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In the Western world today, there is a common belief regarding China’s History that it has always been a land of death, destruction, closed mindedness, xenophobia, isolationism and totalitarianism, a place where nothing of importance has ever occurred especially in the realm of Science and Technology.But since I digress, let me get straight to the point: it’s just not true. In fact, there is even a 3 worded rebuttal which can be used to destroy these inaccurate stereotypes on Chinese History forever: The Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD).The Song Empire in 1111 AD with an area of 2.1 million km^2 (Merely 22% of Modern China’s territory today):The Song Dynasty is probably the single most overlooked and underrated period of Human History ever, and not just Chinese History. Even in China today however, it is commonly overshadowed in renown by the other important Chinese Dynasties such as that of the Han (206 BC-220 AD), Tang (618–907 AD), Ming (1368–1644 AD) and even Qing (1644–1912 AD).From Chinese to non-Chinese, the Song Dynasty might as well not even exist, barely anyone ever writes about the Song Empire. Even on Quora, the Song is the least followed major Chinese Dynasty with a mere 1.3 k followers (as of August 17th). The most common complaint against the Song in China today, is that it was too civilized and not militaristic enough, resulting in an embarrassing time for China in which the Jurchen Nomads occupied the Northern half of the country, forcing the weak Song to share China with it for 152 years.Yet, its reputation is not entirely deserved. Under the Song Dynasty, China did indeed reach a stage of Proto-Industrialization akin to the Europe of the 1700s, and if not for the Mongol Invasions which decimated the entire country, we would most likely be living in a Chinese led world today, rather than an American. But instead, the West overtook the entire world (not just China) in an event called “The Great Divergence”, something which will be discussed further down in this answer.So then, what did Song China accomplish? Let’s get started.Although I’m aware of what the questions asks, I will be giving a full history of the Song, otherwise you will not be able to fully appreciate its accomplishments, and the attained feat of Proto-Industrialization.As usual, I mostly always write long answers, if you hate this, please don’t follow me.Beware however, this answer is 9,200 words long. Read on at at your own risk. Below are the contents for ease of navigation:Chapter I: “Learning From the Past”: How the Song Brought Peace Back to China, and Begun a New Age of ProsperityChapter II: “Meritocratic Egalitarianism”: How the Song Reformed China’s Political System to Concurrently Pursue Equality and Good GovernanceChapter III: “The Era of Civility”: China Under the Rule of the Open and Free SocietyChapter IV: “A Golden Age of Technology”: How the Song Empire Attained A Stage of Proto-IndustrializationChapter V: “The Knowledge Economy”: The Achievements of Song Civil SocietyBonus Chapter: The Fall of China As The Global Leader, and the Loss of The World Which Could Have BeenFinal Summary (to tie up any “loose ends” and conclude the answer)Chapter I: “Learning From the Past”: How the Song Brought Peace Back to China, and Begun a New Age of ProsperityWhen the Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty collapsed in 907 AD, Chinese civilization and glory suffered immensely.Once again, China was a land divided as had been the case many times in Chinese History before, lasting for a period of 53 years, China entered a new era of disunity in a period known today as the “Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms”:And of course like the other eras of disunity before it, the people suffered greatly under this time of great instability and death. Over a period of only 53 years there were 5 short lived dynasties in Northern China (with each dynasty being violently overthrown by the next via a violent coup), and 10 Kingdoms in Southern China. As the selfish Kings and Rulers pre-occupied themselves on how to retain their power, the people and country became extremely neglected.Economic progress was so non-existent such that the people of China had to earn a living by bartering (trading 1 good/service for another), as the Financial System which had developed under the Tang was now non-existent. Left to fend for themselves, Political Anarchy was on the rise as Law and Order existed only in name as a result of the great Government corruption which had become so pervasive.This resulted in a failure of the Rule of Law, which should have been protecting the common people from the various criminal activities which were widespread throughout China, and which though formerly non-existent (virtually) under the Tang, had now infested every corner of the various Chinese Kingdoms. In addition, a lack of care for public wellbeing and safety was also evident in the neglecting of the drainage, water and Canal System which was left in critical disrepair and caused chronic flooding.The destructive floods in return wiped away much of the Agriculture of China’s farms, causing widespread food shortages, which inevitably then led to starvation and death. Whilst China suffered all these needless, various catastrophes, the ruling Kings and Emperors had not the slightest care for the wellbeing of the nation. It was indeed a dark time for the Chinese people, who suffered under their supreme vanity.Now, there exists a common cycle throughout history that goes along the lines of something like this: “good times create weak men, weak men create hard times, hard times create strong men, and strong men create good times” as this image so clearly asserts:This is the truth, and such was not the exception for China at this point in time either.For it was from this period of great chaos known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, that the young Zhao Kuangyin came into existence. Born into a powerful Military family, from an early stage in life Zhao soon found he had all the resources necessary, in order to ensure total would be dominance on the battlefield.Under the careful tending of his father, Zhao quickly grew up to be an exemplary individual in the physical sense, said to be, “a tall and valiant fighter” who excelled in Mounted Archery. His father, who had full faith in the power of his son took him along to help him and his other sons fight their vast Military campaigns in Northern and Southern China, where he became a battle hardened individual having fought through countless wars in an unnatural length of time.As the years went by, Zhao’s great brilliance on the battlefield caught the attention of the young boy-Emperor of the “Later Zhou” Dynasty (951–960 AD), the last of the 5 Tang Sucessor Empires in Northern China to whom Zhao owed his allegiance. As a reward for his performance on the battlefield, the Emperor unwisely promoted him to the supreme position as “Chief Commander of the Capital Armies”.In the map below, the Later Zhou Dynasty can be seen (in grey, as “L.Zhou”), bordered by the Nomadic Liao Empire to the North, and the rest of the Chinese Kingdoms to the South:It was the single biggest mistake a ruler could make. Unfortunately for the Emperor however, being a mere inexperienced child, he was extremely naive and did not possess the intelligence yet to suspect the Supreme Commander, as a man with ulterior motives which lay hidden behind an apparent veil of undying loyalty to the Emperor. No, behind the shiny exterior which he presented to the Emperor, Zhao harboured only the most treasonous thoughts.For in the time Zhao was a mere boy himself campaigning with his father and brothers in Northern and Southern China, he grew disillusioned with the ruling dynasty. Having experienced the great sufferings of the people himself, he no longer believed that Heaven supported the Emperor, thus he believed that the ruling dynasty needed to be overthrown, as its ruler was a failure who enjoyed the luxuries of Palace life, whilst soldiers like himself died in the thousands daily on the orders of the Emperor.So when Zhao was made Supreme Commander, he considered it as the perfect opportunity from which to enact his great plans for China’s future. Hearing the rumours of a possible invasion of China by the Nomads to the North, the Emperor ordered Zhao to lead an Army to their northern borders to command the counter-offensive against the invaders.But such a thing never occurred. Whilst the Army was on the march north, a Seer had claimed to Zhao that he had seen “two Suns fighting in the skies”, and insisted that this meant the transfer of Heaven’s approval to rule from the Emperor to Commander Zhao. Instead of marching on, the Army camped for the night at a place merely 16 km away from the Zhou Capital of Kaifeng, as they pondered over what the Seer’s message meant.As the story of the Seer spread throughout the Army, Zhao’s men were also convinced that their Commander was the rightful ruler of the Empire, and by the time Zhao had woken up in the morning, all the soldiers in the Army had gathered around him to announce the following proclamation:"The army is without a master, and we are willing to make the General the new Emperor."An artist’s impression of the Army’s Oath of Allegiance to the new Emperor, upon Zhao’s acceptance as his role, the Soldiers dressed him in an Imperial Yellow robe and declared him their Emperor:Zhao accepted on condition that they adhere to the following:“Do no harm to the Empress Dowager and the little Emperor. Do not bully the Ministers and other Officials. Last of all, do not loot the inside or outside of Kaifeng. If you obey me, you will be rewarded handsomely, but if you fail me, I shall not spare you.”In this way, Kaifeng was conquered with great mercy, and the Song Empire was finally proclaimed in 960 AD, whilst Zhao adopted the title of “Taizu”, and became the First Emperor of the Song Dynasty, the single greatest Chinese Empire in the realm of Science, Technology and Economy. It was also the most civilized Chinese Dynasty in history, even overshadowing Modern China in some aspects.Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu, First Ruler of the Song Dynasty:After the Later Zhou Dynasty was conquered, the other Southern Kingdoms were brought into the Empire with ease, as a consequence of the reputation of Taizu’s great mercy (which had been shown to the people of Kaifeng) which had spread all around China. As a result, city after city surrendered to the new Emperor without putting up much of a fight, at last China was one country again after 53 years of disunity.With control over a powerful, centralized and unified country once more, Taizu quickly went to work in order to return China to a position of glory again, as had been the case under the Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty.As Paul Denlinger correctly notes, each new dynasty attempted to correct the mistakes of the previous one which it overthrew, in order to create a better world. Such was not the exception for the Song Dynasty. When the Song was proclaimed, Taizu who was determined to create a new era of prosperity under his rule, actively sought to make the necessary reforms he thought China needed, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.The Great Tang Dynasty had started to decline as a result of the An Lushan Rebellion (755–63 AD), a Revolt by the eponymous Chinese General who revolted against the Tang Court, in an 8 year long attempted Revolution which killed 36 million people (45% of Tang China’s population), he single-handedly brought about the decline of the greatest Chinese Dynasty up until then.And it was not only the Tang who suffered this fate, but the Han Dynasty before it also, in which the Emperor’s authority was in the end stolen away by the powerful Chinese Prime Minister; Cao Cao (seen below) who assumed de facto control of the country after bullying the weak Han Emperor into submission.Taizu thus thought that if the Military, unchecked in all its power under the Tang (and Han), was allowed to grow like a Cancer from within the Empire, then it was his personal crusade now under the Song, to correct this mistake, and to deliberately reform the Military in such a way, as to purposefully cripple its Command Structure, in order to limit the power of the Generals. In this way he argued, the Imperial Army would never again be the catalyst for the Song Empire’s downfall, like it was under the Han and Tang.Thus, to limit the power of the Song Imperial Army, Taizu passed an Imperial Order known today as the “Wen-Wu Suppression” Policy, which limited the power (and efficiency therefore) of the Imperial Generals by allocating control of the entire Military, to a single Chancellor who was given no real control over the Imperial Army. The actual Military itself meanwhile, was split amongst 3 separate Army Marshals, who each reported to the Emperor independently of each other.A Song era depiction of the Imperial Army (under Taizu’s reforms, the Army’s Command Structure was deliberately weakened to prevent a possible Military Revolt and or Usurpation, as was seen under the Han and Tang):The Emperor even took it one step further in fact, and thought that since violence was the reason why the Han and Tang fell, he needed to pacify the people of the Song Empire to prevent them from even considering Militarism as a solution to their problems. Instead, unlike the Han and Tang before it, he sought to create a more docile Empire built on civilized behaviour rather than that of the Militaristic tendencies, which had prior been responsible for the Military power of Han and Tang, as well as its downfall.He thought that if he could create a place which was so self-evidently powerful and advanced, a place where every single individual’s needs and wants were all accounted for, then the people of the Song Empire would slowly over time turn their attention to more peaceful, and socially productive activities. In this way, he was hoping to create a country populated by only the most peaceful and civilized citizens, who desired only peace, and Civil activities, rather than war and Martial activities.In doing so, he set a new precedent in China, one which would continue all throughout the entire 319 years of the Song Dynasty, which would go down in History as the most civilized Empire of China, a period which defies all the stereotypes which non-Chinese people often associate today with Ancient China.Chapter II: “Meritocratic Egalitarianism”: How the Song Reformed China’s Political System to Concurrently Pursue Equality and Good GovernanceThe Song too also re-adopted the Meritocratic Examination System which had long been used so many times prior to its existence as was the case under the Han and Tang.Under the Song, the full process was divided into an official 3 parts. If one desired to become a “Mandarin” Government Official, he would have to pass every single stage successfully. The reason the Exam Process was made so difficult, was because once you were able to triumph over such an arduous Process, it would guarantee you instantaneous prosperity, and ensured one a position amongst a small Elite Ruling Class of Scholars.This was no small thing, for it almost guaranteed you personal access to even the Emperor himself, who always needed to rely on the qualified expertise of the Mandarins themselves, in order to successfully run such a vast country as that of Song China.The Song Imperial Hall in Kaifeng, as is evident the Mandarins (adorned in Red) are scattered throughout the Hall, when the Court was in session, the Mandarins would sit by the side of the Emperor, eager to advise him on what was and was not, in their eyes the right thing to do. In this way China became the best governed country in the world at this time:The 3 Stages of the Examination Process:Firstly, was the Written Examinations Stage. To prepare for it, a potential successful candidate should in the years leading up to the Exam have memorised thousands of additional Chinese characters, in order to make his answers more formalised, in order to impress the Examiners.Secondly, was Oral Examination Stage in which current Mandarins themselves would test your knowledge of only the most important Political, Military and Philosophical Classical Texts. All texts had to be memorised off by heart.Thirdly, was “Interrogation” Stage in which one would would literally be viciously tested by the Mandarin Examiners. The purpose in this was to test a candidate’s sincerity, to see if he was “sound of mind”, at least from a Confucian point of view. The 5 Confucian values of Righteousness, Courage, Responsibility, Discipline and Loyalty were the key traits for a successful Mandarin to have under his belt.It was the sincere hope of the Song Empire, that by creating a process which was so long, so difficult and so mundane that any selfish candidates, who cared not for the wellbeing of the country (and only for their own social status), would naturally be weeded out by such a vigorous process. In this way, only the very best of the Human Capital that China had to offer, was selected to help the Emperor run the vast 2.1 million km^2 country of Song China.An artist’s impression of Song Mandarins standing beside the Emperor, always ready to aid in the benevolent rule of the country:What was the Examination like?Having travelled for days to reach the Capital of Kaifeng, you finally arrive trembling nervously as you stroll up to the Examination Building, remembering that you are here not only for yourself but also to uphold the family honour. As a result you find that you are unable to relax, your palms are in fact, very sweaty.Passing the Exam will bring great honour to both your parents and your ancestors, an action so insanely importantly, that a failure to pass has often prompted many pass candidates to take their own lives rather than live on in shame.Thus, to pass is the only option, there is no alternative, either you live on in fame, or die in shame. You had been studying and preparing for these Exams for as long as you could remember, everyone understood the implications of passing: eternal fame and glory. You could not afford to fail now- you had already come so far.As you walk into the Examination Building, a Mandarin directs you to a very small, and dark room, in fact it was so small that you even felt like you were in prison. It did not matter if you desired fresh air or were merely claustrophobic, the Mandarins locked you inside that room for 48 hours, only afterwards would you be permitted to exit.A re-enactment of an Examination in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912 AD), by that time however the concept had improved, but the rooms were still extremely small as you can see:All you have with you in that room is a desk and chair, accompanied with paper, a quill, several sticks of candles, some bread and water, and a small bucket which would serve as your toilet for the next 2 days.On your desk was the Written Exam, and the accompanying solitary question:“With reference to the Four Books and Five Classics, in no more than 500 Characters, please explain why it was immoral for the General An Lushan to challenge the Imperial Authority of the Tang Court”Although it doesn’t specifically state, you know that such a task was too easy, there was of course a huge catch involved.The standard exam question also had to be written in a particular way. As you answered the question, you meticulously split up your answer into 8 equal sections, throughout the entire time, you were careful to write a response which harmoniously synchronised in such a way as to create a “rhythmic” style, in which the sound matched the meaning of what you had written.Of course, because there were also no available reading materials available for reference, you had to already have intimately known the subject on which you were writing about prior to enrollment for the Examinations. All research material (the 4 Books, 5 Classics were memorised, no exceptions) had to have been thoroughly assimilated and retained.After 48 hours, your time was up, and you exit the room nervously awaiting your results, which would decide whether or not you could proceed to the Oral Examination Stage.And that, was merely Stage One of the Meritocratic Examinations under the Song Empire.A Song era Mandarin:The fact that the Emperor had the help of the Mandarins, qualified and skilled as they were to run the country, differentiated the Song from its contemporaries who lacked the Political advances of the Song. China, which thrived on Meritocracy, as a result became a vast yet efficient bureaucracy which gave rise to a unique Political System, far more advanced and complex than anything the world had ever seen at that point in time.During the Song, recognising the importance of such a system as that of Meritocracy, the Zhao family understood that it could be used to promote a harmonious society, by opening it also to the poor. Unlike the Aristocratic Tang Dynasty before it, the Song was more Egalitarian, and less Hierarchical.As such, the Exams were especially marketed to the lower classes during the Song Empire, now even a poor man had the chance to become rich, but only if he desired it badly enough.The Song Administration reformed the Government in such a way, that they were now accepting 5 times as many candidates as under the previous Tang. The change from an ancient Aristocratic type Government, into an enlightened bureaucracy of learned men put the Empire on a steady path to progress.Even though the number of individuals accepted was increased, this did not lower the value of having an Administrative position. In fact, it actually held greater prestige prompting more and more people to try out for the government exams.As such, though only 30 thousand people enrolled for the exams in 1000 AD, this number grew to 400 thousand candidates at its peak in 1200 AD. In this way, Meritocracy, the order of the day not only ensured that China became one of the best, well governed countries in the world, but acted to also close the gap between rich and poor.Chapter III: “The Era of Civility”: China Under the Rule of the Open and Free SocietyHaving such an advanced system of Governance in place, this acted to ensure the well functioning operation of the Song Empire. