Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty had three sons. His eldest, Yang Zhao, the Crown Prince Yuande, died in an imperial palace in the second year of the Daye era. At the time, many in the court and beyond assumed that the second son, Yang Jian, would naturally become the heir—since the third son, Yang Gao, was still a child—but this was far from a blessing.
As a prince from childhood, Yang Jian received an excellent education, and as he grew older, he studied the classics and history and practiced archery and horsemanship, showing remarkable intelligence. However, his moral character fell far short of his elder brother Yang Zhao's; he was arrogant, willful, and behaved improperly. Those who followed and grew close to him were also a group of petty villains. Among them, Qiao Lingze and a dozen others were particularly trusted by Yang Jian. Yang Jian often sent them to search far and wide for women, dogs, and horses to indulge his own debauchery, while Qiao Lingze and his ilk devoted themselves wholeheartedly to serving Yang Jian.
For example, upon learning that a family had a beautiful young daughter, he would go to their door, falsely claiming to be acting on the orders of Prince Yang Jian, and demand she be taken to his residence. The girl, too afraid to refuse, was brought to Yang Jian's home, where he would indulge in her, raping her at will, and only release her back home once he had grown tired of her.
For instance, when scouting for fine horses for Yang Jian, he traveled as far as Longxi, acquiring several prized steeds from the Hu people and presenting them to Yang Jian, who still found them unsatisfactory and ordered them returned to their owner.
At that time, a man named Daxitong from the capital had a concubine named Wang, who possessed a beautiful voice and excelled at singing. She was soon invited by high-ranking officials to perform at lavish banquets, and eventually became a regular performer at the residence of Yang Jian, the Prince of Qi. An imperial censor reported this to Emperor Yang of Sui, who was furious. He dispatched over a thousand soldiers to search Yang Jian's mansion and severely punished all those involved.
After Yang Jian's wife, Lady Wei, passed away, he secretly began an affair with her sister, Lady Yuan, and when she gave birth to a daughter, no one outside knew. Yang Jian even secretly summoned his crony Qiao Lingze and others to his mansion for a celebratory feast. During the drunken revelry, these kindred spirits grew rowdy, snatching off Yang Jian's hat and declaring, "You should be wearing an imperial crown!" Then, pointing at Lady Yuan, they shouted, "This woman who bears children deserves to be empress!" When Emperor Yang later learned of this, he was furious, ordering Qiao Lingze and his gang beheaded, Lady Yuan forced to commit suicide, and Yang Jian's other sycophants exiled to the remote frontiers.
Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty indulged in debauchery, and his son proved equally unworthy. Compounded by misguided domestic and foreign policies, peasant uprisings erupted one after another in the late Sui period, leading to the dynasty's collapse in less than forty years.
"The idiom 'Sheng Se Gou Ma' means that music, women, dogs, and horses are all playthings of the wealthy and powerful."
It refers to the decadent pleasures of the exploiting class, such as listening to songs, visiting courtesans, keeping dogs, and riding horses.
Source: *Book of Sui*, "Biography of Yang Jian, Prince of Qi"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "声色狗马" came to describe how music, women, dogs, and horses are all playthings of the wealthy and powerful.