Annotation: "This area of the scroll, while small when compared to the whole, has numerous stores and businesses. The shops that..." (Annotation)

Annotation: "This area of the scroll, while small when compared to the whole, has numerous stores and businesses. The shops that..."

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This area of the scroll, while small when compared to the whole, has numerous stores and businesses. The shops that we can see offer a wide variety of services and items. For example, near the top we can see a man inspecting a bow in a barrel shop. Towards the bottom right, there is a barber shaving a customer. To my understanding, this must have been a service that required a certain degree of available spending money. Anothering especially interesting thing is the man who is standing with his goods next to an official sitting at a table. Some sources hypothesize that he may be paying a tax on the goods that he has brought into the city. Of course, just as in practically any settled society, taxation was an important part of Song society. In “Attractions at the Capital,” the author notes that a “company” is a broad taxation category that encompasses “all businesses dealing in commodities.” The passage, “Attractions at the Capital,” also hammers down the idea that a city in Song China had a wide variety of items and services to offer. Most importantly, this part of the scroll demonstrates the commercialization of a typical Song city. Along with the previous items mentioned, there are fragrant wines and brooms being sold towards the left.

For context, it is important to note that the Song period witnessed what is known as China’s “commercial revolution.” This period coincided with the invasion of the Jurchen in the North, which moved the capital to Hangzhou. This “commercial revolution” was primarily driven by a surge in agriculture in the South. The revolution saw a flow of agricultural goods from the rural areas of Southern Song into the urban centers. This agricultural surge had various effects, such as food surpluses, diversification of the workforce, a rise in trade, and enhanced cultural exchange. There are two theories to describe this agricultural development, a technological one and a fiscal one. The technological one claims that innovations in rice farming, hydraulics, and others account for the dramatic rise in agricultural productivity. The fiscal perspective claims that the Song’s abandonment of the Tang model of land distribution and taxation resulted in greater wealth. Furthermore, paper money begins to emerge in this period.