FiveDynastiestoSongDynasty（LearntospreadChinaandChinesecuItureinEngIish）BytheendoftheeighthcenturyAD,theTangEmpirewasalreadyindecline.Peasantswhowereunabletobuyexemptionfrommilitaryservicewereoftenfor
Five Dynasties to Song Dynasty
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By the end of the eighth century AD,the Tang Empire was already in decline. Peasants who were unable to buy exemption from military service were often forced to spend the greater part of their lives as conscripts（应征入伍者）, fighting to defend the remote frontier regions. In such circumstances, many deserted, and the government was forced to recruit mercenaries（雇佣军）. In 755 AD, a border general, An Lushan, staged a revolt. Chang'an was captured, but the revolt was crushed. The dynasty never really recovered, and towards the end of the ninth century, a wave of peasant uprising occurred, finally bringing down the Tang Empire in the year 907.
For the next 53 years, power passed through the hands of a succession of warlords（军阀）,and the period is known , in Chinese history as 'the period of the five dynasties and ten kingdoms'. Eventually, in the year 960, one of the warlords, Zhao Kuangying， succeeded in reuniting the greater part of the country,and is known in history under the dynastic title of Song Taizu. However, the north-east remained under the control of a group of Tartar（鞑靼人） nomads, known as the Khitan（契丹）. (It is from the Khitan that the term Kitai or Cathay was derived.)
The Khitan had first occupied north-east China during the period of the five dynasties.The north-west, on the other hand, was occupied by another group of Tartars known as the Xixia. The Song Emperors made several attempts to recover these regions, but were forced early in the eleventh century to make peace with the Khitan and with the Xixia,after suffering heavy losses.
Thus the largest，richest and most heavily populated country in the East could not withstand the demands of small foreign forces.This was the result not just of military weakness, but of general internaⅠ weakness. As under the Tang dynasty, the Song bureaucracy was recruited by civil service examinations. In theory, the examinations were impartial：the anonymity of the candidates was preserved, several examiners would be present,and the candidates were locked up in individual cubicles（考室）. In practice, however, nepotism（裙带关系） and bribery were often resorted to,and promotion within the bureaucracy depended on the favour of superiors. To help build up the treasury, merchants, traditionally a despised social class, were allowed to buy their way into the bureaueracy. Scholars, landlords and merchants therefore joined forces to get what they could out of the system.
During his period as Prime minister in the eleventh century, Wang Anshi introduced a number of reforms, in an attempt to clean up the bureaucracy and break the power of the landlords, merchants and money-lenders.They included loan provisions, whereby the government would grant preharvest loans to the peasants at only 20% interest instead of the 50% and more demanded by private lenders. Price-control measures were introduced to reduce the merchant speculation. This would enable the government to buy up grain in times of plenty, and to release it when supplies were short.Tax reforms ensured that the estates of officials and landlords , did not escape from taxation, as they had done in the past. Army reforms reduced the number of hired mercenaries in the regular army,while at the same time setting up a people's militia（民兵）. Educational measures aimed at seeking out men of integrity and moral character.It was inevitable that such measures should be opposed and sabotaged （破坏）by the very officials appointed to carry them out, in alliance with the landlords and the merchants. In1086,Wang Anshi died,and the laws were repealed（废除）.
Meanwhile, the Khitan Tartars, who had taken the name of the Liao dynasty, had been influenced by Chinese civilisation, and had given up their nomadic life, adopting Chinese customs and language. The Song Emperors took the opportunity to unite with the Jin Tartars in an attack on the Khitan.The understanding was that the north eastern provinces would be restored to the Song, while the indemnities paid as tribute to the Khitan would be paid to the Jin instead. But the Jin Tartars not only overcame the Khitan,but moved on to conquer the whole of China north of the Huai River. In 1127,the Song capital of Kaifeng fell, and the Emperor and his heir were taken into captivity. The remnants of the Song followers held control over only the Changjian (Yangtse) River valley and the regions to the south. A temporary capital was set up at Hangzhou, where it was to remain until 1279, when the whole of China passed under the Mongol yoke, and the capital was moved by Kublai Khan to Khan Baliq (Cambaluc), or present-day Beijing.
