The Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties

The Song Dynasty followed the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and preceded the Yuan Dynasty. It comprised the Northern and Southern Song, saw eighteen emperors, and lasted 319 years. The Song Dynasty was an era of flourishing commerce, education, culture, and scientific innovation. In particular, popular prosperity and economic growth far surpassed those of the High Tang. This book recounts such stories as Zhao Kuangyin’s Chenqiao Mutiny, the banquet at which he stripped his generals of their military commands, Li Houzhu’s loss of his kingdom, Emperor Taizu’s appointment of worthy and capable officials, Emperor Taizong’s northern campaigns, the Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun uprising, Yang Wudi’s rescue of the emperor at Gaoliang River, Yang Ye’s capture at Chenjiayu, the Treaty of Chanyuan, Fan Zhongyan’s reforms, Di Qing’s rise despite his humble origins, the incorruptible Bao Zheng, and Ouyang Xiu’s efforts to reform literary style.