This first of two volumes on the Sung Dynasty (960 1279) and its Five Dynasties and Southern Kingdoms precursors presents the political history of China from the fall of the T ang Dynasty in 907 to the Mongol conquest of the Southern Sung in 1279. Its twelve chapters survey the personalities and events that marked the rise, consolidation, and demise of the Sung polity during an era of profound social, economic, and intellectual ferment. The authors place particular emphasis on the emergence of a politically conscious literati class during the Sung, characterized by the increasing importance...