Yang+Jian-Jackson+Callow



Jackson Callow Word count: 642 A great leader is one who successfully rules his empire, spreads his influences and successfully accomplishes the tasks he undertakes for his people. There are many reasons why Yang Jian, or as he was betterknown, Emperor Wen of Sui, was one of the most important Chinese emperors and one of the greatest leaders of all time. Emperor Wenreunified China after hundreds of years of division, spread Buddhism throughout China, and began work on the Grand Canal. Yang Jian was the first emperor of the Sui dynasty. The Sui dynasty was known as the dynasty that reunified the empire of China between 518- and 618. For centuries there had been constant war and fighting in China, but a man by the name on Yang Jian was the one who fixed the problem.Yang Jian first showed his military skills as a young man by sending letters to the government about what they should do. When Yang Jian was only 16 years old Dugu Xin, a very highly regarded military officer, was impressed with Yang Jian and gave him his eldest daughter Dugu Qieluoto wed. Yang Jian became emperor in 580 when him and his father in lawdefeated the highest-ranking general so they could seize the throne for themselves. Although his father in law ruled for a little over a year, YangJian is regarded as the first emperor because of his accomplishments. Hebegan a great period of prosperity that had not been seen since the Han dynasty. Along with that, he reunified China in 589 A.D. after China saw decades of separation and war. Yang Jian was able to reunify China by giving strong support to his military. Yang Jian took good enough care of his military that they were able to control the people of China. Even before he was emperor, Yang Jian was a huge supporter of Buddhism. He tried to spread Buddhism through everyone that he met. This does prove that he was a very good leader and persuader even as a young man. As he became older and became the emperor of China He started to encourage his followers and citizens to follow down the path of Buddhism. A good leader is able to do this because when a leader gets all of his people to follow that one culture or religion the country works better as a whole mass because they all believe in the same thing. This reduces fighting and conflict. Another great thing that Yang Jian accomplished in his years as theemperor was that he started the work on The Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is a huge canal that is 1,100 miles long and runs through both the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, right into the heart of Beijing. This canal was easily travelable by boats of all shapes and sizes so the agriculture and transportation increased tremendously. Being able to do this it increased the economy and contributed to the increased prosperity. Emperor Wen was also famous for having very few concubines. This clearly proves that Emperor Wen was not like most of the other emperors of that time, some who had thousands of concubines. He didn't pick and choose the woman he wanted to sleep with that night like she doesn't matter, he took great thought and was smart with his decisions. He actually had only two. Emperor Wen had promised his wife that only she would have his children. This shows he was loyal. Unlike my opponent Li Yuan over here who was known for having a record of the most concubines Yang Jain did not. Yang Jian was a great leader because he successfully ruled his empire, successfully spread his thoughts of Buddhism through out the empire, and had an innovative mind to start the work on The Grand Canal.