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- [Narrator] In other
videos when we talked about

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the various Chinese empires,

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we talk about the Song
dynasty in particular

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as a time of significant
technological innovation.

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And here are just some of the
examples that we talk about,

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most notably gunpowder,
movable block print,

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you have block printing
emerge during the Tang dynasty

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but during the Song
dynasty, it gets perfected

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and it becomes more efficient
with movable block print.

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You have the compass being perfected,

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especially for naval use,
the boats being perfected,

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you see this reinvigoration,
really the high point

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of the Chinese civil service,

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you see the emergence of Neo-Confucianism.

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But one question is well what allowed

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all of this innovation to take place?

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And also what allowed for the
stability of the Song dynasty?

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When you look at it on
the timeline like this,

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that's covering over 2,000 years,

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it might not look that long

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but when you actually
think about it this is

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over 300 years of dynastic
rule by one dynasty.

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Now it is split in the middle
between the Northern Song

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and the Southern Song,
that happens in 1127,

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we'll talk about that in a little bit.

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But for the most part,

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it is a very prosperous time for China.

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The population actually grows

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from roughly 50 million people
during the Tang dynasty,

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to, it is estimated, 100 million people by

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the Northern Song dynasty
and eventually keeps growing

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so that by the time we
get to the Ming dynasty,

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we have a population of
about 200 million people.

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So what are the things that allows

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for that population explosion, really?

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Well one thing you can imagine
is food is very important,

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and it's during this time period that

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the Song dynasty is able
to leverage a more robust

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rice seed from Southeast
Asia that allows it

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to feed many, many more people.

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And so this obviously
allows a population growth,

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but any time you're able to feed people,

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and there's more prosperity,

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you're going to have a more stable empire.

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Now another major input into prosperity

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and the stability of empires

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is the notion of trade.

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And China had always many river systems,

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which helped facilitate
agriculture and trade.

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But as you get into the Sui
dynasty, right over here,

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you have the completion
of the Grand Canal,

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which is even today the
largest man-made canal.

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It stretches from Beijing to
Hangzhou and actually goes

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beyond that and has other tributaries

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and that connected with
the existing river systems

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allowed for a lot of trade to happen,

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especially as we get into
the Tang and Song dynasties.

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Now the Song dynasty in particular,

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you have the pound lock being invented,

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which allows for easier
travel across waterways

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when you have a change
in the level of water.

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The pound lock is still the
standard technology used

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in canals throughout the world.

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You also have the first
use of paper money.

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This is a big deal. We
use paper money today.

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Our ability to have
transactions in our society

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are not dependent on our ability to mine

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for gold or silver or copper.

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And one of the things that allowed

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for paper money to even be used

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was this notion of block printing,

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and block printing with
movable type in particular.

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Once again, a Song dynasty innovation.

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Now as I mentioned, as we get into 1127,

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you have conquerors from the
north, in particular the Jin,

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who are able to conquer Northern China.

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They caused the Song to move their capital

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from Kaifeng in the north,

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to Hangzhou in the south.

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Here you see Hangzhou is
a major southern terminal

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of the Grand Canal.

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And even though the
Northern Song had to move

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and essentially become
the Southern Song dynasty,

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you continue to have that prosperity

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for roughly another 150
years and once again,

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this comes from this meritocracy

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from the civil service system.

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This abundance of food,
this stability from

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having the dynastic rule,
the trade, the money,

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all of these technological advances,

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which make the Song dynasty
one of the notable periods

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of Chinese history.