Barbarian Invasions and Heroic Deeds of the Patriots
3 min readAlthough the Song Dynasty was still the most powerful and influential country in the east，it was doomed to face Barbarian invasions from the very beginning.From ancient times，the“central land”had been under the threat of sabotaging，looting and raping from the north-west uncivilized people.
Great Walls began to be built from the West Zhou Dynasty（11 th century BC）but King You who set fire on the wall-tower was killed by Quan Rong，a barbarian tribe from the west.Then King Ping had to move Zhou’s capital eastward，thus began the East Zhou Dynasty.Chinese history tells us the fact that when an empire was firstly founded and when it was still strong enough to defend the invasions it usually made its capital in the west or the north.Yet，as it became weaker and after severe attacks from the barbarians it was likely to move south，leaving its land andpeople to disaster.This”tradition”was carried on to the extreme degree in the last years of the Qing Dynasty.For several times the royal family fled the capital，letting the Foreign Devils to ruin the country.They killed people and raped women.They robbed the palaces and set fire on them.The Barbarians did the same things in early times.
Barbarians as they were called，they had a history almost as long as that of China.Their society developed at the same pace with the West Zhou Dynasty，i.e.，from 11 th century to 8th century BC.The nomadic tribes propagated in Eurasian Steppe were herdsmen by trade but they were plunderers，too.
Good at riding，their cavalry were invincible at that time.They separated two great civilizations:China to their south-east and Europe to their west.Historically，they were called Mongols，Qidans，Xiongnus ，Xianbeis ，Jies ，Dis ，Qiangs and Tujues（Turks） ，etc.Before the total Conquest of China by the Yuan（the Mongolians）in 1206，they moved here and there mainly in the northern part of the country.All of them adopted some Chinese culture and mingled all together with the Hans during their occupations，especially at the time of the South and North Dynasties.The founders of NorthernWei were the Xianbeis.The Liao Dynasty was founded by the Qidans and the Jin by Nvzhen ，who were later called the Qings，the rulers of the last Chinese Empire.
The apogee of nomad power was reached in the thirteenth century when the armies of Chinggis Khan and his descendants conquered most of Eurasia and embraced China into the Yuan Dynasty.The invading tides of the Mongolians were not held back until the middle of the eighteenthcentury when revolutions in technology and transportation had shifted the military balance of power decisively in favor of their sedentary neighbors and the nomads were incorporated into the empires of Russia and the Qing Dynasty of China.
From then on，the countries of the nomadic peoples have been sandwiched by the two great civilizations.They are minorities，parts of Russia and parts of China.
From the earliest days when invasions began，the“Central Country”had been fighting with the Barbarians and in each dynasty there appeared some national heroes who devoted themselves to the lofty patriotic cause.During the Warring States Period Zhaowulingwang ，the prince of the Kingdom Zhao took off the long and clumsy gown and dressed in short and tight Barbarian clothes in order to ride a horse and shoot with bow and arrows.Li Guang who fought with the Xiongnus in the West Han Dynasty gained the glorious name“Flying General” .In addition，some measures of appeasement were also taken by the Chinese rulers e.g.intermarriages between royal families，the tributary system and so forth.Nevertheless，it was in the Song Dynasty that China was totally lost to the Barbarians.
The first invaders were the Qidans who founded the Kingdom Liao in the North and began to attack the Song.Thenational heroes and heroines were a famous family surnamed Yang .Their stories are so moving and interesting that they became the household words in China.Novels were written and Peking Operas are performed about the not only heroic but lovely stories.
