Lead:
After the consolidation period of power consolidation, both the bureaucrats in the north and the scholars in the south quickly resumed their original luxurious lives.
This is inseparable from the further development of the industrial and commercial systems of the two Song Dynasties, which coincided with the outbreak of agricultural technology, industrial and mining technology, handicraft technology, which, together with the world-famous ocean navigation of the Southern Song Dynasty, made this seemingly weak dynasty have the highest per capita GDP in the world at that time.
The high government revenue and the huge wealth of the people supported the luxurious life of the nobles of the Southern Song Dynasty, so that this dynasty of less than two hundred years had a rare and comfortable living environment suitable for both the nobles and the people. It can be said that the Southern Song Dynasty was the era of the outbreak of humanism and the era of exquisite life in the upper class.
Spices, dairy products and a large number of new necessities of life have become the necessities of life of nobles, even commoners, the developed civilian rule system, rich social material wealth, so that the nobles of the Southern Song Dynasty spent the era of elegance and gorgeous coexistence, luxury and simplicity, although the Southern Song Dynasty in the north in front of the powerful foreign races more and more like delicious pastries, but still for a long time brave self-defense.
One. The Southern Song Dynasty was a quiet corner, but it was still vast
1． The Southern Song Dynasty had a vast territory and high grain production
Although the territory of the Southern Song Dynasty was much inferior to that of the Northern Song Dynasty, it was also enough to support the operation of a top power in the world at that time. Including the entire area on the south bank of the Yangtze River, the area began to be carried out from the Three Kingdoms, the Rapid Development of the Tang Dynasty, and the near-completion of the Southern Song Dynasty, so that jiangxi, Fujian, Liangguang, and Lianghu were firmly controlled by the descendants of Huaxia.
In the two Song Dynasties, especially the Southern Song Dynasty, all the cultivated land suitable for development, not only the fields in the plain area, but also the land by the lake, the land by the sea, the land of saline alkali, and the land on the hillside, all had a scientific way of reclamation, and the grain yield of the Southern Song Dynasty was more than three hundred catties per mu, which was the peak of China's mu production before the popularization of chemical fertilizers, and he represented the highest level of classical agricultural science and technology.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, which was initially self-sufficient in grain, more energy was concentrated on commercial activities, all of which were the basis for the high quality of life of the nobles, to paraphrase a popular phrase now, food security was the top priority.
2． The Southern Song Dynasty had a sufficient population and a large labor force
In the Jingkang Incident, a large number of people moved south, and the population of Henan and other places caused by several successful Northern Expeditions, including Yue Fei, was the basis for the economic development of the Southern Song Dynasty, due to the saturation of cultivated land, too many idle people were put into commerce, handicrafts, mining activities, at that time in parts of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were already tens of thousands of miners of iron ore, which were the dividends brought by the population.
The abundance of population also makes Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other southern cities that are now dazzling, from the Southern Song Dynasty began to take shape, people who are familiar with Marco Polo's travels can see the Italians' admiration for the commercial cities of South China, and the southern urban agglomeration of the Southern Song Dynasty inherited by the Yuan Dynasty is mature and developed. These cities differ in style due to their geographical location and specialties. Almost all the Nobles of the Southern Song Dynasty lived in these huge cities surrounded by a large number of service industries and rich in products.
The abundance of population further refined commerce and handicrafts, and more than 140 kinds of trading items in the Northern Song Dynasty expanded into more than 400 kinds in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the products and merchants were distributed in a step-by-step manner. Lin'an Province of the Southern Song Dynasty, Ying Tianfu sang and danced every day, the goods were dazzling, and many famous commercial places became famous gold caves, which were respected and yearned by the nobles of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Two. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the mercantilist system broke out in various industries
1． Business succeeds and trade prospers
The Song Dynasty was a dynasty with distinct characteristics, which was surprisingly annoying militarily and at the same time surprisingly flexible and wise in business. As long as such a basic fact is pointed out, we can see the talent of the Song people in commercial activities, that is, the population of the Southern Song Dynasty is nearly ten times that of the Southern Song Dynasty, and the territory is several times that of the Southern Song Dynasty, which reached the same GDP of the Southern Song Dynasty very late, and the per capita GDP of the Song Dynasty was proud of the world at that time.
The per capita GROSS DOMESTIC product of West Asia, another prosperous business circle, is likely to be less than half that of the Song Dynasty, an achievement that is staggering, especially when trade with both the North and the West is difficult to develop, which is a triumph of the system.
The Song Dynasty's stimulus to commerce was all-encompassing, ranging from government projects like Roosevelt's plan to vigorously advocating all seemingly small business transactions. The affirmation of the merchant's identity and the tolerance of the merchant as an official allowed him to make rapid progress in commercial development under the heavy burden of commercial taxes, and commerce not only caused the emergence of a new commercial aristocratic class, but also greatly enriched the material life of the Song people.
At that time, the living standards of the nobles in Lin'an Province may not have been surpassed until today, and the choice of rice noodles starting every day from breakfast to a cup of milk per day in the Song Dynasty to the huge consumption of luxury goods such as spices and candles showed the huge consumption power of the Song nobles and even commoners. He is a great positive cycle, consumption promotes the prosperity of business, and the accumulation of wealth caused by the success of business is constantly urging consumption at all levels of society.