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Chinese Economy, during which the Song Empire became the most advanced for its time, far eclipsing the Economies of all other possible Kingdoms, Empires and Principalities.Though there was an innate Confucian bias against the Merchant Class, the great social tolerance that existed under the Song Empire- a precedent which begun with the First Song Emperor- allowed them to trade freely from persecution.Noticing that the great prosperity of the Han and Tang came directly from the Silk Road (an intercontinental trading route which expanded from China all way to Europe), the ruling Zhao family panicked, they were frustrated that Song did not control the Central Asian regions as their ancestors had before them. Thus, the re-commissioning of the Continental Silk Road was impossible.However, what they could do was at least re-commission the Maritime Silk Road which was established under the previous Tang Dynasty, it was reasoned that having a single Silk Road was better than having none. Indeed, with the re-commissioning of the Maritime Road, the Song who utilized it efficiently, were able to increase trade to over 50 foreign kingdoms along the Ocean Silk Road throughout its existence.Here the Maritime Silk Road can be seen, extending from the Chinese Coast, down to Southeast Asia, West to India, and the Middle-East, then down throughout the Eastern African Coast and finally up again towards Southern Europe:"During the Song dynasty there was also a notable increase in commercial contacts with global markets ... Combined with a unified tax system and efficient trade routes by road and canal, this meant the development of a truly nationwide market... these changes made China a global leader, leading some historians to call this an “Early Modern" Economy many centuries before Western Europe made its breakthrough.”-Economy of the Song dynastyUnder the liberal rule of the Zhao family, an early form of Laissez-Faire (“Let it Be”) Capitalism was brought into existence, prohibiting excessive Government interference into the Song Economy, thus encouraging International Trade whilst also simultaneously giving rise to Small Private Enterprises, increasing the general prosperity of Song Citizens.This even resulted in a higher recognition of the importance of the Merchant Class, directly contradicting the age old Confucian belief that the Capitalists were a nuisance who existed only to leech off from society.Instead, during the Song, the Merchant Class became larger, more sophisticated, better organized and more respected than it had ever been before. As a result, the power of the Merchants grew to such an extent that at the peak of their power, the Capitalist “Middle” Class even rivalled the Economic power of the Mandarin “Upper” Class.A depiction of the newly prosperous Merchant can be seen below, during the 10th-13th Centuries in China, the Capitalist Class grew under the rule of the Zhao family to even rival the power of the Mandarins:This had the effect of convincing those who had either failed the Meritocratic Exams, or were considering enrollment, to instead become Merchants and seek their fortunes domestically, or on the High Seas amongst the Maritime Silk Road. As a result, the Merchant Class which grew so large managed to make Song China’s primary Revenue source, as that of originating from International Trade, rather than Agriculture as under the Han Dynasty for example.A Song Merchant Ship from the 13th Century, during the Song Empire, Merchants were permitted to invest their funds into joint stock corporations, and also into multiple sailing vessels which served further to deliver an overwhelming amount of capital to the Merchant Classes:The great effect of this Economic prosperity had become very self-evident in the Song Empire.As International Trade grew, and as the Song Empire’s National Wealth inflated to such a size as to account for roughly 50% of the world’s wealth (for reference, the Han had 25%, the Tang had 40% and Modern China as of 2017 only has 18.31% of the world’s wealth), the amount of Domestic Savings of the Song also increased dramatically, paving the way for Private Investment to come about as a result, as Song citizens soon found out that there were in fact no lack of funds for which they could use for their own ambitions.Indeed, under the Song Emperors, Individualism and personal ambitions were not only permitted and tolerated unlike in the previous great dynasties of Han and Tang, but also actively encouraged. Free thought, debate and even free speech was tolerated albeit to a very limited extent by the Zhao Family. As such, this acted to give rise to a social environment which was based on seeking the truth, learning and innovating to create a better life.Why were the Song Emperors so open-minded and Liberal?The great Liberalism of the Song Emperors originated with the First Emperor; Taizu of Song. When Taizu conquered the country, he sort to correct the mistakes of the past. During the 53 years of disunity, he personally saw and experienced the sufferings of the people, whose living conditions had deteriorated badly to such an unacceptable standard, since the Emperors and Kings refused to listen to their subjects, giving rise to much dissatisfaction.Thus, when Zhao Kuangyin took over control of China, he knew that things needed to change. For the new Song Empire to thrive, there needed to be some fundamental reforms. Thus he was resolved to forge the new China based on the concept of the open and free society, as opposed to the hierarchical empires of Han and Tang, or the chaotic Totalitarianism of the 5 Dynasties, 10 Kingdoms.Thus, in time when new Song Emperors came to the throne, it became a new tradition that upon the inauguration of each and every new ruler, that the Mandarins would gather around the new Emperor and assert to him the following lines:“The World belongs to our Great Song, to our Ancestors, to the Government, to the People, and to the Military. It does not belong to you.”And in return, the Emperor (regardless of what he believed), had to comply and relay the following lines:“I would not dare to disagree with you, the World indeed belongs to our Great Song Empire, and the Nation indeed belongs to the Great Song People.”And thus the Song precedent of the Open and Free Society was established.Chapter IV: “A Golden Age of Technology”: How the Song Empire Attained A Stage of Proto-IndustrializationGiven the great liberalism that existed under the Song, combined with the limited allowance of free speech and thought, infused with the permittance of personal ambitions and individualism, and the fact that there was a steady supply of capital to fund Private endeavors, it should then be of no surprise to anyone that a great amount of technological innovation occurred under Song China.Under the Song Empire, new technologies were not just invented, but actively implemented into all walks of life, in order to maximise productive efficiency. Nowhere was this great adoption of technology more evident than regarding Agricultural and Industrial Production.The great adoption of technology allowed Song China to experience an Agricultural Revolution long before many other parts of the world. The advances in Technology, allowed the Song to harvest from an unprecedented arable area never before seen in Chinese History, of 480,000 km^2, roughly 23% of Song China’s total area, a number unsurpassed in Chinese history under the Ming and Qing Dynasties until Modern China today.Rice as a cause for Population Increase?During the Song, there was a great shift of Chinese civilization to the South, since the Barbarians had conquered the North. As a result of most Chinese people living in the warm, fertile South, it has been argued that the great change of diet from wheat to rice, which was said to be healthier also prolonged the life of Song Citizens, allowing China to exponentially grow its population:As a result, at the very peak of the Song Empire, 64.2 billion kg of grain were being produced each and every year, divided equally amongst the Chinese people, this totalled a number of 650 kg of grain per person before taxes.For reference, Industrial Europe did not achieve this level of Agricultural production until the end of the 19th Century, a little over 100 years prior.“A good harvest in Suzhou and Huzhou can feed all under heaven.”