How did the economic center of gravity in ancient China gradually move southward?

The economic center of gravity in ancient China gradually shifted from the north to the south. From the Three Kingdoms, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, it gradually completed the transfer after Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Two Song Dynasties. Among them, the "Yongjia Rebellion" in the Western Jin Dynasty, the Anshi Rebellion in the Middle Tang Dynasty and the Jingkang Rebellion in the Late Northern Song Dynasty were important periods to accelerate the shift of economic focus.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Wu founded the country in the south of the Yangtze River, and the south became a foothold with developed economy. After the Yongjia Rebellion in the late Western Jin Dynasty, the north was in a state of war during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The south is relatively stable and regarded as a paradise by the Han people, so there has been an immigration tide. The relatively stable environment, the influx of immigrants from the north, some measures taken by the rulers and the relatively superior geographical environment have greatly promoted the economic development of the south and made the social and economic development level of the south catch up with the north.

After the reunification of the Sui Dynasty, the north once again became the focus of the national economy, but the north also relied on the supplement of the south in some aspects, and the excavation of the Grand Canal was the embodiment of this situation. But before the middle Tang Dynasty, the economic center of gravity was still in the north. The Anshi Rebellion not only marked the decline of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity, but also accelerated the process of the economic center of gravity moving southward, and the social economy in the north was seriously damaged. Most taxpayers in the Tang Dynasty relied on the south. During the Five Dynasties, the south was relatively stable and the north was constantly in war. The south has become an advanced region in China, with a population exceeding that of the north, and the national economic center once moved south.

After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, the northern economy recovered rapidly, and the political, economic and military center of China was still in the north, but it had shifted from west to east. The south of Kaifeng is close to Jianghuai, and the eastward shift of the political center is a reflection of the southward shift of the economic center.

After the destruction of Jingkang in the Northern Song Dynasty, the people in the north did not want to endure the oppression of the Jurchen nobles, and moved south one after another, and the population in the south suddenly increased. After the Shaoxing peace talks, the south was relatively stable and the economy developed rapidly. At this point, the Southern Song Dynasty formally confirmed the position of the South as the national economic center of gravity, and stably formed a pattern in which the South dominated the northern economy.