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The Southern Song (June 12, 1127—March 19, 1279) was the second era of the Song dynasty. It is named the "Two Songs" along with the Northern Song Dynasty, forming the Song dynasty. After the Northern Song ended with the invasion and occupation of Kaifeng by the Jurchen people, on June 12, 1127, the 9th son of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Kingan, fled to Nanjing's Yingtian (now Shangqiu, Henan) to reign as Emperor Gaozong of Song. As in Wuxing, Song Dynasty was "fire", so the year was named Jianyan(建炎), literally meaning "building fire".

It is referred as the Southern Song, differentiating it from the Northern Song as its capital was located at Lin'an (modern-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang). After the peace negotiations in Shaoxing, its borders were mostly along the Huai River in the east of the Jin dynasty and the Dasan Pass in the west. The Southern Song Dynasty coexisted with the Jin Dynasty, Xiliao(Qara Khitai), Dali, Xixia(Western Xia), Tubo(Tibet), and the emerging Mongol Empire. It ended with an invasion by the Yuan dynasty in 1279 with Zhao Bing as its last emperor. It was ruled by 10 emperors, lasting for 152 years.

Failing to recapture the Central Plains, the rule of Southern Song Dynasty was limited to south of Huaihe River on the Qinling Mountains. Although it was constantly in stalemate with the Jin, its economy, shipping trade, weapon manufacturing and technological development was stimulated.

Jingkang Incident
The leader of the Jurchen, Emperor Taizu of Jin, Wanyan Aguda, founded Daijin. When Emperor Huizong thought he had the upper hand, he sent an emissary to Jin to "ally with the Jin to destroy the Liao"(联金灭辽). Song attacked Yanjing, but returned without success. The Jurchen seized the opportunity to attack Linhuang, ending Liao. Song paid a huge ransom to the Jurchen in exchange for Yanjing and other places. However, the Jurchen realized the weaknesses of the Northern Song in this military cooperation, and used how the Northern Song allowed refuge to rebelling subjects of Jin and Liao warriors, as an excuse to attack Song. Emperor Qinzong ascended the throne and reconciled with the Jurchen people. The following year, the second year of Jingkang (1127), the Jurchen invaded south again, capturing Bianjing (now Kaifeng), and holding two emperors captive. Historically this was called the "Jingkang Incident," marking an end to the Northern Song.

Transition to the Southern Song
In 1127, the Jurchen withdrew from Bianjing and established Zhang Bangchang as a puppet state, Da Chu's emperor. The only son of Huizong not held in captive, Zhao Gou, led a successful invasion on Zhang Bangchang, and, in the name of Empress Meng, succeeded the throne. On the first day of May in the second year of Jingkang (June 12, 1127), Zhao Gou formally ascended as emperor in Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu, Henan) in Nanjing, rebuilding the Song Dynasty as Emperor Gaozong. The year was changed to Jianyan (建炎). The Song dynasty still controlled Henan and Guanzhong at that time. Gaozong raised subjects favouring war, employing Li Gang as prime minister, and Zong Ze positioned at Bianjing. Having defeated the Jurchen several times, the situation was slightly stabilized. However, fearing the release of the captive emperors would threaten his position, Gaozong had no will to declare war against the Jin dynasty, dismissing Li Gang and other subjects, repeatedly rejecting Zong Ze's request for him to return to Xiliang to direct troops. Soon Gaozong fled south to Yangzhou. Zhao Gong of the Yan pretended he was Gaozong's younger brother Zhaozhen, gathering troops to fight against Jin and sought Gaozong's support. Gaozong gave restraining orders veiled as support. (After he expressed thoughts of worshiping the ancestors in Bianjing, orders were made for him to return to the capital This resulted ultimately failure, with Zong Ze dying in anger. Du Chong, sent by Gaozong to take over Hebei, destroyed the Hebei Rebel Army.

