page_title: Economy of the Song dynasty
section_title: Foreign trade
hierarchical_section_title: Economy of the Song dynasty / Organization, investment, and trade / Foreign trade
caption_attribution_description: Coupe, grès de type céladon, décor incisé et moulé. Chine du Nord, Shaanxi, Yaozhou, Dynastie des Song du Nord, 10ème-11ème siècle. Musée Guimet, Paris. [No, this seems to be carved and combed, not moulded. I think he's just repeating these descriptions.
context_page_description: For over three centuries during the Song dynasty China experienced sustained growth in per capita income and population, structural change in the economy, and increased pace of technological innovation. Movable print, improved seeds for rice and other commercial crops, gunpowder, water-powered mechanical clocks, the use of coal as a source of fuel for a variety of industries, improved techniques for iron and steel production, pound locks and many other technological innovations transformed the economy. In north China, the main fuel source for ceramic kilns and iron furnaces shifted from wood to coal. This made the job a lot faster because coal burns quicker.
  During the Song dynasty, there was also a notable increase in commercial contacts with global markets. Merchants engaged in overseas trade through investments in trading vessels and trade which reached ports as far away as East Africa. This period also witnessed the development of the world's first banknote, or printed paper money, which circulated on a massive scale. Combined with a unified tax system and efficient trade routes by road and canal, this meant the development of a truly nationwide market.
context_section_description: Sea trade abroad to the South East Pacific, the Hindu world, the Islamic world, and the East African world brought merchants great fortune. Although the massive amount of indigenous trade along the Grand Canal, the Yangtze River, its tributaries and lakes, and other canal systems trumped the commercial gains of overseas trade, there were still many large seaports during the Song period that bolstered the economy, such as Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, and Xiamen. These seaports, now heavily connected to the hinterland via canal, lake, and river traffic, acted as a long string of large market centers for the sale of cash crops produced in the interior. The high demand in China for foreign luxury goods and spices coming from the East Indies facilitated the growth of Chinese maritime trade abroad during the Song period. Along with the mining industry, the shipbuilding industry of Fujian province during the Song period increased its production exponentially as maritime trade was given more importance and as the province's population growth began to increase dramatically. The Song capital at Hangzhou had a large canal that connected its waterways directly to the seaport at Mingzhou (modern Ningbo), the center where many of the foreign imported goods were shipped out to the rest of the country. Despite the installation of fire stations and a large fire fighting force, fires continued to threaten the city of Hangzhou and the various businesses within it. In safeguarding stored supplies and providing rented space for merchants and shopkeepers to keep their surplus goods safe from city fires, the rich families of Hangzhou, palace eunuchs, and empresses had large warehouses built near the northeast walls; these warehouses were surrounded by channels of water on all sides and were heavily guarded by hired night watchmen. Shipbuilders generated means of employment for many skilled craftsmen, while sailors for ship crews found many opportunities of employment as more families had enough capital to purchase boats and invest in commercial trading abroad. Foreigners and merchants from abroad affected the economy from within China as well. For example, many Muslims went to Song China not only to trade, but dominated the import and export industry and in some cases became officials of economic regulations. For Chinese maritime merchants, however, there was risk involved in such long overseas ventures to foreign trade posts and seaports as far away as Egypt. In order to reduce the risk of losing money instead of gaining it on maritime trade missions abroad:
  [Song era] investors usually divided their investment among many ships, and each ship had many investors behind it. One observer thought eagerness to invest in overseas trade was leading to an outflow of copper cash. He wrote, "People along the coast are on intimate terms with the merchants who engage in overseas trade, either because they are fellow-countrymen or personal acquaintances...[They give the merchants] money to take with them on their ships for purchase and return conveyance of foreign goods. They invest from ten to a hundred strings of cash, and regularly make profits of several hundred percent."
  The author Zhu Yu wrote in his Pingzhou Ketan (萍洲可談; Pingzhou Table Talks) of 1119 AD about the organization, maritime practices, and government standards of seagoing vessels, their merchants, and sailing crews. His book stated:
  According to government regulations concerning seagoing ships, the larger ones can carry several hundred men, and the smaller ones may have more than a hundred men on board. One of the most important merchants is chosen to be Leader (Gang Shou), another is Deputy Leader (Fu Gang Shou), and a third is Business Manager (Za Shi). The Superintendent of Merchant Shipping gives them an unofficially sealed red certificate permitting them to use the light bamboo for punishing their company when necessary. Should anyone die at sea, his property becomes forfeit to the government...The ship's pilots are acquainted with the configuration of the coasts; at night they stee
caption: A celadon plate from Yaozhou, Shaanxi, 10th to 11th century.
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