The Song dynasty was China’s wealthiest and most prosperous era. It should have enjoyed unparalleled glory, but though it was founded by the sword and ruled through civil governance, with civil officials controlling the military, it suffered endless humiliation at the hands of foreign peoples. It was one of the wealthiest, yet also one of the most disgraced, Han Chinese dynasties.
It had neither the might of Qin, nor the boldness of Han and Tang, nor the fierce resolve of the later Ming.
Yet a young man picked up his brush and quietly wrote: 【My will is the will of the sages; my will is the will of Heaven; my will is the will of Song.】
