Twilight of the Southern Song

'深度诠释宋光宗、宋宁宗两代的'将熊熊一窝' Chronic Incompetence at the Helm: Systemic Paralysis Across Two ReignsBiographies of Emperors on History’s Downhill Slide.In the perilous times of the Southern Song Dynasty,ascending the throne was difficult,but securing it was even harder.历史下坡路上的帝王传记。危机四伏的南宋王朝，坐上龙椅难，坐稳龙椅更难。This book selects the two emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Guangzong and Emperor Ningzong, who went from ruling the country to decline, as research objects. It deeply reveals the political and social problems in the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty from the aspects of internal Zen drama, Qingyuan party prohibition, external warfare, and authoritarian rule of the powerful prime minister. It also analyzes the process and reasons why the Southern Song Dynasty of the Guangning and Ningzong dynasties inevitably declined. This book argues that the reversal of the historical trend of the Southern Song Dynasty was formed during the Guangning and Ningtian periods. The decline of imperial power and the transfer of power to the ruling class began during this period. The outbreak of the paper currency credit trend in the early years of Jiading marked the comprehensive imbalance of the social economy of the Southern Song Dynasty. The collapse of the Kaixi Northern Expedition and the financial difficulties of the Jiading Campaign foreshadowed the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty in the upcoming Song Mongolian War. The precursor of the officialization of Neo Confucianism during the Jiading period reflected the urgency of the ruling class to seek help from new ruling ideologies in the face of social crises.In this revision, the author polished the original wording and writing, enriched the historical theory, and rewrote the first subsection of the fourth section of the fourth chapter on the basis of the old version, and added Appendix 1, which is beneficial for readers to gain an objective and global grasp of the image of Emperor Ningzong and the dictatorship of the two dynasties by Shi Miyuan.本书选取南宋从治世转入衰世的宋光宗、宋宁宗两位帝王作为研究对象，从内禅闹剧、庆元党禁、对外战事、权相专政等方面深刻揭示了南宋中期的政治社会问题，也剖析了光、宁两朝的南宋不由自主地走向衰微的历程和原因。本书认为，南宋历史走向的逆转正是定形于光、宁时代，南宋皇权的一蹶不振和权相的递相专政始于这一时期，嘉定初年爆发的纸币信用风潮标志着南宋社会经济自此跌入了全面失衡的困境，开禧北伐的溃败和嘉定之役的支绌预示了南宋在即将到来的宋蒙战争中的败局，而嘉定时期理学官学化的前兆折射出统治阶级在社会危机面前，向新的统治思想求助乞援的迫切性。这次增订，作者润色原版遣词行文，充实史论，在旧版基础上重写了第四章第四节1小节，并新增附录1，利于读者对宁宗的形象，和史弥远的两朝专政获得客观性、全局性的把握。