How China Almost Industrialized 500 Years Before Europe - Song Dynasty History

[@CoolHistoryBros]

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[@GrandTerr]

This video is a joke of Chinese propaganda lovers. Do you know why renaissance even happened? It took a lot more than garbage shown in the video.

[@alexoolau]

孔子曰：践行者昌，空叙者萎。 Han dynasty favoring military men (STEM) became the bully who kicked ass around. Song dynasty favoring verbal stuff (soft science) became bullied by everybody. Visual-spatial intelligence always beats verbal intelligence.

[@yancysiu]

@@alexoolau 四大發明也是在宋代出現。

[@leapdrive]

@@alexoolau , “visual spatial intelligence?” Is that like wearing the Megaverse goggle while you make an as s of yourself externally. Please read my comment above for more information about ancient China.

[@gersonauguste4376]

P

[@barbiquearea]

Despite losing most of Northern China to the Jin, the Song to their credit were still able to hold off the Jin and later Mongols for most of their dynasty by investing in strong fortifications at key strategic locations, and of course their advanced gunpowder weapons certainly kept their enemies at bay, even when the Song bureaucracy and its emperors became increasingly feckless and corrupt. One example is their navy. As unlike their northern neighbors the Song could employ riverboats equipped with paddle wheel technology that had better movement and maneuverability compared to traditional sailing ships. These boats equipped were quipped with trebuchets that lobbed gunpowder bombs at enemy fleets were virtually unassailable when taking on the Jin navy on the Yangtze. These ships were so effective that they were even used up until the Opium Wars, much to the surprise of the British who did not expect the Chinese to be this advanced in their nautical technology.

[@_Wai_Wai_]

The song dynasty resisted the Mongols for forty years, despite being its immediate neighbor

[@fatdoi003]

@@_Wai_Wai_ if the Songs didn't just keep defending but attacked the Mongols, history would be written differently....

[@tcxnt5442]

@@_Wai_Wai_ 如果南宋朝廷不那么废一直想着投降的话可以撑更久

[@weirdtruely5983]

@@fatdoi003 The fault of the Song wasn't the fault of the military. it was the fault of the Song government that was overly paranoid of their own military. I don't remember seeing any other entity that existed in history that fear their own military much more than their enemies. Had it adopt an aggressive or more offensive styles, even if it failed to take back Northern China due to lack of horses on their part, they will certainly not fall. There were actually so many battles that they won from the united Mongol Empire and they even retook Central Plain from the Mongols, but due to the paranoid policy of their own, they really killed themselves in the end by destroying all that their capable generals had achieved. And of course, don't forget it was them that break the united Mongol Empire and turned it into 5 pieces, and in the end it was the most powerful piece that occupied 60% of the former united Mongol Empire which had just turned into another Chinese Dynasty called the Yuan Dynasty that finally conquered the Southern Song Dynasty with the help of some most capable former Song Dynasty generals.

[@ongsengkee2530]

Brilliant truthful statements

[@kuroazrem5376]

This is probably the most interesting period for me in the whole of Chinese history. In fact, I think that, hadn't the Mongols wrecked China at this stage, it could have spearheaded modernity, with it reaching Europea via the Muslim World.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

Yep, that's the story of a bunch of Golden Ages which collapses due to internal/external pressure. Western Rome's fall likely stalled Europe significantly as well.

[@MaylocBrittinorum]

@@stephenjenkins7971 Western Rome had been declining for some time already when the barbarians came around, but it's true that the collapse of the Roman state structure and the division of the empire into several squabbling kingdoms did a number on Western Europe.

[@kimkim-mh7bv]

No matter they are developing and yet they can't catch up with European. Why? Kingship and dictators while Europe adopt from rome which hold senate and Republic ideal.

[@howdareyou4459]

Maybe, but it is very hard. first, Ancient China emphasized agriculture to suppress commerce. They saw commerce as a social parasite. Secondly, kingship was greater than everything else. Thirdly, there is no scientific spirit, and fourthly, Confucianism can be considered a religion, which in modern terms is a hierarchical society and a collection of conservatism and morality (note that this ism is mainly for the emperor. In the case of morality, subordinates who oppose their superiors are considered immoral)

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@MaylocBrittinorum actually the fall of the western empire was the best thing that could have happened to creativity and technological advances in Europe just compare the scientific advancement that happened after the fall with before it and you will see how stagnat rome was

[@godzillamothra5983]

Song dynasty was a golden age empire born in the wrong time when the wolves are at peak of their power. Not only in culture and technology. Compare to other dynasties, Song empire also had relatively benevolent emperors.

[@hwasiaqhan8923]

@Harris Fu Honestly Song had some really tough enemies, the Khitans who were defeated by Jin and Song allied forces fled to Tarim and Central Asia with merely 20k cavalry yet they obliterated the Turks there and established the Qara khitai in 1124 until Mongols destroyed it in 1218. The Song would stand against 100k Khitan cavalry alone, losing is easily predictable but surviving it and the succeeding Jurchen Jin shows Song’s military capabilities was far from ‘weak’ Song also stood against Mongol invasion for ~20 years.

[@lyhthegreat]

@@hwasiaqhan8923 yeah mongols were hell bent on conquering song and not just making them a vassal

[@_Wai_Wai_]

@@hwasiaqhan8923 I believe the Song resisted the Mongols for forty years before being conquered

[@lineage13]

As a royal Song Descendant thank you.

[@bapyongukgukguk2352]

​@Harris Fu which is strange knowing that Song was established by a general

[@barbiquearea]

The Song Dynasty has been considered the true Renaissance Period, that came a several centuries ahead of the Enlightenment in Europe. Had things continued the way they did, its quite possible China would have experienced an industrial age of sorts. Having already mastered blast furnace technology, and production of silk, paper and ceramics on an industrial scale, as well as an arms producing industry quite advanced for its time. Its likely the Chinese and their East Asian neighbors could have seen an industrial era long before the British did in the 19th century.

[@hidefreek6905]

It's also one of the most corrupted Chinese eras. Commoners' livelihoods were completely doomed.

[@dean_l33]

Thankgod they squandered that opportunity

[@GrandTerr]

Ohhh please, this video is clickbait meet Chinese propaganda lovers

[@omnomnom5359]

@@GrandTerr well, the conditions for china were there. This is just history

[@IronKurone]

Stop being delusional

[@jts1702a]

The Wang Anshi reform itself is one of the most important lessons on economics, policy, and party politics in Chinese history. This deserves an episode on its own.

[@ChrisL369]

Damn! So many biased people in the comment section. The Chinese were very advance civilization and powerful one too before they lost to the Mongols. If it wasn't for them the Chinese would have been the ones to make history and a global impact on the world. Anyone who has study Chinese history would be fully aware of this topic. The Chinese would have industrialized 500 or 700 years ago before any of the Europeans would have. There's already tons of evidence China had the ability to do it. By the late 1,000's CE the Chinese under the Song period were able to produce up to 120,000 tons of Iron or more. By that time period the Chinese were already using mostly machines to produce the Iron.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

Not biased. Realistic. Nobody doubts China's immense wealth and technological achievements, but making the claim that it could've gone through industrialization so early is hilarious

[@justinvang561]

@@stephenjenkins7971 How is it unrealistic? China during the Song Dynasty saw major changes into their society and way of life. China during the Song was already becoming an Industrial society. Most of it's production was automated machines, they made and produce tons of iron and had more iron both Ancient Rome and Great Britain (before her Industrial Age) combine, also Song Dynasty provided the entire world's GDP about 80%, and most people in China of the time had a good standard of living. There are other evidence that shows China was pretty much ready to Industrialize and a Chinese Industrial Age.

[@john-xiong-2820]

@@stephenjenkins7971 You can hate all you want! But China had the conidiations to enter the Industrial Age and nothing internally and the Chinese themselves stopping China from achieving it. Even before the Mongol attacks and invasions? China was already pretty much a machine based or automated production society already base on the Iron production records. It is even mentioned in the video China's GDP was very high and at the time China made the worlds GDP by 80%.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@john-xiong-2820 Uh, its not hate. I don't particularly care since its history, and doesn't affect me. I just don't see the conditions that led to the Industrial Revolution occurring here. China making up a large portion of the world's GDP was a given for many centuries, and that doesn't matter. Ancient Rome was once something like 50% of the world's GDP, that didn't make it close to the Industrial Revolution. If you want to try and make this a nationalist thing, then be advised that you think that China literally had it all, and then was surpassed by a bunch of tiny European states for almost 2 centuries for funsies. I don't like nationalists, so just wanted to remind you of that.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

@@justinvang561 "most people in China of the time had a good standard of living" Every empire in history claims that. Its always a lie the elites tell themselves to feel good about themselves. Absolute poverty was the world standard for all of human history until the mid-to-late 19th century at least.