In the second year of Jianyan (1128), Wanyan Zongxi of Jin continued to invade southward. Gaozong fled south to Hangzhou and elevated Hangzhou to Lin'an as the new capital. In 1129, a rebellion abolished Gaozong and enthroned the prince Wei Guogong. Zhao Fu was declared as the new emperor was swiftly calmed down, and the incident was marked down as the Miao Liu Incident. In autumn, Wanyan Wushu continued to march south, and Gaozong took refuge by boat. In the spring of the following year, when the Jin army returned to the north, Song general Han Shizhong led 8,000 elite soldiers, and thwarted 50,000 Jin forces in Huang Tiandang for forty-eight days, which was historically the battle of Huang Tiandang. In the autumn of 1130, the Jurchen focused on attacking Guanzhong, establishing Liu Yu as emperor of the puppet-state, Qi (pseudo Qi), in order to strengthen the rule of south of the Yellow River.

In the third year of Jianyan (1129) to the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), Jiankang (now Nanjing) briefly became the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), Song Gaozong left Jiankang and settled in Lin'an (now Hangzhou). To the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jiankang remained as a backup capital. Because Jiankang was too close to the Huaihe River, in order to avoid the Jin's rapid invasion of the south, Song Gaozong settled in Lin'an, so Kaifeng was always regarded as the orthodox capital.

During the seventh year of Shaoxing (1137), the mutiny of the Huaixi Song Army frustrated the Southern Song army, turning the Southern Song Dynasty from a pro-war attitude to a conservative one against the Jin.

Peace Treaties with the Jin
Gaozong was afraid that the soldiers would be rebel against him again as in the Miao Liu Incident when they returned to the capital. He was also worried that Qinzong would be forced by the Jin people to challenge his imperial rule. Therefore, in 1138, Qin Yue was appointed as the prime minister to seek peace with Jin. Qin Hui cut off the resistance of the anti-Golden general Han Shizhong. In 1138, Song and Jin made peace for the first time, and the return of Henan and Shaanxi, including Kaifeng, was a diplomatic victory.

In 1140, the Jin dynasty violated the agreement, invading south and occupying Henan, Shaanxi and other places. The Song army, under the command of many anti-Jin leaders, won a multitude of wars. In particular, Yue Fei fought against Jin general Wan Yan Zongxi in Yancheng, defeated the Jin, and advanced into Zhuxian, regaining the area south of the Yellow River, only 45 miles from Kaifeng. However, Gaozong recalled the northern advancing forces, then, ordered Yue Fei to return to the capital with twelve golden medals. Noticing the effectiveness of Yue Fei's northern advances, he ordered the suspension of his troops, but it was too late. In January 1142, Song Gaozong ordered the execution of Yue Fei and his son with no basis, and completely seized all military power from his generals. Song and Jin signed the "Shaoxing Treaty", and Gaozong paid tribute to the Jin in exchange for the truce of both sides in the southeast half of the country.

Compared with the early period of the Song Dynasty, the stabilized nation no longer ruled the modern-day provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Guanzhong, etc., and its territory shrank substantially.

Song's attack by Wanyan Liang
In 1149, Jin Hailingwang Wanyan Liang initiated a coup and seized the throne. After 12 years of preparations, his southern invasion ended in May 1161 (31st year of Shaoxing) in an attempt to destroy Song. Chen Kangbo, the prime minister, led the anti-Jin plan. In the crisis, he asked Gaozong to lead the battle for Jiankang (now Nanjing). In October, Song general Li Bao led the army to destroy the Jin navy on Chenjiadao (or Tangdao, also known as Chenjiadao Naval Battle) with fire. In November, Yu Yunwen, the ruler of Song Zhongshu (3—40 kilometers from Jiankang West, Maanshan today), defeated the Jin with Jiankang defenders. Wanyan Liang moved his armies to Guazhou (now Yangzhou, Jiangsu). The Song army Liu Qi and Yang Cunzhong defended in Zhenjiang (70 to 80 kilometers of Jiankang East). Wan Yanliang lost on his way across the river and was killed by his subjects in late November. The Southern Song Dynasty won. The total troops mobilized by the two sides ranged in between 700,000 and 800,000.

