The Northern Song was a regime of the Han people founded by Zhao Kuangyin who was known as Emperor Taizu.
The Song capital was located in Kaifeng in Henan Province.
宋朝从公元960年宋太祖赵匡胤陈桥兵变建立，到1279年被元朝灭亡，共存在了319年。Song lasted 319 years from 960, when Zhao Kuangyin, founded Song through an army revolt, to 1279 when it was destroyed by Mongolia.
时间超过了唐朝，但其影响却远在唐朝之下。
Its existence was longer than that of the Tang Dynasty； however its influence is less-reaching than that of the Tang Dynasty in history. The long-term existence of Song due to, first, unlike the generals before him who had declared themselves emperors of dynasties that soon failed, Zhao Kuangyin lived a long life. This allowed him to establish a more solid foundation for his successors.
宋的长期存在,一是由于:和其他的军事统领不同，赵匡胤活了很长时间,这使他有时间为自己的继位者创造一个更加稳定的环境。Another reason that his dynasty lasted longer was that he did not try to fight the Khitans in the north ； instead he conquered the southern half of China. The southern kingdoms, while economically and culturally advanced, did not have strong militaries and were relatively easy to defeat.
另一个原因就是宋统一了南方而不是去和北方的契丹作战。宋征服了南方的小国，南方的小国虽然经济和文化都很发达，但没有强大军事，易于击破。In order to maintain peace with the Khitans, the Song was forced to pay them annual tributes.
宋通过进贡和北方契丹保持了和平。There were two periods in Song, the Northern Song and the Southern Song. The Northern Song was a time coexisted with its counterparts of Liao, Xia and Southern Song was continuing of the Northern Song which was retained in the south.
宋通常分为北宋和南宋两个时期，北宋是与辽、夏、金对峙时期，而南宋则是偏安衰亡时期。The founding of Song Dynasty once again ended the disunifica-tion of the ancient China since the end of the Tang Dynasty.
宋王朝的建立，结束了自唐末形成的四分五裂的局面,使中国又归于统一。The Making of Song Dynasty ： In the 6th year of Xiande (959) of the Later Zhou, Emperor Shizong, Cai Rong died of illness, so Emperor Gong, seven years old then, succeeded to the throne.
北宋的建立:五代后周显德六年(959 )，周世宗柴荣病死，七岁的恭帝继位时任殿前都点检、归德军节度使的赵匡胤掌握了军权。In the early first lunar moon of the following year, Zhao Kuangyin, Satrap and Commander of the imperial army, started a mutiny in Chenqiaoyi(southeast of Fengqiu in Henan) and led an army into Kaifeng to force Emperor Gong to abdicate his throne to him.
翌年正月初，赵匡胤在陈桥驿 (今河南封丘东南陈桥镇）发动兵变，黄袍加身。并率军人开封，胁迫周恭帝禅位，夺取了皇位。Kaifeng remained as the capital ,but the name of the dynasty was changed to the Song, which became known as the Northern Song in history because the Guide Army led by Zhao Kuangyin garrisoned in Song Prefecture.
因赵匡胤所领的归德军驻在宋州，所以建国号为宋，定都于开封。史称北宋。The Northern Song had nine emperors who ruled for a total of 168 years.
北宋经历了九位皇帝168年的统治。The fourth year after the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, the rulers of Song commenced to carry out their military operations to unify China by applying the strategy—“the south first and the north second. ”
北宋建立后的第四年，就开始进行统一全国的军事行动，并采取了“先南后北” 的政策。They held that to keep the defense in their Northern fronts was wise because Liao was strong enough not to be defeated easily ； contrastively, those southern states were economically and culturally advanced, however, with weak military strength.
宋太祖认为，当时对辽国还没有取胜的把握，只能在边境上采取守势;而南方割据政权统治区域大都是物产丰富的地区，这些政权的实力又较为薄弱。因此，其统一战略部署是先消灭南方的割据政权,然后北上削平北汉以及收复幽云地区。Since 963 after fighting for over decades of years across the country, Song eliminated the resistant forces of the Later Zhou and cleared away the separatist regimes of the Jingnan, the Later Shu, the Southern Han and the Southern Tang.
