Research On The Social Assistance System Of The Song Dynasty

After hundreds of years of war,the Song Dynasty finally ruled the world,and at this time,the country was full of internal contradictions,and the regime established by external ethnic minorities was looking at the tiger,which can be described as a real internal and external trouble.These two reasons prompted the Song Dynasty to gradually establish a social relief system with a wide coverage on the basis of learning from the experience and system of the previous dynasty.To a certain extent,this system appeased the ruling class,comforted the poor people,and gave the people at the bottom a glimmer of hope,thereby effectively alleviating social contradictions,stabilizing social order,and enabling the rule of the Song Dynasty to continue better.The social relief system of the Song Dynasty was highly praised by scholars and had many commendable practices,but at the same time there were some shortcomings,which made the implementation of the relief system not perfect.To study the social assistance system of the Song Dynasty,we cannot completely stay out of the matter and look at it from the perspective of modern people,but adopt a historical and objective perspective to recognize the benefits of many institutions and measures in the social assistance system of the Song Dynasty to the recipients of relief in the Song Dynasty,and at the same time see the problems that arise in the operation process and implementation of the system,and learn from its desirability,so as to explore some useful experience for improving China’s current social security system.This study intends to study the social relief system of the Song Dynasty from the following aspects:First,the driving force behind the prosperity of the social relief system during the Song Dynasty.First,the construction of the social assistance system of various dynasties and generations before the Song Dynasty provided the framework and construction direction for the construction of the social assistance system in the Song Dynasty;Second,the extremely prosperous commodity economy of the Song Dynasty provided a strong economic foundation for the construction of the social relief system in the Song Dynasty;Third,the behavior of various generations to relieve the people,the prevalence of Confucianism,and the rise of Cheng Zhu Lixue guided and urged the rulers of the Song Dynasty to engage in the construction and implementation of people-oriented social relief.Second,the source of funding for the social assistance system in the Song Dynasty.First,government financial funds.In the Song Dynasty,the central financial departments,household ministries and three departments all allocated a large amount of money and grain for the relief of the people,and local transshipment departments and other departments also actively allocated money and grain to participate in social relief.In addition,storage such as pile sealing warehouses and Changping warehouses also spent a lot of money and grain to participate in them.Second,the allocation of royal assets.As the emperor’s private property,the Song Dynasty’s inner reservoir also often spent money and silk to support the lack of funds of the financial department,and also paid taxes on behalf of the disaster-stricken areas,providing relief,loans,and pensions to the disaster-stricken people.Third,donations from officials and wealthy businessmen.Officials of the Song Dynasty actively participated in social relief undertakings in their private capacity,setting up Yizhuang to support the poor in the clan and setting up Yixue to help the poor and seek scholars;Wealthy businessmen mostly donated money and food to relief for the victims by persuasion.Fourth,other sources of funding.When funds were insufficient or relief could not reach the affected areas in time,the Song Dynasty government would raise relief funds by selling or allocating funds to the disaster-stricken areas.At the same time,the property of the family is also used as funds for social assistance.Third,the different relief measures set up by the Song Dynasty for different relief targets.First,for disaster victims,it is necessary to actively prepare for famine before disasters,and improve disaster resilience by setting up extensive storage,building water conservancy,and increasing food production.Provide relief in the disaster,adopt relief methods such as porridge,relief,and medical evacuation,so as to ensure that the disaster victims can survive the disaster to the greatest extent possible;In the aftermath of the disaster,the victims were encouraged to return to their hometowns to produce and provide them with interest-free grain seeds to help them resume their production and life.Second,for the elderly,sick and disabled and other people who cannot survive on their own,according to their own circumstances,establish security institutions covering old-age,medical care,funeral assistance,etc.Such as the elderly and helpless and beggars,provide them with shelter,distribute food,provide medicine,and handle their afterlife;dispensing medicines or providing free medical care to the sick;For disabled persons,standards for determining the degree of disability are set for them,and exemption from paying per capita tax is adopted,and they and eligible family members are exempted by law.Third,for infants and young children,nursing mothers are recruited,food,clothing,accommodation,and educational security are provided.Fourth,for deceased,injured and disabled servicemen,on the one hand,they will be given relief themselves,that is,they will be given food for life,idle posts in military camps,or one-time relief money;On the other hand,it is to provide relief to their families.Fourth,the characteristics and shortcomings of the social assistance system in the Song Dynasty.In the process of its operation,there are legal provisions that match the relief measures to escort the operation of the system and institutions,and different relief measures are formulated for different people.At the same time,it also shows that in the process of implementation,there are shortcomings such as ineffective implementation by officials,laziness,neglect of administration,fraud,as well as the people’s fraudulent use of relief,and uneven institutional settings.