Sui Dynasty

Introduction

The Sui Dynasty reined China during 589-618CE, succeeding Southern and Northern Dynasties, and preceded the Tang Dynasty. The beginning of the Sui Dynasty's reign was marked by the reunification of north, and southern China; with it, ending almost four centuries of struggle between rivaling regimes. Emperor Wen (AKA Yang Jian) founded the Dynasty, and establishing its capital at Chang'an (Now know as Xi'an). Although the Sui was amongst the shortest of the Chinese Dynasties, reigning for less than 40years, its achievements were many, and for that it ranked among the more important. Its reign of prosperity and peace revitalized China, and paved the foundation to China's rise to power in the 8th and 9th centuries.

**The Sui Dynasty was founded since 581, but they only started ruling the unified China in 589 **

Sui empire

(http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t2992.html)

Reasons for Take-Over

The Sui Dynasty rose to power through the bloody purge from within the Zhou Dynasty, and the conquest of southern China. In 581 Wendi (Emperor Wen) deposed the child emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and securing his position by killing the 59 princes of the Zhou royal house. Through a series of reform, Wendi strengthened his empire, preparing his army for the southern campaign. In 588CE, the Sui gathered 18000 troops, at arms, along the northern bank of the Yangtze. The collapsing Chen Empire could not withstand such assault; they surrendered (As the northern troops march into Jiankang, 589CE). The southern nobles were spared and escorted to the north to share their culture and knowledge. Thus China was unified under the Sui's reign.

The founder of Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chen_Wendi_Tang.jpg )

Leaders of the Civilization

Throughout the Sui's short reign, there were only two Emperors, Wendi, the founder of the Sui Dynasty, and his son Yangdi, who succeeded him. Wendi reined the Sui The people of north and southern China unified shared culture and knowledge, and under Wendi's rule, became prosperous and cultured. Wandi was also known as the 'Cultured Emperor'. His son, Yangdi succeeded him in 605 and reign for 13 years until 618. Yangdi famed for his ambitious projects and foreign warfare, ultimately brought his own empire to an end. After two lost in foreign wars against a Korean state of Goguryeo, and the extensive tax prices (to pay for his ambitious projects); hastening the fall of the Sui Dynasty. Yangdi was known to put his ambitions before the well fare of his people.

Succeeding Wendi, Emperor Yangdi

(commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sui-yangdi.jpg)

Leaders Elsewhere

Around the same time that Emperor Wendi had unified China under his rule, in Italy, Gregory I succeeded Pope Pelagius II as the pope. Gregory was born in Rome into a patrician family; Gregory was the son of a senator and the grandson of Pope Felix III.
With these powerful connections, he quickly rose to become prefect of Rome in 570. Soon after, he decided to become a monk. In 579, he was sent to the emperor in Constantinople as the representative of Pope Pelagius II to request for military aid against the Lombard (invaders settling dangerously close to Rome). In 590, Gregory returned to Rome and became the Pope. In spite of his request for military aid, none came from Constantinople, and he was forced to negotiate with them himself. In 594 he prevented a Lombard invasion of Rome by agreeing to pay annual tribute. As pope, Gregory had to administer his monks and supplies to feed the poor and protect the population near Rome (the Roman Civil Administration had almost totally collapse due to the Lombard invasion). Under his leadership, the papacy assumed political leadership in Italy. But Gregory's true greatness lies in his pastoral activities, his generosity and compassion. He died in Rome on March 12, 604.

Gregory the Great

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gregorythegreat.jpg)

Accomplishments

Technology
The Grand Canal (Canal System) is the world's longest canal system extending in north and southern directions for 1900km. It was perhaps one of the greatest construction projects ever conducted in Sui's era. But it was certainly one of Yangdi's ambitious projects. The system of water ways making up the Grand Canal was intended to "spread the riches of the south to all of China". Unfortunately, a project of this caliber and size was a very difficult task, it paid heavily in forms of tax on the people.

Economy Government & Society
The unification of China itself did not bring about major social or economic changes, but the environment of unity and tranquility allowed the ongoing trends to flourish. The economic growth of China sprouted impressively under the Sui. This was partly due to the exploit of the newly accessible area due south of the Yangtze River. Development measures were also taken to untouched area, where millions of people from the north were fleeing there. The Grand Canal symbolized Sui's work to integrate the south's prosperity to the rest of China.

