Читать книгу Asia Past and Present - Peter P. Wan - Страница 59

The government of the Song Dynasty was the least oppressive of all major Chinese dynasties, and it was relatively clean and enlightened. It experienced an agricultural revolution, a commercial revolution, an upsurge in manufacturing and technological inventions, rapid growth in overseas trade, and a renaissance of Confucianism. Its thriving culture is as important to Chinese history as the Renaissance is to European history.

But the Song Dynasty was also a diminished empire. It was the smallest in territorial size of all the major dynasties, hemmed in and bullied by several powerful non‐Han states throughout its reign. And the regime suffered from perennial problems of an impoverished government and a weak military.