History

The founding

Taizu, the first emperor of Song, Zhao Kuang Yin was a professional soldier. He was a Lifeguard in charge of the troops in front of the emperor's palace in the Later Zhou. Zhao had become an essential military figure during the reign of emperor Shizong owing to his outstanding military exploits. After Shizong died, the young Gongdi emperor ascended the throne. Zhao later seized power through the Chenqiao Mutiny, and established the Song. He adopted an authoritarian centralized system to uproot the potential dictatorship and autocracy of senior officials, which had long been a threat ever since the mid-Tang Dynasty, and to solidify the authoritarian central government, a contributing factor to the stability and growth of the feudal social economy. On the other hand, the redundant bureaucracy and unnecessary official posts led to a terrible decline in efficiency and subsequently financial difficulties.

In the field of military, the Northern Song expanded troops, weakened the military power of generals by separating the power to different persons, and shortened their service term at one official post so that they would not have the chance to accumulate that much power before it threatened the central. The constant change of the general, however, resulted in the decline of fighting capacity of the soldiers, and the Northern Song troops had suffered repeated defeats against minority groups like the Liao and Western Xia. The frontier defense thus became empty and feeble, which was detrimental to national security. Overall, the authoritarian centralized system had to some extents contributed to the unification and stability of the feudal state, preventing the local separatism and peasant revolts from happening, but it also foreshadowed the deepening impoverished and enfeebled from the mid Northern Song.

During the spring festival in 960, Zhao's partisan fellows made up false intelligence that the Liao state was to invade. The prime minister (in feudal China) then immediately commanded Zhao to go to the frontier to defend. On the third day of the first lunar month, Zhao arrived at Chenqiao, and was draped with the imperial yellow robe by his supporters (a ritual of admitting someone as the emperor, kind of like coronation) that night. The officials of the later Zhou deemed it as irreversible and did nothing but accepted the reality. The Gondi of later Zhou was forced to leave the throne, and Zhao subsequently became the Taizu of the Song dynasty.

In 961 and 969, during banquets, and while drunk (or pretending to be) Zhao threatened the generals twice not to rebel against the Song, just like he himself had done against the later Zhou, and deprived them of the power they used to have by assigning them to merely nominal positions while appointing civil officials as commanders of troops, to centralize the military power. The Northern Song dynasty was thus free from local military separatists, but at the same time the local resources were limited. It all led to its defeats in battles against the northern tribes.。

The national policy of the Northern Song Dynasty is principled on its "emphasis on the scholars and less on the military"(重文轻武). This has its advantages and disadvantages for the Song Dynasty; the advantage being stability would be brought upon the political and economic environments of the early Northern Song Dynasty, especially when there are no scourges such as eunuch's messing around or local governors seizing land. Even though most Song emperors performed mediocrely, the country remained prosperous and stable. The disadvantage, however, was that the Northern Song Dynasty had suffered military defeats successively. Alongside the Southern Song Dynasty, the 300 years of the Song Dynasty's history gravitated towards its military defeats and retreats.

Another task Song Taizu faced was to unify his country. After discussing with Zhao Puxue, Zhao Kuangyin decided to unify the whole country starting with south then to north. Zhao Kuangyin first resorted to a counterfeit plan to destroy Nanping and Wuping. He also annihilated the three kingdoms, Shu, Nanhan, and Nantang. Taizu wholeheartedly wished for successful unification, and also set up a warehouse to save money and silk, hoping it would help redeem the sixteen states of Yanyun from the Liao in the future. In August of the 9th year of Kaibao (976), Taizu went northward again. However, Taizu died abruptly on October 19, so his brother Zhao Guangyi immediately took the throne. It was rumored that Guangyi had murdered his elder brother to usurp the throne. The task for unifying the North and the South was temporarily suspended as Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne as Song Taizong.

After Emperor Taizong stabilized his rule, he continued the task of reunification. Chen Hongjin and self titled King Wuyue, Qian Hongling who seized the two provinces of Zhang and Quan in Fujian surrendered in 978, then the Northern Han was obliterated in 979. In May of the 4th year of Taiping Xingguo (979), Taizong disregarded his ministers' objections and took advantage of the demise of Northern Han to start a northern expedition from Taiyuan. At first, Yizhou and Zhuozhou were reclaimed. Taizong was complacent and ordered an attack on Yanjing, which resulted in a disastrous defeat in the Sorghum River outside Youzhou(now outside Xizhimen in Beijing). After this defeat, the Song Dynasty's military strategy turned passive. In the third year of Yongxi (986 years), Taizong headed north again, resulting in another defeat. The famous general Yang Ye was also killed in this battle. Later, Sichuan broke out with Wang Xiaobo and Li Shunmin's coups, leading to a shift in importance of Taizong's administration from focusing on external affairs to internal ones.

Taizong was a vassal and elegant man who liked poetry and literature. His government attached great importance to cultural undertakings, with the Dynasty highly stressing the people's education. Taizong also liked calligraphy, and was able to write in six types of fonts: Cao, Li, Xing, Zhuan, Bafen, and Feibai, and preferred Feibai over the rest. The characters on the ingots of the Song's currency were also the works of Taizong.

Song Taizu had a mature son, so his brother's ascension was quite suspicious, with folks claiming that Zhao Kuangyin was murdered by Zhao Guangyi. In order to ensure the legitimacy of the regime, Zhao Guangyi presented the will of his mother Empress Du, which is named the "Will of the Golden Cabinet"(金櫃之盟)(or 匱). This originated when Empress Du called Zhao Pu into the palace to record her last words, in which she ordered that after Zhao Kuangyin's death, the throne would first pass to Guangyi, then Guangmei (later renamed Tingmei), before De Zhao, Zhao Kuangyin's eldest son. This testament was hidden in a golden cabinet, explaining its name's origin. Although there was such a statement in the will, Taizong imposed the death penalty on his father's sons, Dezhao and Defang, then demoted Tingmei to Fangzhou. Two years later, Tingmei died in exile. Taizong's eldest son, Yuan Zuo, was also dismissed from prince to peasant because of his sympathy for Ting Mei. Another son, Yuan Xi, died to unknown causes. Ultimately, Xiang Prince Yuan Kan was established as the heir and renamed Heng. In the third year of Zhidao (997), after Taizong died, Queen Li and Eunuch Wang Jien attempted to establish Yuanzuo as the emperor. Fortunately, Prime Minister Lu Duan properly handled the situation, helping Zhao Heng to succeed the throne, and the Song Dynasty began to enter its prime.

Northern wars against Liu and Xia

After Taizong's death, Zhao Heng ascended as Emperor Song Zhenzong. He pursued Taizong's Huang Lao policies and ruled with inaction. Ever since the Northern Expedition of Yongxi, the Liao often robbed and looted the Song at its borders. By the first year of Jingde, these hostilities had evolved into a large-scale invasion. The prime minister Kou Zhun led the resistance. Zhenzong headed to the battlefield in person and greatly boosted the morale of the Song army. The Song and the Liao entered a deadlock in the city of Tanzhou. Coincidentally, the Liao general Xiao Tieling was shot down by a crossbow of the Song army, greatly weakening the morale of the Liao army and crushing any hope of a Liao victory. The Liao then sought to reconcile with the Northern Song Dynasty and after several negotiations, the two countries agreed to a peace treaty. The main content of the peace treaty was as follows: Song would pay 20 million silks and 100,000 silvers tribute to Liao annually, and the treaty was historically named "The Treaty of Chanyuan".

Afterwards, Kou Zhun gradually fell out of Zhenzong's favor and was eventually dismissed. Wang Chinro, an eminent minister who was good at ingratiating, knew that Zhenzong hoped to enkindle an atmosphere of peace and harmony, and so advocated Zhenzong to Feng Shan. He also colluded with another prime minister, Wang Dan, to fabricate "auspicious" facades all over the nation. As a result, Zhenzong had Feng Shan a total of three times in the first year of Dazhongxiang Fu, and Wang Chiru had become Zhenzong's most trusted ministers.

