The city of Kaifeng (K'ai-feng), Henan Province, served as the capital of the Northern-Song dynasty (960—1125). Kaifeng's importance as a trade center grew rapidly. The following is a description of activities there: . .

K'ai-feng was the marketplace for its immediate population, for places in the market area of which it was the center, and for more distant places in North or South China orforeign countries. Beyond the things produced or made in K'ai-feng or its satellite cities, it consumed or exported (sometimes after processing) many products or commodities from elsewhere. The first Sung emperors had fostered the textile industries, resettling "workers from Szechwan and the Yangtze delta. The iron and steel industries of the K'ai-feng market area for the first time replaced small-scale and more or less seasonal operations with highly organized enterprises dependent on more sophisticated...