Research Subordinate Officer Commanding Troops In The Northern Song Dynasty

The dissertation concerns the middle and low ranking officers in the Northern Song dynasty and discusses their status and function through examining their battling skill, their leadership, ethics and responsibility. It also touches upon their economic and social life with a view to give a panoramic picture of their life.The dissertation has the following sections:the definition and classification of middle and low ranking officer and the division between them and high ranking officials; their respective responsibility under the military system in the dynasty discussed; their position in the ranking system; their combating ability, commanding ability and their obedience of laws, regulations and moral standards when taking actions; the further division of middle and low ranking officers and discussion on their respective responsibilities and their relationship with their juniors and seniors; the difficulties their encountered; the overall economic and social life the legal cases concerned them; individual analyses of them. The conclusion reiterates the main arguments of each section.There has been little attention on middle and low ranking officers of the Northern Song dynasty among academics, still less systematic research. The dissertation builds on previous study and applies the relatively sophisticated method of studying high ranking official to middle and low ranking officer. The dissertation focuses on how the decision-making group interacts with high ranking officials and tries to illustrate the function of middle and low ranking officer as a medium between them. The dissertation continues to probe into the parallel connection within middle and low ranking officers with a view to giving a panoramic picture of the military system of that time. From this perspective, we can have a reasonable evaluation of their status and function.The crux of the question of middle and low ranking officers is that related historic records are scattered unsystematic and puzzling and are difficult to be pieced together, therefore the similar items concerned, especially identical posts with totally different natures, must be paid close attention to. The overall military disposition in the Northern Song dynasty can be classified as peace and war times and so there are difference between camping and wartime, between the officers in charge of military administration and generals during wars and between daily and wartime responsibility of military officers. All these give some clues to the problem.This dissertation is based on the sum-up of historic records in accordance with those categories with how the imperial court of the Northern Song dynasty viewed the position of middle and low ranking officers as the starting point. The paper continues to consider the basic requirements for middle and low ranking officers such as combating skill, managing ability, leadership and moral standards. Next, the paper deals with the issue of appointing post in accordance with an officer’s ranking and ability, including relevant regulations and limitations. The dissertation concludes by what the officer encountered and their evaluation.The paper is mainly concerned with the research of concrete questions by combining the above-mentioned mentality with historic records. In its body, middle and low ranking officers are divided and sub-divided according their different responsibilities highlighting both their common nature and differences.