The Sui territory encompassed 3 million square kilometers in 581.
[4]
The 2,500 km (5,000 li) Grand Canal supplied the Sui capitals of Luoyang, Chang’an and Jiangdu with grain from the lower Yangtze area, running from the eastern capital of Luoyang to present-day Beijing and Hangzhou.
[3]
The Sui sphere of influence reached Chinese Turkestan, Champa, and Formosa.
[5]
Population and political organization
The Sui’s administrative reforms abolished all fiefdoms and set up a prefecture system. The examination and military system were reformed.
[1]
Yang Jian reestablished Han Confucian government rituals, and reformed Chinas’ penal code and administrative laws.
[6]
The Sui population was recorded as 46 million in a 609 CE census. However, some modern scholars believe that this number is too low.
[5]
[1]: (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Sui Dynasty (581-618). Chinaknowledge.de. http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/sui.html Accessed June 15, 2017. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GR73VWI9
[2]: (Theobald 2000) Theobald, U. 2000. Sui Dynasty (581-618). Chinaknowledge.de.http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/sui.html Accessed June 15, 2017. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GR73VWI9
[3]: (Editorial Committee of Chinese Civilization 2007, 62) Editorial Committee of Chinese Civilization (eds.) 2007. China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/V6V8BAE4
[4]: (Chase-Dunn spreadsheet)
[5]: (Tuan 2008, 94) Tuan, Yi-Fu. 2008. A Historical Geography of China. London: Aldine Transactions. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/GTTWMMF5
[6]: “Sui dynasty.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sui-dynasty Accessed June 16, 2017. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/RPPSPKUR
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| Early Tang |
| [3,000,000 to 4,000,000] km2 |
| continuity |
| UNCLEAR: [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Tang Dynasty I (cn_tang_dyn_1) [continuity] |
| unitary state |
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| 2,414 km |
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| Year Range | Sui Dynasty (cn_sui_dyn) was in: |
|---|---|
| (581 CE 617 CE) | Middle Yellow River Valley |
581 CE: "Wendi ... (Yang Jian) founded the Sui dynasty, replacing Northern Zhou."
[1]
First (Sui) ruler Yang Jian usurps Northern Zhou throne in 580 CE. "There followed a civil war in which Yang Jian owed his success to assistance from a man named Gao Jiong, who was to be his chief minister through much of his reign. In 581 Yang Jian claimed that the mandate of heaven had passed to him and he founded the Sui dynasty with himself being given the posthumous title of Wendi."
[2]
618 CE: "Yangdi was killede by Yuwen Huaji ... and others in Jiangdu. Sui fell."
[3]
581-617 CE.
[4]
[1]: (Xiong 2009, cvi)
[2]: (Roberts 1996, 81)
[3]: (Xiong 2009, cviii)
[4]: (Wright 1979, )
km squared.
Core region of the Sui Dynasty was Guanzhong. [1] "The springboard for the establishment of the Sui dynasty was the Northern Zhou empire which sprawled over north-western and western China." [2]
[1]: (Xiong 2009, 479)
[2]: (Roberts 1996, 80)
Inhabitants.
"The Sui empire reached the pinnacle of its power in 609 when its population peaked."
[1]
Luoyang. "The metropolitan area of Luoyang boasted a total of 202,230 registered households at the peak of the Sui or approximately 1,045,500 residents. Of these, probably around 40-50 percent resided in the urban area. Further, there may easily have been an additional unregistered population of several tens of thousands, including royalty and their entourages, clerics, the military, and transients. With an estimated population of half a million or more during its prime...
[2]
[1]: (Xiong 2006, 54)
[2]: (Xiong 2006, 84)
People.
History of the Sui Dynasty reports 46,000,000 in 609 CE.
[1]
"The Sui empire reached the pinnacle of its power in 609 when its population peaked."
[2]
37,000,000: 705 CE under Tang.
[3]
[1]: (Graff 2002, 148) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: (Xiong 2006, 54)
[3]: (Rodzinski 1979, 129) Rodzinski, W. 1979. A History of China. Volume I. Pergamon Press. Oxford.
levels. inferred continuity with Tang periods
1. Capital
2. Large cities (21)3. smaller towns4. villages?5. Hamlets?
levels.
Yangdi "Extending his administrative control into the religious sphere, Yangdi ordered that a supervisor (jian) and an assistant supervisor (cheng) be assigned to each Buddhist monastery, now renamed daochang, and each Daoist abbey (guan), now renamed xuantan."
