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| Song
Dynasty ~ 960 - 1279 |
 |
| Major
Advancements: Paper Money, Movable
Type Printing, The Civil Service Exam, The
Compass, Gunpowder |
| Major
Public Works: The Northern Song Tombs |
The
Song period divides into two phases:
Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song
(1127-1279). The division was caused by the
forced abandonment of north China in 1127 by
the Song court, which could not push back
the nomadic invaders. The founders of the
Song dynasty built an effective centralized
bureaucracy staffed with civilian
scholar-officials. Regional military
governors and their supporters were replaced
by centrally appointed officials. This
system of civilian rule led to a greater
concentration of power in the emperor
and his palace bureaucracy than had been
achieved in the previous dynasties. The Song
dynasty is notable for the development of
cities not only for administrative purposes
but also as centers of trade, industry, and
maritime commerce. The landed
scholar-officials, sometimes collectively
referred to as the gentry, lived in the
provincial centers alongside the
shopkeepers, artisans, and merchants. A new
group of wealthy commoners--the mercantile
class-- arose as printing and education
spread, private trade grew, and a market
economy began to link the coastal provinces
and the interior. Landholding and government
employment were no longer the only means of
gaining wealth and prestige. |
| Northern
Song Dynasty |
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| Taizu |
960-976 |
Taizong |
976-997 |
| Zhenzong |
998-1022 |
Renzong |
1022-1063 |
| Yingzong |
1064-1067 |
Shenzong |
1068-1085 |
| Zhezong |
1086-1101 |
Huizong |
1101-1125 |
| Qinzong |
1126 |
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Southern
Song Dynasty
|
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| Gaozong |
1127-1162 |
Xiaozong |
1163-1190 |
| Guangzong |
1190-1194 |
Ningzong |
1195-1224 |
| Lizong |
1225-1264 |
Duzong |
1265-1274 |
| Gongzong |
1275 |
Duanzong |
1276-1278 |
| Bing
Di |
1279 |
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