Rule of Xiaozong
After the failure of Wanyan Liang's southern invasion, the voices to advance north in the Southern Song Dynasty became louder. Song Gaozong decided to abdicate and pass his position to his adoptive son, Zhao Yi, who became Emperor Xiaozong. Zhao Yan was the sixth grandson of Qin Prince Zhao Defang, the second son of Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin. Since then, the empire of the Song Dynasty has returned from the descendants of Taizong to those of Taizu after 186 years.

In December 1164, Zhang Jun signed the Longxing Treaty (also known as Dao Treaty) after the failure of the Longxing Northern Expedition. Song's relationship with Jin now not only declared itself as Jin's vassal but also had to call Jin its uncle. Jin also amended Song's edict to a letter of credence, demanded the ceding of Qinzhou and Shangzhou, maintaining the original border. The annual silk dedication was reduced from 250,000 to 200,000, and the annual tribute were reduced to 200,000 silver.

Song Xiaozong started deploying Yu Yunwen, Zhou Bida, and others, and his governance was relatively stable. Although Gaozong was not the emperor, he pressured Song Xiaozong to oppose the Northern Expedition, promote treaties, and maintain a peaceful relationship with Jin. In 1187, Song Gaozong, who had been Supreme Emperor for twenty-five years, died. After three years of mourning, Song Xiaozong decided to give way to his son Song Guangzong, Zhao Xuan and abdicate his position to assume the title of Supreme Emperor.

Ministers dictatorships
The dictatorships of ministers was a defining characteristic of the Southern Song Dynasty. Since Qin Hui, ministers have played an important role in Southern Song. The emperor controlled the generals through letting his ministers gain power over the military.

During Emperor Song Guangzong's rule, due to his frail health, the Empress Li controlled everything in the nation. The Emperor Guangzong even had to gift her a Li Family Temple, enlist the Li Family as Lords and grant them titles. In addition, under the influence of the Li family, Guangzong ignored Xiaozong's mourning with almost no one hosting or attending the funeral. So the ambassador Zhao Ruyu borrowed Guangzong's name to rally "曆事歲久，念欲退閑" "History is old, want to retire", and with the Emperor Gaozong's nephew Han Tuozhou's help, asked Empress Wu to come forward and announce Guangzong's abdication. Guangzong's son, Zijia Prince, Zhao Kuo succeeded as Song Ningzong. This incident was named Shao Xi inner abdication (紹熙內禪).

Song Ningzong relied on Han Tuozhou, who detested and elbowed out Zhao Ruyu and others to dominate the court, also triggering a ban on the Qing Yuan party, elbowing out Zhu Xi and others. In 1206, Han Tuozhou advanced northward and was defeated by Jin. In 1208, the Jiading Treaty was signed. The two countries remained its uncle-nephew relations and Song's tribute of coins and silk increased from 200,000 to 300,000. Song also had to compensate 3 million for military expenses and present the head of Han Tuozhou. Jin would give up the occupation of Dasan Pass and Haozhou.

With the assistance of Shi Miyuan, Song Ningzong slaughtered Han Tuozhou. Since then, Song Ningzong favored Shi Miyuan. When Ningzong died, Shi Miyuan knew that the prince Zhao Hong did not like him, so he throned Emperor Lizong instead, also gained power because of that. After Lizong became emperor, he handed over all authority on national affairs to Shi Miyuan, and asked almost no questions about his governance. In the 26 years of Shi Miyuan's dictatorship, the politics of the Southern Song Dynasty became increasingly corrupted. However, Shi Miyuan supported Li Quan and other anti-Jin forces. After his dictatorship, Lizong handed over the affairs to Ding Daquan. Later, he turned to favour Jia Sidao and thus planted the long-term cause for the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Defeating the Jin
In July 1214, Jin had been attacked by Mongolia and was forced to move their capital from Yanjing to Kaifeng. Song Ningzong accepted Zhendexiu's suggestion and decided not to pay tribute to Jin. In April 1217, in order to expand the territory to make up for the loss of territory occupied by Mongolia, Jin sent troops to the south to invade as Song no longer paid tribute, and the Southern Song Dynasty and Mongolia allied to fight the Jin army.

