Ancient China: The Song Dynasty

The Five Dynasties (907-960) - North China

The Ten Kingdoms (907-970) - South China

After the fall of the Tang, China, once again experienced a period of division.
This time the period of division lasted only for half of a century.
This period is quite complex and it was marked by three main developments.
In the late Tang when military governors of the provinces made their appearance.
When Zhu Wen was made military governor of Xuanwu, he built up a power base.
He created a professional army which was personally loyal to him.
In 907 he deposed the last Tang emperor and founded the Liang Dynasty.
Some Shatuo tribes changed their allegiance to China and were allowed to settle in Shanxi.
They assisted the Tang in recovering Chang'an from Huang Chao's rebels.
In 923 they defeated the Liang Dynasty and established their own dynasty (Later Tang).
It lasted only until 937 but its expansion covered a large part of northern China.
They set a precedent for the rule by non-Chinese people of Chinese territory.
In the south the region was divided into three kingdoms.
Here regional economies grew quickly and interstate trade flourished.
Because of a shortage of copper, the southern states allowed the use of iron, lead and pottery for coinage.
At this time the uses of promissory notes were established - a precursor of paper money.
The state of Wu was prosperous and a literary culture emerged.
The earliest Chinese books were produced in the area.
The later Shu state was a place where artists and poets took refuge along with Tang officials.

The Khitan Liao Dynasty

It is hard to pinpoint their true identity.
It is probable that they shared a common ancestry with the Xianbei.
Under an ambitious leader named Abaoji they began raids deep into Chinese territory.
Over the years they became involved in the struggle between successor states.
Eventually Abaoji forced the Khitan to accept him as an emperor in the Chinese style.
In 907 he founded the dynasty to be known as the Liao.
In 916 he built a capital in the north-west of present day Liaoning.
They began to expand where in 924 they subjected the Urighurs in the west.
Abaoji died in 926 before completing his goal of conquering northern China.
In 947 the Khitan intervened in a dispute over a succession in the Shatuo.
For this they gained a strip of Chinese territory.
After a raid on the Jin territory in 947 they withdrew to the north.
The Khitan Liao Dynasty ruled part of north China and the territories beyond until 1125.
In the north they retained many features of the traditional Khitan.
Here they filled many important military and civil posts.
The southern regions, however, was modelled on the governmental institutions of the Tang.
The southern region had its capital on the strip of land they had gained from the Chinese.
In the north, the laws of the Khitan customs were used.
In the south, the Chinese population was subject to to Tang codified law.
This dualistic formula created tension.
It was a model for the later empires of of the Jurchen Jin and the Manchu Qing dynasties.

The Song Dynasty

A military leader by the name of Zhao Khuangyin, who founded the Song Dynasty.
He was later known as Emperor Taizu.
After he had usurped the throne he persuaded the provincial commanders to submit to him.
He offered them honours and pensions.
He was able t create a loyal professional army.
Eventually he was able to unify the north.
Later. he gained the states south of the Yangzi.
All of China Proper had come under Song control when Taizu died in 976.
But the exceptions were
a) two independent kingdoms in Zhejiang & Shanxi
b) parts of China ruled by Nanzhao & the Khitan.

Emperor Taizong (r. 976-97)

Advances were carried on by Taizu's brother, the Emperor Taizong (r. 976-97).
He got the kingdoms of Zhejiang & Shanxi to submit which his brother had failed to do.
He also received tribute from the Xi Xia state.
Only with the Khitan did the Song Dynasty have to compromise.
In 979 Taizong invaded the Sixteen Prefectures but he was defeated near Beijing.
After two unsuccessful campaigns, he agreed to a truce.

The Treaty of Shanyuan (1004)

The Treaty of Shanyuan was reached & it confirmed the Khitan's claim to the Sixteen Prefectures.
It put forth the terms of the protocol for relations between the two states.
The Song agreed tp pay an annual contribution to military expenses.
This amounted to about 200,000 lengths of silk and 100,000 ounces of silver.
They recrouped the cost through through trade and it stabilized the Khitan economy.
The first Song emperors had been laying down the foundations
Its capital was at Kaifeng on the Grand Canal.
This was a city that was more readily supplied than Chang'an or Luoyang.

The Administration

Many features of the Tang administration were revived in a modified form.
The central government revolved around a chancellor and a secretariat.
He formulated and reviewed policies before presenting them to the emperor for approval.
If accepted they were passed on to the department of state affairs.
The department was made up of six boards of government
The military affairs wee kept secret from civil affairs.
The military affairs bureau.reported to the emperor.
There was a similar continuity in the provincial governments.
Their basic administrative unit was the prefecture - there were 300.
Prefectures were responsible for many functions of the central government
Each had a revenue quota which had to be submitted to the treasury.
During the Tang the prefecture enjoyed a high degree of autonomy
During the Song, this was reduced.
The prefecture had the power to make appointments in military matters.
A new administrative level was added - the circuit.
It supervised the operations of the group of prefectures.
This government structure was manned by a civil service.
It was during the Han that the examination system began to assume its importance.
Under the Song, recruiting the right type of personnel to the bureaucracy was important.
The examination system was expanded and improved.
Under Taizu, the Tang system of annual examinations was continued.
Under Taizong, the number of candidates were awarded the jinshi.
This increased from 10 to over 140 a year.
This led to reforms.
Prefecture exams were added into the examination system.
Quotas on determining how many candidates should pass the examinations were set for the prefecture and
Provisions for impartiality were also set by making candidates anonymous to those correcting the exams.
A second response was to improve educational facilities.
Under the Tang it was both in the capital and at the prefecture, but the provision was limited.
Under the Song, local officials began to establish new schools.
They were provided with a set of Confucian classics, available in print.
At Kaifeng, the Imperial University was opened to prefectural candidates.
a) they made the use of the yin privilege, a system of sponsorship.
b) this allowed certain senior officials to nominate members of their family.
c) this method of recruitment was justified by a saying of Confucius.
d) "raise to office those of virtue and talent whom you know."
e) the sponsor system emphasized character.
f) the candidate's suitability had to be guaranteed by the official making the nomination.
In the early Song period the bureaucracy was less than 10,000 officials.
By the end of the 12th century that figure had quadrupled to 40,000.
The system produced fr more qualified persons than there were positions for.
To deal with this problem there was a protracted delay between qualification and appointment.
Officials would take lengthy career breaks.
A "law of avoidance" debarred an official from serving in his own province.
A system of tenure regulated the amount of time an official might occupy a particular post.
In comparison with the Tang, the Song empire was much smaller.
It did not control large parts of Inner Asia.
the territory know as the Sixteen Prefectures was ruled by a Khitan Dynasty.
the Song had been forced to recognize it as its equal and it was within the Great Wall.
The desire to recover these territories was important.
It caused the Song to break with the practice of the early Tang period - recruiting militia.
Instead the dynasty depended on a professional army of over a million men
The military expenditure consumed 70% of government revenues.
They raised so much revenues was because the economy was expanding.
Between the 8th & 12th centuries China experienced a "medieval economic revolution."