- a common Song era proverbThis was a number of supreme importance, as it allowed the Song to grow its population to, and of course maintain a stable number of individuals totalling to a figure of 118 million people, as measured in the 1120 AD Imperial Census. This was a number which was roughly 40% of the World’s Population, a spectacular feat as China held merely 1.41% of the total continental area of Earth, yet contained 40% of its population, and 50% of its wealth, a fact which ensured that Song had the largest and most advanced Economy in the world at the time.Also not to be overlooked, was the Song’s Industrial achievements which backed by the implementation of the Song’s great Technological Innovations, begun the “Chinese Renaissance”, and made China into a Proto-Industrialized society 700 years before Europe reached the same stage.For example, between 806–1078 AD, the per capita Iron output rose 6 times and by the year 1078 AD, China was producing 127,000 tonnes of iron per year. Also roughly around the same time, it has been claimed that Steel Production also peaked at 150,000 tonnes per year, a number higher than all Europe combined in the early 1700s.In addition to its efforts to forge an “Early Industrialized” Economy, the Song Empire also introduced the concept of Paper Money into the Song Economy, which was used for the first time ever in Human History:This ensured the true establishment in China, of an effective Financial System which ran on Paper Money. The introduction of Paper Currency into the Empire was well received by Song Citizens who thought it was easier to trade once they had paper money. Cash was light, foldable, potentially worth a lot more than coins, and took a lot less effort to make than the effort required to mint coins.Despite the introduction of Paper Money into the Song Economy however, at its peak in 1085 AD, the Song Economy still saw the annual production of 6 billion coins every year, far more than the 200 million or the 300 million annually produced coins of the Han or Tang Empires respectively.Such a feat of advancement in the realm of Finance and Economy, ensured China’s status as the most wealthy, and industrialized country in the world thus far at the time. For evidence merely observe the following graph below, which has attempted to compare multiple countries’ per capita wealth across the last 1,300 years of History:As is evident above from the years 980–1120 AD, Song China managed to attain such a high level of Economic development, that far overshadowed its contemporaries at the time, who would only be able to match its Economic achievements only after several centuries had gone by.The Song Empire’s prosperity was so great, and so spectacularly powerful, that its total National Revenue over the 319 years it lasted for from the years 960–1279 AD, surpassed the combined total National Revenues of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties which not only existed for a period of 633 years (a period twice as long as Song’s reign), but also had larger populations and more modern Technology than that available to the Song.Yet, the Early Modern Song Economy far out performed all 3 combined Chinese Empires. Self-evident thus was the power of the Proto-Industrialized Song Economy.As a result of the great Economic Proto-Industrialization which occurred under the Song Empire, China managed to once again hold the title for the “largest city in the world”. Indeed, despite being smaller than the Tang Capital of Chang’an before it, Kaifeng held a population of 1.4 million people which contained 80,000 craftsmen and 20,000 storekeepers.The Capital was so prosperous in fact, that during the Song, the famous “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” painting was produced by Song Artist Zhang Zeduan, who was hoping to depict the great prosperity of Kaifeng as he saw it. The scroll was 25.5 centimetres in height and 5.25 meters in length. In the painting, there were a total of 814 humans, 28 boats, 60 animals, 30 buildings, 20 vehicles, 8 sedan chairs, and 170 trees:Chapter V: “The Knowledge Economy”: The Achievements of Song Civil SocietyAs a result of the Taizu Emperor’s efforts to create a peaceful, and civilized society, combined with the phenomena of the Open and Free Society resultant of the Liberal attitudes present under the ruling Zhao Family, and exacerbated by the new Military reforms which restricted the power of the Song Generals, a new fundamental social change was underway in Song China.For thousands of years throughout Chinese history, it was thought that the ideal Chinese man should have embodied the “Masculine” concept of “Wu” (it was thought that there existed 2 energies: Masculine and Feminine, and they applied to every individual) or Martial Spirit (武 ), such was considered a necessity especially under the Han and Tang Dynasties (and all Chinese History up until then), because China at the time was always under constant threat from the Barbarians.Under the previous Han Empire, the Chinese were always under threat of the Xiongnu Barbarians (see below), thus it was considered a necessity for the ideal Chinese man to be a very physically strong individual who practiced Horse-Riding, Archery and the Fine Art of Swordsmanship:And when they weren’t being threatened by the Northerners, they were still forced to maintain a Militaristic societal attitude, as both dynasties were forged through violence, having used it to end the periods of insufferable disunity before them.Thus the Martial Spirit, endured throughout thousands of years of Chinese History, it was a trend however, that ended with the Civilized Song, who did not think very highly of violence due to the beliefs of the Zhao Family (see Chapter I), who thought that Militarism and violence led to the ultimate end of the Han and Tang. Thus, being civilized and non-militaristic was instead the right policy to pursue.Under the Song, the Great Switch in how the ideal man was viewed, was now in full swing. Instead of the Militaristic attitude of Wu, the new ideal man was now that of the Scholar, the embodiment of the “Feminine” concept of “Wen” or the Cultured Spirit (文 ). After thousands of years, the new ideal man was now a Scholar (a fact which saw skyrocketing enrollments in the Examination System).As a result of the great shift towards the feminine spirit of Wen, Song China saw infinitely more Civil achievements than Military.In the realm of Invention and Innovation, the Song period saw the introduction of a variety of societally productive and noteworthy products, listed as follows:Movable Type Printing:Paper money:Tea :Restaurants:Gunpowder:Mariner’s Compass:Advertisements:Water Powered Mechanical Clock:Multi-Stage Rockets:The most important invention amongst the list above, would by far be the invention of Gunpowder.Because of the introduction of Gunpowder to Song China, the Chinese Imperial Military, though severely weakened by the crippling reforms of the First Emperor of the Song, were still able to fend against the invading Mongols for a period of 44 years, as a result of their Advanced Ordinance of Gunpowder focused Armature:The fact that the Song were cut off from the traditional birthplace of Chinese civilization of the North, holding control only of the wealthy South (rich as a result of International Trade along the Maritime Silk Road), prompted the Zhao Family to instead turn China into a might Naval power for the first time in its long, and by then already ancient history.As a result of this belief, a formalized Chinese Navy was established for the first time in Chinese History. Armed with the new invention of Gunpowder, the Navy became the greatest in the world at the time due to its armature composition of cannons. It was even accompanied with a force of 52,000 Marines divided into 20 separate squadrons to maintain Chinese Naval dominance, all along the Maritime Silk Road.The “Bee’s Nest” handheld cannon was just one of many weapons introduced by the Song Dynasty, it was a handheld weapon which was able to fire off several gunpowder propelled arrows at once, ensuring the simultaneous decimation of several enemies at once, it was in fact like an early Shotgun which was loaded with arrows rather than bullets:As a result of the introduction of Gunpowder, the Imperial Military managed to negate its disadvantages on the Battlefield, directly contradicting the common belief (in China) today, that the Song Army was weak. It was not.Integrating the new Military Technologies into the Imperial Army, the Song Empire managed in one case to defeat the invading Jurchen Armies, at the Battle of the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River in 1161 AD, in which a mere 3,000 Song troops managed to defeat the numerically superior force of 70 thousand invaders, because of their advanced Technology.This Technological prowess also transferred over into the Scientific realm, where Song China also saw steady progress in this regard.For example, it was a Physician called Song Ci, who led China's first efforts of detailed analysis into the realm of Forensic Science. He asserted that one should use certain ways to determine how someone died, and thus determine whether a person was murdered or not. In addition, he argued that only a trained coroner, was qualified to conduct such autopsies.It was then insisted that only via the gathering of credible evidence (in the form of autopsy reports and witness testimonies) by qualified authorities, could a person be convicted, or set free.Meanwhile, the Chinese scientist Shen Kuo suggested that in fact the Human throat had 2 valves rather than 3. The Chinese equivalent of Copernicus and Galileo, Shen Kuo was a great scientist and inventor who also worked as a Finance Minister in the Song government.Shen Kuo was so brilliant in fact, that the Canal Lock System in France still uses his Pound Lock System today:Regarding the topic of Religion, the Song Dynasty also saw the coming together of the "Three ways": the 3 main Philosophies of China which co-existed together in harmony; Taoism, “Chinese” Buddhism and Confucianism. In doing so, the Song were able to demonstrate what an empire with religious tolerance would look like ideally.“Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are one”, a Litang style Song painting:Under the great religious tolerance of the Song, the philosophy of “Neo-Confucianism” was also invented during the rule of the Zhao Family.Formed under the adherence to pragmatism (which Chinese culture is extremely notorious for), Neo-Confucianism rejected all the superstitions that existed under Buddhism and Taoism, which ensured its existence as a secular yet practical philosophy. It eventually became the national ideology of the succeeding Ming and Qing Dynasties, and is subtly practiced even by Chinese people to this day.Like under the preceding Tang Dynasty before it, the great tolerance of religion under the Song allowed the various faiths to contribute to a cultural melting pot of knowledge, the results of which strengthened Song Culture and allowed its people to view life through multiple diverse lenses, concurrently encouraging them to understand that there are several paths to the truth, and not just one.This gave rise to refined intellectualism which was based on curiosity and seeking the truth. By comparison, at the turn of the 2nd Millennium AD, Europe and the Middle-East was in turmoil under the Crusades (1095–1291 AD). Needless Millions died as a result of the Catholic Invasion of the “Holy Land”. If only the Catholics of Europe and Muslims of the the Caliphates had been tolerant of religion like the Song, then untold millions of lives would have been saved.Edit: Yes I know, the Crusades was a much more complex event formed on the combination of many factors, merely than just Religion. However, I do hope you’ve noticed my point on tolerance.An artist’s impression of Pope Urban II calling for the reclamation of the Holy Land from the Islamic Caliphates in 1096 AD, one often wonders how many lives could have been saved in this needless 195 years of death and suffering, had the Catholics and Muslims learnt to tolerate and respect each other, as was the case for the “3 Teachings” under the Song Empire :Yet, the greatest achievement of Song Civil Society lay not in any of what was mentioned previously above. No, in fact the greatest legacy of the Song, the aspect of it which has deemed it to this day as the most civilized Chinese Empire, was actually regarding all of its “Socialist” like achievements, by which I mean the various Social programs which were publically funded, by Taxpayers. This allowed China to put into practice a Social Welfare program which was far ahead of its time.Under the wise rule of the Song Emperors:The Song government supported social welfare programs including the establishment of retirement homes, public clinics, and pauper’s graveyards-Ebrey, Walthall & Palais 2006, p. 167.Under the Song Chancellor Wang Anshi, he even proposed the implementation of State funded Public Education (funded by taxpayers), and even a State funded Welfare System for the elderly, who could no longer work in their old age, and required immediate relieving funds in order to enjoy the rest of their lives.A portrait of Wang Anshi, the benevolent Song Chancellor who first proposed the historically unprecedented suggestion of a Public funded Welfare System, in order to fund Public Education, and provide much needed funds to the elderly:Because of the immense wealth the Song Empire was built on, and the belief of Confucian benevolence, the poor were looked after to such a standard never before ever seen in China’s history at that point. Indeed, it was only in the 1800s, roughly 700 years after the Song established such acts of Public significance, that then and only then did some European countries even begin to think about following suit.In addition, Architecture during the Song was greatly improved upon. During the Song Dynasty, Architectural Engineering matured into a more professional form that described dimensions and working materials in a concise, organized manner.Song Dynasty City Gate:Song Architecture in Kaifeng today:The Song period like the Tang before it, was also characterised by a plethora of Buddhist Pagodas, many which still exist today. A great many deal of the Pagodas constructed during the Song exceeded 10 stories. This is noteworthy because Chinese Architecture has traditionally been known to emphasise the width of a building rather than the height. Thus the Song Dynasty (like the Tang before it), was very revolutionary regarding Architectural Development.The Iron Pagoda:Bonus Chapter: The Fall of China As The Global Leader, and the Loss of The World Which Could Have BeenArmed with the inventions of the Compass, Gunpowder, and Movable Type Printing, combined with the well developed Political System of Meritocracy, strengthened by the existence of Private Enterprise and International Trade, and powered by an Early Modern Economy which allowed the Song to produce a per person grain yield surpassed only hundreds of years later in Europe, and bolstered by the existence of a Nation wide Social Security program, what happened to China?Why is it that we are living in an Anglo-Western, American led World today rather than a Chinese led World? In the 800 years that have passed since the Song, surely this would have given China enough time to have accelerated metaphorical light years ahead of every other corner of the Earth, and yet it hasn’t, so just exactly what happened? How did China fall from grace as the Global Leader in Science, Innovation and Economy under the Song Dynasty, to its current position as mere runner-up under the new Hong Dynasty (1949- Present Day)?The answer is actually not that complicated as you might expect. It is however a very sad tale of great avoidable misfortune, which need not have happened. When the Mongols conquered all of China, they destroyed everything in their path, entire cities were sacked, and millions perished in the 44 years the Song resisted the brutality of the Mongols.An artist’s impression of the Mongol Invasion of China:The destruction inflicted onto China was not a small thing, keep in mind that when the Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD, Europe entered the Dark Ages, only managing to escape from it during the Renaissance period merely 500 years ago, with the great renewal of the West’s rich Greco-Roman heritage, and the ensuing surge in Science and Technology which came along with it.Thus, when the Mongols invaded China, it brought about a similar effect as that inflicted onto Rome by Alaric the Visigoth for example who sacked Rome in 410 AD as can be seen below according to an artist’s impression:That is the simple answer: Mongol Destruction on a Biblical scale, eroded Chinese Civilizational advantages in every possible way. Although the Imperial Song Census recorded a peak number of 118 million people living within the Empire in 1120 AD, the Mongol Census 180 years later in 1300 AD recorded only 60 million people, roughly only 50.84% of what it had previously been.Whilst simultaneously destroying Song China, the Mongol Empire expanded outwards to the West also. Reaching Eastern Europe and the Middle-East, Mongol tyranny was inflicted onto the rest of the world. But the effects of their Western Campaigns had a different effect than what was inflicted onto China.When the Mongol Empire finally halted its campaigns ushering in a very brief period of peace, its territory vast and extensive were as follows:The thing about the Intercontinental Empire of the Mongols, was that ideas, inventions and foreign resources and expertise could be transferred from one corner of the Empire, to the other. This was exactly what happened, in this way, the Chinese inventions of the Compass, Printing and Gunpowder were transferred all across the world eventually ending up in Europe on the other side of the world.This great transfer of Technology, allowed the Europeans to break the chains of technological stagnancy which had gripped the majority of the Continent since the Fall of the Western Roman Empire 800 years earlier, and the rest was history.As the Europeans at first liberated themselves from their own technological backwardness, they swiftly transferred into successive periods of history. First they journeyed from the Middle Ages into the Age of Sail and Discovery, then from there onto the Renaissance and Enlightenment, armed now with the capabilities to forge a Modern Nation the Europeans far overtook the world with the advent of the Steam Engine, resulting in the Industrial Revolution.And from there, an event termed today as the “Great Divergence” occurred, as Europe now found that it sat at the apex of the world, free to shape the world from a Western influenced point of view, all the while the rest of the world remained backward (yes, I am grossly oversimplifying it here).The “Real” Industrial Nation of the British Empire overtook the rest of the world, thanks to the invention of the Steam Engine, which allowed them to use their advanced technology to far overtake everyone else:“But that still doesn’t make sense”, I hear your very busy fingers typing into my comment section below, “surely China would still be able to catch up, right?”Yes, and no actually. You are right, yet you are also wrong. When the Song fell in 1279 AD, a set of events had been put into action such that it ensured that China would never again retain its former glory.Over the 89 year period that the Mongols ruled over China, their rule had become so tyrannical, so vicious and evil, that the Chinese suffered accordingly. Famines were rampant, the Black Death as a result of poor Quarantine controls not only spread throughout China, but throughout the entire world decimating 100 million people.Chinese culture was discouraged, the Meritocratic Examinations abolished, and Arabs and Persians from far off countries were brought into China instead, to rule over the country. A Racial Caste System was also installed, which placed the Chinese at the very bottom.As such, when the Mongols were finally overthrown after 89 long and terrible years, the Chinese people under the new Ming Dynasty were angry, they mistakenly claimed that Song China had fallen because it was weak, and it was weak because it was not Chinese enough.Angered at this thought, in time the Ming Empire of China soon shut off all connections with the outside world, assured that the evil barbarism of foreigners had nothing to offer China but death, and that Political Isolationism (a trend which began under the Ming in 1433 AD, and continued with Qing until 1840 AD) was much better than the open and International oriented society of the Song.Apart from the 27 year Ming Voyages (seen below), China turned inwards, shutting off all foreign contact with the International Community, it was their great demise:That was their last mistake. Coupled with Totalitarianism, Isolationism had the effect of making China Technologically stagnant to such a level, that even though it did not take China 1,000 years to recover from the Mongol attacks (as Europe did, entering the Dark Ages for a Millennia when Rome fell), China would never again become the leader of the world.Thus, whilst Europe steadily progressed in Technological Advancements, parallel Chinese development stagnated under the Ming Dynasty of China, and even regressed to such a level, that when the British invaded China in the First Opium Wars (1839–42 AD), they came face to face with only the most technologically backward “proper” country they had seen thus far.Which brings us back to the situation we see today, the History of China provides a very real lesson which should thus be thoroughly studied, as to not repeat it again. For those who refuse to learn from History, are bound to repeat it again. This is the truth, and it