从公元963年（乾德元年）以后的几十年，北宋首先出兵灭掉荆南，接着陆续灭掉后蜀、南汉和南唐。Later, Emperor Taizong summoned Wuyue and the Former Shu to surrender, which meant the end of the Southern states.
在强大的军事、政治压力下，公元978年（太平兴国三年），前蜀和吴越相继归附，南方的割据政权全被消灭。In 979, Taizong of Song personally led his strong army and destroyed the Northern Han, the last kingdom of the ten states. By this time, the state of warfare that had lasted over 200 years from the time of the An Lushan and Shi Siming Revolts in the Tang Dynasty almost ended.
公元979年,宋太宗亲率大军出征北汉，把“十国”中的最后一国灭掉，消除了五代十国独立割据的局面，从唐代安史之乱开始,持续了二百多年的封建军阀割据局面基本上结束。The Northern Song^ territories extended to the eastern and southern coastlines. In the north, it bordered on the Liao, along the present-day Jin River, Baxian in Hebei and Yanmenguan in Shanxi. In the northwest, it reached as far as the Baiyu Mountain in Shaanxi, the eastern Gansu and the northeastern Qinghai, and was contiguous to the Western Xia and the Turfan. In the southwest it bordered on Vietnam.
北宋疆域东、南临海，北境以今津海河、河北霸县、山西雁门关一线与辽接壤，西北至今陕西白于山、甘肃东部、青海东北部与西夏、吐蕃毗邻，西南与越南接界。The later Jin of the Five Dynasties and Ten States cec%l the sixteen cities of Youyun to Liao of Qidan.
在五代十国的后晋时期，曾把北方的燕云十六州割与契丹族所建立的辽国。In order to regain it, the Northern Song and Liao had been fighting for a long time.
为了收复燕云十六州，北宋与辽进行了长期的战争。Actually, since Zhao Kuangyin came to power, the Northern Song fought many wars with Liao but failed to recover the land.
自宋太祖赵匡胤起，北宋曾多次与辽交战,但一直未能收复失地。Till to the year of 1004, a peace pact was concluded in Chanzhou, under which the Liao obtained a bountiful annual gift of silver and silk from the Northern Song, while Emperor Zhenzong had to admit Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao aunt and take Shengzong of Liao as his brother.
直至公元1004年，北宋真宗与辽国在澶州定下了停战和议，约定真宗称辽萧太后为母，宋辽为兄弟之邦，北宋每年向辽交纳“岁币”和丝绸，双方互不侵犯。Since then the northern border of Song was peaceful and quiet. The pact between the Northern Song and the Liao was later known as “the Pact of Chanyuan” in history.
自此，中国北方才有了少许安宁，宋、辽的这次结盟被后世称之为“澶渊之盟”。The Economy and Politics of the Northern Song ： The early Northern Song peri-od (960 ?997) covered the reigns of Emperors Taizu and Taizong. In order to a-chieve a long reign instead of becoming the sixth short-lived dynasty after the Five Dynasties in the north, Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Northern Song, made great efforts to end separations and introduced a package of political, military and economic reforms aiming at u strengthening the central government while weakening the local”.
北宋的政治、经济:在宋朝建立之初，也就是太祖、太宗时期（960 ~ 997)，为使宋王朝能长治久安，而不致成为继五代后的第六个短命的王朝，宋太祖赵匡胤除了致力于结束五代十国的分裂割据局面之外，还制定了一系列的方针政策，大力实施“强干弱枝”政策。Militarily, to avoid the old tricks of the powerful garrison commanders to kill and replace the emperor, Taizu successfully removed their governing rights over the army in a banquet after they sensed the implication of Emperor Taizu. After that some civil perfects were put into important positions and the commanders of the army were not allowed to be represented in the government.
