History of Song Xia Relations

Author: Li Huarui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-09-01
Features:
1. Main Content: The 10th to 13th centuries were an era of confrontation between the Song Dynasty and the Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and other regimes, as well as a period of further integration among the Chinese ethnic groups. The Song and Western Xia had direct contact for about a half-century, during which most of the time was marked by hostility and warfare, with relatively short periods of peaceful coexistence and friendly relations. It was precisely because of this that the tense confrontation, the fierce battles, and the heartwarming exchanges between the people of the Song and Western Xia formed the complex and tragic historical chapters of their relationship. The book, with 390,000 words, cites over 200 types of literature. It is divided into 12 chapters, primarily discussing the evolution of the Northern Song's policy toward Western Xia, the relationship between the late Northern Song and Southern Song and Western Xia, the military systems, troop deployment, equipment, and supplies of the Song and Xia, the major battles between the Song and Xia, the stages of the Song-Xia wars and their characteristics, the relationship between Song-Xia trade and the wars, the triangular relationship between the Song, Xia, and Liao, the competition between the Song and Xia for control over ethnic groups in the west, such as the Tibetan and Dangxiang, the exchanges between the Northern Song and Western Xia, as well as the state-level messenger system and "foreign affairs" documents. The conclusion and epilogue briefly explain the research methods, the use of historical materials, and related theoretical issues in the study of the Song-Xia relationship.
2. Main Arguments: Later generations lamented the lack of martial prowess in the Song Dynasty, a sentiment that was particularly evident in its interactions with Western Xia, as the two were vastly different in terms of territory and economic and cultural development. However, the Song often found itself in an awkward position in its interactions with Western Xia, to the extent that Emperor Shenzong lamented, "Since the founding of the Xia, it has been a major trouble in the west for eighty years. The court has exhausted all its efforts and wealth to provide supplies, yet it still fears its raids on the borders day and night." So, how can we explain why a great nation struggled to deal with the challenges of a small one? Simply exploring specific events or superficial appearances in the Song-Xia relationship is clearly insufficient. Only by delving into the political and military systems of the other side, as well as the historical era and broader context in which they existed, can we see beyond the surface to the essence. The book does not stop at the people and events of economic and military exchanges between the Song and Xia but instead uses the political mechanisms of the Northern Song as a starting point to explore the development trajectory of their interactions. War is the continuation of politics, and politics is the concentrated expression of the economy. It must be admitted that the intermittent wars and peace between the Song and Xia formed the most important feature of their relationship. The transition between peace and war in the first 80 years of their relationship was largely determined by Western Xia's challenges to the Song, during which the Song was largely in a reactive, defensive position. So, why did Western Xia repeatedly launch wars? While scholars have explored this issue from various angles, the conclusions have not been entirely satisfactory. Guided by the basic principle of Marxist historical materialism that the relationship between ethnic groups depends on the level of productivity, division of labor, and internal exchanges of each, the book examines the abnormal economic and trade relations between the Song and Xia to uncover the underlying reasons. The 1978 Atlas of World History, edited by J. M. Barraclough and written by 80 Western historians, pointed out that "the Song had less cosmopolitanism than the Tang and often adopted a defensive and suspicious attitude toward the outside world." This is manifested in two specific ways: First, after the establishment of the Northern Song, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Five Dynasties, it made significant reforms and adjustments to the political, military, and financial systems since the late Tang and Five Dynasties. However, due to the policy of "preventing abuses by establishing state laws," the excessive prevention of military dominance led to some policies that strengthened centralized autocracy being transformed into their opposites. Military and political corruption weakened the military strength and national power. Since the reign of Emperor Taizong, a trend of military defeatism emerged, and politics gradually turned inward, leading to the formation of the policy of defending the interior while neglecting the exterior. Second, due to the high level of economic and cultural development, the Song developed a sense of cultural superiority over the surrounding ethnic groups. In absorbing foreign culture to develop its own, it also adopted a blind and self-satisfied attitude of stagnation. In particular, the moral absolutism of Confucian traditional culture, reinforced by Song learning, made the disdain for profit increasingly prominent. Understanding these two points is of great significance for examining and comprehending the evolution of the Northern Song's policy toward Western Xia, as both the Song's passive defense and the alternation of pro-war and anti-war arguments were directly and closely related to them. After the publication of the book, experts such as Nie Hongyin, Luo Bingliang, and Zhu Ruixi published review articles in newspapers and journals such as People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and China Book Review, praising it highly.