A Study Of The Prime Minister Group In Xiaozong Period Of The Southern Song Dynasty

The Southern Song Dynasty was an age of powerful ministers and politics with powerful ministers presented as one of the great features of Southern Song Dynasty. But there was no powerful minister during Emperor Xiaozong period. It is the only period that went without powerful ministers in the Southern Song Dynasty, during which new features were seen in the appointment of prime ministers and some unprecedented new atmosphere came into being. This finally brought about the Qiandao-Chunxi Flourishing ?the golden age of the history of the Southern Song Dynasty. As a result, the Xiaozong period served as a transformation age from the early Southern Song Dynasty's turbulence and rough stability, via mid-term's steady development andthriving trend, to the new stage of state policy changing from external defense to internal construction. Through the observation and analysis of Xiaozong period's political situation and the prime minister group, the center of authority, as well as the discussion of the role and influence of the prime minister group in this period in the outer relations and inner politics, this dissertation strives to reveal the inner link and profound influence between the prime minister group and this period's political situation and it's developing trend.The dissertation consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 is introduction, stating the purpose of writing this dissertation, the present situation of the study on the same topic, the use of historical materials, the research methods and the conception of this dissertation. Chapter 2 presents an overall introduction of the political situation in the Xiaozong period, which consists of two sections, discussing respectively the evolution of the politics in the Xiaozong period and its features. Chapter 3 states the general conditions of the prime minister group, which is made up of three sections, analyzing separately the general condition of Xiaozong period's prime minister group, its category and the relation between the prime minister's authority and that of the king's and the meaning of this relation. Chapter 4 focuses on the links of the prime minister group to Xiaozong period's external relations, which consists of three sections, discussing one after another the diplomatic policy changes in the Xiaozong period, the evolution of the prime minister group's military linee and the influence of the prime minister on the diplomatic relations between Song and the Jin kingdoms. Chapter 5 concentrates on between the prime minister group and the inner politics. It is divided into four sections, centering on the relations of the prime minister group to the emperor's favorite courtiers, to this period's legal construction and to the clique, as well as the related relation between the prime minister's authority and that of the king's. Chapter 6 serves as a conclusion, summing up the intention of writing this dissertation.Through the observation of the prime minister group's political propositions and behaviors, this dissertation strives for a revelation of the contrary political practice in Xiaozong period against that in Gaozong period, its actual success or failure and the inner reasons of the shift of political focuses from the external to the internal and then proceeds to a justification of the coming of the Qiandao-Chunxi Flourishing, that is, for the external, though failed in the northern expedition, they struggled for a peace agreement, which displayed their active and positive enterprising spirit and to some extent upgraded the Song's military and diplomatic position; for the internal on the other hand, they achieved a stability, which had the once damaged scholar-official political system recovered and reconstructed, therefore made the politics during Xiaozong period well ordered and promised, which provided a favorable environment for the Xiaozong period's economic and cultural development. To sum up, this dissertation's study on the evolution of the politics in the Xiaozong period or even the mid and late period of the Southern Song Dynasty will play a...