has always been the truth.Author’s Message to the Citizens of the People’s Republic of China:Once more today, China has a chance to “re-attain” its former glory, as the most advanced country in the world, if the Chinese people so desperately want to reclaim their place as the greatest nation in the world once again, I have the following advice:DO. NOT. SCREW. IT. UP. AGAIN.Seriously, this is the 3rd time in history that the “Universe” (or whatever) is giving you a chance to make things right, take it and don’t mess it up like the Song or Ming Dynasties.Final SummaryThe Song was indeed a Proto-Industrialized Empire which far exceeded the rest of the world at its almighty zenith.Producing more Steel than all Europe in the early 1700s, and possessing a per capita grain output seen in the West only in the late 1800s, Song China was the largest Economy in the world accounting for a massive 50% of the world’s wealth.The Song inventions of Gunpowder, Printing and the Compass allowed China to emerge as a Scientific Superpower for 300 years. Yet, the most notable achievement of the Song was actually its extensive Social Security System which saw the proposal of pensions for the elderly and the idea of a Government School funded by the Public Purse.Under the Song also, Public Medical Clinics, Graveyards for the Homeless and even Retirement Homes were established.The great Liberal attitude of the Song Emperors, combined with the greatest Political System to date of Meritocracy where Government Officials chosen via Standardized Exams, helped the Emperor run the vast 118 million strong Empire of Song, as China emerged as the best governed country in the world.Also due to the liberal attitudes of the ruling Zhao Family, Laissez-Faire Capitalism was adopted, giving rise to the Merchant Class, increasing prosperity for all, and reinforced the Proto-Industrialized Economy of the Song.It is for this reason, that some people have even extended the Tang Golden Age to include the 319 year long reign of Song also, as one super Golden Age, a decision which I’m sure only the most skeptical individuals could argue against.Sources Utilised Throughout My Answer (also for further reading):Song dynasty - Wikipedia5 Dynasties & 10 Kingdomshttp://www.fsmitha.com/h3/china03.htmThe Song Dynasty in Chinahttp://dragonsarmory.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/medieval-chinese-cataphracts-2-prince.htmlSong Dynasty (960-1279)The Asian Journal of BrandeisEmperor of China Song Taizu facts, information, picturesSong dynasty | Chinese historySenses concerning the revival of the Chinese civilizationLand Area -ZoomSchool.comEconomy of the Song dynasty | WikiwandAlong the River During the Qingming Festival - WikipediaUnderstanding Religion in Late-Imperial China

This is a great question and brings back memories of my Gunk when I was a kid in 1990 forewarning of China’s aim to become the big shot in sub Saharan Africa. Gunk was a self educated old NCO who saw action against the Chinese in Korea and held lifelong distrust of anything Communist. He told me once ‘those Chinese are all over Africa building this bridge and giving these tractors as so on and so forth.’ Much of this came at the tail end of the famine disasters and violent calamities that shook Africa in the 1980s. To my grandfather he saw it as the modus operandi of the communist cadre: social upheaval is opportunity like no other. The Soviet adventurism in 1970s Horn of Africa and US backed Apartheid forces were responsible for creating this mess, so well meaning African authorities were suspicious on further avenues with these partners.But China, preferring to see itself as a shining example of ‘non-aligned’ nations, those independent of the twin Cold War dogmatic competition for sumpremacy. They sought only to see undeveloped third world nations realize some of the potential they were now showing in an act of political solidarity. But Chinese stratgists are as shrewd and far thinking as it gets (Read the Great Wall and the Empty Fortress) and they were hoping to not just cement productive relationships with overseas gov’ts but potentially create their own private spheres of influence outside of American or Soviet orbit.China’s economic boom was just beginning in the later 1980s and growth projections were huge. But China, for all its vast size was both resource deficient and still technologically backward. To fuel its “workshop for the world” aspirations it hoped to avoid being hamstrung by resource and commodity prices on the world market, which were usually valued in the expensive US dollar. By reaching to disaffected states in Africa, China hoped to create bilateral arrangements from poor yet resource lush African nations. In terms of agriculture, minerals, and oil, Africa is wealthy. For instance a key mineral that make cell phones function largely comes from mines in Congo (formerly Zaire). But these mines are dominated by US and European interests. This is even more so in Africa’s petroleum industry. France has conducted countless large scale military operations in its former African territories since colonial rule formerly ended in the later 60s. These have largely been at the behest of corporate French oil interests and to maintain steady access to cheap uranium to supply it's largely nuclear powered national electric grid. In many ways France still keeps a relative grip on the affairs of its so called ‘francophonie’ equals across Africa, all to keep business as usual.China hoped to get bargains on everything from timber, oil, nickel, copper, bauxite, rice, grains, and oil. As well they hoped in return to secure contracts for major infrastructure construction endeavours across Africa in order to export some of its heavy industry laden economy as it switched to a primarily light and consumer goods manufacturing exporter. Also it could gain a degree of captive markets for exports although today the Chinese advantage means all markets are largely dependent on the goods that form our everyday items, be it Dar Es Salam or Toronto. Most important these economic arrangements usually followed with certain diplomatic favours, which could include security arrangements / military cooperation. Such as rights for Chinese forces to use military airfields or naval bases to conduct maneuvers, joint training, or refuge in times of conflict. The Soviets saw Africa as their path to becoming the true international superpower that their American rival clearly enjoyed vis a vis American status and influence across Asia, Latin America and wealthy Europe (Pax Americana as some call it). The chaos in state administration that affected so many new African nations due to the shocking rapidity in Europe’s retreat from empire in the 50s left African governments in need of whole new concepts and models to make their newly independent economies prosperous on the world market. As well key things like healthcare, social welfare, education, trade relations/diplomacy and defence / militaries (tragically an all too over the top focus on this last facet) had previously been the domain of the metropole nation. Now they were on their own. To the Soviets the decolonization mood perfectly melded with their socialist system, with heavy emphasis on economic liberation and national self-determination. Moscow moved to make Africa a largely Soviet zone of influence. It began with Nasser’s Egypt cozying to the Russians and continued throughout Ethopia, the Horn of Africa, Sudan, Tanzania (to a lesser degree as their President Julius Nyrene formed a highly successful and largely independent form of African socialism) and most of the so called frontline states arrayed around Apartheid Rhodesia and South Africa including Angola, Botswana, Mozambique. Much of this Soviet support came in economic aid for agriculture, infrastructure development and advisement. But the grand part of Soviet interest involved the one industry in which they were hugely competitive : weapons. The Soviets lavished these nations with military hardware, everything from rifles and tanks, to jet bombers and land mines. With this came the Russians own right to ‘cooperate’ in having their own troops a degree of freedom to operate. Sadly, and at the encouragement of their Soviet advisers, some nations began picking fights with those who didn't curry to Russian favours, and largely pointless but hugely destructive ‘bushfire wars’ burned across Ethopia, Central Africa, and the southern regions for much of 1970s. As well all the money wasted on now wrecked or run down military goods meant basic areas like food production and healthcare suffered. Ethopia became starkly aware that people can't eat T 72 tanks during the horrific famines in the mid 1980s. It wasn't that there wasn't any food, they no longer had the cash or credit to buy it, all wasted on slick Soviet sales pitches for guns, guns, and more guns. This sort of experience and American insistence on staunch support for Apartheid South Africa and the gangster like ruler of Zaire Mobutu Zese Seku (arguably one of the cruelest and most callous rulers of modern era; he left the Belgian colonial ‘kleptocracy’ intact and then ramped it up, dying in the later 1990s as one of the richest men in history while Zaire slid into horrid poverty and civil war) made responsible African nations extremely wary of dealings with overseas powers, and this estrangement remains to a degree. Even Isreal sought out Africa as a place to find friends and allies (Israel is not the most popular kid on its own street) and again the real service they could trade was military, although Israel has focused more on a training and advisement role, and many Africans are eager to acquire such expertise. Today Africa exists as it seemingly always has, a dynamic region with immense potential for growth and well being. China has made many in roads to the African continent. Thus far these arrangements appear far less detrimental than the Soviet style military client states of the 1970s and the still lingering American indifference to African human rights or human development.

