Just because an event is recorded in the official dynastic history of China, it doesn’t mean that it is the incontrovertible truth. The rise of Zhao Kuangyin and his brother Zhao Kuangyi are full of mysteries that can’t be answered.
If you want to read about the foundation of those empires and get a more detailed narrative on the establishment of those dynasties, read Hung Hing Ming's books on the various founding emperors. It's a good start, since his materials are based mostly on the "official" dynastic narratives without any judgment. From there, you can read other works that may question the written accounts.
The Empress Dowager Du was a oustanding person. She not only was a wise woman with an impressive political understanding, but she also raised two capable sons. Zhao Kuangyin had the martial skill comparable to Li Simin and Zhao Kuangyi was shrewd as Sima Yi. Without her i don't know if the Song Dynasty would have lasted.
Fun fact: The Southern Han Dynasty, which the Song Dynasty conquered, was the only Chinese dynasty in known to have regularly kept a force of war elephants. The elephants helped the Southern Han against the kingdom of Ma Chu but were later defeated by Song crossbow soldiers.
Also: in a war between the Vietnamese and the Song, the Vietnamese used javelin-and-shield tactic which was new to the Song. The Song recorded studying this tactic postwar. There was a gradual change of arsenal from north to south, the Khitan was famous for its mace, the Song for its crossbow, while the south had its flavor.
I very much like the Song dynasty as well. Everyone just berates them for how 'weak' their military was, and bad-mouths its society as "too civilian" and/or "weak." But in the academia, the cultural achievements of Song, and particularly their incredible economic surge is viewed very favorably. There's even a term, "The Song Renaissance" to describe just how powerful their economy was, and some scholars even go far as to suggest the possibility of pre-industrial era "Song capitalism," hundreds of years before Europe. Their end was also the most dramatic as well. No "Fengshan ritual" here. They went out fighting to the last. When the entire region north of the Yellow River was lost to the Mongols, from that point on that "weakling Empire" put up a valiant defense at the Yangtze lines and resisted the invasion for not four years, but four decades until the fortress of Xingyang fell. For an empire of "pencil pushers" and "nerds," that's not bad at all.
Of all the many kingdoms the Mongols conquered, Song was one of those that resisted the longest, & it was the main target of the Mongols which they expended the greatest effort in conquering. Most of the other kingdoms fell quickly to the might of the Mongol horde
@@KalecgosMagic The Song Dynasty lost the Great Wall and horse-producing areas from the beginning (they were controlled by the Khitan from the end of the Tang Dynasty). Then the Western Xia became independent and lost all the horse-producing areas. Unlike the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty had almost no cavalry. It fought against four powerful nomadic peoples (Dangxiang, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolia) for 200 years. Its combat effectiveness was underestimated.
The start of the Song Dynasty almost seems right out of a fairytale. It combines all the aspects of traditional Chinese ideas into a single perfect tasting cake, but perhaps it is a little too sweet... I think Zhao Kuangyi may have been the "kingmaker" so to speak. Zhao Kuangyin comes off as pure hearted as the records make him seem, but his brother always seemed rather shifty. While not mentioned here, the deposed boy emperor was eventually killed, but not by Zhao Kuangyin's order. The history says it was because some general wanted to curry favor with him, so Zhao Kuangyin had him killed. I wouldn't be surprised if Zhao Kuangyi was somehow behind that too. As for Zhao Kuangyin's death. That is an oddity, especially since some other versions of the story say that people heard the emperor yell out "Do it right! Do it right!" Though there's also the supernatural elements of Zhao Kuangyi's shadow moving erratically, while he was sitting down drinking tea long into the night with a monk. It's overall a very strange story. I do believe in the Gold Shelf Promise, if only because Zhao Kuangyi could convince his mother to tell that to her eldest son and the reasoning was pretty sound for when it was made.
Most Wuxia I know about the Song Dynasty are set at the end(i.e the Southern Song period) because during the chaos & corruption the Xias are basically the only effective force maintaining order, even defending the country(in the story). The only one off the top of my head that set at the peak of the dynasty is about Judge Bao due to his bodyguard Zhan Zhao being a former Xia(operate outside the law)
@@aokhoinguyenang3992 Wasn't that a continuation? I think the saga went up to Deer and the Cauldron (in Qing Dynasty with Qian Long emperor) all these martial art was lost by then not to mention that book was basically a deconstruction of Wuxia as the protagonist Wei Xiaobao (Stephen Chow played that role once and also Tony Leung in his TVB days) is a lewd and a greedy coward but is pretty intelligent
I’m at 1100 CE in my studies, right at the height of their empire (although disaster is nearing). I’m so damn excited you’re doing a Song Dynasty series. Perfect timing.
there's a historical term "tang - song transition" suggested by naito torajiro, very famous japanese historian. he said that the transition between tang and song is not just change of dynasty, but change from chuusei(中世) to kinnsei(近世). It means that song dynasty is totally diffrent from previous dynaties in china in many ways.
Song was different previous and after dynasties, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
Song dynasty was the weakest of Chinese major dynasty. Although while their focus on civil bureaucrats made them weak, it also made them the most prodigious in technology inventions.
Lolwut?! are you joking?! dude Song dynasty is one of, if not THE most popular chinese dynasties out there lmao ask people what dynasty they liked the most and you’ll get song most of the time!! when you think of the arts, culture, fashion, food, it’s literally all credited to the song or tang dynasty lmao
Song was different from the dynasties previous and after, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
@@pointrainbow3091 Who told me that? Internet. You can google it. There are many articles on any subjects. You just need to use your brain to link it into a logical conclusion. Song failed to wrest 16 northern prefectures from a successive northern powers (Liao, Jin, Mongol). Not that they didn't try, but every time they tried, it ended up with worse results. With Liao, it ended up nowhere but the loss of life of thousands of soldiers, depleting of the treasury, and paying yearly tribute to Liao. With Jin, it ended up with the capture of their emperor, the lost of their entire land north of Yangzi. With Mongol, it ... ended. Without the 16 northern prefectures, Song was the only major dynasty that had no protection from the Great Wall.
Damn, I literally just started reading Water Margin and when I saw the poem about the Five Dynasties I was like, hey, I just saw that epiosde! No need to check the footnotes this time. Instead I started wondering if this era had been covereed. Less than a day later, BAM it's here. Thank you once again Chinese History Bros for making my studies so much easier.
The yellow emperor's robe the soldiers put on Zhao Kuangyin is not really a robe... By the book, it was the yellow color royal guard's banner flag, they just cover him in the flag and put a belt around him to make it a robe...
These videos always do a great job of making East Asian history interesting while also injecting just the right amount of humor (I started laughing when Empress Dowager Du, "Did the whole unimpressed Asian mom thing,") and making the historical figures relatable. Also, Empress Dowager Du did give wise advise to her son. It's not easy to be an Emperor.
Actually.. in Chinese popculture and Media. Song Dynasty is the most popular time period. We have Water Margin set in this time period where the Song court starting to be corruption and bloated, we have Yue Fei having his mom tattoo his back with a text called "Loyalty" while fighting the Jin people, we have alot of Yin Jong novels set in this time period.
The name was Jin Yong 😅 He wrote novels about other era too. Beside the more famous Condor trilogy (from the end of Song to the end of Yuan), there is another trilogy for later period that i remember : Sword Stained With Royal Blood, Duke OF Mount Deer, Book And Sword, which told stories from the end of Ming to the middle of Qing.
As one of the soldiers who forcibly draped Zhao Kuangying in imperial robes, I can testify that he truly did not want to become emperor. He cried and pleaded saying he could not betray his sovereign but we gave him no choice
i think yuour history channel is by far my favourite for Asian history, if possible if you have it ive looked and looked through videos maybe i missed it do you have a video on the 5 kingdoms period after tang dynasty? if not do you plan to cover a video leading up to tang to song transition ??
Thanks Jake. The 5 kingdoms period you mentioned is usually called 5 dynasties & 10 kingdoms. I have covered it in a previous video right before this one.
