Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.8, 2017

 

Historical Materials on the Southern Song Dynasty and Research on Political History: A Threefold Analysis

(Abstract)

 

Kuan-chung Huang

 

The Southern Song Dynasty underwent frequent political changes, resulting in the scattering of much historical material, with a negative effect on research subjects. In going deeper into Southern Song political history and its connotations, the choice of editions of the classics and in-depth interpretation of historical materials aside, it is most important to closely examine the complex elements in the rapidly changing political situation of the Southern Song and to clarify its temporal and spatial background and the thread running through its development. In observing the three elements of human affairs, the times and the circumstances from the perspective of the three features of political taboos, character evaluation and human relationships, it can be seen that Southern Song policies were highly realistic and very changeable. Political figures responded in various ways to the impact of immediate politics. Apart from collective opposition and resistance, people’s roles and interrelationships also had an influence that cannot be neglected. We hope in this way to grasp the panorama of political development and understand the changes in character evaluation and the deeper meaning beneath the tolerant politics of the Southern Song, thus revealing the distinctive politics of this period.