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The Song dynasty (/ s ʊ ŋ /) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
The Song dynasty was founded by Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu) (r. 960–976) in 960, before the Song completely reunified China proper by conquest—excluding only the Sixteen Prefectures. The Song fought a series of wars with the Liao dynasty (1125–1279), ruled by the Khitans, over the possession of the Sixteen Prefectures of northern China. [2]
The Southern Song developed a new navy to combat the Jin dynasty formed in the north. The Song dynasty was able to defeat further Jurchen invasions and even fought the Jin dynasty in an erstwhile alliance with the Mongols. However, the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty defeated the Song dynasty at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.
The Song dynasty establishes China's first standing navy [132] 1132: Siege of De'an: Fire lances are used by Song troops to repel Jin invaders [133] [134] [135] Gunpowder is referred to specifically for its military applications for the first time and is known as "fire bomb medicine" rather than "fire medicine". [127]
Chinese literature during the Song period contained a range of many different genres and was enriched by the social complexity of the period. Although the earlier Tang dynasty is viewed as the zenith era for Chinese poetry (particularly the shi style poetry of Du Fu, Li Bai, Bai Juyi), there were important poetic developments by famous poets of the Song era, with the flourishing of the ci form ...
Hartwell classifies the Northern Song dynasty civil service into a founding elite and a professional elite. [107] The founding elite centered on the North China military governors of the 10th century and capital-city bureaucrats of the previous Five Dynasties. [108]
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (Chinese: 五代十國) was an era of political upheaval and division in Imperial China from 907 to 979. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen concurrent dynastic states, collectively known as the Ten Kingdoms, were established elsewhere, mainly in South China.
Battle of Yancheng between the Song dynasty and Jurchen Jin in 1140 Song dynasty stone carving of a warrior in mountain pattern (chest) and mail armour (shoulder) wielding a sword In December 1127, Kaifeng fell to the Jin dynasty and emperors Qinzong and Huizong were captured; territory north of the Huai River was annexed by the Jin.