The World Slays Its Emperor, While I Crush the Hundred Schools

In this otherworldly Southern Song, the dynasty is said to have been the most culturally prosperous, commercially vibrant, and intellectually open era of feudal times. Yet this exquisite edifice was raised on the backs of countless poor people, gaunt and barefoot, dressed in rags. The Song-Jin peace treaty, the Jingkang Incident, the two emperors taken north, and the revival of Neo-Confucianism made the edifice heavier, bending the backs of the poor even further. In Lin’an, refined scholars sang of the Song’s invincibility. Outside the city, a single natural disaster, a stint of forced labor, or even one tax levy could destroy a family, leaving wives and husbands separated and homes in ruins. In such a distorted society, the promotion of Neo-Confucianism, with its doctrine of “preserving heavenly principles and extinguishing human desires,” won unprecedented support from both the imperial court and the scholar-officials. Translated, “preserve heavenly principles and extinguish human desires” means: “Starving to death is a small matter; social order is paramount. You’re poor, so accept your lot. You want to talk about fairness? Have you asked the blade in my hand?” Under the age-old order of imperial authority and social hierarchy, Shen Congtian saw through it all. He said, “The emperor is merely the foremost representative of the privileged class. Confucianism and Legalism are simply convenient tools of rule, and social hierarchy is the concrete means by which those tools are wielded.” After hearing that, you might think the common people would all support him. But in truth, the entire society wanted him dead...