Song capital Kaifeng markets flourishing
1023
On the Bian Canal, the Song capital's long covered markets sold silk from Chengdu, porcelain from Jingdezhen, tea from Fujian, and incense from Southeast Asia. Cheap woodblock books circulated freely through the streets. The city's commercial vitality, sustained by paper money, had no parallel in the medieval world. Night markets stayed open past midnight, a commercial liberty unheard of in the rigidly curfewed Tang dynasty.
In context
Also in 1023 (3 other events on record)
- Jiaozi paper money issued in Sichuan · East Asia · Technology
- Caliphate of Cordoba effectively ends · Europe · Politics
- Toltec influence reaches Chichen Itza · North America · Culture
Before and after in East Asia
Before and after in Culture
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.