[@l34han]

It reminds you of the importance of having strong military when a country grows into prosperity. Qing dynasty was also one of the wealthiest countries among the world’s, until it got wrecked and robbed by almost every single strong power of the time.

[@lyhthegreat]

corruption played a major role again..

[@user-qwertyuiopasdfghj]

Qing ain’t China. Han people were third class citizens back then. Song is China

[@Huben57]

suppression of the chinese military led to the near extinction and death of china and chinese people at the hands of the mongols. 宋后无中华

[@arnowisp6244]

Modern Western Cannons vs trebuchet launched Gunpowder bombs.

[@lerneanlion]

The defeat of the Song dynasty by the Mongols marked one of the saddest moments I saw in history alongside with the Sack of Baghdad in 1258 and the Sack of Constantiople in 1204. If only the Song and Western Xia willingly become Chingghis Khan's vassals, they may survived longer. P.S; Despite the imperial court being portrayed as corrupted, the media always make an exception when it comes to Bao Zheng. As fo Pang Ji, his historical self is generally a good guy while his fictionalized version is a big jerk who is always at odds with Bao Zheng.

[@TakCWAL]

The Song Dynasty became a Mongol ally during the latter's war against the Jin. However, the Song Dynasty did so by also betraying their own treaties with the Jin. After the Jin was wiped from the map, the Song Dynasty advanced North and occupied Jin territories conquered by the Mongols (which the Jin conquered from the Song). Naturally, Ogedei Khan was quite alarmed by this and retaliated, which sparked the eventual Song-Mongol War. Before this, the Mongols were actually rather content with an independent Southern Song Dynasty.

[@weishi9804]

@@TakCWAL jin rulers rage 2 front wars like Nazi Germany, the Song Court didn't have chance to allied with Jin.

[@weishi9804]

If they are willing to work in together with early enough, Chingghis Khan won't be be match against the combine power of China.

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

Not sure what so sad about it. 1. The southern song territories were quite peaceful since Song collapsed so quick and territories were transferred to Mongol in short time, thus the commerces of Yangtze region remained to exist until it destroyed a century later by the cruel and barbaric Ming Empire. 2. Those bureaucrats with integrity characters were few, very few. Most of them were truly corrupted or systematically corrupted, the native residents of the southern part of China Proper were forced to rebel every couple years throughout Song history. 3. What is truly deserve to feel sad is a cannibal magistrate（食人知州） who ate the flesh of many street kids retired peacefully without facing any trial or punishment thanks to Mongol invasion.

[@TakCWAL]

@@weishi9804 Officially, in 1233, the Jin court dispatched diplomats to the Song requesting for aid against the Mongols. This was dismissed by the Song court, because the latter was already engaged in negotiations with the Mongols for a united offensive against the Jin. This was despite a treaty of peace already existed between the JIn and the Song. In 1234, Song support for the Mongols turned from just resources to actual military action, an act which eventually led to the demise of the Jin. If there was no chance of alliance, it's because the Song denied any chance of its fruition.

[@MarkMiller304]

The mongols ruined everything, the also ended Islam’s golden age. Everywhere the mongols successful invaded went into a dark age, China, Middle East and Eastern Europe became backwards. Western Europe escaped the destruction and benefited from the technology and knowledge brought from the east.

[@MarkMiller304]

@@sr2051 after the Mongols fell the Russians were able to spread east taking over former Mongol empire lands gaining immense wealth. It use that wealth to invest and buy technology from the west kick starting it’s industry. Even so in terms of overall economic development Eastern Europe was always behind Western European, you can see that easily when you’re comparing the GDP even today.

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

Chinese History is underrated. History books around the world mostly talk about Western achievements. But Chinese achievements dwarf all of them

[@Aaron-is8yt]

Instead of picking a "team", why not appreciate the cultures and achievements of humans. We could argue all day about achievements and inventions but that's not what makes a culture interesting or unique. It's the people and how they lived their lives in almost a different world

[@Zones33]

To fully appreciate it you have to understand mandarin though.

[@kokekuka24]

Modern world is created by western civilization.

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

@@kokekuka24 Fair point, by then China was way back in medieval era

[@lmazufri]

I think the reason to that is because China underwent underdevelopment during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, until Deng Xiaoping reforms.. That's about 1000 years. No many developments, closing trade. During these 1000 years Europe already enter renaissance and industrial revolution.

[@xz1891]

An important reason for 重文轻武 (more focused on civil than on military) is that the founder himself of Song is by coup to attain power, so he is particularly alert to any remotely potential military guys/activities, thus he had a game play called 杯酒释兵权 (release general's military power by a wine/dine talk). Since the beginning of the Dynasty, Song was bound to be on a path of civil activities. Unfortunately, by Southern Song, that was the time nomads like Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongols started to rise.

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

the weakened military power of southern Song regime had preserved the entire Yangtze river region from being destroyed by Mongolians because Southern Song collapsed so fast before Mongolians started to sabotage LOL

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

@Harris Fu thus, starts another cycle of waiting to be invaded by new barbarians

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

@Harris Fu khitans were pounded but reminded powerful enemy since Tang dynasty

[@ReviveHF]

Also geography also plays an important role in why Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty are slow in developing industrial revolution. Because the coal mines are far away from cities whereas in Britain the mines are located adjacent to cities. Coal is a crucial resources to make high quality steel and as a fuel to power steam engines. Despite China's geography is not ideal for pioneering the 1st industrial revolution but at least its a lot better than Russia. Russia is huge but its resources are scattered all over the places and there are constant lack of manpower issues in Russia.

[@alsatusmd1A13]

You know it is possible to set up a city near a e. g. coal mine if none already exists there, don’t you? God, it sounds weird to talk about coal now that coal technology is essentially obsolete.

[@bUwUmer1260]

@@alsatusmd1A13 Perhaps the areas in China rich in coal are not good for city building?

[@walkinginthewest2348]

Russia wasn't huge.

[@sjhassjh3941]

yuan and qing were non han, I cant expect the nomadic origin yuan leaders to lead industrialization.

[@elfin3208]

@@alsatusmd1A13 During the Song and Ming Dynasties, the coal mines are located near the military frontline, constantly facing the pressure from the north, which makes it hard to develop big cities and stable business

[@KiwiImpactSaint]

Worth mentioning, Song militaries saved Europe and Egypt by killing Mongke Khan in 1259, possibly with a firearm projectile. Mongol Empire fractured after Mongke died, never managed to invade anywhere with its full force again.

[@VashtheStampede007]

The death of Khan caused internal power struggle for the throne which lasted for years and not to mention the immediate withdrawal of frontline troops

[@lyhthegreat]

@@VashtheStampede007 poor mongke, crushed by artillery lol

[@calvinsuu1949]

Khublai khaan conquered china and his brothers went onto conquer middle east and eastern europe....

[@ongsengkee2530]

Brilliant discourse

[@widodoakrom3938]

True

[@jeremyahesteban3394]

It's really mind boggling if not amazing when you realize that China in the ancient times would have been the greatest superpower in the world if their respective dynasties had succeed.

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

china looked like superpower due to its relatively isolated geographical situation if you look carefully, china was always vulnerable when facing the threats from steppe

[@jeremyahesteban3394]

@@pachomiussinanicus1728 That's true, at some point in time, China was ruled over by a foreign power during the Yuan Dynasty. I think they were Mongols, if I'm not mistaken.

[@pachomiussinanicus1728]

@@jeremyahesteban3394 not only the ruler of Yuan/Mongolian Empire were non-Han Chinese but also the rulers of western Zhou, sixten dynasties, northern dynasties, Khitan Empire, Pre-Jurchen Empire and Post-Jurchen Empire/Qing Empire were non-Han Chinese the rulers of Sui Empire and Tang Empire were relatives and they both half-Sinicized, half-sanskritized barbarians

[@lyhthegreat]

@@pachomiussinanicus1728 yeah but not as isolated as india i think, they had the Himalayas ridge protecting them and even parts of india fell to the steppe nomads ..and those steppe people were really a force to be reckoned with before the gunpowder age...it's not easy to survive all while being surrounded by these guys.

[@lyhthegreat]

@@pachomiussinanicus1728 but also the rulers of western Zhou, sixten dynasties, northern dynasties, Khitan Empire, Pre-Jurchen Empire were non-Han Chinese yeah but these guys didn't ruled china proper unlike the yuan and qing.

[@deacudaniel1635]

What I love the most about the Song dynasty are the landscape paintings made in that era.