Zhenzong and Queen Liu had no children. On one occasion, Zhenzong visited Li, a maid of Liu Concubine, and she gave birth to a son (Zhao Shouyi) in the third year of Yu Dazhong Xiangfu, who later became Renzong. Liu and another concubine, Yang raised the child. In the Mid-Autumn Festival of the second year of Tianxi, Zhenzong officially entitled Zhao as the heir and renamed him Zhao Zhen. On February 20, the first year of Qianxing, Zhenzong died. Crown Prince Zhao Zhen took the throne, and Queen Liu became the Queen Dowager ruling before Renzong became an adult. From then on began the sixteen years of Empress Liu's domination of the government.

At the beginning of Renzong's rule, Renzong was not able to carry out his ambitions as he was always under the shadow of Liu's. Although Emperor Renzong's queen was from the Cao family, he had always been particularly fond of Concubine Zhang. But as Zhang came from a lowly background, she could never be queen. Zhang died on the eighth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Huangyou, and Renzong treated her funeral as if she was the queen, and even bestowed her the title Queen Wencheng. The result was unprecedented in history, with a living and a dead queen.

The nation was relatively strong in the rule of Renzong with a prosperous economy, forming the peak of the Northern Song Dynasty. However, there were two major problems that had to be faced at the time: the expansion of the imperial court and the scaling number of soldiers, causing financial issues. At the same time, tributes and gifts were often needed to appease the Northern tribes, exhausting the nation's wealth.

Party leader Li Yuanhao announced himself the emperor in the third year of Daqing (1038) and established Xixia, causing several years of war between Song and Xia. Song was defeated numerous times. Renzong appointed Fan Zhongyan, Lu Yijian, Fu Bi, Bao Zheng, Han Qi and other talented ministers to implement the Qingli New Code, which achieved excellent results. The Dynasty had entered its most prosperous stage, but some conservative figures accused the reformist officials of ganging up. Since Renzong had always hated cronyism, these reformist officials were later demoted to provincial officials. This marked the end of the brief execution Qingli New Code. On the frontier, Renzong appointed general Di Qing first to annihilate the rebellion of Southern Non Chicco then the provocation of Xixia.

After Renzong's died, Song Yingzong, Zhao Shu succeeded him. He was the grandson of Zhao Yuanfen, the brother of Zhenzong, and was established as crown prince in the seventh year of Jiayou. Emperor Yingzong was frail, with Queen Cao handling all state affairs at first. Yingzong only began ruling after May of the first year of Zhiping. Half a month after he regained authority, a dispute broke out and lasted for 18 months. The cause of the incident was that Prime Minister Han Qi initiated a discussion on the status of Inzong's biological father. As a result, the government was divided into two factions; one faction believed that Yingzong's biological father, Monarch Pu, should be called Huang Bo(皇伯), the king's uncle, and the other faction believed that he should be called Huang Kao(皇伯). In the end, the empress dowager decided to call him Huang Kao, and only then did the argument subside. In general, Yingzong was still a propitious monarch. He continued to appoint talented former courtiers, also daring to unearth new talents. Yingzong also focused on the compilation of books; the creation of "Zizhi Tongjian" had been initiated by Yingzong.

New Policies

After Yingzong's death, his eldest son Shenzong ascended the throne. As he began his reign, he noticed the many malpractices that had arisen from the rules formulated in the early stages of the Song Dynasty, causing people's quality of lives to decline, and how Liao and Xia were ready to invade a weakened Song. Shenzong therefore was determined to reform, enabling Wang Anshi, a well-known reformist minister, to carry out political reforms, and appointed him as a politician. The new laws promoted by Wang Anshi included collective responsibility, the Green Sprouts program, exemption from military services, a trade management system, Baojia system, war horse breeding program, a new tax system and so on. However, the conservative party led by Sima Guang was strongly against the implementation of the new law. Coupled with the continuous occurrence of natural disasters in the country, Shenzong's determination to implement the reform had been shaken. In the seventh year of Xining, a drought occurred in North China, and an official named Zheng Xia presented an illustration of the suffering peasants to Shenzong. This shocked Shenzong and he ordered the suspension of all 18 laws from the reform the following day. Although these policies were restored soon, Shenzong had already begun to distrust Wang Anshi. In April of the seventh year of Xining, Wang Anshi was dismissed for the first time and sent out to Zhijiang Ningfu. Later, Lu Huiqing, a reformist official, acted recklessly, causing Wang Anshi to be reinstated in the capital, though still frustrated by the conservative party. In June of the ninth year of Xining, Wang Anshi's eldest son died. Wang Anshi took the opportunity to retire, so Shenzong dismissed Wang Anshi from his position again in October. After that, Wang Anshi did not engage in any stately affairs.

Although the opinions on Xining's New Policies were controversial, there was no doubt that Wang Anshi's intended effects from its implementation were never accomplished. Although the implementation of the new laws greatly increased the country's revenue and area of land cultivated, it also increased the burden on civilians. The military reforms were only a palliative effort, ultimately resulting in no advances in the military's effectiveness. Coupled with Wang Anshi's impatience, Wang Anshi hastily implemented the reforms, not allowing the necessary longer period of time for society to benefit the fruits of the New Policies. Moreover, after the new law had been implemented for a while, the differences between the clauses and the effect of the reform continued increasing, and some measures originally benefiting the people began to disturb them instead. Improper implementation of the new law was also a reason for its loss of support. Among the reformers, Lu Huiqing, Zeng Bu, Li Ding, and Cai Jing were quite contentious characters, some of them even being regarded as villains. For this reform, historian Huang Renyu commented on this reform: "As early as nine hundred years before us, China attempted to manipulate the state by means of fiscal policies. Its scope and depth have not been seen elsewhere in the world at the time. However, modern finance is an omnipresent and omnipotent organizational force. Its rule included everything, and it does not allow any other competitors to rival it."

After Wang Anshi was dismissed, Shenzong continued reforming; this was known as "Yuanfeng Reforms." Although the reform of Yuanfeng was also called "Xinfeng New Policies" alongside Xining Reform, the reform efforts could not measure up to those in the Xining Reform. With an increasing national military force, Shenzong shifted his focus to the Northern tribes, determined to destroy Xixia. In the fifth years of Xining, Shenzong began to march westward in Xiaxia in May, and won great victories, boosting his confidence. In April of the fourth year of Yuanfeng, a coup occurred within Xixia, and Shenzong took this opportunity to strike Xixia again. However, the expedition ended up as a fiasco. Shenzong couldn't bear it and therefore became bedridden. At the beginning of the first month of the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Shenzong named his sixtg son Zhao Mai as the heir. Although the new law promulgated by Shenzong was briefly abolished by his mother Empress Dowager Gao, it soon was restored, its execution continuing even to the Southern Song Dynasty.

After the death of Shenzong, the Empress Dowager Gao controlled the politics, strictly restraining Zhao Xu who had just assumed the throne as Zhezong. The Empress Dowager patronized the conservative party head, Sima Guang, and diminished Zhezong. This initiated a serious clash between the conservatives and the reformists, which was later known as the Yuanyou Conflicts. After Zhezong seized back authority, he denounced the conservative party and backed the reformist party, continuing employing the reforms.

Song Jiang, Fang La Civil Commotion

Zhezong did not leave any heirs so his brother Zhao Ji ascended the throne as Song Huizong after he died. Huizong was only interested in seeking enjoyment and had no interest in governing. In the beginning, the Empress Dowager helped rule the government, and tried to reharmonize the conservative and reformist party. This ended in absolute failure with the Empress Dowager's death. Huizong loved calligraphy, painting and horse riding since childhood. Huizong's reign was dissipated as he liked to visit the Qinglou. According to what the scholars said, he demanded massive construction projects like the Wansui Mountain built in the northeast corner of Kaifeng, which was then renamed Genyue. Genyue covered land with a radius more than ten miles, and had multiple sanctuaries like Hisbiscus Pond, "Furongchi"(芙蓉池) and Gentle Creek, "Cixi"(慈谿). It also housed pavilions, exotic birds and animals. Huizong also established the Yingfeng Bureau in Suzhou to plunder for peculiar gems, stones and minerals in the southeast, causing much social unrest.

In the first year of Xuanhe (1119), Song Jiang gathered thirty-six people and started commotions in Shandong and Hebei. He was later recruited as an official to resume peace. In the second year of Xuanhe (1120), the leader of the Manichaeism Fang La led the public to start a commotion in Qixian Village of She County (some said that the incident took place in Bangyuandong, Wannian Township, Chun'an). They later captured Hangzhou, and established a regime across the four provinces, six states and fifty-two counties of Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi, but was suppressed by the Song General Han Shizhong the following year.

