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Song dynasty
960–1279· Empire, kingdom or state· Asia
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A Chinese dynasty that ran an unusually commercial, urban and inventive economy before falling to the Mongols in 1279.
See it on the History map →What happened
Officials chosen by written exams ran the government, and the army was kept under civilian control. Fast-ripening rice from Vietnam helped the population reach about 100 million. The state issued the world's first government paper money (1020s), cities like Kaifeng and Hangzhou approached a million people, and the compass, printing and gunpowder spread. In 1127 the Jurchen, invaders from Manchuria, seized the north, and the court moved south to Hangzhou.
Why it matters
Many historians call it the most advanced economy of its time, an early taste of the market society Europe built centuries later.
How we know
Government records and censuses; printed books; the scroll painting 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival', showing city life; shipwrecks full of trade goods, such as the Nanhai One.
Still debated
Why Song China's boom in iron, trade and technology did not lead to an industrial revolution is a long-running debate.
Inside this (1)
Connections (3)
▸Tang dynasty was succeeded, after a split, by Song dynastyWell documented
The connection
Rebellions and powerful regional generals broke Tang power, and the dynasty ended in 907. For about 50 years the Five Dynasties ruled the north while the Ten Kingdoms held the south. In 960 the general Zhao Kuangyin seized power as the first Song emperor and reunited most of China, deliberately curbing generals so it could not happen again.
When and how
Northern China, 907–960; Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu) took the throne at Kaifeng in 960, and the Song absorbed the southern kingdoms by 979.
How we know
Official dynastic histories of the Tang, Five Dynasties and Song; surviving coins and documents from the rival states.
Debates and open questions
Historians debate whether the Tang-to-Song shift was a deep social transformation, from an aristocratic to a merchant-and-scholar society, or more gradual.
▸Song dynasty first developed Movable type in China and KoreaWell documented
The connection
Song China's booming book trade, exam system and printing industry made printing worth improving. Around 1040 a commoner craftsman, Bi Sheng, made reusable clay characters that could be rearranged for each page. Woodblock printing still dominated, but the Song idea set the pattern that Korean printers later refined in metal.
When and how
Song China, about 1041–1048; Bi Sheng's method was recorded by the official and scientist Shen Kuo.
How we know
Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays (1088) describes the process in detail; later Chinese writing on wooden type, such as Wang Zhen's in 1313.
Debates and open questions
No clay type from Bi Sheng survives, and little is known about him; how widely his method was used is unclear.
▸Song dynasty was conquered by Mongol Empire (Genghis Khan)Well documented
The connection
Song China held out against the Mongols for over 40 years with walled cities, river fleets and gunpowder weapons. Kublai Khan, who proclaimed the Yuan dynasty in 1271, took the twin cities of Xiangyang and Fancheng in 1273 using Persian siege engineers, then the capital Hangzhou in 1276. The last Song loyalists died at sea off Yamen in 1279.
When and how
Central and southern China, 1235–1279; Kublai Khan against the Song court; the final naval battle off Yamen, in today's Guangdong.
How we know
The Yuan History and Song records; Rashid al-Din's Persian account of the counterweight catapults used at Xiangyang.
Debates and open questions
Casualty figures are uncertain and estimates vary widely; historians also debate how much court politics weakened Song resistance.