A Summarization of Theory of Reform from Song Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty

The author made a lot of research on the central politics focusing on imperial power since 1980 s and argued that the authority of imperial power became larger and larger,but the substantial imperial power tended to be symbolized. Since 2005,the author began to pay much attention to the fate of those scholars who had passed the imperial examination based on the study of scholar- bureaucrat politics and found that the majority of them could not reach the middle rank till death,instead,they stayed at the low level rank in their lives. The reason lay in the defect of design of the system and the abuses during its implementation. In addition,it was because of lack of official positions in Southern Song Dynasty. The harsh reality made the scholars feel disappointed and even despairing,they gradually alienated from the mainstream politics,and began to pursue different careers. The imperial examination was abolished in Yuan Dynasty which promoted the trend further. A large number of scholars took part in local society,thus enhanced the knowledge level of the localities and led the social transformation. The emergence of strong local society which controlled by country gentlemen since Ming and Qing Dynasties just derived from the accumulation of Southern Song Dynasty. At last,the author argues for theory of reform from Song Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty through which one can observe China' s path to modern times.