ABSTRACT
After the Chanyuan Covenant, the Song empire experienced a period of prolonged peace in the eleventh century, marred only by a few periods of intense warfare with the Tanguts in the northwest. In sharp contrast, the twelfth century was a time of intense warfare during which the Jurchen destroyed first the Kitan empire and then nearly destroyed the Song. The Song’s military failures were surprising given its immense economic strength, but cannot be explained as they have been by the rise and dominance of an overwhelmingly civil society and culture. Rather, its failures were the result of poor Song policy choices made for political reasons, and the development of Jurchen political and military power. These prosaic and incidental causes have not satisfied the desire of many Chinese historians, beginning in the Song, to make overall generalizations about the nature of Song rule and society, and to find fault in the fundamental institutions of the dynasty. Unfortunately, these characterizations have tended to obscure the real causes and results of the wars, and warped our view of Song society.2