Medieval Economic Revolution

a) The first revolution was in agriculture, which supplied the driving force for other changes - during this period the migration south, especially to the Yangzi valley and improvement to the techniques of wet rice cultivation led to large increases in food output and allowed the doubling of the population.
b) the second was a revolution in water transport with the completion of of an integrated system of internal waterways - there were technical improvements. to ships and the magnetic compass facilitated oceanic & coastal voyages.
c) a third was that changes occurred in the use of money and the availability of credit - under the Tang a shortage of copper had limited monetary transactions but under the Song, copper became readily available and the annual output of copper cash rose by 20 times. At the same time the use of credit instruments and promissory notes increased.
d) a fourth was the vast increase in commerce which was the result of the linking of the rural economy to the market mechanism. Trade was now carried out not just in luxuries but in necessities and a national market developed for some commodities. This led to an urban revolution which saw 10% of the population living in market towns and cities. Kaifeng, the capital carried out a trade which valued at nearly 50% more than that of London in the year 1711.
e) a fifth was that the period saw systematic experimentation, rapid technological advances and the appearance of large scale industry, for example, the production of iron.

Why Did It End?

In many respects 11th century China was at the level of economic development not yet achieved by any European state until the 18th century.
These developments have been interpreted as the beginning of capitalism.
Why did this process not continue?
Scholars argue that its development was inhibited by particular obstacles.
One answer is that key economic and social changes had occurred in the Tang-Song period.
This was when national sovereignty was divided and the power of the state and the scholar-official class was weak.
Once the Song had become established, limitations on individual freedom and the lack of laws protecting property prevented the emergence of a capitalist bourgeoisie.
A second answer might be that the complexity of of the economy outgrew China's managerial competence.
Others say that the problem that prevented the continuity into a full-fledged capitalist society or at least into an industrial revolution was
1) a shortage of capital, an over-abundance of cheap labour.
2) a failure to develop a scientific outlook.
3) the effects of the Mongolian invasion.
The economy was highly productive.
The state had developed sophisticated social, political and economic institutions.
The Chinese economy remained at the pre-modern economic growth stage.
The potential of the technology which had been developed by the Song period was not exhausted until modern times.

The Arrival of Wang Anshi

The song always tried to tackle perceived problems with immediate reforms.
In the reign of Renzong (1023-63) Fan Zhongyan put forth reforms.
This was the ten-point programme.
These included measures to
1) improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy.
2) raise the standard of the examination.
3) increase agricultural production.
4) reduce the demands on the people for labour service.
But only some educational reforms were implemented.
Fan Zhongyan also created a national school system.
He also introduced anonymity for the candidates.
Another proponent of reform was the famous writer Ouyang Xiu (1007-72)
He urged the renovation of Chinese society to bring it closer to the ideal of a Confucian society.
He wanted able men to form a "party" that was committed to this reform.
He was aware that organizing an opposition was unacceptable in Chinese politics.
His justification was that his supporters would be men of principles and not men of profit.
It is in the light of this background that Wang Abnshi (1021-86) took centre stage.

The Reforms of Wang Anshi

Wang Anshi had been a protege of Fan Zhongyan and was supported by the emperor.
He instituted a number of reforms measures.
He also held a number of official positions in the provinces.
In 1058 he gave the Emperor Renzong a document, the Ten Thousand Word Memorial.
In it he expressed nervousness about the current state of the empire.
He advocated a series of conventional Confucian measures to remedy the situation.
By increasing the number of capable officials available for the service of the state he made two novel suggestions.
a) that men should be placed in positions for which they were qualified or had special qualification
b) the emperor should do more than just oversee the government.

The New Laws

The Emperor Renzong ignored these suggestions.
The Shenzong emperor (r. 1068-85) made Wang Anshi his chief minister.
He occupied that position until 1076 and reoccupied it from 1078-1085)
Wang Anshi embarked on a reform programme to be known as the New Laws.
These reforms affected
a) the economy
b security and military affairs
c) the administration
Wang Anshi had identified a shortage of revenue as the main weakness of the state.
He proposed a number of ways in which revenue might be increased.
He suggested the purchase of surplus products in one area and selling them in another.,
In this way it would stabilize prices and realize a profit for the state.
In 1074 Wang Anshi created the Tea & Horse Agency.
It established a monopoly over the Sichuan tea industry.
It used tea to purchase war horses from Tibet.
For the administration he wanted to encourage the promotion of candidates of good character.
The exposition of the Confucian classics was now the main emphasis of the examinations.
It was not the expression of literary skills.
To encourage this Wang Anshi himself composed commentaries on the classics.
Much of this reform programme fell within the Song tradition.
But Wang Anshi was immediately criticized.
Lu Hui, a member of the Censorate, tried to get Wang Anshi impeached.
He made the allegation that Wang Anshi was overbearing in his relations.
He also said that Wang Anshi was scheming to get all military and financial authority into his own hands.
Other critics challenged the practicality of Wang 's reforms.
Su Dongpo, an official who was a well-known poet and calligrapher was a critic.
He said that the low interest loans to peasants might later be used to oppress poor households.
The outstanding scholar Sima Guang resigned as a protest against the reforms.
He later wrote that the New Laws ambitions would oppress the poor.
Sima Guang's criticisms and attacks ruined Wang's reputation.
Since then a more sympathetic assessment has been put forward.
Wang Anshi had tried to introduce state economic planning.
He developed economic resources.
He tried to curb administrative and fiscal abuses.
He was suspected of being a Legalist in disguise - in fact he was.
But he was a Confucianist - an unorthodox one.
his reforms and the conservative reaction to them divided the bureaucracy.
It would also weaken the dynasty.
In 1086, after the death of Shenzong, Sima Guang becamer chief minister.
He repealed several of the New Laws.
The Zhezong emperor appointed Cai Jing, Wang Anshi's son-in-law to office.
He revived the New Laws & stayed in power under Huizong emperor (r. 1101-26)
During his reign, court extravagance weakened the state's finances.
The bureaucracy continued to grow.
Corruption increased.
Other signs of dynastic decline began to show.
In 1120 the Fang La rebellion broke out in Fujian & Zhejiang
Fang La was angry about the amount of tax he was expected to pay.
The rebellion had links to the secret society.
It was also connected with Manichaeism.
This was a religion brought to China in the 8th century by the Uighur merchants.

Khitan & Jurchen during the Song

The most serious threat to the dynasty was the rise of the Jurchen in the north.
Until the start of the 12th century the Khitan Liao empire was more or less stable.
The dualistic system of government was problematic & poorly organized.
It had not solved the conflict between the traditional Khitan aristocracy & the sanicized Khitan officials.
When Tianzuo came to the throne in 1101 the succession was uncontested
But relations with China, with the Xi Xia empire and with the Kogyuro were on friendly terms.
In 1112 Tianzuo visited the eastern part of his empire near Harbin.
He entertained. the chiefs of the north-eastern tribes including the Jurchen.
They were a semi-nomadic Tungusic people subjugated by the Khitan in the 10th century.
At the feast, Aguda, the chief of the "wild" Jurchen, refused to perform the "dance."
It would have signified the submission of his tribe.
His refusal caused a breakdown in the relations between the Khitan and the Jurchen.
In 1114 Aguda proclaimed the establishment of the Jin Dynasty with himself as emperor.
Tianzuo underestimated the threat that this implied
Khitan forces were defeated in the field.
The Khitan Liao Dynasty was also shaken by an internal rebellion
The song had formed an alliance with the Jurchen hoping to break up the Liao empire
This would make them recover the Sixteen Prefectures.
In 1122 Song troops attacked but failed to capture the Khitan southern capital.
this allowed the Jurchen the opportunity to invade and occupy the entire Khitan territory.
In 1125 Tianzuo was captures and forced to to give up the title of emperor.
Khitan survivors moved west.
Between 1131 and 1213 they ruled the Western Liao empire in Central Asia.
Meanwhile the situation of the Song Dynasty had become critical
It had grown weak by internal rebellion
So it was in no condition to withstand the aggression of the Jurchen Jin empire.
In 1125Jurcghen forces invaded China and besieged Kaifeng.
Before retreating the Jurchen forced the Song to promise them a large indemnity.
In 1127 they returned and captures and pillaged Kaifeng
They carried the emperor away as a prisoner.
The next few years they would tighten their grip on north China
They would force the Song court to retreat south of the Yangzi.
The Jurchen did not have the capacity to conquer the south.
In 1141 a peace was agreed between the Jin and the Song controlling the south.
The Song also agreed to pay an annual tribute of 200,000 taels of silver (a tael is about 1.3 ounces of silver) and 200,000 bolts of silk.

The Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)

At its height it encompassed north China, Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.
Its history is divided in three stages.
a) a period of dualism which lasted until about 1150.
b) a period of increasing sanitization
c) from 1215, a period of decline.
Through conquest the Jin had come to rule about 40 million Chinese.
The dynasty chose to emulate the Khitan Liao and adopted a policy of dualism.
In Jurchen territory theatrical structure was retained, a separate system of taxation was applied.
In north China a system of regimes was headed by Chinese puppet rulers exercised control.
but that was not effective.
Groups of Jurchen "farmer-soldiers moved south.
They acted like an occupying power and subdued Chinese rebellions harshly.
They resettled many thousands of Chinese in Manchuria.
Their treatment of the Khitan was even more severe.

Emperor Hailing

In 1150 after a disputed succession, Hailing became the emperor
He pressed ahead with a policy of sinicization.
He established the capital at Yangjing, present day Beijing.
He curbed in ruthless fashion the power of the Jurchen aristocracy.
Hailing used the examination system to admit the Chinese and the Khitan into his service.
He himself studied Chinese and adopted Chinese customs such as drinking tea.

Reversing Sinicization

Shizong (r. 1161-89) attempted to reverse the process of sinicization.
He did this by promoting the study of the Jurchen language that had already fallen in disuse.
He also prohibited the Jurchen from adopting Chinese dress.
He pursued centralizing policies - the whole scaled adoption of a Chinese form of central government.
This required the employment f many thousands of Chinese officials.
It ran counter to the traditional tribal organization of the Jurchen people.
After his death these reforms were abandoned but sinicization continued.
The ban between Jurchen & Chinese was lifted in 1191.
By that time, Jin rulers regarded their dynasty as a legitimate Chinese dynasty.
It did preserve the tradition of the Tang and northern Song,
This view was acceptable to many of the Chinese subjects.
Within the Jin empire, Chinese intellectual activity continued.
It was a conservative intellectualism.
It rejected the reform ideas of Wang Anshi and his followers.

The Fall of the Jurchen Jin

The collapse of the Jin Dynasty was caused by a combination of internal and external events.
In 1194 the Yellow River shifted to its southern course.
It cause enormous damage and it seriously affected the economy
It encouraged the Southern Song minister Han Tuozhou to declare war on the Jin (1206)
The Southern Song attacked was repelled
It was a distraction at a time when a more serious danger had appeared.
This was the rise of Chinggis Khan and the threat of a Mongol invasion from the north-east.
The first wave of Mongol attacks occurred between 1211 and 1213.
This was a time when the Jin court was paralyzed by a coup.
The Mongols also attacked the Xi Xia state to th north-west.
In response the Xi Xia supported a rebellion against the Jin.
In 1215 the Jin abandoned Yangjing and transferred their capital to Kaifeng.
The next years the capital threat was a popular rebellion, that of the Red Coats In Shandong.
Chinggis Khan died in 1227 and there was a brief respite from Mongol raids.
In 1230 the new khan Ogodei renewed the attack.
In 1232 he besieged. Kaifeng.
The seige lasted for over a year.
It was notable for the endurance of the Jurchen and Chinese defenders.
Also because both sides used firearms.
The last Jin emperor fled the capital
He appealed to the Southern Song for assistance.
He warned them that if the Mongols were victorious they would be their next victims.
But the Southern Song allied themselves with the Mongols against their Jurchen enemies.
The emperor committed suicide and the dynasty came to an end.

The Southern Song (1127-1279)

In 1127 resistance to the Jurchen was led by Gaozong, the younger son of the Huizong emperor.
He established his capital at Hangzhou.
He slowly reasserted Song control over southern China.
He lacked a military power to suppress the separatist movements which had arisen.
He was force to adopt a policy in which outlaw bands were given the choice -
Either they surrendered and join the imperial army or be attacked & eliminated.
They acknowledged the deep shame they felt over the loss of northern China to the Jurchen.
There was also the potential strength of loyalist feelings.
Of those who responded to loyalist cause was a young man by the name of Yue Wei.
He played a key role in subduing rebel bands around the Dongting Lake in Hunan.
He campaigned against the Jurchen in 1140, raiding as far north as Kaifeng.
But the Southern Song chief minister Qin Sui negotiated a settlement.
The Jurchen accepted terms which acknowledged the Song to be vassals of the Jin.

This gave the Southern Song security.
It enabled the dynasty to free itself from an unacceptable dependence on its generals.
Many of the Southern Song found the terms a disgrace
To protect the emperor's reputation the negotiations were conducted by Qin Sui.
He was also to take the blame for the execution of Yue Wei.
Yue Fei's true fault was his determination to continue the war of resistance.
With his patriotism he became one of the great heroes of Chinese history.
The desire for revenge against the Jurchen Jin remained a key issue for the Southern song
In 1161 Hailing the Jurchen Jin emperor attacked the Song area south of the Huai river.
He was stopped at the Fei River.
After this defeat Hailing was assassinated.
In 1165 his successor Shizong concluded a treaty with the Southern Song.
This retracted the assertion of vassal status and the use of the term "tribute."
The Song's annual payments to the Jin continued.
for the next 40 years there was an uneasy peace.
Early in the 13th century Han Tuozhou was the Song emperor Ninzong's chief minister.
He used the issue of revenge to assert his authority.y the Yellow River
He heard of reports of the damage caused by the Yellow River floods.
He also believed that the Chinese under the Jin would rebel if encouraged.
In 1206 he invaded Jin territory.
His invasions was badly planned.
The Jin's Chinese population did not rebel.
The Jurchen replied with a raid deep into the Song territory.
The disaster led to the dismissal and murder of Han Tuozhou.
When peace was agreed in 1208 the annual payments were increased.
The Jin were given Han Tuozhou's head as they had demanded.
By now the mongol threat to the Jin was apparent.
But the Southern Song leaders continued to oppose the Jin.
They would oppose them until that dynasty was extinguished.
In 1162 Gaoziong abdicated in favour of his son.
But until his death in 1187 he remained in power behind the throne.
After his death, his son, the Xiaozong emperor fell into a deep depression
He too had to abdicate.
Recurrent illnesses were to affect to affect all subsequent Southern Siong emperors.
During the reign of Ningzong emperor , two ministers were in control.
These two were Han Tuozhou & Shi Miyuan.

Han Tuozhou the nephew of Gaozong's empress, gained office through intrigue.
He gained office through cultivating close ties with the eunuchs.
He conducted a vendetta against moralistic scholar-officials of the Neo-Confucian school.
The Neo-Confucian school was critical of his lack of formal education.
His decision for war (1206) was caused by domestic political struggles - he participated in these factional struggles.
His murder of 1207 was perhaps agreed by the emperor - he was bludgeoned to death by palace guardsmen.
His death was welcomed by the Neo-Confucianists.
Ningzong's second sole surrogate chief minister was Shi MIyuan.
He gained office after the death of Han Tuozhou.
Shi Miyuan reversed the policies of Han Tuozhou,
He made peace with the Jurchen Jin
He rescinded the ban on Neo-Confucian teachings, which were acceptable teachings.
When Ninzong died in 1224 he interfered with succession.
He set aside the heir to the throne in favour of his own nominee.
The controversy remained in effect until his death in 1233.

