Wang Ngan-shi, Economist--The Kin Tartars--The
Southern Sungs--Aid of Mongols Invoked to Drive Out the Kins--Mongols
Exterminate Sungs_

On the fall of the house of T'ang, a score of factions contended for
the succession. During the fifty-three years preceding the establishment
of the Sungs, no less than five of them rose to temporary prominence
sufficient to admit of being dubbed a "dynasty." Collectively they
are spoken of as the "Five Dynasties" (907-960).

Their names are without exception a repetition of those of former
dynasties, Liang, T'ang, Ts'in, Han, Chou with the prefix
"Later"--suggesting that each claimed to be a lineal successor
of some previous imperial family. Their struggles for power, not
more instructive than a conflict of gladiators, are so devoid of
interest that the half-century covered by them may be passed over
as a blank. It may, however, be worth while to remind the reader
that as the House of Han was followed by the wars of the "Three
Kingdoms," and that of Ts'in by a struggle of North and South under
four states, so the House of T'ang was now
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succeeded by five short-lived "dynasties," with a mean duration of
scarcely more than ten years. The numerical progression is curious;
but it is more important to notice a historical law which native
Chinese writers deduce from those scenes of confusion. They state
it in this form: "After long union the empire is sure to be divided;
after long disruption it is sure to be reunited."

So deep an impression has this historical generalisation made on
the public mind that if the empire were now to be divided between
foreign nations, as it has been more than once, the people would
confidently expect it to be reintegrated under rulers of their
own race.

The undivided Sung dynasty held sway from 960 to 1127; that of
the southern Sungs from 1127 to 1280. The founder of the house was
Chao-kwang-yun, an able leader of soldiers and an astute politician.
So popular was he with his troops that they called him to the throne
by acclamation. He was drunk, it is said, when his new dignity was
announced, and he had no alternative but to wear the yellow robe
that was thrown on his shoulders. Undignified as was his debut,
his reign was one continued triumph. After a tenure of seventeen
years, he left his successor in possession of nearly the whole of
China Proper together with a fatal legacy of lands on the north.

The two main features of the Sung perio