languages_spoken_or_written fan ye 
The Song dynasty ( 960  1279 ) was an era of ___MASK80___ history that began in 960 and continued until 1279 . It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period , coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties , and was followed by the Yuan dynasty . It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first ___MASK80___ government to establish a permanent standing navy . This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder , as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass . The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China . The East China Sea is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of roughly . To the east lies the ___MASK23___ islands of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands , to the south lies the South China Sea , and to the west by the Asian continent . The sea connects with the Sea of Japan through the Korea Strait and opens to the north into the Yellow Sea . The sovereign states which border the sea include South Korea , Japan , the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) and the People ' s Republic of China . , formerly romanized as Chekiang , is an eastern coastal province of China . Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangsu province and Shanghai municipality to the north , Anhui province to the northwest , Jiangxi province to the west , and Fujian province to the south ; to the east is the East China Sea , beyond which lie the Ryukyu Islands of Japan . The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China ( 206 BC  220 AD ), preceded by the Qin dynasty ( 221  206 BC ) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period ( 220  280 AD ). Spanning over four centuries , the Han period is considered a golden age in ___MASK80___ history . To this day , China ' s majority ethnic group refers to itself as the " Han people " and the ___MASK80___ script is referred to as " Han characters ". It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang , known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han , and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty ( 9  23 AD ) of the former regent Wang Mang . This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods : the Western Han or Former Han ( 206 BC  9 AD ) and the Eastern Han or Later Han ( 25  220 AD ). Shanghai (": Zånhae " ), often abbreviated as Hu or Shen , is one of the four direct - controlled municipalities of the People ' s Republic of China . It is the most populous city proper in the world , with a population of more than 24 million . It is a global financial centre and transport hub , with the world ' s busiest container port . Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China , Shanghai sits on the south edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the ___MASK80___ coast . The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north , south and west , and is bounded to the east by the East China Sea . Shaanxi , formerly romanized as Shensi , is a province of the People ' s Republic of China . Officially part of the Northwest China region , it lies in central China , bordering the provinces of Shanxi ( NE , E ), Henan ( E ), Hubei ( SE ), Chongqing ( S ), Sichuan ( SW ), Gansu ( W ), Ningxia ( NW ), and Inner Mongolia ( N ). It covers an area of over with about 37 million people . Xi ' an  which includes the sites of the former ___MASK80___ capitals Fenghao and Chang ' an  is the provincial capital . Xianyang , which served as the Qin capital , is located nearby . The other prefecture - level cities into which the province is divided are Ankang , Baoji , Hanzhong , Shangluo , Tongchuan , Weinan , Yan ' an and Yulin . The Liu Song dynasty ( Wade - Giles : Liu Sung Ch ' ao ), also known as Former Song (  ) ( 420 - 479 CE ), was first of the four Southern Dynasties in China , succeeding the Eastern Jin and followed by the Southern Qi . Nanyang is a prefecture - level city in the southwest of Henan province , China . The city with the largest administrative area in Henan , Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast , Zhumadian to the east , Pingdingshan to the northeast , Luoyang to the north , Sanmenxia to the northwest , the province of Shaanxi to the west , and the province of Hubei to the south . Jiangsu , formerly romanized as Kiangsu , is an eastern - central coastal province of the People ' s Republic of China , one of the leading provinces in manufacturing electronics and apparel items , with its capital in Nanjing . Jiangsu is the third smallest , but the fifth most populous and the most densely populated of the 23 provinces of the People ' s Republic of China . Jiangsu has the second - highest GDP of ___MASK80___ provinces , after Guangdong . Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north , Anhui to the west , and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south . Jiangsu has a coastline of over along the Yellow Sea , and the Yangtze River passes through the southern part of the province . The , known in ___MASK23___ as the and also known as the , are a chain of ___MASK23___ islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan : the sumi , Tokara , Amami , Okinawa , and Sakishima Islands ( further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands ), with Yonaguni the southernmost . The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller ones are mostly coral islands . The largest of the islands is Okinawa . Shaoxing is a prefecture - level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in eastern Zhejiang province , China . It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in ___MASK80___ as (" Yuè ") from the area ' s former inhabitants . Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary , it borders Ningbo to the east , Taizhou to the southeast , Jinhua to the southwest , and Hangzhou to the west . As of 2010 , its population was 4 , 912 , 339 inhabitants . Among which , 1 , 914 , 683 ( Keqiao and Yuecheng districts ) lived in the built - up metropolitan area of Hangzhou - Shaoxing , with a total of 8 , 156 , 154 inhabitants . The Hou Hanshu (  ), or Book of the Later Han , also known as History of the Later Han , is a ___MASK80___ court document covering the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE . It was compiled by Fan Ye and others in the 5th century during the Liu Song dynasty , using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources . A prefecture ( from the ___MASK4___ " Praefectura ") is an administrative jurisdiction or subdivision in any of various countries and within some international church structures , and in antiquity a Roman district governed by an appointed prefect . Fan Ye ( 398 -- 445 ) , courtesy name Weizong (  ) , was a historian and politician of the Liu Song dynasty during the Southern and Northern dynasties period . He was the compiler of the historical text Book of the Later Han . The son of Fan Tai (  ) , Fan Ye was born in present - day Shaoxing , Zhejiang , but his ancestral home was in Nanyang , Henan . Fan Tai ( ___MASK80___  ) ( 355  428 ) was the father of Fan Ye (  /  ). Fan Tai was promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry ( ju qi jiangjun  ) during the Eastern Jin dynasty . A courtesy name (" zi "), also known as a style name , is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one ' s given name . This practice is a tradition in East Asian cultures , including China , Japan , Korea , and Vietnam . Korea is a historical state in East Asia , since 1945 divided into two distinct sovereign states : North Korea ( officially the " Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea ") and South Korea ( officially the " Republic of Korea "). Located on the ___MASK7___ Peninsula , Korea is bordered by China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast . It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the East Sea .