[@ranaumer9849]

Great people of China 🇨🇳 Love From Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@zainmudassir2964]

I'm from Pakistan too

[@john-xiong-2820]

I think the Chinese would have definitely gone Industrialized had it not been for the Mongols. China during the Song Dynasty 宋朝 was pretty advance due to inheriting some levels of science and technology from the past Chinese Dynasty the Tang 唐朝. It's population was already at a height of 80 million people. Meanwhile the total population of all of Europe during the 1000s CE combined was only at 56.4 million people only. Also like you said in this video their GDP was pretty high about $997 million. Plus Europe wasn't even unified and was mostly their own small independent Kingdoms or nations, while China was unified as one and large as one. China was also the first to build the clock tower long before the British did it in the 1800s CE. China even had lots and lots of machines similar to the British Industrial Revolution in the 1800s CE. China also produce the largest amount of Iron and were able to make at least 120,000 tons or more of Iron each year. Meanwhile the British were only able to make only 12,000 tons of Iron before their Industrial Revolution. Let's not forget the Chinese were already the first to use coal before anyone else. China during the Song Dynasty had not only lots of lots of machines they also had advance science and technologies of their time. But sadly we will never know or see Song Dynasty's 宋朝 lost and advance science and technology because of the Mongols.

[@FOLIPE]

Who said being unified is an advantage at early industrialization? Possibly being disunified and the competition between states is the most advantageous situation for that level of development.

[@ucchau173]

​​@@FOLIPEthat why song dynasty is so developed compare to other dynasty in china because they not united china .. in the south they can't even invanded yunnan province...in the north there always khitan and western xia dynasty...and then jurchen 😂😂

[@lotcam4046]

Blaming others for your own fault is the path of destruction

[@Ivan-bg1jp]

Yeah! And that's not even taking into account Mohism which is very very similar to logic and scientific thinking. Imagine if the Song just had more time

[@ChrisL369]

@@lotcam4046 "Blaming others for your own fault is the path of destruction" That's not really blaming if it is their fault in the first place. It was the Mongols who were responsible and prevented and ruined China's path to the Indusial Age. That's like saying the British shouldn't blame both WW 1 and WW 2 for their end of their Superpower status and end of their empire.

[@condorX2]

This help me understand China better. I’m from Malaysia. China has traded with Malaysia for 2000 years. In those years, they had been the world’s biggest powers many times. Never once they sent troops to take our land. Admiral Zheng He came to Malacca five times, in gigantic fleets, and a flagship eight times the size of Christopher Columbus’ flagship, Santa Maria. He could have seized Malacca easily, but he did not. In 1511, the Portuguese came. In 1642, the Dutch came. In the 18th century the British came. We were colonised by each, one after another. When China wanted spices from India, they traded with the Indians. When they wanted gems, they traded with the Persian. They didn’t take lands. The only time China expanded beyond their current borders was in Yuan Dynasty, when Genghis and his descendants Ogedei Khan, Guyuk Khan & Kublai Khan concurred China, Mid Asia and Eastern Europe. But Yuan Dynasty, although being based in China, was a part of the Mongolian Empire. Then came the Century of Humiliation. Britain smuggled opium into China to dope the population, a strategy to turn the trade deficit around, after the British could not find enough silver to pay the Qing Dynasty in their tea and porcelain trades. After the opium warehouses were burned down and ports were closed by the Chinese in ordered to curb opium, the British started the Opium War I, which China lost. Hong Kong was forced to be surrendered to the British in a peace talk (Nanjing Treaty). The British owned 90% of the opium market in China, during that time, Queen Victoria was the world’s biggest drug baron. The remaining 10% was owned by American merchants from Boston. Many of Boston’s institutions were built with profit from opium. After 12 years of Nanjing Treaty, the West started getting really really greedy. The British wanted the Qing government: 1. To open the borders of China to allow goods coming in and out freely, and tax free. 2. Make opium legal in China. Insane requests, Qing government said no. The British and French, with supports from the US and Russia from behind, started Opium War II with China, which again, China lost. The Anglo-French military raided the Summer Palace, and threatened to burn down the Imperial Palace, the Qing government was forced to pay with ports, free business zones, 300,000 kilograms of silver and Kowloon was taken. Since then, China’s resources flew out freely through these business zones and ports. In the subsequent amendment to the treaties, Chinese people were sold overseas to serve as labor. In 1900, China suffered attacks by the 8-National Alliance(Japan, Russia, Britain, France, USA, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary). Innocent Chinese civilians in Peking (Beijing now) were murdered, buildings were destroyed & women were raped. The Imperial Palace was raided, and treasures ended up in museums like the British Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris. In late 1930s China was occupied by the Japanese in WWII. Millions of Chinese died during the occupancy. 300,000 Chinese died in Nanjing Massacre alone. Mao brought China together again from the shambles. There were peace and unity for some time. But Mao’s later reign saw sufferings and deaths from famine and power struggles. Then came Deng Xiao Ping and his infamous “black-cat and white-cat” story. His preference in pragmatism than ideologies has transformed China. This thinking allowed China to evolve all the time to adapt to the actual needs in the country, instead of rigidly bounded to ideologies. It also signified the death of Communism in actually practice in China. The current Socialism+Meritocracy+Market Economy model fits the Chinese like gloves, and it propels the uprise of China. Singapore has a similar model, and has been arguably more successful than Hong Kong, because Hong Kong being gateway to China, was riding on the economic boom in China, while Singapore had no one to gain from. In just 30 years, the CPC have moved 800 millions of people out from poverty. The rate of growth is unprecedented in human history. They have built the biggest mobile network, by far the biggest high speed rail network in the world, and they have become a behemoth in infrastructure. They made a fishing village called Shenzhen into the world’s second largest technological centre after the Silicon Valley. They are growing into a technological power house. It has the most elaborate e-commerce and cashless payment system in the world. They have launched exploration to Mars. The Chinese are living a good life and China has become one of the safest countries in the world. The level of patriotism in the country has reached an unprecedented height. For all of the achievements, the West has nothing good to say about it. China suffers from intense anti-China propagandas from the West. Western Media used the keyword “Communist” to instil fear and hatred towards China. Everything China does is negatively reported. They claimed China used slave labor in making iPhones. The truth was, Apple was the most profitable company in the world, it took most of the profit, leave some to Foxconn (a Taiwanese company) and little to the labor. They claimed China was inhuman with one-child policy. At the same time, they accused China of polluting the earth with its huge population. The fact is the Chinese consume just 30% of energy per capita compared to the US. They claimed China underwent ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang. The fact is China has a policy which priorities ethnic minorities. For a long time, the ethnic minorities were allowed to have two children and the majority Han only allowed one. The minorities are allowed a lower score for university intakes. There are 39,000 mosque in China, and 2100 in the US. China has about 3 times more mosque per muslim than the US. When terrorist attacks happened in Xinjiang, China had two choices: 1. Re-educate the Uighur extremists before they turned terrorists. 2. Let them be, after they launch attacks and killed innocent people, bomb their homes. China chose 1 to solve problem from the root and not to do killing. How the US solve terrorism? Fire missiles from battleships, drop bombs from the sky. During the pandemic, When China took extreme measures to lockdown the people, they were accused of being inhuman. When China recovered swiftly because of the extreme measures, they were accused of lying about the actual numbers. When China’s cases became so low that they could provide medical support to other countries, they were accused of politically motivated. Western Media always have reasons to bash China. Just like any country, there are irresponsible individuals from China which do bad and dirty things, but the China government overall has done very well. But I hear this comment over and over by people from the West: I like Chinese people, but the CPC is evil. What they really want is the Chinese to change the government, because the current one is too good. Fortunately China is not a multi-party democratic country, otherwise the opposition party in China will be supported by notorious NGOs (Non-Government Organization) of the USA, like the NED (National Endowment for Democracy), to topple the ruling party. The US and the British couldn’t crack Mainland China, so they work on Hong Kong. Of all the ex-British colonial countries, only the Hong Kongers were offered BNOs by the British. Because the UK would like the Hong Kongers to think they are British citizens, not Chinese. A divide-and-conquer strategy, which they often used in Color Revolutions around the world. They resort to low dirty tricks like detaining Huawei’s CFO & banning Huawei. They raised a silly trade war which benefits no one. Trade deficit always exist between a developing and a developed country. USA is like a luxury car seller who ask a farmer: why am I always buying your vegetables and you haven’t bought any of my cars? When the Chinese were making socks for the world 30 years ago, the world let it be. But when Chinese started to make high technology products, like Huawei and DJI, it caused red-alert. Because when Western and Japanese products are equal to Chinese in technologies, they could never match the Chinese in prices. First world countries want China to continue in making socks. Instead of stepping up themselves, they want to pull China down. The recent movement by the US against China has a very important background. When Libya, Iran, and China decided to ditch the US dollar in oil trades, Gaddafi’s was killed by the US, Iran was being sanctioned by the US, and now it’s China’s turn. The US has been printing money out of nothing. The only reason why the US Dollar is still widely accepted, is because it’s the only currency which oil is allowed to be traded with. The US has an agreement with Saudi that oil must be traded in US dollar ONLY. Without the petrol-dollar status, the US dollars will sink, and America will fall. Therefore anyone trying to disobey this order will be eliminated. China will soon use a gold-backed crypto-currency, the alarms in the White House go off like mad. China’s achievement has been by hard work. Not buy looting the world. I have deep sympathy for China for all the suffering, but now I feel happy for them. China is not rising, they are going back to where they belong. Good luck China. -C L Zheng He's in Floating City: When China Dominated the Oceans kzbin.info/www/bejne/ql7WYn5ra7qag5I “Christopher Columbus didn’t discover anything, instead he just got lost” -Tasia Grzenia The weird part is he actually didn’t land in what we considered the United States of America he landed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic --The Shöcker Pit Christopher Columbus | Native Americans kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIq3iYV6qb6tj8U China: Rise of an Asian giant | Insight | Full Episode kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXqpXqigiMqEntE 🤓

