The pinnacle of China's feudal dynasties was the Song Dynasty rather than the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was the most economically prosperous, technologically advanced, culturally prosperous, artistically sophisticated, and with the most affluent standard of living for its people in Chinese history. The Song Dynasty was the dynasty that did China the most honor and the most inventions in the world at that time. The Song Dynasty was also the period when China made the greatest contribution to the world. More than half of the important inventions in Chinese history appeared in the Song Dynasty, when three of the so-called Four Great Inventions of China were invented or began to be practically applied on a large scale, gunpowder, the compass, printing, paper money, draped textiles and important reforms in the porcelain craftsmanship, etc. The Song Dynasty was also the most important period of China's contribution to the world. During the Song Dynasty, navigation, shipbuilding, medicine, craftsmanship, and agricultural techniques reached a level of sophistication never before seen in antiquity and difficult to match in later times. The Song dynasty also developed a new science, technological science. These brilliant achievements were directly linked to Song's comprehensive civilization. The GDP of the Song Dynasty was 50% of the world's. The comprehensive strength of the country both in quality and quantity Song Dynasty was the number one power in the world at that time. The Song Dynasty had reached the peak of the feudal dynasty, and the germ of capitalism had already appeared.
I. [Song Dynasty's economic and commercial]
The Song Dynasty was the only dynasty in ancient China that did not implement the policy of "suppressing business" for a long time. Since the inception of the Song Dynasty, that is, the treatment of pit mines, the organization of tea and salt development. As a result, a large number of peasants liberated from the land into the commercial handicrafts, the private economy was stimulated, soaring. Created unprecedented wealth and prosperity. At the beginning of the founding of the Song Dynasty, Song Taizu Zhao Zhengyin called on people to "accumulate more gold, the city to leave their children and grandchildren, singing and dancing to the end of the day," Song Taizong also issued an imperial edict, "so that the two systems of discussing the art of political abundance in order to hear", so that the officials to study the financial management of the way of seeking wealth. Emperor Shenzong of Song believed that "especially the first financial management", issued "the first of the political affairs, financial management for the urgent" of the edict. These policies oriented to make the commercial tide of prosperity, the rapid development of trade and commerce, the rapid development of the money industry, prompting the Song Dynasty in the world for the first time in the history of mankind, the earliest paper money and banks. Banks could lend money and make payments off-site. During the Northern Song Dynasty, gold, silver, copper, iron, coal and other mineral deposits were mined in large quantities, and the earliest manufacturing factories and processing factories in the history of the world also appeared throughout the country. Such as shipbuilding factories, firearms factories, paper factories, printing factories, weaving factories, and official kilns around the country. Workers in the factories received wages on a regular basis. The Southern Song Dynasty's weaponry craftsmen amounted to 7,000 or 8,000 people. The Bureau of making clubs, there are more than 1,200 apprentices. Ayakin hospital weavers reached more than four hundred people. In addition to public factories, some private factories also appeared and prospered in large numbers. Because of the unprecedented prosperity of the economy, the Song Dynasty, the amount of money minted is very large, such as the Song Emperor Shenzong when the national annual minting of 5.06 million coins. (The Tang Dynasty's most prosperous Kaiyuan period annual coinage of 320,000贯).
The forms and types of money in the Song Dynasty were too rich. Copper coins and silver ingots were the native currency of the Song dynasty. Copper coins and iron coins were used together in the Song Dynasty, and some Song coins contained alloy components. There were also some silver coins. The coins of the Song Dynasty were the most and best attained in ancient Chinese history in terms of variety, quantity and quality. The calligraphy on the Song coins is beautiful, mostly in the handwriting of famous artists and emperors, with a full range of seal scripts and cursive scripts, as well as ancient seal scripts and thin gold scripts. All kinds of exquisite currency make people love it, the art of Song coins of the highest artistic craftsmanship of the general category. Song money was the favorite and strongest currency of the neighboring countries at that time. Song money became the treasure of the South China Sea countries of the town treasury. Although Liao, Jin and other countries also imitated the Song coinage money, but the most widely circulated in Jin is the Song money. Until now, the most Song money has been unearthed and survived. In today's east to Japan, west to Europe, Africa, a vast area have been unearthed. This shows the prosperity and strength of Song. In order to avoid carrying a large number of copper money to and from the trouble, in the year 998 AD (Xianping first year) around the Sichuan area folk appeared in the earliest paper money "Jiazi". This is our country is also the world's earliest paper