---
node: song
type: period
slug: song_dynasty
title: "Song dynasty"
lead: "The Song dynasty (960–1279) presided over an economic and technological revolution, from the world's first government-issued paper money to movable type. Pressured militarily throughout, it finally fell to the Mongols in 1279."
published: 2026-07-09
updated: 2026-07-09
image_file: song_dynasty.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Along_the_River_During_the_Qingming_Festival_(Qing_Court_Version).jpg"
image_author: "Five artists from the Painting Academy and active at the Qing court: Chen Mei (陳枚) Sun Hu (孫祜) Jin Kun (金昆) Dai Hong (戴洪) Cheng Zhidao (程志道)"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Overview

The Northern Song (960–1127) ruled from Kaifeng until the Jurchen Jin captured the city in 1127; the Southern Song (1127–1279) continued from Hangzhou. A mature examination-based civil service staffed the government.

## Key developments

The world's first government-issued paper money appeared in 11th-century Sichuan, alongside Bi Sheng's movable type, gunpowder weapons, and the magnetic compass in navigation. Commercial cities grew huge, and Neo-Confucianism developed with Zhu Xi (1130–1200).

## End and transition

The dynasty was pressed throughout by the Liao, the Western Xia, the Jin, and finally the Mongols, who ended it at the naval battle of Yamen in 1279.