Southern Song Dynasty 1127-1279 CE
The Southern Song Dynasty 1127-1279 CE was established in 1127 after the conquest of the Northern Song by the Jurchen (Jin Dynasty). The distinction between Northern and Southern Song dynasties is where the capital is located. The Southern Song capital was established at Hangzhou. The Song allied with the Jin to defeat the Liao Dynasty, after the defeat an alliance formed between the Jin and the Song. The alliance soon fell apart and the Jin turned on the Song. The Jin pushed the Song south past the Huai River where they held their ground and established the Northern border between the Jin and the Southern Song.
Beginnings
After the defeat of the Khitan, the Song thought they had found a new ally in the Jurchen. After all they had just fought in battle together and defeated the powerful Khitan. They came up with a formal treaty of alliance in 1123. This treaty ceded Yenching and six surrounding prefectures to the Song. Not quite the sixteen prefectures that the Song hoped to take back from the Khitan. In return the Song would pay the Jin annual tribute payments of silver and silk while also providing a one time payment of "one million strings of cash." The border between the Jin and the Song was to be closed off and neither side agreed to take in defectors. The Song were the losers in this treaty. They only received a fraction of the territory that they wanted and they had to pay for it. The Song were not being treated with respect. The Song would soon violate the terms of the treaty which would lead to a falling out. (Fairbank and Twitchett, 632)
Pushed to the South
The violation of the treaty by the Song led to the collapse of the alliance. The Jin moved to attack the Song capital of Kaifeng in 1126. They laid siege to the capital for almost two months. The city's defenses were obliterated by the attack and the Jin entered the city. They procedeed to loot the city and "emptied the palace treasure houses of imperial seals, jewels, antiquities, rare books, art objects, and ritual implements." (Fairbank and Twitchett, 642) They then captured members of the imperial family. Emperor Huizong had abdicated in favor of his song Quizong who was now Emperor. Quizong and his councillors were captured and held hostage by the Jin while the city was plundered of all its riches. Emperor Huizong attempted to escape to the south but was capture by the Jin in the middle of his escape. He was brought back to Kaifeng. Both Huizong and Quizong where stripped of their imperial status by the Jin court. This was the end of the Northern Song. The Song were on the brink of elimination. There was still hope. The youngest son of Emperor Huizong, Gaozong had managed to escape the JIn and make it to the south. There Chinese loyalists organized a new government and established the Southern Song with its capital at Hangzhou and proclaimed Gaozong emperor. The remains of the Song army continued fighting a war of insurgency against the Jin. By 1138 the region had stabilized and the Southern Song controlled most of the area south of the Huai River. (Ebrey 150)
The Southern Song
Southern Song Rule
In 1142 the Southern Song and the JIn concluded a treaty that stipulated that the Song pay annual tribute payments to the Jin. This effectively bought peace between the two empires. This arrangement was similar to one between the Song and the Liao. Some scholars see this payment of tribute by a Chinese dynasty to a foreign dynasty as humiliating. Because of this the Southern Song is considered a weak dynasty. It is seen as a vassal state under Jin influence and domination. Likewise Emperor Gaozong is seen as a weak ruler because he was unable to avenge the defeat of the Song or was able to recover the territory lost to the Jin. (Fairbank and Twitchett, 644) Yet to some the Song was seen as the cultural high point in China. This cultural high point is typified by "a period of refined beauty and cultivation, in which ceramics, painting, and calligraphy all reached new heights that have never been matched since." (Lary 47) The examination system of the Tang was developed further and used to staff the bureaucratic government with men of high caliber. The whole bureaucratic system was further refined and improved. Astronomy, mathematics, and cartography flourished. People were on the search for knowledge during the Southern Song dynasty. (Ibid)
Economy
Confucianism in the Souther Song
The End of the Song
The Mongolian Threat
Overrun
References
- De Bary, WM. Theodore, and Irene Bloom, eds. Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol 1, From Earliest Times to 1600. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
- Ebrey, Patricia. Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
- Lary, Diana. Chinese Migrations: The Movement of People, Goods, and Ideas Over Four Millennia. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2012.
- Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 5, Part One: The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors, 907-1279. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
- Twitchett, Denis, and John K. Fairbank, eds. The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.