The Northern Song Dynasty (北宋, 960–1127)
Founded by coup d’état
Northern Song Dynasty [Minneapolis Institute of Arts]
The Song Dynasty was founded by a military leader, Zhao Kuang-yin (赵匡胤, reign 960–976), who first seized power through a coup d’état and then persuaded his major potential rivals to exchange power for sinectures. Within a few years, Zhao, now Emperor Tai-zu (宋太祖, reign 960–976), restored peace throughout China, which had been a war-ridden territory by then for years.
Emperor Tai-zu was wise and introspective; he studied the rise and fall of his predecessors dutifully as a means to ensure he did not repeat the same mistakes that prompted the collapse of previous dynasties. He believed the authority and legitimacy of a regime are most commonly undermined when ruling elites become too powerful, thereby taking influence away from the crown. Thus, Emperor Tai-zu established a strong central government and employed those who rose to the top by meritocracy via the Imperial Examinations to ensure loyalty only to the Court. He lived modestly and, remembering how he achieved power, took the country's finest military units directly under his command. China under the Song prospered. It became the world’s most powerful empire at the time.
Buddhism waned in influence but held strong in arts
Bodhisattva Guanyin of Compassion 观世音菩萨, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, dated 1050–1150 [Zane Archives]
Neo-Confucianism tried to focus on rationalism and secularism. It rejected the superstitious and mystical elements that dominated Buddhism. Buddhism used metaphysics for spiritual development and reaching enlightenment. Neo-Confucianism use it for rationalistic ethics.
Buddhism, as a result, waned in its influence on society; however, it did retain a stronghold in the area of arts. According to Robert D Jacobson, renowned curator of Asian art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, "(M)any historians agree that the last great moment in Chinese Buddhist sculpture occurred in the late Sung period, in the 12th and 13th centuries. Wooden sculpture at that time is perhaps the best we’ve ever seen.”
It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that Buddhism would see a revival when Kublai Khan was a follower of Tibetan Buddhism.
Neo-Confucianism emphasised philosophy of loyalty
Four Books and Five Classics 四书五经 [Zane Archives]
This was a time when Neo-Confucianism, developed by the Song scholars, was the dominant philosophy of life. It emphasised rationalism, the improvement of the self within a metaphysical framework, and the role of the emperor per the Mandate of Heaven (上天的使命).
The Neo-Confucian classics were the Four Books and Five Classics (四书五经).
The Four Books illustrated the core values and belief systems of Confucianism. These books were compiled and standardised during the Song period and served as the official curriculum for the Imperial Examinations during the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The Four Books are:
§ Great Learning (大学)
§ Doctrine of the Mean (中庸)
§ Analects (论语)
§ Mencius (孟子)
The Five Classics were pre-Qin Dynasty books and formed the traditional Confucian canon. They are:
§ Classic of Poetry (诗经)
§ Book of Documents (尚书)
§ Book of Rites (礼记)
§ Book of Change (周易)
§ Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋)
The Neo-Confucian philosophy served a key goal desired by the ruling regime: loyalty to the emperor.
Promoted Imperial Examination System
Parts of the Qingming Shanghe Tu (清明上河图), a Song dynasty artwork depicting life in the bustling city of Kaifeng. It is the most renowned of all Chinese paintings, holding the status equivalent to Mona Lisa of the West in China. Original scroll measured 24.8 x 528 cm, capturing the daily life of over 500 people. [Public Domain]
Instead of aristocrats or military generals, the Song wanted a team of educated Confucian literati — those who passed the Imperial Examination — to run the country.
All those who desired to pass the examinations had to learn by heart the Neo-Confucian classics, especially the Four Books. Many even committed the entire texts in these books to memory. In addition, key government posts were filled by those who passed the exams — the higher the level achieved, the higher the imperial position offered.
The result was desirable — these bureaucrats were not only literate and competent, but they were also obedient and loyal to the emperor.
The shared value achieved through studying and preparing for the exams further pushed a robust sense of nationalism and cultural identity.
Decreased importance of military generals
First Emperor of the Song Dynasty - Emperor Song Taizu (宋太祖赵匡胤, 960-976). [Public Domain]
Emperor Tai-zu’s path to the founding of the Song Dynasty, through a coup d’état, served as a constant reminder for the regime to place the power of governing in the hands of literati rather than military generals. Thus, when the Song became the economic powerhouse and had the largest population in East Asia, its military did not reach the same level of dominance.
Enemies from the north, the Liao and the Jin
The master horsemen from the grasslands north of China, the Jurchens (女真) of the Jin and the Khitans (契丹) of the Liao, were troublesome for the Song. Over the centuries, they gained more and more territory occupied primarily by the Chinese.
As early as 1004, the Song made annual payments of silk and money to the northern neighbours in exchange for peace.
After the Liao were ousted by a joint effort of the Song and the Jin, the Jin pushed the Song out of northern China and established the Great Jin Dynasty (大金, 1115–1234).