Jingkang Incident

Song Huizong ignored politics, and the government affairs were handed over to Cai Jing, head of the Six Thieves. Cai Jing encouraged polarization of parties by banning other party members and rejecting dissidents in the name of restoring law and justice. The day after Cai Jing took office, he issued an edict prohibiting the Yuanyou New Policy, which was later named the Yuanyou Liaison. Virtuous ministers were ostracized from the political center. Huizong enjoyed grandiose feats, and so, when he saw Liao being attacked by Jin, quickly sent an ambassador to Jin in spring of the first year of Zhonghe. The two sides agreed to join forces and attack Liao, Song being responsible for attacking Nanjing and Xijing. After Liao was defeated, the land of Yan Yun would be restored to Song. This was historically the "Alliance Conducted at Sea". However, the Song army was defeated. The Jin Army looted the population of Yanjing and detained the three states, Ying, Ping and Luan. Although the Song's Cefan san state defender Zhang Jue and took back eleven out of the sixteen states of Youyun, in the seventh years of Xuanhe, the Jin attacked Song and soon occupied the three states and the states of Youyun, even reaching the capital of Song. Huizong was so frightened he passed on his position to Qinzong, his son, and fled to Jiangnan. Qinzong was indecisive in the negotiations and was not persuasive at all. Later, in desperate circumstances, Li Gang was enabled to defend Dongjing. Although the defence was victorious, the Jin Dynasty did not give up and advanced south twice. In September of the first year of Jingkang, Taiyuan fell. In November, the Kaifeng city wall fell, and the Jin forced Qinzong to reconcile. On November 30, Qin Zong was forced to go to the Jin's Camp to discuss the treatise, returning three days later. The Jin demanded a large amounts of precious stones, causing Qinzong to ransack away his belongings and property. Kaifeng City was besieged by the Jin Army, epidemic diseases seethed through the city, alongside the innumerable people dying of starvation. The Jin forced Qinzong to negotiate again, holding him captive, then attempted to extort more wealth on the condition of his return, but the Song's wealth had already been emptied. The Jin never conquered Kaifeng's inner city, but Song General Fan Qiong delivered Huizong and members of the royal family to the Jin. On February 6, the second year of Jingkang, the two emperors of Huizhou and Qin were abolished by Jin Taizong and degraded to peasants. After the Jin robbed almost all the royal treasures of the Northern Song Dynasty's Palace, a puppet regime, "Da Chu" was established, with Zhang Bangchang as the puppet emperor. Later, another puppet regime, Da Qi was established in 1130, with Liu Yu established as the emperor, which was known in history as "Liu Qi". The two emperors and their brothers were abducted by the Jin to the Five Kingdoms City, historically known as the "Jingkang Incidence". Only Qinzong's brother Kang Zhao Gou had been exempted this fate by being recruited abroad. Huizong was dubbed as Hunde Gong(muddle-headed duke)"昏德公", and Qinzong as Zhonghun Hou(fatuous lord)重昏候. In the end, both of them died in Jin.

Although Huizong did not have any political achievements, he has no doubt accomplished much in calligraphy and painting. Huizong's calligraphy and painting have an unparalleled position in the history of Chinese art, having created the Shoujin characters, and valuing the development of calligraphy and painting. The status of the Hanlin Academy of Painting and Calligraphy was greatly improved, and Zhang Zeduan, a famous painter and the author of the Qingming Shanghetu was promoted due to Huizong. Even his son Zhao Gou was influenced, later becoming an outstanding calligrapher.

Zhao Gou later reclaimed his position as emperor, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty, but compared to the Northern Song Dynasty, Hebei, Henan, and Shandong, had been lost, the territory greatly reduced.

Politics

Centralization

In the Song Dynasty, centralization of the government was promoted, the policy being named "strong trunk weak branches"(強榦弱枝). Local officials were all dispatched by the central government and their positions often rotated. All local revenue was directly transferred to the central government with no safes (named "money valley",制錢穀). It therefore became impossibly difficult to help locals in need during disasters. The centralization drive in the Song Dynasty concentrated the military and financial power, while surrounding regions became impoverished increasingly. As most regions had weakened due to financial toils, when the Jin advanced south, the whole country would disintegrate as soon as the capital Bianjing (Kaifeng) had been captured with no chance of rebounding. In the Tang Dynasty's Anshi Rebellion, even though its military strength was not weaker than that of the Jin, two capitals(the capital Chang'an and the east capital Luoyang) were invaded, fortunately the prefectures and counties were wealthy with plentiful rations and armoury, so resistance could be enabled. In the Song Dynasty, its wealth and provisions were concentrated in the capital leaving none at the local regions, so as soon as the capital was invaded, the whole country collapsed.

Imperial Examination

The examination system in the Song Dynasty generally perused that of the Tang Dynasty, but the influence gained through the imperial examination system in the Song Dynasty was different from the Tang Dynasty. Firstly, the familial status(門第, Mendi) was at its peak in the Tang Dynasty. When the examination was carried out, many candidates writing it were students from great ancestry. As they had been greatly educated by the upbringing in their families, a lot of political anecdotes had already been ingrained in them. Entrenched in politics, they had more chances and opportunities to gain influence. In the late Tang Dynasty, the threshold gradually lowered, and most candidates where the poor who studied hard to increase their livelihoods. Other than self studying the subjects to be tested and devoting their attention to reciting anthology and poetry, the country had not established a formal education. As tutors vanished from family of great ancestry, the politicians became more ignorant. The phrase "Jinshi are frivolous"(進士輕薄) became a buzzword in the late Tang Dynasty. From the Song Dynasty, except for a few families including the Lu and the Han family, the Mendi traditions had disappeared. Rural schoolboys, poor scholars, and remote candidates were more frequently selected to enter their political careers. They were inevitably unfamiliar with politics as they could not afford private tutors, so their political ability was certainly out of question.

Secondly, the examinations in the Tang Dynasty had a system for self nomination, which meant the candidates could send their poems and achievements prior to the examination to erudite ministers in the government for review. As these ministers were well-respected, their appraisals after reading some works led to the fame of many candidates before the examination, securing well-off positions. The admission results are published after the examination, with the results decided according to the consensus from superiors in the government, who usually selected these well-known candidates, not only relying on the performances on the examination day. An examiner even self-depreciated that he did not understand the purpose of the imperial examination as it was the popularity of the candidates which defines the ranking, These words turned out not to be regarded as fraud, but rather as quite chivalrous at the time. Originally, the exam's purpose was to sort out the geniuses in the country, and people believed after understanding the main spirit and original meaning of this system they should not bother about the details of its procurement. However, some had taken advantage of the leniency of the system, so the government had to model a stricter system to prevent fraud, which is generally true for all systems. However, as the system became gradually stricter, the original purpose was lost, and the focus transformed into preventing fraud instead. The examination system had become much stricter in the Song Dynasty. A practice to cover the candidates names when marking to obtain fairer examination results had emerged. However, if an examiner deliberately wanted to admit his favorite disciple, he could not find the disciple's paper due to the hidden names, so the disciple would not be admitted. Because of these stricter examination rules, sometimes, candidates with potential would not be admitted.

The exam could only scout talents but could not cultivate any. There was the Taixue in the Han Dynasties and the Mendi in the Tang Dynasty, both involved in cultivating scholars. The Song people quite wanted to set up a formal education but these expectations had a bleak future. Secondly, the Song wanted to change the examination syllabus, testing the Jingyi(classics, "經義") instead of testing the poems and odes(詩賦). This intention was quite clear; poetry was too widespread and it was not proper to use this as a standard to identify brilliance for the government. But the New Policies did more harm than good, as the examination of the classics had not turned out as suitable as that of poetry and fu. Wang Jinggong lamented that the original intention of using scriptures to develop talented candidates, however, it had been turned on its heads.

Moreover, tactless admissions and flattering officials with gifts had become major malpractices in the Song Dynasty; the imperial examination background despised candidates with such backgrounds, but there were not many talented individuals to be elected. The Song Dynasty also had too many officials causing great economical pressure.

