The policy of valuing literature over martial arts played an important role in the stability and prosperity of the Song Dynasty, but any policy is not an immutable truth. For the Song Dynasty, blind pursuit of valuing literature over martial arts was also its hope, and so was its demise.

First of all, let's talk about Zhao Kuangyin's purpose of valuing literature over martial arts. It was a dark period between the late Tang Dynasty and the establishment of the Song Dynasty. After the new emperor ascended the throne, there was no military power in his hands, and the general propped up the court. It is easy for generals to rebel, and some generals want to be emperors themselves when they are powerful. Zhao Kuangyin knows that military commanders are armed to the teeth, so he wants to end the dominance of military commanders' power, so he values literature over martial arts.

Scholars are still needed to govern the world. Before the Song Dynasty, martial arts was more important than literature, which led to political uncertainty and chaos in the imperial court. Generally speaking, the policy of valuing literature over martial arts in Song Dynasty enabled the country's stability to recuperate, and the economic prosperity and feudal civilization reached the peak of China's feudal history.

Although the land area of Song Dynasty was small, its culture, agriculture and national strength were greatly improved. The life span of Song Dynasty is second only to that of Han Dynasty, and it is two dynasties in China with more than 300 years. The economy of the Song Dynasty is 30 times that of the Ming Dynasty and 5 times that of the Tang Dynasty, which can be said to be unprecedented.

The war was not strong in the late Song Dynasty, but the integrity of the country was basically guaranteed in the early stage, and the people's living standards were gradually improved. Although there are a few bullies, compared with other uprisings in various dynasties, this kind of bullying can be ignored. Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts because the whole nation was afraid of the destructive destruction of the country and civilization by military commanders in the late Tang Dynasty. The military commanders were very greedy, and at that time they had reached the point where they could not be contained. There was no way but to emphasize literature over martial arts.