in northern China at that time. The same period witnessed extensive construction of Buddhist sites in the southern counties of Licheng and Changqing such as the Lingyan Temple and the Thousand-Buddha Cliff. In particular, a large number of cave temples were established in the hills south of Jinan.
Jinan remained the cultural center of the region during the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 CE). The Song rulers promoted Jinan to a superior prefecture in 1116 CE. Two of the most important poets of the Southern Song were both born in Jinan: Li Qingzhao, the most renown female poet in Chinese history, and Xin Qiji, who was also a military leader of the Southern Song Dynasty. Both poets witnessed a series of crushing defeats of the Song Dynasty at the hands of the Jurchens who gained control over almost half of the Song territories and established the Jin Dynasty in northern China. After Jinan came under control of the Jin Dynasty, both Li Qingzhao and Xin Qiji had to abandon their homes and reflected this experience in their works.
During the Civil War that followed the proclamation of Kublai Khan as Great Khan in 1260 CE, Jinan was at the center of a rebellion by Yizhou governor Li Tan against Mongol rule in 1262 CE. The rebellion was crushed in a decisive battle that was fought not far from Jinan in late March or early April 1262 CE. After losing 4000 of his troops in the battle, Li Tan retreated to Jinan to make his last stand. After defections of his defenders had made his position untenable, Li Tan tried to commit suicide by drowning himself in Daming Lake. However, he was rescued by the Mongols in order to execute him by trampling him to death with their horses.
Despite such violent conflicts, culture in Jinan continued to thrive during the Jin (1115–1234 CE) and Yuan (1271–1368 CE) Dynasties: One of the most renowned artists of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu ( 1254 -1322 CE) was appointed to the post of governor of Jinan in 1293 CE and spent
