In the Song Dynasty, the economy of Mingzhou developed further. The war on the northern border further improved the status of Mingzhou Port as a port in the south of the Yangtze River. With the appointment of a group of officials represented by Wang Anshi, the cultural education in Mingzhou began to develop. On the third day of February, 1143, the southern Jin army occupied Mingzhou for 17 days, and many buildings in the city were burned down, which became the biggest catastrophe in Ningbo's ancient history. After the capital of Lin 'an was established in the Southern Song Dynasty, in 1195 (the first year of Qingyuan in the Southern Song Dynasty), Zhao of Song Ningzong extended the title of Mingzhou to Qingyuan and was promoted to qingyuan prefecture. Mingzhou relies on the culture and talents brought by a large number of people migrating from the north to the south, as well as the geographical advantages and long-term trade traditions of neighboring capitals to develop its economy and culture, and the Siming School, a local school, began to emerge.
Yuehu became the academic center of Ningbo in the Song Dynasty in 147 (the seventh year of the Northern Song Dynasty), and Wang Anshi was appointed as the magistrate of Yinxian County. Re-demarcate the boundary of Dongqian Lake, build water conservancy and reduce taxes. At the same time, we set up county schools in Confucius Temple, advocated the wind of being practical and practical, and discussed knowledge and promoted education together with Yang Shi, Du Chun, Lou Yu, Wang Zhi and Wang Shuo, "Celebrating Mr.five". The official cultural and educational undertakings in Ningbo began. It is generally believed that the ethos of "all scholars and scholars learn books, and all scholars and scholars weave hemp" formed by Ningbo folks began at that time. Another famous literati who worked in Ningbo was Ceng Gong. In 178 (the first year of Yuanfeng), the Moon Lake was dredged in Zhiming Prefecture, Ceng Gong. Since then, Yuehu has become the academic center of Mingzhou (Qingyuan). After the Jingkang Rebellion, a large number of northern families began to move south, and the arrival of many famous families made Ningbo have a large number of outstanding talents. According to Zhejiang Tongzhi, during the Southern Song Dynasty, there were 983 Jinshi in Ningbo, accounting for 17% of the province. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Yang Jian, Yuan Xie, Shu Yi and Shen Huan, the "Four Misters of Yongshang Chunxi", taught and discussed Lu Jiuyuan's mind in Yuehu, forming the first local school in Mingzhou-Siming School. Many officials who gave birth to the Shi family in Yin County made it clear that the imperial court at that time was "once expensive, they were all four Ming people".
The Three-Character Classic written by Wang Yinglin in Yinxian County in the Southern Song Dynasty was born, which covers history, astronomy, geography, morality and some folklore. The so-called "familiar with the Three-Character Classic, we can know the eternal events". Based on historical reasons, San Zi Jing inevitably contains some spiritual dross and artistic defects, but its unique ideological value and cultural charm are still recognized by the world, and it has been regarded as a classic by China people in past dynasties and spread continuously. In 137 (the third year of Ming Hongwu), three shipping companies were established in Mingzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou. Since then, due to the Japanese invasion, the shipping company of Mingzhou (Ningbo) was shut down in 1374, 1523 and 1565, but it was reopened soon. From 1524 (the third year of Jiajing), the Portuguese entered Shuangyu Port for smuggling trade, and the port flourished for a while. The Portuguese built houses and churches and once lived for thousands of people. In 1542 (the twenty-first year of Jiajing), it was banned because "the tongfan ship caused pirates". Since then, Ningbo's private foreign trade has declined, but the official trade is still prosperous. The official trade between Ningbo and Japan and North Korea continues. The Sino-Japanese survey and trade system was also established at that time, and Ningbo was the only port that accepted Japanese tribute.
Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese pirates have been invading Ningbo constantly, and they have cooperated with local strongmen from inside to outside, and they have succeeded repeatedly. In 1548 (twenty-seventh year of Jiajing), Zhu Wan sent Lu Tang to attack Shuangyu Port, and the enemy was slightly relieved. However, after Zhu Wan was falsely demoted as an official the following year, the enemy resumed. Wang Zhi cooperated with the Japanese pirates in Japan and repeatedly attacked eastern Zhejiang. In March of 1553 (the thirty-second year of Jiajing), Yu Dayou destroyed the Japanese stronghold in Ligang. In the autumn of 1555 (thirty-four years of Jiajing), Qi Jiguang was transferred to the capital of Zhejiang Province, and in 1559 (thirty-eight years of Jiajing), he trained a new army to resist Japanese invaders, called Qi Jiajun. In 1558 (the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing), Hu Zongxian, the general manager of Zhejiang Province, lured Wang to Hangzhou and put him in prison for death. In July of the same year, Wang Kui fled from cengang, and the suffering of the enemy was relieved. In the Ming Dynasty, Ningbo became the region with the largest number of scholars in Zhejiang. Fang Xiaoru, a native of Ninghai, suffered from "ten families" for opposing Zhu Di's Jing Nan, which had an important influence on later Confucian scholars. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, Wang Shouren, a Yuyao thinker, praised Luo's theory of mind and body, founded Yangming's theory of mind, and put forward the concepts of "to conscience" and "the unity of knowledge and action", which greatly influenced the thoughts of late Ming Dynasty and Japan. In September of 1521 (the 16th year of Zhengde), Wang Shouren returned to Yuyao to give lectures at Zhongtian Pavilion, which influenced Qian Dehong and other scholars. After Wang Shouren, Yaojiang Academy inherited Wang Shouren's thought, and its representatives were Shen Guomo, Han Kongdang and Shao Tingcai. This school, together with the Jishan School founded by Liu Zongzhou, formed the most important school of Wang Xue in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties in eastern Zhejiang.
The Tianyi Pavilion Library, which was built and put into use after Fan Qin, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, retired from his old age, is the oldest existing private library in China and one of the oldest existing private libraries in the world. It was founded in 1561 (the 4th year of Ming Jiajing) and completed in 1566 (the 45th year of Ming Jiajing).
During the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty, Sun Chunyang, a businessman from Ningbo, opened Sun Chunyang's South Goods Shop in Suzhou. During the Wanli and Apocalypse years, Ningbo merchants gradually increased their business in medicinal materials and garments in Beijing. During the Chongzhen period, Yinxian Guild Hall, located in Guojiawan, Dongcheng District, Beijing today, was established, which marked the beginning of the appearance of Ningbo business group as a fellow business group.