【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 addition to its cultural attainments,the Sung period is noteworthy for a veritable mercial revolution that was quite significant for all roots are to be found in a marked increase in the productivity of china’s economy Steady technological improvement raised the output of the traditional industries agriculture likewise was stimulated by the introduction of a quickly maturing strain of rice that allowed two crops to be grown each season where only one had been possible new water control projects undertaken by the Sung greatly expanded the acreage of irrigated paddy it estimated that rhe rice crop doubled between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This increasing productivity made possible a corresponding increase in population,which in turn further stimulated production in interacting volume of trade also rose with the quickening tempo of economic the first time large cities appeared in China that were primarily mercial rather than administrative centers. Even more marked than this spurt in domestic trade was that in foreign overseas merce had been carried on since Han times,but during the TAng ,and more especially during the Sung,the volume of foreign trade far surpassed all previous basis for this burgeoning trade was,of course,the unprecedented productivity of China’s also were the improvements in maritime technology,including the use of pass,of an adjustable centerboard keel,and of cotton sails in place of bamboo overseas was quickened also by the initiative of Moslem merchants and mariners who were the great entrepreneurs in Asian seas at this period. The end result was that for the first time the seaports rather than the old overland routes bee China’s principal contact with the outside of China’s economic leadership at this time is the fact that her exports were mostly manufactured goods such as silk,porcelains,books and paintings,while the imports were mostly raw materials such as spices,minerals,and it should be noted that during the Sung the Chinese themselves for the first time engaged on a large scale in overseas trade,no longer dependi ng largely on foreign conclusion,China during the sung was well on the way to being a great maritime the all important fact for world history as well as for Chinese,is that this this potentiatity was never ,equally significant,this veritable mercial revolution of the Sung era had none of the explosive repercussions on Chinese society that a corresponding mercial revolution had on Western society (See sectionⅤ of this chaper.) (Leften Stavros world to 1500 :A global history[M].PrenticeHall,Inc,1970.) Song dynasty .(960 – 1279) Chinese dynasty that united the entire country until 1127 and the southern portion until 1279, during which time northern China was controlled by the Juchen tribes. During the Song, merce flourished, paper currency came into increasing use, and several cities boasted populations exceeding one million people. Wang Anshi worked for more equitable taxation and statecentred solutions for China39。s problems. Widespread printing brought increased literacy and a broader elite, and private academies and state schools sent increasing numbers of candidates through the Chinese examination system. In the 12th century, Zhu Xi systemized NeoConfucianism. The Song was also an era of scholarship: groundbreaking treatises on architecture and botany were published, as was the famous history Zizhi tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government) of Sima Guang. Landscape painting is said to have reached its peak during the Northern Song, which was also famous for its magnificent architecture. See also Taizu Chinese examination system .In China, system of petitive examinations for recruiting officials that linked state and society and dominated education from the Song dynasty (960 – 1279) onward, though its roots date to the imperial university established in the Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). Candidates faced fierce petition in a series of exams dealing primarily with Confucian texts and conducted on the prefectural, provincial, and national levels. Despite a persistent tendency to emphasize rote learning over original thinking and form over substance, the exams managed to produce an elite grounded in a mon b