Mingzhou was raised to Qingyuan fu in 1195 and takes its name from Ningzong's reign era.
It is the Song's gateway to Japan and Goryeo: the shibosi, a Goryeo guest-house and the harbour at the junction of the Yong rivers; the outer harbours are Dinghai (Zhenhai) at the river mouth and the Changguo islands (Zhoushan). Japanese traders and monks come every year: the Chan monk Eisai studied at the Tiantai hills and at Tiantong (1187-91), and the pilgrim monks of Tiantong and Ayuwang. It sends out porcelain, silk, books and bronze cash and takes in Japanese sulphur, timber and gold.
The Shi family (see Shi of Mingzhou) and the Four Masters of Mingzhou make the city a gentry capital of its own. Under it lie Yin, Fenghua, Cixi, Dinghai, Xiangshan and Changguo.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known for 1 January 1200
- Title
- Prefect of Qingyuan fu (Mingzhou) and head of the Liangzhe East coast defence
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
The prefect is not named in the sources we read.
Lord in 1200
The emperor through the prefect; the Shi family has local weight but no title.
Overlord
The emperor; the Maritime Trade Superintendent (shibosi) sits in the city.
What the town holds
- The harbour and the shibosi (see Shibosi, Mingzhou)
- The Goryeo guest-house
- Dinghai and Changguo (outer ports)
How it was acquired
A shibosi city since 989 (with interruptions); raised to Qingyuan fu in 1195.
Allies and rivals
Rival and partner of Wenzhou and Lin'an in the sea trade; the Shi family is its great court family.
How things stand that morning
Prosperous, quiet; the ban touches the Four Masters lightly.
Wealth
Customs, shipbuilding, the Japan run; no figures.
Military
Coastal squadrons and garrison troops.
Threats
- Pirates in the islands
- Silting
Charter
None known. A Song city has no charter of liberties: it is governed by the prefect (zhizhou or zhifu) and the circuit offices, with its guilds (hang) and the neighbourhood wards under official supervision.
Council
Prefect; the shibosi head; the gentry families.
Communities
Japanese traders and monks, Goryeo envoys, gentry, monks of the Chan houses; Persian and Arab merchants appear in later Ningbo sources (not pinned for 1200).
Fairs and markets
Daily markets and temple fairs; no dated fair known.
Militia
Garrison troops under the prefect or the army command; no figures.
Walls and castle
Walled city on the river junction; the harbour wharves.
Trade and crafts
Porcelain, silk, books, shipbuilding; imports of Japanese sulphur, timber and gold, Goryeo ginseng and paper.
Places of note
- Dinghai (Zhenhai) harbour mouth: Outer port at the river mouth
- Tiantong and Ayuwang: Chan monasteries of the Five Mountains
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board names the city Mingzhou; since 1195 it is Qingyuan fu (the brief also uses Mingzhou).
Evidence: The later Baoqing Siming zhi (1227) is the great source; for 1200 we use only what was old by then.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: City and near land.
Primary sources for Southern Song
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
- Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
- Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
- History of the Song, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345, from the Song veritable records, state histories and the Huiyao). The official history of the Southern Song, which ruled from Lin'an (Hangzhou) in 1200. Read online
- History of Song, chapters 488 and 489: Jiaozhi, Dali, Champa, Zhenla, Pagan, Srivijaya, Java, Brunei, Chola and Tambralinga, Toqto'a (Tuotuo) and the Yuan history office, from the Song court records (1343 to 1345, from Song veritable records and court diaries). The Chinese court's record of its southern neighbours, compiled from Song archives. Read online
- History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
- History of the Song, the chapters on Xia and on foreign states, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office (1343 to 1345). The Song court's accounts of its neighbours, each arranged as an annal of embassies and wars. Read online
- Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online
12 more in the sources library for South China.
Sources and studies
- General knowledge of Song administrative and economic history (Hartwell, Von Glahn, Smith and Twitchett eds., Cambridge History of China vol. 5 part 2), not re-checked line by line in this pass
- OMNIA board, area sce notes (a lead, not a source)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.