8:51 Dubious as it is, I do find the idea of a half-awake general being held down and forced into imperial regalia by heavily armed soldiers. Very Roman.
Thanks you so mcuh for the good work you do! By the way, i was wondering if you will ever return to Dont Stop Thinking, i especially enjoyed your videos on rpg settings based in real world non-european cultures.
Guo Rong original name was Chai Rong. He took Guo family name after he was adopted by Guo Wei. In the novel Water Margin (set during 8th emperor of Song, Hui Zong), one of his descendants (Chai Jin) still enjoyed Zhao Kuang Yin's immunity. He used it to help several of Mount Liang bandits and use the immunity to warded off petty corrupt officials for several times. However, one of them dismissed the immunity as a scrap of paper and arrested him. Later, Chai Jin fled and joined the bandits at Mount Liang.
Damn the song dynasty was the quickest Chinese dynasty to go from gigchad warrior-generals to nerdy beaurocrats. All dynasties eventually follow this pattern tho
Song was different from the dynasties previous and after, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 persons got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
I wonder if the 2 Zhao brothers are much closer friends and partners in their youth than history remembered them. Kuangyin is the charismatic fighter and Guangyi is the thinker, the two schemed together to put Kuangyin all the way up. It was until they are much older men with their own kids, then their partnership fell apart. Pretty damn sure, they place that piece of wood with the prophecy there just to get their superior fired and climbed the corporate ladder.
I don't understand why the Song Dynasty is so underrated; I mean, they basically almost industrialize China and made it the best place to live on Earth. I think that, hadn't the Mongols squashed them, the Song would have made China a naval-colonial and industrial superpower.
I wouldn't consider being a colonial country is a sign of advancement. The Song dynasty actually had extensive economic ties and relationship with its many neighbours and traded peacefully for the most part. Except against its main rivals, such as Liao & Jin of course.
I think it was actually the Ming dynasty which had the closest chance of becoming a great colonial power, but China closed itself soon after the Yongle period.We would have seen China colonizing Australia, Africa and the Americas if that didn't happen.
@@deacudaniel1635 China closed itself because the Chinese officials in Ming Dynasty didn't get any benefits from Ming's foreign expeditions. After the Yongle period, China was actually controlled and rant by Chinese officials and their bureaucracy while Ming Emperors pretty much just enjoyed themself and didn't care much or didn't do much.
Zhao Kuangyin rose through the military ranks in the Later Zhou Dynasty. He was eventually Commander in Chief. Guo Zongxun, the child emperor of Later Zhou, took the throne. Kuangyin’s men forced him to take the throne for himself, so he did and became emperor of the Song Dynasty. Kuangyin would then go on to conquer the other Chinese kingdoms. After his mysterious death, his brother took the throne and conquered the remaining Chinese kingdoms.
My guess as to Song Dynasty video order up to the beginning of Southern Song: Next video: Introduce Khitan Liao Dynasty, discuss wars between Song and Khitan leading to the famous treaty in (I think) 1002. Second video: Discuss the burgeoning literati and bureaucracy of Song Dynasty in the 11th century, as well as the economic, population, cultural, and scientific boom Song Dynasty experienced in this time as a result of the peace between Song and Khitan Third video: Introduce the Tangut Xia dynasty (and maybe the independent Dai Viet dynasty in the south) and discuss the wars with each; also discuss the New Policy reforms of the mid and late 11th century Fourth video: Introduce the Jurchens and discuss their rise and Song/Khitan decline, leading to the fall of the Northern Song Not sure on the order of the Southern Song, as I haven’t studied that far yet :)
You CANNOT miss Goryeo-Khitan war when explaining Song & Liao history. Peace between Song & Liao only exist because Khitans blew up their troops during their campaign on Goryeo.
@@judsonwall8615 After Khitan started to receiving tributes from Song, it turned to Goryeo to secure its rear as a preparation of the next invasion of Song. Khitan sent somewhere 50K to 100K troops to clear Jurchens and to show of force to Goryeo. Khitans lied that they brought 800K troops, so Goryeo was shocked, since they were not prepare for this. Goryeo originally thought of giving up some land, but as suspicions grow (why not just conquer Goryeo if they really brought 800K soldiers?) Goryeo sent an envoy to discuss the matter with Khitan general. The dialogue goes like this (simplified) Khitan (general) : We are bigger country and I am high rank, thus bow to me. Goryeo (Seohui) : A subject would only bow to the king. You and I are both subjects. (Are you claiming yourself as a king?) Khitan : Goryeo rose from Silla, and we have occupied most of Goguryeo territory. Thus you must give up the remaining territory that belonged to Goguryeo. Goryeo : WTF are you talking about? We named our country Goryeo since succeeding nation, and Goryeo's (Goguryeo) capital is also our capital. Therefore, you should give us Liaodong and the land belonged to Goguryeo. Khitan : Liao is closer to Goryeo then Song, yet you only trade with Song. Why are you doing this? Goryeo : Because Jurchens are blocking the path. If you let us, then we will clear Jurchens from there and create trade route between Liao and Goryeo. Thus Goryeo invades Jurchen land, and fortifies entire 6 prefecture as a defense line, which Khitan never able to conquer all 6 forever. LOL
六合八法拳 - 和 - 白猿通背拳也是宋朝 (大約公元 970 年代) 陳摶創作的 • 我建議也製作一個視頻 (Liuhebafa - and - Bai Yuan Tongbeiquan was also created by Chen Tuan during the Song Dynasty (circa 970s) • I suggest making a video as well)
Love the video as always... By the way, This has nothing to do with the video but have you heard of this upcoming season anime called "Paripi Koumei" (Ya Boy Kongming)? It's a show about Zhuge Liang who after his death at Wuzhang Plains got transported to our modern-time Japan with all his life memory but in his young body. After getting some help from an amateur singer lady and hearing her singing, He decided to help her achieve her dream of becoming a full-fledged singer by offering himself as her strategist (aka manager). I read a couple volumes of manga and it's pretty entertaining. There are cool tactical stuff like Kongming using the Stone Sentinel Maze strategy to lure in the audience and make them focus on the stage or Kongming taking a page out of "Wu Zhong Sheng You" from the 36 stratagems (San Shi Liu Ji) to create a situation where he uses one their competitor to their advantage. I'd love to hear your opinion on this show.
Zhao Kuangyin was an officer of the later Zhou dynasty , he rose to power by usurping the throne from the boy emperor of the later Zhou during the chenqiao mutiny. He was a general trained in the art of war , his martial prowess was famous. He was also famous for making sure that ultimate power remained in his hands by asking his generals who raised him to the dragon throne to retire. This strengthens the central government authority. Both a strategist and a warrior , Zhao Kuangyin was one of China's famous emperors. His death was rumoured to caused by his young brother Zhao Kuangyi , however there is no historical fact stating that ever happened.
What if the doubts CJ have about the official story are PRECISELY what was desired by the official story tellers, so plausible deniability could be invoked if things didn't turn the way they did? Think of them like an intellectual mouse trap: present the official (and true) story in a suspicious way, so you can lie to the smart people by presenting your lies as the hidden truth (which would be even more effective if you were part of the high nobility'). ''Of course it didn't happen like that! It was all a plot orchestrated by my political enemy! He was in control of the court back then! You have been FOOLED by him!'' Also awesome video, as always.
Zhao Kuangyin was assigned as the jiedushi of Gui’de region in July, 959. Gui’de (a.k.a. Shangqiu) is located in Songzhou. The land belonged to the state of Song, a successor state of the Shang royal house during the Zhou dynasty, hence the name.