Military

The Song Army was divided into two groups, one being the forbidden army and the other is the Xiang army. At the end of the Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties, the feudal states were arrogant and constantly lead their soldiers into conflicts. At the time, nearly everyone was a soldier with not many scholars around in the society. The army, at first still decent, later turned into a group of old and weak troops. The army couldn't fight in battle, so they were used in hard labor as if they were slaves. Everyone who served as a soldier had to be branded on the face to prevent him from running away; they were called the Pei troops. For example, Song Jiang, Wu Song and several others from the "Water Margin" had tattoos on their faces and were sent to military barracks as soldiers to perform laborious tasks. Folks condemned the government for being a thief of the army forces, and these circumstances continued until the Song Dynasty. However, Song didn't completely reform the system, and as such, their army had limited combat effectiveness.

The Dynasty's army were more active in the Han Dynasty, and started turning into mediocrity in the Tang Dynasty, as the system for recruiting military services in the Song Dynasty was just a revision of that in the Han Dynasty. These soldiers were not needed for battles, only for miscellaneous tasks in local regions, doing whatever the local governments have ordered. It stands to reason that the first thing to be done after the founding of the Song Dynasty was to demobilize troops and dismiss old soldiers, but the Song Dynasty only ever did the first part. This is also the reason the Song Dynasty did not really unify the whole country. Their enemy, the Liao, had existed before the Song Dynasty for over 50 years.

The Yanyun sixteen states were ceded to the Liao people by Shi Jingyuan. Liaoning, which was part of the territory of Shanxi and Hebei, was all in the hands of Liao. The northern barriers had pulled back, and the Song Dynasty built their capital in Kaifeng, which was a flat land exposed by the Yellow River banks. To the east of Taihang Mountain was a great plain, cavalry soldiers could reach the Yellow River banks in a few days if they descended from the north. Across the Yellow River, they would have reached the gate of Kaifeng. There was no well-established national defense during the founding of the Song Dynasty. If they built their capital in Luoyang, the enemy would still have to cross the Jingsuo Mountain in Zhengzhou area from the Longhai in the west, even if they had crossed the river from Beiping. Song could then still barely manage to guard against the invasion. If the Liao went south from the west of Shanxi, Yanmen Pass of Wutai Mountain had a natural defensive geography that could be counted as the second national defence. Liao could easily cross the Yellow River, so the capital should have been built in Luoyang. If we can restore the scale of the Han and Tang Dynasties and build the capital of Chang'an to the west, of course it is better. Song Taizu did not build the capital in Luoyang or Chang'an, but insisted on building it in Kaifeng as he had his difficulties. The early defense line was broken before, losing the Yan Yun states, so he had to raise more troops. As the soldiers had to be fed, the rations had to be entirely supported by the Yangtze River basin.

The Great River Central Plains area had been dilapidated from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties, so the economy relied entirely on the South. There was a canal from Yangzhou to the north, which differs from the canal in the Yuan Dynasty. This was the Tongji canal from Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty, and started from Kaifeng to the north of Yangzhou along the Longhai line. If the rice grain were to be further transported to Luoyang from Kaifeng, it would not be possible as the Bian Canal was broken. As transport by land was difficult, a lot of manpower and resources would be wasted. The founding of the Song Dynasty undertook a chaotic and dilapidated society from the Five Dynasties, so had no resources lying around to transport the grains to Luoyang again, not to mention the desolation that remained of Changan. In order to save the freighting costs, Song Taizu moved the capital to Kaifeng, also professing that when the country is peaceful, it would then move west.

At that time, there were two military strategies. The first one was to attack the northern bank of the Yellow River first, vanquishing the Northern Han and Liao. This was an aggressive and risky strategy. If the Song was defeated, there would be nowhere to hide from being disintegrated. The other was to first conquer the Yangtze River Basin, unifying the south, before advancing the north, which was a relatively stable strategy. Song Taizu decided on the second strategy, first unifying the south, leaving the formidable tasks for later generations. After he ascended the throne, and had led his army against Liao twice, and was defeated in both instances. The first time he fought on the banks of the Sorghum River that ran from Xizhi Gate in Peiping to Xishan Summer Palace and was defeated. He was injured by an arrow, and later suffered to death from the trauma . Back in the days, this had to be concealed from the public as it was a disgrace to the nation. As the Song Dynasty was not in good shape after its founding, it was not possible to lay off troops or dismiss the elderly; at the same time, they did not dare to fight against Liao as Song could not afford to lose. If they lost, they would have to retreat to the Yellow River, shaking the country's foundations. And so the Song Dynasty had to raise and feed its soldier, even though they knew that they could not be used in battle. Strangely, after raising the army, the government did not paying them any heed, promoting scholars instead.The government advocated scholarly rule, emphasizing them in place of the military, as while they still wanted to retain troops for defending against foreign tribes they wanted to gradually reduce the power held by military generals, avoiding the mistakes of the late Tang and the Five Dynasties.

As troops were not mobilized, the state had accumulated an increasing number of soldiers that had to be fed. In the "Water Margin, Lin Chong was the head of the 830,000 forbidden army. In reality, Taizu had only 200,000 troops when he founded the country; Taizong had 660,000, and Renzong had 1.25 million. Therefore, Wang Jinggong reformed the policies, he started from dismissing troops. The procedure for layoffs attempted to restore the ancient militia system from the mercenary troops in place at the time. However, the militia system was too hastily implemented, so another system was implemented; this was first tried out in the Yellow River Basin. The system, Baojia, was to train farmers into soldiers, hoping that during incidents they could be formed into an emergency force, lowering the cost for raising soldiers.

The general military approach of the Song Dynasty was a defensive one, not daring to take the initiative to attack. However, to match the military recruiting program with the defensive approach was a miscalculation. The public were feared arrogant generals the most ever since late Tang and the Five Dynasties, but they were still arrogant in the Song dynasty. The country could do nothing but please them and constantly grant them merits, otherwise they might rebel. While the government reluctantly complied, they increased the influence of scholars and ministers to suppress the status of military generals. The generals had nothing to do, though every year in winter a few hundred catties of fuel would be sent to them. After raising soldiers the government raised scholars, gradually increasing the number of ministers, also having to elevate their merits. The situation spun out of hand, producing not only redundant soldiers and also redundant ministers, which added great burden to the nation's economy. The weakness drove Song into poverty, in turn driving a diminishing national power, until the situation was no longer reversible. Raising redundant soldiers was a major factor contribution to the downfall of the Song Dynasty.

The problem of insufficient resources for national defenses was also one of the major shortcomings of the Song Dynasty. Horses were only produced in two places in the country; one in the northeast and one in the northwest. The first was raised among the thistles in the wild north in an area around Reza; the second in the Ganlianghe area. The horse had to be raised in a cold place with high altitude, and they could not be kept scattered away from one another. They had to be raised in grand mountains and valleys, with young grass, sweet springs, and open fields, and in groups to be used by the cavalry for long-distance pursuit. However, when the two places found in early Song Dynasty was captured by foreign tribes, one by Liao and the other by Xixia. However, the Shangyou iron and other fine iron ores associated with horse gears, were all found out of Song's territory in the northeast, also becoming a weakness for the Song Dynasty. It was not easy to raise horses in warm and humid areas, as they would easily get sick and die. Thus, the lack of horses had become another major obstacle the national defense of the Song Dynasty had to face.

After the peace treatise between Song and Liao, the national defense of the Song Dynasty turned dire. The two countries never formally waged wars against each other nor established border defenses. The people were only encouraged to plant paddy fields, dig out more canals, and plant more poplars beside the canals. In case of war, they could obstruct the enemy and act as resistance against the cavalry of the Liao brigade.

Economy

Agriculture

After the introduction of Zhancheng rice in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1012) during Song Zhenzong's reign, the rice was vastly promoted, with 30,000 Hu(斛, a measuring unit) of Zhancheng rice taken from Fujian and distributed to Jianghuai and Liangzhe. This was the first large-scale introduction of rice crops in Chinese history. During the Xining period of Song Shenzong, large-scale dredging, siltation and farmland improvement were carried out, with 10,793 water conservancy sites constructed nationwide, resulting in more than 36 million mu(亩, a measuring unit) of irrigation fields. In the lower part of the Yangtze River, rice and wheat were planted twice a year to increase farmland yield. The farm tools had also seen great improvements, with a tool for lifting sprouts being invented. It was discovered that powdered minerals such as lime, sulfur, and stalactite could be applied as fertilizers. Rapeseed became the main oil-producing crop in the Jiangnan region. Tea trees were widely planted throughout the South. Sichuan, Sichuan, Guangxi. Liangzhe and Fujian became popular sugarcane planting areas. Qin Guan's "Silkworm Book" was the earliest literature on sericulture in China.

