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In his much-heralded book The Sui Dynasty , Arthur Wright reminded us that while Charlemagne failed, the rulers of the Sui dynasty succeeded and recreated empire in China, a form that has, for good or ill, endured to the present. A full thirty years have passed since Wright's death, and little has been done since then on this subject in Western languages. It is thus a real delight to see Vincent Cunrui Xiong step into the breach with Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty: His Life, Times, and Legacy , a substantial addition to the ongoing research.
Emperor Yang, or Yangdi, was a younger son of Yang Jian, the Chinese prime minister of the non-Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty (535-80) who seized the Chang'an throne in 581 to establish his own Sui dynasty and then went on to reunify China. Yangdi would be the second and last real emperor of this important but short-lived ruling house and the one blamed for its demise. Xiong begins with a chapter devoted to Yangdi's childhood and youth, detailing his struggle to become heir apparent, his putative act of parricide, and his enthronement. The second chapter discusses Yangdi's reign, emphasizing his abuse of the fisc with massive spending, the criticism this provoked from powerful holdovers from his father's days, and Yangdi's disposal of these men. In the third chapter, Xiong explores how military adventures in Korea (Koguryô)...