A brief introduction to the history of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was the dynasty in Chinese history that succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. It is divided into the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127, capital Kaifeng) and the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279, capital Hangzhou), collectively known as the Two Song Dynasties.
Northern Song Dynasty
In the first month of the seventh year of Zhou Xiande (960) after the Five Dynasties, Zhao Kuangyin launched the Chenqiao mutiny and established the Song Dynasty, with its capital in Tokyo (now Kaifeng, Henan). He was the Taizu of the Song Dynasty and was known as the Northern Song Dynasty in history. In view of the fact that some generals and Jiedu envoys may support their own troops and affect the imperial power, Song Taizu followed Zhao Pu's suggestion and drank wine to release military power and separate soldiers and generals, which ensured the concentration of ruling power, but at the same time weakened the combat effectiveness of the army. In October 976, Zhao Kuangyin's younger brother Zhao Guangyi ascended to the throne amidst the sound of axes and the shadow of candles, and became Taizong of the Song Dynasty. By 979, the Northern Han Dynasty was eliminated and most of China was unified.
After the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, centralized rule was further strengthened through measures such as withdrawing military power, reducing the power of the prime minister, and controlling money valleys. At the same time, the imperial examination system achieved great development. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the government became increasingly depressed, resulting in a situation of poverty and weakness. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, the short-lived "Qingli New Deal" appeared. During the Xining period, Song Shenzong appointed Wang Anshi to carry out the Wang Anshi Reform, which had great influence. However, it was later abandoned by conservatives who opposed it. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the rule was extremely corrupt. In 1127, the Jin army invaded Kaifeng, and Song Huizong and Song Qinzong were captured. This was known as the Jingkang Incident in history, and the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed.
Southern Song Dynasty
The ninth son of Huizong, Zhao Gou, ascended the throne in Yingtian Mansion (today's Shangqiu, Henan Province) and became Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty was established. In 1138, Lin'an (today's Hangzhou, Zhejiang) was officially established as the capital.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, those in power implemented a policy of suing for peace for a long time and paid tribute to the Jin Dynasty. They suppressed the resistance of the army and the people against the Jin Dynasty, and even killed patriotic generals. In 1142, he conspired with Qin Hui to kill Yue Fei, who advocated resistance to the Jin Dynasty, on trumped-up charges. In the late Southern Song Dynasty, the Anti-Mongolian War continued for several years. By 1276, the Yuan Dynasty army occupied Lin'an. The remaining forces such as Yi Wang Zhao Shi and Guang Wang Zhao Bing continued to resist the Yuan Dynasty. It was not until 1279 that the 8-year-old young emperor Zhao Bing of the Song Dynasty was forced by the Yuan Dynasty. Desperate, he was carried by minister Lu Xiufu and jumped into the sea to his death. The remaining forces of the Southern Song Dynasty were eliminated by the Yuan Dynasty. Although the Pian'an Dynasty eventually fell, it produced national heroes such as Wen Tianxiang.
Song Dynasty Economy and Culture
During the Song Dynasty, driven by technological improvements and the tenancy system, agricultural production achieved significant development; the handicraft industry had a detailed division of labor, advanced technology, and its products were famous throughout history. ; The level of the commodity economy surpassed that of the past, cities and towns prospered, currency circulation expanded, and the earliest paper money was born.
The culture of the Song Dynasty made unprecedented progress, with fruitful achievements in the fields of Neo-Confucianism, literature, history, art and science and technology. Outstanding figures such as Er Cheng, Zhu Xi, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Sima Guang and Shen Kuo have enjoyed eternal reputations; while movable type printing, The invention and application of the compass and gunpowder have made outstanding contributions to mankind.
