Song dynasty · 1127-1279

Hangzhou and the Southern Song

After losing the north in 1127, the Song rebuilt their state in the south around Hangzhou, sea trade and China's first permanent navy. Students see how the Southern Song thrived for 150 years and how the Mongols finally ended it.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1200 to AD 1279
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After losing the north in 1127, the Song rebuilt their state in the south around Hangzhou, sea trade and China's first permanent navy. Students see how the Southern Song thrived for 150 years and how the Mongols finally ended it.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why the Song court moved south and chose Hangzhou as its capital.
  • Describe how sea trade and a navy helped the Southern Song survive.
  • Explain how the Mongols conquered the Southern Song between 1268 and 1279.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1200

A capital by the lake

Open the map in 1200 and zoom in on Hangzhou, between the West Lake and the Qiantang River. Why might a court that had lost the north feel safer here?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1200

Ships and ports

Pan south along the coast to Quanzhou. Turn on Trade Routes: the sea route on the map runs from the Strait of Malacca to India and beyond. Why did the Southern Song depend on this sea trade?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1279

The last stand

Drag the slider to 1279 and zoom in on the Pearl River delta, where the last Song fleet was destroyed at Yamen. Which state now covers all of China?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Song lost the north but kept the rich south. Was that a disaster or a fresh start?
  2. General Yue Fei wanted to win back the north but was arrested and put to death. Why might the court have preferred peace?
  3. Why did the Southern Song set up China's first permanent navy?
  4. Hangzhou had busy markets, teahouses and theatres. What made it such an attractive place to live?
  5. The Mongols needed five years to take the fortress city of Xiangyang. What does that tell you about Song defences?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Genghis Khan. Let students take turns making rulings for the Mongols. Then switch sides in discussion: if you were a Song emperor watching the Mongols grow, which choices might have changed what happened in 1279?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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