Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
dynasty. He wanted the vast majority of civilian officials in his
government to get their positions because of what they knew, not
who they knew or what their family backgrounds were. Accordingly,
he reestablished and greatly expanded the examination system, and
eventually the majority of his government officials were people who
had no aristocratic family backgrounds but had secured their
government employment by passing civil service examinations. This
ensured that he had a fresh flow of new, nonaristocratic blood in his
government bureaucracy. Of course, each new recruit into the Song
government knew that he owed his position and allegiance to Taizu's
dynasty and government, and not to the wealth, prestige, or influence
of his own family. In short, Taizu's government was a meritocracy, not
an aristocracy. As the sole assessor and rewarder of merit, the Song
government was secure and not in a position to be manipulated by
the interests or pressures of prominent families.
After eliminating any possible military and social challenges to his
position, Taizu turned his attention to challenges from the government
bureaucracy itself. Accordingly, he reorganized government minis-
tries, weakened their ties with one another, and placed them beneath
him hierarchically to foster ambiguous and adversarial ties among
them. At the same time, he took care to strengthen and clearly define
each ministry's direct power relationship with himself. By weakening
the horizontal ties between ministries and strengthening the vertical
ties between them and himself, Taizu consolidated his own power
over the government bureaucracy. If there was a disagreement over
government policy, it was between the ministries, and he was left as
the sole, unchallengeable arbiter of these differences. The man was a
political animal, and he played the game well.
All of this was somewhat ironic, given the Song's very humble
territorial position. Externally, China had not been as weak since the
Period of Division, when one barbarian regime after another occupied
huge tracts of Chinese territory. Song China did not command the
respect or admiration of its international neighbors, and the Kitan Liao
(and two other barbarian states on the Song's western and southern
frontiers) frequently humiliated China with attacks on its borders
and insults to its national honor. Internally, however, the first Song
emperor gathered unprecedented amounts of civilian and military
power into his own hands. Thus, the Song was externally weaker
and internally stronger than any previous major dynasty. It is almost
tempting to conclude that the one was the cause of the other, or that
Zhao and his successors increased their own power internally pre-
cisely because they and their state were so weak on the international