The Song certainly got professional soldiers, but it also got too much red tape on its military, hence its failure. I don't remember seeing any other Dynasties across Chinese history as more paranoid and fear their own military more than outsiders. It is almost like to kill yourself first before you kill your enemy. And one other thing that the Song lacked was breeding ground for horses, hence it couldn't expand like other Dynasties did. But one thing you gotta give them credit, they lasted the longest against the Mongol, and they were the one that broke the united Mongol Empire and turn it into different Kha'anates. And ironically, it was the the other Chinese Dynasty of Mongol origin (Yuan) that finally conquered the Song with the help of some of the best Song generals and armies, not the Mongol Empire before it. Lastly, as powerful as the Mongols were, they were actually quite overrated compared to many powerful nomadic or sedentary empires before them. They were great, just like other powerful nomadic and sedentary empires, but not invincible. They got talents, ambition, luck and timing all together in one big packet on their side in which case virtually majority of other nomadic or sedentary empires lacked, hence their impressive achievements.
Go back and study history well. Mongolia is not strong for China at all. It has fought like the weak Song Dynasty. It still depends on the Han army. Mongolia fought Xixia for more than 20 years. Finally, it surrendered only after Xixia earthquake and plague. Mongolia and Jin did not win alone, but attacked together with Song Dynasty. Mongolia and song even fought for more than 40 years, but they won only by the original Han army of the Northern Song Dynasty
If Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuang Yin) had remained alive, would he have been able to defeat the Khitan Liao Dynasty? Without the Liao, the history of the Jurchen (later Manchus) Jin Dynasty would have been completely different. I wonder how it would have affected the ascension of the Manchus Qing Dynasty and ultimately the formation of the Republic of China and the modern East Asian world.
It was Goryeo that saved Song from Khitan. Jurchens were Korean subordinates since the ancient till the early days of Jin Dynasty. Same goes for Qing. If Japan did not invade & if Joseon remained as the "police" of the Manchuria, Qing wouldn't even exist.
@杨波涛 Jin Jurchens identified Balhae as different ethnicity. And I guess you liked Ming getting smacked by Jurchens/Manchus while Joseon was pro Ming? You came to wrong fight.
@杨波涛 Lol China is from Yellow River Civilization while Korean, Xianbei, Khitan, Mongolian are from Liao River Civilization. China try so hard connecting Liao River to its cultural sphere, but archaeological findings all deny Chinese claim. Haha. Those potteries from Liaodong are found throughout Eurasian Steppe, which extends from K peninsula to all the way to Northern Europe, thousands of years before your discovery of the silk road, while ZERO in mainland China. See how 櫛文土器 (comb-pattern pottery) spreaded in the world.
@杨波涛 Then probably another one will claim "Hey jade is important in Chinese civilization, thus it is connected to Hongshan culture since it is the birthplace of jade related arts", but then they forget exact same jade accessory from Hongshan culture was also found in Gangwon province, S Korea.
@杨波涛 Korans since the days of Old Joseon did farming & hunting? Also I respect Chinese records, but current Chinese government approaching to Liao Civilization is.... hillarious. Also the first comment I made here is fact, yet you are the one started the BS.
I can't imagine what this single, 90 year period of people stabbing, couping and overthrowing each other would have been like for some random farmer on the ground. How do you just...live when your government changes ten times in a century?
Not necessarily all that badly. Like the video said, it’s like employees in a company constantly in conflict in the boardrooms and c-suite. It doesn’t always have to affect the everyday workers one way or the other. If the change in power happens largely in the capital or even just the imperial palace, the peasants don’t mind that much what new far-away ruler their tax grains go to each harvest.
The Song dynasty is your favorite dynasty?! Well, it is my favorite dynasty too! I always like the fact that the intellectuals get to run the Empire instead of military generals! After all, the chance of them betraying the Emperors are much less possible. The best that they can do is simply just sending daughters and/or sisters in as consorts and concubines. And that's how a horde of nerds ended up becoming the Emperor's fathers-in-law and/or brothers-in-law.
Military capability ranking of Chinese and Western strategists: Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin > Eastern Han Emperor Liu Xiu > Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Kuangyin > French Emperor Napoleon > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Guangyi Li Shimin is like a ferocious lion, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Xiu are like ferocious tigers. Zhao Kuangyin is weaker than the previous three emperors, but like a fierce leopard. Napoleon was much weaker than the previous four Chinese emperors, so he madly trapped his army in Russia and Spain. Zhao Guangyi is the strangest emperor in Chinese history, and his military abilities are fantastic. Compared with him, Napoleon is like a cheetah, while Zhao Guangyi is like a hunting dog.
If French Emperor Napoleon and Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin were neighbors. Napoleon would, like many Chinese warlords, surrender directly to Li Shimin. And Li Shimin will only let Napoleon be the deputy of Li Jing, the genius commander of the Tang Dynasty.
Hey buddy, are you funny? I am a Chinese and have read a lot of Chinese and European history. Apart from Li Shimin and Liu Xiu, who may be able to compare themselves to Napoleon, how can the others compare themselves to Napoleon? Li Shimin captured two kings in the Battle of Hulao Pass, while Liu Xiuyou experienced a stunning reversal in the Battle of Kunyang. However, Napoleon's life was marked by more than sixty battles, and countless classic battles where he won with fewer victories directly changed the modern mode of warfare. Austerlitz, Jena, Ulm, all of these were wars that destroyed the country in World War I. What comparison did Zhao Kuangyin and Zhu Yuanzhang have?
Zhao Kuangyin saved China. With the stupid divided states constantly warring each other, China was set to be swarmed by Kitan eventually (and it had already been a few times during that era). Zhao Kuangyin unified China and the stronger Song was able to fend off Kitan. I know some may try to argue that Rong was already a strong emperor and he would unify China if he hadn't died, but keep it in mind that Rong became a strong emperor with Zhao Kuangyin's help.
Although born from the same father, Zhao Guangyi's military ability is much worse than his brother's. He should be one of the least capable military among Chinese emperors. The military capabilities of Zhao Guangyi and Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, were compared to those of an eagle and a chicken.
Military capability ranking of Chinese and Western strategists: Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin > Eastern Han Emperor Liu Xiu > Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Kuangyin > French Emperor Napoleon > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Guangyi Li Shimin is like a ferocious lion, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Xiu are like ferocious tigers. Zhao Kuangyin is weaker than the previous three emperors, but like a fierce leopard. Napoleon was much weaker than the previous four Chinese emperors, so he madly trapped his army in Russia and Spain. Zhao Guangyi is the strangest emperor in Chinese history, and his military abilities are fantastic. Compared with him, Napoleon is like a cheetah, while Zhao Guangyi is like a hunting dog.
If French Emperor Napoleon and Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin were neighbors. Napoleon would, like many Chinese warlords, surrender directly to Li Shimin. And Li Shimin will only let Napoleon be the deputy of Li Jing, the genius commander of the Tang Dynasty.
@@山青文It's good to govern the court, but if you say he can't fight, I also have reasons to oppose it. Zhao Kuangyin didn't destroy the Northern Han Dynasty three times, and finally Zhao Guangyi personally destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty.
All right, are you sure? So you said that Zhao Kuangyin himself had all the power of the army to destroy Houshu, the two countries, the Southern Tang Dynasty, the battle of Taiyuan and the two great victories over Liao?
I tell you, what he received was the military power of the imperial guards and Pan Zhen, and after that, there were still military commanders who had military power.
The United States is the Song Dynasty with its republic and a powerful military, so close to the attention of the civilian bureaucracy. It's just that Washington didn't gain power through military coup, so the US respects the military (however they still force the military to get vaccinated) but the Song Dynasty was not
Song dynasty should have defeated the great Jin when yue Fei was there. The emperor is just dumb to think if the old emperor returns he will lose the throne. The emperor could repeat what lishimin did. Made previous emperor tai above emperor.. so he keeps the throne and power. If they have unified chuva, maybe genghis khan won’t have such an easy time conquering China 😅
The videos are excellent but the extreme deference to power, or the total ignorance of the corporate world is illustrated by the comment that the underlings start risky bad projects at the risk of the head of the people above. That is, in general, false. In fact, most of the time the people at the top take bad decisions and blame them in the people below. Often, even if no blame is assigned, questions arise about the people not making the bad plan work, or it's blamed on bad economy, and people below get fired. Even if the disaster is so big that some upper management scapegoat is selected he or she will leave with massive severance packages and big savings accounts from the massive salaries and benefits they get.
