Talk:Economy of the Song dynasty/GA1

GA Reassessment

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Commencing GA reassessment as part of the GA Sweeps process. ✽ Juniper§ Liege ^(TALK) 02:11, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

There are a few problems with this article, but most have to do with layout and minor issues such as overlinking, and so should be fixable.

• The "Agriculture" section does not need to be split up into the various subsections as there is not enough material in each to justify the division. In fact, it disrupts the flow of the text so I have removed them to present the text better. (except the economic crops subsection).

• Overlinking - there is a bit of unnecessasry linking in the article. I have unlinked some terms per WP:OVERLINK.✽ Juniper§ Liege ^(TALK) 14:48, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

• The biggest issue with this article is the lead:

"The Song Dynasty (960–1279) of China was a time of Chinese history marked by commercial expansion, economic prosperity, and revolutionary new economic concepts. Private trade grew and a market economy began to link the coastal provinces with the interior. The enormous population growth rate from increased agricultural cultivation in the 10th to 11th centuries doubled China's overall population, which rose above 100 million people (compared to the earlier Tang, with some 50 million people).

Beyond domestic profits made in China, merchants engaged in overseas trade by investing money in trading vessels that docked at foreign ports as far away as East Africa. The world's first development of the banknote, or printed paper money (see Jiaozi, Huizi), was established on a massive scale. Combined with a unified tax system and efficient trade routes by road and canal, this meant the development of a true nationwide market system in China. Although much of the revenue in the central government's treasury was consumed by the needs of the military defense budget, government taxes imposed on the rising commercial base in China refilled the monetary coffers of the Song government. For certain production items and marketed goods, the Song government imposed monopolies in order to boost revenues and secure resources that were vital to the empire's security, such as steel, iron, and chemical components for gunpowder."

It is overly vague in places and a bit stilted, so I have re-worked some wording to make the text flow a little better and provide some specific examples to foreshadow the article body. ✽ Juniper§ Liege ^(TALK) 15:04, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose):

   • Well written. Identified problems addressed. The lead is still probably too short and could do with expansion.

   b (MoS):

   • Conforms to manual of style.

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references):

   • Well referenced.

   b (citations to reliable sources):

   • Citations are to third party publications.

   c (OR):

   • No evidence of OR.

3. It is broad in its scope.

   a (major aspects):

   • Addresses major aspect of article subject matter.

   b (focused):

   • Remains focused. No digressions.

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy:

   • No issues concerning POV evident.

5. It is stable:

   • No edit wars etc.

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales):

   • Images are properly tagged and justified.

   b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

   • Images are accompanied by contextual captions.

7. Overall:

   Keep/Delist: KEEP ✽ Juniper§ Liege ^(TALK) 15:27, 13 February 2010 (UTC)