[@davidbosak7503]

Wow, what a post! You need your own channel!

[@mottscottison6943]

It was said that if not for Mongol invasion the Industrial revolution could have happened 500 years earlier in China.

[@tranminhquan4531]

They killed Yue Fei, their greatest general ( possibly one of the greatest in Chinese history ) which made them to be defensive against the Liao and Jin

[@zhugeliang3905]

11:34 Education and promoting technology is fun and all but if you can't defend your country then you are just enjoying your prosperity on a borrowed time. The above statement is so very true which is why China is increasing its defence capability.

[@Wann-zo7rn2qn4i]

I think one of the reason for the perception of a "weaker" military during Song was that they took great pains to separate the military powers from the emperor's powers (as opposed to the army at the emperor's personal disposal). Mobilizing the army took quite some effort as they debated it out in court. Hence, Song government was mainly a civilian government, more focused on recruiting talents on merits (as opposed to inherited titles) as court and government officials, ensuring peace and stability to upgrade people's lives and negotiating for peace treaties, rather than going on a war path. Thus, there was time and opportunities for the scientific inventions and discoveries to take place and for poetry and arts, great literary and political discourses and economy to flourish. I don't think the Song neglected their military since they invented many innovations in military weaponry and naval power. I actually think the Northern Song period is more alike our modern system. But lesson learnt would be that you need to be militarily powerful in order for peace to prevail.

[@zhugeliang3905]

@@Wann-zo7rn2qn4i Quote from you: I actually think the Northern Song period is more alike our modern system. But lesson learnt would be that you need to be militarily powerful in order for peace to prevail. Definitely. Just because you have no intention of invading another country doesn't mean others won't attack you.

[@djtan3313]

Correct. The hyenas r gathering again…

[@zhugeliang3905]

@@djtan3313 Yep

[@Intranetusa]

​ @DJ Tan What, is Russia going to take Outer Manchuria, Vladivostok, and the Far East from Qing China again?

[@meejinhuang]

China did industrialize centuries before Europe. What China didn't do was setup distant trading colonies like Europe and that brought its eventual downfall to European trading powers.

[@vitorpereira9515]

That's why I'm not surprised that China today is a superpower, China has always been a superpower. Even Taiwan has a strong economy despite being an island.

[@TheYah00netstar]

*Lol...don´t be sarcastic...china ain´t no superpower...*

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@TheYah00netstar You have a good sense of humor.

[@lubu3969]

@@vitorpereira9515 somebody can't handle the truth, is that a Ukrainian flag? 😆 Ouch... our buddy Russia will be done taking your country soon. I wish you well, reply if you are still alive and I'll give you a thumbs up 👍

[@tonkinthehanoian1843]

Even if they poetically failed and got fragmented so badly

[@vitorpereira9515]

@@tonkinthehanoian1843 Without the opium war they would have no political instability. If the powers that humiliated China had helped more, perhaps China could be a better place than today.

[@duhtoolazy6776]

While Northern Song was very advance, it should have focused on retaking the Great Wall regions before hand in order to create a defensive barrier. Had they had the defensive structures at the Great Wall, the Jin may not have have easily penetrated in to the Heartland and their economy might have survived long enough to become industrialized.

[@ElBandito]

They tried but failed during their joint attack on Liao, along with the Jin.

[@zhugeliang3905]

I agree with you and it is why Russia has invaded Ukraine, to prevent the west from the invasion in the future.

[@ronds6418]

赵光义

[@weishi9804]

Song has backseat driving military policy, their Generals basely need to beg to allow deployed even 40% troopers under his command. Otherwise, they only could control 15% of local troops.

[@redhongkong]

the walls only work for generals who actually guard the region for life time. they dont work for politician coming from the central court. its like how Trump builds section of the wall for show and how mex dig the tunnel or just simply go around

[@CCP-Lies]

The Renaissance even before renaissance in Europe

[@deacudaniel1635]

Also, it would be cool if you guys made a special video about traditional Chinese arts such as painting, sculpture, architecture etc, the main styles, the philosophy behind them and their cultural significance.

[@caocao4731]

Even more importantly, had the rough equilibrium between Southern Song, Xi Xia and the Jurchen Jin continued; we might have seen the rise of a sort of proto-Chinese colonial Empire in SE Asia and potentially Australia driven by a need to "play tall," so to speak; allowing the East Asian sphere to begin dominating and exploiting a fairly new economic frontier, just as the Europeans did the Americas.

[@GilangRabbani]

You know, speaking much of these inventions reminds me about how the world and the Chinese made the Great Wall to be their greatest pride for architectural marvel - when for me, the credit should be meted out to the Grand Canals from the Tang dynasty. It's importance is so big, that the Zhu of Ming dynasty would expand it and permanently alter the flow of the Yellow river everytime it flooded from spilling out into the Huai river and flowing into the Yangtze - and redirecting it somewhere between Jiangsu and Shandong into the Yellow Sea basin. The outflow of the Yellow River that we know today is the end result of the great flood from 1851 to 1855. The damaged caused by the flood, compounded by series of famines, natural disasters, economic problems and defeats at the hands of foreign powers would sparks what was known to be century of humiliation and ended up causing both the Taiping and the Nian rebellion.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

Ah? I thought the Grand Canals were constructed during the Sui? Unless I'm thinking of something else?

[@wh1sp3rr]

@@HighPriestFuneral no, ur right, it was the Sui dynasty

[@GilangRabbani]

You're right - I only aware that the canal saw an extensive use during the Tang dynasty and other dynasties after them. The Tang however were the one to build granaries as insurance to disasters and rebellion that could impede distribution, then the locking gate mechanism we see in Panama canal today, along with granaries along the way as an insurance should a flood or rebellion that could impede distribution occur. An Lushan's first priority after he trapped the imperial army in the Hangu pass was to enter Henan and capture the Grand Canal - but then there's the city of Suiyang and the rest is history.

[@HighPriestFuneral]

@@GilangRabbani I did not know the rest of the history. Thanks for that.

[@john-xiong-2820]

You have a good point. But? The Northern Great Wall provided China's biggest enemies and the most threat in all of Asia to China were the horse tribes, it kept them at bay for a very very long time and allowed China to develop, grow and have peace. And it was the Northern Great Wall that allowed China's culture, traditions, history and etc to survive for a long time. I think that is why the Great Wall was seen as China's greatest pride and Architectural marvel then the Grand Canals.

[@justinvang561]

I am glad someone knows Chinese history for once. And this topic is overshadowed as well and deserved it's own video and be should be told and talk more.

[@kweassa6204]

Thanks CJ! I hope this helps ppl get a more balanced view on the Song dynasty!

[@johannathanwong234]

Interesting video, sadly Song Dynasty military was plagued with corruption as well as their courts. That is why they lose to the jurchens. You should make a video about Yue Fei and how he got killed by a corrupted official.

[@widjiro]

you mean lose to the mongols?

[@yulusleonard985]

@@widjiro Jurchen are not mongols, they are the Manchus.

[@widjiro]

@@yulusleonard985 i know, what i mean is the Song Dynasty lose to the Mongols not the Jurchens

[@salahad-dinyusufibnayyub7754]

Not only lose to the Mongol, their conquest against Dai Viet in the South also end in failure. In all dynasties that rule unified China, It seem that Song military was the weakest one

[@Wann-zo7rn2qn4i]

Corruption is the present in all ages and in all times, just whether more or less. It was also a factor in the fall of Ming Dynasty to the Manchus.

