Song Dynasty in China: history, culture

The medieval Chinese Song dynasty dates back to 960, when the commander of the Guard, Zhao Kuangin, seized the throne in the kingdom of the Later Zhou. It was a small state that arose and existed in conditions of endless wars and chaos. Gradually, it united around itself all of China.

End of political fragmentation

The period of 907-960, which ended with the beginning of the Song era, is considered in the history of China the era of five dynasties and ten kingdoms. The political fragmentation of that time arose as a result of the disintegration and weakening of the former centralized power (the Tang dynasty), and also as a result of the prolonged peasant war. The main force in this period was the army. It displaced and changed the government, because of which for several decades the country could not return to a peaceful life. The independent armed detachments were from provincial officials, monasteries and villages. Full powers in the provinces became tsedushi (military governors).

In the 10th century, China had to face a new external threat - the tribal alliance of the Khitan who invaded the northeastern regions of the country. These Mongolian tribes survived the disintegration of tribal orders and were on the step of the emergence of the state. The leader of the Khitan Abaozi in 916 announced the creation of his own empire, which was named Liao. A new formidable neighbor began to interfere regularly in the Chinese internecine war. In the middle of the 10th century, the hostile Khitan controlled 16 northern districts of the Celestial Empire in present-day areas of Shanxi and Hebei and often troubled the southern provinces.

It was with these internal and external threats that the young dynasty of Song began to struggle. Zhao Kuangin, who founded her, received the throne name of Tai-tsu. He made his capital city of Kaifeng and started to create a single China. Although his dynasty in historiography is most often called Song, Sun's term also refers to the whole era and empire that existed in 960-1279, and the dynasty (family) of Quan Yin is also known by his 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 Kuangin liquidated the military districts, thus depriving the military governors of the tszedushi of influence on the ground. The reforms did not end there.

In 963 the imperial court reassigned all military units in the country. The Palace Guard, which before that often organized coups d'etat, lost much of its independence, and its functions were reduced. The Chinese dynasty of Sun was oriented toward civil administration, seeing in it the support of the stability of the authorities. True metropolitan officials at first were sent even to the most remote provinces and cities. But potentially dangerous military officials lost their rights to population management.

The Song Dynasty in China conducted an unprecedented administrative reform. The country was divided into new provinces, consisting of districts, military administrations, major 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 grain storage and irrigation, the third for taxes, the fourth for military affairs.

The rule of the Song Dynasty was characterized by the fact that the authorities 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.

Wars with neighbors

Although inside the country the Song dynasty achieved stabilization, its foreign policy situation left much to be desired. The Khitan continued to pose a serious threat to the whole of China. The wars with the nomads did not help to restore the northern provinces lost during the fragmentation period. In 1004, the Song Dynasty concluded a treaty with the Liao Empire, according to which the borders of the two states were confirmed. Countries were recognized as "brotherly". At the same time, China pledged to pay an annual tribute of 100,000 silver lanas and 200,000 silk cuts. In 1042 a new contract was concluded. The amount of tribute increased almost twofold.

In the middle of the XI century, the Song dynasty in China collided with a new enemy. On its southwestern borders, the state of Western Xia emerged. This monarchy was created by the Tibetan people of Tangut. In 1040-1044 years. Between West Xia and the Song Empire was a war. It ended with the fact that the Tanguts for some time recognized their vassal position in relation to China.

The invasion of the Jurchen and the plundering of Kaifeng

The created international balance was broken in the beginning of the XII century. Then the state of the Tungus tribe of the Jurchen appeared in Manchuria. In 1115, it was declared the Jin Empire. The Chinese, hoping to return the northern provinces, concluded an alliance with the new neighbors against Liao. The Khitan were 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 Jurchens.

The new ferocious northern tribes did not stop at Liao. In 1127, they captured the capital of Song Kaifeng. The Chinese emperor Qin-tsung together with most of his family was taken prisoner. The interventionists took him north to his native Manchuria. Historians consider the fall of Kaifeng a catastrophe, comparable in scale to the plunder of Rome by the Vandals in the fifth century. The capital was devoted to the fire and in the future it could not regain the former greatness of one of the largest cities not only of China, but of the whole world.

From the ruling family of anger, strangers managed to escape only the brother of the deposed Emperor Zhao Gou. He was not in the capital in the fatal days for the city. Zhao Gou moved to the southern provinces. There he was declared the new emperor. The capital was the city of Lin'an (modern Hangzhou). As a result of the invasion of the aliens, the Southern Song dynasty lost control of half of China (all its northern provinces), which is why it received the "South" prefix. Thus, 1127 was a turning point for the entire history of the Celestial Empire.

