![]() ![]() ![]() Citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The Song dynasty had one of the most prosperous and advanced economies in the medieval world. Many of these economic gains were lost, however, in the succeeding Yuan dynasty. These changes made China a global leader, leading some historians to call this an “early modern” economy many centuries before Western Europe made its breakthrough. Combined with a unified tax system and efficient trade routes by road and canal, this meant the development of a truly nationwide market. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the gradual withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. Merchants engaged in overseas trade through investments in trading vessels and trade which reached ports as far away as East Africa. This dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The Northern Song census recorded 20 million households, double of the Han and Tang dynasties. This growth was made possible by expanded rice cultivation in central and southern Song, the use of early-ripening rice from south-east and southern Asia, and the production of widespread food surpluses. The population of China doubled in size during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. This made the job a lot faster because coal burns quicker. In north China, the main fuel source for ceramic kilns and iron furnaces shifted from wood to coal. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass. The Song government was the first in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties to its north (see the map above). The Song Dynasty began in 960 and lasted until 1279 (319 years). ![]() Free Homeschool Geography Online Textbook.Free Homeschool Biology Online Textbook.Free Geography & Cultures Online Textbook.Guest Hollow’s High School Biology Online Textbook.Free American Government Online Textbook.Government, Economics, and Personal Finance. ![]()
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