| 794–1185 | 1120s |
| Heian period in Japan | First government-issued paper money introduced by Song |
| 804 | 1126 |
| Two Japanese Buddhist monks, Saichō and Kūkai, travel to China | Song loss of north China to the Jurchens; Song capital relocated to Hangzhou |
| 935–1392 | 1130–1200 |
| Koryŏ Dynasty in Korea | Zhu Xi, Neo-Confucian philosopher |
| 960–1279 | 1185–1333 |
| Song Dynasty in China; emergence of scholar-official class; invention of movable type | Kamakura Shogunate in Japan; Zen Buddhism flourishes |
| 995–1027 | 1234–1368 |
| Fujiwara Michinaga dominant at Heian court | Mongols’ Yuan Dynasty in China |
| ca. 1000–1010 | ca. 1275–1292 |
| The Tale of Genji | Marco Polo travels in China |
| 1119 | |
| First reported use of compass | |