[@mokhtaramran7041]

People seem to not know 2 vital things that were important to european hegemony. The nation state and royal charters/trading companies. The later influenced by Arab organisation of caravans. The technological advances and state run/crowding is almost inevitable. We have seen similar production lines and tech advancement during Roman times.

[@VoteLaborOut]

Song Dynasty was one of few when the Emperor let the people run free and prosperity was what you get.

[@lyhthegreat]

but prosperity won't last long when you keep getting conquered

[@isuruthiwanka9448]

China need to be super power again .. they deserve that

[@therearenoshortcuts9868]

wasn't there some records which suggested the Song GDP per capita was around $2000 at one point? before end of the Northern Song

[@anasevi9456]

WOO, thanks again, know this one will be great!

[@pascalchen3027]

宋朝的確是中國的黃金年代 The Song Dynasty was indeed the golden age of China

[@sami3566]

Also Tang

[@yohannessulistyo4025]

For people mistaking the Jins for Mongols: Jin Empire is the successor of the Xianbei and ancestor of the Manchu. They are in many sense "Chinese" as you see qipao or Fu Manchu as "Chinese". Later on, Genghis Khan defeated the Jin Empire so convincingly that they become a shell of its former glory that conquered Northern Song. This allowed him to consolidate disputing Mongolian Khans that refused to bow to his "Khan of Khans" position, like Jamuga or later Toghrul Khan, and finally Tayan Khan of the Naimans. Other than that, Song is also in conflict with the former Liao Dynasty, which were broken into Wester Liao or Qara Khitai. You can consider them "Chinese" as Russian and Slavs called the Chinese "Kitayski" (Khitai / Khitan), where the word "Cathay" comes from. Again, they are also not the "Mongols".

[@hishot1078]

Jin Dynasty records says their ancestors joined & served Goguryeo then broke away after its fall. And the founder of the ruling clan was from Korea? They have no direct relation with Xianbei. They were mostly living in east Manchuria to Far East, while Xianbei was at west Manchuria. Korean was in the middle of them. They had no centralized kingdom until Jin Dynasty. They lived either under Korean kingdoms or in tribal form. Where do you get the claim of "successor of the Xianbei" while Jurchens themselves considered Korean related was "cool stuff" to add to their own history? Jurchens called Goryeo as fatherland. (deleted section). You skip what Jurchens themselves say about who they are. Even Jin Dynasty's 4th & 5th emperors were half-Korean. Xianbei was mostly assimilated into Sinitic civilization during Tang Dynasty as they were the founder of ruling ethnic group of Sui & Tang. Jurchens existed in the same time when Xianbei was a small tribal groups. They have their own history, but culturally they are heavily influenced by Koreans, not Xianbei.

[@知-k3q]

@@hishot1078 Jurchen has nothing to do with Koreans. Koreans themselves are a mixed race of Han immigrants as rulers and local Korean slaves! According to the lineage, most Koreans are patrilineal from the Han nationality, and their maternal lineage is chaotic!

[@知-k3q]

@@hishot1078 Jurchen has the same aspect with Korean matrilineal lineage! But on the paternal line, Koreans come from Han people!In addition, Korean, Han and Jurchen can't use matrilineal lineage to identify ethnic groups, and the families and surnames of Sui and Tang emperors are all from Han nationality, which won't change because of their Xianbei people's matrilineal lineage ~

[@hishot1078]

@@知-k3q According to YOUR THEORY, Japanese are mix of Korean rulers and Japanese slaves. In fact, Koreanic people were taking over southern K peninsula significantly during 3rd BC. I guess you didn't even know Yayoi were living in the southern K peninsula then got pushed by Koreanic group (1st Yayoi migration), then continue throughout three kingdom period of Korea. I again apply YOUR THEORY, and Japanese slaves can be proven by the gift of Baekje the seven edged sword. And this can be again proven by massive number of Koreanic tombs, temples, and buildings. Hahaha Prove "Jurchen" had nothing to do with Korean or get lost since Jurchens are mentioned many times, including the relations between two groups, in the records from BOTH SIDES. In fact, it is not Koreans claiming relation with Jurchen, it is rather Jurchens identify themselves as Korean related. Again, YOUR THEORY ignore what Jurchens said about themselves. How can YOUR THEORY be trustful in the first place when you ignore 1st hand records? Ignore Jurchen & Korean records, create own baseless theory without proof, nice nice

[@wqwq-ol3hh]

@@hishot1078 Jurchens do believe that Hanpu is from Goryeo, not Xianbei. But please allow me to make some arguments to your statement: 1. "Jurchens called Goryeo as fatherland" appears only once in Korean records where Aguda sent some messengers to Goryeo. But there are no similar records or claims in the Jurchen records. Jurchen records only claim that Hanpu is from Goryeo, they didn't make more claims or favors towards Korea. I'm not saying Korean records aren't true, but I don't think it's appropriate to take the claim that only appeared once in foreign records in very early Jin Dynasty as the entire Jurchen's definition of themselves. 2. And I didn't find the original text of "Nurhaci of Qing called Joseon as land of the ancestors". Could you please tell me the original text and the source to correct me? 3. "i4th & 5th emperors were half-Korean" doesn't have much political and cognitive significance. Wanyan Liang and Wanyan Yong have never expressed favors or identify with Goryeo. Not to mention that Wanyan Liang always wanted to be the new Qin Shi Huang and promoted the process of Sinicization of Jin. These questions are important since you emphasize what Jurchens said about themselves. 4. Yang clan of Sui and Li clan of Tang claimed that their ancestors were Han Chinese. Yang Jian's clan claimed descent from the Han Dynasty general Yang Zhen. Li Yuan's clan claimed descent from Lao Tzu (Li Er). Scholars are still debating whether their family tree was forged by themselves or not, as many Xianbei people did. But, as you emphasize, this is what they called themselves even before the funding of Tang Dynasty. Even if their family trees are fake, and you suddenly want to emphasize their lineage, the Guanlong group from which they came should be strictly regarded as a mixed ethnic group (including Han), not a Xianbei-only group.

[@danielinciongtungol9338]

Awesome video thanks for this bro! I learned a lot about the Song Dynasty.

[@cruzergo]

English wouldn't be the World's primary language if the Chinese succeeded in industrializing way earlier.

[@josephmartel2254]

China’s proximity to the nomadic peoples to the north is what held back their civilization. Western Europe is kind of distant from the rest of the world and has the benefit of being situated in a horizontal continental axis. The Song dynasty which almost industrialized was conquered by the Mongols and then Ming dynasty which kept out European and Japanese expansion was conquered by the Manchus. I feel these points are often overlooked when understanding how and why Western civilization was so successful when China was equally as capable but ultimately Western Europe had the better geographic positioning.

[@Jake-dh9qk]

Practically every dynasty in China held the monumental task of keeping nomads from becoming too powerful and pouring massive amounts of resources in funding diplomatic and military expeditions to control them. Everytime their dynasties get weak the nomads rise up and unite under a powerful faction. In a way, it's like if theoretically the vikings were a much larger faction in the medieval era and they would occasionally do large scale invasions on France/Germany and Britain, forcing them to slow their development every century.

[@Someone-vq6jk]

I mean that happened to the Roman’s too, with the migration of Germanic tribes and the Huns which brought about the end of the west Roman Empire, and the eastern Roman’s who had to deal with sejuiks and the ottomans who conquered them

[@josephmartel2254]

@@Someone-vq6jk When referring to the success between Chinese and Europeans civilizations I was referring to Western colonialism which is what made the West overwhelmingly successful. The Romans were a distinct civilization from the West. The Romans certainly were influential to the whole of Europe but Western civilization which includes Sweden, Germany, and Australia shares no heritage to the Rome, which was a civilization created and ruled by Italic peoples who weren’t too fond of other ethnicities. As you mentioned it was the barbarian migrations that were largely responsible for the collapse of the Roman empire. China on the other hand is one of the oldest continuous civilizations. The Han Chinese people are the same Han Chinese that were governing China thousands of years ago. Italy right now is very genetic diverse. The north of Italy is largely Germanic and the south has Greek genetics while the area of Sicily has North African or Middle Eastern. China was conquered by Eurasian nomads twice and the nomads did not care for advances in science, mathematics, and such. You also failed to take into account the loss potential of the Ming and Song dynasties after they were conquered by nomads. Those dynasties were highly successful. I mentioned that the Song dynasty was undergoing a proto-industrial revolution that was until the Mongols ended them and then the Ming dynasty had proven itself capable of defeating Westerners and Japanese which the Qing dynasty afterward wasn’t. It was during the Qing dynasty that Westerners became overpowered which also has to do with several other factors. Such as Europe being a peninsula of peninsulas and how that geography gave rise to a sea-fairing race and the other important factor that determined the success of the West was their immunity to Old World diseases which the natives lacked. It is estimated that between 70-90% of the native population died to disease which would make it the single greatest factor as to Why Europe was able to colonize the Americas. You know there were other advanced civilizations that had people who were immune to the diseases that affected native americans. The Islamic world, India, and China in theory could have colonized the Americas as they also had immunity to Old World diseases but in order for them to do so they would have had to come in contact with the natives. China did not have a reason to go out and explore as Europeans did. China was already a world leading exporter and had controlled a vast tributary empire so there wasn’t really a need for them to colonize in the 15th century when they had the chance to. I could get into why Europeans were even motivated to colonize and how the Americas was a jackpot but that’s like for a book.

