Song Dynasty(960 AD to 1234 AD)

The dynasty of Song had existed for 319 years, starting from 960 AD when Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Tai Zu) established the regime in Chenqiao Bridge to 1279 when the empire was overthrown by Yuan Dynasty. Song Dynasty covered a longer time than Tang Dynasty but exerted less influence than Song and Tang Dynasty in history. In fact, Song Dynasty was composed of two periods: Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song Dynasty. The former referred to the ruling and confronting years of Liao, Xia, and Jin, while the latter was the declining period of the empire.

Northern Song Dynasty achieved long-term development in terms of domestic economy, foreign trade, and culture after the unification of North China. There were also Wang Anshi Reforms and New Policies proposed by Fan Zhongyan in the ruling year of Emperor Qing Li, hoping to improve the governance of the then empire. Although they failed to guarantee long time prosperity of Northern Song Dynasty, they successfully solved some social contradictions. However, insurgences of Fang La and Song Jiang respectively in the south and north reflected that domestic conflicts and contradictions were deepening.

When Northern Song Dynasty was overthrown by Jin, Southern Song Dynasty decided to settle to the south of Yangtze River rather than unifying the north. The north expedition by Yue Fei, a great general and master of war, was considered as a measure of consolidating the rule of the empire. The corrupted ideas and misleading policies of Jia Sidao fastened the perdition of Southern Dynasty. Although there were upright and patriotic officials such as Wen Tian Xian g who made vigorous efforts to improve the situation, decline of the dynasty failed to be hold up. The great poem of Wen Tianxiang, which can be interpreted as "Everyone must die, but let me leave a loyal heart shinning in the pages of history", expressed the complicated emotions and sorrows of valiants in that period.