The medieval Chinese dynasty Song dates back to 960, when guard commander Zhao Kuangyin seized the throne in the late Zhou kingdom. It was a small state that arose and existed in the conditions of endless wars and chaos. Gradually, it united all of China around itself.
The end of political fragmentation
The period 907-960, which ended with the beginning of the Song era, is considered in the history of China as the era of five dynasties and ten kingdoms. The political fragmentation of that time arose as a result of the decomposition and weakening of the former centralized power (Tang Dynasty), as well as a result of a long peasant war. The main force in the designated period was the army. She shifted and changed governments, which is why for several decades the country could not return to peaceful life. Independent armed detachments were held by provincial officials, monasteries and villages. The sovereign masters in the provinces were tzedushi (military governors).
In the X century, China had to face a new external threat - the tribal alliance of the Khitan, who invaded the north-eastern regions of the country. These Mongol tribes survived the decomposition of tribal orders and were on the rung of the emergence of the state. The leader of the Khitan Abaoji in 916 announced the creation of his own empire, called Liao. A new formidable neighbor began to regularly intervene in the Chinese internecine war. In the middle of the 10th century, hostile Khitan controlled 16 northern districts of the Middle Kingdom in the modern regions of Shanxi and Hebei and often bothered the southern provinces.
It was with these internal and external threats that the young Song Dynasty began to fight. Its founder, Zhao Kuangyin, received the throne name Tai Chi. He made the city of Kaifeng his capital and proceeded to create a united China. Although his dynasty in historiography is most often called the Song, the term Song also refers to the entire era and empire that existed in the years 960-1279, and the dynasty (family) Kuangyin is also known by its first name Zhao.
Centralization
In order not to be on the sidelines of history, the Song Dynasty from the first days of its existence adhered to the course of centralizing power. First of all, the country needed to weaken the power of the militarists. Zhao Kuangyin liquidated the military districts, thereby depriving the military governors of Zedushi of local influence. The reforms did not end there.
In 963, the imperial court reassigned all the military units in the country. The Palace Guard, which before that often organized coups, lost a significant part of its independence, and its functions were reduced. The Chinese Song Dynasty focused on the civil administration, seeing in it a pillar of stability of power. At first, faithful metropolitan officials were sent even to the most distant provinces and cities. But potentially dangerous military officials lost their right to control the population.
The Song Dynasty in China carried out an unprecedented administrative reform. The country was divided into new provinces, consisting of districts, military departments, large cities and fishing departments. The smallest administrative unit was the county. Any province was ruled by four key officials. One was responsible for legal proceedings, the second for granaries and irrigation, the third for taxes, the fourth for military affairs.
The rule of the Song Dynasty was that the government constantly used the practice of transferring officials to a new duty station. This was done so that the appointees did not acquire too much influence in their province and could not organize conspiracies.
War with neighbors
Although the Song Dynasty achieved stabilization domestically, its foreign policy position left much to be desired. The Khitan continued to pose a serious threat to all of China. The war with the nomads did not help restore the northern provinces lost during the period of fragmentation. In 1004, the Song Dynasty concluded a treaty with the Khitan empire of Liao, according to which the borders of the two states were confirmed. Countries recognized as "fraternal." At the same time, China pledged to pay an annual tribute of 100 thousand lan silver and 200 thousand silk cuts. In 1042, a new treaty was concluded. The size of the tribute has almost doubled.
In the middle of the 11th century, the Song Dynasty in China faced a new adversary. On its southwestern borders, the state of Western Xia arose. This monarchy was created by the Tibetan people of the Tanguts. In 1040-1044 there was a war between Western Xia and the Song empire. It ended with the fact that the Tanguts for some time recognized their vassal position in relation to China.
Jurchen invasion and Kaifeng sack
The created international balance was upset at the beginning of the 12th century. Then in Manchuria, the state of the Tungus tribe of the Jurchen appeared. In 1115, it was proclaimed the Jin Empire. The Chinese, hoping to return the northern provinces, entered into an alliance with their new neighbors against Liao. Khitan defeated. In 1125, the state of Liao fell. The Chinese returned part of the northern provinces, but now they had to pay tribute to the Jurchen.
The new ferocious northern tribes did not stop at Liao. In 1127, they captured the capital of Song Kaifeng. The Chinese emperor Qin-zong, along with most of his family, was captured. The interventionists took him north to his native Manchuria. Historians consider the fall of Kaifeng a catastrophe, comparable in scale to the sack of Rome by vandals in the 5th century. The capital was put on fire and in the future was never able to regain the former greatness of one of the largest cities not only in China, but throughout the world.
