On the 9th and 10th of November, the Hangzhou Literature and History Forum 2013 and the Symposium on “Hangzhou in History and Chinese Urban History” were convened in Hangzhou, attracting over 70 scholars from around China to discuss how Chinese cities were shaped and developed and what factors influenced the urbanization of traditional societies.

The rise and thriving of Song Dynasty cities have impressed Chinese and foreign scholars a great deal. Statistics show that the towns and cities of the Southern Song increased so sharply that the urban population came to constitute 13%-14% of the total Chinese population at the time. The rate of urbanization was not only far higher than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, but even exceeded that of the Ming and Qing eras.

Ge Jinfang, a Distinguished Professor from Beijing Normal University, explained during the symposium that it was the burgeoning commodity economy that largely accelerated the urbanization of the Southern Song. The accelerated urbanization not only sped up the transformation of peasants to small commodity producers and the movement of rural people to the cities, but also brought about great changes to the national financial structure and to the people’s attitudes and values.

Owing to the rapid urbanization of the Song times, not only did the number of cities soar and the urban population explode, but the very nature and style of the cities also underwent great changes.

Ge claimed that in essence the urbanization of both Southern and Northern Song manifested the fact that traditional political centers were gradually transforming into economic metropolises. At the same time cities serving as regional economic centers were also springing up. A few cities even transitioned from traditional modes of consumption to a modern mode of production.

Prof. Bao Weimin from Renmin University of China explained that ancient Chinese cities possessed the dual characteristic of being political and military fortresses and of being commercial markets. This had long been a hindrance to the development of cities in ancient China. From Tang to Song, the Chinese government gradually built and developed cities as local administrative strongholds. Understanding the relationship between administrative factors and economic development is an important point for researchers analyzing the progress of cities at that time. During the Southern and Northern Song period there was a tendency for cities to become less focused on administration, and some economically booming cities in fact enjoyed a higher status than the cities which were officially their administrative superiors. Even so, the administrative system remained the main force driving the development of cities.

Translated by Chen Mirong

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti