The years between 960 and 1279 were a chaotic period of Chinese history, with many short-lived and overlapping dynasties. As the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Era wound down, most of China was unified by Zhao Kuangyin, a general of the Later Zhou Dynasty (last of the Five) who took power in a coup in 960 and declared himself the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty. However, Song's unification was never quite complete, as it never managed to resolve the territorial disputes of the previous dynasties, specifically the Tang, which was a multi-national/ethnic empire, and the latter's downfall led to numerous problems. With non-Han peoples on the borderlands of China also established their own empires that extended into historical Chinese territories. Song had to share Chinese history with these non-Han, but nonetheless highly Sinicized Dynasties until the Mongols conquered the remnant of the Song Dynasty in 1279.
Following the fall of Tang, the Song Dynasty made certain departures from accepted norms, believing they would prevent the Song from making the same mistakes as the Tang that eventually led to the latter's demise. In an effort to reduce military uprisings that plagued and decimated prior dynasties, the Song made an effort to curtail the military and severely limited the martial aspect of Chinese culture. Prior to the Song, the military was seen as one of the quickest and surest methods of social promotion. Moreover, Chinese gentry and academics wore swords (since the days of Confucius) to signify their class (a practice that was later adopted by Japan), and also because they knew full well how to use them. For example, the renowned Tang poet Li Bai was not just a great poet; he was also a great swordsman. Culturally, the practice of wearing swords gradually waned under the Song. The military, on the other hand, focused on recruiting from the poor, uneducated and other lower elements of society, partly because the Song discouraged educated men from joining the military, and partly because it provided certain measures of welfare to the lower-class. As a result, most educated men pursued bureaucratic careers, and China shifted from its traditional military-aristocratic elite to a scholar-bureaucratic elite.
It should be noted that Song armies were very well-funded and well-equipped. During this period, the Song imperial army was equipped with incendiary weapons, multiple-rocket-launcher-systems, gun-artillery, and explosive grenades, which gave their armed forces the most complicated (and expensive) weaponry of their time. The Song armies were renowned for their heavy infantry and for fighting in the defensive. Song armies held their own against relentless cavalries fielded by their foes. Yet, the lack of suitable cavalry was the Song's Achilles' heel. Thus, while Song armies were capable of holding against an attack, they could not effectively pursue & destroy their enemies (a weakness pointed out by Southern-Song general & patriot Yue Fei). In midst of this disadvantage, the Song armies were hard-pressed to keep up with the numerous, fast-moving cavalries of the Liao, the Western Xia, Jurchen Jin, and eventually, the Mongols. Moreover, meddling from the Imperial court tend to interfere with military leadership, sometimes leading to disastrous ends.
Overall, the Song tend to favor resolving international disputes with diplomacy, but waged frequent wars of aggression against its northern neighbors with mixed success note . The Song also suffered from a political Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, where erstwhile allies were betrayed one after another to advance the Song's political interests, that is, until they attempted the same against the Mongols. This, in conjunction with the Song's inability to maintain a successful foreign policy through the use of arms or diplomacy would eventually diminish its influence in China's traditional vassal states, such as Korea and Vietnam. Nonetheless, upon facing the Mongols, the Song Dynasty did outlast all of its former foes, and out of all successful Mongol conquests, the Song Dynasty held out the longest, for a half-century against Mongol aggression.
Economically, this was a time when China had reached such a level of economic development that led to possibly the emergence of the world's first middle-class. Furthermore, the Song had its own 'industrious' revolution (a flourishing of consumer-culture and economic specialization without steam-engines being invented, which has happened quite a few times in human history); yearly steel output in Song China would not be equaled anywhere in the world until the mid-19th century. The forges of the Song Empire (population c. 100 million) produced more steel than Great Britain in the entire 19th century (population 10 million or less), and Song engineers and artisans mastered the construction and efficient use of charcoal-forges and water-powered looms, producing metalwork and textiles in massive quantities—making them available for massive exports and affordable to even the poorest commoner. The first real over-production crisis of humanity may have occurred during this time, or at least that's how the imperial bureaucracy chose to see the issue—the Song court actually issued ordinances (which were mostly ignored, of course) to stop tinkering with some of these experimental production-methods. The Song Dynasty also marked the first time when maritime trade exceeded overland trade. The Song Dynasty deployed the world's largest trading fleets at the time, with trading routes reaching as far as East Africa. The Song also issued the first true circulating paper money. It did not work out as well as they hoped; again, contending dynasties, war, and then conquest by the Mongols. Nonetheless, prior to becoming subjugated by the Mongols, the Song Dynasty accounted for a majority of the world's GDP from anywhere between 40% to 60%.