South Song Period

When the Northern Song dynasty remained in the past (960-1127), the imperial authorities had to mobilize all available forces in order to maintain control over the south of the country. China's war with the Jin Empire lasted 15 years. In 1134, the talented military commander Yue Fei stood at the head of the loyal Song dynasty. In modern China, he is considered one of the main medieval national heroes.

The troops of Yue Fei managed to stop the triumphant advance of the enemy. However, by the time of the imperial court, an influential group of nobles had formed, striving to conclude a peace treaty as soon as possible. The troops were withdrawn, and Yue Fei was executed. In 1141, Song and Jin concluded an agreement that had become almost the most shameful in the whole of Chinese history. The Jurchens went all the lands to the north of the Huai Shui River. The Sun emperor recognized himself as a vassal to the Jin ruler. The Chinese began to pay an annual tribute of 250 thousand lans.

Jin, Western Hsia and Liao were created by nomads. Nevertheless, states that owned a large 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 dynasty of Song, whose years of government fell in 1127-1269, lost a significant part of its possessions, it managed to remain the center of the great Eastern civilization, preserved after many invasions of non-Russians.

Agriculture

Numerous wars ravaged China. The northern and central provinces were particularly affected. The southern regions, left under the control of the Song dynasty, remained on the periphery of conflicts and therefore survived. Trying to restore the country's economy, the Chinese government spent a significant part of its resources on the maintenance and development of agriculture.

The emperors used the traditional tools of that time: irrigation was maintained, peasants were made tax breaks, and abandoned lands were given up for use. Methods of cultivation were improved, and acreage was expanded. As early as the end of the 10th century, the disintegration of the former land tenure system in China was based on allotments. The number of small private yards increased.

Life of cities

For the economy of China in the X-XIII centuries. Was characterized by ubiquitous urban growth. They played an increasingly important role in public life. These were city-fortresses, administrative centers, ports, harbors, centers of trade and handicraft. At the beginning of the Song epoch, not only the capital Kaifeng, but also Changsha was large. Faster than all, cities grew in the southeast of the country: Fuzhou, Yangzhou, Suzhou, Jianglin. One of these fortresses (Hangzhou) became the capital of the Southern Song. Even then, in the largest Chinese cities, there were more than 1 million people - an unprecedented figure for medieval Europe.

Urbanization was not only quantitative, but also qualitative in nature. The cities acquired large estates outside the fortress walls. Traders and artisans lived in these areas. The importance of agriculture for the everyday life of Chinese citizens gradually came to naught. The former closed quarters were a thing of the past. Instead, they built large areas (they were called "Xiang"), connected with each other by a common network of streets and lanes.

Crafts and Trade

Together with the evolution of the art of artisans, there was an increase in the volume of general Chinese production. The Tang Dynasty, Song and other states of their era paid considerable attention to the development of metallurgy. In the first half of the XI century, more than 70 new mines appeared in the Celestial Empire. Half of them belonged to the treasury, half to private owners.

Coke, coal and even chemicals were used in metallurgy. Its innovation (iron boilers) has appeared in another important industry - salt preparation. Weavers, working with silk, began to produce unique types of fabrics. There were big workshops. They employed wage labor, although the relationship between the employee and the employer remained bondage and patriarchal.

Shifts in production led to the emergence of urban trade from the previous close framework. Before that, it served the interests of only the state and a narrow stratum of the elite. Now the city traders began to sell their goods to ordinary citizens. There is a consumer economy. There were streets and markets, specializing in the sale of certain things. Any trade was taxed, which gave a significant profit to the state treasury.

The coins of the Song dynasty were discovered by archaeologists in various countries of the East. Such findings indicate that in the X-XIII centuries. Was developed and external inter-regional trade. Chinese goods were sold in Liao, Western Xia, Japan and some areas of India. Caravan routes often became objects of diplomatic agreements between the powers. In the five largest ports of the Middle Kingdom, there were special Maritime Trade Offices (they regulated external maritime trade contacts).

Although in the medieval China was established a wide issue of coins, nationwide, they still did not have enough. Therefore, at the beginning of the XI century, the government introduced banknotes. Paper checks became common even in neighboring Jin. By the end of the XI century, the authorities of South China began to overuse this tool. The process of depreciation of bank notes followed.

