Page "Sui Dynasty" Paragraph 22

Emperor Wen and his empress had converted to Buddhism to legitimize imperial authority over China and the conquest of Chen.

The emperor presented himself as a Cakravartin king, a Buddhist monarch who would use military force to defend the Buddhist faith.

In the year 601 CE, Emperor Wen had relics of the Buddha distributed to temples throughout China, with edicts that expressed his goals, " all the people within the four seas may, without exception, develop enlightenment and together cultivate fortunate karma, bringing it to pass that present existences will lead to happy future lives, that the sustained creation of good causation will carry us one and all up to wondrous enlightenment ".

Ultimately, this act was an imitation of the ancient Mauryan Emperor Ashoka of India.