money. But this kind of paper money is only equivalent to the guarantee of the coupons. The Song Dynasty government successively printed and issued several types of banknotes, such as jiaozi, qianxin, guanzi and huizi. In 1023 A.D. (the first year of Tian Sheng), the Song government opened the world's first official organization in charge of banknote issuance, "Yizhou Jiaosi Service", which was the world's first central people's bank. In 1024 A.D., the Song government began to print and issue "Jiaozi", which was colorfully printed on copper plates with birds, animals, flowers, patterns or stories, etc., and was exceptionally beautiful. This kind of note is like a public debt, issued by the boundary. Cross initially to two years for a boundary, the issuance of new cross at the same time the abolition and recycling of the old cross, since 1072 AD (xining five years), although still issued every two years a boundary, but the circulation period of each boundary cross increased to four years. The nominal value of the currency was fixed from one guan to ten guan, and it was based on iron money with reserve for issuance, which had basically possessed the characteristic elements of modern local currency. Its use became more and more widespread. The use of bills for commercial prosperity provides convenient conditions. In the fourth year of Chongning of the Northern Song Dynasty, a new type of banknote called "money citation" was issued in the northern part of Jiangbei and northern China, but it was stopped after only one boundary was printed because of poor circulation and unsuccessful use. In 1107 A.D. (the first year of Daguan), the Sichuan Jiazi was renamed Qianyin, and the Jiazi Service was also renamed Qianyin Service, and began to print large quantities of banknotes for distribution, which caused a serious depreciation of the Qianyin due to the over-issuance of the quantity. In 1110 AD (Da Guan three years) to limit the issuance of Tian Sheng about 1.25 million guan, the circulation of the region is also limited to the use of iron money in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hedong area, and then took the exchange, stop using the old money quoted to increase the reserves and other methods, so that the value of the money quoted to be restored. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song government set up the "line in the club business" in Hangzhou, specializing in the management of the printing of "clubs". Successively printed a thousand, two thousand, three thousand and two hundred, three hundred, five hundred, six kinds of face value of the club. The "boundary" was three years, and it was canceled when it expired, and new ones were made to replace the old ones. From A.D. 1171 to A.D. 1240, **** issued eighteen circles of hui zi. Later, the government stipulated that the seventeenth and eighteenth kaiko could circulate permanently. This was the real meaning of pure coins made of paper issued by the government. Paper money gradually replaced copper money as the main medium of exchange. The rapid development of business has played a role in promoting.
The Song dynasty adjusted the traditional practice of emphasizing punishment over people in the legislation of the past dynasties, and attached great importance to economic legislation. The content of the law involves all aspects of social and economic activities, specializing in the setting of monopoly law, such as salt law, wine law, tea law and other decrees. The Song Dynasty became the most active period of economic legislation in ancient China, with frequent legislative activities, regulations covering all aspects of social and economic activities, and unprecedented imagination in the formulation and implementation of regulations. The economic decrees of the Song paid attention to the distribution of interests between the state and economic actors and conformed to the laws of the commodity economy. The huge financial revenues obtained by the Song dynasty were the result of the rapid development of the national economy, the extreme prosperity of industry and commerce, and the increase in the level of productivity. The abundant social financial resources made it possible for the government not only not to seek to tax the people harshly but also to ensure government revenue. This eased social conflicts and entered a virtuous cycle of governing the country. The economy of the Song Dynasty, especially the secondary and tertiary industries, developed greatly, and the living standard of the people reached an unprecedented high. In 1077 A.D., the total tax revenue of the Northern Song Dynasty***70.7 million guan, of which 21.62 million guan, or 30%, were from the two taxes on agriculture, and 49.11 million guan, or 70%, were from industrial and commercial taxes. Constitutes the main body of national revenue, is no longer agriculture, but industry and commerce, Song Dynasty has come out of the agricultural civilization, Song China's agricultural society has begun to industrial and commercial society that step forward. Song dynasty craft industry also appeared in the copper plate printing advertisement. It was more than three hundred years earlier than the Western capitalist printed advertisements. The great scholar Su Dongpo once made an advertising poem to an old woman who made oil food, which made her business greatly revitalized. Shen Kuo's theory of the velocity of money circulation reached the level of modern monetary theory. In addition, during the Song Dynasty, there were already "tabloids", which were similar to modern newspapers. The world's earliest Chinese capitalism was born in the