[1]
1. Emperor
2. Supervisor (jian)
3 Assistant supervisor (cheng)
[1]: (Xiong 2006, 114)
levels.
Militia units: "While the Sui had subordinated these units to the local civil administration, the T’ang controlled them centrally, via a bureaucracy answerable to the ping-pu or Ministry of the Army.
[1]
1. Emperor
"These figures attest the overwhelming influence of the Northern Chou military elite on the Sui establishment."
[2]
2. Military agricultural colonies (t’un-t’ien) under a GeneralWen-ti ordered these to deal with supply problems.
[3]
2. Central command: four guards (wei) and eight army headquarters offices (fu)Troops of the Northern Chou reorganized "into twelve units - four guards (wei) and eight army headquarters offices (fu)."
[2]
3. Regional commands (tsung-kuan fu)Wen-ti’s reforms: "In addition to his central command structure, regional military commands (tsung-kuan fu), which had overall control of an area, sometimes of a few prefectures (chou) and in other cases more than ten, were established in areas of major strategic importance. These districts were officered by ranked military officials appointed from the capital; in some cases the generals appointed were made concurrently civil governors of the regions in which they were to serve."
[2]
After 605 CE Yang-ti reform "all units under the regional military commands (tsung-kuan fu) were henceforth to come under the direct control of the twelve guards and army commands in the capital. After the pacification of the south, the number of these regional military commands had already been reduced, but in 604 approximately thirty-six remained, with the most heavily-garrisoned of these concentrated along the northern and north-western frontiers."
[3]
4. Regiment (tuan) of 1000?"No records on Sui fubing organization have survived. It seems that its basic unit was probably similar to the tuan (regiment) at one thousand in strength, under which was the dui (company) of about one hundred."
[4]
5. Company (dui) of 100?"No records on Sui fubing organization have survived. It seems that its basic unit was probably similar to the tuan (regiment) at one thousand in strength, under which was the dui (company) of about one hundred."
[4]
6. Individual soldier
[1]: (Peers 2002, 12)
[2]: (Wright 1979, 100)
[3]: (Wright 1979, 102)
[4]: (Xiong 2006, 114)
levels. This number equal to the number of levels in the central government, plus the Emperor.
1. Emperor
2. Three preceptors (san shih) and the three dukes (san kung)"At the top of the imperial service were the three preceptors (san shih) and the three dukes (san kung) who were supposed to be, after the model of the early Chou, supreme advisors of the emperor." However "these were not functional offices, and they were often unfilled for long periods."
[1]
Three preceptors was abolished by Yangdi.
[2]
2. Department of the Palace Library / Department of the Palace Domestic Service"in charge of palace affairs and were practically left outside the core leadership."
[3]
_Central government_
2. Shangshu Ling (President) of the Department of State Affairs (Secretariat / Chancellery were the other two departments)"as the most powerful position of the bureaucracy, it was rarely filled, so its lieutenants puye ... served de facto as heads of the department."
[4]
"The Secretariat served as the originator of policy proposals, which were reviewed by the Chancellery before being sent to the executive branch - the Department of State Affairs - for implementation. But in practice, heads of the Department of State Affairs had major policy making responsibilities."
[3]
Wendi set up "an oligarchic leadership under his direct control. Thus, three departments instead of a single one constituted the central nerve system of the government."
[5]
During the reign of Wendi the shangshu ling of the DSA "only existed in name", "The two vice presidents of the Department of State Affairs, together with the heads of the Chancellery (menxia) and the Secretariat (neishi; zhongshu under the Tang), made up the top echelon leadership of the central government, known as chief ministers."
[5]
3. Shangshu Sheng (vice-president of the department)"since the presidency (ling ...) virtually left unfilled, the vice-presidents (puye ...) were by default leaders of the department and the most powerful chief ministers."
[4]
4. Civil Office (Li-pu), Finance (Min-pu), Rites (Lǐ-pu), Army (Ping-pu), Justice (Hsing-pu), Public Works (Kung-pu).Under the jurisdiction of the Department of State Affairs were the six boards
[6]
5. Sub-official
2. Censorate (Yu-shih t’ai)"Beyond the structure of the three central ministries and the six boards, the Sui established other offices..."
[6]
2. Inspectorate General of the Water Works (Tu-shui t’ai)"Beyond the structure of the three central ministries and the six boards, the Sui established other offices..."
[6]
2. Supervisory Office for the State University
[6]
"All the principle officers of these bureaux had proscribed titles and a set number of subordinates at all levels, and the regulations specified the rank (p’in) required for each office."
