Dream Pool Essays: The Industrialization of the Song Dynasty

Low-cost loans for farmers and entrepeneurs. Nationalization of major agricultural and mining producers. Full land surveys to ensure proper taxation. Government-sponsored quality control in factories. A more practical and science-focused curriculum. These may seem like progressive reforms today, but the debate over them goes back to the Song Dynasty of China (960-1271). At the time, China was a center of monetary, military, and scientific advancement. During this dynasty, and specifically during the period in which the aforementioned reforms were introduced, paper money, the hydraulic clock, firearms, and the magnetic compass were invented. These reforms were eventually suppressed by court conservatives, but what if they had not been? What if science had continued to advance, and what if China had broken through into industrial revolution?