During the prime of the Northern Song Dynasty, the output of linen production was twice that of the Tang Dynasty. The percentage of cotton products in all textile products increased. The two regions of Zhejiang and Sichuan had become industrial centers for silk and weaving. Porcelain kilns were made all over the country. Dingzhou (now Hebei) produced Ding kilns, Ruzhou (now Henan Linru) produced Ru kilns, Yingchang Prefecture Yangzhai (now Henan Yuzhou) produced Jun Porcelain and Raozhou (now Jiangxi Boyang) produced Jingdezhen kilns, all with their own distinctive characteristics. With the development of the wood-block printing industry, the demand for paper surged, prompting rapid growth in the private paper industry, greatly improving the paper-making skills of Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, a large amount of coal has been mined for metallurgy and as fuel for the public. Oil was used in both military and medicine.

歷史

開國

宋朝的開國皇帝是趙匡胤，廟號太祖。他本來是後周的殿前都點檢，掌管禁軍，乃職業軍人。趙匡胤由於戰功卓著，成為了後周世宗的左膀右臂。世宗死後，繼位的恭帝年幼，後通過陳橋兵變奪取後周政權，建立北宋王朝。

北宋建立後，為防止大臣用同樣或類似的方式篡位，趙匡胤決定加強專制主義中央集權制度，使得中唐以來重臣或宦官專權，武將擁兵自重和藩鎮割據的基礎得以剷除，從而維護專制主義中央集權的統一，有利於社會經濟的穩定和發展。但是，北宋初期在趙匡胤的帶領下，增設大量的官僚機構，實行一官多職制度，導致機構重疊，官員數量龐雜，財政開支極大，形成「冗官」局面，因此北宋中期機構臃腫，人浮于事，辦事效率低下，財政困難。另外，北宋大量地擴充軍隊，大力削弱武將的兵權，統兵權和調兵權相互牽制，導致兵將分離，軍隊戰鬥力下降，對大遼，西夏等少數民族的侵略屢戰屢敗，形成「冗兵」局面，邊疆防備空虛，不利于國防安全。綜上所述，加強專制主義中央集權，雖有利于封建國家的統一和社會的安定，能夠有效地防止地方分裂和農民起義的發生。但是，過度的中央集權會導致機構臃腫，邊疆防備空虛，不利于國防安全，這也為北宋中期的積弱埋下了伏筆。

顯德七年（960年）春節，趙匡胤的黨羽製造遼國進攻的假情報，當時的宰相范質急令趙匡胤率軍北上禦敵。正月初三，趙匡胤抵達陳橋驛，當日夜裏他酣睡之時，被手下軍隊黃袍加身，三呼萬歲，擁戴為天子。後周官僚得知後已知無力回天，只得面對現實。周恭帝被迫遜位。趙匡胤登基成為宋太祖。

建隆二年（961年）七月與開寶二年（969年）十月，宋太祖前後兩次「杯酒釋兵權」，將手握重兵的將軍與地方官吏的武將軍權予以剝奪，委以虛職，並改以文官帶軍，將軍權與財政大權全部集中到中央。宋朝因此得以免於出現唐朝藩鎮割據的局面。但是這也導致地方資源狹少，最終讓宋朝在對外戰爭中屢屢失敗。

北宋的基本國策是「重文輕武」，這個政策對宋朝有利有弊，好處乃在於使北宋初期政治、經濟等各方面都比較安定，尤其是沒有宦官專權、地方割據等禍事。即使帝王中多表現平平，但也無損國家的繁榮安定。而壞處則是令北宋在軍事上接連挫敗，連同南宋共三百多年，整個宋朝的歷史重心，都是戰事的挫敗和退卻。

宋太祖所面臨的另外一項事業就是統一全國。趙匡胤在與趙普雪夜商討後，決定以先南後北為統一全國之步驟。趙匡胤首先行假途滅虢之計，滅亡了南平和武平。之後又滅亡後蜀、南漢、南唐三國。太祖一心希望統一全國，還設立封樁庫來儲蓄錢財布匹，希望日後能夠從遼朝手中贖買燕雲十六州。開寶九年（976年）八月，太祖再次進行北伐。但十月十九日太祖忽然去世，其弟趙光義立刻即位，傳光義謀殺兄長而篡位，是為燭影斧聲之案，北宋統一事業暫告停止。趙光義即位，是為宋太宗。

太宗穩固統治地位後，繼續國家統一事業，先是割據福建漳、泉兩府的陳洪進及吳越王錢弘俶於978年歸降，其後再於979年滅亡北漢。太平興國四年（979年）五月，太宗不顧大臣反對，趁滅亡北漢的餘威，從太原出發進行北伐。起初一度收復易州和涿州。太宗志得意滿，下令進攻燕京。結果在幽州外高粱河（今北京西直門外）遭遇慘敗。此役之後，宋朝的戰略便轉為被動。雍熙三年（986年），太宗再次北伐，結果又敗，著名的大將楊業也在此役中陣亡。之後四川又爆發王小波、李順民變。太宗的施政不得不轉為重內虛外。

太宗本人附庸風雅，喜好詩賦，政府也因此特別重視文化事業，宋朝重教之風因此而開。太宗還喜好書法，善草、隸、行、篆、八分、飛白六種字體，尤其是飛白體。連宋朝的貨幣淳化元寶上的字也是太宗親題。

宋太祖有年長兒子，卻由胞弟即位之事頗有疑雲，是為「燭影斧聲」事件，民間也一直傳說趙匡胤是被趙光義謀殺的。為確保政權的合法性，趙光義拋出其母杜太后遺言之說，即「金櫃之盟」（或作「匱」）。金櫃之盟起源于杜太后臨終時召趙普入宮記錄遺命，杜太后稱要趙匡胤死後先傳光義，再傳光美（後改名為廷美），再傳德昭（趙匡胤長子）。這份遺書藏于金櫃之中，因此名為金櫃之盟。雖然有金櫃之盟的說法，但是太宗卻先後逼死太祖之子德昭和德芳，又貶黜廷美到房州，兩年後廷美就死于謫所。太宗長子太子元佐也因為同情廷美而被罷為庶人，另一子元僖暴死，最後襄王元侃被立為太子，改名恆。至道三年（997年），太宗駕崩，李皇后和宦官王繼恩等企圖立元佐為帝。幸虧宰相呂端處置得當，趙恆才順利即位，是為真宗。宋朝也開始進入全盛時期。

北禦遼夏

太宗死後，真宗趙恆接替即位。真宗奉行太宗的黃老政治，無為而治。自從雍熙北伐之後，遼朝就經常在宋遼交界處搶劫殺掠，到景德元年終於演變成大規模侵宋戰爭。宰相寇準力主抗戰，結果真宗親征，宋軍士氣大振，與遼軍相持在澶州城下，剛巧遼大將蕭撻凜中了宋軍的床子弩而亡, 遼軍士氣大挫, 遼見勝利無望, 便與北宋求和。經過幾番交涉，兩國議和成功。和約主要內容是：宋每年給遼絹廿萬匹，銀十萬兩，雙方為兄弟之國。史稱該和約為「澶淵之盟」。

後來，寇準漸漸失寵，最終被罷相。真宗開始信用一佞臣王欽若。王欽若擅長逢迎，深知真宗希望營造天下太平的氛圍，於是極力鼓吹真宗封禪。王欽若本人也與另外一位宰相王旦聯手，在各地製造很多「祥瑞」之象，深得真宗之意。結果真宗在大中祥符元年先後三次封禪。

真宗與皇后劉氏無子。一次真宗偶爾巡幸劉氏的一名侍女李氏，結果李氏與于大中祥符三年產下一子（趙受益），也就是後來的仁宗。後來劉氏與另外一名嬪妃楊氏共同撫養這名孩子。天禧二年中秋，真宗正式封趙受益為太子，並改名為趙禎。乾興元年二月廿日，真宗駕崩。太子趙禎即位，劉皇后被尊為皇太后，在仁宗成年前代理軍國大事。從此開始了劉太后十六年的垂簾聽政時代。