[6]
2. Inspectorate General of the Imperial Works
[6]
2. Inspectorate General of the Imperial Ateliers
[6]
2. Nine Courts (chiu ssu)Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Court of Imperial Banquets, Court of the Imperial Family (three examples)
[6]
"In essence, these central agencies often overlapped the Six Boards in function but were not nearly as powerful. However, unlike the Tang period when the None Courts were ranked lower bureaucratically and functioned as subordinate agencies to carry out directives of the Six Boards, the Sui Nine Courts were headed by officials with the same rank as the presidents of the Six Boards ..."
[3]
reforms under Yangdi "paved the way for the functional subordination of the Nine Courts to the Six Boards, a practice institutionalized under the Tang."
[7]
2. Delegate of Court Assembly"Each prefecture (chou) sent a representative to a special assembly held in the presence of the emperor. While in the capital they were lodged in special quarters in the south-east part of the city. The assemblies were held on the fifteenth of the second, seventh and tenth moons. We know more about the function of the system under the T’ang, which held such assembles annually. The T’ang delegates were generally prefects or other ranking officials who were expected to bring to the capital their candidates for the official examinations plus tribute gifts for the emperor. An examination into the performance of the local officials in each local unit was held, and this was followed by an audience. In the Sui, the procedure was perhaps less elaborate, at least at the beginning of the dynasty."
[8]
_Provincial government_
2. Circuit (dao)"Under normal circumstances, a zongguan corresponded to a zhou ... (prefecture) in area. However, three zongguan (area commands - Luozhou ... (mainly in present-day Henan), Bingzhou ... (in present-day Shanxi), and Yizhou ... (the Southwest) - functioned as super area commands; each of them took charge of dozens of area commands. In 582, Wendi replaced these super area commands with the circuit (dao ...), with its head office known as the Branch of the Department of State Affairs (xingtai sheng ...), and converted Luozhou ..., Bingzhou, and Yizhou [Super] Area Commands into Henan ..., Hebei ..., and Xinan ..., Circuits, respectively."
[9]
"Yangdi was the top administrator of the Bingzhou area whether as [superior] area commander of Bingzhou, or president of the Branch Department of State Affairs of Hebei ... Circuit (dao)"
[9]
2. Prefectures (became Commanderies under Yangdi)"From the Three Kingdoms through the Western Jin, a three-tier local government system, comprised of zhou ... (province), jun ... (region), and xian ... (county), was in place. After the fall of the Western Jin, the system continued to exist in name. However, both the zhou (renamed "prefectures") and jun (renamed "commanderies") shrank in size and increased in number. By Sui times, they were hardly distinguishable from one another. Wendi created a zhou-xian two-tier system by abolishing the jun. Yangdi then replaced zhou with jun."
[10]
3. xian
_Three Chiefs System_
"A system of mutual surveillance to facilitate tax collection ad fulfillment of corvee and military duties. Proposed by Li Chong ..., it was first promulgated in Northern Wei in 486 in the name of Xiaowendi. Replacing the system of clan masters (zongzhu ...) at the grassroots level, it organized every five households into units known as lin (neighbourhoods). Five lin constituted a li ... (village), and five li, a dang ... (community). The heads (zhang) of lin, li, and dang were the three chiefs."
[11]
4. dang (community) lead by a zhang (chief)Constituted 125 households (five li)
[11]
perhaps 750 people
5. li (village) lead by a zhang (chief)Constituted 25 households (five lin)
[11]
perhaps 150 people
6. lin (neighbourhoods) lead by a zhang (chief)Constituted five households
[11]
perhaps 30 people?
