In May 580, Zhou Xuandi died of illness, and 8-year-old Zi Wen Chuan (Zhou Jingdi) succeeded to the throne. Yang Jian, the founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the father-in-law of Zhou Xuandi, and a big bureaucrat, "assisted the government" as the prime minister.

On March 3, 581 (February 14, the first year of Dading of Emperor Jing of the Northern Zhou Dynasty) Yang Jian deposed Emperor Jing of Zhou as Duke Jie, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty died.

At the same time, Yang Jian established himself as the emperor, built Daxing City (now the southeast area of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) as the capital of the country, and changed the name of the country to Sui. It was Emperor Wen of Sui, the founding emperor of Jianyuan. Emperor Wen of Sui was an effective emperor. On the one hand, he inherited the policies and measures of Emperor Wu of Zhou to strengthen the centralization of power, and on the other hand, he abolished some bad policies of the previous dynasty, stabilized the situation, strengthened the national strength, and laid the foundation for Sui to unify the country.