In 1231, the Mongolian army asked to use a detour in Song's territory to attack the rear of the Jin. Song refused, but Mongolia Tolui passed through forcibly. The Mongolian army wiped out Jin's main forces in the Battle of the Three Peaks in 1232. Jin was virtually unable to be revived. In December, when Song Lizong saw that Jin was defeated, he agreed to join Mongolia forces to eliminate Jin. The two parties agreed that the south of the Yellow River would return to Song, and the land to the north would belong to Mongolia. In 1233, Aizong Emperor fled to Caizhou. The Southern Song Dynasty captured Jin's Tangzhou and other places. In September, Ai Zong explained to Song Lizong the idiom 唇亡齒寒 "cold lips then cold teeth", and proposed to join hands in resisting Mongolia. The Song Dynasty refused and continued to attack Jin. In the first month of 1234, Caizhou was captured by the Mongolian and Song Army, Jin Aizong hanged himself, and Jin ended. Now directly bordering Mongolia after losing the Jin as a barrier, the Southern Song Dynasty faced a greater threat.

Decline of Southern Song
As early as the third year (1231) of Wokuotai, the Mongolian army invaded the Hanzhong region under the control of the Chuan-Shaansi Road in the Southern Song Dynasty to gain a route to attack Jin. In the seventh years (1235) of Wokuotai, Mongolia initiated its official invasion of the Song Dynasty. Its first invasion was repelled. The Mongolian army refused to be defeated, and invaded twice in September and the next and following year, its troops closing in to the north bank of the Yangtze River. As the Song army fought bravely and had an advantage with its navy, it defeated the Mongolian army once and once again. The soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty defeated the Mongolian army many times under the command of the anti-Mongolian generals Meng Yue, Yu Yue, Zhao Kui, Du Yan, Cao Youwen, Zhang Yu, Xiang Shizhen, Cao Shixiong, etc., and forced them to bypass Tubo (1240 Years), Dali in 1252. In 1239, Song Jun recovered Xiangyang and other places from Mongolia. In 1245, the Mongolian army crossed the Huaihe river to invade the Song Dynasty. In the eighth year of Möngge Khan (1259), Mönge attacked Hezhou. In July, he was injured by the Song army in the battle of Diaoyu City and died. His brother Kublai Khan was fighting the Song Army in Ezhou. After hearing the news, he immediately withdrew his troops to seize the position of Khan. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Jia Xidao sent people to reconcile with Kublai Khan to promote peace. After Jia Sidao returned to the capital, he shamelessly concealed his negotiations with Mongolia involving the ceding of land. With the assistance of his sister Jia Guifei, Li Zong fired his Prime Minister Ding Daquan and appointed Jia Sidao instead. Jia Sidao ingratiated himself with the border defenders, concealed the dispute over the ceding of land, and even supported his nephew, ruler of Jian'an County to become Emperor Du Zong, making himself more powerful and wealthy.