Aristocratic ranks (before Yangdi changed it to prince - duke - marquis)
[2]
State Prince (guowang)
Commandery prince (junwang)
State duke (guogong)
Commandery duke (jungong)
County duke (xiangong)
Marquis (hou)
Earl (bo)
Viscount (zi)
Baron (nan)
[1]: (Wright 1979, 81)
[2]: (Xiong 2006, 112)
[3]: (Xiong 2006, 109)
[4]: (Xiong 2009, 438)
[5]: (Xiong 2006, 110)
[6]: (Wright 1979, 82)
[7]: (Xiong 2006, 111)
[8]: (Wright 1979, 91-92)
[9]: (Xiong 2006, 14)
[10]: (Xiong 2009, 182)
[11]: (Xiong 2009, 501)
"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants." [1] No reason to assume loss of professionalization after Erlitou, Erligang [2]
[1]: (Lorge 2005, 7)
[2]: (North China Workshop 2016)
"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants." [1] No reason to assume loss of professionalization after Erlitou, Erligang [2]
[1]: (Lorge 2005, 7)
[2]: (North China Workshop 2016)
"... begun during the Tang dynasty... The rise of religious professionals and soldiers as clearly separate groups was contrary to the previous normative view of society divided into knights (shi, the term that would later be applied to the literati or gentry), farmers, artisans and merchants." [1]
[1]: (Lorge 2005, 7)
Troops of the Northern Chou reorganized "into twelve units - four guards (wei) and eight army headquarters offices (fu). In addition to his central command structure, regional military commands (tsung-kuan fu), which had overall control of an area, sometimes of a few prefectures (chou) and in other cases more than ten, were established in areas of major strategic importance. These districts were officered by ranked military officials appointed from the capital; in some cases the generals appointed were made concurrently civil governors of the regions in which they were to serve." [1]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 100)
Fang Kuang-i was promoted from magistrate to governor for good performance. Other officials were told: "All of you should take him as your master and model." [1] Introduction of examination system "was the beginning of an institution for selecting candidates for office on the basis of merit". [2]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 92)
[2]: (Wright 1979, 93)
“At the central government level, the Sui Dynasty restored the centralized system created by the Han and Wei, featuring the Three Departments and Six Ministries which governed all state affairs. Within this structure, the function of decision-making was separated from that of evaluation and deliberation, and from implementation, each of these three being performed by different bodies, which enhanced the government’s control of power. In local government areas, the existing three-tier form of government was reduced to a two-tier system, resulting in a more effective control of local affairs by the central government.” [1]
[1]: (Liu, Hong. 2009. Chinese Business: Landscapes and Strategies. Oxon: Routledge, 13)
"The examination system was initiated in a partial form during the Han but had been in abeyance during practically all of the Period of Division. Under the Sui and T’ang it was taken up again and developed still further, reaching its full scope by the 8th century and becoming an important, although not the major, form for the recruiting of officials to the government bureaucracy. It should be noted, however, that the descendants of high officials had the right of entry into the register of officials without taking examinations."
[1]
"The first mention of a degree and of a written examination is, I believe, for 595 when the examination of candidates for the hsiu-ts’ai degree is mentioned. Miyazaki believes that this was the name of the examination and of the degree given to the candidates sent up annually from the provinces. ... Two other examinations were also administered by the central government, the ming-ching and the chin-shih, to candidates who presented themselves. The hsiu-ts’ai apparently required broad general learning, the ming-ching tested the candidates’ mastery of a specific classical work, while the chin-shih was primarily a test of literary ability."
[2]
[1]: (Rodzinski 1979, 119)
[2]: (Wright 1979, 86)
Judges are not officials who are specialized in that role. "local administrators had the judicial as well as the executive power in their areas, and routine trial and punishment were part of their regular duties."
[1]
The chief of the Censorate "was charged not only with the investigation and prosecution of very serious crimes but also with the general supervision of all officials in the empire."
[2]
"The Supreme Court of Justice (Ta-li ssu), including both high officials and legal experts, considered the written evidence regarding a serious crime, determined the character of the crime and recommended the final sentence, which was pronounced by the emperor."
[2]
"During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China created the administrative positions of facao cajun (judge of criminal cases) and sihu cajun (judge of civil cases) in a zhou (equivalent to province). At the county level, the administrative positions sifa zuo and sifa li were established to assist the magistrate to judge cases. In the Song Dynasty, the administrative position tidian xing yusi in a lu (equivalent to province) and zhizhou (equivalent to Mayor) of a zhou (equivalent to city) were established, with the magistrate of a county still the chief judge in their governing regions. During the Yuan Dynasty, administrative organs in administrative divisions were judicial organs and judicial organs were also administrative organs. In the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, the tixing ancha shi si was a judicial organ specifically dealing with judicial cases. It was only set at a provincial level. ... in most fu (equivalent to city) and counties, the zhifu (equivalent to Mayor) and the magistrate still governed both administrative business and judged judicial cases. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, an administrative system with a judiciary was still maintained."
[3]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 104-105)
[2]: (Wright 1979, 105)
[3]: (Li 2014, 103-104) Luo Li. 2014. Intellectual Property Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions: Folklore in China. Springer Science & Business. Switzerland.
