Song Dynasty facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Song 宋
960–1279
The Song dynasty at its greatest extent in 1111
Capital	Bianjing (960–1127) Jiangning (1129–1138) Lin'an (1138–1276)
Common languages	Middle Chinese
Religion	Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion, Islam, Chinese Nestorian Christianity
Government	Monarchy
Emperor
• 960–976	Emperor Taizu (founder of Northern Song)
• 1127–1162	Emperor Gaozong (founder of Southern Song)
• 1278–1279	Zhao Bing (last)
Historical era	Postclassical Era
• Established	February 4 960
• Signing of the Chanyuan Treaty with Liao	1005
• Alliance with Jin	1115–1125
• Jingkang Incident	1127
• Beginning of Mongol invasion	1235
• Fall of Lin'an	1276
• Battle of Yamen (end of dynasty)	March 19 1279
Area
958 est.	800,000 km2 (310,000 sq mi)
980 est.	3,100,000 km2 (1,200,000 sq mi)
1127 est.	2,100,000 km2 (810,000 sq mi)
1204 est.	1,800,000 km2 (690,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1120s	Northern: 80-110,000,000 Southern: 65,000,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Per capita	26.5 taels
Currency	Jiaozi, Guanzi, Huizi, Chinese cash, Chinese coin, copper coins, etc.
Preceded by Succeeded by Later Zhou Jingnan Later Shu Southern Han Southern Tang Wuyue Northern Han Yuan dynasty
Today part of	People's Republic of China  ∟ Quemoy and Matsu

Song Taizu, first emperor of the Song Dynasty

Map of the Song Dynasty.

The Song Dynasty ruled in China from 960–1279 AD. It started the reunification of China for the first time since the fall of the Tang Dynasty in 907. The years in between, known as the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, were a time of division between north and south, and of rapidly changing administrations. In 960, a general of the Later Zhou dynasty named Zhao Kuangyin (the later Emperor Taizu of Song) overthrew the emperor through a mutiny and established the Song dynasty. Although it unified China, its army was weak and lost the wars against the Liao dynasty and Western Xia. Soon after the death of Emperor Taizu, the empire faced many economic and military problems.

In 1127, the Manchu clans led by the Jin Dynasty emperors destroyed the Liao Dynasty, invaded Song, and captured the emperor, princes, and ministers. A prince at southern China was lucky to be the only one who was not taken by the Manchus, and after the invasion of northern China he succeeded the throne at Hangzhou. Because of this, historians named the Song that was before the invasion as Northern Song, and the one after the invasion as Southern Song. Southern Song made peace with the Manchus and existed until Kublai Khan of the Mongols conquered all of southern China in 1279.

History

Northern Song: 960–1127

The Northern Song Dynasty ruled in China from 960 to 1127. The first emperor Zhao Kuangyin set the capital in Bianliang (now we call this city Kaifeng) in northern China. The Northern Song Dynasty enjoyed the highest economic and cultural prosperity during the ancient Chinese history. In 1126, the army from Jin Dynasty started attcking Bianliang city and Northern Song Dynasty ended the next year. The Song Dynasty also was one of the best dynasties in architecture.

Images for kids

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  A portrait of Emperor Taizong of Song (r. 976–997)

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  A wooden Bodhisattva from the Song dynasty (960–1279).

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  A Liao dynasty polychrome wood-carved statue of Guan Yin, Shanxi Province, China, (907–1125)

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  A portrait of Emperor Gaozong of Song (r. 1127–1162)

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  A city gate of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, built in 1223 during the Song Dynasty

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  Emperor Taizu of Song, Emperor Taizong of Song, prime minister Zhao Pu and other ministers playing Cuju, an early form of football, by Qian Xuan (1235–1305)

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  A 12th-century painting by Su Hanchen; a girl waves a peacock feather banner like the one used in dramatical theater to signal an acting leader of troops.

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  The Donglin Academy, an educational institution equivalent to modern-day college. It was originally built in 1111 during the Northern Song dynasty.

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  Traction trebuchet on an Early Song Dynasty warship from the Wujing Zongyao. Trebuchets like this were used to launch the earliest type of explosive bombs.

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  Armoured Song cavalry

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  The Liaodi Pagoda, the tallest pre-modern Chinese pagoda, built in 1055; it was intended as a Buddhist religious structure, yet served a military purpose as a watchtower for reconnaissance.

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  Chinese calligraphy of mixed styles written by Song dynasty poet Mi Fu (1051–1107)

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  Portrait of the Chinese Zen Buddhist Wuzhun Shifan, painted in 1238 AD.

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  Dried jujubes such as these were imported to Song China from South Asia and the Middle East. An official from Canton was invited to the home of an Arab merchant, and described the jujube as thus: "This fruit is the color of sugar, its skin and its pulp are sweet, and it gives the impression, when you eat it, of having first been cooked in the oven and then allowed to dry."

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  Earliest known written formula for gunpowder, from the Wujing Zongyao of 1044 AD.

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  Facsimile of Zhu Shijie's Jade Mirror of Four Unknowns

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  The Yu Ji Tu, or "Map of the Tracks of Yu", carved into stone in 1137, located in the Stele Forest of Xi'an. This 3 ft (0.91 m) squared map features a graduated scale of 100 li for each rectangular grid. China's coastline and river systems are clearly defined and precisely pinpointed on the map. Yu refers to the Chinese deity described in the geographical chapter of the Book of Documents, dated 5th–3rd centuries BCE.

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  Scholars of the Song dynasty claim to have collected ancient relics dating back as far as the Shang dynasty, such as this bronze ding vessel.

See also

In Spanish: Dinastía Song para niños