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Content: History of Art. Introduction
The contribution to Chinese 
        artof the Songs ranks alongside that of the earlier era of Tang 
        Dynasty art(618-906), itself a high point in the culture of medieval 
        China. The Song Dynasty is divided into two quite distinct periods: the 
        Northern Song (Bei Song) (960-1127), based in Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng), 
        which controlled most of inner China; and the Southern Song (Nan Song) 
        (1127-1279), based at Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). During the latter, 
        the Song ceded control of the Yellow river (the traditional birthplace 
        of Chinese civilization) 
        plus the rest of northern China to the Jin Dynasty (Jinn or Jurchen Dynasty), 
        the Tartar ancestors of the Manchus who ruled during the era of Qing 
        Dynasty art(1644-1911). During the Song Dynasty, the Chinese population 
        doubled to roughly 200 million due to expanded rice cultivation in central 
        and southern China: several cities along the main waterways and the southeast 
        coast boasted more than 1 million inhabitants. Patronage of numous types 
        of artflourished - several Song Emperors prided themselves on their 
        skill at ink and wash painting- not least because the wealthier classes became avid collectors of works 
        of art and antiquities, as exemplified by the activities of the poet and 
        statesman Su Shi (1037–1101). Chinese 
        paintingand calligraphywere the 
        most prestigious arts, but jade carvingas well as black and red Chinese lacquerwarealso flourished. (