Chinese History

The Tang and Song eras were times of great prosperity in China. Much of the growth was by the advanced developments of agriculture, technology and commercial developments.

During the Song era a shift to new farming techniques in southern China brought an increase in population and food supply. Farming moved to the south because rice was the most important crop in China. Two Chinese improvements were developing an irrigation system and developing fast-ripening rice, which could be harvested twice a year. During the Tang era, the government altered the land tenure system, allowing rich families to purchase much of the good farmland.

Agricultural advances during the Tang and Song eras were part of a lager boom in Chinese technology. Chinese inventions during the Middle Ages included gunpowder, printing, the compass and an improved way to build ships. The Chinese built large oceangoing ships that could hold five-hundred people. The ships had multiple decks and mast. Also they had watertight compartments so the ship would not sink. Another invention was the magnetic compass which was used so sailors would not get lost in the open seas. Gunpowder was created originally for fireworks but later advanced to bombs, rockets, and other weapons. After creating paper two-thousand years ago, the Chinese developed a new way of producing books called block printing then advanced to movable printing. This lowered the