As China and its people grew to become more prosperous, their ambitions also rose in turn. In 587 the Sui started to begin holding competitions to choose men who would staff its government. This method soon developed into the Xiucai (Examination System), which tested men on their knowledge of the Confucian classics. The Examination System was open of all men status (woman barred for competing). In theory, the system looks idealistic, but in reality, it was not free of favoritism and corruption. In truth, people of better background were bound to succeed.

The Sui also tried to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor by introducing a policy known as Juntian (Equitable Field System). Under this new policy, a family is given land, not by whether they are rich or poor, but based on the number of people in each household. A family had all the rights over their given land, they can choose to use it or sell it. The only drawback would be the fact that it was seemingly impossible to gain more land.

Religion & Philosophy
During the Sui's reign, China was like a new born country. The people of north and southern part were reunited again after centuries of separation. Buddhism was a religion introduced from India in the 1st century BCE. It appealed to both nomads and native Chinese. By the time Sui had unified China, Buddhism became the most important religion, because it helped sew together the people who had grown apart in their long division.
The Sui emperors were the first to support Buddhism actively. They build and repair places of worship, give money to various sects and temples, and even consulting Buddhist scholar. Buddhism soon blossomed in China; they were able to produce their own teachers, relying on themselves not missionaries from India or elsewhere. Their Buddhist knowledge became unique; students for faraway came to China to study Buddhist, changing China into a major center for learning Buddhism.

Buddhist Sandstone

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Buddhism)

Reasons for Fall

The Sui essentially brought about its own demise through the extensive cost of foreign wars and misgovernment. Under the rule of Emperor Yangdi, the Sui Dynasty suffered from the unreasonably high tax price, which was used to pay for Yangdi's Ambitious projects. Additionally, Yangdi also led the decision to open war against the Korean state of Goguryeo, resulting in two huge lost for China. Yangdi's misjudgments and fool ambitions caused his popularity to drop sharply. In 613, a revolt broke out, but Yangdi refused to acknowledge its existence. Finally in 616, Yangdi retreated to his summer palace in Jiangdu (Chiang-tu), on the advice of his ministers. With the throne empty, the emperor absent, a number of ambitious men saw a chance to seize power. One of them, Li Yuan, a general in the Sui army succeeded in capturing the capital in the summer of 617. In the spring of the next year, Yangdi was assassinated by one of his aides, and with less than two months after Yangdi's death, Li Yuan declared himself as the new emperor and founded the Tang Dynasty. Thus the Sui Dynasty fell.

Emperor Yi Juan

(www.numismondo.com/pm/chn/tang/)

Work Cited

"Sui dynasty"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sui_dynasty 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Sui dynasty"http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Tang/sui.html 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Yangdi"commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sui-yangdi.jpg 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Wendi"http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chen_Wendi_Tang.jpg 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Sui empire"http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t2992.html 16 Jan. 2008. Power invision services, inc.
"Gregory the Great"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gregorythegreat.jpg 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Pope Gregory I"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I 16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

"Sui Buddhist" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Buddhism16 Jan. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
"Yi Juan"www.numismondo.com/pm/chn/tang/ 16 Jan. 2008. Garry Saint.
"Sui Dynasty"Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007. © 1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation.16 Jan. 2008 Microsoft Encarta student 2007 dvd

Disease Epidemics in Animals

Introduction

A disease epidemic in animal is a general category of disease classifying any disease which spreads more rapidly and more extensively over a group prone to the infection (in this case, animal) than what would normally be expected.

Causes
Disease Epidemics in animals, like every other illness are cause by tiny microscopic organisms, known as pathogens. Pathogens are the agent of disease, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions (mutated proteins), and parasites. In the case of animal epidemic diseases, the group prone to infections is animals. These pathogens, disease agents, are easily spread. An animal may get infected by consuming contaminated food or drink, traveling on ground contaminated with a disease like Salmonella, getting bite by a disease-containing insect, or sexual contact.

Human can, and did contribute to the spreading of animal epidemic diseases in the past. As we all know the world economy runs on the trading of goods, back and forth from one foreign country to another; it is essential that the trade continues to meet the consumption of the ever hungry population. Food, goods, and animals are shipped and flied across the globe as regular basis. Once a trading good is contaminated and shipped over to a foreign country, the ship does not carry a cargo full of goods, but a cargo full of contaminated goods. This way an infection can cover the distance of the globe in the matter of weeks. Not only does an infection spread quickly, new diseases can occur when goods from foreign countries are shipped in with bacteria that might be non-threat in the country, but with the weak immune system in the new country, the non-threat bacteria can pose to be a major threat.