When Song Taizu was preparing to return to Kaifeng, he also ran to the boundary line of Liao, the plain area, and there was no movement in Liao. He was afraid that Liao was not weak.😅
Most Chinese patriotic intellectuals now consider the Song Dynasty to be the weakest dynasty in Chinese history. The Song Dynasty was only better than the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty lasted only less than a hundred years, after which the lands of northern China were occupied by five nomadic peoples. The military capabilities of the Jin emperors were even worse than those of the Mongols. The Song Dynasty bribed the Khitans and Jurchens in exchange for peace, and the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty betrayed the Chinese hero Yue Fei, and was eventually wiped out by the Mongols. This author actually likes the Song Dynasty the most, it's really special...
Patriotic intellectuals is an oxymoron. The Song dynasty improved the economy, livelihood of the people and even advanced the sciences greatly. I find it sad that there are brainwashed people who think that state power translate into better lives for the masses. The Yuan and the Qing dynasty are periods when China's size was at its biggest, but if you were to be transported back to those era, then you'd be living almost like slaves.
The Song Dynasty will greatly strengthen science, and the goal is to invent more powerful gunpowder weapons in addition to developing the economy. The reason is that the Song Dynasty army was too weak. Before the Song Dynasty, China didn't pay attention to science because the Chinese emperor had super-powerful military power and a very strong ability to rule the country. After the Westerners ruled the world, they quickly invented tanks, fighter jets, and atomic bombs, just because they were too stupid. During the Second World War, the United States was afraid that it would not be able to defeat the Soviet Union and Germany, so it quickly produced the atomic bomb. In an exam, there is an idiot who can't beat others, so he has to use cheating to win the smart one. In the same way, stupid emperors will use cheating methods to outsmart smart people. Although the economy of the Song Dynasty was much better than that of the Yuan and Qing dynasties. Therefore, before Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, grew up, his parents, his brothers and sisters starved to death.
The Song Dynasty valued peace over war. They ultimately gave up fighting with the Khitans over the 16 prefectures in exchange for lasting peace. With that peace, Song Dynasty China was able to focus on domestic matters. Under the Song, China became the world’s largest economy. It had the world’s largest population. It had the world’s best technology and science. Song Dynasty China was growing so much and producing so many things that some economic historians describe the Song as going through the very beginning phases of an industrial revolution. They were burning more coal and producing more iron than Western Europe was in the 1700s. So, for me, the Song was the best Chinese dynasty up to that point. They were a cultural and economic powerhouse. Unluckily for them, their lack of focus on military came at a time when the great steppe was beginning to rumble, and would go on to produce the fiercest hordes in the history of the steppe.
@@judsonwall8615 aftermath of Yue Fei's demise should have been taken as lesson to reverse the ascendancy of bureaucrats over military guys, especially when Song intended to retake the north just when the Mongols were invading the Jin dynasty.
Song Dynasty is considered to the richest dynasty in Chinese history. It generates great wealth through economic reforms as well as oversea trade. Also many great scientific innovations in China also taken place during Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, Song Dynasty is militarily very weak. This is actually the design of Song Taizu aka Zhou Guangyin. He became emperor through military usurpation. Once he became emperor, he richly rewarded his generals and encouraged them to retire from their military career. The military is placed under civilian bureaucratic administration. Song Taizu did these to prevent ambitious military general to usurp the dynasty that he established from his heirs as he did carry it out to become emperor. However in doing so, he weakened the military strength of Song Dynasty. During Song Dynasty, there was shift from military career to bureaucratic career. Prior to Song Dynasty, aristocratic families have sons to pursue both military and bureaucratic career. During the Song Period, bureaucratic careers were pursued as military career was disdained and only suited for the dregs of life. From this period, the saying 好人不成兵 or a good man does not become a soldier appeared. That's why Song Dynasty got bullied by their military stronger neighbors: Khitan Liao Dynasty and the Tangut Western Xia. Both states had extract heavy tributes from Song Dynasty. Due to great revenue generated, Song Dynasty was able to afford to pay tributes. It was under the leadership of Yue Fei that Song Dynasty had experienced its strongest military capability. Under the leadership of Yue Fei and other capable generals, Song Dynasty was able defeat the Jurchen Jin Dynasty which captured and annexed the Khitan Liao Dynasty decades earlier in battles. The prowess of Song military strength had forced the Jurchens to use diplomacy instead of military strength to achieve peace with Song Dynasty as well as removing Yue Fei from military command.
Just because an event is recorded in the official dynastic history of China, it doesn’t mean that it is the incontrovertible truth. The rise of Zhao Kuangyin and his brother Zhao Kuangyi are full of mysteries that can’t be answered.
Very cool my dude, do you have some book recomendations on learning chinese history in english? Preferably the tang and song dynasties.
If you want to read about the foundation of those empires and get a more detailed narrative on the establishment of those dynasties, read Hung Hing Ming's books on the various founding emperors. It's a good start, since his materials are based mostly on the "official" dynastic narratives without any judgment. From there, you can read other works that may question the written accounts.
The Empress Dowager Du was a oustanding person. She not only was a wise woman with an impressive political understanding, but she also raised two capable sons. Zhao Kuangyin had the martial skill comparable to Li Simin and Zhao Kuangyi was shrewd as Sima Yi. Without her i don't know if the Song Dynasty would have lasted.
@@CoolHistoryBros thank you!
never like the song emperor especially after they lust over Li Houzhu 2 wives and even rape the younger one. shitty emps
Fun fact: The Southern Han Dynasty, which the Song Dynasty conquered, was the only Chinese dynasty in known to have regularly kept a force of war elephants. The elephants helped the Southern Han against the kingdom of Ma Chu but were later defeated by Song crossbow soldiers.
Also: in a war between the Vietnamese and the Song, the Vietnamese used javelin-and-shield tactic which was new to the Song. The Song recorded studying this tactic postwar.
There was a gradual change of arsenal from north to south, the Khitan was famous for its mace, the Song for its crossbow, while the south had its flavor.
I very much like the Song dynasty as well. Everyone just berates them for how 'weak' their military was, and bad-mouths its society as "too civilian" and/or "weak." But in the academia, the cultural achievements of Song, and particularly their incredible economic surge is viewed very favorably. There's even a term, "The Song Renaissance" to describe just how powerful their economy was, and some scholars even go far as to suggest the possibility of pre-industrial era "Song capitalism," hundreds of years before Europe.
Their end was also the most dramatic as well. No "Fengshan ritual" here. They went out fighting to the last. When the entire region north of the Yellow River was lost to the Mongols, from that point on that "weakling Empire" put up a valiant defense at the Yangtze lines and resisted the invasion for not four years, but four decades until the fortress of Xingyang fell.
For an empire of "pencil pushers" and "nerds," that's not bad at all.
Song was probably the richest and wealthiest nation on Earth at the time. And they thought they could buy their peace with money.
Of all the many kingdoms the Mongols conquered, Song was one of those that resisted the longest, & it was the main target of the Mongols which they expended the greatest effort in conquering. Most of the other kingdoms fell quickly to the might of the Mongol horde
I'm impressed too by the inventions and creativity, like hand cannon, fire lance and ancient grenade.
It was also known as the most educated dynasty. They really prized themselves on calligraphy, proverbs, poems. etc
@@KalecgosMagic The Song Dynasty lost the Great Wall and horse-producing areas from the beginning (they were controlled by the Khitan from the end of the Tang Dynasty). Then the Western Xia became independent and lost all the horse-producing areas. Unlike the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Song Dynasty had almost no cavalry. It fought against four powerful nomadic peoples (Dangxiang, Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolia) for 200 years. Its combat effectiveness was underestimated.
The start of the Song Dynasty almost seems right out of a fairytale. It combines all the aspects of traditional Chinese ideas into a single perfect tasting cake, but perhaps it is a little too sweet... I think Zhao Kuangyi may have been the "kingmaker" so to speak. Zhao Kuangyin comes off as pure hearted as the records make him seem, but his brother always seemed rather shifty. While not mentioned here, the deposed boy emperor was eventually killed, but not by Zhao Kuangyin's order. The history says it was because some general wanted to curry favor with him, so Zhao Kuangyin had him killed. I wouldn't be surprised if Zhao Kuangyi was somehow behind that too.
