Scholars, peasants, farmers and merchants were the main force of the Song Dynasty society.

1. Scholars were generally respected in society and had a high social status; the Song dynasty practiced the state policy of emphasizing the civilization over the military, and the scholars could become state officials through the imperial examination, which was the reserve army of the bureaucratic class.

2. Among the peasants, those who owned a small amount of land as homesteaders or semi-homesteaders lived a life of self-sufficiency; those who did not own land as sharecroppers were exploited by the landlords and basically lived below the poverty line, but their personal dependence was more lax than before.

3. Artisans were hired laborers in government or private handicraft workshops, paid a day's wages for a day's work according to the contract, and their status was relatively free.

4. Merchants played an important role in the development of economic exchanges between urban and rural areas, they paid commercial taxes according to the regulations, the social status of the merchant was improved, the merchant's children can be enrolled in school, to participate in the Imperial Examinations or to become an official.