In 1260, after Kublai Khan returned to the north to rise to the position of Khan, he sent a messenger, Hao Jing to the Southern Song Dynasty to continue his negotiations with Jia Sidao, but the messenger was detained by Jia in Zhenzhou (now Jiangsu Yizheng). In 1267 (the fourth year of ZhiYuan), Kublai Khan ordered an attack on Xiangyang, a crucial town in the Southern Song Dynasty, named the battle of Xiangyang. The Song army used Hanshui to send a steady stream of resources into the city in order to hold fast to the city. The defenders Lu Wende and Lu Wenhuan defended the city for six years. Jia Sidao sent Fan Wenhu and Li Tingzhi to help, but the two did not cooperate with each other. Jia Sidao blocked all the news of Mongolia's invasion, so the emperor knew nothing about it. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Great Yuan Empire in the Central Plains. In 1272, the two brother volunteers, Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui clashed with the Yuan army. In 1273, Fan Cheng lost Xiangyang City, but the Song army continued fighting. Lu Wenhuan finally surrendered, and the six-year Xiangyang Defense War ended. During Mongolian army's southern invasion, Duzong fell ill and died. In 1275 (the first year of Emperor Deyou), Jia Sidao was forced to lead the army under the pressure of the Empress Dowager, but he abandoned his 130,000 elite soldiers to escape by boat, and the Southern Song Army was defeated (the battle of Ding Jiazhou). As a result, under pressure from the court, Jia Sidao was demoted, and was assassinated in the toilet of Zheng Huchen of Hueiji County.

During the Yuan army's invasion to the south, the Song people fought for their lives to resist. Chizhou Zhao Yanfa, Raozhou Tang Zhen, Jiang Wanli successively martyred. Xie Daoqing ordered the country to mourn, calling on the nation to fight for them. Zhang Shijie, Wen Tianxiang and Li Yan rose to lead the army.

On February 4, 1276, the Yuan army captured the capital of the South Song Dynasty, Lin'an (now Hangzhou) and abducted the five-year-old Southern Song Gong Emperor. However, Lu Xiufu, Wen Tianxiang, and Zhang Shijie, along with the remaining forces in the Southern Song Dynasty, successively supported two young emperors (Duanzong, Zhao Bing), and established a small court. The Yuan army pursued the young emperor, who continued to flee south. After Duanzong drowned, Lu Xiufu set up another young emperor in Weizhou, Weizhou (now Mui Wo, Hong Kong) and fled to Xinhui and the South China Sea. Wen Tianxiang was captured by losing the battle in Haifeng, and the remnants of the Southern Song forces were defeated on March 19th, 1279. Lu Xiufu was in despair, and after appeasing the young emperor, he tied the national seal on the young boy, then committed suicide by jumping into the sea with the emperor on his back. After Zhang Shijie's last stand and defeat in Yashan, he learned of Lu Xiufu's news, and that he was unable to save his country, he drowned due to a hurricane overturning his ship. From then on, the Zhao Song clan ended its 320-year rule in China with the Southern Song Dynasty's partially secure rule in the south.

Border
The territory of Southern Song Dynasty was even smaller than that of the Northern Song Dynasty, mainly because the northern land was captured by the Jin, forming the stalemate between the Song and Jin, North and South, entering the second period of the two Song Dynasties in China. In 1139 (ninth year of Shaoxing), Song Jin reconciled for the first time, both sides agreeing to use the Yellow River as the boundary. Afterwards, the Jin people broke their contract and sent troops to Henan and Shaanxi. In 1141, Song Jin agreed to use the Huai River as a boundary. In the second year, the western boundary was adjusted to Dasan Pass (now southwest of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province) and to the south of Qinling Mountains. Although there had been local changes since then, the boundary lining Qinling-Huaihe River was basically stable. There had been little to no changes in the southern and southwestern borders.

Politics
The Southern Song Dynasty continued the Northern Song Dynasty's "Strong Trunk, Weak Branches" policy, reinforcing the centralization of power, and carried out a series of policies strengthening central and local authorities, the bureaucracy, jurisdiction, and military to perpetuate national unity, social stability, and economic development. In terms of the employment system, the Southern Song Dynasty inherited from the Northern Song Dynasty the age of "the emperor and scholars rule the world together"(皇帝與士大夫共治天下). In the Southern Song Dynasty, admission was not restricted by family background, as long as no crimes with severe penalties were committed, even merchants, helpers, monks, farmers, and even butchers could test to be officials. The majority of Jinshi from the Imperial examination were civilians.

The Song Dynasty period was a period where the Fengjian ideology and culture was at its most lenient, objectively speaking, positively promoting economic, social, and cultural development.