From the ruling family of aliens, only the brother of the deposed emperor Zhao Gou managed to escape the anger of strangers. He was not in the capital during the fateful days for the city. Zhao Gou moved to the southern provinces. There he was declared the new emperor. The capital was the city of Linan (modern Hangzhou). As a result of the invasion of strangers, the South Song dynasty lost control of half of China (all its northern provinces), which is why it got the prefix "South". Thus, the year 1127 was a turning point for the entire history of the Middle Kingdom.
Southern Song Period
When the Northern Song Dynasty remained in the past (960-1127), the imperial power had to mobilize all available forces in order to maintain control at least over the south of the country. China’s war with the Jin Empire lasted 15 years. In 1134, the talented commander Yue Fei stood at the head of the loyal Song Dynasty troops. In modern China, he is considered one of the main medieval national heroes.
Yue Fei’s troops managed to stop the enemy’s triumphant offensive. However, by that time, an influential group of nobles had formed at the imperial court, striving to conclude a peace treaty as soon as possible. The troops were recalled, and Yue Fei was executed. In 1141, Song and Jin entered into an agreement that became perhaps the most shameful in all of Chinese history. All land north of the Huaisui River went to the Jurchen. The Sun Emperor recognized himself as a vassal to the Jin ruler. The Chinese began to pay an annual tribute of 250 thousand lan.
Jin, Western Xia and Liao were created by nomads. Nevertheless, the states that owned a considerable part of China gradually fell under the influence of Chinese culture and traditions. This was especially true of the political system. Therefore, although the southern Song dynasty, whose reign was in the years 1127-1269, lost a significant part of its possessions, it managed to remain the center of the great eastern civilization that survived after many invasions of foreigners.
Agriculture
Numerous wars ravaged China. The northern and central provinces were particularly affected. The southern regions that remained under the control of the Song Dynasty remained on the periphery of the conflicts and therefore survived. Trying to restore the country's economy, the Chinese government spent a significant part of its resources on maintaining and developing agriculture.
The emperors used the traditional tools of that time: irrigation was supported, tax exemptions were made to the peasants, and abandoned lands were given for use. Cultivation methods were improved, and cultivated areas were expanded. At the end of the X century in China there was a collapse of the previous land use system, the basis of which were allotted. The number of small private courtyards grew.
City life
For the Chinese economy in the X-XIII centuries. ubiquitous urban growth was characteristic. They played an increasing role in public life. These were fortified cities, administrative centers, ports, harbors, trade and handicraft centers. At the beginning of the Song era, not only metropolitan Kaifeng, but also Changsha was large. The cities in the southeast of the country grew faster than all: Fuzhou, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Jianglin. One of these fortresses (Hangzhou) became the capital of South Song. Already then more than 1 million people lived in the largest Chinese cities - an unprecedented figure for medieval Europe.
Urbanization was not only quantitative, but also qualitative. Cities acquired large gardens outside the walls. Traders and artisans lived in these areas. The importance of agriculture for the daily life of Chinese citizens gradually faded away. Former closed quarters were a thing of the past. Instead, they built large areas (they were called "Xiang"), connected to each other by a common network of streets and lanes.
Crafts and trade
Along with the evolution of artisans, there was an increase in the volume of general Chinese production. The Tang, Song and other states of their era paid considerable attention to the development of metallurgy. In the first half of the 11th century, more than 70 new mines appeared in the Middle Kingdom. Half of them belonged to the treasury, half to private owners.
In metallurgy, coke, coal, and even chemicals began to be used. His innovation (iron boilers) appeared in another important industry - salt production. Weavers working with silk began to produce unique types of fabrics. Large workshops appeared. They used hired labor, although the relationship between the employee and the employer remained enslaving and patriarchal.
Shifts in production have led urban trade out of its former cramped framework. Prior to this, it served the interests of only the state and the narrow stratum of the elite. Now, city merchants began to sell their goods to ordinary citizens. Consumer economy has developed. Streets and markets specializing in the sale of certain things appeared. Any trade was taxed, which gave a significant profit to the state treasury.
Coins of the Song Dynasty were discovered by archaeologists in various countries of the East. Such finds indicate that in the X-XIII centuries. external interregional trade was also developed. Chinese goods were sold in Liao, Western Xia, Japan and parts of India. Caravan routes often became objects of diplomatic agreements between the powers. In the five largest ports of the Celestial Empire, there were special Maritime Trade Departments (they regulated external sea trade contacts).
Although a wide release of coins was established in medieval China , they were still lacking throughout the country. Therefore, at the beginning of the XI century, the government introduced bills. Paper checks have become common even in neighboring Jin. Towards the end of the 11th century, the South Chinese authorities began to overuse this tool. The process of devaluation of bank notes followed.