strong commercial wave of the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was the era when the civic class of Chinese society was formally created, and a large number of craftsmen, merchants, and small business owners constituted the middle class of the Song Dynasty. They were economically affluent and had their own independent pursuit of values. The affluent and leisure life of the citizens and their aesthetic and lifestyle interests contributed to the high cultural prosperity of the Song Dynasty, and opera, acrobatics, music, poetry, novels, etc. all flourished in the Song Dynasty. Large-scale urbanization began in the Song Dynasty. For the first time in China, there were large cities centered primarily on commerce, rather than administration. The Song Dynasty's well-developed transportation was the greatest in human feudal history. In the Song Dynasty, there was a post office every ten miles and a post station every thirty miles. The official roads in different parts of the country were scattered and well connected. The Song government attached great importance to the postal service, and the practice of "postal service by law" ensured the normal operation of the postal service." The White Pagoda Bridge sells the map by the side of the bridge, and the long pavilions and short posts are clear." The maps of the Song Dynasty were already quite accurate. The four capitals of the Song Dynasty were Kaifeng Prefecture in Tokyo, Luoyang Prefecture in the Western Capital, Da Ming Prefecture in Beijing, and Yingtian Prefecture in Nanjing. The large cities of the Song Dynasty were concentrated in population, and both Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, were large cities with more than a million people. There were six Song Dynasty cities with populations over 200,000 as in Quanzhou. Cities with more than 100,000 households in the Song Dynasty increased from a dozen in the Tang Dynasty to forty-six. (The largest and most prosperous city in the West at the end of the Southern Song was Venice with a population of only one hundred thousand.) There was an hour hand hanging from a tower on all the arteries of the city. Each clock was tended by a watchman. He struck the brass roe to tell the time, a sound that echoed even in very narrow alleys, and then he showed the moments to the people in words. The Northern Song Dynasty was rich and powerful for more than 160 years, and the capital city of Bianliang (now Kaifeng, Henan Province) was "ten times more popular than the capitals of the Han and Tang dynasties", and Bianliang City was not only smooth and developed by dry roads, but also very developed by water transportation." The poopdeck of Bianliang City is always in the clear, and the waterway is also very well developed. Millions of households in Bianliang City were all on stone charcoal, and there was not a single household that burned fuel. Bianliang City in Song Dynasty was already warmed by coal (called burning stone in the West) instead of wood. At that time, the West was using wood to split wood for cooking and heating. This was not the case in China's major cities after the liberation in 1949. The birth of the emerging civic class, the affluent and comfortable life of the Song people strong consumer consciousness, greatly stimulated the tea house wine market, entertainment and other tertiary industries flourished. Unlike the cities of the Tang Dynasty, the cities of the Song Dynasty were dark as soon as the night came, and the Song City was a city of brilliant light in the dark. Because Song Dynasty did not impose curfew like Tang Dynasty, Song people had night life. At night, Song people lit lamps in their rooms, in front of their houses and courtyards, thus there were lights everywhere. People who traveled at night carried various kinds of lanterns. Therefore, the whole city was shining at night. At night, the city is brightly lit, and the sound of sales is heard until dawn. In the "wazi", "hook bar" and other fixed entertainment venues, a hundred plays are performed, and the public concentrates on watching them. At night, the food and beverage stores do a brisk business, and the streets are crowded with people until the sun rises." One or two places on the street noodle store and the city of West Square West food noodle store, all-night trading, the dawn of endless "," the rest of the bridge Road, Fang Lane, there is also a night market poker selling fruit sugar and other things, but also sell Gua Gua people Pan Street hawking, such as the top tray and stretcher to sell the city's food, to the three more unceasingly. Winter months, although heavy rain and snow, there are also night market pan sale." ." Wine shop Bose miscellaneous song call, night and night as long as the first half of the month." The "Liangyuan Songs and Dances are a great success, and the wine is like a knife to solve the sorrows. I remembered how much fun I had as a teenager, and I went up to the Fan Tower in the dead of night." "When I look back in the twilight, the man is at the end of the lights." When will the West Lake songs and dances stop? The warm wind makes the tourists drunk, making Hangzhou a bianzhou." The tourists are not only a few Song people such as royal relatives and dignitaries, but also the vast number of citizens in the city, the majority of Song people. The Song people were so rich and happy. The Song Dynasty did not have the poverty of "frozen bones" and the pessimism and despair of "the country is broken, the city is deep in spring." The pessimism and despair. Only the "West Lake song and dance when to rest" of the drunken optimism, prosperity.
