Category:Southern Song

The Southern Song period (南宋, 1127–1279) followed the relocation of the imperial court to Hangzhou after the loss of northern territories to the Jin state. The period is characterized by political reorganization, coastal economic development, and the intensification of maritime trade networks linking China to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean world.

The shift of the political center to the lower Yangtze region contributed to the growth of urban markets, commercial craft production, and the circulation of luxury goods. Court patronage continued to support scholarly culture, painting, calligraphy, and book production, while regional workshops supplied objects for both elite and broader markets.

Ceramic production during the Southern Song period developed in close relation to court aesthetics centered in Hangzhou and surrounding regions. While specific wares such as Guan, Ge, Longquan celadon, and Southern Song official kilns are treated in individual ceramic articles, the broader period is defined by workshop organization, kiln system expansion, and the development of stylistic refinement associated with literati taste and ritual display.

The Southern Song period holds significance for the consolidation of artistic ideals emphasizing controlled form, tonal subtlety, and material surface quality—principles that shaped the trajectory of later ceramic, lacquer, and painting traditions.