What kind of era was the Song Dynasty?

History endowed the Song Dynasty with a high status, the most open-minded era, the most active era of culture, the highest era of invention and the most prosperous era of economy. However, history played a joke on the Song Dynasty, making it the saddest time, being repeatedly ravaged by foreign countries until the country perished.

In the most enlightened Song Dynasty, the prominent position enjoyed by literati created a school of cultural prosperity. Outstanding achievements have been made in the fields of poetry, prose, script and drama represented by Song Ci. There are more than 1300 authors in Song Ci alone, and more than 20,000 words have been collected. Among the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, the Song Dynasty occupied six seats.

The Song Dynasty, which invented the most, invented more than 100 great inventions in history. Among the four great inventions, gunpowder, printing and compass all came from the Song Dynasty. In addition, artillery, deep well drilling technology, paper money, abacus, musket, spinning wheel, blast furnace ironmaking, coking, etc. also came from the Song Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, when the economy was at its peak, great progress was made in agriculture, printing, papermaking, silk weaving and porcelain making. The maritime industry and shipbuilding industry have made outstanding achievements, and overseas trade covers more than 50 countries in the South Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. This series of achievements made the total economic output of the Song Dynasty account for 60% of the total world economic output at that time.

The worst Song Dynasty, from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty, was always under the siege of ethnic minorities. First Liao, then Xixia, then Jin, and finally Yuan!