Editing Zhejiang (section)

===Song era===
[[File:Ying%27en_Gate_in_Shaoxing_04_2012-07.JPG|thumb|300px|left|[[Song dynasty]] era (1223) city gate in [[Shaoxing]]]]
The [[Song dynasty]] re-established unity around 960. Under the Song, the prosperity of South China began to overtake that of North China. After the north was lost to the [[Jurchen people|Jurchen]] [[Jurchen Jin|Jin dynasty]] in 1127 following the [[Jingkang Incident]], Hangzhou became the capital of the Song dynasty under the name [[Hangzhou|Lin'an]], which was renowned for its prosperity and beauty, it was suspected to have been the largest city in the world at the time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |title=Largest Cities Through History|publisher=Geography.about.com|date=2013-07-19|access-date=2013-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527095609/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|archive-date=27 May 2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

From then on, northern Zhejiang and neighboring southern Jiangsu have been synonymous with luxury and opulence in Chinese culture. The [[Mongols|Mongol]] conquest and the establishment of the [[Yuan dynasty]] in 1279 ended Hangzhou's political clout, but its economy continued to prosper. The famous traveler [[Marco Polo]] visited the city, which he called "Kinsay" (after the Chinese ''Jingshi'', meaning "Capital City") claiming it was "the finest and noblest city in the world."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/polo-kinsay.asp|title=Internet History Sourcebooks Project|website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu|access-date=13 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413201403/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/polo-kinsay.asp|archive-date=13 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Greenware ceramics made from [[celadon]] had been made in the area since the 3rd-century [[Sima Jin|Jin dynasty]], but it returned to prominence&mdash;particularly in [[Longquan]]&mdash;during the Southern Song and Yuan. Longquan greenware is characterized by a thick unctuous glaze of a particular bluish-green tint over an otherwise undecorated light-grey porcellaneous body that is delicately potted. Yuan Longquan celadons feature a thinner, greener glaze on larger vessels with decoration and shapes derived from Middle Eastern ceramic and metalwares. These were produced in large quantities for the Chinese export trade to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and (during the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]]) Europe. By the Ming, however, production was notably deficient in quality. It is in this period that the Longquan kilns declined, to be eventually replaced in popularity and ceramic production by the kilns of [[Jingdezhen]] in [[Jiangxi]].<ref>Vainker, Shelaugh. <u>Chinese Pottery and Porcelain.</u> London: British Museum Press, 1991.</ref>