The Song-Jin War refers to the large-scale war from the seventh year of the Xuanhe reign of the Southern Song Dynasty (1125) to the tenth year of the Jianyan reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (1137), in which the Song Dynasty resisted the southern invasion of the Jin army, recovered lost territory, and swept away the Jin court.

Main commanders: Jin Dynasty: Wanyan Zonghan (Nianhan), Wanyan Zongwang (Wulubu), Wanyan Zongbi (Wushu), Wanyan Loushi, Wanyan Baliyasu; Song Dynasty: Zhao Jiu, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei, Li Yanxian, Wu Jie, Zhang Rong, Zhang Jun, Ma Kuo.

Result: In the early stage of the war, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty was captured and the emperor was taken prisoner, and the power of the Jin Dynasty reached its peak; in the later stage, the Huaxia Allied Forces destroyed the Jin Dynasty, and the Jianyan Restoration occurred.

Background: See "Jin-Liao War" and "Alliance on the Sea." In the process of destroying the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty was skilled in the use of war-raising war tactics, and the Jurchen tribe made a great fortune in the war and had a strong desire for expansion. At the same time, they saw through the reality of the Southern Song Dynasty court. Behind the brocade-like prosperity was weakness. Therefore, they repeatedly carried out southern invasions.

Brief introduction of the war process:

The first stage: the Jin army's offensive stage.

In October 1125, the Jin army went south for the first time. Nianhan in the west advanced into Shanxi, and Wulubu in the east came out of Hebei. They joined forces to try to seize Tokyo. Eventually, because the king's troops from all over the world arrived, they temporarily retreated, and the Southern Song Dynasty ceded the three towns of Hebei to seek peace.

Impact: The first southern invasion of the Jin army marked the beginning of the Song-Jin War.

In August 1126, the Jin army invaded the south for the second time. Nianhan attacked Taiyuan in the west again, and Wulubu attacked Zhengding in the east. In November, they besieged Tokyo. Zhao Jiu was ordered to go to the Jin camp to beg for peace, agreeing to take the Yellow River as the boundary, but the Jin army refused. The following month, Tokyo fell and the Jingkang Incident occurred.

Impact: The Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed.

In September 1127, the Jin army invaded the south for the third time. Loushi, the commander of the West Route Army, attacked Shaanxi and was blocked by Li Yanxian. Wushu, the vanguard of the East Route Army, attacked Jingdong. Song Shizu (Emperor Gaozong of Song) led troops under Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, and Liu Guangshi to block the enemy at every level. The defense of Shouzhou broke out. However, Liu Guangshi abandoned the land first, putting Zhang Jun in danger later. Song Shizu personally beheaded Liu Guangshi, entered Xiacai alone, appeased the military's morale, and reiterated military discipline. The Song army's morale was greatly boosted, and the Jin army was defeated and retreated.

Impact: The Jin army's large-scale offensive was frustrated for the first time, breaking the myth that the Jin army was invincible. The Northern Song Dynasty ushered in a respite. Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and others were appreciated by Song Shizu, sowing the seeds for subsequent counterattacks.

In August 1128, the Jin army invaded the south for the fourth time. Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture was captured and Zhang Suo died for his country. Kong Yanzhou, Zhang Yu, and Zhe Keqiu surrendered. In October, Han Shizhong was trapped. In November, the defense of Nanyang broke out. The main forces of the Jin army's east and west routes were frustrated in Nanyang and Shanzhou. In December, Zong Ze in Tokyo was seriously ill. He replaced him with Du Chong. The Song King-Protecting Army gathered on the Yanling line, but Du Chong did not think about serving the country, feared the enemy and was timid, and falsely reported military information, deceiving those above and below. His son, Du Yan, was well aware of the righteousness and went to the Southern Song Dynasty camp alone to report the truth. The following January, Shizu only led his personal guards to sneak to Yanling, beheaded Du Chong, and appointed Yue Fei as general, attacking Wanyan Dalan, achieving a great victory.

Significance: The Song army won for the first time in a large-scale field battle, and the rumor that the Jurchens were invincible with ten thousand was broken. This battle supported the Song army's operations on the two wings of Shaanxi and Shandong, restrained the Jin army's offensive, and created favorable conditions for the Song army's counterattack. The Jin army's strategy of destroying the Song Dynasty in the short term failed.

The second stage: the strategic stalemate stage

Song Shizu's return to the old capital made the Jurchen nobles realize that the bold words of destroying Song in the short term had become empty talk. Therefore, they focused on local key offensives, trying to seize the initiative in the long-term confrontation.

