Song Dynasty (960-1279): Transformation of Social Structure

Sources

Gentry Class. Commercial development during the Song dynasty (960-1279) brought profound social and cultural changes. China was transformed from a highly aristocratic society of the early Tang period (618-907) into the nearly “nonaristocratic and more egalitarian society” of the Song era. A variety of factors contributed to this change. First, a simplified tax system implemented since the late Tang era made it difficult for the great aristocratic families to evade paying taxes. Second, a growing commercial and money economy made it impossible for the aristocratic estates to stand alone as self-sufficient economic units. Third, the more-developed civil service examination system provided the country with leadership based not on hereditary wealth but on individual talent. Consequently, the aristocracy merged into a much broader social bracket of the gentry (landowners in the Western world) class.

Characteristics. Different from the old aristocracy, the gentry class depended much less on their agricultural land and products; commercial activities became a significant part of their family economy. In many cases the landowners were found to have come from merchant origins and often remained engaged in commercial trade. Along the same line, the daily life of the gentry class was often separated from the countryside and from the lands they owned. Many of the gentry resided in the cities or towns. The high culture of urban life was the center of their social world. Furthermore, their economic wealth could be translated into political power, which they acquired through advanced education and accomplishment in the civil service examinations (which gained for them government offices). Thus, on the surface, the gentry class seemed to obtain political prominence more from their intellectual achievements than from their economic wealth. Consequently, the gentry became a reputable social group and the backbone of bureaucratic governments throughout Chinese history.

Decline of Women’s Position. While the lives of rich men, often part of the gentry class, were greatly improved by commercial development during the Song period, women’s social conditions drastically declined at the same time. The deterioration of women’s positions may have been associated with urban development. During this period the institution of concubinage grew. Social restrictions on the remarriage of widows were also strengthened. The custom of footbinding, a practice believed to have started among palace dancers during the Tang era, was also introduced among upper-class women. The concentration of the upper class in the cities reduced the importance of women in family economic activities and may have contributed to the wider practice of footbinding. A girl’s feet were tightly wrapped until all the toes, except the big toe, were bent under the arch. This triangle-shaped “lily-foot,” about half the size of a normal foot, crippled women for life, effectively confining them within the boundaries of the home.

Sources

John K. Fairbank and others, East Asia: Tradition and Transformation (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973).

Herbert Franke and Denis Twitchett, eds., The Cambridge History of China, volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 907-1368 (Cambridge &c New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

F. W. Mote, Imperial China, 900-1800 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999).

Witold Rodzinski, A History of China, 2 volumes (Oxford & New York: Pergamon, 1979-1983).

John Winthrop Haeger, ed., Crisis and Prosperity in Sung China (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1975).