Appointing Scholars as Generals: the Tradition of Commanding Troops by Civil Officials in the Northern Song China (1004-1085)
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Song, Yan-Sheng
Abstract
For a long time, modern historians describe the civil-military relationships of the Song Dynasty with the term “favoring the civil over the military” (zhongwen qingwu 重文輕武). The main prove of this argument based on certain Song civil officials’ writings about excluding military generals from commanding troops as a tradition built by Emperor Taizu. However, this traditional statement contains many mistakes. Through discussing the concepts and realities of appointing civil officials as military commanders, this thesis reexamines the civil-military relationships from the Zhenzong to the Shenzong period. Through analyzing the career of the bureaucrats who engaged in military actions, this research demonstrates the diverse opinions of civil elite toward military affairs. Thus, there was no such unchanged policy of controlling military men by civil officials as some modern Chinese scholars argued.
The first chapter introduces my research motivations, thesis structure and related secondary scholarships. The second chapter discusses the reasons why some civil officials tried to persuade Zhenzong to appoint “scholar generals” to manage military affairs, and why this idea failed to be executed in Zhenzong period. The third chapter analyzes the factors causing Emperor Renzong to appoint civil officials as military commanders, and the interrelations between civil commanders and their military staffs. Moreover, the benefits which civil officials received from military works will be analyzed. The fourth chapter discusses the civil commanders in Shenzong period. I try to analyze that how personal networks and military jobs influenced the political careers of these “scholar generals”. My main arguments are that the Northern Song civil officials couldn’t actually exclude military officials from commanding troops, and the concept of “appointing scholars as generals” was steadily changing in the Northern Song China. In fact, civil officials had different ideas about military affairs and achievements. Therefore, when historians study civil-military relationships in the Song China, we should notice that there were some different opinions in the group of civil officials.
Subjects
統兵文臣
文臣統兵
軍事行動
儒將
文武關係
重文輕武
以文馭武
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-103-R99123014-1.pdf
Size
23.54 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):c63978e432e26395dc39fa3023203bbc