583 CE: "The Kai-huang Code ... was promulgated."
[1]
"Wendi also sponsored a major revision of the law, which resulted in the promulgation of the Kaihuang Code, which has been described as ’a remarkable synthesis of the legal traditions of the age of disunity’, which proved to be the model for the Tang legal code and thereafter of the successive legal codes of imperial China."
[2]
More detail Xiong 2006 pages 135-141.
[3]
"Starting with the Northern Qi dynasty (550-77) the most serious unpardonable "Ten Evil Crimes" (shi eh) were formally entered in the law Beiqi Lu (Sui shu: ch. 25). These were also codified in the laws of the Sui and Tang dynasties, followed by all succeeding dynasties, and continued to be in effect until the twentieth century."
[4]
[1]: (Xiong 2009, cvi)
[2]: (Roberts 1996, 82)
[3]: (Xiong 2006)
[4]: (Fu 1993, 115) Fu, Zhengyuan. 1993. Autocratic Tradition and Chinese Politics. Cambridge University Press.
"The Supreme Court of Justice (Ta-li ssu), including both high officials and legal experts, considered the written evidence regarding a serious crime, determined the character of the crime and recommended the final sentence, which was pronounced by the emperor. It is probable that the Supreme Court was primarily a court of appeal or referral while the Board of Justice of the Department of State Affairs gave judgements in many cases where the law was clear." [1]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 105)
"Different from the Han Dynasty, the urban water supply of Chang’an City in the Sui-Tang Dynasties relied on mainly on canals and wells (Figure 8.4)." [1] The drinking water came from wells. [2]
[1]: (Du and Koenig 2012, 173) Du, P and Koenig, A. in Angelakis, Andreas Niklaos. Mays, Larry W. Koutsoyiannis, Demetris. 2012. Evolution of Water Supply Through the Millennia. IWA Publishing.
[2]: (Du and Koenig 2012, 175) Du, P and Koenig, A. in Angelakis, Andreas Niklaos. Mays, Larry W. Koutsoyiannis, Demetris. 2012. Evolution of Water Supply Through the Millennia. IWA Publishing.
Guangtong Canal 584 CE. [1] Luoyang Canal 606 CE and Yongji Canal 608 CE. Jiangdu Canal began construction 610 CE. [2] Tongi Canal (the first section of the Grand Canal which "ran from Luoyang southeast to link up with the Huai valley to the south") and Han Conduit ("extending the Grand Canal south to the Yangzi valley) projects. [3]
[1]: (Xiong 2009, cvi)
[2]: (Xiong 2009, cvii)
[3]: (Xiong 2006, 34-35)
"As the top Sui leader in the South, Yangdi was ordered by his father to set up five furnaces to manufacture coins in Yangzhou. Aware of the inadequate money supply in the South, he requested that furnaces be set up at copper mines in E Prefecture (with its seat in Wuchang, Hubei)." [1]
[1]: (Xiong, Victor Cunrui. 2012. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynaty: His Life, Times, and Legacy. New York: SUNY Press, 174)
e.g. within the bureaucracy.
Reasonable to infer that this was retained from previous polities.
Construction of Chang’an: "possibly some of it [the earth] was excavated to form a moat outside the walls." ; The city walls of Chang’an built under Yang Chien: "the building material was the light brown earth." [1]
[1]: (Wright 1978, 86) Wright, Arthur. 1978. The Sui Dynasty. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Up until the Tang and Song Dynasties wide ramparts and ditches were a typical part of the defense system for a fortified town or city. [1] Work on Great Wall used "pounded earth and sun-dried mud bricks." [2] The city walls of Chang’an built under Yang Chien: "the building material was the light brown earth." [3]
[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
[2]: (Wright 1979, 103)
[3]: (Wright 1978, 86) Wright, Arthur. 1978. The Sui Dynasty. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
"In a passage important for the history of steel making in China, reference is made at this period to a blade able to cut through thirty plates." Note: "this period" is a broad term. [1] Wootz steel was "being exported from India to China at least as early as the +5th century. … good steel was manufactured in China by remarkably modern methods at least from that time onwards also." [2] First high-quality steel 450 CE.
[1]: (Dien 1981, 22) Dien, Albert E. 1981. A Study of Early Chinese Armor. Artibus Asiae 43.1/2: 5-66.