The period was also a cultural powerhouse, taking the cues established by the Tang to new heights. Poetry, painting and pottery flourished. The famed Chinese bureaucracy and its exams were codified. Mechanical printing was invented.
While China prospered economically and culturally, it was also weak and divided politically and militarily. From the beginning, Song faced two rival empires founded by non-Han peoples on the borderlands of China that extended into historical Chinese territory. In the north, straddling Eastern Mongolia, Western Manchuria, and Northern China was the empire of Liao (遼/辽)note , established by the nomadic Khitan people from Eastern Mongolia (from whose name the word "Cathay", one of several names for China in English, as well as "Khitay", the Russian word for China, are derived), whose main capital was at modern-day Inner Mongolia.note In the west, there was the empire of Western Xia (西夏), established by the Tangut people, who may have been related to Tibetans, which extended into the Gansu region of Western China. Rulers of these states declared themselves emperors, equal to the Song Emperor, and engaged in constant warfare against both each other as well as against the Song. To add to the military weakness, the Song empire adopted a policy of civilian officials being superior to military officers, and having said civilian officials control military deployments. As a reason, the quality of Song generals and other military officers declined rapidly as the years went by.
In 1115, a fourth empire arose in the form of the Jīn (金)note , founded by the Jurchen people in Central Manchuria.note To avoid confusion with the Jìn Dynasty (晉朝/晋朝) founded by the Sima family at the end of the Three Kingdoms period, the chronologically more recent Jīn (金) will henceforth be referred to as the "Jurchen Jin" or the "Nǚzhēn" (女真, the Chinese name for the Jurchen people) in this article.
The complicated foreign relations of the Chinese empires extended to other states that did not contest their claims as the ruler of China. In the south, the kingdom of Dai Viet, having consolidated its independence after the Tang dynasty fell, proved to be a nasty "tributary" which managed to win both wars against the Song. In the east, the kingdom of Goryeo consolidated its rule over Korea and became a dangerous foe to both Liao and Jin. Rulers of both these states systematically claimed the title "emperor" from this period on (there were Korean and Vietnamese rulers prior to this period who claimed an imperial title, but they did not create a system of government that reflected the imperial status) although they continued to accept nominal suzerainty of the Song (and also Liao and Jin, in case of Korea) emperor(s) by accepting lesser titles (a system known as "emperor at home, king abroad.")
In spite of an existing peace treaty with the Liao, the Song would break said treaty and ally with the Jurchen Jin against the Liao in 1120 that would lead to the destruction of the latter. The surviving Khitan nobility fled westward and established another kingdom known as either Western Liao or Kara Khitay in modern Xinjiang. However, the Song and the Jurchen Jin never quite trusted each other and their relations broke down altogether when a Nǚzhēn governor defected to Song after the war and Song seized the border territory under his control. Jurchen Jin decided to solve the Song problem once and for all by launching a full scale invasion in 1125. Its forces captured the Song capital Kaifeng in 1127 and took the Song Emperor Qinzong prisoner (as well as the former Emperor Huizong, who had abdicated in favour of his eldest son, when the Jurchens began their invasion). The former Emperors of Song would live out their days in the Jurchen heartland of Manchuria, with humiliating titles of "Marquess of Muddled Virtue" and "Marquess Twice Muddled". Jurchen Jin also conquered the Song territory north of the Huai River, forcing its remnants, now under the leadership of Gaozong, a younger half-brother of Qinzong, to move their capital from Kaifeng to Hangzhou. (The Song Dynasty based in Kaifeng is called the Northern Song, while the one with Hangzhou as the capital is called the Southern Song.)
