1、the Song Dynasty.Foollwing the Tang collapse warlords ruled China until he Song Dynasty reimposed centralized imperial rule in the ate tenth century.Though survived for more than three centuries, the Song dynasty(960-1279C.E.)never built a very powerful state.Song rulers mistrusted military leaders,
2、and they placed much more emphasis on civil administration,industry ,education,and the arts than on military affairs. The first Song emperor,Song Taizu(reigned 960-1279C.E.),himself inaugurated this policy. Song Taizu began his career a a junior military officer serving one of the most powerful warl
3、ords in northern China.He had a reputation for honesty and effectiveness,and in 960 his troops proclaimed him emperor.During the next several years,he and his army subjected the warlords to their authority and consolidated Song control throughout China.He then persuaded his generals to retire honora
4、bly to a life of leisure so that they would not seek to displace him,and he set about organizing a centralized administration that placed military forces under tight supervision. Song Taizu regarded all state officials,even minor functionaries in distant provinces,as servants of the imperial governm
5、ent.In exchange for their loyalty,Song rulers rewarded these officials handsomely.They vastly expanded the bureaucracy based on merit by creating more opportunities for individuals to seek a Confucian education and take civil service examinations.They accepted many more candidates into the bureaucra
6、cy than their Sui and Tang predecessors,and they provided generous salaries for thos who qualified for government appointments.They even placed civil bureaucrats in charge of military forces. The song approach to administration resulted in a more centralized imperial government than earlier Chinese
7、dynasties had enjoyed.But it caused two mig problems that weakened the dynasty and eventually brought about its fall.The first prolem was financial:the enormous Song bureaucracy devoured Chinas surplus production.As the number of bureaucrats and the size of their rewards grew,the imperial treasury c
8、ame under tremendous pressure.Efforts to raise taxes aggravated the peasants,who mounted two major rebellions in the early twelfth century.By that time,however, bureaucrats dominated the Song administration to the point that it was impossible to reform the system. The second problem was military.Sch
9、olar bureaucrats generally had little military education and little talent for military affairs,yet they led Song armies in the field and made military and make military decisions.It was no coincidence that nomadic people flourished along Chinas northern border throughout the Song dynasty.From the e
10、arly tenth through the early twelfth century,the Khitan,a seminomadic people from Manchuria,ruled a vast empire stretching from northern Korea to Mongolia.During the first half of a the Song dynasty,the Khitan demanded and received large tribute payments of silk and silver from the Song state to the
11、 south.In the early twelfly century,the nomadic Jurchen conquered the Khitan,overran northern China,and captured the Song capital.Thereafter the Song dynasty survived only in southern China,sharing a border with the Jurchen state about midway between the Yellow River and the Yangzi River until 1279,
12、when Mongol forces incorporated all of China in their empire and ended the dynasty. Neo-confucianismThe Song emperors did not persecute Buddhists,but they actively supported native Chinese cultural tradition in hopes of limiting the influence of foreign religions.They contributed particularly to the
13、 Confucian.They sponsored the studies of Confucian scholars,for example,and subsidized the printing ang dissemination of Confucian writings. Yet the Confucian tradition of the Song dynasty differed from that of earlier times.The earliest Confucians had concentrated resolutely on practical issuses of
14、 politics and morality,since they took the organization of a stable order as their principal concern . Confucians of the Song dynasty studied the classic works of their tradition,but they also became familiar with the writings of Buddhists.They found much to admire in Buddhist thought.Buddhism not o
15、nly offered a tradition of logical thought and argumentation but also dealt with issues,such as the nature of the soul and the individuals relationship with the cosmos,not systematically explored by Confucian thinkers.Thus Confucians of the Song dynasty drew a deal of inspiration from Buddhism.Becau
16、se their thought reflected the influence of Buddhism as well as original Confucian values,it has come to known as neo-Confucianism. The most important representative of Song neo-Confucianism was the philosopher Zhu xi (1130-1200C.E.).A prolific writer,Zhu Xi maintained a depp commitment to Confucian
17、 values emphasizing proper personal behavior and social harmony.Among.his writings was an influential treatise entitled Family Rituals that provided detailed instructions for weddings,funerals,v eneration of ancestors,and otheir family ceremonies.As a good Confucian.Zhu Xi considered it a matter of
18、the highest importance that individuals play their proper roles both in their family and in the larger society. Yet Zhu Xi became fascinated with the philosophical and speculative features of Buuddhist thought.He argued in good Confucian fashion for the observance of high moral standards,and he beli
19、eved that academic and philosophical investigations were important for practical affairs.But he concentrated his own efforts on abstract and abstruse issues of more theoretical than practical significance.He wrote extensively on metaphysical themes such as the nature of reality.He argued in a manner