The Song Dynasty developed the south, actually developed the territory. The Song dynasty developed the south, actually developed the territory, and made a contribution to making the south more like the Chinese, which is difficult to compare with all the generations. Although there was some development in the ancient times, but the south relative to the north of the Central Plains is still mostly barbaric land. This exploitation was not an exploitation of war but an invasion of cultural and economic penetration. The strength of the Song Dynasty made the southerners also become truly Chinese. The minorities in the south were also gradually integrated into the Chinese family. After the Song Dynasty, there was no more north-south division in China, and the central Chinese people from the north and the south were gradually synthesized into a whole in the rich and prosperous Song Dynasty. When Emperor Zhenzong and Emperor Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, they broke the tradition of "southern people not to be a minister". Wang Yanruo, a native of Linjiang, and Ding Wei, a native of Suzhou, served as prime ministers. In the ninth year of the Kai Bao in Changsha, Hunan Province, which used to be the land of the three seedlings, Yuelu Academy was built, the first of the four universities, and Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty gave the main gate "Yuelu Academy" in his own handwriting, which has survived to the present day. Zhu Xi, a literati of the Song Dynasty, and other literary thinkers came here to teach Confucian classics, democratic ideas such as establishing a nation and uniting the world, and emphasizing the importance of the people over the ruler. In the fall of A.D. 1024 - A.D. 1028 spring Fan Zhongyan in Taizhou personally led more than 40,000 people to build more than one hundred and fifty miles of sea defense dike project completed. From then on, salt farms and farmland were secured, and thousands of families who had been affected by disasters in previous years were relocated from their homes. In order to commemorate Fan Zhongyan's achievement, this sea weir was called "Fan Gong Dike". Fan Zhongyan was relegated to Suzhou after more than a year of labor with the majority of workers to build the completion of the Suzhou water conservancy project. The relatively barren Suzhou became a large granary that could provide a good harvest in times of drought and flood. In 1085 AD Su Dongpo was relegated to Hangzhou, Hangzhou is still relatively backward areas, Su Dongpo built six wells to solve the city's water. Su Dongpo built six wells to solve the water problem of the whole city, and comprehensively improved the West Lake by digging out a large amount of turnip from the bottom of the lake and using it to build a willow embankment to connect the north and south. People named "Su Causeway" in honor of Su Dongpo, and "Spring Dawn of Su Causeway" is still one of the scenic spots of West Lake. Su Dongpo's life has been transferred to know Mizhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou, Hangzhou, Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Yingzhou, Huizhou and other places, the farthest south to Hainan Island, it can be said that all the way to advise the cultivation of crops, repairing water for the people to solve their problems. Song dynasty officials who made mistakes or were deported because of political disagreement were generally exiled to the southern backward areas. This gave them the opportunity to serve their country, prove themselves and benefit the people there.
The period of the two Songs was a critical period in which the level of social and economic development of the Taihu Lake basin jumped to the forefront of the country. The number of acres of cultivated land in Suzhou before and after the Yongxi period (984-987 A.D.) was no more than 1,400,000 mu, and in the Jingyou period (1034-1037 A.D.), 3,400,000 mu of cultivated land was taxed, an increase of nearly one and a half times the number of acres of cultivated land in the past 50 years. In the second year of Duanping (1235 AD), the total cultivated land of Suzhou was around 12,000,000 mu, which was 3.5 times of the cultivated land of Jingyou and 8.5 times of the cultivated land of Yongxi. The Song government attached great importance to dredging works and weir gate works, and carried out water conservancy projects on a large scale from time to time, which greatly increased productivity. Successful experiences were created. First of all, dredging water conservancy projects of rivers, lakes, ports and reservoirs, so that vast areas of farmland to the harm of waterlogging and irrigation benefits. Such as 1055 AD (to and two years), mobilized 156,000 people, dredging the Jing 64, Pu 44, pond 6, built to and pond, "no stagnant water retention, the people are not sick wading", the two sides of the fertile land of millions of hectares are its benefits. In 1119 A.D. (Xuanhe first year), Zhao Lin service labor more than 2.78 million, lasted 19 months, dredging 1 river, 1 harbor, 4 Pu, 58 ditch, so that the Pingjiang Province "twenty years and no flooding". In 1115 AD (Zhenghe five years), Jiangyin dredged the Henghe River, Shidun River, Dongxin River and Daihong Harbor, so that the nearby "ten townships of the field, frequent droughts and floods, as much as possible to eliminate their problems", the benefit of farmland amounted to 6,573 hectares. In 1167 AD (Qian Dao two years), dredging Gu Hui Pu river, "the old water by tens of thousands of acres of defeated fields are still rich". The opening and dredging of rivers, lakes, ports and reservoirs, not only to ensure that the Taihu Lake water system can circulate smoothly into the river and the sea, but also to make the local farmland can be strong against drought and floods. In a variety of water conservancy projects under the combined effect of the Taihu Lake basin, the construction of farmland benefit, is the Song Dynasty, the country's most intensive water conservancy field area. Some people of the Northern Song Dynasty Xining years of water conservancy projects, water conservancy field and its accounted for the total number of arable land for statistics, the Taihu Lake area where the two Zhejiang Road are in the first place, water conservancy projects for 2,294, water conservancy field for 10,484,842 acres, accounting for the total number of arable land of 28.8%. Southern Song Dynasty before and after Chunxi, Taihu Lake basin as the main water conservancy projects in western Zhejiang Road for more than 2,100, close to the Xining period of Zhejiang and the sum. Song history - food and goods, "said: zhejiang west" south after the water conservancy field rich in the central plains, so water conservancy is very prosperous ". Lake Taihu water conservancy so that "the low field is often no flood, high field is often no drought, and hundreds of miles, often get ripe", after the governance of the Taihu Lake basin, "field drains vein points, the original field of chess; between the mound, irrigation to the machinery; marshy coast, the ring to the water bamboo shoots; the lagoon halogen stony indeed, into a paste of the wild; ping zao reed, reeds, reclamation of fondue for the land," as the Song dynasty, the first good area of intensive agriculture.