在军事方面，为防止武将专政篡弑重演，太祖以“杯酒释兵权”解除了大将对军队的控制，实行重文轻武政策，提倡文人典军,严禁武人干政。Taizu abolished the post of Commander of the Imperial Army and set up a Military Council to take charge of troop-deployment arrangement, but without any power to command troops.
取消禁军最高统帅殿前都点检、副都点检职务,朝廷设枢密院掌管调动军队，但无统兵权。The Marshals and the Military Council had their own duties but held each other in check. They were both under direct control of the emperor.
三帅统兵权和枢密院调兵权职责分明，相互制约，直接对皇帝负责。In the army, a shifting defense system was implemented：troops and their commanders were regularly transferred to different regions for military service to prevent them from forming cliques.
军队实行更戍法，定期换防，将帅常调，以防止官兵“亲党胶固”。Administrative reforms, following the system of the Tang Dynasty, in-cluded the three central agencies, the Secretariat, the Military Council, and the Chancellor of the Treasury, which were placed under the chief Minister to share ad-ministrative，military and financial power. In this way，the chief Minister would not have too much power.
另外，宋沿袭唐制，又大力削弱宰相（中书令）实权，宰相下设数名参知政事、枢密使、三司使，以分其军、政、财三权，使宰相无法独揽大权。Measures were also taken to drain the power of local despotic satraps, limit their wealth and utilize their most capable men. Finally, these satraps were given sinecures in the capital, while their former domains were to be governed by civil prefects appointed by the emperor and under the direct control of the royal house.
为消除藩镇割据的局面,对独霸一方的节度使，采取“稍夺其权，制其钱谷，收其精兵”的办法,逐步从地方调回都城任闲职，其原领州郡由朝廷控制，委派文官任知州、知府，直接对朝廷负责。The local surplus revenues, after deduction for expenditures, weresubject to the central government.
规定地方财政每年赋税收人，除支度给用外，凡属钱币之类，“悉奉送京师”。These reforms greatly strengthened the power of the central government, created political stability and spurred economic development. The increase in centralized power also produced negative effects such as the weakening of local governments and the military strength.
这些措施加强了中央集权，巩固了政局，刺激了经济的发展，但也造成了弱枝强干的负面影响。In examination, Taizu of the Song innovatedly chose the talented staff by presiding over the test in person.
在科举方面，宋太祖打破常例，以殿试的方式对考生进行最终的考核。Therefore, more capable statesmen were singled out to work for the government which enlarged the bureacracy and consolided the regime of the Northern Song.
这样一来，北宋王朝的官僚阶级队伍得到了壮大，从中出现了一大批优秀的政治家，巩固了政权。The policy of the strong central government and weak military officials did successfully help to establish a strong central government which maintained the social stability and laid foundation for ending the separation and enhancing the development of economy. All these led to the long reign of the Song Dynasty. However, it left an impoverished and weak local government with limited power and military strength, poverty of the country and heavy troubles from other states to face the threats from their strong enemies in the north, namely, the Liao (the former Qi-dan), the Xi Xia and Jin.
北宋的“强干弱枝”、“重文轻武”政策，虽然成功地削弱了地方权力，使宋朝中央集权得到强化,这对政治稳定，结束分裂局面和经济的发展创造了有利的条件，宋朝国家存在时间长，但却造成宋代的国力积贫积弱，使财政拮据、地方权限过小、军队战斗力削弱、外患深重等消极后果。北宋的外敌主要有辽国（其前身即契丹）、西夏和金国。Although enormous silvers and silks were attributed to Liao annually, Song was suffered from the consistent situation of being threatened and finally was conquered by Liao.
尽管宋室耗费大量银、絹向它们缴纳岁币，始终改变不了被动挨打的状态，最后亡于外敌之手。Despite all the defects towards the outside, the Northern Song^ administration was successful and its economy, culture and science were as developed and advanced as that of the Tang Dynasty and even more than that.
北宋在内治方面，却非常成功，宋代的经济、文化、科技之强，人才之盛较之汉唐有过之而无不及。The Growth of the Northern Song ： The growth of the City was drastically improved in the Northern Song.
北宋的发展：中国古代城市的发展，到北宋出现了新的转折。The layout of the cities before the Northern Song was that the workshops and the uptowns were separated.
北宋以前的城市，一般是坊、市分区，即住宅区与商业区严格分开。However, with the growth of economy and expansion of the population the division was eliminated and the workshops could be found everywhere instead of gathering in certain place.
北宋时，随着商品经济的发展和城市人口的增加，彻底打破了“坊”、“市”的界线，商店可以随处开设，不再采取集中的方式。The middle period of the Northern Song (998 ~ 1099), lasting from Emperor Zhenzong to Emperor Zhezong, was an important period in the history of the Northern Song.
北宋中期(998 ~ 1099)，从真宗到哲宗时期是北宋历史的重要时期。The farmlands were doubled in ten years after the establishment of the Northern Song.
宋初几十年间，全国耕地扩大了将近一倍。The new economic policies such as the “two-taxes” system and the tenancy system greatly motivated the peasants to work.
由于实施两税法、代役制和租佃制等新的经济制度，激发了广大农民的生产积极性。As a result, population increased, more lands were cultivated, more advanced iron tools were made, more effective farming techniques appeared and farming products became more diversified besides doubled in output.
随之而来的是:人口的增加，垦田面积的扩大，铁制工具制作的进步，耕作技术的提高，农作物的种类和产量倍增等等。Statistics show that in the 3rd year of Zhidao (997) of Emperor Taizong9s reign, there were 4.13 million families on the household register. But in the 8th year of Jiayou (1063) of Emperor Renzong^ reign, the number of families increased to 12.46 million.
据统计， 宋太宗至道三年（997),北宋户籍上有413万多户，而到宋仁宗嘉祐八年（1063), 北宋户数已逾1246万多户。Farm lands increased from 300 million in the 2nd year of Zhidao (996) of Emperor Taizong^ reign to 520 million mu in the 5th year of Tianxi (1063) of Emperor Zhenzong’s reign.
宋太宗至道二年(996)，耕地有3亿多亩，而至宋真宗天禧五年（1021),增至5.2亿多亩。This fast agricultural growth promoted the development of handicrafts and commerce.
农业经济的迅速发展促进了手工业、商业的发展。In the Northern Song dynasty, industries of shipbuilding, metallurgy, textiles, dyeing, paper-making and china-making all experienced greater progress than any previous dynasties either in scale of production or techniques.
北宋的造船、矿冶、纺织、染色、造纸、制瓷等手工业，在生产规模和技术上远超唐代。The old patterns of the trade were broken which resulted in the prosperous business situation in the cities. There were a-bout 40 cities with population over 100 000 family households and Kaifeng became a commercial center of the Northern Song.
商业市场打破了旧的格局，大小城镇贸易盛况空前，都市商业十分兴旺繁荣，十万户以上的城市达四十多个，而宋都开封更成为全国的商业中心。The capital Kaifeng also named Dongjing or Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty.
开封在北宋时又称东京（东都或汴京）。As records said that there were not less than 160 trades of handcrafts and business shops in all, so much so that there were numerous people coming and leaving the downtown all day and night.
据记载，东京的手工、商业多达一百六十行，沿街店铺林立;闹市上人来人往，熙熙攘攘，通宵不绝。The busy street of the Dongjing was crammed with various kinds of goods from all over the country even from Japan, Korean and Arab.
在京都市场上，各地货物琳琅满目，甚至日本、朝鲜、阿拉伯等国的商品亦有买卖。To meet the needs of expanded economy, the Northern Song issued the paper money, called Jiaozi, the earliest paper money in the world. Paper money appeared and soon was in widespread use which indicats an epoch-making growth of economy in the Northern Song Dynasty.
