宋朝的创始人建立了有效的中央集权制(centralized bureaucracy），广泛任用学术文人，地方的军事(military）官员及其党羽都被中央任命的官员所替代。这种官员体系使得宋朝的权力比以往任何朝代都更集中在皇帝和官僚机构手中。宋朝的城市有了显著的发展，这不单指其在管理上的职能，而且还包括其作为贸易、工业和海上贸易的中心职能。在文化方面，宋朝在过去几百年的基础上又发展了，这些发展不仅包括唐朝的思想，还包括历史文献、绘画、书法(calligraphy）等。

The (1) founder of the Song (2) dynasty established an effective centralized bureaucracy. (3) Scholars were widely employed; regional military governors and
their (4) supporters were replaced by  (5) centrally appointed officials. (6) Compared with others in the previous dynasties, this (7) system of appointment
made the concentration of power of emperor and the palace bureaucracy greater. Cities in the Song dynasty were significantly developed, not only (8) manifested on
administrative functions but also on centre .functions on trade, industry and (9) maritime commerce. Culturally, the Song dynasty (10) further developed based on the previous centuries, including the Tang thoughts as well as historical writings, painting, calligraphy and so on.
(1)founder创始人
(2)dynasty朝代
(3)scholar学者
(4)supporter支持者。原文“党羽”一词，专指支持某一派别的领导，此处需意译。
(5)“中央任命”，此处选择用副词修饰形容的方式处理，简洁地道。
(6)此句较长，首先需要理清原文的句子成分与结构。将“相比以往任何朝代”置于句首，作状语。
(7)system of appointment任命体系
(8)manifest显示
(9)maritime commerce海上贸易
(10)原文中“又发展”意指“得到进一步发展”，所以译为“further develop”。