One is the old traditional prejudice, that is, the theory of poverty and weakness. In the past, when people mentioned the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, they praised them: prosperous times ruled the world; When it comes to the Song Dynasty, it is derogatory and introverted: poor and weak. In fact, the Song Dynasty was weak but not poor. We can't say that it is poor just because it is weak, that is, the social productivity is low and the social economy is underdeveloped. It is an indisputable fact that the Song Dynasty was weak, but not poor. If we must say that the Song Dynasty was poor, it can only show that its central government was in financial difficulties for a period of time. There is also a Song Dynasty? Revolution? A lot. Some scholars say that Carboniferous coal was widely used in Song Dynasty and its application in smelting? Coal and iron revolution? Or? Fuel revolution? Its essence is the energy revolution; A substantial increase in crop yield per unit area will be called? Agricultural revolution? ; Will the appearance of the city change greatly, the market system will be broken, and commodity trading will no longer be limited by space and time? Business revolution? ; The generation of paper money will be called? Financial revolution? ; The improvement of printing technology and the gradual popularization of books caused by it are called? Printing revolution? Its essence is the information revolution, and the way people store and transmit information has undergone fundamental changes. Wait, and so on. What is the actual level and degree of the above phenomenon? Revolution? The appropriateness of this word can be questioned. But it is hard to deny the great development of the Song Dynasty in many fields, and some fields can even be used? By leaps and bounds? One word to describe it. It is really not advisable to say that poverty and weakness are accumulated. The other is a new traditional prejudice, that is, the theory of upper and lower stages. This theory began in the 1950s and was introduced by the Soviet Union. Historical Issues, an authoritative historical journal of the Soviet Union, once discussed the internal stages of feudal society, and finally published a summary article in the name of the editorial department. This paper holds that the development process of feudal society can be divided into two stages: the first stage is the rising stage, and the relations of production adapt to the nature of productive forces and promote the smooth development of social economy, even the leap-forward development; The second stage is the decline stage, that is, the decline stage. The relations of production do not adapt to the nature of productive forces, which has become the shackles of social development, and the social economy has stagnated or even regressed. What was the popular language at that time? Today in the Soviet Union is our tomorrow. ? Historians in China, like all walks of life in China, blindly learn from the Soviet Union. Therefore, the theory of ascending and descending stages is transplanted into the study of ancient history of China, and the so-called? Theory? Slaughtering history, the Song Dynasty was judged to enter the downward stage, there was no debate, and the society was stagnant. This theory is a rigid understanding and mechanical application of the principle that relations of production must adapt to the nature of productive forces, and simply describes the mode of social development as a slideway consisting of two straight lines? People? Glyph, straight up and down, steep rise and fall, not in line with historical reality, not trustworthy. What do people often talk about now? Changes in Tang and Song Dynasties? It is not a stagnant downward transformation, but a gradual upward movement. China ancient society entered a new historical stage of continuous development and further development from the Song Dynasty, which is by no means stagnation or decline. To grasp the historical position of an era, we must put this specific historical era in the overall process of historical development and evolution for dynamic investigation. We should not only look at history smoothly, but also look at it backwards. In other words, we should look forward and backward. Li Qingchen, the minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, boasted that imperial civilization was worth three generations, Han and Tang dynasties? [1] (Volume 135), on Ouyang Wenzhong (Li Qingchen). Hao Jing, the Mongolian envoy to the Southern Song Dynasty, praised the Song Dynasty, together with the previous Han and Tang Dynasties. Three generations later? :? The rule of Han dynasty is like summer, the rule of Han dynasty is like business, and the long-term enjoyment of your country is like husband's week. What can you do? Three generations later? . ? [2] (Volume 39, "Move Wen Song? Li and Hao's theory is forward-looking, that is, compared with the previous generation, (Song History) can really highlight the historical position of the Song Dynasty. People often quote Mr. Chen Yinque's assertion: The culture of the Chinese nation developed for thousands of years and reached its peak in the Zhao and Song Dynasties? [3] (P245), also belong to foresight. In fact, looking back may be more important than looking forward. The so-called "looking back" means connecting with future generations, rather than deliberately demonstrating how the Song Dynasty was inferior to future generations. There is not much point in such an argument. If we link the Song Dynasty with later generations, we can at least find the following two points. First, set a precedent for future generations. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, not only did its social economy develop on the basis of the Song Dynasty, but its political system also inherited a lot from the Song Dynasty, and some of its iconic and prominent social phenomena appeared as early as the Song Dynasty. At present, the academic circles talk more about the changes of Tang and Song Dynasties, but less about the relationship between Song and Ming Dynasties. Of course, it is not absolute. For example, Zhu Ruixi traced the embryonic form of eight-part essay in Ming and Qing Dynasties back to Song Dynasty [4], and Li Hongqi thought that all kinds of treatment and privileges enjoyed by juren in Ming and Qing Dynasties had existed in Song Dynasty [5]. There are many such phenomena, but we haven't studied enough. For example, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the famous squire who lived in the countryside was similar to officials but different, similar to and higher than the people, and represented local forces. They appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty and were more numerous in the Southern Song Dynasty. Second, leave a legacy to future generations. According to previous studies, there are two main categories: one is Jiangnan economy with developed material heritage; The other is the study of spiritual heritage. As far as these two heritages are concerned, the influence of the Song Dynasty on later generations is also very far-reaching. The late American scholar Liu Zijian pointed out that the culture of China in the past 800 years was headed by the Southern Song Dynasty and concentrated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. ? [6] (P80) Previously, Yan Fu, as an enlightenment thinker, had a higher and deeper understanding. He said:? The ancients liked to read the first four histories and listen to them. If we study the changes of people's thoughts and political customs, we must study the history of Zhao and Song Dynasties. China, a phenomenon today, repaid evil with good, regardless of ancient tools, but was created by Song people. 1989 can be asserted. ? [7] (P 1) As we all know, the Tang Dynasty was famous for absorbing the excellent elements of foreign culture in history. For foreign cultures, people in the Tang Dynasty have a good appetite and strong digestion, and are not afraid to eat exotic species and become aliens. Because in the process of digesting foreign cultures, it is inevitable that the Tang people have some so-called? Exotic? . After the digestion process is basically over, the culture of Song Dynasty is a culture with more China characteristics and China style. Today, China people's values, ways of thinking, aesthetics and even ways of expressing their feelings have their own unique personalities, which are obviously different from those of foreigners. In Yan Fu's view, all this is closely related to the Song Dynasty, Song people and Song Wenhua. No wonder some foreign scholars, such as the late French scholar balaz (Chinese name is Etienne Balazs), launched an international research program on the history of the Song Dynasty in the 1950s, thinking that we should start from the Song Dynasty to understand the current China. It can be seen that the Song Dynasty not only had a far-reaching influence on later generations, but also had its special cognitive value. One tendency masks the other. At present, whenever the academic circles discuss historical topics, they must first discuss their status, among which there are many exaggerated words. As far as the history of the Song Dynasty is concerned, the main tendency in the past was to belittle the Song Dynasty. At present, this phenomenon still exists, which seems to have a tendency to overestimate the Song Dynasty. If we still use the theory of dating Miyazaki today, will we regard the Song Dynasty as? Renaissance in the East? It is believed that the Renaissance in the East triggered the Renaissance in the West, which was hundreds of years earlier than the Renaissance in the West, and it is inevitable that it will raise the historical status of the Song Dynasty. Nowadays, in related books, it is found from time to time that Yan in Song Dynasty is called traditional society? Ideal state? 、? Best state? Equal formula. In my opinion, I'm afraid these things have gone too far. Reference: [1] Lv Zuqian. Imperial literature [m]. The first edition of four series. [2] Hao Jing. Lingchuan Collection [m]. Silent Wen Yuan Ge Si Ku Quanshu [3] Chen Yinke's Collected Works: Volume 2 [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1980. [4] Zhu Ruixi. Song and Yuan essays [J]. Historical research, 1990(3). [5] Li Hongqi. Juren in Song Dynasty [a]. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Song History [C]. Taipei: Chinese Culture University, 1988. [6] Liu Zijian. Collection of Song History Studies [M]. Taipei: Lianjing Publishing Company, 1978. [7] Compilation of historical materials of the Song Dynasty? Jinglu [m]. Taipei: Wenhai Publishing House, 1970 Zhang: 1940, male, from Jiang 'an County, Sichuan Province, professor of history department of Sichuan Normal University, mainly engaged in the study of ancient history of China. Originally published in hebei academic journal No.5, 2006.