As for Zhao Kuangyin's death. That is an oddity, especially since some other versions of the story say that people heard the emperor yell out "Do it right! Do it right!" Though there's also the supernatural elements of Zhao Kuangyi's shadow moving erratically, while he was sitting down drinking tea long into the night with a monk. It's overall a very strange story. I do believe in the Gold Shelf Promise, if only because Zhao Kuangyi could convince his mother to tell that to her eldest son and the reasoning was pretty sound for when it was made.
Most Wuxia I know about the Song Dynasty are set at the end(i.e the Southern Song period) because during the chaos & corruption the Xias are basically the only effective force maintaining order, even defending the country(in the story). The only one off the top of my head that set at the peak of the dynasty is about Judge Bao due to his bodyguard Zhan Zhao being a former Xia(operate outside the law)
All thanks to Yin Jong novels with the Tang Long 18 Palm!!
@@hanchiman You mean the Demi-God Semi-Devil novel?
@@aokhoinguyenang3992 the protagonist Kwok Ching in the Condor Heroes and deutergonist in The Eagle and his Companion.
@@hanchiman Xiao Feng from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
also was leader of the Beggar Sect & use the 18 Dragon Subduing Palms
@@aokhoinguyenang3992 Wasn't that a continuation? I think the saga went up to Deer and the Cauldron (in Qing Dynasty with Qian Long emperor) all these martial art was lost by then not to mention that book was basically a deconstruction of Wuxia as the protagonist Wei Xiaobao (Stephen Chow played that role once and also Tony Leung in his TVB days) is a lewd and a greedy coward but is pretty intelligent
I’m at 1100 CE in my studies, right at the height of their empire (although disaster is nearing). I’m so damn excited you’re doing a Song Dynasty series. Perfect timing.
Now ?
Was looking for this about 20 minutes ago. Guess I was just too excited.
Can you do more episodes on the Tanguts, Khitans and Jurchens?
They'll be coming soon.
I believe the fact that Gaozong later had no child and had to pass the throne to Taizu's descendant was the karma to Taizong killing Taizu
No need for karma. Plenty of emperors had trouble conceiving an heir. It's just simple biology.
there's a historical term "tang - song transition" suggested by naito torajiro, very famous japanese historian. he said that the transition between tang and song is not just change of dynasty, but change from chuusei(中世) to kinnsei(近世).
It means that song dynasty is totally diffrent from previous dynaties in china in many ways.
Song was different previous and after dynasties, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
@@andrewlim7751 Who were those unlucky ones?
In the immortal words of Count Dooku, “I’ve been looking foreword to this”.
I was looking forward to this episode and the wait was worth it. CJ you are awesome!
That was a great video. The Song Dynasty is definitely underrated in general Chinese history and it is one of my favourite Chinese dynasties too.
Song dynasty was the weakest of Chinese major dynasty. Although while their focus on civil bureaucrats made them weak, it also made them the most prodigious in technology inventions.
Lolwut?! are you joking?! dude Song dynasty is one of, if not THE most popular chinese dynasties out there lmao ask people what dynasty they liked the most and you’ll get song most of the time!! when you think of the arts, culture, fashion, food, it’s literally all credited to the song or tang dynasty lmao
Song was different from the dynasties previous and after, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
@@gorilladisco9108Who told you that? The Song Dynasty was very strong in the founding period. Well, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand.
@@pointrainbow3091 Who told me that? Internet. You can google it. There are many articles on any subjects. You just need to use your brain to link it into a logical conclusion.
Song failed to wrest 16 northern prefectures from a successive northern powers (Liao, Jin, Mongol). Not that they didn't try, but every time they tried, it ended up with worse results.
With Liao, it ended up nowhere but the loss of life of thousands of soldiers, depleting of the treasury, and paying yearly tribute to Liao. With Jin, it ended up with the capture of their emperor, the lost of their entire land north of Yangzi. With Mongol, it ... ended.
Without the 16 northern prefectures, Song was the only major dynasty that had no protection from the Great Wall.
Damn, I literally just started reading Water Margin and when I saw the poem about the Five Dynasties I was like, hey, I just saw that epiosde! No need to check the footnotes this time. Instead I started wondering if this era had been covereed. Less than a day later, BAM it's here. Thank you once again Chinese History Bros for making my studies so much easier.
The yellow emperor's robe the soldiers put on Zhao Kuangyin is not really a robe... By the book, it was the yellow color royal guard's banner flag, they just cover him in the flag and put a belt around him to make it a robe...
You always provide some cool history bro
These videos always do a great job of making East Asian history interesting while also injecting just the right amount of humor (I started laughing when Empress Dowager Du, "Did the whole unimpressed Asian mom thing,") and making the historical figures relatable. Also, Empress Dowager Du did give wise advise to her son. It's not easy to be an Emperor.
"Did the whole unimpressed Asian mom thing"
Lmao I hope he goes into King Yeongjo and the death of Crown Prince Sado in Joseon Korea w/ this lmao
@@jamesdakrn A video about Consort Jo and King Injo would also be great
Actually.. in Chinese popculture and Media. Song Dynasty is the most popular time period. We have Water Margin set in this time period where the Song court starting to be corruption and bloated, we have Yue Fei having his mom tattoo his back with a text called "Loyalty" while fighting the Jin people, we have alot of Yin Jong novels set in this time period.
The name was Jin Yong 😅
He wrote novels about other era too. Beside the more famous Condor trilogy (from the end of Song to the end of Yuan), there is another trilogy for later period that i remember : Sword Stained With Royal Blood, Duke OF Mount Deer, Book And Sword, which told stories from the end of Ming to the middle of Qing.
Ah, THIS is where Outlaws of the Marsh take place. OK, now I can read my 4-book set. Thanks for this wonderful channel.
As one of the soldiers who forcibly draped Zhao Kuangying in imperial robes, I can testify that he truly did not want to become emperor. He cried and pleaded saying he could not betray his sovereign but we gave him no choice
i think yuour history channel is by far my favourite for Asian history, if possible if you have it ive looked and looked through videos maybe i missed it do you have a video on the 5 kingdoms period after tang dynasty? if not do you plan to cover a video leading up to tang to song transition ??
Thanks Jake. The 5 kingdoms period you mentioned is usually called 5 dynasties & 10 kingdoms. I have covered it in a previous video right before this one.
8:51
Dubious as it is, I do find the idea of a half-awake general being held down and forced into imperial regalia by heavily armed soldiers. Very Roman.
Very interesting, informative and worthwhile video.
Thanks you so mcuh for the good work you do! By the way, i was wondering if you will ever return to Dont Stop Thinking, i especially enjoyed your videos on rpg settings based in real world non-european cultures.
Guo Rong original name was Chai Rong. He took Guo family name after he was adopted by Guo Wei. In the novel Water Margin (set during 8th emperor of Song, Hui Zong), one of his descendants (Chai Jin) still enjoyed Zhao Kuang Yin's immunity. He used it to help several of Mount Liang bandits and use the immunity to warded off petty corrupt officials for several times. However, one of them dismissed the immunity as a scrap of paper and arrested him. Later, Chai Jin fled and joined the bandits at Mount Liang.
The attack on Gaotangzhou; the search for Gongsun Sheng, and the eventual battle of magic between him and Gao Lian.
Great work on this one guys
Damn the song dynasty was the quickest Chinese dynasty to go from gigchad warrior-generals to nerdy beaurocrats. All dynasties eventually follow this pattern tho
ur quite right about how "nerds" end up ruling the song dynasty haha. that was quite insightful. thank you.
Those big Song-era hats were so fantastic.
Song was different from the dynasties previous and after, nothing come close, just one example, not more than 3 persons got their death penalty in the entire 300 years era speak a lot.
@@andrewlim7751 wow
Hey nice video!
