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{{language box

{{language box

|c=宋朝

|c=宋朝

|p=Sòng Cháo

|p=Sòng cháo

|w=Sung⁴ Ch'ao²

|w=Sung⁴ ch'ao²

}}

}}

The '''Song dynasty''' ruled [[China]] from A.D. 960 to 1279; it took over about 50 years after the fall of the [[Tang dynasty]] and united China under centralized rule.  In the interim was a period known as the period of the [[Five Dynasties]].  The Song dynasty emphasized education even more than the Tang dynasty did. Art and literature thrived, and society was much less strictly controlled under the Song than under the Tang, and some scholars propose that a form of proto-capitalism developed, as markets expanded and merchants became more important.  (Traditionally, merchants had been seen as one of the lowest rungs of pre-modern Chinese society, and whilst this was still so under the Song, their role became greater.) Paper money was invented during the Song dynasty, although it was not particularly widely used, and was a solution to the massive weight of money in [[Sichuan province]] in the Song - the huge rolls of coin were too heavy to carry, and merchants developed paper money to lessen the burden.  It became official government tender somewhat later on.

The '''Song dynasty''' ruled [[China]] from A.D. 960 to 1279; it took over about 50 years after the fall of the [[Tang dynasty]] and united China under centralized rule.  In the interim was a period known as the period of the [[Five Dynasties]].  The Song dynasty emphasized education even more than the Tang dynasty did. Art and literature thrived, and society was much less strictly controlled under the Song than under the Tang, and some scholars propose that a form of proto-capitalism developed, as markets expanded and merchants became more important.  (Traditionally, merchants had been seen as one of the lowest rungs of pre-modern Chinese society, and whilst this was still so under the Song, their role became greater.) Paper money was invented during the Song dynasty, although it was not particularly widely used, and was a solution to the massive weight of money in [[Sichuan province]] in the Song - the huge rolls of coin were too heavy to carry, and merchants developed paper money to lessen the burden.  It became official government tender somewhat later on.