The Song Dynasty had the most developed economy among all Chinese dynasties, the most prosperous national culture, the most scientific and technological innovations, the largest population base growth, the healthiest crop yield per unit area, and the highest living standards of the people. The prosperous and prosperous dynasty. If you don’t believe it, I will introduce to you a dreamlike Song Dynasty. Let’s dream back to the Song Dynasty together:
1 The economically developed Song Dynasty
This has already happened The final conclusion of history is that other dynasties "suppressed Shang", but the Song Dynasty was the only exception. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Taizu Zhao Jianyin said, "accumulate a lot of money. Market fields and houses to leave descendants,
Singers and dancers to enjoy their lives" to enrich the people. Later, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty also praised it as "making the two systems deliberation rich in the art of government". When Shenzong was in power, he "put financial management first" and asked people to "manage financial affairs first
Putting financial management first". This idea of ??emphasizing economics has been throughout the Song Dynasty. This is a very important prerequisite for ensuring economic development. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, officials studied how to manage money and seek wealth. The Song Dynasty adjusted the traditional practice of placing emphasis on criminal law and underestimating civil law in the legislation of previous dynasties, and specially studied and implemented monopoly laws, such as the Salt Law, the Liquor Law, the Tea Law and other laws. The Song Dynasty became one of the most active periods of economic legislation in ancient China. Moreover, the economic laws and regulations of the Song Dynasty unified the distribution of interests between the state and economic actors and complied with the laws of the commodity economy. They were very scientific laws and regulations.
These correct policy orientations led to a prosperous commerce, rapid development of commerce, and rapid development of handicraft industry. The Song Dynasty established the world's earliest banknote (Jiaozi) bank, which is unique! Even banks can lend money and make payments in other places, even from modern times. It seems that they are all very advanced economic management systems. In terms of geography, the development in the Song Dynasty was not limited to the old areas such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Sichuan. Even the social economy and culture in mountainous areas and minority areas had greater development than in the Tang Dynasty. This is also surprising. From the perspective of handicraft industry, mines, tea and salt, shipbuilding, papermaking, sugar making, textiles, porcelain making, etc. were much more advanced than those in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to the expansion of production areas and increase in output, Song's handicraft industry also improved significantly in technology. For example, the production technology of "Tangbing" (rock sugar), the digging of "single wells", the sophistication of Song porcelain, etc. all reflect the maturity and innovation of technology. The rise of commerce and handicrafts has liberated a large number of farmers who were captives of the land. , allowing them to invest in commerce and handicrafts
During the Northern Song Dynasty, gold, silver, copper, iron, coal and other mineral deposits had begun to be mined in large quantities, and the earliest manufacturing and processing plants in the world's history also appeared across the country. . Such as: shipyards, paper mills, printing factories, weaving factories, firearms factories, and official kilns in various places, etc. It can be seen that the prosperity of the handicraft industry at that time was unprecedented!
As early as the Northern Song Dynasty, China had learned to employ hundreds of full-time industrial workers through coal-burning, steel-making, and large-scale handicraft industries. The government's two military industries employ 8,000 workers - this is already a heavy industry scale! Taking 1078 as an example, the steel industry in North China had an annual output of 1.25 million tons, while the United Kingdom's annual output in 1788, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, was only 76,000 tons. In addition, mining and metallurgy, papermaking, porcelain making, silk weaving, and navigation are also highly developed. The Song Dynasty was worthy of being the home of "high technology" before modern times in the world. It was the overlord of the world's handicraft industry at that time!
