Southward Shift of the Economic Center

In Qin and Han times the Yellow River basin was the economic center of China, while Jiangnan was thinly populated and backward. In the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, frequent war in the north drove many northerners south, bringing labor and advanced production techniques, and Jiangnan was first developed. After the An Lushan Rebellion in mid-Tang, the north again fell into war, large numbers moved south, southern economy grew further, and in late Tang the court relied mainly on Jiangnan for revenue. In Song, especially after the Jingkang Incident at the end of Northern Song, northerners again moved south in large numbers and the southern economy quickly overtook the north. By Southern Song the southward shift of the economic center in ancient China was complete, and the central government's revenue came mainly from the south, especially the southeast. The shift showed itself in many ways. In agriculture, the area of southern rice grew, Champa rice spread, the Lake Tai region became the most important granary (“When Suzhou and Huzhou have a harvest, the world has enough”), and tea and cotton growing spread. In crafts, southern silk weaving had already surpassed the north in Northern Song, with silk production flourishing in Sichuan and Jiangsu and Zhejiang; cotton weaving rose in late Southern Song, and Hainan Island had fairly advanced cotton-weaving tools; porcelain making shifted to Jiangnan, with Jingdezhen a famous porcelain capital; shipbuilding at Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Mingzhou was famous and led the world at the time. In commerce, Lin'an was the country's largest commercial city, overseas trade was very active, and Quanzhou and Guangzhou became world-renowned ports.