20、 reminiscent of Plato that two elements accounted for all physical being:li,a principle somewhat similar to Platos Forms or Ideas that defines the essence of the being,and qi, its material form. Neo-Confucianism ranks as important cultural development for two reasons.First,it illustrates the deep in
21、fluence of Buddhism in Chinese society.Even though the neo-Confucians rejected Buddhism as a faith,their writings adapted Buddhist themes and reasoning to Confucian interests and values.Second,neo-Confucianism influenced east Asian thought over a very long term.InChina,neo-Confucianism enjoyed the s
22、tatus of an officially recognized creed from the Song dynasty until the early twentieth century,and in lands that fell within Chinas cultural orbit-particularly Korea,Vietnam,and Japan-neo-Confucianism shaped philosophical,political,and moral thought for half a millennium and more. ( Jerry H.Bentley
23、,Herbert F.Ziegler.Traditions & encounters:a global perspective on the pastM.New York,McGraw-Hill Higher Education,2003.) Sung golden age The Sung emperors wete markedly passive in their external relations compared to their Han and Tang predecessors They did not begin with great campaigns reestablis
24、hing imperial frontiers in the heart of Eurasia.Instead the second Sung emperor modestly attempted to regain from nomad control merely the territoty between Peking and the Great Wall.But he was disastrously defeated,and his successor gave up claim to this region,and even paid the nomads an annual “g
25、ift”,which in fact was thinly veiled tribute.Thus the Sung never recovered the northeast territories in Manchuria,nor the northwest territoties that provided access to the overland routes to the west. This was a grave weakness for the Sung dynasty,leaving it vulnerable to nomadic incursions.The poli
26、cy of paying“gift”proved viable foe a century and a half,but disaster came when a Sung emperor made a rash attempt to recover the northeastern lands.He was encouraged to do so when the ruling nomads in that region were defeated by newcomers from North Manchuria.Taking advantage of what appeared to b
27、e an opportunity,the emperor sent his armies into Manchuria.Instead of easy victory they sustained a crushing defeat that was followed by massive invasion of North China.The Sung defenses crumpled and the dynasty was left only with the Yangtze Valley in central China,and the lands to the south.Conse
28、quently the second half of the dynasty,from 1127 to 1279,is known as the Southern Sung；the first lhalf,between 960 and 1127,is called the Northern Sung. This dynasty was much berated by later Chinese historians for failing initially to regain the outlying provinces,and then suffering the loss of the
29、 entire northern half of country.This criticism cannot be denied, yet it is also true that in many respects Chinese civilization reached its apogee during the centuries of the Tang and the Sung.This was particularly so in the field of culture.During these centuries appeared the vast encyclopedias of
30、 Buddhist texts and Confucian classics；the comprehensive dynastic histories written by teams of scholars；the masterpieces of scores of great poets and artists；the art of calligraphy,depicted on scrolls prized as highly as paintings；the beautiful porcelain as thin as glass and almost as transparent；t
31、he priceless invention of printing that was utilized for the mass duplication and distribution of Buddhist scriptures；and the extraordinary advances in science and technology which re only now being adequately comprehended.(See Chapter 12,section .) In addition to its cultural attainments,the Sung p
32、eriod is noteworthy for a veritable commercial revolution that was quite significant for all Eurasia.The roots are to be found in a marked increase in the productivity of chinas economy Steady technological improvement raised the output of the traditional industries agriculture likewise was stimulat
33、ed by the introduction of a quickly maturing strain of rice that allowed two crops to be grown each season where only one had been possible before.Also new water control projects undertaken by the Sung greatly expanded the acreage of irrigated paddy fields.Thus it estimated that rhe rice crop double
34、d between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This increasing productivity made possible a corresponding increase in population,which in turn further stimulated production in interacting fashion.The volume of trade also rose with the quickening tempo of economic activity.For the first time large cit
35、ies appeared in China that were primarily commercial rather than administrative centers. Even more marked than this spurt in domestic trade was that in foreign trade.Considerable overseas commerce had been carried on since Han times,but during the TAng ,and more especially during the Sung,the volume
36、 of foreign trade far surpassed all previous records.The basis for this burgeoning trade was,of course,the unprecedented productivity of Chinas economy.Important also were the improvements in maritime technology,including the use of compass,of an adjustable centerboard keel,and of cotton sails in pl
37、ace of bamboo slats.Finally overseas was quickened also by the initiative of Moslem merchants and mariners who were the great entrepreneurs in Asian seas at this period. The end result was that for the first time the seaports rather than the old overland routes become Chinas principal contact with t
38、he outside world.Indicative of Chinas economic leadership at this time is the fact that her exports were mostly manufactured goods such as silk,porcelains,books and paintings,while the imports were mostly raw materials such as spices,minerals,and horses.Finally it should be noted that during the Sung the Chinese
