Unit+II+Module+3+Chinese+Dynasties+Song

Song Dynasty

media type="custom" key="7378713" Map of China during Song Dynasty

**//The Song dynasty//** was founded in 960, after several decades of disunity following the fall of the Tang. Once again, the Chinese heartland was unified, but there had been several significant changes. One important change was the demographic shift from north to south. By the Song dynasty, the wealthiest and most populous areas of China lay to the south of the Yangzi River. Great commercial cities, such as Hangzhou and Suzhou, grew up in this region. Beginning in the Tang, the civil service examination had been used to recruit men of talent into the government, and the exam system was greatly expanded in the Song. This meant a new class of elites was created, men who owed their stature and success not primarily to the nobility of their family, but to intellectual accomplishments. The Song was eager to employ such men, and they were as eager to try out new ideas of governance. Wang Anshi, for example, proposed reforms—such as a national school system and government-sponsored agricultural loans —that increased the power of the central government, and gave it a stronger role in the lives of the populace. These reforms were met with resistance, and were repealed after only a few years. Not all educated elites could serve in public office, and often worked as teachers. They engaged in philosophical debates about the nature of the cosmos and the objectives of learning and self-cultivation. Zhu Xi successfully synthesized many of these strands of thought, and created the daoxue ("Learning of the Way") movement, better known as Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu Xi

Song Taizu, originally named Zhao Kuangying, lived from March 21st 927 AD to November of 976 AD. He was the son of Zhao Hongying and Lady Du. He began training in martial arts as a child, and at age 20 he left home and went out on his own because his father was losing political influence. There is a story that, while he was wandering around, a Daoist at a monastery in Xiangyang noticed that, although he dressed like a beggar, Kuangying had an unusual aura. The Daoist instructed him to go North to fight so that he could become famous. The South was too peaceful for that at the time. Kuangying did what the Daoist told him, going North under the command of Later Han's Gu Wei. Gue Wei promoted Kuangying to chiel of the palace commander. Chai Rong, who met frequently with Gue Wei, noting Kuangying's potential and made him a cavalry unit commander. In 960 Fang Zhi, the prime minister, sent Kaungying and his troops to combat an alliance that he wasn't even sure was real. (There were rumors that Northan Han and Liao were allied to invade them again) After the troops traveled 40 li there was a rumor that spread that a prophet saw two suns fighting, which meant the transfer of the Heaven's Mandate onto Zhao Kuangyin, and as the rumor spread through the army a discontent of the command of the Emperor spread as well, and loyalty shifted to Zhao Kuangying. Zhao became the Emperor with no resistance. When the court was under his control he was officially proclaimed "Taizu", the emperor of Song. The dynasty was named after his army in the Song Prefecture. After that, he sent the dethroned previous Emperor with his mother to Xi Jing and personally ordered the Zhao familty to receive the Chais into their family's care for generations.
 * Emperor Taizu of Song**

The Song was not without achievements in the arts: Su Shi was a stand-out among poets, and painting also flourished at this time. Song ceramics are widely known for their delicate beauty.
 * //The northern border//** presented the biggest ch[[image:http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/d/d5/China_11b.jpg width="290" height="307" align="right"]]allenge to the Song government. Nomadic tribes staged frequent raids into Chinese territory, and to stop such attacks the Song negotiated treaties specifying yearly payments. Not only were these payments a drain on the Song treasury, they failed to keep the peace. Eventually the Jin dynasty of the Jurchen people conquered most of north China, forcing the Song court to retreat south. The capital was moved from Kaifeng to Hangzhou in 1127. The Jin in turn were conquered by the Mongols, who then waged war to claim the territory of the Southern Song.


 * The Gentry** was a small elite community of educated scholars and scholar-officials. The gentry were mostly landowners, and they were able to hold an office position. They were descendents of mandarins or retired mandarins. The Class system of the Gentry(under Confucian) was farmers, artisans, and merchants.[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Ma_Y%C3%BCan_002.jpg width="270" height="181" align="left"]]

The Song Dynasty had a lot of warfare during this period. Warfare was helpful for government services, but also rethinking major intellectual issues. Warfare was aimed at capturing cities because of the Commerce and government. Timeline of Song Dynasty


 * 915-1125 ||  || Liao dynasty of Khitans in Manchuria and Northern China ||


 * 960 ||  || Song dynasty founded ||


 * 1037-1101 ||  || Life of the poet Su Shi ||


 * 1069-1075 ||  || Wang Anshi's reforms, called the New Policies ||


 * 1119 ||  || First reference to compass in Chinese sources ||


 * 1120 ||  || Government issues paper money; first in world history ||


 * 1126 ||  || Capital Kaifeng falls to Jin dynasty of Jurchens; government relocates to Hangzhou ||


 * 1130-1200 ||  || Life of Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi ||


 * 1276 ||  || Mongols enter Hangzhou ||

For more detailed chronologies, see //Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture// (Columbia, 2000).