I wonder if the 2 Zhao brothers are much closer friends and partners in their youth than history remembered them. Kuangyin is the charismatic fighter and Guangyi is the thinker, the two schemed together to put Kuangyin all the way up. It was until they are much older men with their own kids, then their partnership fell apart. Pretty damn sure, they place that piece of wood with the prophecy there just to get their superior fired and climbed the corporate ladder.
Would you consider making a episode of the Chinese warlords prior to WW2?
There's more to come? Amazing ❤
My favourite line: "Yeah, I know, again." 🤣🤣🤣
im really curious bout the famous battle after the 3 kingdoms era, can u make some video and detail bout some important battle in china
Song Dynasty is my favorite. Heavy Cavalry.
I don't understand why the Song Dynasty is so underrated; I mean, they basically almost industrialize China and made it the best place to live on Earth. I think that, hadn't the Mongols squashed them, the Song would have made China a naval-colonial and industrial superpower.
I wouldn't consider being a colonial country is a sign of advancement. The Song dynasty actually had extensive economic ties and relationship with its many neighbours and traded peacefully for the most part. Except against its main rivals, such as Liao & Jin of course.
I think it was actually the Ming dynasty which had the closest chance of becoming a great colonial power, but China closed itself soon after the Yongle period.We would have seen China colonizing Australia, Africa and the Americas if that didn't happen.
Sir was Jin Dynasty don't wanna industrialized his kingdom?
@@deacudaniel1635 China closed itself because the Chinese officials in Ming Dynasty didn't get any benefits from Ming's foreign expeditions. After the Yongle period, China was actually controlled and rant by Chinese officials and their bureaucracy while Ming Emperors pretty much just enjoyed themself and didn't care much or didn't do much.
@@The_Art_of_AI_888 Yes.Unfortunately that stopped China's progress for some few hundred years.
Zhao Kuangyin rose through the military ranks in the Later Zhou Dynasty. He was eventually Commander in Chief.
Guo Zongxun, the child emperor of Later Zhou, took the throne. Kuangyin’s men forced him to take the throne for himself, so he did and became emperor of the Song Dynasty.
Kuangyin would then go on to conquer the other Chinese kingdoms.
After his mysterious death, his brother took the throne and conquered the remaining Chinese kingdoms.
It low key my favorite dynasty too 🥳
I've been looking forward to this video since it's also my favorite dynasty! Insta-like
This is amazing
Please make a video about Yue Fei. He was truly an awesome general.
Very cool
Personally Ming is my Favourite Dynasty but Song is cool too
The Tang and Han dynasties were also good, the worst was the Qing dynasty
It's also underrated, I admits Song dynasty had some achievements. But you can't deny that it also had some flaws.
The Song is my favorite too, many innovations and until the Mongols came stable government.
social mobility in Song was amazing, underrated empire imo
Ying family could've tried for a "Later Qin" during the 5 dynasty period, thereby completing the list.
What is everyone's favorite Chinese dynasty and why?
My guess as to Song Dynasty video order up to the beginning of Southern Song:
Next video: Introduce Khitan Liao Dynasty, discuss wars between Song and Khitan leading to the famous treaty in (I think) 1002.
Second video: Discuss the burgeoning literati and bureaucracy of Song Dynasty in the 11th century, as well as the economic, population, cultural, and scientific boom Song Dynasty experienced in this time as a result of the peace between Song and Khitan
Third video: Introduce the Tangut Xia dynasty (and maybe the independent Dai Viet dynasty in the south) and discuss the wars with each; also discuss the New Policy reforms of the mid and late 11th century
Fourth video: Introduce the Jurchens and discuss their rise and Song/Khitan decline, leading to the fall of the Northern Song
Not sure on the order of the Southern Song, as I haven’t studied that far yet :)
You CANNOT miss Goryeo-Khitan war when explaining Song & Liao history. Peace between Song & Liao only exist because Khitans blew up their troops during their campaign on Goryeo.
@@hishot1078 good point. That one time when Khitan invaded Goryeo and ended up giving Goryeo territory haha
@@judsonwall8615 After Khitan started to receiving tributes from Song, it turned to Goryeo to secure its rear as a preparation of the next invasion of Song. Khitan sent somewhere 50K to 100K troops to clear Jurchens and to show of force to Goryeo.
Khitans lied that they brought 800K troops, so Goryeo was shocked, since they were not prepare for this. Goryeo originally thought of giving up some land, but as suspicions grow (why not just conquer Goryeo if they really brought 800K soldiers?) Goryeo sent an envoy to discuss the matter with Khitan general. The dialogue goes like this (simplified)
Khitan (general) : We are bigger country and I am high rank, thus bow to me.
Goryeo (Seohui) : A subject would only bow to the king. You and I are both subjects. (Are you claiming yourself as a king?)
Khitan : Goryeo rose from Silla, and we have occupied most of Goguryeo territory. Thus you must give up the remaining territory that belonged to Goguryeo.
Goryeo : WTF are you talking about? We named our country Goryeo since succeeding nation, and Goryeo's (Goguryeo) capital is also our capital. Therefore, you should give us Liaodong and the land belonged to Goguryeo.
Khitan : Liao is closer to Goryeo then Song, yet you only trade with Song. Why are you doing this?
Goryeo : Because Jurchens are blocking the path. If you let us, then we will clear Jurchens from there and create trade route between Liao and Goryeo.
Thus Goryeo invades Jurchen land, and fortifies entire 6 prefecture as a defense line, which Khitan never able to conquer all 6 forever. LOL
六合八法拳 - 和 - 白猿通背拳也是宋朝 (大約公元 970 年代) 陳摶創作的 • 我建議也製作一個視頻
(Liuhebafa - and - Bai Yuan Tongbeiquan was also created by Chen Tuan during the Song Dynasty (circa 970s) • I suggest making a video as well)
The origin story of LHBF is mythical. The same as the story of Zhang Sanfeng Taichi.
Can you please do a video on, or link to information about the boy king Zhao Bing?
Well that is the weirdest way to become an emperor
3:02 Oh... that's why I got fired from the bank, I see.
Love the video as always... By the way, This has nothing to do with the video but have you heard of this upcoming season anime called "Paripi Koumei" (Ya Boy Kongming)?
It's a show about Zhuge Liang who after his death at Wuzhang Plains got transported to our modern-time Japan with all his life memory but in his young body. After getting some help from an amateur singer lady and hearing her singing, He decided to help her achieve her dream of becoming a full-fledged singer by offering himself as her strategist (aka manager).
I read a couple volumes of manga and it's pretty entertaining. There are cool tactical stuff like Kongming using the Stone Sentinel Maze strategy to lure in the audience and make them focus on the stage or Kongming taking a page out of "Wu Zhong Sheng You" from the 36 stratagems (San Shi Liu Ji) to create a situation where he uses one their competitor to their advantage.
I'd love to hear your opinion on this show.
Haha. I have seen some promo of it. I will check it out!
Zhao Kuangyin was an officer of the later Zhou dynasty , he rose to power by usurping the throne from the boy emperor of the later Zhou during the chenqiao mutiny.
He was a general trained in the art of war , his martial prowess was famous.
He was also famous for making sure that ultimate power remained in his hands by asking his generals who raised him to the dragon throne to retire. This strengthens the central government authority.
Both a strategist and a warrior , Zhao Kuangyin was one of China's famous emperors.
His death was rumoured to caused by his young brother Zhao Kuangyi , however there is no historical fact stating that ever happened.
they also have record bearing headdress...notable they are not helicopter blade as popularized by HK comedy spheres.
What if the doubts CJ have about the official story are PRECISELY what was desired by the official story tellers, so plausible deniability could be invoked if things didn't turn the way they did?
Think of them like an intellectual mouse trap: present the official (and true) story in a suspicious way, so you can lie to the smart people by presenting your lies as the hidden truth (which would be even more effective if you were part of the high nobility').
''Of course it didn't happen like that! It was all a plot orchestrated by my political enemy! He was in control of the court back then! You have been FOOLED by him!''