2． Technology blowout, in line with the development of other industries
In addition to the shatian, jiatian and polder fields pointed out above, the selection of rice seeds and the discovery of agricultural technologies such as seawater have made Song's agriculture more developed, and the blowout of science and technology has also caused the emergence of a large number of new industries. Engraving and printing technology made paper further popularized, bringing the earliest banking industry and the earliest banknotes, the Southern Song Dynasty's friends and the scale of use were very large, the nobles came and went to high-level places to take out a stack of meetings, there are already today's local tycoons with money to open the way.
The development of mining is also obvious, although due to the loss of shandong, an important iron ore mine, the iron production of the Southern Song Dynasty has declined significantly compared with the Northern Song Dynasty, but the world's leading coke ironmaking technology has ensured the quality of iron products in the Southern Song Dynasty. The situation in copper mines is similar, due to geographical limitations, a large number of brass, that is, copper-zinc alloys, are manufactured, reaching millions of pounds a year.
All of the above developments are important components of the commercial prosperity of the Southern Song Dynasty, the necessities of life made of metal have become the necessities of the people, a large number of gold and silver utensils, luxurious lacquerware, has become the southern Song Dynasty nobles are enthusiastic about the device, the prosperity of commodities has created a top, high, medium, low grade of business circles, nobles are high, enjoy the convenience brought by science and technology.
3． The prosperity of ceramics and satin
Speaking of the Southern Song Dynasty, and even the whole of China, ceramics and satin are indispensable, and the support of the developed navigation industry in the Southern Song Dynasty, the confidence of foreign trade, is mainly these two products, the Northern Song Dynasty began to rise in Jingdezhen, the refinement of various processes in the ceramic manufacturing industry has been very mature.
The elegant Qingbai porcelain of the Song Dynasty was transported to all over the world, becoming a hot hard currency, and replacing a large number of luxury goods such as spices, ivory, gold, diamonds, etc., which greatly enriched the inner treasury of the Southern Song Nobles and also gave them specific support for their luxurious life.
The situation of silk is similar, as the main body of tribute to the north, silk fabrics and cotton fabrics have been produced amazingly, the quality is stable, they together with ceramics represent the highest level of handicraft industry in the Southern Song Dynasty, not only for the benefit of the Song people, but also for a large number of people in Eurasia.
Three. The humanism of the Southern Song Dynasty developed along with the maritime industry
1． Official recognition of the extravagant life of the nobility
Responsibly speaking, although the Southern Song Dynasty has a black history of twelve gold medals, the style of the emperor and the entire dynasty is not too authoritarian, and he is worthy of Wen He's praise, and the story of Song Huizong and Li Shishi Zhou Bangyan does not end with a bloody head, which in itself is very telling.
In the Qin and Han Dynasties, excessive luxury was a political taboo, but the Song Dynasty tolerated a lot, and the luxury of political aristocrats such as Jia Xiangdao and Qin Juniper was a popular trend in society, which gave the nobles the greatest understanding of the luxurious life in the entire humanistic environment. Although the science of science is rampant, burning tens of thousands of spices in one night, lighting tens of thousands of candles has become a joke, as long as the money is not stolen and robbed, there are not many people criticizing the luxury life, which is actually very different from Qin Han.
2． The maritime industry also promotes the development of the luxury industry while creating commercial prosperity
The lack of precious metals in the Southern Song Dynasty is a common phenomenon, and the developed navigation technology slightly makes up for the defects of this orientation, a large number of gold and silver from Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Japan flowed into the Southern Song Dynasty, and the luxury goods represented by spices have become a symbol of aristocratic gold.
Nobles bathed in incense, wearing spices has become a social fashion, the southeast also exports tens of thousands of pounds of spices every year, spices, ivory, diamonds and other exotic commodities, deeply integrated into the life of the Nobles of the Southern Song Dynasty, has become an important tool to show the status of that era.
The department that controls overseas trade has become a fat shortage of the government, dozens of times the profits have made officials and businessmen flock to it, the field of spice industry has become the hardest hit area of corruption in the Southern Song Dynasty, Qin Juniper often accepts bribes from Guangdong Economic Envoys, luxury goods and official and business circles have integrated to form a unique cultural phenomenon of the Southern Song Dynasty, which has become a window for us to observe the times now.
epilogue:
The Southern Song Dynasty was defeated in the war and forced to withdraw to the south bank of the Yangtze River, but those nobles who should have been like dogs that lost their families enjoyed the world's top luxury life in the life of the Southern Song Dynasty, which was determined by the political culture of the Southern Song Dynasty's heavy commerce and heavy literature, and was also the upper embodiment of the developed commerce of the Southern Song Dynasty.
No matter how much the weakness of the Song people was criticized, the Southern Song Dynasty was undoubtedly one of the most suitable countries for human life in the world at that time, both for nobles and commoners. "Outside the mountain Qingshan Building, the West Lake song and dance for a few hours."
The Views of the Jin People on the Song, the Mongols on the Song, and the Western Xia People on the Song are generally the same. The extravagant atmosphere of the Southern Song Dynasty, the developed commercial culture, and the world-leading technology have all become an important symbol of the times together with the fragments of warships in the cliff mountains and seas.
Resources:
History of the Song Dynasty
The Complete Book of the Four Libraries
"Song Hui to Compile Manuscripts"