Song China
Song China was a world of expanding cities, commercial exchange, printing and learned official culture. The dynasty began in AD 960 with its capital at Kaifeng; after losing northern China in 1127, the court established itself at Hangzhou and ruled the south until the Mongol conquest in 1279. Its history belongs alongside that of the neighbouring Liao and Jin states. Pagodas and Buddhist cave sanctuaries preserve Song building, sculpture and restoration, including work added to religious places already centuries old.
Explore Song sites
Song patrons built Kaifeng’s glazed-brick pagoda and renewed older cave sanctuaries, adding new images and structures to established places of worship.
Daily life
Daily Life in Song China: Households, Work, and Urban Life, 960–1279
Song households combined farming, crafts and commerce. Family property, food shops, study, worship, medicine and travel shaped life in northern and southern settings.
- Food, Shops and Eating Out in Song Cities, 960–1279
- Homes, Families and Social Status in Song China, 960–1279
- Household Worship, Temples and Festivals in Song China (960–1279)
- Medicine, Remedies and Access to Care in Song China
- Travel, Inns and Waterways in Song China, 960–1279
- Work, Clothing and Recreation in Song Communities: Everyday Life in Song China
History and society
Song China: History, Economy and Society
Song rule shifted from Kaifeng to Hangzhou as northern territory was lost. Civil government, farming, commerce, learning and religious institutions shaped both periods.
- Farming, Cities and Money in the Song Economy, 960–1279
- Printing, Learning and Technology in Song China: Books, Education and Practical Knowledge
- Song Art, Architecture and Religious Institutions, 960–1279
- Song Frontiers, Armies and Relations with Liao, Jin and Western Xia
- Song Officials, Examinations and Local Government: How Imperial Administration Worked
- The Song States: Unification, Northern Losses and Southern Survival, 960–1279