Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Opinion/Editorial on the Jurchen Invaders

The Jurchen invaders were from Jin, a region to the North of the Southern Song. They were a major threat to emperor Gaozong, and many times, they pillaged the villages of the Southern Song and there were many battles between them over the years. These invasions began in 1129, and it wasn't until 12 years later, in 1141, that the two sides made a peace treaty. Unfortunately, some people, including a war hero named Yue Fei, did not agree with this. They wanted to drive away the Jurchen invaders and would stop at nothing. One of the emperor's advisers falsely accused him of treason, to get him out of the way.

I thought that this was a bad idea, on the adviser's part. He did not need to accuse Yue Fei of treason. If someone doesn't commit a crime, you shouldn't accuse them of one. And what happened to "innocent until proven guilty?" After all, the Jurchen had destroyed their former homes, books, and ancient objects. The Jurchen invaders did not really deserve a peace treaty, but they got one. I don't know how, but it would have been better if they went back to where they came from. They should've realized it was wrong to terrorize the Song Dynasty. I think that they could have worked something out, like buying their land rather than waging war.

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