Chinas Song Dynasty (9601279) was one of historys wealthiest Golden Ages, inventing military gunpowder, moveable print, industrial textiles, windmills, and canal-faring paddle boats. Its all the more remarkable for having fallen to steppe invaders not once but twice, each time resulting in part from another invention credited to the era: paper money.
Peter St. Onge is assistant professor in the Department of International Trade at Feng Chia University.