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Encyclopedia · Dynasties

Song dynasty

宋朝Sòngcháo960–1279

The dynasty (960–1279) of printing, porcelain, landscape painting and paper money, ruled first from Kaifeng and later from Hangzhou.

The Song was founded in 960 by the general Zhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu), with its capital at Kaifeng on the Yellow River plain. In 1127 the Jurchen Jin conquered the north, and the court re-established itself in the south as the Southern Song, with Hangzhou (then called Lin’an) as its capital, until the Mongols ended the dynasty in 1279. It was an age of cities, trade and scholarship: printing spread, paper money came into use, porcelain and tea culture reached new refinement, and landscape painting and scholar-officials such as Su Dongpo flourished. Travellers meet the Song most easily in Hangzhou, whose West Lake scenes were named and celebrated under the Southern Song, and in Song pagodas, temple halls and rock carvings elsewhere.

Also known as: Sung dynasty

West Lake in Hangzhou seen from the hills, with causeways and islands
West Lake in Hangzhou seen from the hills, with causeways and islandsPhoto: HoweyYuan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Where to see it in China

HangzhouWest Lake 西湖The Southern Song capital’s lake: its classic Ten Scenes were named under the Song, and the Su Causeway dates from 1090.HangzhouSix Harmonies Pagoda 六和塔A Song-dynasty pagoda on a hill above the Qiantang River.HangzhouYue Fei Temple 岳王庙Temple and tomb of Yue Fei, the Song general revered as a model of loyalty.ChongqingDazu Rock Carvings 大足石刻Painted Buddhist cliff carvings from the 9th–13th centuries, with the great Baodingshan site from the Southern Song.PingyaoJinci Temple (Taiyuan, day trip) 晋祠The Song-dynasty Hall of the Holy Mother, with lifelike painted clay maids.

Where we mention it

Related entries

PeopleSu Dongpo 苏东坡Song-dynasty poet and official Su Shi, better known as Su Dongpo, who built Hangzhou’s Su Causeway and gave his name to Dongpo pork.Arts and craftsPorcelain 瓷器The hard, white, high-fired ceramic that China invented; Jingdezhen has made it for a thousand years, and English simply calls it “china”.Food and tea cultureChinese tea culture 中国茶文化China is where tea was first grown and drunk; each region has its own leaf, from Hangzhou’s Longjing to Yunnan’s pu’er, and its own way of drinking it.PeopleMarco Polo 马可·波罗The Venetian merchant whose 13th-century book about Kublai Khan’s China, and its praise of Hangzhou, fascinated Europe for centuries.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-10-05

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