In the first month of 1130, the Jin army launched its fifth southern invasion. This time, the Jin army focused on probing, and the two sides did not engage in large-scale battles. In March of the same year, the Jin army relied on its armored soldiers and violated the laws of heaven, launching its sixth southern invasion. In May, they captured Luoyang, and Wang Boyan, the Privy Councilor of the Northern Song Dynasty, committed suicide by self-immolation. Song Shizu entrusted his orphans and then personally led the expedition. On May 29, the Song and Jin sides launched a decisive battle in Yaoshan. The battle was extremely fierce. The two armies' main banners were less than 100 meters apart at the closest point, and even the highest commanders engaged in shooting at each other. Nearly 100,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded. In the end, Wanyan Loushi, the commander of the Jin Dynasty, was killed in battle, and the Song army won a pyrrhic victory.

Impact: The bloody battle of Yaoshan severely hit the main force of the Jin army and had a significant impact on the Song army's war of resistance against the Jin Dynasty. The last large-scale offensive of the Jin Dynasty failed, and its strategic advantage gradually disappeared. The Song and Jin Dynasties entered a strategic stalemate stage, which can be called the founding battle of the Northern Song Dynasty.

In 1131, the Jin army sent back the captured clan members of the Song Dynasty, intending to seek peace. The Northern Song Dynasty feigned peace talks on the one hand and transferred troops and generals on the other, successfully eliminating the puppet Qi regime. In 1132, the Song army attacked Western Xia, and the Jin army went to aid. In September, Song, Liao, and Mongolia held a Jinhebo alliance and established a unified alliance. Soon, Western Xia declared its demise, and the Song army recovered the Hetao area.

Impact: In the strategic stalemate stage, the Song army took the initiative to attack, eliminating the puppet Qi and Western Xia who were subservient to the Jin Dynasty, and united the remnants of the Western Liao and the various Mongolian tribes who had a strong desire to resist the Jin Dynasty, forcing Goryeo to remain neutral. It cleared obstacles and laid the foundation for a strategic counterattack, causing a drastic change in the balance of power between Song and Jin, and strengthened the anti-Jin ideology within the court.

The third stage: the Song army's counterattack stage

In November 1132, Song Shizu summoned Ma Kuo to report and asked about the strategy for destroying Jin. Immediately afterwards, he carried out army expansion and tax system reform the following year. During Shizu's southern tour in 1134, he began to apportion the Ding tax into the land and started land severance, which was historically known as the "Jianyan New Deal."

At the Southeast Duke's Conference in June 1135, internal thoughts were unified through open reports, and the process of resisting Jin was determined. In September, the Northern Song Dynasty merged with the Liao and Mongolian tribes to form the Huaxia Allied Forces, issued a檄文 (xiwen, a written declaration or call to arms), and swore to attack Jin, historically known as the "Jianyan Northern Expedition."

The 300,000 Huaxia Allied Forces were divided into two routes, adopting the strategy of taking Yuancheng in the east and Taiyuan in the west, and joining forces to advance north. Song Shizu personally served as the commander of the West Route Army, and Yue Fei served as the commander of the East Route Army. The Jin army was headed by Wushu, and Baliyasu was the commander. On December 30, the Song army's east and west routes used gunpowder to simultaneously capture Taiyuan and Yuancheng.

In 1136, the Huaxia Allied Forces and the main force of the Jin army met in Jingxing. In February, the two sides launched a final decisive battle in the Huolu area. When the battle was in a stalemate, Song Shizu personally crossed the river, joined forces with various tribes to defeat the Jin army, and killed the Jin commander Baliyasu in battle. Later, Zhang Rong used the navy to intercept the Jin army's retreat, and the various Huaxia tribes pursued closely. The Jin army was completely defeated, and less than one in ten of those who fled north survived, historically known as the "Battle of Huolu."

Impact: The Battle of Huolu was a great victory won by the Huaxia Allied Forces (mainly the Northern Song Dynasty). It basically destroyed the main force of the Jin army, completely reversed the situation of the Song-Jin War, accelerated the demise of the Jin Dynasty, and laid the foundation for the political and military pattern of Northeast Asia for the next hundred years, filling countless people with admiration.

Literature: There are many poems and lyrics praising the figures and events during the Song-Jin War, among which the most famous is the "Qing Yu An · Yuan Xi" personally inscribed by Song Shizu, please refer to "Appreciation of Poems and Lyrics of Song Shizu" for details.

In painting, Zhang Zeduan's "Tokyo Boiling Picture" painted after the great victory of Huolu and the Japanese national treasure "Between Square Inches" are the most famous.

The operas and novels written based on the Song-Jin War are vast and diverse in style.... Among them, "The Filature of the Song Reading Club" is the most absurd. The later "The Amazing Man Gao Baoqi" referred to this style and adopted a vulgar writing style.

