Yangdi

Yangdi

 or Yang-ti orig. Yang Guang

(born 569, China—died 618, Jiangdu, Jiangsu province) Second ruler of the Chinese Sui dynasty. Under Yangdi, canals were built and great palaces erected. In 608 he built a great canal linking the rice-producing areas in the south with the densely populated north, and he extended this system in 610, contributing to what was to become the Grand Canal network. He embarked on military campaigns in Vietnam and Inner Asia. Three expeditions to Korea were so disastrous that the Chinese people turned against him; he was assassinated in southern China. One of his former officials reunited the empire and established the Tang dynasty. See also Wendi.