[@TakCWAL]

Anyone who studied Song Dynasty history to an extent would recognize that it was probably the best place to live in the world at the time, for the Empire was stable, rich and prosperous. Concurrently, it was also a Dynasty known for breaking established treaties while constantly punching above its weight and be humiliated in the process. The Song court favored academic achievements over martial prowess, yet it launched numerous wars of aggression. The Song Dynasty preached honor & harmony, yet betrayed its own generals and erstwhile allies such as the Liao and later, Jin. It even had the audacity to poke at the Mongols, and we all know how well that ended. Yes, the Song Dynasty certainly had it coming, anything that happened to it was well-deserved. Perhaps the Song Dynasty may not be as pathetic as some of the so-called 'armchair nationalists' would like to believe or claim, but there were certainly (plenty of) justifications for that reasoning.

[@lyhthegreat]

would siding with the jin against the mongols save them though? from what i see it would only serve to delay the inevitable..

[@TakCWAL]

@@lyhthegreat The Mongol-Jin war lasted for more than 20 years while the Jin was basically fighting on two fronts against both Mongol and Song. When the Jin was finally defeated, the Mongols spent another half-century subjugating the Southern Song Dynasty. Keep in mind the Song Dynasty at the time was roughly 1/4 the size of modern China, and they resisted harder & longer than every prior Mongol opponents from Persia to Hungary (including everything in between). The Song outlasted Ogedai, who passed away in 1241, thus halting Mongol advances in Europe. Another great Khan, Mongke, was killed during the war with the Song and forced the Mongol armies to pause their advances into Africa. When it finally came to Kublai to assume power, he had to commit the impossible. The Mongol armies at the time already encircled the Southern Song from Northern India to Vietnam, and Kublai further added to the effort by invading Japan in 1274, all to prevent the Southern Song from having the slightest possibility of seeking aid elsewhere. The war lasted so long Kublai eventually gave the Southern Song a conditional surrender and guaranteed the well-being of the Song Imperial family to end the war, which was unprecedented, as the Mongols had a tendency to eradicate a conquered nation's royalty. With that in mind, it is my opinion that there was a good possibility for Song & Jin to actually remain intact if they only worked together. Unfortunately for both Jin & Song, the Song bureaucracy at the time was also staffed by many of the so-called "armchair nationalists", who wanted nothing more than the utter destruction of their northern neighbor.

[@lyhthegreat]

@@TakCWAL i see, thanks for the extremely detailed explanation. By the way, i think the koreans too fought fiercely against the mongols but were spared as well in the end, they were also allowed to continue to rule but they had to submit themselves to the mongols khans.

[@TakCWAL]

@@lyhthegreat The Korean Peninsula had it pretty rough in the aftermath of the Mongol subjugation. They were forced to commit to the first invasion of Japan by footing a majority of the bill, labor, resources and manpower on the field. This was a situation akin to slavery. Some Korean nationalists would like to claim this period as an 'alliance', but when one makes a practical assessment, it begs the question of that claim's validity.

[@lyhthegreat]

@@TakCWAL yeah, heard some of them claiming that it was more of an alliance since they get to keep their autonomy and their royals.

[@Clee-os6pv]

Dude! Thanks for making this video. This topic is the most underrated subject in history every. I always knew about this knowledge since I study China's history as well. Long before? China's downfall period when both the Nomadic groups the Mongols and Manchus took over China. It's sad that China gets a lot of hate and bad rap because it was recently weak in the 1800s to early and mid 1900s and of course because of Communism. In my honest opinion? The real reason it never happen in our real time was because of the fault of the Mongols. If it wasn't for the Nomads aka the Mongols? China would have entered the Industrial Age in the 1100s. China already had the exact same and many conditions similar to England for industrialization in the 1800s. China's industrialization was imminent and unavoidable by the 1100s. Again? The only reason it never happened in our real time line was mostly because of the Nomads or Mongols. They were the ones who stopped China's development from achieving this historical event. Also? China also lost some technology during the Mongol invasion.

[@ongsengkee2530]

Fantastic brilliant discourse

[@dtyhb]

That's Han nation, the real Chinese.

[@keningall5404]

Very interesting to find out how much more advanced China was compared to the rest of the world.

[@Clee-os6pv]

China was always an advance civilization for the majority of it's history. The only civilization that was on equal pair with China was Ancient Rome. It was only because of 2 Nomadic horse tribes who ruined China's development the Mongols and Manchus. China already had the exact same and many conditions similar to England for industrialization in the 1800s. China's industrialization was imminent and unavoidable by the 1100s. The only reason it never happened in our real time line was mostly because of the Nomads or Mongols. China would have entered the Industrial Age 700 years before Europe would have.

[@john-xiong-2820]

If the Mongols never came along? The Chinese would be to first to Industrialized.

[@mikael2751]

@@Clee-os6pv England did not have any magical special sauce that made only them able to "invent" the steam engine, and so no matter who had industrialized first it would be a matter of a series of historical contingencies. China certainly "could" have done it, nothing about the early steam engines or the spinning jenny and so forth were technical marvels, they would not have seemed like magic to Archimedes. So yes, China could have done it, and so could Rome, ancient persia; bagdad at its height probably could've too. But unlike those long dead people we have the advantage of hindsight. History is not teleological and people only answer to the incentives that are present to them at the time. The incentives as a function of historical contingencies aligned in England in the 1700s, they did not in China 700 years earlier. And that's all there is to it. No magical special sauce or British inherent superiority, just good old random chance. Another thought is: if the "stars" hadn't aligned in England, would we still live under the old malthusian dynamic to this day? Or would some other country have industrialized within 100 years no matter what England did?

[@Clee-os6pv]

+@@mikael2751 : I am not sure if I agree with your statements? First off! Since you but it that way even before the Medieval period China in the Ancient times were also capable of achieving industrialization not just Rome or Persia. Since you mention both Rome and Ancient Persia. China was by far had both motivations and encouragement for changes in China 700 years earlier long before 1800s. You forget the Chinese were the first to use guns or firearms, cannons or artillery and invented not just firearms and artillery but also gunpowder. Meanwhile most other people were still using traditional fighting styles of warfare of the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Romans and Vikings. China was traditional an agricultural society but stopped being one during the Medieval period during the early years of the Tang Dynasty 唐朝. During the Tang period they producing Iron products for example Buddha statues were being replaced with Iron instead of being carve or made of wood. China was also using a lot more machines then domesticated animals for agricultural to speed up the processes of planting, irrigating, and harvesting crops. Because of this it allowed China not just to have lots of food it also allowed them to have a large and huge population. By almost the end of the 1800s China had a population of 450 million or more people. If it wasn't for the Nomads aka the Mongols? China's industrialization was imminent and unavoidable by the 1100s.

[@stephenjenkins7971]

​@@Clee-os6pv Europe was constantly at war and constantly faced the destruction of learning. The fact that so much was lost of China by the Mongols kinda points to such a revolution to be highly unlikely. If the widespread knowledge was there, then it would have happened regardless.

[@小齐-k1i]

This video is great! Not only the content is good, but also the animation is so good😙 👴爱看 多发点儿

[@stevenzheng5459]

Ah, the Song dynasty, my favourite Chinese dynasty (especially the advance math, science & tech)!

[@junesilvermanb2979]

The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝; pinyin: Sòng cháo; 960-1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After decades of armed resistance defending southern China, it was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.

[@NTLuck]

It's weird you compare 10th and 11th century Song China with 13th century European countries when you have better contemporaries in the Abbasid Caliphate as well as India. One can argue that Baghdad was also very close to industrialization if not for the Mongols

[@HighPriestFuneral]

You're right. The Mongols ended the Golden Age of Islam and sent them hurtling backwards for a long time. The advances in science and technology that the Islamic world were making (in part due to the Greek knowledge, but not all) would change the world, but it was put to a halt for some time after their civilization had been ravaged.