Aristocrats and officials
What changes in the structure of society did the Song Dynasty bring with it? Photographically about these changes are the annals and chronicles of that time. They record the fact that in the X-XIII centuries. in China there was a process of falling influence of the aristocracy. Determining the composition of their environment and senior officials, emperors began to replace representatives of noble families with lesser-known civil servants. But although the position of the aristocrats and weakened, they did not disappear. In addition, numerous relatives of the ruling dynasty retained influence.
It was at the time of Song that China entered the "golden age" of bureaucracy. Power systematically expanded and strengthened his privileges. The system of exams became a social elevator, with the help of which noble Chinese fell into the ranks of bureaucracy. One more layer appeared that supplemented bureaucracy. These were people who received academic degrees (shenshi). Those who came from the entrepreneurial and commercial elite, as well as small and medium landowners, came into this environment. The exams not only expanded the ruling class of officials, but also made it a reliable pillar of the imperial system. As time has shown, a strong state within the Song Dynasty was destroyed precisely by external enemies, and not by its own feuds and social conflicts.
Culture
Medieval China during the Song Dynasty had a rich cultural life. In the 10th century, poetry in the tsu genre became popular in the Middle Kingdom. Authors such as Su Shi and Xin Chiji left behind a lot of song poems. In the next century, the Xiaosho story genre arose. It became popular among city dwellers who recorded works in the retelling of street storytellers. Then there was a separation of the spoken language from the written one. Oral speech has become similar to modern. Already during the reign of the Song Dynasty in China, a theater was spread. In the south, it was called yuanben, and in the north - wenyan.
Privileged and enlightened residents of the country were fond of calligraphy and painting. This interest stimulated the opening of educational institutions. At the end of the X century, the Academy of Painting appeared in Nanjing. Then it was transferred to Kaifeng, and after its destruction - to Hangzhou. At the court of the emperors there was a museum in which there were more than six thousand paintings and other artifacts of medieval painting. Most of this collection died during the Jurchen invasion. In painting, the most popular motif was birds, flowers, and lyrical landscapes. Typography was developing, which contributed to the improvement of book prints.
Numerous wars and hostile neighbors noticeably influenced what artistic heritage the Song Dynasty left behind. The culture and mood of the population compared with previous eras have changed markedly. If during the Tang Dynasty, the basis of any artwork from painting to literature was openness and cheerfulness, then during the dynasty these characteristic features were replaced by nostalgia for a calm past. Cultural figures began to concentrate more and more on natural phenomena and the inner world of man. Art leaned toward intimacy and intimacy. There was a rejection of excessive brilliance and decorativeness. The ideal of conciseness and simplicity appeared. Moreover, due to the advent of printing, the process of democratization of creativity has accelerated even more.
The advent of the Mongols
No matter how dangerous the former adversaries were, the time of the Song Dynasty ended not because of the Jurchen or Tangut, but because of the Mongols. The invasion of new strangers into China began in 1209. The day before, Genghis Khan united the hordes of his fellow tribesmen and gave them a new ambitious goal - to conquer the world. The Mongols began their triumphal march just from campaigns in China.
In 1215, the steppes captured Beijing, delivering the first serious blow to the Jurchen power. The Jin Empire has long suffered from internal fragility and national oppression of most of its population. What did the Song Dynasty do under the circumstances? A brief acquaintance with the successes of the Mongols was enough to understand that this enemy is much worse than all the previous ones. Nevertheless, the Chinese hoped to get in the face of nomads allies in the fight against their neighbors. This policy of short-term rapprochement bore fruit in the second stage of the Mongol invasion.
In 1227, hordes finally captured Western Xia. In 1233, they crossed the great Yellow River and besieged Kaifeng. The Jin government managed to evacuate to Caizhou. However, this city fell after Kaifeng. Chinese troops helped the Mongols capture Tsaizhou. The Song Dynasty hoped to establish friendly relations with the Mongols, proving to them their allied allegiance on the battlefield, but the gestures of the empire did not make any impression on the foreigners. In 1235, regular invasions of strangers on the lands of the southern kingdom began.
The fall of the dynasty
In the 1240s, the pressure of the hordes was somewhat weakened. This was due to the fact that at that time the Mongols went on the Great Western Campaign, during which the Golden Horde was created and imposed a tribute to Russia. When the European campaign ended, the steppes again increased pressure on their eastern borders. In 1257, the invasion of Vietnam began, and in the next 1258, into the possessions of Song.
The last hotbed of Chinese resistance was defeated twenty years later. With the fall of the southern fortresses in Guangdong in 1279, the history of the Song Dynasty was cut short. The emperor was then a seven-year-old boy Zhao Bin. Saved by his advisers, he drowned in the Xijiang River after the final defeat of the Chinese fleet. In the Middle Kingdom began the period of Mongol rule. It continued until 1368, and in historiography it is remembered as the Yuan era.