Also awesome video, as always.
Very low key the best
Why was the name Song chosen as the name of the dynasty?
Zhao Kuangyin was assigned as the jiedushi of Gui’de region in July, 959. Gui’de (a.k.a. Shangqiu) is located in Songzhou. The land belonged to the state of Song, a successor state of the Shang royal house during the Zhou dynasty, hence the name.
Can you do a video on the Yang Family women?
He followed Liu Bangs method of statcraft.
Was Zhao kuangyi obese?
The main thing i learn from these videos is that they had funny hats
10:20 you could've explained that without using the "business" comparison.
please add more details
15:21 Wait, is that Adam Cheng as Yang Ye?
yes
perhaps we can learn of Bei Xiao Feng Nan Mu Rong next.
Pretty sure he killed the founder. The Yang general series confirms that
history is also written by the victor, therefore what actually happen is anybody guess if refusing to acknowledge the recorded history
Yue fei in depht stories please.
Song Dynasty: We got famous Kung Fu masters.
The Mongols: Haha, arrows go whoosh!
The Song certainly got professional soldiers, but it also got too much red tape on its military, hence its failure. I don't remember seeing any other Dynasties across Chinese history as more paranoid and fear their own military more than outsiders. It is almost like to kill yourself first before you kill your enemy.
And one other thing that the Song lacked was breeding ground for horses, hence it couldn't expand like other Dynasties did.
But one thing you gotta give them credit, they lasted the longest against the Mongol, and they were the one that broke the united Mongol Empire and turn it into different Kha'anates. And ironically, it was the the other Chinese Dynasty of Mongol origin (Yuan) that finally conquered the Song with the help of some of the best Song generals and armies, not the Mongol Empire before it.
Lastly, as powerful as the Mongols were, they were actually quite overrated compared to many powerful nomadic or sedentary empires before them. They were great, just like other powerful nomadic and sedentary empires, but not invincible. They got talents, ambition, luck and timing all together in one big packet on their side in which case virtually majority of other nomadic or sedentary empires lacked, hence their impressive achievements.
Go back and study history well. Mongolia is not strong for China at all. It has fought like the weak Song Dynasty. It still depends on the Han army. Mongolia fought Xixia for more than 20 years. Finally, it surrendered only after Xixia earthquake and plague. Mongolia and Jin did not win alone, but attacked together with Song Dynasty. Mongolia and song even fought for more than 40 years, but they won only by the original Han army of the Northern Song Dynasty
Even Mongolia's victory in Europe depended on the Han army
If Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuang Yin) had remained alive, would he have been able to defeat the Khitan Liao Dynasty? Without the Liao, the history of the Jurchen (later Manchus) Jin Dynasty would have been completely different. I wonder how it would have affected the ascension of the Manchus Qing Dynasty and ultimately the formation of the Republic of China and the modern East Asian world.
It was Goryeo that saved Song from Khitan. Jurchens were Korean subordinates since the ancient till the early days of Jin Dynasty. Same goes for Qing. If Japan did not invade & if Joseon remained as the "police" of the Manchuria, Qing wouldn't even exist.
@杨波涛 Jin Jurchens identified Balhae as different ethnicity. And I guess you liked Ming getting smacked by Jurchens/Manchus while Joseon was pro Ming? You came to wrong fight.
@杨波涛 Lol China is from Yellow River Civilization while Korean, Xianbei, Khitan, Mongolian are from Liao River Civilization. China try so hard connecting Liao River to its cultural sphere, but archaeological findings all deny Chinese claim. Haha. Those potteries from Liaodong are found throughout Eurasian Steppe, which extends from K peninsula to all the way to Northern Europe, thousands of years before your discovery of the silk road, while ZERO in mainland China. See how 櫛文土器 (comb-pattern pottery) spreaded in the world.
@杨波涛 Then probably another one will claim "Hey jade is important in Chinese civilization, thus it is connected to Hongshan culture since it is the birthplace of jade related arts", but then they forget exact same jade accessory from Hongshan culture was also found in Gangwon province, S Korea.
@杨波涛 Korans since the days of Old Joseon did farming & hunting? Also I respect Chinese records, but current Chinese government approaching to Liao Civilization is.... hillarious.
Also the first comment I made here is fact, yet you are the one started the BS.
It was said that my ancestor came from song dynasty who started our clan
Wait, so literally Everybody was kung-fu fighting?
How did song dynasty eventually take over Korea
God these videos sound so much like a game of crusader kings.
I can't imagine what this single, 90 year period of people stabbing, couping and overthrowing each other would have been like for some random farmer on the ground. How do you just...live when your government changes ten times in a century?
Not necessarily all that badly. Like the video said, it’s like employees in a company constantly in conflict in the boardrooms and c-suite. It doesn’t always have to affect the everyday workers one way or the other. If the change in power happens largely in the capital or even just the imperial palace, the peasants don’t mind that much what new far-away ruler their tax grains go to each harvest.
Yue Fei.......
basically "revenge of the nerds" in ancient China
The Song dynasty is your favorite dynasty?! Well, it is my favorite dynasty too! I always like the fact that the intellectuals get to run the Empire instead of military generals! After all, the chance of them betraying the Emperors are much less possible. The best that they can do is simply just sending daughters and/or sisters in as consorts and concubines. And that's how a horde of nerds ended up becoming the Emperor's fathers-in-law and/or brothers-in-law.
Don't you want to see what that scholar did to the Song Dynasty?
If you say that military commanders can't manage the country better, what about Li Shimin?
Later Jin was the future Qing dynasty in 1616.
Was he sinitic by origin?
Military capability ranking of Chinese and Western strategists:
Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin > Eastern Han Emperor Liu Xiu > Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Kuangyin > French Emperor Napoleon > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Guangyi
Li Shimin is like a ferocious lion, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Xiu are like ferocious tigers. Zhao Kuangyin is weaker than the previous three emperors, but like a fierce leopard. Napoleon was much weaker than the previous four Chinese emperors, so he madly trapped his army in Russia and Spain. Zhao Guangyi is the strangest emperor in Chinese history, and his military abilities are fantastic. Compared with him, Napoleon is like a cheetah, while Zhao Guangyi is like a hunting dog.
If French Emperor Napoleon and Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin were neighbors. Napoleon would, like many Chinese warlords, surrender directly to Li Shimin. And Li Shimin will only let Napoleon be the deputy of Li Jing, the genius commander of the Tang Dynasty.
Hey buddy, are you funny? I am a Chinese and have read a lot of Chinese and European history. Apart from Li Shimin and Liu Xiu, who may be able to compare themselves to Napoleon, how can the others compare themselves to Napoleon? Li Shimin captured two kings in the Battle of Hulao Pass, while Liu Xiuyou experienced a stunning reversal in the Battle of Kunyang. However, Napoleon's life was marked by more than sixty battles, and countless classic battles where he won with fewer victories directly changed the modern mode of warfare. Austerlitz, Jena, Ulm, all of these were wars that destroyed the country in World War I. What comparison did Zhao Kuangyin and Zhu Yuanzhang have?
@@得不到的你你太小看赵匡胤了，我只说你，灭后蜀，灭两国，灭南唐看看用的什么战略好吧
@@pointrainbow3091 宋打这些势力完全是实力碾压了，最后北汉还没打下来，北方的辽也是个大患。朱元璋内战全是以弱胜强，最后还征漠北把北元打废了，收复燕云十六州。大一统王朝的开国君主赵匡胤面临的局面最有利，也体现不出非凡的能力
Zhao Kuangyin saved China. With the stupid divided states constantly warring each other, China was set to be swarmed by Kitan eventually (and it had already been a few times during that era). Zhao Kuangyin unified China and the stronger Song was able to fend off Kitan. I know some may try to argue that Rong was already a strong emperor and he would unify China if he hadn't died, but keep it in mind that Rong became a strong emperor with Zhao Kuangyin's help.
Zhao Guangyi the Chinese version of Richard III.
Although born from the same father, Zhao Guangyi's military ability is much worse than his brother's.
