The Reunification of China
Peace through War under the Song Dynasty

A groundbreaking work examining the military and political events that shaped the Song dynasty (960–1279) in China.

Peter Lorge (Author)

9781107084759, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 November 2015

307 pages, 32 maps
23.6 x 16 x 2.4 cm, 0.59 kg

'This is the fullest account in any Western language of the political and military dimensions of the founding of the Song dynasty in 960 and the decades-long process of its consolidation and stabilisation, culminating in 1005. I doubt any Sinologist in the Western world knows more about tenth-century China than Lorge, and his meticulous and penetrating monograph on it will stand as the standard work for our time.' David Curtis Wright, University of Calgary

The Song dynasty (960–1279) has been characterized by its pre-eminent civil culture and military weakness. This groundbreaking work demonstrates that the civil dominance of the eleventh century was the product of a half-century of continuous warfare and ruthless political infighting. The spectacular culture of the eleventh century, one of the high points in Chinese history, was built on the bloody foundation of the conquests of the tenth century. Peter Lorge examines how, rather than a planned and inevitable reunification of the Chinese empire, the foundation of the Song was an uncertain undertaking, dependent upon highly contingent battles, both military and political, whose outcome was always in doubt. Song civil culture grew out of the successful military campaigns that created the dynasty and, as the need for war and armies diminished, the need for civil officials grew. The Song dynasty's successful waging of war led ultimately to peace.

1. Introduction
2. Historiography, methodology, and Song military and political history
3. The pivot of the tenth century
4. Rebuilding the empire
5. The army and the creation of the Song dynasty
6. Personal politics and the campaigns of conquest
7. Separating war and politics
8. Fighting to become emperor
9. Failure and rebellion
10. The end of the beginning
11. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], Medieval history [HBLC1], Asian history [HBJF]