A Reign Begins Amid Rebellion

In the winter of 604 CE, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty sat in his palace, reminiscing with Empress Xiao about the turbulent early days of his reign. The conversation turned to the rebellion of his brother, Yang Liang, who had launched a three-pronged assault from Bingzhou aimed at toppling the newly crowned emperor. Forces marched toward Pujin (modern-day Pucheng, Shaanxi), Heyang (Meng County, Henan), and Taihang Mountain, threatening the heartland. Only the indecisiveness of Yang Liang and the loyalty of general Yang Su had preserved the throne. The memory unsettled the emperor. Abruptly, he stood and declared, “This is a grave matter,” before summoning his chief architect, Yuwen Kai, to initiate one of history’s most ambitious defensive projects.

Within days, hundreds of thousands of conscripted laborers began digging a massive trench—a 1,200-kilometer arc stretching from Longmen in Shanxi to Shangluo in Shaanxi. This colossal earthwork was designed to shield the capital, Chang’an, while tightening control over the volatile eastern provinces. Yet, the emperor’s paranoia persisted.

The Diviner’s Prophecy and the Birth of Luoyang

A court astrologer named Zhangqiu stoked Yangdi’s anxieties further. “Your Majesty’s fate is tied to wood,” he warned, “and the energy of Yongzhou (modern Shaanxi-Gansu) destroys wood. The prophecies say: ‘Build Luoyang to restore the Jin.’” The superstitious emperor seized on this as validation for a plan already brewing in his mind.

Luoyang, centrally located, offered strategic advantages: proximity to the fertile plains of Shandong and the Yangtze Delta, and a hub for tax grain transport. A census revealed staggering state wealth—8 million households, 55 million acres of farmland, and granaries stocked with 50 years’ worth of supplies. In 605 CE, Yangdi mobilized 2 million laborers daily under the oversight of Yuwen Kai to construct the Eastern Capital.

Luoyang: A Monument to Excess

By 606 CE, Luoyang rose as a marvel of urban planning. The city spanned 73 li (≈27 km) in circumference, with 132 residential wards, a sprawling imperial palace, and granaries like the Xingluo Storage—a 20-li complex holding 2.4 million tons of grain. To populate his jewel, Yangdi forcibly relocated 16,000 wealthy merchant families from the south.

Yet, the emperor’s vision extended beyond governance. The Xiyuan pleasure garden, covering 200 li, featured artificial islands modeled on mythical Penglai, and a serpentine canal lined with 16 lavish villas—each housing a concubine. When autumn leaves marred his enjoyment, Yangdi ordered silk flowers to adorn barren trees; winter ice was replaced with fabric lotuses. His Qingye You Qu (“Night Revels Poem”) immortalized these decadent escapades.

The Grand Canal: Blood and Water

Concurrently, the Grand Canal project consumed millions of lives. The 2,000-kilometer waterway linked Luoyang to Yangzhou (via the Tongji Canal) and later extended to Beijing (Yongji Canal) and Hangzhou (Jiangnan Canal). Workers—including women, after men perished—toiled in lethal conditions; 1.5 million died during construction.

Yangdi’s 605 CE voyage to Yangzhou epitomized extravagance: his 60-meter dragon boat, pulled by 1,080 silk-robed laborers, led a flotilla of 4,000 vessels spanning 200 li. Counties within 250 km were ordered to supply delicacies, most discarded uneaten.

The Cost of Ambition

The human toll was catastrophic. Timber haulers died dragging logs from the south; canal diggers’ corpses rotted in ditches. Three failed invasions of Korea (612–614) conscripted 4 million, while the Great Wall and imperial highways demanded more. A folk song from the Korean front captured the despair:
> “Better to raise blades against the emperor / Than rot in Liaodong’s mud.”

By 616 CE, rebellions raged. Yangdi, now a recluse in Yangzhou, mused morbidly to Empress Xiao: “What a fine head I have! Who will claim it?” In 618, disgruntled guards under Yuwen Huaji stormed the palace. The emperor was strangled with a silk scarf, his body hastily interred in a makeshift coffin.

Legacy: The Paradox of Progress

Sui Yangdi’s reign was a study in contradiction. His infrastructure—Luoyang, the Grand Canal—shaped China’s economic geography for centuries, yet his tyranny ignited the very revolts that birthed the Tang Dynasty. Modern scholarship debates whether he was a visionary or a megalomaniac, but his legacy endures in the waterways that still pulse with life—and the cautionary tale of power unchecked.

Empress Xiao, surviving the chaos, found refuge with Turkic khans until 630 CE, when Tang Taizong repatriated her—a living relic of an empire that collapsed under the weight of its own grandeur.