Sui

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Sui

Refers to a Chinese dynasty of the period 589 to 618 CE. During this time northern and southern China were reunited after centuries of separation. Although a relatively brief dynastic period, it was a time of noteworthy economic, political, and educational innovation. A prosperous trade with Central Asia and the West developed during this period. Innovation also occured in the fields of engineering and architecture, as seen in the works of the engineer Li Chun and the architect Kai Yuwen, who both worked under the emperor Wendi (reigned 581-604). Li Chun was responsible for the world's oldest open-spandrel stone arch bridge, the Anji bridge, and Kai Yuwen laid out the city of Daxing, which became the world's largest and most populous city of its day. The Sui were ardent Buddhists and much of their stone sculpture, unlike their bronze, wood, and lacquer work, survives; they also repaired many older Buddhist images. Sui sculpture is considered technically fine but lacking in some of the elegance found in the best Northern Qi sculpture. Sui ceramics are well modelled and relatively plain. Sui celadons, some decorated with stamped patterns, have been unearthed in both northern and southern China. Many stoneware and earthenware figurines of warriors, officials, and guardian creatures were created, especially for use as funerary objects. Earthenware models of such everyday objects as stoves and shoes were included in tombs for use in the afterlife. Costly military failures, natural disasters, and an autocratic and extravagant rule led to the decline of the Sui dynasty, which was succeeded by the Tang dynasty.

China--History--Sui dynasty