A contradictory Song Dynasty

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  I have an opinion that "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Dream of the Red Chamber", "Journey to the West" and "Water Margin" became four great classical literary masterpieces because these four works vividly portrayed and depicted four aspects of ancient Chinese social life.

  "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" describes the struggles on the ancient imperial court. Whether it is the superior who wins people's hearts, or the inferior who repays with loyalty and bravery; Or the alliances between countries, etc., in short: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" tells the story of ancient emperors and officials.

  "Red Chamber Dream" tells the story of ancient urban life, including the joys and sorrows of the young masters and misses in the Jia Mansion, the intrigues and struggles of various people, as well as the ups and downs of officialdom, and so on. In short, "Red Chamber Dream" is a story about the lives of ancient city dwellers.

  "Journey to the West" tells about the special activities of some specific groups in ancient China. This special activity is cultivation (true), and these specific groups include scholars, monks and so on. Simply put: "Journey to the West" teaches people various aspects of qigong practice through fantasy stories, including methods, realms and purposes.

  "Outlaws of the Marsh" presents to us a story of ancient black society. Including the emergence and development of the black society, the solidarity, thick and dark, and struggle among its members, the interaction between the black society and the wealthy families, and the government. In simple terms, "Outlaws of the Marsh" tells the story of ancient hooligans.

  Among these four classical literary masterpieces, I like "Water Margin" the most. The more I read it, the more I like it, and different ages bring out different feelings. My feeling about reading "Water Margin" in college is very different from that of ten years ago and now.

  When reading "Water Margin", I will check the data of the Song Dynasty to confirm and compare some statements in the book, including online search and going to the library. With more data, I found an interesting phenomenon: among the various dynasties in China, the Song Dynasty is the most contradictory one, as follows:

  Contradiction 1: Whether it was the Southern or Northern Song Dynasty, the economic situation, including agriculture and handicraft industry, was the best in the world. The level of literature and science and technology was also first-rate, which means that both GDP and soft power were leading at that time. However, in terms of diplomacy and military affairs, they suffered from bullying and humiliation, which is really heartbreaking.

  The paradox is that the economic level of the Song Dynasty was not bad, and the government's treatment of the people was not harsh. At least there were no cases of widespread famine or cannibalism. However, rebellions continued to erupt, with many insurgents rising up. Even in "Water Margin", none of the heroes joined Liangshan Mountain because they had nothing to eat.

  Contradiction three: Throughout history, the imperial court had to face harassment from small ethnic groups in the north. In confrontation, the Central Plains region always had an absolute advantage in terms of weapons. Only during the Song Dynasty was it inferior to the north (Liao) in ironwork, whether in quantity or quality (such as toughness), and fell behind.

  Contradiction four, the main combat troops in the cold weapon era were mainly cavalry. Every dynasty had a powerful cavalry, even if sometimes slightly inferior to the north, they could basically resist each other. Only the Song Dynasty was far behind in cavalry. Even at the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, except for the Yue Family Army, the court did not have a regular cavalry. The source of the horses of the Yue Family Army's cavalry was mainly from the captured military horses of the Liao Dynasty.

  Wait wait wait wait

  The answers to these contradictions or problems are heart-wrenching, and I hope to share them with fellow enthusiasts in a certain way. This is one of the reasons why I wrote "The Legend of Wu Sheng: The Story of Yue Wu Mu".