Historical evaluation: The Song-Jin War lasted for more than ten years, and at that time it could be called a struggle for hegemony in East Asia, and even the world. In the early stage of the war, the Jin army was in the ascendant in military, political, and diplomatic affairs, and the quality of its soldiers and generals was the best in the world. Wanyan Aguda, the founding monarch of the Jin Dynasty, can be called a hero. He laid a solid economic, political, and military foundation for the Jin army's southward advance, and gained an excuse for the war against Song during the destruction of Liao, occupying a favorable position in public opinion.

During the first two southern invasions of the Jin army, it used its tactics properly, made full use of its own advantages, and the Southern Song Dynasty court was complacent, its military preparations were abandoned, its monarchs were昏庸 (hunyong, incompetent), and it pursued a policy of compromise, so it gained rich results. However, due to its own overextended battle lines, the soldiers' acclimatization, crude rule, lack of recognition from the Han people, lack of control over the occupied areas, and difficulty in obtaining supplies, and the fact that the Song Dynasty had great strategic depth and rich cultural heritage, it failed to completely destroy the Song Dynasty.

In the middle of the war, Zhao Jiu, the famous Song Shizu in Chinese history, ascended the throne and adopted a resolute resistance policy. Although the Northern Song Dynasty only occupied half of the country, the soldiers and civilians shared the same hatred and guarded the dangerous passes. Capable ministers and famous generals emerged in large numbers, and in famous battles such as the Defense of Shouzhou, the Battle of Suotoutan, the Defense of Nanyang, the Battle of Yanling, and the Bloody Battle of Yaoshan, they frustrated the Jin army's spirit and consumed a large amount of the Jin army's strength, enabling the Northern Song Dynasty to establish confidence in the success of resisting Jin.

In the later stage of the war, after the wars of destroying Xia and Qi, and "Hu Hongxi's mission to the Western Liao," the Song Dynasty established a good military and diplomatic environment. After the "Shaoxing Conference," under the leadership of Song Shizu, the Northern Song Dynasty court unified its ideological pace and carried out internal reforms. The accumulation of quantity gradually accelerated, and the balance of power between Song and Jin gradually tilted, and finally the "Jianyan Northern Expedition" and the "Great Victory of Huolu" resulted in qualitative change, destroying the Jin Dynasty and achieving the goal of striking directly at Huanglong.

The victory of the Song-Jin War ended the situation of North-South division since the end of the Tang Dynasty, the country was reunited, promoted national integration, strengthened the sense of identity of the Huaxia nation, and the social and spiritual outlook was renewed. It was conducive to social stability and progress, promoted the economic development of the north, made the economic development of the north and south re-balanced, and laid the foundation for the establishment of the "Shaoxing Prosperity."

Later generations' relevant evaluation:

Song Wuzong: After reading the history of the Southern Song Dynasty, I can understand why Shizu was ashamed to be called a Zhuojun person.

Zhu Xi: Shizu, has the measure of the world.

Lu Jiuyuan: After Huizong and Qinzong met Shizu, it was the luck of the people and the luck of the Huaxia code.

Xin Qiji: I regret that I was not born at the right time and never personally beheaded the enemy.

Lu You: I am fortunate to have met such an era and witnessed such a magnificent chapter of the era.

Meng Gong: Now we should follow the Jianyan predecessors, guard the border and defend against the enemy, capture and kill the great chieftains, command the troops to win victories, and display our power overseas. Generals, today, we have only advance, no retreat.

Bi Zaiyu: Every time I read history to the war with Jin, I know that there is no situation where the army is bound to be defeated.

Xu Heng: After the Jingkang Incident, who has ever said victory?

Song Jingzong: Shizu and Jianyan's virtuous ministers' achievements are recorded in history, and I and you should follow them.

Zhang Yanghao: Shizu, is a model of emperors.

Guan Hanqing: Shizu said that there is nothing that cannot be told to others, but now times have changed, where is the ancestral training?

Ma Zhiyuan: Although times are difficult, it is not that things cannot be done. Emperor Shizu's example is before us, I hope Your Majesty will cheer up.

Song Xianzong: Shizu is named Zhongxing, but in reality he is the founder.

Song Yizong: Now the world is boiling and border troubles have risen again. Which of you can follow the Jianyan ministers to solve my worries?

Chen Youliang: If I meet Song Shizu, I should turn my spear and disarm to seek the merits of Han and Yue; if I meet Song Taizu, I should plan to occupy the entire Yangtze River and advance into the Central Plains, and retreat to divide the world into two.

Liu Ji: A sage king comes out, and famous ministers appear. The Jingkang and Jianyan reigns are only a line apart. How far apart are the monarchs and ministers of the two dynasties?

Ming Taizu: Song Shizu, those who do it without their time.

Wang Zhen: Your Majesty is young and heroic, Qin Huang, Han Wu, Tang Zong, and Song Zu are nothing more than that.

Yu Qian: Although times are difficult, it is not like the time of Jianyan.

Ming Zhaozong: Yu Qian, is my Zong Ze.

——Excerpt from Baidu Baike