Although most trade was internal, there was also a vigorous ocean trade from Quanzhou and other ports linking China, not only with Japan but also with the trading centers in Southeast and South Asia.

Although agriculture was still the dominant source of revenue for the state, the custom duties collected at Quanzhou were an important addition.

Note: The city depicted in the scroll can be considered a typical Song city; it is not the city of Quanzhou.

Related Web Links
• Watery Kingdom: China's Mariners from Antiquity to the Ming Dynasty [Vancouver Maritime Museum] Part of a larger unit on China's maritime history, this section on the Song Dynasty and Quanzhou includes information on advances in shipbuilding during the Song Dynasty and the significant 1974 excavation of a Song-dynasty ship near Quanzhou.

• Asia's Underseas Archaeology [NOVA Online/PBS.org] The importance of underseas archaeology to our understanding of seaborn commerce and shipbuilding during the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. Includes information about the 1974 Quanzhou ship excavation.