而北宋为了应付贸易及商业发展的需要，还发行了世界上最早的纸币——“交子”，纸币的出现及广泛使用，具有划时代的意义。其社会经济的发达，由此亦可见一斑。Meng Yuanlao of the Northern Song in hisbook, Dongjing Menghua Lu( the Collections of The Prosperous Dongjing ), depicted the rich and thriving of Dongjing in details ： there are downtowns, hotels, teahouses, and bawdyhouses in Dongjing ； all the businesses end till deep night and start very early in the next morning； at any time of the year, there are always continuous flow of people so that Dongjing seems a Nightless City.
宋人孟元老曾撰 《东京梦华录》，详尽描写了宋东京的繁华，当时开封城中有闹市、有酒楼、有茶馆、 有妓院，城中夜市至三更方尽，五更时分又再燃灯开张，夜以继日，人烟不断，可谓 “不夜城”。Still, the painter of the Northrn Song, Zhang Zeduan, described the flourishing Dongjing in his picture, Qinming ShangHeTu (the Scene on the Pure Brightness Day). Accommodating more than 600 people in vistas, his picture was a treasure of arts in Chinese history.
此外,画家张择端的《清明上河图》描绘了汴京的风物，使近600人跃然纸上，成为中国绘画史上不朽的佳作。The Chinese word Shanghe means worship of the ancestors of the family.
上河是宋时民间对清明祭祖坟之谓，意同 “上冢”。In the picture, he focused on the scenery around the Eastern Jiaozi Gate of Dongjing and the banks of the Bian River and noted down with painting the crowded and prosperous moment on the festival of the Pure Brightness, a traditional Chinese festival for ancestor worship. By depicting the heavy traffic, the gathering of all the business trades and the foot passengers, the picture revealed the splendor and thrives of the Kaifeng, the most prosperous capital of ancient China.
该画描绘出清明时节东京东角子门内外及汴河两岸的繁荣热闹景象，但见桥上车水马龙，商贩云集,行人络绎不绝，表现出当时中国第一都会的繁荣兴盛。There were high achievements in terms of literature and history in the Northern Soiig Dynasty and many famous and productive persons were made in this time.
在史学和文学方面，北宋有着极高的成就，其间名人辈出。Education and the examination system became central to the upper class. It created the space for the development of the bookmen.
宋朝的科举制度使文人得到了可以自由发展的空间。The rise in the popularity of education was due in part to advances made in printing and the greater availability of books.
教育的发展得益于印刷术的进步，使书本的普及成为可能。Examinations grew progressively in popularity throughout China ； although, only a few were allowed to pass to fill the administrative positions.
科考开始在中国流行，尽管考取的人不多，但考取后都能担任一定的官职。This resulted in the education itself, and the attempted examination, gaining more importance socially than it had in the past.
这使备考和赶考都成为有史以来最具社会意义的事情。In history, the New History of Tang , complied by Ouy-ang Xiu, contributed a lot to the preservation of the history of History as a Mirror(Zi Zhi Tong Jian) wrote by Sima Guang, starting from the third year of Yingzong (1066) and finished in the 7th year of Shenzong ( 1084) was of great historical Guang once said that the book, which cost him 19 years, was made with all his energy and efforts .
史学方面，北宋欧阳修等编纂《新唐书》，对唐史的保存，有很大的贡献。而司马光主编的巨著《资治通鉴》，更是编年史的典范。《资治通鉴》自英宗治平三年（1066)始修，至神宗元丰七年（1084)成书，前后历时十九年。在《进资治通鉴表》中，司马光曾说“臣之精力，尽于此书”。Consisting of 294 Juan , the book recorded events from the 23 rd year of the emperor Zhouwei in the Warring States (403 B. C. ) to the end of the Later Zhou, the 6th year of the Five Dynasties, covering 1362 years of history with the prosper and wane of the dynasties and the success and the fails of the administrative practice as well. This book offered the later emperors the significant reference besides its literature and historical charms.
