The Song Dynasty originated in China from 960 to 1279 AD. The Song Dynasty was a peaceful empire that lived through the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It was divided into two periods, the Northern Song (960-1127) and the Southern Song (1127-1279). The Northern Song capital was Bainjing and the Southern Song Capital was Kaifeng. When Bainjing got taken over, the Northern Song moved south along the Huai River and established the Southern Song Empire with their new capital Kaifeng.
The Northern Song had more power in inner China while the Southern Song controlled the coast more even though they lost their Yellow River territory. Due to this, the Southern Song had 60% of China’s population that started at 50 million and went all the way up to 100 million people. Most of the agricultural land and therefore a good economy. The Song Dynasty had the richest economy in the world at their time because they invested a lot of money in joint stock companies and oversea trade along the Grand Canal and the Yangzi River. The Song Dynasty also had the largest cities of their time. The Song Dynasty established Lin’an, the Song Dynasty court capital.
The Song Empire’s first emperor was emperor Taizu, a conquest emperor who conquered many lands and ended the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period by unifying the kingdoms and dynasties under his rule. He was also an emperor of the people and supported science and technology very much (he liked the astronomical clock a lot). He created a strong and stable government for the empire in the capital and kept the empire stable for a long time.
The Song Dynasty was the first government ever to create paper money and a permanent and strong navy. Also, the Song Dynasty was the first to use compasses effectively and they unknowingly used gunpowder in their daily lives. The government supported trade and harbors excessively as the Song Dynasty’s main conquest was conquering the last kingdom to control the Silk Roads. The government also supported education and religion/philosophy because they had many schools and temples. Retirement homes, public clinics and many other forms of social welfare were encouraged by the government greatly to keep the people happy. Social clubs and entertainment were a big part of life in the city. When the Song Dynasty ended, the Yuan Dynasty took its place. Postal service was supported by the government for fast communication and was revised and improved from the Han Dynasty. The postal service also led to thousands of jobs. To protect their very stable and rich empire, the Song Dynasty used Greek weapon technology that they improved upon to fight off enemy attacks but sadly, the Song Empire collapsed in the late 13th century after taking over another empire and being most vulnerable. The replacement empire was called the Yuan Empire.
An Introduction
By Jason Crews, Amanda Kamlet, Harshini Nadella and Nicolas Steenbergen