[@mariuspretorius7913]

@@HighPriestFuneral They only really did incremental improvements most notably in architecture and medicine. It was more an economic and population boom than anything.

[@john-xiong-2820]

That's true? But China would have done it first since under the Song Dynasty. China had more machines to produce said goods at large amounts.

[@user-qwertyuiopasdfghj]

Mongols are absolute nightmare for both Chinese and Islamic world

[@IKEMENOsakaman]

Good recap of Chinese history. Watched this while having my morning coffee. Thumbs up!

[@thecomment9489]

Interesting and informative short documentary on Chinese history during the 10th century.

[@bunnyben5607]

I'm honestly skeptical as to whether they actually could have had an industrial revolution, considering they didn't have rail or steam engines, nor did they have the necessary chemistry knowledge for development of some industries, such as steel.

[@知-k3q]

China is the first civilization to enter the Iron Age and the first country with large-scale mining and smelting technology! The output of steel in the Song Dynasty was quite high, but it was really impossible to industrialize, because the steel production could, but the quality was not enough to build large machinery.

[@LWIN729]

There is always NO DOUBT that China👍 and Asia 👍 has long Civilisation before some parts of the world!!!

[@CARL_093]

Can u do jin dynasty to the founder half sillan half goryeoan

[@ThanoosUdom]

Balance is the key... Goodness and Wealth mean nothing if you don't have the Intellect to utilize and the Strength to protect them. This reminds me of a saying... I don't remember exactly who said it but I'm pretty sure that I saw it in literature. (Most likely of Chinese) "If they are strong, try outsmarting them. If they are smart, try overpowering them. If they are both strong and smart, you better try befriending them or at the very least try not to antagonize them."

[@gandaberunda6267]

Great Video and Information. Europe owes its industrialization to India's wealth. The Maratha Empire got busy in dealing with Islamic powers while the British went unchecked until the British defeated the Maratha confederacy and used India's wealth for industrialisation.

[@知-k3q]

India has no wealth, it belongs to the East India Company.😆The East India Company is a transit point for Sino-European trade. Before the East India Company, India's trade volume was very small, while China was the world's largest trading country from the beginning of the Silk Road until 1800, and the money earned by the East India Company went into the pockets of Chinese people, while the money earned by the East India Company belonged to Dutch and British people.🤣🤣

[@weiskl887]

The Biggest difference between Chinese vs Western History is Upward social mobility and Meritocracy. Liu Bang Emperor Founder of Han is literally from the low class peasant moving up all the way to Emperor and he is not the exception Ming Emperor Founder is a beggar Monk again amongst the lowest in Social class. European History is full of Nobility class taking over or taking away power from the King while US history is all about Oligarchy Democracy. All along Chinese History Governmental Bureaucrats are hired through Meritocracy at various levels and Aristocracy does not automatically qualify. They do when Corruption becomes extremely high. All Chinese emperors seek to have his Government staffed not by Noble class but through Meritocracy. But all Dynasties cannot avoid downfall due to Extreme Corruption that eventually happens when the Ruling class in the Bureaucracy abuse their Powers. The seduction of Wealth, Power and Luxury eventually corrupts even their Moral ethics, principles and Humanity giving in to Hubris, Arrogance, Extravagance and extreme individual selfishness. The Famous General Yue Fei is literally removed and killed on trumped up charges due to his Outspoken and Disdain towards the Bourgeosie and famously said " The Country can Only be saved when all Government officials do not love Money. While its Extreme in View but he has a point as in his Era the Court is So Corrupted and almost ALL ministers are on the Take and primarily concerned with preserving their own Power and Wealth at all cost paying no heed to the Country and People's interest. Just like the US today as the Oligarchy owned Government turned their Interest into National interest while leaving their own Country's infrastructure in a Mess and not the least interested in the Economic well being of the People. Healthcare is Money or your life, Education is Money or get a job at walmart, National Health Emergency is get into Bankruptcy Debt or Die. Work or you become unemployed or homeless in a Pandemic. Its amazing that the World's Richest Country is leaving the Majority of their People to fend for themselves in a National Disaster and Emergency.

[@elielee7364]

If Mongols didn't attack Song dynasty, China would be the world's 1st industrialized nation. All 4 great inventions of mankind happened during South Song dynasty.

[@tienshan9819]

Fascinating! I had no idea about the advancements of the (Northern) Song. A perhaps silly question, but what is the title of the landscape painting at 4:02?

[@djtan3313]

Wise white men know that the Chinese were first…

[@paulfri1569]

Egyptians actually.. Sorry to burst your bubble.

[@yancysiu]

無錯，宋代的發明產品是當時世界最先進，可惜這個優勢到了明代就停止，原因是科舉制度的八股文考試，嚴重扼殺了讀書人的創意，很多平民為了這個考試，經常沉醉於背誦詩書五經，忽略了其他創意，引致中國科技開始落後於西方人。

[@毛逸人]

最主要原因是蒙古人对文化经济的压制，90年产生起码3代文盲还有什么技术…

[@yancysiu]

@@毛逸人 元代只得90年壽命，取而代之的明代再度恢復讀書人的地位。

[@雅君墨客-i9z]

明朝那时候也还是领先世界的也是最富有的，郑和下西洋当时可是世界最强的军队和海军还有最多最大的轮船比后来的哥伦布还有欧洲都多，中国其实清朝前期还是可以的后面才不行。

[@yancysiu]

@@雅君墨客-i9z 如果不是宣宗皇帝死亡，可能還會繼續進行這類友善訪問，當然做這些遠航所需的人力物資花費巨大。

[@gabrielalixsander6920]

Such an interesting period

[@jeromefitzroy]

China just kept getting invaded by the northern barbarians, that was the problem

[@인화성로쿰]

Maybe it would be worthy to cover the military coup and junta rule in the Goryeo dynasty Korea some day for comparison. After other topics before that (Collapse of Silla, Liao invasion of Goryeo, etc.) of course.

[@chanhyunpak4021]

Some typos at 6:38

[@z32plus2]

Tiny detail in the thumbnail image, those crazy long extensions on the Chinese courtiers's hat were meant to keep each person some 6 feet apart, so you would almost never seen song dynasty courtiers stand that close to each other. Enforced "social distancing" was meant to kept courtiers from having small talks with each other while in front of the emperor

[@arielzhang679]

At song dynasty,footbinding is not a large scale of things,just some grossing upper class weird habits.nomal women were also important labour resource,they are not qualified enough to have these brutal practice. But of course, no one can deny it is a disgusting custom.

[@stevenzheng5459]

Bi Sheng's movable type was made of clay. Wooden movable type printing in China was more common later.

[@messier8379]

Despite of these Technological Advancement of Song.. Its Military remains Inferior and underfunded by Emperor (Due to An-Lushan Rebellion that causes Tang downfall)..as results of Weaker Military it wasn't able to Prevent Barbarians to Breached Great wall of China...Song was Humiliate defeated from a smaller state of Western Xia, it suffered Disastrous Defeats from Liao Khitan lead north Dynasty whom has 4x smaller Army... Jurchens was able to Overran Northern China in a year...

[@Faustobellissimo]

... and then the Mongols came...

[@zvk4011]

宋朝的皇帝遵循重文轻武，所有将军和自己的士兵甚至见不到。权利由文人主宰，武将只是一个摆设。腐败的朝廷，皇帝怕威胁自己的地位，在危难时刻仍然杀死武将，最终被灭国。

[@zhu_zi4533]

1:26 Neighbors hoard guns, you hoard food, there is no doubt that you are rich

[@zhubajie6940]

My favorite dynasty.

[@upup4893]

Please do a comparison of world's civilization by time lines and their achievements and stand outs features of their time

[@usprulse]

Need to bring back chinese values and ushering a new golden age...

[@kevinkibble8342]

Are you planning on making a video that focuses on Yue Fei?

[@sparksmacoy]

Imagine if the Song had their industrial revolution in 1400 and entered the space age in 1550, where would they be in 2000 AD. We might be talking Star Trek territory.

[@sparksmacoy]

@@sr2051 Che?

[@Charles-pf7zy]

Technology doesn’t develop linearly like that.

[@sparksmacoy]

@@Charles-pf7zy Well we might be further along the path at least or S curve or whatever.

[@ShivanshThakur-sh8ub]

​​@@sparksmacoyit would have most likely stagnated like today well today it has not really stagnated but we don't find breakthroughs in technology like we used to.