He should be one of the least capable military among Chinese emperors.
The military capabilities of Zhao Guangyi and Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, were compared to those of an eagle and a chicken.
Any popular video or article on an Emalican-controlled website is likely to vilify China history.
Military capability ranking of Chinese and Western strategists:
Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin > Eastern Han Emperor Liu Xiu > Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Kuangyin > French Emperor Napoleon > Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Guangyi
Li Shimin is like a ferocious lion, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Xiu are like ferocious tigers. Zhao Kuangyin is weaker than the previous three emperors, but like a fierce leopard. Napoleon was much weaker than the previous four Chinese emperors, so he madly trapped his army in Russia and Spain. Zhao Guangyi is the strangest emperor in Chinese history, and his military abilities are fantastic. Compared with him, Napoleon is like a cheetah, while Zhao Guangyi is like a hunting dog.
If French Emperor Napoleon and Tang Dynasty Emperor Li Shimin were neighbors. Napoleon would, like many Chinese warlords, surrender directly to Li Shimin. And Li Shimin will only let Napoleon be the deputy of Li Jing, the genius commander of the Tang Dynasty.
@@山青文It's good to govern the court, but if you say he can't fight, I also have reasons to oppose it. Zhao Kuangyin didn't destroy the Northern Han Dynasty three times, and finally Zhao Guangyi personally destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty.
Missed the part how he took back all the rights to the army from his generals by pretending to cry when he was drinking with them.
All right, are you sure? So you said that Zhao Kuangyin himself had all the power of the army to destroy Houshu, the two countries, the Southern Tang Dynasty, the battle of Taiyuan and the two great victories over Liao?
Although the battle of Taiyuan was his personal expedition,
I tell you, what he received was the military power of the imperial guards and Pan Zhen, and after that, there were still military commanders who had military power.
The United States is the Song Dynasty with its republic and a powerful military, so close to the attention of the civilian bureaucracy. It's just that Washington didn't gain power through military coup, so the US respects the military (however they still force the military to get vaccinated) but the Song Dynasty was not
Song dynasty should have defeated the great Jin when yue Fei was there. The emperor is just dumb to think if the old emperor returns he will lose the throne.
The emperor could repeat what lishimin did. Made previous emperor tai above emperor.. so he keeps the throne and power. If they have unified chuva, maybe genghis khan won’t have such an easy time conquering China 😅
The videos are excellent but the extreme deference to power, or the total ignorance of the corporate world is illustrated by the comment that the underlings start risky bad projects at the risk of the head of the people above. That is, in general, false. In fact, most of the time the people at the top take bad decisions and blame them in the people below. Often, even if no blame is assigned, questions arise about the people not making the bad plan work, or it's blamed on bad economy, and people below get fired. Even if the disaster is so big that some upper management scapegoat is selected he or she will leave with massive severance packages and big savings accounts from the massive salaries and benefits they get.
Song dynasty had been only 19years keeping. Wow
What???????? Song dynasty had been keeping 319 years, totally 18 emperors
I just want to add that Tang was NOT trying to unify China but trying to unify Tang. Defining everything to China is misleading.
No one is using China to mean the modern China. Except you.
This channel is sadly missed and all of us wish it came back.
Liao dynasty lets go screw the song
Algorithm comment.
涉及權力及愛人（花蕊夫人）的紛爭，兄弟都無情講。
Haha you should make video about Goryeo vs khitan. Chinese were weak against the Khitans and Koreans defeated the Khitans.
Did you forget the battle of Taiyuan? Do you know that Liao sent troops to fight against Song, Hebei and Taiyuan?😅
When Song Taizu was preparing to return to Kaifeng, he also ran to the boundary line of Liao, the plain area, and there was no movement in Liao. He was afraid that Liao was not weak.😅
Most Chinese patriotic intellectuals now consider the Song Dynasty to be the weakest dynasty in Chinese history. The Song Dynasty was only better than the Jin Dynasty. The Jin Dynasty lasted only less than a hundred years, after which the lands of northern China were occupied by five nomadic peoples. The military capabilities of the Jin emperors were even worse than those of the Mongols. The Song Dynasty bribed the Khitans and Jurchens in exchange for peace, and the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty betrayed the Chinese hero Yue Fei, and was eventually wiped out by the Mongols.
This author actually likes the Song Dynasty the most, it's really special...
Patriotic intellectuals is an oxymoron. The Song dynasty improved the economy, livelihood of the people and even advanced the sciences greatly. I find it sad that there are brainwashed people who think that state power translate into better lives for the masses. The Yuan and the Qing dynasty are periods when China's size was at its biggest, but if you were to be transported back to those era, then you'd be living almost like slaves.
The Song Dynasty will greatly strengthen science, and the goal is to invent more powerful gunpowder weapons in addition to developing the economy. The reason is that the Song Dynasty army was too weak. Before the Song Dynasty, China didn't pay attention to science because the Chinese emperor had super-powerful military power and a very strong ability to rule the country.
After the Westerners ruled the world, they quickly invented tanks, fighter jets, and atomic bombs, just because they were too stupid. During the Second World War, the United States was afraid that it would not be able to defeat the Soviet Union and Germany, so it quickly produced the atomic bomb.
In an exam, there is an idiot who can't beat others, so he has to use cheating to win the smart one. In the same way, stupid emperors will use cheating methods to outsmart smart people.
Although the economy of the Song Dynasty was much better than that of the Yuan and Qing dynasties. Therefore, before Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, grew up, his parents, his brothers and sisters starved to death.
The Song Dynasty valued peace over war. They ultimately gave up fighting with the Khitans over the 16 prefectures in exchange for lasting peace. With that peace, Song Dynasty China was able to focus on domestic matters.
Under the Song, China became the world’s largest economy. It had the world’s largest population. It had the world’s best technology and science. Song Dynasty China was growing so much and producing so many things that some economic historians describe the Song as going through the very beginning phases of an industrial revolution. They were burning more coal and producing more iron than Western Europe was in the 1700s.
So, for me, the Song was the best Chinese dynasty up to that point. They were a cultural and economic powerhouse. Unluckily for them, their lack of focus on military came at a time when the great steppe was beginning to rumble, and would go on to produce the fiercest hordes in the history of the steppe.
@@judsonwall8615 aftermath of Yue Fei's demise should have been taken as lesson to reverse the ascendancy of bureaucrats over military guys, especially when Song intended to retake the north just when the Mongols were invading the Jin dynasty.
Song Dynasty is considered to the richest dynasty in Chinese history. It generates great wealth through economic reforms as well as oversea trade. Also many great scientific innovations in China also taken place during Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, Song Dynasty is militarily very weak. This is actually the design of Song Taizu aka Zhou Guangyin. He became emperor through military usurpation. Once he became emperor, he richly rewarded his generals and encouraged them to retire from their military career. The military is placed under civilian bureaucratic administration. Song Taizu did these to prevent ambitious military general to usurp the dynasty that he established from his heirs as he did carry it out to become emperor. However in doing so, he weakened the military strength of Song Dynasty. During Song Dynasty, there was shift from military career to bureaucratic career. Prior to Song Dynasty, aristocratic families have sons to pursue both military and bureaucratic career. During the Song Period, bureaucratic careers were pursued as military career was disdained and only suited for the dregs of life. From this period, the saying 好人不成兵 or a good man does not become a soldier appeared. That's why Song Dynasty got bullied by their military stronger neighbors: Khitan Liao Dynasty and the Tangut Western Xia. Both states had extract heavy tributes from Song Dynasty. Due to great revenue generated, Song Dynasty was able to afford to pay tributes. It was under the leadership of Yue Fei that Song Dynasty had experienced its strongest military capability. Under the leadership of Yue Fei and other capable generals, Song Dynasty was able defeat the Jurchen Jin Dynasty which captured and annexed the Khitan Liao Dynasty decades earlier in battles. The prowess of Song military strength had forced the Jurchens to use diplomacy instead of military strength to achieve peace with Song Dynasty as well as removing Yue Fei from military command.
VG
his english...................................................