仁宗執政早期一直處在劉氏的陰影之下，直到劉氏死後他才得以施展抱負。仁宗皇后雖是曹氏，但他一直特別寵愛一名張貴妃。但張氏出身低賤，一直未能成為皇后。皇祐六年正月初八，張氏去世。仁宗竟以皇后之禮處理喪事，並追封為溫成皇后，結果出現的一生一死兩皇后，可謂曠古未見。

北宋在仁宗時比較強盛，經濟非常繁榮，開創了北宋的最頂峰，不過當時卻要面對兩大難題：朝廷架構膨脹和軍人數目龐大，形成財政上非常拮据，同時因以經濟手段解決邊患，常要向外族贈送，消耗了大量財富。

党項人李元昊於大慶三年（1038年）獨立稱帝，建立西夏後，宋夏之間爆發了數年的戰爭，宋軍屢戰屢敗，導致了重熙增幣。爾後仁宗任用范仲淹、呂夷簡、富弼、包拯、韓琦等能臣推行慶曆新政，取得非常好的效果。國家進入建國以來最繁榮的階段。但是一些守舊派人物指稱這些改革派官吏拉幫結夥，互相吹捧，是為朋黨。由於仁宗一向最厭惡結黨營私，這些改革派官僚後來多被貶為地方官。短暫的慶曆新政就此結束。在邊疆上，仁宗任用大將狄青，先後弭平了南蠻儂智高的叛亂和西夏的挑釁。

仁宗死後，接替即位的是英宗趙曙。他是真宗之弟商王趙元份之孫。嘉祐七年被立為皇太子。英宗多病，最初朝政都由曹太后掌管。治平元年五月後，英宗才開始親政。但是英宗親政半個月後就爆發了濮議事件，這場爭論長達十八個月。事件起因是宰相韓琦提請討論關於英宗生父的名分問題。朝中因此分成兩個派別，一派認為應稱英宗生父濮王為皇伯，另外一派則認為應該稱為皇考。最終曹太后下旨，稱英宗之父為皇考。才平息了這場爭論。但總體來說，英宗還是一位有為的君主。他繼續任用前朝能臣，也大膽挖掘新人。英宗也非常重視書籍的編修，《資治通鑑》的寫作就是英宗所提出發起的。

熙寧變法與新舊黨爭

英宗死後，他的長子神宗即位。神宗在位期間，宋朝初期制訂的制度已經產生諸多流弊，民生狀況開始倒退，而邊境上遼和夏又虎視眈眈。神宗因此銳意改革。神宗啟用著名改革派名臣王安石進行朝政改革，將其任命為參知政事。王安石推行的新法包括均輸、青苗、免役、市易、保甲、保馬、方田均稅等。但是，新法的實行遭到了以司馬光為首的保守派對新法強烈反彈。加上全國天災不斷，神宗的新法實行的決心也有所動搖。熙寧七年，華北大旱，一名名叫鄭俠的官員向神宗上呈一幅流民圖，圖中景象慘不忍睹，神宗因此受到極大震撼。第二天神宗就下令暫罷青苗、方田、免役等十八項法令。儘管這些法令不久之後得到恢復，但神宗與王安石之間已經開始不信任。熙寧七年四月，王安石第一次被罷相，出知江寧府。後來變法派中的官員呂惠卿肆意妄為。王安石因此回京複職，但是他依然受到保守派的堅決阻撓。熙寧九年六月，王安石長子去世，王安石借機堅決求退，神宗於十月再次罷免王安石的相位，此後王安石便不問世事。

儘管後人對熙寧新法的評價非常兩極，但毋庸質疑，新法的推行效果遠不如王安石預想。新法的實行雖然大大增加了國家的財政收入和耕地面積，但是卻增加了平民的負擔。熙寧新法在軍事上的改革也只是頭痛醫頭，腳痛醫腳，軍隊戰鬥力無明顯改善。加上王安石操之過急，將需要很長時間社會演進才能完成的十餘項改革在短短數年內全盤推行，使變法陷入了欲速則不達的困境。而且，新法實施到了後期，條文與執行效果相差越來越大，一些措施從利民變成擾民。新法執行過程中用人不當也是最後失去民心的原因，變法派中如呂惠卿、曾布、李定和蔡京等都是人品相當有爭議的人物。有的更被視為小人。對於這次改革，以「大歷史」著稱的史學家黃仁宇評論這次變法：「早我們之前九百年，中國即企圖以金融管制的辦法操縱國事，其範圍與深度不曾在世界裏其他地方提出。但現代金融是一種無所不至的全能性組織力量，它之統治所及概要全部包含，又要不容與它類似的其他因素分庭抗禮。」

王安石被罷相後，神宗繼續改革事業，號為「元豐改制」。元豐改制雖與熙寧變法並稱為「熙豐新法」，但改革力度無法同熙寧變法相提並論。伴隨著國力的增強，神宗將焦點轉移到外患上。他決心消滅西夏。熙寧五年五月，神宗開始西征西夏，取得了很大勝利，也大大鼓舞了神宗的信心。元豐四年四月，西夏發生政變，神宗藉此再次征討西夏。結果卻遭到慘敗。神宗因此一病不起。元豐八年正月初，神宗立六子趙傭為太子。而神宗頒佈的新法雖然曾短暫被其母高太后廢，但不久又陸續恢復，不少甚至沿用到南宋時期。

神宗駕崩後，太后高氏垂簾聽政，對剛即位的哲宗趙煦嚴加鉗制。高太后信用以司馬光為首的舊黨，並冷落哲宗，結果引發嚴重的新舊黨爭，是為元祐黨爭。哲宗親政後，貶斥舊黨，信用新黨，變法事業因此得到了持續。

宋江方臘民變

哲宗沒有留下子嗣，死後由他弟弟趙佶即位，是為宋徽宗。徽宗專好享樂，對朝政毫無興趣，即位初由向太后垂簾聽政，向太后啟用新舊兩黨人士試圖重整融合朝中和諧，但隨著向太后駕崩而告終。徽宗自幼愛好筆墨、丹青、騎馬等。親政後的徽宗的生活糜爛，喜好逛青樓。還大興土木，聽信道士所言，在開封東北角修建萬歲山，後改名為艮岳。艮岳方圓十餘里，其中有芙蓉池、慈谿等勝地。裏面亭臺樓閣、飛禽走獸應有盡有。徽宗還在蘇州設立應奉局，專門在東南搜刮奇石，是為花石綱，引得民怨沸騰。

徽宗宣和元年（1119年）宋江聚眾三十六人起事，活動于山東、河北一帶，後受招安。宣和二年（1120年）摩尼教教主方臘率眾在歙縣七賢村起事（一說在淳安萬年鄉幫源峒起事），其後攻占杭州，建立了橫跨今日江蘇、浙江、安徽、江西四省六州五十二縣在內的農民政權，次年被宋將韓世忠鎮壓。

