The Limits of “Civilianization”: The New Policies and Shaanxi’s Territorial Administration in the Late Northern Song

Abstract

Previous scholarship has examined various aspects of the origin, development, and eventual collapse of military programs under the New Policies introduced by Wang Anshi (1021-1086), but less attention has been paid to them within a framework of regional analysis. The manuscripts discovered in 1907-1909 at Khara-Khoto in Inner Mongolia contain a wealth of information on daily administration and legal disputes in the military regions of Shaanxi during the early twelfth century. They show that by the early twelfth century, military establishments under the New Policies had become an integral part of Northern Song territorial administration. Therefore, if we confine our analysis to the usual three-tiered hierarchical arrangement of circuits, prefectures, and counties, we will not be able to fully discern the spatial organization of the Song state and the changes it underwent over time.