[2]: (Needham 1962, 282) Joseph Needham. 1962. Science and Civilization in China. Volume IV. Physics and Physical Technology. Part 1: Physics. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"As in earlier periods, sophisticated siege equipment was available, including artillery, towers and rams." [1] "Of the date of the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet to China there can be no doubt. It occurred in 1272, during one of the greatest sieges of Chinese history, at Xiangyang, where the Mongols besieged the Southern Song for five years." [2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17)
[2]: (Turnbull 2012, 33) Stephen Turnbull. 2012. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
"As in earlier periods, sophisticated siege equipment was available, including artillery, towers and rams." [1] "Of the date of the introduction of the counterweight trebuchet to China there can be no doubt. It occurred in 1272, during one of the greatest sieges of Chinese history, at Xiangyang, where the Mongols besieged the Southern Song for five years." [2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17)
[2]: (Turnbull 2012, 33) Stephen Turnbull. 2012. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.
Unlikely to have been very effective given other ranged weapons widely available e.g. crossbow.
Composite bow was used by the military. Was the self bow used as well?
Cannons and firearms first used by the Song. [1]
[1]: (Liang 2005) Liang, J. 2005. Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity. Da Pao Publishing. http://www.grandhistorian.com/chinesesiegewarfare.
Gunpowder invented by the Tang [1]
[1]: (Liang 2005) Liang, J. 2005. Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity. Da Pao Publishing. http://www.grandhistorian.com/chinesesiegewarfare.
"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south." [1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17)
"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south." [1]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17)
"Infantry in the 6th and 7th centuries was divided into pu-pin, or marching infantry, armed with spears, and pu-she, or archers. The crossbow, the principal weapon of Han infantry, appears to have been less common in this period than the composite bow, although there are hints that it may have retained its importance in the south." [1] Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses." [2] Lances. ; Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses." [2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 17)
[2]: (Peers 2002, 16)
Polearms may have been used to counter cavalry and halberds were in wide use before and after this polity.
Pack animal. 613 CE Campaign against Koguryo: "There were ominous signs that the army of 613 was not as well provided for as the one that had marched the year before: due to a shortage of horses, units were authorized to use donkeys instead of the usual pack horses." [1] Never used in warfare, besides as pack animals. [2]
[1]: (Graff 2002, 153) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London.
[2]: (North China Workshop 2016)
Liang-tang armor worn during the Six Dynasties period: "One piece in the front and one in back, which we will call breastplate and backplate...joined by straps over the shoulders and a skirt attached below." [1]
[1]: (Dien 1981, 26) Dien, Albert E. 1981. A Study of Early Chinese Armor. Artibus Asiae 43.1/2: 5-66.
Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses." [1] From the tomb of Lin Ho in 582: "Epaulieres extending almost to the elbows" [2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 16)
[2]: (Dien 1981, 24) Dien, Albert E. 1981. A Study of Early Chinese Armor. Artibus Asiae 43.1/2: 5-66.
Sui heavy cavalry equipped with "lances, swords and often full armour for both men and horses." [1] "They usually consisted of both infantry and cavalry, with the cavalry component made up largely of armored warriors riding armored horses. The horse armor was normally composed of small, rectangular sections (lamellae) of leather or metal, heavy enough to slow down the movement of the horse" [2]
[1]: (Peers 2002, 16)
[2]: (Graff 2002, 144) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London
Liang-tang armor worn during the Six Dynasties period: "One piece in the front and one in back, which we will call breastplate and backplate...joined by straps over the shoulders and a skirt attached below." [1]
[1]: (Dien 1981, 26) Dien, Albert E. 1981. A Study of Early Chinese Armor. Artibus Asiae 43.1/2: 5-66.
Expeditions in the East China Sea. [1] 611: "Construction of a fleet of 300 seagoing vessels began at Donglai on the northern side of the Shandong peninsula, and 10,000 watermen were brought up from the Yangzi and Huai valleys to crew the fleet" [2]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 139)
[2]: (Graff 2002, 146) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London
"In 598, to prevent water-borne rebellion, Wen-ti ordered the confiscation in the south of all boats which were thirty feet long and over." [1] The Sui shu says Yang-ti for a ceremonial procession along a canal "built dragon boats, phoenix vessels, war boats of the ’Yellow Dragon’ style, red battle cruisers, multi-decked transports, lesser vessels of bamboo slats." [2]
[1]: (Wright 1979, 102)
[2]: (Wright 1979, 137)
613 CE: Emperor Yang vs. Koguryo: A rebel had been "delaying the shipment of supplies northward through Hebei on the pretext that bandit activity had blocked traffic on the Yongji Canal." [1] Note: can infer that army used merchant ships for this?
[1]: (Graff 2002, 153) Graff, D A. 2002. Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Routledge. London.