Economy and technology
During the Song Jin stalemate, the economy of the South clearly surpassed that of the North. The main reasons are:


 * 1) In the early period of Southern Song Dynasty, although the Jin Army repeatedly attacked the South, they rarely crossed the Yangtze River, hence the South suffered less;
 * 2) Most Northern Song people were reluctant to live under the rule of the Jin and migrated south, greatly incrasing the labor and capital in the south.

The Song Dynasty established the national policy of "equal emphasis on agriculture and commerce"(农商并重). Policies and measures benefiting businesses and merchants were adopted, so all social classes were engaged in commercial operations. The commodities and economies showed epochal development. The Song Dynasty's commerce had been regarded with equal importance to agriculture, both as society's source of wealth—"scholars, farmers, workers, and merchants are the people's primary business" has become a social consensus, greatly improving the social status of merchants in the Song Dynasty.

During the Song Dynasty, China's science and technology achieved unprecedented growth. During the Southern Song Dynasty, a remarkable amount of mathematical and scientific textbooks were widely released. People in the Southern Song Dynasty could use a hydraulic waterwheel to make a three-storey timer (Water Transport Instrument Observatory); the first measurements of precipitation(rainfall and snowfall) were made. Pontoons originated from the Northern Song Dynasty flourished during the Southern Song Dynasty (under the bridge were things that can float in water, mostly inflatables, to make way for tall ships if necessary, invented by Huizong); the arch bridge technology was also invented. Mathematical problems such as Han Xin's soldiers relating to Chinese remainder theorem could also be fully solved and explained; the precision of pi was improved, and Needham called the Song Dynasty the "age of the great algebraists" and believed that "China's algebra reached its peak in the Song Dynasty". Shen Kuo wrote the book Dream Pool Essays, conducted the very first experiments of resonance prior to the West for a few centuries. The Southern Song Dynasty's handicraft, textile, shipbuilding, porcelain, paper and printing and firearm manufacturing industries, also made great progress.

Over half of the most notable inventions in Chinese history appeared in the Song Dynasty. Many scientific and technological inventions in the Song Dynasty not only ranked first in the history of science and technology in China but also in the history of science and technology globally. The large-scale use of gunpowder and firearms began in the Southern Song Dynasty. Modern guns were developed on the basis of the original tubular firearms that appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty also widely used artilleries in battle. Great progress had been made in the Southern Song Dynasty's firearm manufacturing technology.

Agriculture Industry
The agricultural development in the Southern Song Dynasty mainly included the construction of farmland irrigation, large-scale reclamation of polders, the selective breeding of high quality crop varieties, and the expansion of cash crop yields. Rice cultivation became more common, and cotton cultivation had expanded from Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, to the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, the yield per unit area of crops increased by two-/three-fold from that in the Tang Dynasty. Some scholars even called this sharp increase in the crop yield as an "agricultural revolution." The proverb "with Su Lake matured, the world is full" (苏湖熟，天下足) made its first appearnace in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Textile Industry
As cotton planting spread wide in the nation, cotton cloth became more common in regions neighboring Jiangnan by the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. According to the Song of Kapok by Aike, a poet from the Southern Song Dynasty, tools such as spinning wheels, slingshots, and looms were already available at the time. The textile industry in the Southern Song Dynasty had become more sophisticated, the scale and technology of it greatly surpassing the Jurchen Jin in the North.

Shipbuilding Industry
The Southern Song Dynasty was located in the south of the Yangtze River, and as ships were the main transportation method, the shipbuilding industry expanded, with Mingzhou, Quanzhou, Guangzhou and other places as the shipbuilding centers at the time. With the unprecedented development of the shipbuilding industry, large-scale seaboats could be manufactured. The number of barges, merchant ships, and cruise ships were colossal. The mast was added to sea vessels, not found in preceding dynasties; many types of warships were developed, acting an important role in the war against Jin and Mongolia.