From a commercial perspective, cities in the Tang Dynasty tended to be administrative centers, while towns in the Song Dynasty tended to be industrial and commercial. The trading areas in the cities of the Tang Dynasty were organized by officials. Strict control, the Song Dynasty was more liberal. Due to the further development of the commodity economy
The development of cities, the breakthrough of the "fang system", and the rise of market towns, the boundaries between residential areas and commercial areas gradually disappeared. Some of these "new" cities in the Song Dynasty developed to a very large scale. For example, Kaifeng and Hangzhou both reached a population of one million, and the latter was the "unprecedented" city that "Marco Polo" saw in the early Yuan Dynasty. Even though By the late Yuan Dynasty, the largest city outside China was "Baghdad"
Its population was only between 300 and 500,000. Hundreds of years later, the Arab traveler Ibn. Beituta also called Hangzhou "the largest city in the world"! The number of people engaged in industry and commerce has gradually increased, output has increased, and investment capital has expanded significantly. Therefore, it is not just agriculture that constitutes the main body of national fiscal revenue. Industry and commerce account for a large proportion. It has surpassed agriculture, and copperplate advertising has appeared in its commercial operations, which is more than three hundred years earlier than Western capitalist advertising. As for the scholar Su Dongpo, he once wrote an advertising poem for an old woman who made oil and vegetables to make her prosperous. What’s more interesting is that the Song Dynasty also saw the emergence of “tabloids” that were similar to modern newspapers and the earliest trademark in history. The trademark was Xiaoke, which was of great significance, marking the gradual improvement of the commercialization system of the Song Dynasty. In addition, the famous scholar Shen Kuo's "Theory of Money Circulation Velocity" also reached the level of modern monetary theory. The powerful commercial wave of the Song Dynasty was also the mother body of the earliest capitalism in the world. The rapid economic development of the Song Dynasty created unprecedented wealth and Prosperity.
2 Cultural Glory
With the abundance of material life, spiritual pursuits became more and more urgent. Therefore, while the economy developed in the Song Dynasty, there was a strong cultural need, and the people's leisure life and aesthetic taste , life interest, all contributed to the high cultural prosperity of the Song Dynasty. Poetry, songs, acrobatics, opera, folk music, novels, calligraphy, architecture and other arts all developed rapidly in the Song Dynasty.
At the same time, a large number of famous literati and poets appeared in the Song Dynasty. The well-known ones include Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, Kou Zhun, Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang, Shen Kuo, Xin Qiji, Zhu Xi, Li Qingzhao, etc. Even now it seems that these scholars are The elegance remains the same, and its luster is not diminished. Among the eight most famous Tang and Song dynasties in ancient and modern times, the Song Dynasty accounts for six, which shows how dazzling the brilliance of its culture is!
The calligraphers are even more famous. There are too many to mention. The four most famous calligraphers are: Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang. Their works are enough to amaze calligraphers. Even the "great traitor" Qin Hui can learn a wonderful pen and dance well. If he is a decent person, he must also be a calligrapher and writer. Not to mention Yue Fei and other literary and military heroes!
Due to the flourishing of culture, the masters of the Song Dynasty were divided into north and south:
There were four masters of the Southern Song Dynasty: Lu You, Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda, especially vast. There were two Chengs in the Northern Song Dynasty: Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao (Confucianists). There were three sages in the southeast of the Southern Song Dynasty: Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi, and Lu Zuqian. It was precisely because of the vigorous development of Song culture that the Song Dynasty completed the "Renaissance of Confucianism" and gave birth to New Confucianism (i.e. Neo-Confucianism), which made the traditional "Confucian classics" enter the "Song Dynasty" ” new stage. It also promoted the in-depth development of the intersection of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
"Ci" emerged from the late Tang Dynasty and reached its peak through the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty. Therefore, there are Tang poetry, Song poetry, Yuan music, etc. collectively called. It can be seen that Ci is one of the representatives of Song Dynasty culture and one of the pioneers. To study the culture of the Song Dynasty, one must first understand its lyrics, and the most representative one is "When Will the Bright Moon Come" by Su Shi. Almost everyone knows this poem, and everyone knows it. Even ordinary children can sing a few lines. The whole poem is elegant and ethereal, making people feel like they are in a fairyland, yet alone in the world, lonely, full of eyes, and sad. It can be said to be the pinnacle of work, taking the advantage of the form of the title of the water tune song to the extreme! "Jiangchengzi? Hunting in Mizhou" was also written by him, and other poets have also achieved great results. Even female poets such as Li Qingzhao are not uncommon. However, the Song Dynasty is the only one in history where women are good at writing and have reached such a level. A Li Qingzhao. Also, if I were to list the poets of the Song Dynasty one by one, I might not be able to describe them all in one day. If I continue to list them, I would only be counting a drop in the bucket of the "ci" culture of the Song Dynasty. Take the "Complete Song Ci" as an example. The book contains more than 1,300 poets and nearly 20,000 poems. Kong Fanli's "Supplement to the Complete Song Ci" adds hundreds of poets to the original list. As many as
He wrote more than 400 poems. This is enough to reflect the status of Ci culture in the Song Dynasty, enough to reflect that Ci is worthy of being the representative of Song culture, and enough to reflect the joyful vitality of Song culture!