该书上起周威烈王二十三年（公元前403年），下迄五代后周世宗显德六年(959),将1362年中王朝的兴衰、政治的得失记载下来，为后代帝王统治提供了重要借鉴,它对史学和文学的影响力至今不衰。In literature ,the poems of the Song Dynasty carried forword the cause into future, especially the Ci , was another remarkable success following the Tang Dynasty.
除史学之外,北宋的文学发展，也在中国文坛上起着继往开来的重要作用。尤其是“宋词”，更是唐诗之后中国文学史上另一座丰碑。The most prominent poets are Ouyang Xiu, Yan Shu, Liu Yong, Su Shi, Qin Guan and Zhou Bangyan etc.
北宋的词人辈出，如晏殊、欧阳修、柳永、苏轼、秦观、周邦彦等等。Among them Liu Yong and Zhou Bangyan were widely known for their description of delicate feelings and Su Shi was much praised for his plain and graceful style.
柳永、周邦彦的词以绮艳著称，而豪放派的苏轼则最为后世所熟识。The prose writing reached another height ： Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Su Xun, Su Che, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong of the Song Dynasty and Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty were called The Eight Most Prominent poets of the Tang and Song”.
北宋在散文上的成就也是巨大的，其中欧阳修、苏洵、苏轼、苏辙、王安石、曾巩，与唐代的韩愈、柳宗元并称“唐宋古文八大家”。With the endeavors of writers from the Song Dynasty, the reform against the old style of flowery parallelism and favored the classic form of prose was gainful and left today’s world with voluminous，expressive writings.
在北宋文学家的努力下，使自唐代韩愈以来的古文运动取得进一步的成功，当中有许多作品传颂至今。Meanwhile the drama and vernacular tales，which were humorous and satirical accompanied with recitation and dance, became very popular. These were the prototypes and foundations of the drama and novels of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty.
在散文、诗、词等文学 形式发展的同时，话本和戏曲这类民间说唱文学也蓬勃发展，并为元代戏曲和明代小说的兴盛，打下了雄厚的基础。Hence, the literatures in the Northern Song Dynasty were in the stage of pioneering and transition.
由此可见，北宋的文学成就，具有承前启后的划时代意义。This period also saw a boom in science and culture as a result of the inventionand application of the compass, printing techniques and gunpowder.
宋代也是科技文化的繁荣时期。尤其是闻名于世的指南针、印刷术和火药三大发明的开发和应用主要是在这个阶段。The gunpow der could be used as a weapon in siege warfare.
宋用火药作为攻克城市的武器。Foreign trade expanded greatly, and the Chinese had the best ships in the world in the Song Dynasty.
对外贸易也发展很快，宋时中国有世界上最好的船只。Their ships contained as many as four decks, six masts, and a dozen sails. The seaships were guided by a stern post rudder, while navigation was done through the use of charts and compasses. These ships could carry 500 men.
当时的大船高四层，六个桅杆，双帆,船由坚实的后舵控制，靠指南针把握方向，可以载重500人。European ships on the other hand used manu power and an inefficient steering oar.
与此同时,欧洲的船是靠人力划桨来行使的。Advances were also made in medicine, as the first autopsy was performed in about 1145 on the body of the southern Chinese captives.
宋时的医学在世界上也居于领先地位，在公元1145年 就以南方的俘虏为试验做过人体解剖。The Perdition of the Northern Song: “The strong central government policy” carried out at the early stage of the Song was turned out to be a poor and weak government in that it was submissive to its northern counterparts outside, and inside the court corruptions were in rampage.
北宋的灭亡:北宋由于一建国即推行“强干弱枝”政策，到了中期便造成积贫积弱局面:对外软弱无能，屡受外敌进侵;对内吏治败坏，冗官冗吏充斥。Under these circumstances, the higher officials in the Northern Song advocated reforms in hoping of turning the declining tides.
