The Inner Asian Steppe and Chinese Dynastic Struggles

PAX MONGOLICA : THE STEPPE EMPIRE OF THE MONGOLS HIST 1301 | History The Inner Asian Steppe and Chinese Dynastic Struggles The degree of centralised control that steppe peoples arranged themselves under varied greatly. Small, autonomous, nomadic clans with erratic membership and meagre herds in isolated areas of the steppe constituted one end of the spectrum. Settled civilizations, which had a writing system for their language, centralised bureaucracies supported by regular taxes, and established capital cities, represented the other extreme. Between the established societies and the seminomadic tribes were larger groupings of predominantly preliterate, seminomadic tribes with less rigidly defined territorial limits and memberships. After the Tang dynasty fell at the start of the ninth century, several seminomadic tribes moved to more settled and centralised civilizations in search of the wealth and technology of China. Two steppe peoples—the Khitan Liao, who formed the Liao kingdom and were linguistically related to Mongolians—and the Xia, also known as the Tangut, who formed the Xi Xia kingdom, used the power vacuum created by the fall of the Tang dynasty to extend their rule from the Inner Asian Steppe into northern China. These kingdoms served as a link between the steppe's nomadic tribes and China's long-established, highly centralised, and sedentary culture. During the turbulent years between the Tang and Song dynasties, the eight tribes of Khitan Liao transitioned to a settled lifestyle with formal governmental structures. In 918, their commander established a permanent capital city in the north and gave up on the customary elections in favour of an inherited monarchy. In the sections of the kingdom where the overwhelming population was Chinese, officials were chosen through an examination system like to that of the mandarins. In other areas, traditional tribal traditions of government were applied. A written script was necessary for the centralised administration procedures, and it was completed in 920. Additionally, the Liao dynasty fostered industrial growth by sending Chinese labourers proficient in technologies—such as metallurgy—to train peasants on the steppe to become artisans. The Treaty of Shanyuan was agreed upon between the Song and the Liao in 1004. This treaty demonstrated how the steppe people's connections with the Chinese changed during the Tang and Song eras. It referred to the rulers of Song and Liao as Sons of Heaven. The two states were acknowledged as equals, with each having the authority to manage their borders and to extradite people, and neither being permitted to change the rivers that divided them. Remarkably, though, the Song were required to pay the Liao 200,000 bolts of silk and 130,000 ounces of silver every year (about USD$2.7 million in 2020 currency) as tribute. There was no mention of the Liao's reciprocal need to pay tribute to the Song. This connection with the Liao infuriated the Song, so much so that in 1120 they funded the uprising of the Jurchen, a steppe tribe who were also shifting away from their original tribal organisation and towards more centralised, sedentary institutions. The Jurchen were one of Khitan Liao's vassal kingdoms. After the Liao and the Jurchen engaged in battle, the Song launched a surprise attack from the south. By 1125, the Song and the Jurchen had emerged victors, taking advantage of splits within the Liao dynasty. The Kara-Khitan kingdom was established by the surviving members of the Liao royal family who fled west with their allies. The Jin dynasty was established by the Jurchen to govern the old Liao territories. The Jin were not satisfied with replacing the Liao. The Jin was persuaded that, despite their outward wealth and prosperity, the Song were in fact weak militarily by the Song's need for assistance in defeating the Liao and their tiny tribute of opulent commodities. If they had known the disposition of the Song emperor Huizong, their perception would have been confirmed. Ever since he came to power in 1100, Emperor Huizong was more known as a Daoist poet and artist than as a capable leader. Auspicious Cranes, his most well-known poem and picture, describes seeing a flock of cranes, a traditional Chinese emblem of greatness and longevity as well as one of the Daoist linkages between humans and the skies. Huizong saw the sighting as a prophecy of a long and magnificent rule. But the Jin had other plans, and in 1126 they launched an attack on the Song. Huizong promptly stepped down in favour of his oldest son, Qinzong, who didn't show to be any more skilled in the military as his father. Qinzong sent a peace mission, headed by his half-brother Gaozong, with the Jin armies besieging the capital and controlling a sizable portion of Song territory north of the Yellow River basin. In order to free its men and put a stop to the hostilities, the Jin captured the mission and demanded a large ransom as well as an annual tribute. The tranquilly was shortlived, as Qinzong attempted to incite a rebellion among the former Liao mandarins who were now employed by the Jin. They informed the Jin emperor of Qinzong's awkward manoeuvres, and the latter launched a more sustained offensive. Riding high on a wave of victory and retaliation, the Jin declined to sell, and in 1127 they captured the capital of the Song and all of the royal household's possessions, including Huizong and Qinzong. A three-week spree of rapes and looting by the Jin led to what is now known as the Jingkang episode. Gaozong was dispatched to lead troops back to the capital; he proved to be a far more skilled politician than either his father or brother. Gaozong unified the soldiers and mandarins behind him, proclaimed himself emperor, and mobilised Song forces to stop the Jin advance after learning of the surrender of the city. This is regarded as the Southern Song dynasty's founding event. The War raged on until the 1140s, when the two sides signed the Treaty of Shaoxing, whereby Gaozong acknowledged the Jin as the Song's tributary and ceded all Song territory north of the Huai River. In exchange, the Jin agreed to receive an annual tribute of 325,000 ounces of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk, or more than USD$6.7 million today. In captivity, Huizong passed away before to the treaty's signature. Gaozong's refusal to negotiate his elder half-brother's release, perhaps as a sign of disdain for his incapacity, condemned him to spend the next twenty years as a Jin prisoner. After overthrowing the Liao Empire in less than a dozen years, the Jin started adopting the policies and framework of the Song Confucian state. Mandarins chosen through Confucian examinations took the position of landed nobles, who were typically descended from tribal chieftains. The capital was moved to Zhongdu, which is located near modern-day Beijing, from the ancient Jurchen heartland in northeast Asia. To hasten the dissemination of Chinese culture and ideals, Confucian classics and Chinese literature were translated into Jurchen. As a result, Mandarin examinations started to be administered in both Jurchen and proto-Chinese. In order to integrate with the Han populace, Jurchen households were either coerced or bought into moving into territories that had previously been Liao and Song. In the meanwhile, Gaozong and his direct successors managed to bring the Song dynasty together and maintain stability in the face of significant losses and setbacks throughout the second quarter of the twelfth century. Many ethnic Chinese were able to flee the protracted fighting and go south, where they were able to obtain work or land with the help of the government. Despite covering considerably less territory, the Southern Song population was about the same by 1200 as it had been during the Song's last census, and the economy appeared to have restored to prewar levels.