Movable type printing became widespread in the Song Dynasty and played an important role in the cultural development of the time.
The shape of books also changed. During the Tang Dynasty, books were rolled. However, with movable type, books were printed in volumes similar to modern books.
Han Qi, a research fellow for today’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the development of Neo-Confucianism during the Song Dynasty was due to the widespread availability of printed books.
Printed book also promoted the development of science, technology and education.
During the Song Dynasty, both private and public school developed quickly. About 300 schools focused on education, teaching and book printing.
Some schools had math and physics departments.
This was also the age of the scholar-bureaucrat. A scholar from an impoverished background could become a member of the higher-social class through imperial examinations.
China was also the first country to introduce bronze-block printing for advertisements.
It is widely believed that without government support for the sciences, it would have been difficult to achieve the progress that took place at this time.
Return to Song Dynasty – Part 5
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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Despite the fact that science and technology flourished during this time, most Chinese people’s feeling toward Song Dynasty is mixed. It was a time that Chinese military power and territory started dwindling and subsequently the Han majority were masscred and dominated by normadic minorities (Yuan & Qing). Some may argue otherwise, but this is a common belief held by most modern Chinese. The undertone of poetry in Song Dynasty serves as a proof. Unlike poems made in Tang that were usually vibrant and upbeat, poems (ci) of Song were often sentimental and melancholy. Overall, the image of Song is defensive rather than inclusive as of Tang.
You are correct. The Song Dynasty took the emphasis off the military, which probably let the Yuan Dynasty in, but they didn’t last long. Less than a century. I plan to do a post on Song Dynasty poetry. Thanks for dropping by. If we learn anything from the Song, it is to keep our guard up. Even today, the world is a brutal place.
What I’m curious about is why the Chinese history program didn’t mention the weakness of the Song Dynasty and only focused on the positive. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to point out why the Song Dynasty failed so the people in today’s China realize the importance of keeping a strong military? American has gone in the other direction and heavily inundates the people with news, movies, books that all focus on a dangerous world and the need to keep a strong military. In fact, they over do it.
From research, I’ve learned that most dynasties collapsed when they would become too oppressive, forget the suffering of the large poor class and the leaders take their power for granted and start to scheme against each other often forgetting that a healthy state from top to bottom with a healthy military is the best way to survive.
Often, the mistakes of the present are because the people and the leaders of the present have not learned about the mistakes of the past so they may avoid them.
Even America’s leaders and people seem to have forgotten that lesson.