The Glory of Sui and Tang

From the walls of Chang'an in the second year of the Daxiang era of Northern Zhou to the banks of the Salsu River in the eighth year of the Daye era of Sui, this novel follows Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian, and his son Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang, weaving together one of the most dramatic dynastic transitions in Chinese history. Against the framework of real history, it paints a tangled, unpredictable portrait of power.

[The Mists of History: A Blood-Stained Road from Minister to Emperor]

In the final years of Northern Zhou, Emperor Xuan, Yuwen Yun, ruled with cruelty and lawlessness. Yang Jian, Duke of Sui, endured ten years of suspicion and deadly schemes. From receiving an urgent appointment as the Tujue cavalry threatened Yanmen to swiftly countering Yuchi Jiong's rebellion in Xiangzhou, Yang Jian glimpsed the Mandate of Heaven through the cracks in his dragon-scale armor. When he buried the “Sui People's Stele” at Longshouyuan and forged a new imperial seal in Taiji Hall, the golden phoenix banner at last replaced the wolf-head banner, heralding the birth of a new dynasty founded on the principle that “the people are the foundation of the state.” Dugu Jialuo's astrological stratagems, Lady Xian's submission of Lingnan, and Wei Xiaokuan's ingenious plan at Yecheng together form the splendid mosaic of the “Kaihuang Reign.”

[Currents of Power: Shadows and Upheaval Behind the Golden Age]

The arrival of Yang Guang, Emperor Yang of Sui, shifts the story from “founding” to “expansion” and “loss of control.” The thousand warships of the Yangzhou fleet, the fire-crow banners on the Liaodong Peninsula, and the wolf-headed cavalry beneath Yanmen's walls reveal his ambition to “emulate the achievements of Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han.” Yet the chain of fire attacks on the banks of the Salsu River, the secret-letter scandal surrounding the coup at Renshou Palace, and the people of Shandong rising in revolt expose the exhaustion of the people's strength and the corruption of power behind the “Great Endeavor.” Yang Jian's nine-ringed golden saber, Jialuo's secret messages in jade cicada form, and Eulji Mundeok's fire-crow tactics sketch the complex texture of emperors and generals, between history and fiction.