Fall

The Song Dynasty faced a powerful enemy: the Mongols. The Mongols tried for many years to defeat the Song, but it was not easy. Song China had strong cities, smart leaders, powerful weapons like gunpowder, and a navy that fought on rivers and the sea. For a long time, the Mongols could not fully conquer them.

Eventually, the Mongols defeated the Song armies. The final moment was very sad. In 1279, the last Song emperor, a young boy, was fleeing to the coast of what is now Hong Kong. To avoid being captured by the Mongols, an official carried the boy emperor and jumped into the sea, ending the Song Dynasty.

After conquering China, the Mongols ruled as the Yuan Dynasty. Even though they were conquerors, they adopted many Song traditions, such as Chinese laws, customs, writing, and ways of governing. This showed how strong Song culture was.

However, the Mongols also punished the people who resisted them the longest. They created a social ranking system. Southern Chinese, who had held out against the Mongols, were placed at the bottom. Northern Chinese, who were conquered earlier, were ranked above them. This made life harder for many people in the south.

Even though Song China fell, its ideas, inventions, and culture lived on and continued to shape China for centuries.