The Southern Song Dynasty, based at [[Hangzhou]] (then called Lin'an), ruled the southern half of China following the loss of northern China to invasion by the [[Jurchens]] in [[1127]]. The period was one of many notable artistic and cultural developments; much poetry and painting of the period centered on themes of loss and of desire to reconquer the north. | The Southern Song Dynasty, based at [[Hangzhou]] (then called Lin'an), ruled the southern half of China following the loss of northern China to invasion by the [[Jurchens]] in [[1127]]. The period was one of many notable artistic and cultural developments; much poetry and painting of the period centered on themes of loss and of desire to reconquer the north. |