Of all the technological and scientific advances in history, there is one era that is perhaps the most influential in the development of society. The Song Dynasty (also known as the Sung dynasty among historians) was a period that began in 960 C.E and lasted until 1279 C.E. Emperor Taizu of Song founded this dynasty, following his illegitimate rise to power of the Later Zhou, ending the great Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song Dynasty has been donned “The Golden Age”, among others which include the Tang dynasty. The title is supported by the advances of its time. Some examples include: “Movable Type Printing”, gunpowder, porcelain, banknotes, compasses, and other advances in mathematics and astronomy. These examples are one of the prime examples of why the Song Dynasty should be rightfully considered a “Golden Era”, which helped to shape the world today.
Among historians, the Song Dynasty is considered to be important because of the use of banknotes and the uses of printing. One historian named Joseph Needham was known for his scientific research on the history of China and its technology and inventions. For example, in Joseph Needham’s Science and Civilization in China Vol. 5-7, he writes, “Of all the products from the ancient world, few can compare in significance with the Chinese inventions of paper and printing. Both have played a profound role in shaping world civilizations; and both have exerted a far-reaching impact for a very long time on the intellectual as well as the daily lives of countless people everywhere.” 1 In this statement alone, he established the importance of the Song Dynasty, as paper and printing were part of the Song Dynasty’s advances. Needham has a collection of seven volumes pertaining to Chinese history, and in yet the same volume he states, “But of course paper has other uses than for writing and publishing; it has penetrated into every corner of ancient and contemporary society to become an indispensable article in daily life. Even though new media of communication have developed in recent times, the unique combination of paper, ink and printing are still the basic, permanent, portable, and perhaps the least expensive and most accessible communication device known to us today.” 2 The lasting influence of the invention of paper is apparent in modern society. This piece of text does support that Chinese history is important for its development in paper, but the Song dynasty uses this achievement to form the currency system. In history, printing and writing is an important form of text used to record historical moments in society. In Chinese writing, characters are used instead of the alphabet that is used in many parts of the world. Therefore, woodblock printing was very common and used more than the printing press. Nonetheless, both contributed much to modern society. Evidence of this is present in Needham’s findings, which is as cited, “Movable type was introduced by the middle of the 11th century and multi-color printing some time in or before the 12th century. The movable type was first made of earthenware, but later various other materials, including wood, metal, and a variety of ceramics, were also adopted repeatedly and intermittently in the following centuries3…Nevertheless, both wood blocks and movable type have gradually given way, since the mid-19th century, to the modern printing press.” 4 Following this massive achievement, money became widespread. Marco Polo even recounted upon the subject of paper money, and in Needham’s book, it states, “Marco Polo was among the early European visitors to China who witnessed the wide circulation of paper money and the extravagant burning of paper effigies and replicas as offerings to the dead in the empire of Genghis Khan. An Arabian writer, Ahmed Sibab Eddin (+ 1245-1338), twice mentioned Chinese paper money in his book based on the eyewitness reports of a others. Through intermediate steps, papermaking was introduced to Europe in the + 12th century. Subsequent to this, Mongol conquests resulted in the first issues of paper money in Persia in the 13th century, and in Korea and Vietnam in the 14th century, while Japan also used paper money during this period.” 5 Shortly after the invention of paper currency and printing in Song China, it was used heavily used in later dynasties and is present in many eyewitness accounts and research. In summary, the Song Dynasty helped to revamp the usage of paper money, and improved upon printing such that it is present in many societies in China following the Song, and in modern times.