有识之士深以为忧，遂生改革弊政之议，以扭转危机四伏的局面。The well-known examples are the“Qingli Reform” during Emperor Renzong，s reign and the “Wang Anshi Reform” during Emperor Shenzong.
北宋改革影响最大的是宋仁宗时期的“庆历新政”和宋神宗时期的“王安石变法”。But these reforms brought about few results, with strong opposes from the conservatives in the court for the sake of their own interests hence the Northern Song went into decline.
但两次变法维新却屡遭保守朝臣及既得利益者的阻挠。庆历新政、王安石变法均以失败而告终。Social conflicts became increasingly common.
北宋逐步走向衰亡。Both military and political expansion together with quick land annexation pace gravely depleted the government treasury.
社会冲突更加频繁，政治和军事的扩张和土地的快速兼并耗尽了北宋政府的财力。The last stage of the Northern Song (1100 ?1127) covering the reigns of Em-perors Huizong and Qinzong was the darkest and most corrupted period of the entire dynasty.
宋徽宗（1100 ~ 1127)在位时期是北宋王朝最腐朽黑暗的时期。Many peasants, the impoverished and the homeless on account of corruption and poverty, rose to rebel against the government.
众多的农民倾家荡产无以为生，纷纷起义反抗暴政。The uprisings led by Fang La and Song Jiang were the biggest worry of the period.
其间以方腊、宋江领导的农民起义影响最大。The peasants uprising ,led by Song Jiang at Liangshanpo, Shandong province, fought with the Song^ troops in Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui, and the Northern Jiangsu . Although the peasants army won over the government army, their general, Song Jiang accepted amnesty and pledged loyalty to the Emperor.
以山东梁山泊为据点的宋江农民起义，转战于山东、河北、河南、安徽、江苏北部一带，并屡次打败官军。最后宋江等被朝廷招安。At the time the Huizong of Song was fond of rare stones, thus collected rare jewels all over the country and shipped them back capital. Every ten ships was a Gang ( unit of counting the ships), therefore the goods were named 4<the Gang of Beautiful Stones,T ( Hua Shi Gang ). The sheer grab brought sufferings to the families especially in the southeast of Hangzhou City, which finally led to the uprising of Fang La.
宋徽宗因素爱奇石玩好，时常在民间搜刮珍宝，并用大船运回京，每十船组成一纲，称为“花石纲”，许多百姓因而家破人亡，东南地区的杭州一带受害尤烈，终于激起以方腊为首的民变。This was the largest peasants uprising in the Northern Song which lasted from the October 2nd of Xuanhe(1120) to the March in 1122.
从公元1120年（宣和二年）十月到公元1122年三月，在江浙地区爆发了方腊领导的农民起义。这是北宋时期规模最大的一次农民起义。Fang La, a tenant, was born in Muzhou of Qingxi(now Chun^n County, Zhejiang).
方腊是睦州青溪县（浙江淳安）人，雇工出身。His hometown was teemed with bamboos, lumber, lacquer and tea etc. The two government workshops pinched thousands kilo of lacquer and lumbers so much so that the small private business and the populace were forced to the corner and complains were heard everywhere.
青溪及其附近地区盛产竹、木、 漆、茶等经济作物,造作局和应奉局每年从这里勒索成千上万斤的漆，其他竹木花石的数量也极为庞大。小生产者和一般劳动人民的生活陷入绝境，怨声载道。In 1120, Fang La staged a peasant uprising and established his regime.
于是在公元1120年,方腊发动群众，宣告起义，设置官吏将帅,起义队伍很快便扩大到数万人。In three months he and his men took control of six prefectures and over 60 counties in modern Zhejiang and Anhui provinces , while their forces grew nearly a million, which shocking the southeast of China.
起义军所向披靡，三个月内，接连攻占了两浙首府杭州等地，共攻占六州六十多县，队伍扩大到近百万人,“东南大震”。When the uprising threatened Hangzhou, the general Tong Guan was sent to fight against the peasant army.
