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Chinese History - Jin Dynasty 金 (1115-1234)

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Jin Dynasty
economy

period before (Five Dynasties)
-- Song Dynasty
-- Xixia Empire
next period (Yuan)
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Painting and calligraphy, the highest artistic expressions of the Chinese scholar, were also popular among the Jin Dynasty literati. The most famous Jin painter is Wang Tingyun 王庭筠 who adopted the style of the famous Song Dynasty painters. There is only one Wang Tingyun painting surviving: Youzhu kucha tu 幽竹枯槎圖. Other Jin period painters are Wu Yuanzhi 武元直 (Chibi tujuan 赤壁圖卷), Zhang Yu 張瑀, Yang Wei 楊微, Wu Kuan 無款, etc. Jin painters motifs are often horses of the Jurchen homeland. Besides Wang Tingyun, we find Dang Huaiying 黨懷英 as one of the few Jin calligraphers.
Sculpture is a topic of art that was also exerted during Jin Dynasty, expecially in the monasteries of Cixiang 慈相寺 (Pingyaoxian 平遙縣/Shanxi), Foguang 佛光寺 (Wutaixian 五臺縣/Shanxi) and Shanhua 善化寺 (Datong/Shanxi). imperial and private tombs, many stone carvings in the shape of officials, warriors and fantasy animals of "soul paths" are preserved, or iron casted figures like the lion of a tomb in Shijiazhuang 石家莊/Hebei. Probably the most famous architectural object of the Jin Dynasty is the Lugou Bridge 盧溝橋 "Marco Polo Bridge" near Beijing.

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adopted more governmental structures of the Chinese administration system at different levels. Within the central government, the censorate (Yushitai 御史臺) controlled the officialdom, and the scholars of the State Academy (Hanlin xueyuan 翰林學院) drafted imperial documents. Other courts (si 寺) and directorates (jian 監) were a copy of the Song Dynasty administration. Officials were classified into nine different ranks (jiupin 九品) with half-ranks (shangdeng 上等, xiadeng 下等), and official recruitment was undertaken by state examinations, for a certain time after of the southern conquest even held in Jurchen language to promote Jurchen candidates.
Local administration was likewise modeled after the Chinese tradition with 19 routes (lu 路) as the highest unit (governed by area commands, zongguanfu 總管府), prefectures of different kinds (fu 府, zhou 州, jun 郡 - commandery) in the medium level (headed by different commissioners as prefectural military, surveillance, and defence commissioners, shi 使), and the county (xian 縣) as the lowest unit. The highest officials of the route were rout fiscal, judicial, surveillance and military commissioners. Five routes were directly administered the five capitals (see table), the earliest main capital being Huining 會寧, 1153 on Yanjing 燕京 (or Zhongjing 中京, modern Beijing), and 1214 on Nanjing 南京 (modern Kaifeng). The four secondary capitals were governed by a Regent (Liushou 留守).
In the first decades of the Jin realm, the military activities were exerted by the companies and battalions of the tribal organization. Liao and Chinese military units were incorporated in their