Economic developments in South Fukien, 946-1276

Abstract

The region of South Fukien did not develop economically to any marked degree until the Sung dynasty. Its development during the Sung can be divided into three periods. The first period lasted from the rule of the independent local warlords to the last quarter of the eleventh century . During this one hundred years, agriculture underwent improvements which made substantial population growth and accumulation of capital possible . This generated a substantial momentum for development in commerce by local merchants, and a flourishing transit trade . The second period , which lasted to the end of the twelfth century , was a time of general prosperity in the region's economy. The overseas trade now became a mixture of transit and export trade and expanded to an unprecedented extent, and other economic sectors developed in response to this commercial boom. The third phase - the latter half of the Southern Sung - was a time when overseas trade declined markedly and problems appeared in the local economy. The region turned its commercial orientation from overseas to domestic trade and was not able to enjoy the balanced prosperity it had earlier.