Changes

==Culture==

==Culture==

[[Footbinding]], which began to spread among elite society in the Northern Song Period, became firmly entrenched by the end of the Southern Song, especially among the wives & daughters of officials.<ref>Patricia Ebrey, ''The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period'', University of California Press (1993), 37-40.</ref>

[[Footbinding]], which began to spread among elite society in the Northern Song Period, became firmly entrenched by the end of the Southern Song, especially among the wives & daughters of officials.<ref>Patricia Ebrey, ''The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period'', University of California Press (1993), 37-40.</ref> In certain other respects, however, women enjoyed a fair degree of rights and autonomy; they were able to inherit, hold, and pass down property, and when they married, retained their dowries as their own property. Women could also petition for divorce, and though [[Confucianism|Confucian]] orthodoxy looked down upon it, it was quite common for women to remarry after divorce, or after being widowed. While women did not officially study for the [[Chinese imperial examinations|Confucian civil exams]], and were not permitted to sit for the exams, fathers came during the Song to take pride in educating their daughters, and suitors came to more highly value & seek out a cultured and educated bride.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 215.</ref>

Chan (J: [[Zen]]) Buddhism was at the heights of its popularity in China at this time; Chan temples came to outnumber those of any other sect, and a variety of prominent masters and teachings emerged at this time. Many of the greatest Chan painters in Chinese tradition also date to the Southern Song, including [[Muqi]] and [[Liang Kai]].<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 202-203.</ref>

Chan (J: [[Zen]]) Buddhism was at the heights of its popularity in China at this time; Chan temples came to outnumber those of any other sect, and a variety of prominent masters and teachings emerged at this time. Many of the greatest Chan painters in Chinese tradition also date to the Southern Song, including [[Muqi]] and [[Liang Kai]].<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 202-203.</ref>