Porcelain Industry
Many guan ware s were moved to the south along with the dynasty. For example, the well-known Xiu Nei Si Guan Ware is located under the Phoenix Mountain in Lin'an. Jingdezhen has developed into a well-known porcelain manufacturing center, with its products sold all over the nation; the porcelain was exceptionally exquisite, and was known as "rao jade(yu)" (饶玉).

Paper printing Industry
During the Southern Song Dynasty, local culture was developing rapidly, leading to a burgeoning printing and papermaking industries, led by both the government and the locals. Lin'an, Fujian and Sichuan became the industrial centers; the books published by the Lin'an Guozijian are called "supervised books" (監本) and have high print quality. Many bookstores could be found in Sichuan and Fujian. In terms of papermaking, significant progress had been made in advancing the variety, quality and quantity of paper, with Chengdu, Lin'an, Huizhou, Chizhou, Pingjiang, Jianyang being the main production locations.

Currency
During the Southern Song Dynasty, a great many banknotes were in circulation, gradually replacing copper coins as the main means of exchange. The banknotes are divided into "Jiaozi" and "Huizi", with the former mainly used in Sichuan. Huizi is divided into three types: "Southeast Huizi", "Two Huai Huizi" and "Hubei Huizi". However, due to hyperinflation from issuance of banknotes in the late Southern Song Dynasty, the currency depreciated immensely.

External trade
The prosperity in foreign trade in the Southern Song Dynasty manifested in the myriad of foreign trade ports. Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Lin'an, Mingzhou (Ningbo, Zhejiang) and other large seaports emerged one after another, with nearly 20 ports involved in overseas trade. A number of harbour cities and towns arose on the coastlines of the Southern Song, from Huainan/East Sea in the north, along Hangzhou Bay and Fu, Zhang, Quanjin Triangle, to Guangzhou Bay and Qiongzhou Strait in the south. The flourishing trade superseded that in Ming and Qing, with more than 60 foreign regions maintaining trading relations with the Southern Song Dynasty. The import goods were mainly raw materials, and the export goods were mainly value added handicraft products.


 * Jin

The Song and Jin Dynasties set up a trading market in the Huaihe River literally called the "discussion market"(Quechang 榷场). In addition, there were also many private transactions among the people.


 * Western Xia

The Silk Road was blocked by Xixia, and as Xixia acquired the Hehuang area (now eastern Qinghai) when the Southern Song Dynasty was founded, and land trade stopped.


 * Nanyang(Southern Ocean)

All trade is via the Maritime Silk Road. Due to the huge expenditure of the old coins, the internal taxation of the Southern Song Dynasty was heavy. The economy is almost built on trade with the West, increasingly with Arab merchants, contributing to prosperity from maritime trade.


 * Gaoli (now Korea)

Soon after the Song Dynasty was established, shipping divisions were set up in various cities to develop trade with Gaoli.


 * Japan

Soon after the Song Dynasty was established, shipping divisions were set up in various cities to develop trade with Japan. Japan conducts trade under the supervision of Dazaifu, and has built the Honjokan (an institution that governing trade). However, there was no formal diplomatic trade between China and Japan, only limited to private trade. Song merchants mostly traded in Hakata and Echizen.

Culture
Xin Qiji's patriotic poems were widely popular. During Song Lizong's rule, Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism(Cheng–Zhu school) flourished.

The artistic style of this period was largely not influenced by foreign works, inheriting mainly old traditions. Landscape painting remains an important painting genre in this period. Famous landscape painters include Ma Yuan and Xia Gui, illustrating landscapes with misty and soft scenery, in stark contrast to the ardous landscapes painted by landscape painters from the previous Northern Song Dynasty. This style of painting originates from Song Gaozong's painting academy, which is generally called "Ma Xia". It also juxtaposes the naturalistic vivid brushwork of Zen monks in this period.

Modern Chinese culture was born out of the two Songs' culture. The famous historian Deng Guangming indicated that "the height the cultural development of the Song Dynasty achieved, is the world leader during the historical period from the second half of the tenth century to the middle of the thirteenth century."