Effects
The effects of an animal disease epidemic can be devastating. If a case of an epidemic disease is prolonged enough it can, and most likely will, pose as a major threat to the country's economy. It will not only threaten the livestock of the country, but it can "shut down a country s access to export markets, and thus cripple an agriculture industry". What this means is that it will threaten the livelihoods of millions of farmer, jeopardizes, and may bankrupt poultry industries and thus also reducing international trade power. Animal disease in specific reduces human's progress in our fight against poverty and famine.

In spite of the overwhelming negative effects caused by animal epidemic diseases, it also brings up a positive aspect in terms of science and discovery. While the economy suffers from such diseases, the scientific world will blossom and benefit; it might open pathways to new discoveries or perhaps cure to incurable diseases.

Areas Affected
There are many kinds of epidemic animal diseases, each spreading widely in the world. The extension to which the disease can spread depends upon the conditions which must be met for the disease. Since there are bacteria and certain pathogens in most of the animals around the world, there are accordingly high amount of diseases occurring at a number of different places. To simply put the area of effect of a disease can vary anywhere in the world (urban areas are less affected due to better health standards and their lives away from animals).


Effects on MEDCs vs. LEDCs
To say the least, the effect of a major epidemic animal disease is devastating. This statement includes both LEDC and MEDC; the effects are no less devastating in a prolonged term, but in a regular span of time, a LEDC would suffer more. In a MEDC, the country will suffer major economic losses from agriculture, sundering its industry, thus cutting its income. But with funding money, the country is more likely to make a recover. A LEDCs weaker economy which base itself from agriculture will probably collapse and fall apart. Poorer people in LEDC are also more likely to cohabit with their animals and rely on agricultural product; they will be hit hardest, and their recovery, slowest.

Why do people live in hazard prone areas?
In a large scale, the world, people cannot choose to move out of the world or away from all animals to escape from epidemic animal diseases, so their options are limited. But in a smaller scale, in which farmers have to cohabit with animals on their farms or people have to cohabit with the animals in their neighbor, they cannot choose to move away. A farmer cannot abandon his farm nor can poor villagers move to more civilized areas with higher health standards. Once the disease spreads into urban areas, it is difficult for people to move away from their homes and civilized town life to somewhere unknown. The better option is to cure the disease.

Case Study: Avian Influenza China, Hong Kong, 1997

Causes
"The Avian flu, also known as bird flu is an infectious disease of wild and domestic birds, caused by a range of viruses known as Type A influenza virus" Bird flu had not only infected birds, the viruses have also infected humans and a number of other mammals. It can spread rapidly in close confines in a farm, and spread across the world through the migration of birds. The virus can contaminate a bird's dropping and its dropping can contaminate drinking water. The disease causes severe distress in the respiratory system and nervous system, making the disease an effective killer. But the fact that the flu can directly infect human was not known until the bird flu outbreak in Hong Kong 1997.

Effects
The effects of the avian flu out break in Hong Kong were small and contained. The flu only sickened 18 people and killed a mere 6 of them. The damage was less, because humans have a degree of immunity against influenza subtypes in winter flu seasons (coincides with the outbreak).

Protection Measures
In August 2005 the American institutes of health reported that they had successfully issued a vaccine capable of curing the virus, but there were not enough vaccine to respond to the widespread. Thus we move to our second option which is the destruction of the infected birds. To simply put, slaughter the infected. As of now it is our best and only available option.

Conclusion
An uncontained spreading of animal diseases can cause the disease to extend over a massive distance and effecting millions of people, livestock, economy, and much more. We have seen such devastating effects in history and the near past; we will probably see it again. As we know, such viruses can transform into a new, and perhaps more devastating virus. This makes the outbreak of such diseases so sudden and so terrifying. The world's current state of global warming only makes the matter worst, when it shortens winter, and increases the temperature extremes which makes human and animal more prone to disease. In the near future, diseases will be harder to contain, with the world's growing population, the population's demand should increase accordingly, thus increasing the "target" for the disease. There is no, and there will be no escaping diseases; coping with it, is and will be our best bet.


http://ec.europa.eu/world/avian_influenza/index.htm
http://epix.hazard.net/topics/animal/fad_sfu.htm
Microsoft Encarta student 2007 DVD

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