Southern SongAD 1127–1279

Southern Song: Timeline of Events (AD 1127–1279)

The court rules from the south as the economic center shifts southward

Events in this period

• Jin Destroys Northern Song; Southern Song Founded1127

  In 1127 Jin forces took Kaifeng and carried off emperors Huizong and Qinzong in the “Jingkang Incident”. That year Zhao Gou took the throne at Yingtian and later settled at Lin'an: Southern Song.

• Yue Fei and the Song–Jin Treatyc. 1140

  Yue Fei's army routed the Jin at Yancheng and was poised to recover the Central Plains when Emperor Gaozong and Qin Hui sought peace and had Yue Fei killed. The Shaoxing Treaty followed in 1141.

• Southward Shift of the Economic CenterMid-Tang–Southern Song

  The economic center, shifting south since mid-Tang, settled there by the Southern Song, when southern farming, crafts and trade outpaced the north and most revenue came from the southeast.

• Song Overseas Trade and the Maritime Trade OfficesNorthern and Southern Song

  Song encouraged overseas trade, with Maritime Trade Offices at Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Mingzhou; its ships reached Arabia and East Africa, and trade income became an important source of revenue.

• Genghis Khan Unites the Mongols1206

  The Mongol leader Temujin united the tribes of the Mongolian steppe and in 1206 was proclaimed “Genghis Khan” on the Onon River, founding the Mongol Empire and ending long strife on the steppe.

• Mongols Destroy Western Xia1227

  Genghis Khan attacked Western Xia six times and Jin refused to help; in 1227 the last Xia emperor surrendered and Western Xia fell, while Genghis Khan died near the Liupan Mountains.

• Mongols Destroy Jin1234

  After Genghis Khan's death Ogedei allied with Song against Jin. In 1234 the joint armies broke Caizhou, Emperor Aizong hanged himself and Jin fell, leaving Song and the Mongols face to face.

• Liangzhou Meeting and Tibet's Submission to the Mongols1247

  In 1247 the Mongol prince Godan met the Sakya leader Sakya Pandita at Liangzhou and agreed terms for Tibet's submission to the Mongols, bringing Tibet under the central government's administration.

• Widespread Use of Gunpowder Weapons (Fire Lance, Hand Cannon)Late Southern Song

  Gunpowder, invented in the Tang, came into wide military use in the Song and Yuan; in 1259 the Southern Song made the bamboo-barrel fire lance, and the Yuan later cast metal-barreled hand cannons.

• Kublai Khan Founds the Yuan Dynasty1260, 1271

  Kublai Khan took the throne as Great Khan in 1260, adopted Han Chinese practices and an era name, renamed the state "Great Yuan" in 1271 and made Dadu (now Beijing) his capital the next year.

• Marco Polo Comes to ChinaEra of Kublai Khan

  The Italian traveler Marco Polo came to Yuan China with his father and uncle and lived there for 17 years; his dictated Travels of Marco Polo stirred European longing for the East.