靖康之難

宋徽宗不理朝政，政務都交給以蔡京為首的六賊。蔡京以恢復新法為名大興黨禁，排斥異己。蔡京主政次日，就下達了一個禁止元祐法的詔書。此即謂元祐奸黨案。正直的大臣因此全被排斥出政治中心。徽宗本人好大喜功，當他看到遼國被金國進攻後，便於重和元年春，派遣使節馬政自登州渡海至金。雙方商議兩國共同攻遼，北宋負責攻打遼的南京和西京。滅遼後，燕雲之地歸宋，過去宋朝給遼國的歲幣改繳金國。此即為海上之盟。但宋朝軍隊卻被打得大敗。最後金兵掠去燕京的人口，並剋扣營、平、灤三州。雖然宋朝策反三州守將張覺甚至一度收回幽雲十六州中的十一州，但宣和七年，金兵分兩路南下攻宋，很快占領三州及幽雲各州，直指宋都。趙佶嚇得立刻傳位其子欽宗，逃到江南。欽宗患得患失，在戰和之間舉棋不定。後來在萬般無奈的情況下啟用李綱來保衛東京。雖然一度取得了勝利，但是金朝並未死心，二度南下。靖康元年九月，太原淪陷。十一月，開封外城淪陷，金軍逼迫欽宗前去議和。閏十一月卅日，欽宗被迫前去金營議和，三日後返回。金人要求索要大量金銀。欽宗因此大肆搜刮開封城內財物。開封城被金軍圍困，城內疫病流行，餓死病死者不在少數。金人又迫使欽宗親往議和，將其扣押，再以放還為條件勒索財物，但宋朝已拿不出其所需的財物。金人不曾攻克開封內城，但宋將范瓊將徽宗及皇室成員押往金營。靖康二年二月六日，徽、欽二帝被金太宗所廢，貶為庶人。金朝掠走北宋宮廳幾乎所有皇室成員和財寶後，建立了一個名為「大楚」的傀儡政權，另立張邦昌為帝，稍後于1130年建立一個大齊政權，立劉豫為帝，史稱「劉齊」。徽欽二宗及其兄弟全家被金人掠到五國城，史稱「靖康之難」，僅欽宗弟康王趙構在外募兵勤王得以倖免。徽宗被封為昏德公，欽宗被封為重昏侯。最後兩人皆客死異鄉五國城內。

儘管徽宗在朝政上毫無建樹，但毋庸置疑，他在書畫上的造詣無與倫比。徽宗的書法和繪畫都在中國藝術史上有重要地位。徽宗獨創瘦金體，並重視書畫事業。翰林書畫院的地位大幅提高，著名畫家，清明上河圖的作者張擇端就是其提拔。就連其子趙構也受到薰陶，成為傑出書法家。

趙構後來稱帝建立南宋，但與北宋相比失去了河北、河南、山東，疆域大減。

政治

中央集權

宋朝集權中央，強榦弱枝，地方官員都是由中央派遣，不得常駐。地方全部財富轉運到中央去，地方更無存儲（制錢穀）。平常就很艱苦，臨時地方有事，更是不可想象。所謂宋代的中央集權，是軍權集中，財權集中，而地方則日趨貧弱。地方貧弱，所以金兵南下，只要首都汴京（開封）攻佔，全國瓦解，難以抵抗。唐朝的安史之亂，其軍力並不比金人弱，唐朝兩都（首都長安，東都洛陽）被攻破，可是州郡財富厚，每一座城池，都存有幾年的米，軍裝武器都有儲積，所以到處可以到處作戰。宋朝則把財富兵力都集中到中央，不留一點在地方上，所以首都一被攻陷，全國隨即瓦解。

考試制度

宋代考試制度，大體也沿襲唐代，但宋代科舉所獲影響，卻與唐代不同。第一是唐代門第勢力正盛，在那時推行考試，應考的還是有許多是門第子弟。門第子弟在家庭中有家教薰染，並已早懂得許多政治掌故，一旦從政，比較有辦法。如是積漸到晚唐，大門第逐步墮落，應考的多數是寒窗苦讀的窮書生。他們除卻留心應考的科目，專心在文選詩賦，或是經籍記誦外，國家並未對他們有所謂教育。門第教訓也沒有了，政治傳統更是茫然無知。於是進士輕薄，成為晚唐一句流行語。因循而至宋代，除卻呂家韓家少數幾個家庭外，門第傳統全消失了。農村子弟，白屋書生，偏遠的考童，驟然中試，進入仕途，對實際政治自不免生疏格，至於私人學養，也一切談不上。

其次，唐代考試，有公卷通榜之制。所謂公卷，是由考生把平日詩文成績，到中央時，遍送政府中能文章有學問的先進大僚閱看。此輩先進，看了考生平日作品，先為之揄揚品第，在未考以前，早已有許多知名之士，獲得了客觀的地位。通榜是考後出榜，即據社會及政府先輩輿論，來拔取知名之士，卻不專憑考試之一日短長。甚至主考官謙遜，因其不了解這一次考場中的學術公評，不自定榜，而倩人代定榜次，並有倩及應考人代定，而應考人又自定為榜首狀元的。但此等事在當時反成嘉話，不算舞弊。本來考試是為國家選拔真才，明白的此項制度之主要精神與本原意義，又何必在細節上一一計較。但有些人便要藉此制度之寬大處作弊，於是政府不免為要防弊而把制度嚴密化。這是一切制度皆然的。但制度逐步嚴密化，有時反而失卻本義，而專在防弊上著想。宋代考試制度，是遠比唐代嚴格了，那時則有糊名之制，所憑則真是考試成績。其實考試成績，只是一日之短長，故有主考官存心要錄取他平日最得意的門生從學，而因是糊名，尋覓不出該人之卷，而該人終於落第的。如是則考試防制嚴了，有時反得不到真才。

考試只能選拔人才，卻未能培養人才。在兩漢有太學，在唐代有門第，這些都是培養人才的。社會培養出人才，政府考試始有選擇。宋人頗想積極興辦教育，這是不錯的。但此非咄嗟可望。第二是想把考試內容改變，不考詩賦，改考經義。這一層用意亦甚是。人人學詩賦，風花雪月，用此標準來為政府物色人才，終不是妥當辦法。但改革後卻所得不償所失，考經義反而不如考詩賦。王荊公因此嘆息，說本欲變學究為秀才，不料轉變秀才為學究。

而且，恩蔭補官、任子太濫，是宋代一大弊政；科舉出身輕視恩蔭出身，補官當中並不一定沒有人才，但也使的宋代冗官過多，經濟壓力沉重。

軍事

宋代軍隊分兩種，一稱禁軍，一稱廂軍。在唐末五代時，藩鎮驕橫，兵亂頻仍，當時社會幾乎大家都當兵，讀書人並不多見。開頭軍隊還像樣，以後都變成了老弱殘兵。軍隊不能上陣打仗，便把來像罪犯般當勞役用。其時凡當兵的，都要面上刺花字，稱為配軍，防他逃跑。如《水滸傳》裡的宋江、武松一類人，臉上刺了字，送到某地方軍營中當兵做苦工，人家罵他賊配軍，這是遠從五代起，直到宋朝，亦沒有能徹底改。這樣的軍隊，實際戰鬥力有限。其實這些軍隊，在漢是更役，在唐則是庸。而宋代之所謂役，在漢代卻是地方自治之代表。這些兵，並不要他們上陣打仗，只在地方當雜差。地方政府有什麼力役，就叫他們做。照理，宋代開國第一件該做的事，便是裁兵復員，而宋代卻只照上面所說的這樣裁，至於復員則始終復不了。這也因宋代得天下，並未能真的統一了全國，他們的大敵遼國，已經先宋立國有了五十多年的歷史。

所謂燕雲十六州，早被石敬瑭割讓予遼人。當時遼寧乃及山西、河北的一部分疆土，都在遼人手裡。北方藩籬盡撤，而宋代又建都開封，開封是一片平地，豁露在黃河邊。太行山以東盡是個大平原，騎兵從北南下，三幾天就可到黃河邊。一渡黃河，即達開封城門下。所以宋代立國時沒有國防的。倘使能建都洛陽，敵人從北平下來，渡了河，由現在的隴海線向西，還需越過鄭州一帶所謂京索之山，勉強還有險可守。若從山西邊塞南下，五台山雁門關是那裡的內險，可算得第二道國防線。要一氣沖到黃河邊，還不容易。所以建都洛陽還比較好。若能恢復漢唐規模，更向西建都長安，那當然更好。但宋太祖為何不建都洛陽，長安，二偏要建都開封呢？這也有他的苦衷。因為當時國防線早經殘破，燕雲失地未復，他不得不養兵。養兵要糧食，而當時的軍糧，也已經要全靠長江流域給養。古代所謂大河中原地帶，早在唐末五代殘破不堪，經濟全賴南方支持。由揚州往北有一條運河，這不是元以後的運河，而是從揚州往北沿今隴海線西達開封的，這是隋煬帝以來的所謂通濟渠。米糧到了開封，若要再往洛陽運，那時汴渠已壞。若靠陸路運輸，更艱難，要浪費許多人力物力。宋代開國，承接五代一般長期混亂黑暗殘破的局面，沒有力量把軍糧再運洛陽去，長安一片荒涼，更不用提。為要節省一點糧運費用，所以遷就建都在開封。宋太祖當時也講過，將來國家太平，國都還是要西遷的。

