The Sui Dynasty was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China of pivotal significance. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern Dynasties 南北朝 and reinstalled the rule of ethnic Han Chinese 汉族 in the entirety of China proper, along with sinicization of former nomadic ethnic minorities like those of the so-called Five Barbarians 五胡 within its territory. It was succeeded by the Tang Dynasty 唐朝, which largely inherited the foundations laid out by the Sui.