| Wars are said to have a profound influence on a country's formation, development, and change. Previous studies of Chinese war history focused on its modern period, and, in particular, how China transformed into a modern country. However, wars have also had great impact on traditional China.;In Chinese historiography there is a phenomenon called zhongxing (restoration). Non-Han Chinese invasions or civil wars resulted in the collapse of some empires. With the support of civil and military officials, imperial clan members suppress rebel forces, or resisted invasions from non-Han Chinese peoples, and thus continued the reign of the dynasty. The Southern Song is recognized as a period of restoration engineered by Emperor Gaozong.;In 1125, the Jurchen emperor subverted the cooperation agreement signed with the Northern Song, and led his army towards Kaifeng, the Northern Song capital. The Song court made peace with the Jurchen army, who soon invaded Kaifeng again, and eventually destroyed this Chinese empire. Emperor Huizong, Emperor Qinzong, a large number of imperial clan, as well as people in the city were all captured by the Jurchen. Gaozong inherited the throne at Yingtianfu, which marked the setting up of the Southern Song dynasty. From then on, the Song and the Jurchen were in a state of hostility for more than 10 years until they signed a peace treaty in 1142. During the wartime, Gaozong and his subordinates were faced with the problem of how to construct a wartime institution to protect the new regime’s continuity. It is in this critical moment of history that Lü Yihao (1071–1139) was appointed twice by Gaozong as chief minister. And Lü became one of the most important figures of the Southern Song who overcame the crisis and led the country into stability.;The relationship between wars and the Southern Song dynasty forms the framework of this dissertation, with the wartime construction pushed forward by Lü as a case study. The main aim of this thesis is to analyze the way how Lü engages the internal construction to start from the institutional change, as well as the impact of these changes.;This dissertation is in two components. The first one is an analysis of basic information pertaining to Lü Yihao’s family and education background, experience in officialdom, personality characteristics, social network, and why Gaozong appointed him as chief minister. This will help us understand Lü’s policy in detail. The second one is to analyze the ways Lü constructs the wartime political institution and wartime financial institution, the effectiveness of these measures, as well as the impacts on political development and institutional change of the Southern Song after Lü stepped down from his office. |
