Changes

The Song court's revenues far exceeded those of any other major government in the world, at that time. More than half of the state's revenues were obtained through monopolies imposed on the production of rice wine, and key mineral resources such as salt, copper, and alum. Private commerce was quite active in a great variety of fields, ranging from iron mining and metallurgy to sericulture, textiles, tea, porcelain, paper, and sugar. Government involvement in private enterprise consisted chiefly of actions taken to ensure the free flow of goods, and the prevention of monopolistic or cartel behaviors. Certain goods, such as iron, books, and bronze coin, believed to be of particular strategic importance, were forbidden from being exported; these flowed out of the country nevertheless, including in trade with Japan, in exchange for gold, sulfur, and timber, among other goods and commodities.<ref name=crossroads393>Bonnie Smith, et al. ''Crossroads and Cultures'', vol. B, Bedford St. Martins (2012), 393.</ref>

The Song court's revenues far exceeded those of any other major government in the world, at that time. More than half of the state's revenues were obtained through monopolies imposed on the production of rice wine, and key mineral resources such as salt, copper, and alum. Private commerce was quite active in a great variety of fields, ranging from iron mining and metallurgy to sericulture, textiles, tea, porcelain, paper, and sugar. Government involvement in private enterprise consisted chiefly of actions taken to ensure the free flow of goods, and the prevention of monopolistic or cartel behaviors. Certain goods, such as iron, books, and bronze coin, believed to be of particular strategic importance, were forbidden from being exported; these flowed out of the country nevertheless, including in trade with Japan, in exchange for gold, sulfur, and timber, among other goods and commodities.<ref name=crossroads393>Bonnie Smith, et al. ''Crossroads and Cultures'', vol. B, Bedford St. Martins (2012), 393.</ref>

During the 11th century, China produced perhaps as much as 125,000 tons of iron a year, more than twice the total output of Europe, using coke (refined coal) as fuel for piston-driven blast furnaces (blast furnaces driven by water-driven bellows would not be invented in Europe until after 1300). This iron production dropped off dramatically after the Jurchen invasion of 1127, however.<ref>''Crossroads and Cultures'', 382.</ref>

Sometime after 1000 CE, the Song government began requiring imperial subjects to pay their taxes in cash, rather than in kind (e.g. in grain, silk, or other products) as they had done previously. This forced peasants and commoners throughout the country to engage more fully into the market, spurring considerable commercial developments likely unimagined by the Confucian bureaucrats who initiated the policies.<ref>Walter McNeill, "The Changing Shape of World History," in Ross Dunn (ed.), ''The New World History'', Bedford/St. Martin's (2000), 153.</ref>

In the late 10th century, private merchants in western China began to issue their own private forms of bills of exchange, which customers could then exchange at agents in other regions for actual coinage, or for goods and services. These were replaced in [[1024]] by the government's establishment of an official system of paper money known as "[[flying cash]]," the first paper money in the world.

In the late 10th century, private merchants in western China began to issue their own private forms of bills of exchange, which customers could then exchange at agents in other regions for actual coinage, or for goods and services. These were replaced in [[1024]] by the government's establishment of an official system of paper money known as "[[flying cash]]," the first paper money in the world.

Porcelain replaced silk as China's chief export in the 11th century, as India and Persia began to develop their own domestic silk production; meanwhile, however, China obtained new techniques in sugar refining and cotton production from India, marking the beginning of the development of these industries in China. In the 12th century, Chinese merchants first began in significant number to venture overseas themselves; most devoted their attentions to the so-called Spice Islands in and around the Moluccas and Indonesia, where rare (and therefore valuable) spices such as cloves and nutmeg could be found.<ref name=crossroads393/>

Porcelain replaced silk as China's chief export in the 11th century, as India and Persia began to develop their own domestic silk production; meanwhile, however, China obtained new techniques in sugar refining and cotton production from India, marking the beginning of the development of these industries in China. In the 12th century, Chinese merchants first began in significant number to venture overseas themselves; most devoted their attentions to the so-called Spice Islands in and around the Moluccas and Indonesia, where rare (and therefore valuable) spices such as cloves and nutmeg could be found.<ref name=crossroads393/>

==Culture==

==Culture==