Part one of term paper
lasted over 300 years, from 960 to 1279. Their history is divided into two periods of Northern and Southern Song. The Song period was one of China's most peaceful and prosperous era. However the Song government was corrupt and weak. The Song Dynasty, or Sung Dynasty was a period in which the Chinese government was very weak. In the beginni ...

Part two of term paper
... increasingly lost prestige. The weakening of China's military, coincided with the rise of strong nomadic nations on the boarders. During the same time of the military's loss of prestige, the civil service rose in dignity. This was an examination system that had been restored in Sui and T'ang and was further elaborated and regularized. Selection examinations were help every three years at the district, provincial, and metropolitan levels. Only 200 out of thousands of applicants were grante ...