Jia Sidao

The most notorious of the Southern Song long-serving minister was Jia Sidao.
He became chief minister in 1259.
He remained in office until just before the dynasty collapsed.
His reputation was that of a dilettante who gained office by intrigues.
He already had 20 years of experience in official posts.
His notoriety resulted from two incidences:
In 1259 he made the claim of having defeated the Mongols & they agreed to leave.
For doing this theSong would define the Yangzi as the border or frontier.
The Mongols agreed to pay tribute.
The truth was that they had to go back to deal with a succession issue.
The khan Mongke had died and had to be replaced.
The next incident was Jia's pursuit of Wang Anshi's agrarian & economic policies.
This was to counter the increasing land-holding & evasion of taxes.
These measures alienated the land holders who might support the dynasty.
Then the Mongols crossed the Yangzi & Jia took command of the Song forces.
Jia's forces were defeated which ensured his fall & his laws were revoked.
Many Song gentry switched over to the Mongol side.

Intellectual and Cultural Trends during the Southern Song

Neo-Confucianism refers to the Confucian revival
It had begun during the Tang period
Under the Northern Song it was continued through the efforts of Ouyang Xiu
Then Neo-Confucianism acquired a political connotation.
Its exponents ranged in opposition to Wang Anshi & his reformers.
Neo-Confucianism borrowed from Daoism & Buddhism.
Zhou Tunyi made use of
a) the Book of Changes
b) the Five Agents
c) the concepts of Yin & Yang.
This was to identify the Great Ultimate, the principle from which all things derive their existence.
These ideas were. later developed by Cheng Han & Cheng Yi - brothers.
Chen emphasized the unity of the human mind with the one of the universe.
This created the Neo-Confucian School of the Mind.
Cheng Yi adopted Zhang Zai's ideas on the qi but added a second concept - li (principle)
This led to the School of Principle.
Later these were synthesized by Chu Xi into a single doctrine & added a revived emphasis on dao.

Zhu Xi's True Way School

The True Way school attracted many followers who adopted old fashion dress to emphasize their identity being separate from those of career minded Confucian bureaucrats.
In 1195. the True Way School was condemned as false learning
This was after Han Tuozhou became chief minister.
Zhu Xi, briefly in office, was dismissed.
The ban was lifted after Han Tuozhou died.
The True Way became the orthodox state doctrine.
The Mongols, now in north China began to adopt features of Confucianism.
But the Southern Song turned to the True Way (now known as the School of Principle)
This was seen as true Confucianism.

China Turning "Inwards"

Neo-Confucianism provided a sense of identity and integrative ideology.
This enable the Chinese intellectual to survive the Mongol occupation.
The effects have been described as China turning inwards.
a) as a defence mechanism it reinforced belief in Chinese cultural superiority.
b) as a state orthodoxy it deprived scholars of the right to criticize the growth of autocracy.
c) as a personal philosophy it elevated self-cultivation above political reform or practical improvement.

Song Landscape Painting

The Song paintings, particularly the "bird & flower" & bamboo painting reflects the profound and subtle examination the visible world which is characteristic of Neo-Confucianism.
Su Dongpu (su Shi -1036-1101) said that when a scholar paints a landscape, he seldom depicts a real place, instead he borrows the forms of the mountain and trees as a vehicle to express his feelings and ideas.
The value placed on the art of painting is indicated in the attention paid by Huizong, the last emperor of the Northern Song who was both a practitioner of the "bird & flower" style and the patron of an academy of painting.
Under the Southern Song the restrained style of the earlier period was replaced by the more expressive style of painters such as Xia Gui (1180-1224)
Chan Buddhist painting also flourished at this time.
It was characterized by a concentration on certain details of the subject, with all else left undefined.
The most famous exponent of this style was Mu Qi (c. 1200-70) whose painting the Six Persimmons is well known in the West.
The Tang made technical advances in the manufacture of ceramics.
Under the Song technical improvements continued with higher aesthetics.
It was accompanied by a very high aesthetic standard.

Economic & Social Changes

During the Southern song period economic growth continued apace.
Agricultural output was increased by the adoption of new seeds.
They introduced fast-ripening Champa rice from Vietnam.
Irrigation was extended & multiple crossings was used more widely.
In some areas, seasonal unemployment almost disappeared.
By the Song period, the Jungian or "equal field" system had been finally abandoned.
It had been replaced by a free market in land.
This produced a new pattern in land-holding.
But scholars tend to disagree as to what this entailed.

Elitism

Under the southern Song, a new. elite emerged.
It totally displaced the aristocratic clans of the Tang period.
A key element in the formation of this elite was the expansion of the examination system.
There was the spread of printing - it inspired intellectual activity.

Women, Fidelity, & Foot-binding

Under the Tang, women participated in society with considerable freedom.
But under the Song, women's situation took a turn for the worse.
This deterioration was exemplified by the spread of foot-binding.
Also, by the condemnation of the remarriage of widows.
Neo-Confucianism promoted the idea that women must value chastity
The spread of foot-binding took place.
It is wrong to assume that it implied the subjection of women.
Or, the evidence suggests that it was adopted by women to promote their attractiveness.