当北宋最高统治者接到方腊起义军逼近杭州的消息之后，立即派童贯率军南下，镇压起义。At the same time, the Emperor, Zhenzong of the Song apologized to the public for his misdeeds and promised to abolish the agencies of workshop and stop shipping of the rare rocks and stones.
接着，宋徽宗又“下诏罪己”，宣布撤消“造作局”、“应奉局”，停运花石纲。When Tong Guan crossed the river and directed his army to attack Hangzhou from two directions, the local militia all gathered to cooperate to fight.
童贯带领的宋军过江之后，分路指向杭州等地。这时各地的地主武装也纷 纷出来配合官军进攻。The uprising army was defeated and in April the following year, Fang La was captured and soon put to death in Kaifeng.
起义军兵力分散，抵挡不住宋军的反扑。次年四月，方腊被俘，就义于开封。Other uprisings were put out till 1122.
浙东的各支起义军到1122年以后也被镇压下去。Although the uprisings at the end of the Song Dynasty were destroyed, they weakened the reign of the Northern Song badly.
宋末农民起义虽然失败，但却大大动摇了宋室的统治。Moreover, external aggression aggravated the sad situation of the Northern Song. For a long time, the Northern Song kept fighting against the Liao, the Xi Xia and the Jin.
与此同时，来自外部边境的进犯更加恶化了北宋的局势，北宋一直与辽，西夏和金在北方对峙。At that time, the Jin established by Nuzhen grew strong. To recover the sixteen states of Youyun, the Northern Song sent an emissary to the state of Jin to negotiate an agreement for a joint attack on the Liao. However, the resort also exposed its weakness to Jin.
北方女真族所建的金国崛起，宋室为了收复燕云诸州，便联金灭辽，但其弱点也为金国所洞悉。Therefore soon after the destroy of Liao, a powerful Jin force launched a large-scale attack on the Northern Song in winter in the 7th year of Xuanhe of Huizong (1125).
就在灭辽的同一年，即徽宗宣和七年（1125)冬，金兵分兵两路大举南下攻宋。The two troops of Jin attacked Taiyuan from the west and the east together with Nianhan and Wobuli as their leaders respectively.
东路大军由斡不离指挥，西路则由粘罕指挥，共同进攻太原。Meanwhile the Northern Song was in panic and Huizong of Song gave the throne to his son, Zhao Heng, who was known as Qinzong and pinned on him the hope to improve the situation and turn the tide.
此时，宋朝的局面已经大乱，徽宗迫不得已将皇位让于太子赵恒，是为宋钦宗。寄希望于能改善局面，抗拒金兵，以扭转不利局势。The Jin’s army has arrived at the bank of the Yellow River, threatening the Song’s capital, Kaifeng. Huizong fled to Jinling(now Nanjing).
此时，金兵已到达黄河岸边,直逼宋都开封，宋徽宗逃至金陵（今南京）。Under the direction of Li Gang, the chancellor of the Northern Song, Jin was defeated and was detained to march southwards for a while. However, the Emperors of the Northern Song were not resolute to fight, instead, they sent emissary to seek negotiation with the Jin.
北宋军队在丞相李纲的指挥下，击退了金军，暂时制止了金国的南侵，但由于徽、钦二帝的无能，一心想与金国求和。A peace pact was agreed inwhich the Northern Song promised to cede lands and give tributes to Jin except dismissed Li Gang and other loyalists, thus the troops of the Jin became even fearless.
他们先后答应割地赔款给金国,又罢免了李纲等忠臣，使得金兵更加肆无忌惮。In the 1st year of Jingkang( 1126), the Jin army conquered Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song.
靖康元年（1126)，金军攻陷汴京。In the following year, the Northern Song emperor was deposed and his dynasty came to end.
靖康二年（1127)春，金废宋帝为庶人，至此，北宋王朝宣告灭亡。In all, the Northern Song lasted 168 years with the reign of nine emperors of seven generations.
其间共历七世九帝，享国168年