The Song Dynasty of China

The Song Dynasty - 960-1279CE

The Song Dynasty began in 960 and ended in 1279. The founders of the Song Dynasty reunified a China that had been in political turmoil since the fall of the Tang Dynasty. This period came to an end in 1279 as a result of the invasion of the Mongol Empire on China. This began the Yuan Dynasty, which was ruled by the Mongols, and lasted until 1368.

Northern and Southern Song History

The Song Dynasty was divided into two main periods: Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279). The Northern Song era began when Emperor Taizu reunified China in 960. Taizu established a strong centralized government, promoted civil service examinations, and sponsored economic and technological developments. It took Taizu and his government less than 20 years to reunify China by conquering the small independent kingdoms that made up the country. This was an amazing feat considering the size of China.

The Northern Song capital was located in what is today's Kaifeng. At this time, the Khitan Empire (also knows as the Liao Dynasty) ruled a large area north of Song territory. The Northern Song government and the Khiten Empire had poor relations, and although the Song government tried to conquer the Khiten Empire several times, it was never successful in its efforts.

The Khiten Empire was eventually destroyed by the Jurchen people, who founded the Jin Dynasty in 1115. The Jurchens continued their quest for power and fought against Song China. The Jurchens were successful in their efforts, and captured the Northern capital of Kaifeng in 1127. As a result, the remaining Song powers were forced to retreat south to their new capital at modern-day Hangzhou.

This marked the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song court continued to fight against the Jurchens during this period and managed to not be taken over by the Jin Dynasty. However, the Jin Dynasty had problems of its own. The ever-expanding Mongol Empire -- under Genghis Khan -- fought with and conquered the Jin Dynasty in 1234. The Mongol Empire continued its quest for power and finally conquered the Southern Song Dynasty in 1279. This marked the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, which was ruled by the Mongols.

Song Culture

The population of China grew very sharply during the Song Dynasty, and the populations of cities such as Kaifeng were some of the largest in the world at this time in history. Because of the growth in population during the Song Dynasty, city culture flourished. Large cities such as Kaifeng became vibrant places full of entertainment quarters and public festivals. Performance art developed into an industry, and entertainers developed careers.

The Song Dynasty was a culturally rich and sophisticated period. During this time, Chinese music, literature, and landscape paintings were further developed and refined. And in terms of philosophy and religion, Neo-Confucianism became the dominant philosophy, although Buddhism and Taoism were still very important during this period.

The founder of Neo-Confucianism was Zhu Xi. Neo-Confucianism is a simple term of renewing of the original view of Confucian vision. The renew was needed due to fact of China start to become more and more expose to foreign religion, and see lack of development in their own religion. The reform helps to reinterpret the ancient ideal to the modern of China.

Politics and Administration

The Song Dynasty was a period of great economic, technological, cultural, and naval development. This period also saw a huge growth in population, which in turn affected the economy in very positive ways. However, it was also a period marked by constant fighting with the Khiten Empire, the Jurchens, and the Mongols.

In terms of government and administration, civil service examinations were further refined with the goal of only allowing the most worthy potential scholars to gain posts in governmental. Likewise, the Song administration was highly sophisticated and organized -- equal to, if not surpassing, that of Tang China's centralized government.

Social welfare programs were developed and a legal code similar to that of Tang China was enforced. Interestingly, people such as empresses had very little influence during the Song Dynasty. This was different to previous dynasties, where these types of people often affected politics.

The Southern Song Dynasty the Chinese government established the first permanent navy in 1132, which was used to defend China's water and land borders. According to history, each ship could carry up 500 people. Because of their maritime developments, Song China heavily influenced foreign economies. China also began to use paper money during the Song Dynasty, which was the first time in the world's history that this happened. As a result of these types of activities, the Song Dynasty is regarded as a high point in classical Chinese science and technology.

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