Books & Foot-binding

The Southern Song culture encouraged men to bookishness.
This was to reinforce the contrast with the martial virtues of the Jurchen & the Mongols.
This favoured a stereotype of women as beautiful & deferential.
Foot-binding was originally associated with dancers.
Later with courtesans and concubines.
It allowed other women to match their claim to beauty against others.
So, foot-binding came into general use.
For the remarriage of widows there was a strong popular prejudice against this.
The law allowed a woman to remarry.

The Yuan Dynasty

The Mongolian Conquest
The traditional view of Mongol rule over China was that it was an unmitigated disaster.
Three charges have been levelled against the Mongols:
a) that they discriminated against the Chinese both racially and economically.
b) that they failed to build on on the technological & economic achievements of the Song period.
c) that they instituted practices which contributed to the development of despotism.
The Mongolian invasion did cause extensive damage.

Positive Features of the Conquest

The period of Mongol rule had some positive features.
a) the Mongols reunified China - adopting the dynastic title "Yuan" entitled them to a place in the Chinese dynastic record.
They became the legitimate holders of the mandate from heaven.
b) Chinese civilization was not fundamentally altered by the episode of Mongol rule.
In several ways scholarship and the arts benefitted from it.
c) Mongol rule was more humane and less ideologically restrictive than that of the Song.olica"
The "pax mongolica" - the Mongol peace" which spread across Asia exposed China to a variety of external influences.
d) the hostility of the Chinese for the Mongols was not so intense.
It did not prevent many Mongols to remain in China after the flight of the Mongol court.

Mongolian Society

The Mongols were pastoral nomads.
By the 11th century they were living as a tribal society in present-day Mongolia.
They were in frequent conflict with the Tartars, their neighbours to the West
Soon the Mongols began to develop an ethnic consciousness.
This was a political situation that was exploited and taken advantage of by Temujin.
He was the son of a tribal leader who was born in about 1167.
His father had been poisoned by the Tartars.
His grievances motivated him to claim the leadership of the tribe.
He raised a disciplined army & divided it into groups of 1000 men.
He devised new military tactics and strategies.
This enabled him to unite the Mongol tribes.
In 1206 he was acclaimed Genghis Khan.
He was the universal sovereign of the steepest people.
He claimed to be heaven's chosen instrument
He declared that all those who stood in his way did so in defiance of heaven's will.
then he embarked on a remarkable series of conquests.

The conquests of Chinggis Khan

In 1210 he invaded the Xi Xia kingdom.
He forced them to pay tribute thereby cutting China's trade routes to the north -west.
In 1215 he ca-ptures te Jin capital at Yanjing.
He did not destroy the Jurchen Dynasty.
He turned west and seizedBokhara and Samarkand.
He began to recruit Chinese and Khitan officials.
He appointed Mukali , one his best generals to administer the Chinese territory.
In 1226 he turned to destroy the Xi Xia kingdom but died during the campaign.
He was succeeded as khan or the khan of khans by his third son Ogodei.
The Mongol empire was divided between his sons & grandsons.

Ogodei

Ogodei continued the conquests.
He invaded Korea and in 1234 completed the destruction of the Ji Dynasty.
In the West, the Mongol forces overcame Russia.
They inflicted devastating defeats on the states of Eastern Europe.
Only Ogodei's death in 1241 ended his extraordinary expansion.
Ogodei drank himself to death in 1241 and his widow became regent (female sovereign, ruler).

Mongke

In 1215 Mongke became the khagan
After that the Mongol expansion resumed
Not making a direct attack on the Southern Song he decided to outflank them.
In 1252 he ordered his brother Khibilai to attack the south-west.
He destroyed the south west kingdom of Nanzhao.
Mongke's next objective was the province of Sichuan but he died in 1259 on that campaign.
A succession dispute delayed a decisive Mongol attack on China.
Mongke had constructed the administration of north China to his younger bother Khubilai.

Khubilai Khan

Khubilai was willing to accept advice from Confucian advisors
He was also willing to promote the prosperity of the region.
In 1260 he ws elected Khagan and soon adopted a Chinese reign title.
His chief adviser was a former Buddhist monk named Liu Bingzhong.
His advice encouraged Khubilai to lay out a Chinese style capital at Kaiping
It was later renamed Shangdu or "upper capital" - it became known in the West as Xanadu.
In 1268 Khubilai was ready to attack the Southern Song.
But the Southern Song continued to assert their claim to the whole of the country.
Khubilai's chief objective was to attack the key city of Xiangyang on the Han River.

The End of the Southern Song

Using war ships and/or engineers, the Mongols battered down the walls.
The city surrendered.
This cleared the route to the Yangzi River valley.
In 1275 Bayan, the main Mongol general met and defeated a large army of Jia Sidao.
Jia was theist counsellor of the Southern Song.
his policies had already alienated wealthy land owners.
The defeat ensured his dismissal.
Southern Song resistance now collapsed and their court surrendered.
It was only in 1279 that the last Southern Song loyalists were defeated at sea.
The last emperor of the Southern Song finally drowned.

China Under Mongol Rule

Khubilai had been victorious in China but his other military ventures were less successful.
In 1274 & 1281 he tried to conquer Japan but both times he was driven back.
This was by strong & fierce Japanese resistance and bad weather.
Campaigns in Southeast Asia took them into terrain where he suffered reversals
This is where military skills were at a disadvantage.
his last years were negative fora number of reasons:
a) military failures.
b) ill-health
c) the death of his favourite wife
d) difficulties over the succession - a chronic problem formal of them.

Succession Issues of the Mongols

Mongol customs prescribed that the next in line to be the khagan should go to whichever of the khan's male relatives was acclaimed at the council of nobles.
Khubilai tried to follow Chinese customs and nominated Zhenjin.
He was th eldest son by his principal wife.
Zhenjin died in 1285.
Khubilai died in 1294
He bestowed the succession on his second son Temur, who reigned until 1307.
Temur continued many aspects of Khubilai's rule.

