From Chaos to Prosperity---Song Dynasty (960-1279)

The cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty finally fell apart in 907. Northern China was controlled by five successive short-lived dynasties, while at the same time, the South was held by ten independent kingdoms. During this period, warfare and official corruption were endemic. This period is called " Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960)". Chaos ruled the land.    

But there is an old Chinese saying, "chaotic times make heroes". Zhao Kuang-yin was just one of these chaos-made heroes. Zhao was a young general for the last of the Five Dynasties. In 960, the Emperor sent him to attack the enemies. But on the way something unexpected happened. On a chilly morning, in his military camp, Zhao woke up and was startled to find himself in a shining yellow robe. He was immediately aware of its enormous significance: Yellow was the imperial color and only the emperor could wear a yellow robe. People in his army insisted that it was only he who could bring them peace. He quickly turned his army back to attack the incapable Emperor. In the same year, Zhao successfully took the throne and established a new dynasty---Song Dynasty. After many hard campaigns in 964, 965 and 970, Song united China.

The Song Dynasty made great contributions to the world. The world's first Printing with movable type, magnetic compass and calculator (the abacus) were invented. Elegant porcelain was exported to the west. The secret of making "Chinaware" remained in China until eighteenth century, when German potters finally figured it out. The well-known painting called ' Life along the River on the Qing Ming Festival' (Qing Ming Shang He Tu), by Song painter Zhang Zeduan vividly presented the profound ease of Chinese city life during Song Dynasty.

                                       A small section of "Qing Ming Shang He Tu"

In Song Dynasty, however, women were treated as little more than playthings. This was reflected in the painful practice of foot binding. Peace and prosperity was back to China. Eleventh-century Song China became the wealthiest, most populous and prosperous nation on earth.

But the peace didn't last forever. In China's north frontier, a barbarian power, Jurchens and its Jin Dynasty had been crouching for a long time. In 1127, they invaded China and took the capital city, Bian Liang (present Kaifei) of Song Dynasty. The Song royal family fled to the southern China, where the family and its followers set up a new capital city in Lin'an (present Hangzhou). Historians usually divide Song Dynasty as Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279).

Being far in the south, the Southern Song opened its trade along China' coastline. The merchant ships from Southeast Asian and the Indian Ocean filled the coastal harbors. The Southern Song capital city Hangzhou emerged as a thriving metropolis not matched in the western world until the nineteenth century.

Government officials disagreed on the best approach to handle the Jin's invasion. General Yue Fei insisted that the Song defeat the Jin militarily. He and his supporters suppressed the Jin along the Yellow river valley. The emperor's chief councilor, Qin Hui, was a peace advocate. He manipulated the weak emperor to kill General Yue Fei and made a short-lived peace by humiliatingly accepting "vassal" status to the Jin. Even today, Yue Fei and Qin Hui are well known as the most beloved patriot and vilified traitor, respectively.

Around this time, North of China the Mongols dramatically arose under a 52 year old man, Genghis Khan. They swept the northern frontier of the Jin. The Southern Song immediately took this chance and allied itself with the Mongols to conquer Jin. Jin was finally crushed in 1234. However, instead of recovering the lost land as the Song had dreamed for a long time, they found themselves desperately threaten by the Mongols from 1235 on. The Southern Song' nightmare unfortunately came into a dreadful reality in the 1250s when the Mongols, under Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, started attacking Southern Song China.

What does China's future hold? Can the Song withstand the attack by the Mongols? We keep our fingers crossed for the Song.