One of China’s imperial empires was the Song Dynasty which started in 960 until 1279. Emperor Taizu founded the dynasty after usurping the Later Zhou’s throne, which ended the Five Dynasties & Ten Kingdoms era.
Northern Song (960 to 1127 A.D)
A general named Zhao Kuangyin founded the Song Dynasty. Claims state that his troops wanted to end their service under the emperor of that time. They urged Zhao to take the throne and ascend as the emperor instead.
Eventually, he ascended the throne as Emperor Taizu, who then established the Song Dynasty. He almost entirely reunited China under his rule, yet made a mistake by appointing people who weakened his army. This led to the Northern Song’s demise and eventually fell to the Jin empire.
Southern Song (1127 to 1279)
When the Jin conquered Northern Song fell, the last emperor’s son fled to the Southern area. There, he established China’s Southern Song that had to offer payment to the Jin Empire. It was a necessary act to maintain the peace between them.
Southern Song offered such payments for over a hundred years. However, it ended when they allied with the Mongols to defeat the Jin Empire. Unfortunately, everything backfired when the Mongols defeated the Jin, attacked the Southern Song, then conquered all of China.
After the Mongol leader, Kublai Khan, conquered the country, he established his empire called the Yuan Dynasty.
Interesting Customs and People During the Song Dynasty
Numerous interesting customs appeared during the Song Dynasty. One of these was the practice of foot-binding among women. Other than these customs, a legendary fighter and general lived during this time, and he was called Yue Fei.
Due to his excellence, Yue Fei had several followers. This enraged the emperor, who became jealous since people looked up to Yue Fei. Despite his skill and prominence, the general was put to death.