From the tenth century onwards, the constant pressure on north China by the nomads had led to more and more of the wealthy Chinese families fleeing to the south. So,when the northern Song dynasty fell, the south was already economically more advanced than the north.The officials and gentry left their estates in the countryside to live in the rapidly growing cities as absentee landlords. There was a great deal of urban poverty, the cities abounded in beggars,and unwanted children were often killed at birth or sold as servants into wealthy families. The upper classes, on the other hand, lived a life of extravagance and ease.
五代至宋朝（5.1）
到公元八世纪末，唐朝已经走向衰落。无法购买兵役豁免的农民往往被迫以应征入伍的形式度过大半辈子，为保卫边疆而战斗。在这种情况下，许多人背井离乡，政府被迫招募雇佣军。公元755年，边防将领安禄山发动叛乱。长安城被攻占，但叛乱被镇压。整个朝代从此元气大伤，九世纪末，发生的一波农民起义，最终在907年推翻了唐朝。
在接下来的53年里，各路军阀轮番掌控国家权力，这一时期在中国历史上被称为“五代十国”时期。最终，在960年，军阀之一赵匡胤成功地统一了全国大部分地区，并在历史上被冠以宋太祖的称号。然而，东北部仍处于一群鞑靼游牧民族的控制之下，鞑靼人亦被称为契丹人。（Kitai或Cathay一词源便源自契丹语）
契丹人在五代时期首先占领了中国东北地区。另一方面，西北部被另一组鞑靼人占领，称为西夏人。宋朝皇帝曾多次试图收复这些地区，但在遭受重大损失后，于十一世纪初被迫与契丹和西夏和解。
因此，东方最大、最富有和人口最稠密的国家也沒有抵挡住小股域外军队的索求。这种局面的出现不光是国家军事上软弱，也有国家体制本身弱势的原因。与唐朝一样，宋朝的官僚机构也是通过公务员考试招聘的。理论上，考试是公正的：考生的匿名性得以保证，几个考官同时监考，考生被关在单独的考室参考。然而，在实践中，裙带关系和贿赂经常被检举，官僚机构内部的晋升取决于上级的恩惠。为了帮助强化国库，商人被允许通过花线买官，而他们在传统上是一个常遭鄙视的社会阶层，因此，学者、地主和商人沆瀣一气，尽其所能从政府体系中获益。
王安石在十一世纪担任首相期间，推行了一系列改革，试图清理官僚主义，打破地主、商人和放债人的权力。其中包括贷款条款，根据该条款，政府将仅以20%的利息向农民发放收获前贷款，而不是私人贷款人要求的50%及以上的利息。出台价格管制措施，以减少商家的投机行为。这将使政府能够在粮食充裕时购买粮食，并在粮食供应不足时发放。税收改革确保官员和地主的财产不会像过去那样逃税。军队改革减少了正规军雇佣的雇佣军数量，同时成立了人民民兵。教育以培养正直和有道德品质的人为目的。这些措施不可避免地会遭到执行官员的反对和破坏，因为他们与地主和商人是一伙的。1086年，王安石去世，法律被废除。
与此同时，取名为辽的契丹鞑靼人受到中国文明的影响，放弃了游牧生活，接受了中国的风俗和语言。宋朝皇帝借此机会联合金鞑靼人进攻契丹。双方达成的谅解是，东北各省将恢复为宋朝，而作为对契丹的贡品支付的赔偿金将支付给金国。但晋鞑靼人不仅战胜了契丹人，而且还征服了淮河以北的整个中国。1127年，宋朝首都开封沦陷，皇帝及其继承人被俘。宋人的残余势力只控制了长江流域和南方地区。在杭州建立的临时首都，一直保留到1279年，当时整个中国都受蒙古的扼制，首都由忽必烈迁至可汗巴利克（Cambaluc），即今天的北京。
从十世纪开始，游牧民族对华北地区不断施加压力，导致越来越多的富裕中国家庭逃到南方。因此，当北宋王朝灭亡时，南方的经济已经比北方发达。官员和绅士们离开了他们在农村的庄园，作为在外地主居住在快速发展的城市。城市中存在着大量的贫困，城市里到处都是乞丐，不想要的孩子往往在出生时就被杀死，或者被卖到富裕家庭当仆人。另一方面，上层阶级过着奢侈安逸的生活。
声明：本文中的英文资料源于外语教学与研究出版社出版的《中国（上古时期—1840年）》，部分内容有删减。如有侵权，联系删除