"Poetry" is the essence of ancient Chinese literature. In the Song Dynasty, the interpretation of "poetry" was elevated to a new level, a more popular level, and a freer metrical level. Although the Song Dynasty was the heyday of "ci", it was also a country of "poetry". No matter whether we are in primary school, middle school, university or even graduate school, the poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties is the poetry of the Song Dynasty that we have encountered the most, and it is the continuation and further development of the poetry of the Tang Dynasty. With breakthroughs, the Song Dynasty had a wider range of poets and richer poems. The types and forms of poetry reached a richness in the Song Dynasty. The number of Song poems created was unprecedented. As far as I know, Peking University is compiling the "Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty". According to Preliminary statistics indicate that there are no less than 9,000 authors, four times the number of "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty"! In terms of the number of individual poems, the individual with the most poems was born in the Song Dynasty. Let us always remember the name of this man who cared about the country and the people. He is Lu You. Do you remember the great poet's death wish for national rejuvenation?
Do you remember his last words?
If you forget, then listen! "Master Wang set the day of the Central Plains in the north, and he never forgot to tell Nai Weng about family sacrifices." What a simple language! The last words of a patriotic man were: I did not see the restoration of the country during my lifetime, but I will hear the news after my death...
My children, you must not forget the restoration of the Song Dynasty. During the memorial ceremony, tell your father this news... so that I can rest in peace despite being overwhelmed...
Writing this, I closed my eyes, and for some reason I couldn't stop crying.
Yes, yes I did cry! And she was crying heartily! I shed tears not only for the sorrow hidden in the "poetry", but also for the millions of patriots like Lu You, and especially for the final fate of the Song Dynasty! (Haha
A large area is wet on the keyboard. After a break, cheer up and continue writing)
The poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties is a huge treasure house, inexhaustible and inexhaustible. Absolutely, poetry contains countless wealth of knowledge, but we know and develop very little of this treasure house. Can we not regret it? There are so many potential resources waiting for us to develop, so why should we not be tempted?
I have talked about the four major calligraphers before. I won’t say much about calligraphy. The achievements of calligraphy in the Song Dynasty are well known to the world, but who are the painters who emerged in the Song Dynasty?
