A Study On The Department Of The Yangtze Region In The Southern Song Dynasty

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty,in order to resist the invasion of the Jin army,song Ting was forced to adjust the space strategy,and began to implement theater system,and set up many system successively.The Department of the Yangtze Region is divided according to the theater,and is responsible for the military defensive affairs in the area.In Jian Yan three years(1129)in August,the Song government formally set up system in Yangtze river that was initially served as Jiankang prefect and stationed in Jiankan.The chief executive of the system is Zhizhishi,and the deputy chief are also appointed.Initially,Zhizhishi and Fushi are stationed Jian kang,deputy chief mainly assists the system in dealing with daily affairs without an independent jurisdiction.During the period of Jiading,the system set up a deputy department in Ezhou for the first time.The deputy officials begins to deal with the affairs independently and has an independent jurisdiction.The Department of the Yangtze Region is different from other departments.It is not only responsible for the defense of a state or several states,but is responsible for thousands of miles of military defense along the Yangtze River,covering several states.In the Southern Song Dynasty,the scope of the jurisdiction has changed with the change of war situation.So this paper will make a futher research and analysis concerning the evolution of the Department of the Yangtze Region,and make a concrete analysis of the changes of its jurisdiction in each period.The Department of the Yangtze Region initially was in charge of military affairs of counties along the Yangtze,which was a product of heavy tasks of Southern Song defense along Yangtze.In the late Southern Song Dynasty,due to the needs of the war,the power of local officials gradually from centralized to decentralized,Zhizhishi began to take over several positions,and their power gradually penetrated into the field beyond the military affairs.The functions of Zhizhishi became more comprehensive,and has become a local official with military,political and financial rights.Zhizhishi changed from a small official to a local powerful one,and this change started gradually from its functions.This article briefly introduces the institutional setup of the system,and analyzes the roles and positions of its officials,and makes a key analysis of the basic functions of Zhizhishi with Fushi,which lays a solid foundation for the following discussion of the role of the system in the defense.The Department of the Yangtze Region has been in existence for decades alone.There have been dozens of officials and deputy officials throughout the Southern Song Dynasty.This paper analyzes the their qualifications,characteristics and specific behaviors through studying successive Zhizhishi deputy commanders.The Department of the Yangtze Region is not an independent agency,and there are strategic interaction between department and other system in the late Southern Song Dynasty.The article will analysize the fuction of the department in the war betweet Jin army and song army through discussing their the strategic link,and to detect system's defense position in different periods of Southern Song Dynasty.