There is a description in Dickens's Tale of Two Cities:
“Thisisthebestoftimes，theyseemstohaveitall：therapiddevelopmentofsocietymadegreatprogressinthestudyofthisgeneration，careerandlife；thisistheworstoftimes，theyseeminglynothing：unprecedentedpressurefalls，theynotonlyneedtofacechildren'seducationandparentalsupportproblemsthere，thefutureoftheirpensionproblems”。
What does this passage mean? It is very appropriate to describe the era of Song Daigong, that is:
"This is the best era, although the princes are still subject to the restrictions of the liturgical system, but in fact, in terms of power, the princes have long been independent, which seems to have everything, the rapid decline of the Zhou Kingdom and the development and growth of the princely states have created a new generation of great progress of the princes; this is also the worst era, unprecedented pressure fell on the princes, the so-called elimination of the other, the weakening of the power of Zhou Tianzi, the strength of neighboring countries, how to carry forward the glory of the ancestors, for the welfare of future generations, It is the difficulties and problems of all the princely states, if the movement is slow, it is very likely that they will be like Zhou Tianzi and will be at the end of the road. “
At this time, the King of Zhou Ping newly moved the capital, the House of Heavenly Sons was displaced, and the princes went their own way and continued to expand their territory. Duke Dai of Song was the son of Duke Ai of Song and was one of the few monarchs of the Song Dynasty. The history books record that The Duke dai of Song carried out benevolent government in the Song Dynasty and was deeply supported by all the people. The records in the history books are relatively fragmentary, and during his reign, there was a famine in the country, but Song Daigong was respected by the people and admired by future generations. How do we determine whether this monarch is a sovereign or not?
Song Daigong was obviously aware that the decline of the Zhou Kingdom, the rise of Qin and Jin, and the persecution of Zheng Wei had made the Song Kingdom no longer the comfortable paradise of the past. With the acceleration of changes in the external environment, the continuous collapse of the Zhou Tianzi liturgical system, the domestic environment of the Song Kingdom seems to have contradictions arising, especially the contradictions between the people and the public office are becoming more and more prominent, the extravagance between the nobles is popular, and the people live at the bottom, it is still difficult to live diligently, and they have to encounter natural disasters and famines between several years, the suffering of the people, only the officials who go deep into the grassroots know that in the ideological reform of Song Daigong, reducing land endowments, restricting drinking, and reducing public office expenses may originate from this reason.
According to the reverence of later generations for Song Daigong, it is clear that his reform was successful. In the research results of hundreds of family names, the descendants of Song Daigong have nearly a hundred surnames such as Dai, Song, Le, Shi, Hua, Huangfu, Huan, Muyi, Mo, etc. These surnames have been circulated to this day and spread all over the world, and even every year there are clan relatives who go to Song Daigong's Sanlingtai to seek roots and worship ancestors, which shows the achievements of Song Daigong. At least in terms of inheritance from generation to generation, it can be called a great deed. His direct descendants, such as Hua Shi and Mu Shi, later became important ministers of the Song Kingdom, calling the wind and rain in the Song Kingdom, monopolizing the song dynasty politics, and even triggering several civil unrest, almost wanting to destroy the country, which can also be regarded as the Yu Yin of the Song Dai Gong, but the blessings are not good or bad, for those descendants of the power-hungry future generations, the Song Dai Gong is both their idol and the archway they can rely on.
After the death of Duke Dai of Song, his sister-in-law Duke Wu of Song succeeded to the throne. Strictly speaking, Song Daigong obviously accepted the eldest son inheritance system of the Zhou Kingdom, although he was dissatisfied with the old system and wanted to launch a change, but his bones had deeply imprinted the traces of the zhou kingdom system, and his reform also followed the system of the Zhou Kingdom, obviously when the princes were in dispute and competed for hegemony, Song Daigong, the descendant of the former enemy state of the Zhou Kingdom, became the defender of the Zhou Kingdom. Therefore, king Ping of Zhou later wanted to give The Duke of Song Dai the title of "Dai", which was the greatest affirmation of his life's deeds.
Another son of Song Daigong, Gongzi Zi, was named the Grand Master of the State of Song, obviously in his mind, Song Daigong was the father of the Ming Emperor who was as big as heaven, so in the education of his descendants, he must also often take Song Daigong as the spiritual leader, so in the end his son had a worship of Song Daigong, and finally even named himself "Dai", and even became the ancestor of the Dai surname, which may be unimaginable to Song Daigong.