After the Song dynasty's southern capital of Hangzhou, a large number of people from the north and the central plains migrated to the south. The national elite gathered in Hangzhou. Make the south is even more prosperous. Migrating people are afraid that their descendants do not know where their ancestors came from, the development of the formation of the culture of the ancestral temple. In 1102 A.D., the population of Hangzhou was only 200,000 households, and in 1274 A.D., the population reached 1.24 million households. Most of Hangzhou's population was out-migrated. The Song Dynasty's pioneering and operation in the south established the affluence of the south. The south has been the most economically developed region in China for generations since then.
Second, [Song's science and technology]
Song porcelain was the national symbol of China at that time. The five famous kilns of Song were Ru Kiln, Guan Kiln, Jun Kiln, Ge Kiln and Ding Kiln. It can be said that the first commercialized industry in the human world was the porcelain industry of the Song Dynasty. Song porcelain is the perfect combination of the finest art and precise craftsmanship. Song porcelain divine civilization and popular culture clever fusion and unity. Porcelain was produced in large quantities in famous kilns around the world, not only for the use of the royal aristocracy, but also for the officials and scholars, as well as the public class to cherish and use. Song porcelain of various types of kiln manufacturing method to produce an endless variety of porcelain. Let all see the people are marveled at. Song porcelain many of the process has been lost. Song porcelain many of the craft level even modern are difficult to achieve. Song dynasty porcelain is so exquisite, it can be said that the Song dynasty left behind the famous kiln porcelain almost all worth a lot of money. During the Song Dynasty China's popular silk craftsmanship went from practical to delicate and sophisticated. The silk of the Song Dynasty was exceedingly advanced. Very sophisticated looms contained 1800 moving components. Various embroidery methods made Chinese silk more artistic and aesthetic. The rich foreigners wore coarse cloth and linen, the Chinese commoners wore soft silk. Some peasants also wore silk." Walking pawns classed as soldiers' clothes, peasants tiptoe silk shoes."
Shen Kuo, a famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty, studied astronomy, calendars, medicine, and mathematics. Shen Kuo wrote "Mengxi Bianan" recorded a large number of scientific and technological achievements and scientific discoveries, such as the discovery of the geomagnetic angle, the friction phenomenon of electricity records and discusses the problem of optics, etc. Shen Kuo also proposed the impact of land formation. Shen Kuo also put forward the idea of land formation by impact, which appeared in the West only after the nineteenth century. Mengxi Bianan (梦溪笔谈) was regarded as the world's earliest scientific and technological encyclopedia by the West. With the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, by-products and fishery in the Song Dynasty, the Song view of agro-ecosystem material circulation and today's modernized eco-agriculture are being built to achieve complete consistency in principle. The scale and level of medicine in the Song Dynasty increased substantially compared with that of the Tang Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty also created forensic medicine, and "The Collection of Wrongs" was the first systematic forensic medicine work in China, which was more than 300 years earlier than similar monographs in the West. The Song Dynasty made extensive use of oil, coal and natural gas. The Song dynasty used coke to smelt iron, more than 500 years before the West.
The earliest use of thermal weapons in human history was the Song. The first use of thermal weapons in human history was the Song. The first use of the compass for an army march was also the Song. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the government attached great importance to the manufacture of gunpowder weapons. The Song army used artillery and gunpowder arrows in the wars that succeeded in destroying the Southern Tang Dynasty and capturing Jinling. In 1000 A.D. (the third year of Hampyeong), Tang Fu presented new gunpowder weapons such as rockets and fireballs, which were honored by the Song government. From then on, gunpowder became the necessary equipment for the Song army. Later, the Northern Song government set up gunpowder workshops and manufactured weapons with mainly incendiary properties such as gunpowder arrows and cannons, as well as more explosive weapons such as thunderbolt cannons and thunderbolts. In 1044 A.D., Zeng Gongliang and others compiled a military work, "The General Essentials of Martial Arts", in which three gunpowder formulas and many kinds of gunpowder weapons were recorded and illustrated. In 1161 A.D., crossbows for throwing grenades appeared in the army of the Song Dynasty. In 1259 A.D., the gunpowder gun was made from a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder.
