Song Qi (; 998–1061),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Zijing (子京), was a Chinese essayist, historian, poet, and politician of the
Northern Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...
.
Imperial advisor
Song was a Grand Councilor in the Imperial Chinese court. In this role, he was called to become a military analyst:
:"The reason why our enemies to the north and west are able to withstand China is precisely because they have many horses and their men are adept at riding; this is their strength. China has few horses, and its men are not accustomed to riding; this is China's weakness.... The court constantly tries, with our weakness, to oppose our enemies' strength, so that we lose every battle .... Those who propose remedies for this situation merely wish to increase our armed forces in order to overwhelm the enemy. They do not realize that, without horses, we can never create an effective military force."
While China had many men in Chinese cavalry, very few of them actually had horses to ride; and if they did actually have a horse, they did not ride well. In stark contrast, the military forces arising from Inner Asia had many horses and the men had excellent riding skills.
Historian
As an historian and writer, Song is best known for his work as co-author of
''New History of the Tang Dynasty'' (). This work was created in collaboration with
Ouyang Xiu;
[Boyd, Kelly. (1999). ] and it was officially presented to the emperor in 1060.
See also
* ''
Twenty-Four Histories
The ''Twenty-Four Histories'', also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are a collection of official histories detailing the dynasties of China, from the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in the 4th millennium BC to the Ming ...
''
References
Citations
Sources
* Creel, Herlee Glessner. (1982). "The Role of the Horse in Chinese History,
''What is Taoism?, and other studies in Chinese cultural history.''Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
OCLC 221400450
* Boyd, Kelly. (1999)
''Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing.''London: Fitzroy Dearborn.
OCLC 40991180
* Hon, Tze-Ki. (2005)
''The Yijing and Chinese Politics: Classical Commentary and Literati Activism in the Northern Song Period, 960-1127.''Albany:
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York Press (more commonly referred to as the SUNY Press) is a university press affiliated with the State University of New York system. The press, which was founded in 1966, is located in Albany, New York and publishe ...
.
OCLC 237994251
{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Qi
998 births
1061 deaths
11th-century Chinese historians
11th-century Chinese poets
Historians from Henan
Poets from Henan
Politicians from Kaifeng
Song dynasty essayists
Song dynasty historians
Song dynasty poets
Song dynasty government officials
Writers from Kaifeng