Succession Struggles

Temur's successor Khaishan was succeeded by his brother who ruled as Renzong (1311-1320).
Renzong was the most sanitized and cultured of the Mongol rulers.
After Renzong's death the court split into factions.
In 1323 Yesun Temur seized the throne and held it until his death five years later.
He was hostile to the influence of the Chinese scholar- officials.
After that there were some succession struggles.
Then the throne was held for another five years by Tugh Temur
He was more committed to to the Chinese than to the steppes.
The last Mongol ruler Toghon Temur came to the throne as a minor
He survived until the Mongol court fled from China in 1368.

The Rule of Khubilai

Khubilai established the pattern of Mongol rule over China.
In 1272, readopted Da Yuan, or "Great Origin" as the title of his dynasty.
He established the claim to be a universal empire.

His Accomplishments

a) he retained many superficial features of the Song government such as the secretariat and six and six ministers and the traditional division between the civil, military and censorial branches of government.
b) He adopted Chinese court ceremonial andConfucian rites.
c) He set up an office to collect materials for a history often preceding dynasties.
They could be used as models for future dynasties.
d) he declined to restore the examination system.
He thought it might restrict his choice to those who had knowledge of the Confucian classics.
The bureaucracy was very ethically mixed.
No metropolitan examinations were held for 40 years.
The opportunity existed for men to work their way up to a salaried office position.
e) officials were selected with reference to birth and yin privilege.
In 1315 the Renzong emperor permitted the reintroduction of examinations.
It was in a form for which it was heavily biased in favour of Mongol candidates.
The Yuan government did not run much beyond the metropolitan province.
This tendency towards regionalism became even more prominent under his successors.
The most upsetting actions was his division of the population into four groups:
1) the Mongols at the top of the pyramid.
2) the semi ren, the miscellaneous aliens - a reference to Western & Central Asians.
3 the Han ren, the inhabitants of north China.
4) the nan ren, the Chinese of the newly conquered south.
This was clearly a case of discrimination.
But the Chinese scholars were prepared to accept offers under those conditions.
Before the conquest of the south, Khubilai had employed a number of Chinese advisers - these included Xu Heng, a notable Neo-Confucian.
He held the view that the duty of a scholar was to civilize the Mongols.
Khubilai andlater Mongol emperors employed many foreigners in key positions.
The largest and most influential group were the Turks.
They included the Uighurs many of whom were employed top ranking officials.
They provided an infrastructure between the Mongols and their Chinese subjects.

Mongols & Buddhism

An important & religious role was performed by Tibetan Buddhists.
A Tibetan monk - Phans-pa was placed in charge of all Buddhist clergy.
He advised on relations with Tibet.He identified Khubilai as the universal emperor of the Buddhist tradition.
Throughout the Yuan period Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism was granted a privileged status.
This became a source of complaint by the Chinese, particularly in the south.

Mongols & Muslims

The early Mongol emperors employed a significant number of Muslims in key positions.
Many of whom came from Central Asia.
Islam was not new to China.
It had been introduced in theTang period.
At the timeMuslim tradershad settled in Guangzhou and other southern ports.
Muslimsalso made converts among the Chinese in Central Asia.
Using Muslims rather than sanitized Turks and Tibetans was a departure from the dual governments as practices by previous dynasties of conquest.
Muslims in Chia were classified as semi ren and were guaranteed special privileges.
They performed a variety of specialized tasks.
a) in finance
b) in medicine
c) in astronomy
d) in architecture.
They were excluded from the higher ranks in the army.
Muslims did not play major role in the administration of China.
But there was one notable exception, the case of Sayid Ajall, a Central Asian Muslim.
He was appointed governor of the newly conquered territory of Yunnan.
Khubilai was aware of Chinese hostility towards them.
He grew concerned about their increasing influence.
From 1279 Khubilai adopted a harsher policy toward Muslims.
The pax majolica and the increase in trade along the Silk Road had a good effect.
It enabled rate establishment of the first direct contacts between China & the West.
For the early travellers the most common motive was trade.
some had political objective, to seek allies.
This was when Islam was seen as a threat to both Mongols and Christians.
For others, proselytism (preaching the religion) was the primary purpose of the journey.

The Arrival of Europeans

The first European to place his journey on record.
He was a monk by the name of John of Plano Carpini.
He was a Franciscan monk.
He had been sent by Pope Innocent IV
He was sent to seek an agreement with the Mongols and to convert them to Christianity.
He failedBut he left a record (writings) ofhistravels.
This included a description of the enthronement Guyug Khan in 1246.

Marco Polo

In 1265, Khubilai received two merchants from Venice.
They were the brothers Maffeo and Marco Polo.
They returned to the West in 1269
Khubilai toldthem to ask the Pope to send 100 Christian scholars to China.
In 1271 they set out to China again, without the scholars but with Niccolo's son Marco.
Marco Polo's Travels contained a detailed description of Khubilai's court.
Also of the great city of Hangzhou, which he called Quinsai.

Demographic Changes

The period of Mongol rule was one of damage to the economy.
Also there was a decline in the living standards of the Chinese.
Evidence to support this view concerns the demographic record.
The combined population of Song & Jin China amounted to well over 100 million.
According to the census carried out in 1290, it was less than 60 million.
There was a reduction between 1200 & 1400, the most extreme in Chinese history.
This population declined had been attributed
a) to theMongol invasion of the north.
b) to the confiscation of land for distribution to the invaders.
c) the application of heavy taxations to those Chinese who retained their land.
This precipitated a wave of southern migration.