This requires a multi-segmented answer.1.CULTURE: BUSHIDO AND LOYALTYStart by understanding the philosophical foundations of Japanese strategic culture, rooted in the pre-Meiji period. The Way of the Warrior elevated feudal loyalty - allegiance to one’s feudal lord (daimyo) - to a core virtue.Inazo Nitobe’s Bushido, the Soul of Japan, written in the mid-1800s, had this to say:“The duty of loyalty…was the key-stone making feudal virtues a symmetrical arch. Other virtues feudal morality shares in common with other systems of ethics; with other classes of people, but this virtue - homage and fealty to one’s superior - is a distinctive feature…it is only in the code of chivalrous honor that Loyalty assumes paramount importance…we carry it to a degree not reached in any other country…whereas in China, Confucian ethics made obedience to parents the primary human duty, in Japan precedence was given to Loyalty.”Nitobe then relates the folk story of a samurai, Michizane, who slaughters his own son in order to save the life of his lord’s son, and likens it to Abraham’s intended sacrifice of Isaac. “In both cases it was obedience to the call of duty, utter submission to the command of a higher voice…The individualism of the West, which recognizes separate interests for father and son, husband and wife, necessarily brings into strong relief the duties owed by one to the other; but Bushido held that the interests of the family and the members thereof is intact - one and inseparable”“Bushido never wavered in its choice of Loyalty. Women, too, encouraged their offspring to sacrifice all for the king…the samurai matron stood ready to give up her boys for the cause of loyalty.”“Since Bushido…conceived the state as antedating the individual - the latter being born into the former as part and parcel thereof - he must live and die for it or for the incumbent of its legitimate authority…”since you were begotten and nurtured and educated under us, dare you once to say you are not our offspring and our servant, you and your fathers before you!””Now we look at what Yamamoto’s Hagakure says about loyalty:“It will suffice to simply relish the role of service, and esteem your lord above all else. This makes for a top-notch retainer…It is lamentable that men who are governed only by reason often become fixated on trifling matters, and end up squandering their lives…The ultimate way for a retainer is to discard redundant concerns, and just be devoted to serving his lord. Quibbling conceitedly…is unpardonable”“A retainer need only keep one thing in mind. He will become distracted through his fixation with reasoning…Regardless of whether his lord shows him kindness, or no consideration at all, or if he doesn’t even recognize the man, he shouldn’t care in the slightest. He still feels indebted to his lord day and night, and serves so devotedly that it brings tears to his eyes…The basic spirit of fealty transcends judgments of right and wrong”“All I did was value my lord above all else. Come what may, I was resolved in my heart to throw myself into a frenzied state to die for him. Only now will I venture to admit that my single-minded faith was strong enough to shift heaven and earth.”What pervades all these writings is a strong in-group/out-group dichotomy. While Westerners emphasize the rights of individuals, in Japanese and other Confucian societies, group interests take precedence over individuals and personal interests.But there are many categories of group membership: family, clan, region, nation etc. Each person is a member of numerous overlapping in-groups and owes them varying degrees of loyalty and possibly competing moral obligations. Taken to extremes, loyalty encourages competition and hostility toward collateral groups.Prior to the Meiji Restoration and the coming of the nation-state, the most basic social unit in Japanese society was the traditional household institution or ie, comprising a lord and his immediate family, their retainers, and the wives and children of those retainers. Remember that for centuries before the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Emperor’s power was only symbolic; he was something of a figurehead.It may be hypothesized that Imperial Japan’s strategic behaviour depended on its elites’ and leaders’ perceptions of the scope and breadth of the ie-like units to which they belonged. When their frame of reference was set on the national-level, decision-making would be unified. When their frame of reference devolved to a sub-national level (e.g. department-level or service-level), factionalism would emerge and elites would behave in ways to safeguard their own organizations’ parochial interests.2.HISTORY: SAMURAI TO SOLDIER AND SAILORAfter the 1868 Meiji Restoration, the incipient Imperial Japanese Army came to be dominated by men from Choshu, while the Navy was headed by men from Satsuma.Choshu (ruled by the Mori Clan) and Satsuma (ruled by the Shimazu clan) were the two most powerful feudal domains that had led the Boshin War which had toppled the Tokugawa Shogunate and “restored” the Meiji Emperor. Note that both were coastal regions facing southward toward the sea; which meant they were the first to be exposed to Western influences such as modern gunpowder weapons, Western education, etc. and therefore among the first domains to modernize militarily. After the Meiji Restoration, samurai from Choshu and Satsuma exerted virtually uncontested hegemony over the Japanese military.Choshu had the largest armies - they had raised the most number of troops (see the figure above) - so I guess it made sense for them to take charge of the creation of a modern army. Yamagata Aritomo, the father of Japanese imperialism, first Chief of Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army, and later Japanese Prime Minister, was originally a samurai from the domain of Choshu. By the 1870s Yamagata came to dominate the Imperial Army and cultivated a clique of officers from his home region of Choshu through personal patronage. In 1888, 16 of 42 Japanese generals were from Choshu. While eliminating other local loyalties, he created his own regional power base.As for Satsuma, they had a long naval heritage; the pirate lords of the Inland Sea had hailed from that area since the days of Hideyoshi. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate’s isolationist policy of sakoku (锁国), only the domain of Satsuma retained maritime trade links e.g. with Western colonialists and kingdom of Ryukyu. The 1853 arrival of Perry’s Black Ships, the 1861 Russian attempt to seize Tsushima, and the 1863 British bombardment of the port of Kagoshima had all taken place uncomfortably near to or (in the case of Kagoshima) within the domain of Satsuma. The men of Satsuma were made painfully aware of their country’s maritime vulnerability and thus the need for a strong navy to ward off Western encroachment. Until 1896, officers from the “Satsuma faction” consistently held key operational and administrative positions within the Navy. A distinctive “Satsuma character” was imprinted on the Navy’s traditions and identity. Well into the 1920s, the island of Kyushu, where the Satsuma domain was located, remained the main contributor of recruits for the Navy. As late as 1936, 30% of Navy recruits were from Kyushu. This regional character permeated even the Navy’s official lexicon: on board Japanese warships today, formal communications tend to be relayed in a fast-speaking style using simple and direct words reminiscent of the Kagoshima dialect.The Choshu-Satsuma monopolization of Army and Navy did not last; by around the 1890s or 1900s, the institutionalization of Meiji military reforms gave rise to a more meritocratic military bureaucracy that rewarded professional expertise and education rather than regional affiliation. Although this historical baggage is not sufficient to explain the Army-Navy rivalry, it is somewhat important to bear in mind - remember the cultural context of loyalty in Bushido.3.ORGANIZATION: CONTENTIOUS CHAIN OF COMMANDOne important thing to remember is that at the outset (i.e. from 1868 until about the 1900s), the Navy was subordinate to the Army. In prestige and in practice, the Navy was second-class. The Japanese military started out with an Army General Staff, but NO Navy counterpart, meaning that wartime naval operations would have to be directed by and conducted based on plans made by Army generals. The admirals were not very happy about this.In 1886, the admirals pushed the Cabinet for the creation of a fully independent Navy General Staff; the Army generals pushed back, insisting on the need for a single command authority. Emperor Meiji already worried that the interservice rivalry would compromise their effective military performance, but in 1893 he relented and approved the creation of an independent Navy General Staff, bifurcating the chain of command. HOWEVER, to coordinate and unify joint planning and operations in wartime, he also mandated that an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ) be created - and, most importantly, the IGHQ Chief of Staff position should always be automatically reserved for the Army Chief of Staff, so as to ensure the Army’s primary role in national defense.Inequality persisted. The 1889 Meiji Constitution favored the Army: it placed the Navy General Staff under the Navy Minister, who did not enjoy direct access to the Emperor, but the Army General Staff would remain independent of the War Ministry, while having direct access to the throne. This allowed the army to retain its dominant position.Understandably, the Navy was furious about being treated as the “step-son” while attention and resources were lavished upon the Army, the Emperor’s “favorite son”. Throughout the 1890s, the Army and Navy struggled for resolution over the issue of ultimate command authority. Navy leaders led by Admiral Yamamoto Gombei demanded changes to IGHQ regulations to make the Navy Chief of Staff coequal to his Army counterpart. The Army insisted on its singular authority. Finally, in 1903, Prime Minister Yamagata petitioned the Emperor to allow BOTH the Navy and Army Chief of Staff to advise the throne, effectively placing them on equal terms. However, this did not resolve issues of joint planning, joint operations, and command and control; and it exacerbated interservice rivalry and the competition for political influence.By WWII the command structure looked like this:Also note that the Army and Navy enjoyed significant autonomy vis-a-vis the civilian government. The IJA and IJN General Staffs answered only to the Emperor himself. This was known as the “prerogative of supreme command”. Japan’s military followed the Prussian model, which granted the Army and Navy Ministers and the Chiefs of Staff direct access to the Emperor, bypassing the authority of the Prime Minister. They could present their defense policy recommendations directly to the Emperor, and exert pressure on budget allocations through him. They were not answerable to the Cabinet (they could even veto its decisions by effectively deadlocking or shutting down the Cabinet). The Emperor held all the power, but the end of the day, the Emperor was just one man sitting astride two sprawling war machines - which eventually hijacked his authority of supreme command.4.STRATEGY: GEOGRAPHIES OF EMPIREThe conflicting geostrategic imperatives of imperial expansion: continental or maritime, north or south - further exacerbated interservice rivalries. The Army and the Navy each had their own conception of national security and how best to achieve it.By the 1880s, with the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway extending east to penetrate Korea, Yamagata decided that it was in Japan’s interest to acquire power-projection capabilities and pursue a strategy of limited expansionism on the Asian mainland. The Korean Peninsula, as a “dagger pointed at the heart of Japan”, could potentially serve as a springboard for Russian sea power, paving the way for an invasion of the Japanese home islands by Russia. Accordingly, Yamagata believed that security no longer began on Japan’s sovereign borders (shukensen); rather, it was necessary to defend a forward line of overseas interests (riekisen) by carving out a buffer zone in Korea itself. Other generals like Soga dissented. Soga believed that Japan, as an island nation insulated by the sea, merely needed a strong navy as its primary line of defense, which could harass enemy fleets and cut off their maritime lines of communication, neutering any possible invasion. As a backup, Japan could build up a small standing army and coastal fortifications, with militias ready to be deployed to strategic locations on the lengthy coastline to repulse a Russian amphibious landing. Naturally, Yamagata’s continental vision prevailed over Soga’s offshore defense strategy.This vision came to fruition in the 1894 First Sino-Japanese War, or the Jiawu War. The Army expected the Navy to escort troop convoys to the continent to fight the Chinese in Korea and later the North China Plain, but the Army generals had not deigned to consult or discuss their plans with the Navy admirals; nor had they considered the need for the Navy to obtain sea control before commencing convoy operations. Captain Yamamoto Gonbei, the Navy Minister’s secretary, snidely remarked that if army engineers were able to build a bridge between Kyushu and Korea, the Army could probably fight the campaign all by itself. But apart from slight friction, the two services worked spectacularly together against Qing China during the First Sino-Japanese War, operating in parallel on sea and land and winning decisive victories.The Russo-Japanese War again presented some hints of the army-navy strategic rivalry. Land operations depended on the success in wresting command of the sea from the Russians. The Navy’s initial surprise attack on Port Arthur failed to totally eliminate the Russian fleet. After the successful landing of the First Army near Pyongyang, the Navy announced that it would be postponing further blockship operations against Port Arthur until mid-May. Army generals were shocked. Due to tight deployment schedules, they could not postpone the Second Army’s May 5th landing on the Liaodong Peninsula. They were forced to risk their slow-moving troop transports, exposing them to possible raids by the Port Arthur fleet-in-being. For its part, the Navy impatiently demanded that the Army quickly take Port Arthur so as to exterminate the fleet-in-being, resulting in General Nogi tossing wave after wave of hapless conscripts into the meat grinder that was the dug-in Russian lines of fortification surrounding the port. Generally, joint operations were conducted exceedingly well, far better than the Russians.BUT the victories of the 1894 and 1904 wars catalyzed further rivalry between the Army and the Navy’s opposing visions of empire. This was Japan’s position from about 1905 until the 1931 Manchurian Incident:Two geostrategic options emerged, advanced by the Army and the Navy respectively.A) Continental Northern Advance (Hokushin-ron). Now Japan had obtained a strategic bridgehead on the Asian mainland in the form of the Korean Peninsula, from which it could push further inland. It had also acquired the port of Dalian, at the very tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, as well as numerous treaty ports along the navigable Yangzi River (see the yellow dots on the map above) under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, granting Japan economic access deep into China’s southern commercial heartland. Japan did not formally own Manchuria, but the Russians had conceded to them the southern segment of the Manchurian Railway, and withdrew their armies from the area. By 1907 it was part of Japan’s informal sphere of influence.The Army favored an aggressive, forward-based grand strategy, particularly because they had sacrificed so much in blood to keep Manchuria out of Russian hands (Manchuria was referred to as the resting place of thousands of Japanese souls). They looked to vast expanses of the Asian continent to provide both security and prosperity. Japan should push deeper inland into Manchuria, Siberia, and Northern China and carve out buffer spaces on the mainland. Harvesting the resources of the continent would also enable Japan to achieve economic self-sufficiency: the Manchurian plain, for instance, was rich in mineral reserves and fertile enough for the cultivation of rice, soybeans, and barley. Ishiwara Kanji, the architect of the Manchurian argued in 1936 that “over the next decade we must not expand our national effort on anything outside Manchuria”. He believed that Japan should consolidate its gains on the Asian mainland, with Manchuria at its core. Around the time of the Siberian Intervention, the Army also toyed with the idea of pushing as far west as Lake Baikal, excising Siberia from the USSR and neutering the Communist threat in the Far East. The main adversary the Army was fixated on was a land power: Russia, soon to become the Soviet Union.B) Maritime Southern Advance (Nanshin-ron). But Japan had also acquired Taiwan and the surrounding Penghu islands. The Navy was especially interested in Taiwan, given its vision of maritime empire. The Penghu archipelago was not in itself economically valuable, but the location of those islands off the Chinese coast, screening Taiwan, provided useful bases for neutralizing whatever fleets the Chinese had left, if they chose to interfere with Japan’s plans for Taiwan. The larger island of Taiwan itself had a coast studded with seaports such as Jilong and Danshui which would serve as useful naval bases, and it sat astride crucial north-south sealanes, functioning as the “cork in the bottle of the South China Sea”. During WWI, the Navy had also eagerly occupied German possessions in the Pacific, such as the Marianas, Caroline, and Marshall Islands.The Navy thus formulated the Southern Advance as an antithesis and alternative to the Army’s Northern Advance. Under the Navy’s vision, Japan’s existing island possessions would serve as stepping stones for the penetration of Japanese military and commercial power into Southern China, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. As Mahan noted, naval power and maritime mercantilism were symbiotic: the ironclad fleet would provide security for seaborne trade, which would generate wealth, which could in turn be invested in building stronger fleets. Japan’s maritime empire would span the First Island Chain from Sakhalin to Indonesia, and possibly the Second Island Chain as well, as far as Hawaii. The primary threat the Navy perceived was the United States, a burgeoning sea power, as well as the Western colonial powers that occupied Southeast Asia.Thus, Japan’s geostrategic dichotomy was born. Each service had its own understanding of national security (continental empire vs maritime empire) and the best way to procure it (northern advance vs southward advance). Should Japan anchor its southern defense using Taiwan, and use Korea as a base for expansion into Manchuria, Northern China, and Siberia? Or should it passively defend Korea and shift resources into Taiwan for a southward push into Southeast Asia? It ended up trying to do both.Each service chose a powerful enemy (Soviet Union vs US), which consequently required high-end purchases (massive armies, expensive ships). The Army and Navy made mutually irrelevant war plans and force structures. Neither service made peacetime preparations for joint coordination in wartime, nor did they attempt to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Grand strategy was rendered incoherent.THE OUTCOMEAs for whether it was resolved by WWII, well….no. To put it briefly, Army-Navy rivalry problematized the coordination of joint military strategy beyond operations: they developed separate war plans with different targets, deceived, vetoed, and assumed cooperation from each other.Regarding the Southward Advance, the services were deeply divided: the Navy insisted it was necessary to defeat the US and secure resources; the Army was reluctant to fight on multiple fronts with its manpower already strained. While the Army planned to erect a defensive perimeter to facilitate attrition, the Navy sought to lure enemy fleets into decisive battle. Poor execution resulted: by 1942 when a US counteroffensive was imminent, the Navy had not sufficiently fortified its island defensive perimeter and was still feverishly building airfields; the Army, unaware, was rapidly redeploying forces into China to defend against the Soviets, leaving maritime Asia sparsely garrisoned. Also, the Army’s refusal to provide troops blocked the Navy’s plans for invading Australia and New Zealand and conducting a game-changing push into the Indian Ocean and Middle East. In turn, Admiral Yamamoto browbeat the Army into accepting his Midway plan, and the resultant devastating losses were concealed from the Army and government for months. At Guadalcanal, as troops starved to death, the Army furiously lambasted the Navy for discounting the importance of supplying expeditionary forces in favor of seeking out main fleet engagements; they considered the Navy selfish, seeking its own ends at the Army’s expense. Interservice rivalry greatly hindered Japan’s war performance.Cultural, historical, organizational, and strategic factors contributed to the rivalry between the IJA and the IJN. It was a tolerable problem up until the end of the Russo-Japanese War, but this eventually proved fatal in WWII.