On Song Dynasty Valued Culture Over Military Thinking In Institutional Construction In The Embodiment And Its Impact

The rudiments of the ideology of 'the civil officials superior to the military counterparts' originated around the late Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasty, took shape and reflected in the institution construction of the Song Dynasty, riven today its warning effects can be sensed. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the fust Song Emperor, Zhao kuangyin, carried out a series of policies, that is. the so-called 'strong trunk vs weak branches' in order to achieve long-term stability and rule. Besides this, he committed himself to ending the separation situation. To prevent the. military officials from seizing power. Emperor Zhao deprived them of their control over the army, implemented the civil-superior-to-the-military-official policy, made civil officials command army, and forbad the intervention of the military officials. The emperor also abolished the office of thosewho were responsible for the emperor's safety. A department named Shumiyuan was authorized to dispatch army but couldn't command the army. The two departments had their respective duties so that they restricted each other and responsible to the Emperor directly. For the army, generals and officers were often transferred to prevent any form of alliance. In addition, the Song Dynasty followed the practice of the Dang Dynasty, that is. to weaken the power of the Premier by establishing three sub-branches, thus the Emperor had the supreme power unprecedentedly. Emperor Zhao replaced all the local military officials with civil ones who were more loyal to him. Meanwhile he ordered that all the local revenues must be handed in except the necessary expenses. As regards the examination system, the Emperor broke the usual practice by testing the examinees himself. In this way. those who were admitted became the Emperor's student. As a result, the number of the officials became greater, many outstanding politicians surged, and the central power was consolidated. The ideology was set up as a standard policy, which, on one hand, weakened the local powers and strengthened the central power, consequently, creating a conducive condition for social stability and economic development; on the other hand, this policy brought about many negative effects: for example, the whole country was short of money and became weaker and weaker; the invasion of other countries, continuous rebellion, events of mutiny and escape occurred frequently. The major enemies of the Song Dynasty were Liao Kingdom (formerly named Qidan). Xixia. Jin Dynasty and Mongolia. Despite that the Song Dynasty paid many tributes to them to seek peace, it couldn't break away from the passive condition, later was defeated and destroyed by these invaders.