WHI-Chap15-Hangzhou
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Hangzhou
History
When the Jurchen established the Jin empire in northern China, they captured the Song capital, Kaifeng. The Song then moved to Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song dynasty. Later in 1276, Khubilai Khan and his Mongol forces destroyed the city (T+E p471).
Culture
In the late 1200s, this port city had a population of over 1 million people. It held a wide variety of shops and had interesting customs:
patrons gravitated to higher or lower stories according to their plans; those desiring only a cup or two of wine sat at street level, whereas those planning an extended evening of revelry sought tables on the higher stories (T+E p 384-385).
Because of its lucrative position on the southern end of the Grand Canal, it served as a middle-man between China and foreign sea-trade.
This page was made by Jackson Jhin
