During the Tank and Song period, China started to farm in South China and completely changed how it farmed to be more productive.

The Chinese invented many important inventions like the compass, gunpowder, tea, paper, and printing. We will focus on these inventions in a future lesson.

During the Song Dynasty trade expanded to new levels. The Chinese had a lot of extra food that they could trade for craft items like cloth or pottery.

They made harnesses that allowed for easier control of drafts animals and tired them out less quickly.

The Grand Canal is the world's oldest and longest man-made waterway. It is a 1,100 mile-long canal that connects the Huang-He River with the Chang River. It is filled with barges carrying rice and other goods across China. The Grand Canal also connects to several small canals and waterways that stretched for thousands of miles. The fast transportation of the Grand Canal greatly reduced transportation cost.

China developed a money economy where people bought goods with a currency like coins rather than barter for goods. Copper coins, called cash, were the main currency during the Tang Dynasty. The coins were heavy and hard to manage in large amounts so the Song Dynasty created a paper currency that was easier to use when trading long distances.

As trade expanded industries were created to produce trade goods. Silk productions rose during the Song Dynasty. China also began to produce porcelain, hard white pottery of extremely fine quality. Porcelain was a major trade good prized all over the world. One of the largest industries was iron. Iron was essential for weapons, tools, nails, statues, and other goods essential to industries.