Song Taizu Kaibao four years (971 AD) carving and printing all of the "Great Tibetan Scriptures", carving plate 130,000, printing line one thousand and seventy-six, five thousand and forty-eight volumes, the time spent twelve springs and eighty-eight years. It took twelve springs and autumns to print the books. It was the first time in the world that such a huge project was done. China's earliest fiction collection is Song Taizong Taiping Xingguo years (976 years - 983 years) "Taiping Guangji", *** there are 500 volumes, divided into ninety-two categories. The crown of China's class books is the Taiping Yuban (太平御览) of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty (976--983), *** with 1,000 volumes, divided into fifty-five doors. China's earliest surviving script is the Southern Song Dynasty's "Donghai Huang Gong". After the Northern Song Xining private carving, workshop carving became a trend. Some of the private engraving stores have engravers dozens of people. Song Dynasty engraving and printing entered its heyday. The Song government promoted the popularization of printing and the dissemination of technical manuals, such as agricultural manuals and medical books. The creation of a large number of private presses changed the development of the world's writing and spread knowledge. During the reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, the merchant Xu Jian engraved and printed books such as the Clip Notes on the Avatamsaka Sutra and shipped them to North Korea and other places for sale, reaping large profits. During the Qingli period, Bisheng invented movable-type printing. Unfortunately, movable-type printing was not utilized on a large scale, but its significance was enormous. A system can be broken down into elements, and the elements are assembled to form the main body. Printing with movable type is a concrete example of the application of systems thinking in ancient China, and is a model for applying systems thinking, improving processes, and increasing efficiency. Song books are characterized by quality, meticulous engraving, neat fonts, rounded knives, firm white paper, and fragrant ink. Beijing Library of the Song version of the book, there is still a clear flavor.
Shen Kuo "Mengxi Bianan" recorded in the device of the magnetic compass of the four methods: water floating, finger claw, bowl lip, strand hanging. The Northern Song Dynasty, people created a compass for navigation, the navigation business to a new era. At that time, China's shipbuilding technology was the most advanced in the world. Song merchant ships were the largest vessels imaginable at the time, some with six tiers of masts, four decks, twelve large sails, and huge ships that could carry more than a thousand people. Not only did these ships have charts of routes so precise as to be almost miraculous, but they also had geometers and those who knew the stars, and those who were skilled in the use of the natural magnet compass. By means of the compass, the way to the end of the world on land could be found in the vastness of the sea. The Song Dynasty was the most important trading nation on the sea at that time, and Quanzhou and Mingzhou were the largest sea trading ports at that time. Taxes from maritime trade were the government's main source of finance accounting for half of its revenue. During the Northern Song Dynasty, China had the largest fleet of sailing ships and merchant ships in human history, sailing frequently to Arabia, East Africa, India, Southeast Asia and East Asia, Japan and Korea. It was the high level of prosperity and development and open economic policies of the Song dynasty that led to an exchange of technology and materials between East and West that was unprecedented in human history. Chinese papermaking, printing, compass and other advanced technologies spread rapidly to the West, and the brilliant civilization created by China's Song Dynasty gave Westerners, who were in the midst of barbarism, their first full experience of civilization. Every aspect of Chinese civilization influenced the West, laying a solid foundation for the later Renaissance and the development of civilization in the West.