In the 1200s, the Song Dynasty found itself in a familiar situation with the Mongols rising in the North. Facing a common foe, this time the Jurchen Jin, the Song Dynasty would conclude an alliance with the Mongols in 1233, which led to the destruction of the Jurchen Jin one year later. Again, this was accomplished despite an existing peace treaty between the Song and the Jurchen Jin. The last Jin emperor, Aizong, committed suicide upon learning the Mongols were nearing the capital. His remains were then divided between Mongol & Song forces, with the Mongols receiving his severed hands and the rest being buried in a prison vault by the Song. A year after the demise of Jin, the Song launched an invasion to capture the old capital of Kaifeng, now held by Mongol forces. The invasion was repelled, but also sparked the Mongol-Song war that lasted for almost half-century. The Song Dynasty would outlast multiple Mongol Khans and killed one in the process, Mongke Khan, who was either killed by a shot from crossbow or smashed by catapult fire.
Then, in 1271, after decades of bloody wars against the Southern Song, Kublai Khan declared the new Yuan Dynasty, but it would not be until 1279 when the Song Dynasty was finally defeated at the Battle of Yamen
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Out of the "24 Histories", three were dedicated to the three most important dynasties:
- "History of Song" (宋史, Sòngshǐ), covering the history of the Zhao-Song dynasty.
- "History of Liao" (遼史/辽史, Liáoshǐ), covering the history of the Liao dynasty.
- "History of Jin" (金史, Jīnshǐ), covering the history of the Jurchen Jin dynasty.
Notable empresses
- Shulü Ping (述律平; 879–953): Empress of Liao Taizu, and regent to her son Liao Taizong. After Emperor Taizu's death in 926, she served as empress dowager to her own death in 953. She was directly involved in two imperial successions and is credited with changing expectations of widows in Khitan society. She famously chopped off her right hand to be buried together with her husband during his funeral.
- Xiao Yanyan (蕭燕燕; 953–1009): Empress of Liao Jingzong, and regent to her son Liao Shengzong. She's portrayed as an antagonist in many Generals of the Yang Family adaptations. Historically, Song troops attacked Liao in 986, but they were pushed back and later defeated in 989. She was known for her great skills in civil administration and retained great influence until her death.
Notable monarch
- Emperor Huizong of Song (1082 - 1131): Great poet, talented musician, renowned painter, innovative calligrapher, had Emperor Huizong been born in another age or to another family, he would have likely been remembered as a Gentleman and a Scholar or The Philosopher King, but he was an Emperor with Horrible Judge of Character, no military skill and terrible foreign strategy. He would orchestrate the downfall of the Liao by allying with the newly formed Jin and betraying an existing peace treaty with the former. Unfortunately, his efforts in attacking the Liao also exposed the incompetence of his military leadership to the Jin. In 1125, the Jin took advantage of Song's apparent military weakness and launched an invasion against the latter. During the invasion, Huizong and most of the Imperial court were captured as hostages, and the Emperor himself would eventually die in captivity in 1135.
Depictions in fiction
- China in various works depicting the life of Genghis Khan is of this period, mostly of Western Xia and Jīn empires.
- Liao and Western Xia rulers are playable in Crusader Kings II. Artisic License was applied to have the Wanyan clan appear as vassals of the Liao.
- Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom merges Song and Jurchen Jin dynasties into a single campaign. It also ends with the Jurchen Jin winning against Mongol invasion at Zhongdu and China being divided between them and Southern Song.
- The Four and all the other adaptations of The Four Great Constables
- The Great Wall
- Several of Jin Yong's novels were set during this period. In chronological order of when the books take place:
- Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (Northern Song)
- The Legend of the Condor Heroes (Southern Song)
- The Return of the Condor Heroes (Southern Song)
- Justice Bao
- The Legend of Xiao Chuo is about the aforementioned Xiao Yan Yan ("Chuo" is her given name, or míng, while Yanyan is her courtesy name, or zì).
- Guy Gavriel Kay's River of Stars is set in a fictionalized Song China during the reign of Emperor Huizong.
- The Story of Minglan is set in Northern Song.
- A Thing of Vikings: The Pecheneg Khaganate, led by Khitan exile Drago Bludvist, attacks the Song during the reign of Emperor Renzong, leading to Fa Mulan heading west to ask for Berk's help.
- The Three Heroes and Five Gallants
- Water Margin, which took place during Emperor Huizong's reign.
- Goryeo–Khitan War is, obviously, about the war between Korea (Goryeo) and Liao (Khitan). Emperor Shengzong of Liao is one of the supporting characters.