Mismanagement

The Yuan Dynasty also stands accused of its subsequent mis-management of the economy.
They failed to maintain river defences resulting in massive flooding of the Yellow River in 1344.
The Mongols were extravagant in their spending, such as the building of summer residences.
In 1266 Khubilai ordered the construction of a new capital at Dadu.
The cost of this project put a heavy burden on the treasury.
Financial problems were made worse by instances of official corruption.

Currency Issues

Paper money had been introduced under the Song & Khubilai used it to promote trade.
At first the currency , backed by silver reserve, proved a success.
In 1776 paper notes in circulation was greatly increased to finance the conquest of the south.
this was the beginning of a loss of confidence in paper money.
By the beginning of the Ming period it had become entirely discredited.

The Economy

To restore the economy of the north Khubilai granted impoverished areas tax concessions.
Villages affected by natural disasters were given assistance.
In 1261 Khubilai established an "Office for the Stimulation of Agriculture."
This helped peasants make the best use of their land
He endorsed the existence of peasant self-help organizations.
This promoted irrigation & land reclamation.
He encouraged internal trade and greatly improved the postal relay system.
Measures were introduced to relieve areas that had affected by the war.
Landowners were allowed to retain their land & tax burdens were light.
The encouragement of maritime commerce was also of benefit to the region.
Khubilai left his successors a stable and prosperous state.
Later Yuan emperors were less proactive in economic matters.

Laws & Legal Issues

Another aspect of Mongol rule was related to legal matters.
They had brought with them the jasagh, the collection of rules promoted by Chinggis Khan.
This was for the regulation of nomadic society.
The Chinese were accustomed to statutory law as codified under the Tang.
Under the Yuan Mongols and semi ren were tried according to Mongol law.
The Chinese were tried according to Chinese law.
for the same crimes these two laws involved different punishments.
In legal cases involving both Mongol & Chinese, they were dealt with a special court.
In this case the Mongols had the advantage.
In disputes involving a mixed marriage, they were tried according to the law of the husband.
If the wife's a Mongol the Mongolian law applied.
The Mongol emperors, beginning with Khubilai, sought to preserve the Mongol tradition.

Mongolian Religion

Mongol religion, a form of shamanism, was preserved.
Khubilai performed its traditional rituals.
There was no attempt to impose Mongol religious beliefs on the Chinese.
The Yuan period was notable for its religious freedom.
Mongke & later Khubilai encouraged open debates between Buddhists and Daoists.
In 1281 after a famous debate Khubilai decided that theBuddhists had won the contest.
He argued that Daoists excesses should be curbed.

Sinicization

The Mongol attitude towards Confucianism was more prudent or cautious
His (Khubilai) ignorance of the language stopped him from understanding the Confucian texts.
It was not until Ayurbarwada that a Mongol emperor had a working knowledge of it.
Khubilai recognized the importance of Confucianism.
He employed Confucian officials.
He promoted the translation of the Confucian classics into the Mongol language.
Ayurbarwada went further in modifying the Mongolian character of the state.
Confucian elements were now incorporated but remained superficial features.
In Toghon Temur's reign his chancellor Bayan attempted to turn the tide of sinicization.
He did this by abolishing the examination as a route into the civil service.
Bayan was overthrown in 1340.
confucianism recovered some of its ideological preeminence.
The restoration of the examination system was offered to the Mongols and the semu.
It was also offered to th Chinese.
This should a commitment to a unified state.

Confucian Hermeticism

In the Yuan period confucian scholars were placed in a dilemma.
some reasoned that their Confucian duty required them to serve the Mongols.
The was in the hope of civilizing them.
Other scholars refuse to condone the Mongol presence
They would not compromise and accept office.
An example is Liu Yin (1249-93) who refused an invitation to become an academician
He refused to commit himself to public service at the Imperial College.
This has been seen as an example of Confucian hermeticism.
This withdrawal of Confucian scholarship from worldly affairs was a protest against Mongolian rule.

Drama as Protest

Another form of protest has been identified in drama.
Drama as a form of popular entertainment had emerged in the Tang period.
Plays and sketches were commonly performed under the Song.
It was not until the Yuan period that plays as distinct literary form appeared.
These plays were collectively known as "Yuan northern drama."
They were mainly written for performances in Dadu.
But the theatre became popular in the south.
These plays were written by displaced Confucian scholars
They contained protests against the Mongol presence.
Their popularity owe much to the Mongol patronage.
These plays were written in the language of the Mongols.

The Fall of the Yuan

The traditional Chinese explain the fall of the Yuan was due to their hatred of their invaders.
Also it was the Mongol's failure to modify their rule to meet Chinese expectations.
In recent years a different interpretation has been proposed.
It suggests that the Mongol rule was undermined by a crisis in the 1350s & 1360s.

Crises

It began in the 1340s with
a) the outbreak of local rebellions
b) Therese of piracy. which threatened the shipment of grain to the capital by sea.
c) the flooding of the Yellow River.
In 1351 hteemperor called upon Toghto to deal with the situation
He returned to office and took steps to
a) increase revenue
b) control the flooding
c) suppress the rebels
He began an ambitious plan to reopen the Grande Canal.
To do this he drafted thousands of peasant labourers
This aroused a new and greater rebellion.

The Flight of the Mongol Court

In 1355 Toghto's opponents persuaded the emperor to dismiss him.
This is seen as marking the end of the Yuan government as an integrated political system.
The dynasty not only controlled the capital and the surrounding regions
Other parts of the country was held by independent commanders.
The rebellions grew and acquired a moral dimension.
A civil war broke out among the Yuan supporters
In 1368 the court fled to Manchuria and the Yuan dynasty came to an end.

Ancient China

Saturday, November 20, 2021

The Song Dynasty

No comments:

Post a Comment