The Song Dynasty was the most prosperous period of ancient Chinese mathematics, and it was the peak of ancient Chinese mathematics. Many outstanding mathematicians emerged in the Song Dynasty, and a large number of weighty mathematical works appeared. The most abstract mathematics of the Song Dynasty was highly accomplished, standing out in the gap between Greek civilization and the West. The algebra of the Song gave full play to the method of absolutization, and developed the combinatorial transformations of the Han Dynasty equation-solving method to a marvelous level, not only solving many problems in solving them, but also posing problems of higher equations, imaginary roots, and so on. Western equational science appeared only a few centuries later. Song's equations were a well-developed mathematical discipline. Shen Kuo's "prairie product technique" was the first high-order equational series in China. Shen Kuo's "praojutsu" was a geometric problem that used the collinearity theorem to find the length of an arc from the strings, and vectors, of a bow line. Jia Xian, a famous mathematician in the Song Dynasty, in the "Huang Di nine chapter algorithm of fine grass" put forward to open any high power of the "increase multiplication open method", "increase multiplication open method" used to solve high degree equations, is to obtain a quotient that is multiplied by the coefficients of the high degree of unknowns to join the coefficients of the new equation of the first term. In the method, the quotient, the constant term, the coefficient of the primary term of the new equation and the coefficients of the higher unknowns are arranged separately, and then this combination is transformed by the above method. It took seven hundred years for the West to invent the same method (only discovered by Englishman Horner in 1819). Jia Xian's table of coefficients of the Binomial Theorem is similar to the "Basquiat Triangle" that appeared in Europe in the 17th century. Qin Jiushao, an outstanding mathematician of the Southern Song Dynasty, popularized the "method of multiplication and opening" in his "Nine Chapters of the Book of Numbers" in 1247 A.D., discussed the numerical solution of higher equations, and cited more than 20 solutions of higher equations (up to ten equations) based on his practice, and it was only in the 16th century that Italian Fiorello put forward the method of solving the equation of the third degree. In addition, Qin Jiushao also studied the theory of primary congruence. Qin also popularized Sun Tzu's theorem, and his "Da Yan Qiu Yi Jie" extended Sun Tzu's theorem from smaller numbers and fewer congruent equations to general solutions. Qin Jiushao also came up with a formula for finding the area of a triangle from its three sides, which was equivalent to the Greek Helen's formula. Liu Yi's "Yiju ji" and "Minus from ji" are also techniques for transforming combinations of coefficients. Mathematician Li Ye published "Measuring the Circle and Sea Mirror" in 1248 A.D., which was the first book to systematically discuss "Tianyuan Technique" (one-dimensional higher order equations), and was a milestone in the history of mathematics. In 1261 A.D., Yang Hui, a mathematician, used the "stacking technique" to find the sums of several types of higher-order equidistant series in his "Detailed Explanation of the Algorithms of the Nine Chapters," which gave the method of solving for several types of higher-order series. In 1274 A.D., he also described the "Jiu Gui Jie Fa" in the "Multiplication and Division Tong Chang Ben Mou" (The End of Multiplication and Division), which introduces the various algorithms for calculating multiplication and division. In addition, Yang Hui also developed the Nine Palace Diagram, and he made the combination of circle and straight line intersection. He made the combination of circle and straight line intersection, which made the Song make progress in combinatorial mathematics. Yang Hui pointed out in the mathematical combination of 4 by 4 mathematical squares on the exchange of diagonal results, but unfortunately he did not develop further. Mathematics in the Song Dynasty has begun to get attention, mathematical research results in the Song Dynasty has begun to have the application of the environment. Mathematician Qin Jushao that the results of mathematical research "can be by the world, all things", "I tasted to set up for the question and answer to the use of the proposed". Mathematician Li Ye openly criticized the scientific and practical activities, mathematics as "cheap skills", "plaything" and other long-standing cab wind fallacy. He said, "Although the art of the six arts of the end, but the implementation of human affairs, it is much more affordable." Chinese mathematics was centuries ahead of the West during the Song Dynasty. Unfortunately, after the Song Dynasty, Chinese mathematics began to decline, although in the Yuan Dynasty there were still sporadic developments in ancient Chinese mathematics, but Chinese mathematics as a whole has not continued, the development of the use of the environment. China's Song Dynasty is a miracle of the world of mathematics, but also a tragedy of Chinese science ......