Aristocrats and officials

What changes in the structure of society brought with it the dynasty of Song? Photographically, these chronicles are illustrated by chronicles and chronicles of that time. They fix the fact that in the X-XIII centuries. In China there was a process of falling of influence of aristocracy. Defining the composition of his entourage and high officialdom, the emperors began to replace representatives of noble families with less known civil servants. But although the aristocratic positions weakened, they did not disappear. In addition, the influence was preserved by numerous relatives of the ruling dynasty.

It was during the time of Song that China entered the "golden age" of officialdom. Power systematically expanded and strengthened its privileges. A social elevator, through which the unimportant Chinese fell into the ranks of bureaucracy, became the system of examinations. There was one more layer, complementing the bureaucracy. They were people who received degrees (shenshi). In this environment came the natives of the entrepreneurial and trade elite, as well as small and medium-sized landowners. Examinations 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 inside state of the Song dynasty was destroyed by external enemies, not by its own internal strife and social conflicts.

Culture

Medieval China during the Song Dynasty was distinguished by its rich cultural life. In the 10th century, poetry in the genre became popular in the Middle Kingdom. Such authors as Su Shi and Xin Qi Ji left behind many song poems. In the next century, a genre of short stories arose. He became popular among city dwellers, who recorded works in a retelling of street tellers. Then there was a separation of spoken language from written. The oral speech became similar to the modern one. Already in the reign of the Song Dynasty in China, the theater was distributed. In the south it was called yuanben, and in the north it was called wenyan.

Privileged and enlightened citizens of the country were fond of calligraphy and painting. This interest stimulated the opening of educational institutions. At the end of the 10th century, the Academy of Painting appeared in Nanjing. Then it was moved to Kaifeng, and after its destruction - in 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 invasion of the Jurchen. In painting, the most popular motif was birds, flowers and lyrical landscapes. The development of book engraving, which contributed to the improvement of book engravings, was developing.

Numerous wars and hostile neighbors noticeably influenced what artistic heritage the Song dynasty left behind. The culture and mood of the population have changed markedly in comparison with previous eras. If during the Tang Dynasty the basis of any art work from painting to literature was openness and cheerfulness, then during the dynasty these characteristics were replaced by nostalgia for a calm past. The cultural figures began to concentrate more and more on the natural phenomena and inner world of man. Art tended towards intimacy and intimacy. There was a refusal of excessive color and decorativeness. There was an ideal of brevity and simplicity. At the same time, due to the appearance of printing, the process of democratization of creativity accelerated even more.

The appearance of the Mongols

No matter how dangerous the former opponents were, the Song dynasty ended not through the fault of the Jurchens or Tanguts, but because of the Mongols. The invasion of new aliens to China began in 1209. On the eve of Genghis Khan united the hordes of his fellow tribesmen and gave them a new ambitious goal - to conquer the world. Their Mongolian triumphal march began precisely with campaigns to China.

In 1215, the steppe people captured Beijing, inflicting 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 in the circumstances? A brief acquaintance with the successes of the Mongols was enough to understand that this enemy is much more terrible than all the former. Nevertheless, the Chinese hoped to get allies in the face of the nomads in the struggle against their neighbors. This policy of short-term rapprochement yielded results in the second stage of the invasion of the Mongols.

In 1227, the hordes finally captured Western Xia. In 1233, they crossed the great river Yellow River and besieged Kaifeng. The Jin government managed to evacuate in Tsaizhou. However, this city fell after Kaifeng. Chinese troops helped the Mongols capture Caizhou. The Song Dynasty hoped to establish friendly relations with the Mongols, having proved to them its allied loyalty on the battlefield, but the gestures of the empire did not make any impression on the foreigners. In 1235 regular invasions of strangers began on the lands of the southern kingdom.

The fall of the dynasty

In the 1240s, the head of the hordes weakened somewhat. This was due to the fact that at that time the Mongols went to the Great Western Campaign, during which the Golden Horde was created and encircled by tribute to Rus. When the European campaign was over, the steppe people again increased pressure on their eastern borders. In 1257, the invasion of Vietnam began, and in the following year 1258 - in the possession 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 suppressed. The emperor was then the seven-year-old boy Zhao Bin. Saved by his advisors, he drowned in the Sijiang River after the final defeat of the Chinese fleet. In the Middle Kingdom began a period of Mongol domination. It continued until 1368, and in the historiography I remembered as the Yuan era.