SUI DYNASTY, AD 581 to 618

Many references list the first year of Sui as AD 589, but that is the date Sui unified China. Yang Chien, adopting the name Wen, established Sui in AD 581. As an official of Northern Zhou he had married the last emperor's daughter to become uncle to the heir, whom he forced to abdicate in his favor. In only nine years he expanded his territory until China was once again unified in AD 589.

EMPERORS OF SUI

Emperor Wen died in AD 604 with the traditional areas of China unified. His son, Yang Ti, continued the expansion with campaigns in both Vietnam and Korea but was killed in AD 617. The house of Chien had lost control of their empire, and a number of rebels vied for power, with Li Yuan and his son Li Shih-min (future Emperors of T'ang) gaining the upper hand.

Our list of Sui emperors is derived from Mitchiner (Oriental Coins and Their Values, Volume 1, page 699) but there is some confusion over the identity of Kong Ti You and Kong Ti T'ang. We assume these are Li Yuan and Li Shih-min, first emperors of T'ang, but are unclear as to why Mitchiner lists them as Emperors of Sui, as they appear to have established the T'ang Dynasty as soon as they were in control.

For more information on the coinage of the Sui Dynasty, please check our Reference Guide.

T'ANG DYNASTY, AD 618 to 907

The death of Yang Ti of Sui resulted in a civil war from which Li Yuan (of Western Wei) and his son Li Shih-min arose victorious, establishing the T'ang dynasty and extending the unification of China for another 300 years. Li Yuan, adopting the title T'ang Kao Tsu, ruled from AD 618 to 626 then abdicated in favor of his son Li Shih-min who adopted the title T'ai Tsung and ruled from AD 627 to 649. Both were able rules under whom T'ang began its rise to greatness. The next 300 years was a time of relative calm, prosperity and enlightenment with the cultural arts dominating over the military arts.

EMPERORS OF T'ANG

Considering the almost 300 years and over 20 emperors of the T'ang Dynasty, the coinage is fairly conservative with only a few distinctive issues. For the most part, the standard K'ai-yuan type was all that circulated.

For more information on the coinage of the T'ang Dynasty, please check our Reference Guide.

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