Three [the political democracy of the Song Dynasty]
Zhao Kuangyin was pleased with the lords and vassals, and he was y aware of all the bad effects of the lords and vassals on the people of the country. Song Taizu's release of military power in a cup of wine drew on the lessons learned from the Tang Dynasty's vassalage [essentially the fragmentation of the country]. It was a far-sighted strategy to strengthen centralized power and promote the unification of the motherland. Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of Song dynasty, not only did not kill the meritorious ministers, but also stipulated by law that the emperor could not whip the ministers in the court in the future. It was not allowed to insult the ministers. Ministers are not allowed to be killed except for rebellion and treason. Song Taizu passed down the "shall not kill the scholars and writers", "the descendants have Yu this oath, the sky will be put to death" of the "oath card". Successive emperors have strictly enforced this ancestral training. Even because of the war to get the position of the murder of Yue Fei's Song Emperor Zhao Gong, but also only open three times to kill. This is extremely rare in other dynasties. The Song rulers attached great importance to learning the lessons of China's past history. Sima Guang compiled the famous Ziji Tongjian. Marked by the establishment of the Councillors of Government, the Song dynasty introduced the collective leadership system of the Zaizi, a sign of a more rationalized functioning of centralized power. To a considerable extent, the emperor also had to listen to the collective views of the ministers and auxiliaries, and it should be said that the supreme ruler could not arbitrarily dispose of the government or decide the retention of ministers or even the fate of life and death on the basis of his own likes and dislikes. National governance of the "civil ministers" is the trend of historical development, the Song Dynasty, benevolent and righteous state, the political situation is clear. There were no local powers, no eunuchs, consorts, or relatives to interfere with the state. There was no writing prison in the Song Dynasty. Officials would not lose their heads, have their whole families executed, or have their families exterminated for saying the wrong thing or writing the wrong word. The Song dynasty specifically set up a system of magistrates. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, the strength of the counseling force was increased, and the intensity of court defense was increased. The rule of the country by the written word was the hallmark of China's progress from a barbaric society to modern civilization. The enlightened and generous political atmosphere made officials dare to criticize the government and express their political opinions. As a result, the Song Dynasty saw the emergence of a large number of officials who dared to criticize directly in Chinese history, such as Kou Zhun, Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, and other great names. In Chinese history, only in the Song Dynasty could there be an incident like Bao Zheng's face-to-face quarrel with Emperor Renzong in the courtroom, where Bao Zheng's saliva was splashed on Emperor Renzong's face. Even though Emperor Renzong was angry, he did not do anything to him. Bao Zheng was still courageous in advising the Emperor and was promoted to an official position." In the end of Emperor Renzong's life, the doubtful prison cases were lightened. Song Renzong was lenient with difficult cases. This shows the enlightenment and democracy of the Song emperors. The whole society respected the intellectuals, and the status of cultured people was raised unprecedentedly. Successive generations of the Song dynasty were especially fond of talents and treated officials favorably. Even if Lu Dosun and Ding Pian attempted to plot against the throne, such a major crime was only exiled. The Song Dynasty did not form the so-called officialdom, the lower officials can sue the higher officials. Even the prime minister, who was "under one person and above ten thousand people", was not immune. Among them, Bao Zheng impeached his top boss and several officials higher than him. Only in the enlightened Song Dynasty could such a character as Bao Zheng be produced. In the Song Dynasty, it was not uncommon to see people suing officials, and anti-corruption rules and regulations were posted at the entrance of government offices at all levels, so that people could appeal and sue officials until they won.
Song Taizu recruited and ordered 300 people to go to Tianzhu to seek scriptures and relics. Emperor Taizong of Song had personally received ancient Indian Brahmin monks and Islamists. A large number of Christians, Jews and other believers had their own houses, churches and temples in the Song Dynasty. Add to this the prosperity of Confucianism and Taoism in Song. It can be seen that China in the Song Dynasty was an open country where many religions coexisted. Only in the Song Dynasty Christianity, Judaism and Islam could not compete with Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Long before the arrival of Mark Sparrow in China, there were a large number of European merchants arrived in China to do business. In the West, we now find the Italian merchant and scholar Jacob D'Ancona who, as early as in 1271, was a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Jacopo d'Ancona, an Italian merchant and scholar, arrived in Quanzhou, China, as early as 1271 and wrote a biography. At that time only in Quanzhou lived and did business a large number of Venetians, Jews, Englishmen, Saracens, Franks, Ceylonese, Indians, Javanese, Pisans, and some blacks, as well as people from Alexandria, Bruges, and other places. A large number of Europeans and Asians settled in China for business or pleasure, and there were already a large number of mixed-race children in Quanzhou. Among them, the Song Dynasty assimilated a large number of Jews. This in human history is "no one before, no one after". Just recorded in the Song Dynasty capital Kaifeng, there are 17 big families of Jews, accepting the "return to my Chinese Xia, abide by the ancestral style, leave the legacy of Bianliang," after the covenant of the three chapters, settled in China. The assimilation of the Jews shows the strength of the Song Dynasty in every aspect. It can be seen that Chinese civilization and technology spread to the West during the Song Dynasty. People of all faiths lived together in harmony in the enlightened and powerful society of the Song Dynasty. The whole picture of the Song dynasty is one of harmony and diversity.
The Song Dynasty became the second period of academic freedom in Chinese history since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. For the first time, the Song Dynasty showed signs of a merging of the artisanal and philosophical traditions. The four famous academies of the Song Dynasty (Yuelu Academy, Bailudong Academy, Goose Lake Academy, Songyang Academy) became the holy place for Confucian disciples to absorb cultural milk, "Taoist forests of 300 people, the academy of a thousand disciples". Song Renzong Zhaozhen love to learn to worship Confucian classics. Zhao Zhen for the first time to the Analects of Confucius, Mencius University of the Mean to take out in a