The most famous painters include: Zhao Ji, Fan Kuan, Ma Yuan, Xia Gui, Guo Xi, Li Tang, Zhang Zeduan, etc. In the art world, the famous "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was created by Zhang Zeduan. Throughout the history of China, the landscape paintings of the Song Dynasty that best represent the highest artistic achievements of Chinese painting are the landscape paintings of the Song Dynasty. Sometimes they are as broad as a giant, sometimes as ethereal as a fairy, their artistic conception is as flowing as flowing clouds, and their ideas are as bold as flowing water. During the Song Dynasty, there were many talented landscape painters, each with their own strengths. For example, the Northern Song painters include Fan Kuan (famous for mountains and snowy scenes), Xu Daoning (famous for woods, wild waters), and Guo Xi (famous for depicting the Four Seasons). They are good at the subtle changes in wind, rain, light and darkness at dawn and dusk), Li Cheng (famous for Serin Pingyuan
), Hui Chong, Zhao Lingrang (famous for lyrical small scenes), Mi Fu, Mi Youren and his son (also known for their Yunshan is famous for ink opera) The rich content in the painting cannot be exhausted in words. The poetic landscapes of Xia Gui, Ma Yuan and Li Tang of the Southern Song Dynasty reflected the continuous changes and development of landscape painting art. Together with Liu Songnian, they are called the Four Southern Song Dynasty families. There are also countless unknown or reclusive folk painters, which shows that calligraphy and painting in the Song Dynasty have also reached the pinnacle of artistic creation. In addition, the rise of vernacular scripts in the Song Dynasty also opened up a new era in the history of Chinese literature. It can be said that it pioneered the vernacular novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and civilian culture also developed vigorously, such as theater arts: shadow puppetry, Comedy, acrobatics, puppet show, drama, talking, etc. With the rapid development of the economy and the increasingly superior material life, the prostitution industry flourished. In the Song Dynasty, prostitutes were clearly divided into four categories: "business prostitutes", "geishas", "vocal prostitutes" and "official prostitutes". Of course, this prostitute is not that prostitute. Most of them do not sell their bodies, only their skills. And quite a number of them are proficient in everything from piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing and poetry. Some prostitutes can even form their own family, which is now a category of folk artists. Among these four types of geisha, the most talented and beautiful ones are the "official prostitutes". Naturally, the status of official prostitutes is also very high. During the Song Dynasty, all tea culture was also very tasteful. It was prepared according to personal preferences. It was not so much a tea tasting as a bad drink. Even the tea cups were divided into four types: black glaze, sauce glaze, green glaze, and green and white glaze. It can be seen that people in the Song Dynasty are also superior in superiority and enjoy enjoyment. In the Song Dynasty, tea fighting was still popular, and various petal teas were popular among the people. Emperor Huizong also introduced tea culture in twenty articles in "Daguan Tea Theory". It can be said that the tea culture of the Song Dynasty is a synthesis of ancient Chinese elite culture and popular culture. Reflection is a culture that is unique to both elegance and vulgarity. Because Huizong was very fond of it and followed the example, the art of jade carving has made great progress. At the same time, wood carving, bamboo carving, lacquer ware, inscriptions, seals, bronze ware, gold and silver ware, tooth horn ware, as well as pens, ink, paper, inkstones, etc. All have extremely high attainments. All these show the superb and profound culture and art of Song Dynasty!
During the Song Dynasty, the "Song style characters" used today were also created.
It can be seen that its influence on writing was also quite profound. The world of history has also undergone earth-shaking changes. The genres of history in the Song Dynasty were diverse, and local chronicles and epigraphy (similar to archeology) emerged.
Historical works are also extremely rich, and famous historians have emerged in large numbers, reaching the peak of the development of ancient Chinese historiography. peak. China's earliest dictionary, "Shuowen Jiezi", has long been lost after the Eastern Han Dynasty and was re-edited by the Xu Xuan brothers of the Song Dynasty.
Scholars believe that before the founding of New China, Chinese culture had experienced three major upsurges: 1
The Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period 2 The Cultural Revival in the Second Song Dynasty
3"Four" Movement "New Culture Movement
Chen Yinke once said that "the culture of the Chinese nation has evolved over thousands of years and reached its peak in the Zhao and Song Dynasties." These comments are worthy of attention. The historian Toynbee ( Britain) once said, "If I were given a choice, I would live in the Song Dynasty of China." Mr. Yu Qiuyu once said, "The dynasty I most yearn for is the Song Dynasty!" Deng Guangming also said, "The height of material civilization and spiritual civilization reached during the two Song Dynasties can be said to be unprecedented in the entire historical period of feudal society. of!". Yes, the culture of the Song Dynasty attracted countless scholars. It was indeed unprecedented in the entire historical period of feudal society!