在當時本有兩個國策，一是先打黃河北岸，把北漢及遼打平了，長江流域就可不打自下。這個政策是積極進取的，不過也很危險。假使打了敗仗，連退路都沒有。一個是先平長江流域，統一了南方，再打北方，這個政策比較持重穩健。宋太祖採了第二策，先平南方，卻留著艱難的事給後人做。太宗即位，曾兩次對遼親征，但都打了敗仗。一次是在今北平西直門外直去西山頤和園的那條高粱河邊上交戰，這一仗打敗，他自己中了箭，回來因創傷死了。在歷史上，這種事是隱諱不講的。只因宋代開國形勢如此，以後就不能裁兵，不能復員，而同時也不敢和遼國再打仗。因為要打就只能勝，不能敗。敗了一退就到黃河邊，國本就動搖。在這種情形下，宋代就變成養兵而不能打仗，明知不能打仗而又不得不養兵。更奇怪的，養了兵又不看重他們，卻來竭力提倡文治。想把這些兵隊來抵禦外患，一面提倡文治，重文輕武，好漸漸裁抑軍人跋扈，不再蹈唐末五代覆轍。因此上養兵而癒不得兵之用，以後就癒養癒多。《水滸傳》說林沖是八十三萬禁軍教頭，實際上太祖開國時只有二十萬軍隊，太宗時有六十六萬，到仁宗時已經有了一百二十五萬。所以王荊公變法行新政，便要著手裁兵。裁兵的步驟，是想恢復古代民兵制度，來代替當時的傭兵。但民兵制度，急切未易推行到全國，遂有所謂保甲制，先在黃河流域一帶試行。保甲就是把農民就地訓練，希望臨時需要，可以編成軍隊，而又可免除養兵之費。

宋代的國防精神是防禦性的，不敢主動攻擊，用意始終在防守。把募兵制度與長期的防守政策相配合，這卻差誤了。宋人最怕唐末五代以來的驕兵悍卒，但宋代依然是兵驕卒悍。國家不能不給他們待遇，而且須時時加優，否則就要叛變。政府無奈何，加意崇獎文人，把文官地位提高，武官地位抑低。節度使閑來沒事做，困住在京城，每年冬天送幾百斤薪炭，如是種種，把他們養著就算。養了武的又要養文的，文官數目也就逐漸增多，待遇亦逐漸提高。弄得一方面是冗兵，一方面是冗吏，國家負擔一年重過一年，弱了轉貧，貧了更轉弱，宋代政府再也扭不轉這形勢來。因養了許多無用兵，使宋代成為一個因養兵而亡國的朝代。

關於國防資源問題，這也是宋代一個最大的缺憾。在中國只有兩個地方出產馬。一在東北，一在西北。一是所謂薊北之野，即今熱察一帶。一是甘涼河套一帶。一定要高寒之地，才能養好馬。養馬又不能一匹一匹分散養，要在長山大谷，有美草，有甘泉，有曠地，才能成群養，才能為騎兵出塞長途追擊之用。而這兩個出馬地方，在宋初開國時，正好一個被遼拿去，一個被西夏拿去，都不在宋朝手裡。與馬相關聯的尚有鐵，精良的鐵礦，亦都在東北塞外，這也是宋代弱征之一。可馬在溫濕地帶飼養不易，很容易生病死亡，因此馬匹也成了宋代國防上所遭遇的大難題。

自宋遼兩國講和以後，宋朝的國防形勢是很可憐的。兩國既不正式開戰，也不好正式布置邊防。只獎勵民間種水田，多開渠道，於渠旁多植榆楊。萬一打仗，可以做障礙，稍稍抵禦遼人之大隊騎兵。

經濟

農業

宋真宗大中祥符五年（1012年）引進占城稻後，親自推廣占城稻，從福建取占城稻三萬斛，分給江淮、兩浙種植，這是中國曆史上水稻的一次大規模引種。宋神宗熙寧年間，進行大規模引濁放淤、改良農田，全國興修水利10793處，溉田3600多萬畝。長江下游出現稻麥一年二熟制，提高農田單位產量。農具也有很大改進，出現了拔秧工具—秧馬。發現石灰、硫黃、鐘乳粉等礦物可以作為農田肥料施用。油菜已成為江南地區的主要油料作物。南方各地普遍栽種茶樹。川蜀、兩廣、兩浙、福建是著名的甘蔗種植區。秦觀作《蠶書》，是為中國現存最早的蠶業著作。

北宋全盛時，麻布產量比盛唐時期多二倍。棉織品在全部紡織品中的比重有所上升。兩浙、川蜀地區成為絲織業中心。宋代制瓷窯戶幾乎遍布全國各地。定州（今屬河北）定窯、汝州（今河南臨汝）汝窯、潁昌府陽翟（今河南禹州）的鈞瓷、饒州（今江西波陽）景德鎮窯各有特色。隨著雕版印刷業的興盛，紙張的需要量激增，促使民間造紙業迅速發展。宋代造紙技術比前代大幅度提高。北宋已大量開採石炭（煤），用于冶金和民間日用燃料。在軍事和醫藥上都已利用石油。

工商業

北宋工商業發達，北宋後期出現了總計50座戶口在10萬戶以上的大城市。宋真宗天禧五年（1021年）川陝四路地區出現了世界上最早的紙幣─—交子。內河航運和造船也極其發達。遍布各地的驛站網，除官府文書外，還可郵寄私人信件。北宋對外貿易也盛況空前。在四川出現最早的茶馬互市。在海上，北自登州、密州，南到泉州、廣州，總共開放了12個官方對外通商港口，設立市舶司，管理對外貿易。從泉州；廣州等港口出發的船隻，遠達非洲的埃及和當時的東非諸國，將宋國瓷器和絲綢等工業產品出口到西洋，換回香料、藥材、象牙及寶石等奢侈品。海上交通業的發達，也拉動了造船業的發展。沈括寫道：「國初，兩浙獻龍船，長二十餘丈，上為宮室層樓，設御塌以備游幸。」

賦稅制度

宋代賦稅制度，大體也是由唐代兩稅制沿下。只講一點較重要的。本來兩稅制度，把一切賦稅項目，都歸並了，成為單一的兩稅。宋代之差役，也如秦代之戍邊，都是由前面歷史沿襲下來，政府沒有仔細注意，而遂為社會之大害。

文化

北宋時代的儒學複興和重視文化正常，因而大力提拔文人，使文人得到自由發展的空間，其中較著名的文人有王安石、范仲淹、蘇洵、蘇軾、蘇轍、司馬光、歐陽修等人，他們擅于寫詞，並達到極高水平，與唐詩成為中國古典文學藝術的瑰寶。書法也是突出，國立故宮博物院典藏之黃庭堅、蘇軾、米芾、蔡襄並列為北宋四大書家。張擇端的《清明上河圖》，這幅長卷通過描繪汴京的風物，使近六百人躍然紙上，成為中國繪畫史上不朽的佳作。圖畫中顯現出北宋宣和年間汴梁城經濟和商業發達的景象，故有人認為宋朝時資本主義開始萌芽。

科技

中國四大發明之一的活字印刷術正式被發明，改良了書籍印刷的技術，對後世文化有很大推動作用。黑色火藥在宋初首次應用于軍事。指南針已經在北宋軍隊中用于辨明方向。北宋文人沈括撰寫《夢溪筆談》，乃中國歷史上著名的科學著作之一。

北宋君主

同期世界歷史

• 968年，丁部領建立大瞿越國。970年，丁部領自稱皇帝，並且制定年號太平，由於丁朝統一越南北部，並且創有國號，所以丁朝是越南脫離中國之開始。

• 962年，德意志國王、薩克森王朝的奧托一世在羅馬由教宗若望十二世加冕稱帝，到973年在位，成為羅馬的監護人和羅馬天主教世界的最高統治者。1157年，這一帝國得到了「神聖帝國」的稱號。

• 963年-1186年，伊斯蘭加茲尼王國建立，統治遍及波斯東部、阿富汗、印度次大陸北部。

• 1055年，塞爾柱突厥人攻陷巴格達，解除了阿拔斯王朝哈里發的政治權力，僅讓其保有宗教首領的地位。

• 1096年，歐洲第一次十字軍東征。