A Study On The Power Struggle Between Damingfu And Royal Families In The Late Northern Song Dynasty

One of the characteristics of the politics in the late stage of Northern Song Dynasty was that imperial clans constantly conflicted with each other,which is the several main power struggles of officials of Damingfu in Song dynasty,further accelerating the collapse of this dynasty.By studying the power struggles between them,we can further understand the complexity and particularity of politics in the late stage of Northern Song Dynasty.At the end of Northern Song Dynasty,the power struggles between officials of Damingfu and imperial clans could be divided into three stages which include the periods between Zhao Kai and crown prince,Zhao Huan and Zhao Ji,and Zhao Gou and Zhao Huan.The first stage falls into the period before Jingkang incident,when theft problem broke out in the jurisdiction of Damingfu in Hebei Road.Around this incident,Zhao Kai carried out action,which means that the internal power struggle within the Damingfu started between Zhao Kai and the crown prince.Although in this internal power struggle,Zhao Huan himself did not make initiative response,but Zhao Ji gradually lost patience with Zhao Kai and appointed Xu Churen with much prestige as the feudal prince,which means the ending of internal power struggle.In the second stage,the focus of internal power struggle shifted to the contradiction between the father Zhao Ji and the son Zhao Huan,which lasted until the forces joining of Zhao Gou.The beginning of the third stage is that Zhao Gou reached Damingfu,with the intention to cut off Emperor Qinzong ' s financial resources and military strength.In late years of Northern Song Dynasty,the aftermath of such imperial struggle continued to the period between Zhao Kai and Emperor Gaozong.Zhao Gou,through the same way and in low-key manner,dealt with the military forces left in Damingfu.Formlly,the fight for power in Song Dynasty mainly includes the adjustment of feudal guards,the struggle for financial power and military force,from which it can be seen that the power struggles between Damingfu and imperial clans are characterized in three aspects.Firstly,the participation of officials of Damingfu into the struggles between the clans of Song Dynasty is of universality.Secondly,the form and mode of their struggle for power keep changing.Thirdly,the factional tendencies of officials of Damingfu in these struggles are complex and variable.From the perspective of influence,the fight for power in the late of Northern Song Dynasty shaped the history of Southern Song Dynasty.The struggle for financial power and military power of Damingfu weakened the authority of the centralized power,and also witnessed the historical process of the gradual localization of defenders from two different perspectives.The struggles for the two power intertwined and interacted,making the group of defenders of Damingfu quickly came on to the stage of that era.For the Southern Song Dynasty,while redeploying and adjusting its defenders,the Damingfu was also regarded as a stage of the dynasty's power struggle.