[@sparksmacoy]

@@ShivanshThakur-sh8ub Maybe, but impossible to say for sure.

[@jack-dn2uk]

Can you make video about battle of talas

[@evolvedape3341]

The most important word involved in the title is “almost”.

[@知-k3q]

But according to the standard of living, the nobles in other parts of the world can't compare with the life of the common people in the Song Dynasty ~

[@rocappreciater5540]

They're sort of a proto industrial society. But Song China showed most of the traits of a country that is going to go through industrialization.

[@kemurajohn1249]

Off topic, can you make a video about the martial arts (wuxia) world in ancient China? I mean is it really as dramatic as it was depicted in novels by Jin Yong or Gu Long?

[@danielvo4754]

Seconding this motion!

[@IronKurone]

I also think it's greatly exaggerated by modern writer like Jin Yong and Gu Long

[@MrBoliao98]

How do you think we chinese feel, especially in the south. Growing up on a diet of operas, they recount the Song Dynasty, and the Barbarians that destroyed it.

[@benjaminbenbenben1702]

I am a chinese. In my mind, Song was the peak point of the Ancient Chinese history. It has some sorts of beginning of capitalism, it traded with many other countries through the ocean, and the ordinary people had a relatively good life compared with other dynasties. Especially during the Northern Song era, after the peace treaty with the Liao Empire in the north in 1004, the ordinary people enjoyed peace for nearly 120 years (although sometimes there are wars between the Western Xia kingdom in the north west, but not that many), and the economy was good. But then we got a stupid emperor 宋徽宗, which is a great artist but knows nothing about politics and turn the whole country into a mess. Then he stupidly cooperated with the rising Jurchens who were rebelling the Liao Dynasty. In the end, the Jurchens overthrew the Khitan Liao Empire and established the Jin Dynasty and conquered the northern part of the Song Dynasty. But the Southern Song still had a relatively good economy and still traded with many other countries until the Mongols came. They killed so many people just like they did in other parts of the eurasian continent. They conquered the Tangut Western Xia and killed the royal families as well as huge number of ordinary people. They kept invading the Jin Dynasty and killed huge number of people as well. Then they started to invade the Song, which stood for another 40 years in 1279. After the Mongols were kicked out by the Ming army in 1368, the golden age of ancient China has gone. The Ming Dynasty, although has a lot of fans nowadays in China, is not comparable to the Song in my mind. Especially the sea trade, the Ming has strict laws to forbid ordinary people participating in the sea trade, making China lost the opportunity to know more about the world and communicate with the Europeans, who were making huge progress in every field after the Middle Ages. Then came the Qing Dynasty, which is more restrictive than the Ming. If China had an emperor like the Peter the Great to learn from the West patiently, then it would be much better later. In reality we had a chance, the Wuzong of Ming, 朱厚照, a guy who is very controversial but very interested about the outside world. But he died in his 30s.

[@TheYah00netstar]

*Almost...but no cigar...so their story goes...*

[@Tizonwar8]

Meanwhile in Australia the job recruitment process deliberately downplays academic performance and abilities. If you mention you got top 3% in any test, they will not want to work with you.

[@unifieddynasty]

I wonder, had the An Lushan rebellion not happened, would this have given Tang/Song enough time to further develop so that they could repel the future Jurchen and Mongol invasions? Then again, An Lushan was only a symptom of the underlying illness.

[@Jake-dh9qk]

Well the Jurchen and Mongol invasions were the result of Tang collapsing and the eventual uninterest in interfering with nomadic diplomacy, leading to confederations between tribes that eventually became united as a prominent force. Dynasties of China have always been weary of the nomadic tribes and would take preemptive steps in containing the rise of powerful confederations. The An Lushan definitely had a role in weakening the Tang's ability to continue their foreign diplomatic missions against the nomads but the ultimate cause is definitely the Song dynasty's weak military. It wasn't that Song couldn't fight back, it was because they didn't take preemptive measures to prevent powerful tribes from rising like their previous dynasties had done.

[@kuroazrem5376]

I think their reforms could have worked if they had, at the same time, reformed their military.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

The military was part of the reform, but it didn't work. Since the reforms were strongly opposed it was also implemented half-heartedly and the failure was a self-fulfilled prophecy.

[@kuroazrem5376]

@@CoolHistoryBros why do I have the feeling that's a constant across Chinese history?

[@garlicdemon1]

@@CoolHistoryBros Let me guess, the eunuchs were at it again?

[@lyhthegreat]

@@kuroazrem5376 maybe corruption played a major part too

[@martytu20]

Song never had great cavalry because they lost the best pastures to the Liao and later the Jin. The strongest dynasties militarily almost always had a reliable source of horses for their cavalry.

[@gregb6469]

China in the 11th century was very much ahead of the West technologically; why by the18th century had it fallen so far behind?

[@prasanth2601]

They isolated from rest of the world.

[@ChrisL369]

It's mostly the fault of the Manchus when they ruled China. They were responsible of banning and stopped further developments in science, technology, gunpowder, gunpowder based weapons, and etc in China. Even the Manchus? Banned the use of guns and gunpowder based weapons for a long long time.

[@edisonsoh226]

Due to invasion of Nomadic people. First, Mongol then Jurchen. Nomadic people were not fond of technology and stop techno advancement

[@male19-ye9fg]

Because of barbarians, mainly Mongols and Manchus

[@gregb6469]

@@male19-ye9fg -- I don't know about the Mongols, since the advanced Ming dynasty followed the Mongol era, but you may be right about the Manchus; with the Qing dynasty China seemed to glide to a halt developmentally.

[@masseyanderson35]

I was watching this for a History class project I'm doing at home and my mom looked up in surprise from kitchen the every time he says general.😂

[@calvinsuu1949]

The although song was the most advanced nation in the world back then, the mongols still fight and conquered them, despite the fact of their superior technology, logistics and administration. So a 3rd world power took over a super power.

[@知-k3q]

The Mongol Empire collapsed, it was the Yuan Empire!🥹

[@wilsonli5642]

Song foreign policy was pretty disastrous - they helped the Jin defeat the Liao, then helped the Mongols defeat the Jin, and just ended up losing more and more ground in each case. Too bad they couldn't have gotten a cultural victory!

[@davidguan2246]

I just cannot imagine what a hilarious 'industrialization' could be like without Newton's Principia.

[@ioan_jivan]

That art is so beautiful

[@scitechsearch4594]

And then the Mongols showed up

[@dunzhen]

The world would be much different. I actually don't think China would've acted like the British for example, for cultural/civilizational reasons

[@sanneoi6323]

Imagine if Song was good militarily

[@prasanth2601]

It'd have remembered as third golden age

[@MrLantean]

Han and Tang Dynasties are considered the golden age of Chinese due its prestige and influence through military strength. With great military strength, no nation dares to challenge them and instead choose peaceful diplomacy as well as sending tributes. This also motivates neighboring nations to emulate them. Unfortunate Song Dynasty does not have the same status its predecessors. Due to military weakness, Song Dynasty frequently got bullied by its military stronger neighbors like the Khitan Liao state, Western Xia Tangut state and later Jurchen Jin state and resort to bride them through tributes to keep them as bay. The amount of tribute is very expensive but is affordable by Song Dynasty due to its great wealth generated through economic boom and oversea trade. Many nations see Song Dynasty as weak nation that gives in to demands of its bullies rather than standing up against them.

[@sanneoi6323]

@@prasanth2601 Could've possibly been the best dynasty ever

[@kamalkrishnabaral]

This can be a good alternate history idea.

[@gwang3103]

It's good to know that despite her advancements China didn't start throwing her weight around the world like the Europeans did later. That sort of thing wouldn't have been something for the Chinese to be proud of.

[@Keyhan-c8c]

I love this video

[@dengist8172]

Yeah Song was pretty rich but they were militarily pathetic and got conquered by many nations. I don't think people are overlooking either sides - both are true.

[@Moshie71]

Was watching a documentary on China when an ad came on. Then another one. Normally I’d hit skip but the latest one has been on for 6 minutes. Not sure what it’s about as I’ve turned the volume off and I’m reading a book…

[@cgt3704]

Hey CJ, will you make a series about Genghis Khan ?

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Yeah, I am aiming to do that before the end of the year. It's going to be very big, so that's why I need the time to prepare.

[@cgt3704]

@@CoolHistoryBros i understand. I will wait

[@tejdandekar]

@@CoolHistoryBros I cannot wait for the Yuan dynasty videos!

[@ElBandito]

@@CoolHistoryBros Awesome!

[@lyhthegreat]

Genghis Khan content has been overused and talked about by so many other channels tbh..