Imperial advisor

Song was a Grand Councilor in the Imperial Chinese court. In this role, he was called to become a military analyst:

:"The reason why our enemies to the north and west are able to withstand China is precisely because they have many horses and their men are adept at riding; this is their strength. China has few horses, and its men are not accustomed to riding; this is China's weakness.... The court constantly tries, with our weakness, to oppose our enemies' strength, so that we lose every battle .... Those who propose remedies for this situation merely wish to increase our armed forces in order to overwhelm the enemy. They do not realize that, without horses, we can never create an effective military force."

While China had many men in Chinese cavalry, very few of them actually had horses to ride; and if they did actually have a horse, they did not ride well. In stark contrast, the military forces arising from Inner Asia had many horses and the men had excellent riding skills.

Historian

As an historian and writer, Song is best known for his work as co-author of New History of the Tang Dynasty. This work was created in collaboration with Ouyang Xiu; and it was officially presented to the emperor in 1060.

生平

少時家道中落，宋天聖二年（1024年）與其兄宋郊同舉進士，宋祁原為殿試第一。當時輔政的章獻太后覺得弟弟比哥哥名次高不合禮法，所以改判宋郊為第一，宋祁第十。初任複州軍事推官。召試，授直史館。歷官國子監直講、太常博士、龍圖閣學士、史館修撰、知制誥、工部尚書、翰林學士承旨。

宋祁處於北宋階級矛盾的時期，寶元二年（1038年）時任同判禮院，上疏認為國用不足在於「三冗三費」，三冗即冗官、冗兵、冗僧，三費是道場齋醮、多建寺觀、靡費公用。主張裁減官員，節省經費，宰相呂夷簡指責他是朋黨，並加以打擊。

宋祁性侈華，「多內寵，後庭曳羅綺者甚眾」。亦喜擁妓醉飲，宋庠諷刺宋祁說：「聽說昨夜燒燈夜宴，窮極奢侈，不知還記得某年同在州學內吃虀飯時麼？」

修史

曾與歐陽修同修《新唐書》，《新唐書》大部份為宋祁所作，前後長達十餘年。期間一度為亳州太守，「出入內外」，把稿件隨身攜帶。在任成都知府時，每晚開門垂簾燃燭，疾筆至深夜。據說宋祁修史期間好寫冷僻字詞。如《舊唐書》原寫「紹引軍直掩其背」。宋祁嫌它不夠典雅，用「繚」字來替換「直掩」。再如《舊唐書》有「李林甫代張九齡為中書令，希惠妃之旨，托意于中貴人，揚壽王瑁之美，惠妃深德之」之語，宋祁在新書中改為「九齡罷，李林甫專國，數稱壽王美以揠妃意，妃果德之」。一次歐陽修寫了「宵寐匪禎，札闥洪庥」八個字去請教他，宋祁想了一會兒，說道：「 這是說『夜夢不祥，書門大吉吧』？」歐公又說：「《李靖傳》云：『震雷無暇掩聰』，亦是類也！」宋祁明白了他的用意。後來，寫文章再也不用冷僻字詞。

作品

宋祁文簡古艱澀，亦不乏暢達之作，散文如《題司空圖詩卷末》一文曰：「噫！表聖，賢者也。以其賢故，一言一物為後人愛秘若此。寧當時之人舉不及後人之知表聖耶？是不然。同時者□，異時者慕，尚何怪哉！」寫得極有感情。而因其詞《玉樓春》中有「紅杏枝頭春意鬧」之句，人稱紅杏尚書。他為人喜奢侈，多游宴。其詞多抒寫個人生活情懷，未擺脫晚唐五代艷麗舊習。但構思新穎，語言流麗，描寫生動，一些佳句流傳甚廣。又如《鷓鴣天》有「劉郎已恨蓬山遠，更隔蓬山十萬重」之語，風行一時，傳入皇宮中，一宮女稱其為小宋。後來仁宗召見宋祁，宋祁顯得惶悚不安。仁宗卻說：「蓬山不遠」，並將宮女賜給宋祁，傳為美談。

其詩亦著名，元代的方回把他歸入西崑派。如早年所作《落花》詩，立意、用典、遣詞造句都是西崑風調。他是晏殊門生，作詩常請晏殊點定，詩風當然也會受其影響。把他算作西崑體詩人，有一定道理。

原有文集一百五十卷，已散佚。清四庫館臣自《永樂大典》輯其遺文，編為《景文集》六十二卷。近人輯有《宋景文公集》；趙萬里輯有《宋景文公長短句》。

評價

• 《東軒筆錄》說宋祁「博學能文，天資蘊籍」。