While many historians consider paper to be a very important part of the development of society, there is another invention pertaining to the Song dynasty. In a militaristic view, gunpowder is considered an important part in warfare, as it became heavily used after the Song. In an interview with author Robin Yates, and NOVA about Chinese innovations, one of the questions asked were about gunpowder among others. Yates states, “Gunpowder completely transformed the way wars were waged and contributed to the eventual establishment of might over right. In my own research, I have been able to refute the common notion that the Chinese invented gunpowder but only used it for fireworks. I'm sure that they discovered military uses for it. I have found the earliest illustration of a cannon in the world, which dates from the changeover from the Northern Song to the Southern Song around 1127, which was 150 years before the development of the cannon in the West. The Song also used gunpowder to make fire lances – actually flame throwers – and many other gunpowder weapons, such as anti-personnel mines, which are thankfully now being taken out of general use6… by the end of the Song Dynasty, the Chinese invented multiple-stage rockets. If we hadn't had that, maybe we would not have been able to put a man on the moon. It was that fundamental an idea. Joseph Needham, a historian of Chinese science and technology, also argues that the notion of an explosion in a self-contained cylinder also permitted the development of the internal combustion engine and the steam engine. Our basic modes of transportation would not have been possible without this Chinese invention.” 7 This piece of evidence is perhaps the strongest contender for reasons as to why the Song Dynasty is so important. It also mentions Joseph Needham, who says that gunpowder indirectly influenced the way engines work in modern times, and to such an extent that without it, human society in theory would not be what it was today. Gunpowder is said to have traveled in East Asia. During the Song Dynasty, although many historians have considered them to be weak, their use of gunpowder was what held off the Mongolian invasions, and the Mongols themselves used the people who had knowledge of the technology to their advantage. Gunpowder was not the only technology that was important in Song China. The Song Dynasty gave rise to the birth of many mathematical and scientific advances. Joseph Needham presents this study in his book: Science and Civilization in China Vol. 3, in which a remark about scientist Shen Kua and the mathematicians of the time is present. In the text he states, “Shen Kua was a friend of the famous poet Su Tung-Phowith whom he collaborated in a book on medical prescriptions, the Su Shen Lia Fang. Shen's interest in mathematics has been mentioned; the Sung produced some of China's greatest mathematicians of any age, particularly Chin Chiu-Shao, and Li Yeh and Yang Hui. Possibly due to stimulation by Arab in influence (though there is no clear evidence even for a transmission of ideas), the Sung was the period of the great algebraists, and China was the country where during these centuries this branch of mathematics reached its highest level.” 8 Needham explains that during the Song Dynasty, there were many important figures in mathematics, and of them, presents scientist Shen Kua and others listed. It stands to reason that the Song dynasty had such talented and legendary scholars, because of their contributions. The Chinese also had some other advances such as medicine. Asaf Goldschmidt’s The Evolution Of Chinese Medicine presents an insight into the late twelfth century medicine as compared to times before the Song Dynasty. According to the text, it states, “Chinese medicine at the end of the twelfth century was strikingly different from Chinese medicine of the late tenth century. During the intervening two centuries, a profound transformation had reshaped medical theory, medical practice, and even the status of medicine. Some aspects of this sea of change are obvious to the modern observer. For example, during this period, the number of medical books on record increased greatly. Technological advances in printing account for some of this increase; the rest should be attributed to a growing interest in medicine among emperors and the elite, which sponsored projects of book collection, revision, and printing during the Northern Song dynasty.”9 There is causation present here. Asaf presents the fact that printing accounted for some of the increase of medical books, which presents another benefit of printing during the Song dynasty and a reason why medicine became more advanced during the Song. The Northern Song particularly had another achievement. The Northern Song invented the examination system and for the first time, emperors, colonials, and members of the official elite show interest in medicine. As stated in The Evolution Of Chinese Medicine, “During the Northern Song dynasty perceptions about medicine changed. To disseminate medical knowledge, the Northern Song emperors commissioned the collection, revision, and printing of ancient medical canons as well as innovative medical manuals. With the help of the officials they also established a medical education and examination system. They further complemented these enterprises by establishing imperial institutions that aided the common people – or, in modern terms, they engaged in public health initiatives (see Chapter 2). During this period, we witness two interrelated phenomena. First, for the first time in Chinese history we see emperors and members of the literate scholar-official elite showing genuine interest in medicine as a worthy field of study.”10 This text states a very important part of the development of the Northern Song. The examination system is a very crucial part of history, as it helped to better filter out the suited people for a job in the government and high-ranking jobs. Previously, in olden times, people were selected based on wealth or power, but since the birth of the examination system, society has been benefited as a result. In summary, gunpowder, mathematics, sciences and, medicine has greatly benefited both parts of Asia, and the world to make a better society. Gunpowder was helpful in the evolution of warfare, mathematics and sciences in the fields of knowledge, and medicine for the welfare of the people.