Culture of the Song dynasty

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Song Dynasty officials listening to guqin.
A painting of people boating in a lake. There is a small island in the center of the lake, connected to the mainland by an arched bridge. The entire lake is surrounded by a low wall.
Games in the Jinming Pool, by Zhang Zeduan, a painting depicting the imperial gardens of Kaifeng, Northern Song.

The Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) was a culturally rich and sophisticated age for China. It saw great advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy. Officials of the ruling bureaucracy, who underwent a strict and extensive examination process, reached new heights of education in Chinese society, while general Chinese culture was enhanced by widespread printing, growing literacy, and various arts.

Appreciation of art among the

gentry class flourished during the Song dynasty, especially in regard to paintings, which is an art practiced by many. Trends in painting styles amongst the gentry notably shifted from the Northern (960–1127) to Southern Song (1127–1279) periods, influenced in part by the gradual embrace of the Neo-Confucian
political ideology at court.

People in urban areas enjoyed

seasonal festivities and religious holidays
.

Visual arts

A small section of A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, by Wang Ximeng
Further information:
Chinese paintings
Cai Wenji and her Xiongnu
husband (Zuoxianwang) dating from the Southern Song.

landscape style had emerged.[3] Artists mastered the formula of creating intricate and realistic scenes placed in the foreground, while the background retained qualities of vast and infinite space. Distant mountain peaks rise out of high clouds and mist, while streaming rivers run from afar into the foreground.[4]

A handle-less jug which has a small bottom, a wide middle, and a very small opening at the top. The jug is white porcelain with a tan illustration of leaves or a vine wrapping around the entirety of the jug.
Song ding ware porcelain bottle, 11th century.

There was a significant difference in painting trends between the Northern Song period (960–1127) and Southern Song period (1127–1279). The paintings of Northern Song officials were influenced by their political ideals of bringing order to the world and tackling the largest issues affecting the whole of their society, hence their paintings often depicted huge, sweeping landscapes.[5] On the other hand, Southern Song officials were more interested in reforming society from the bottom up and on a much smaller scale, a method they believed had a better chance for eventual success.[5] Hence, their paintings often focused on smaller, visually closer, and more intimate scenes, while the background was often depicted as bereft of detail as a realm without substance or concern for the artist or viewer.[5] This change in attitude from one era to the next stemmed largely from the rising influence of Neo-Confucian philosophy. Adherents to Neo-Confucianism focused on reforming society from the bottom up, not the top down, which can be seen in their efforts to promote small private academies during the Southern Song instead of the large state-controlled academies seen in the Northern Song era.[6]

phoenix-headed
spout, gray sandstone with celadon coating, 10th century.

Ever since the

Southern and Northern Dynasties (420–589), painting had become an art of high sophistication that was associated with the gentry class as one of their main artistic pastimes, the others being calligraphy and poetry.[7] During the Song dynasty there were avid art collectors that would often meet in groups to discuss their own paintings, as well as rate those of their colleagues and friends. The poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101) and his accomplice Mi Fu (1051–1107) often partook in these affairs, borrowing art pieces to study and copy, or if they really admired a piece then an exchange was often proposed.[8] The small round paintings popular in the Southern Song were often collected into albums as poets would write poems along the side to match the theme and mood of the painting.[5]

Although they were avid art collectors, some Song scholars did not readily appreciate artworks commissioned by those painters found at shops or common marketplaces, and some of the scholars even criticized artists from renowned schools and academies. Anthony J. Barbieri-Low, a Professor of Early Chinese History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, points out that Song scholars' appreciation of art created by their peers was not extended to those who made a living simply as professional artists:[9]

During the Northern Song (960–1126 CE), a new class of scholar-artists emerged who did not possess the trompe-l'oeil skills of the academy painters nor even the proficiency of common marketplace painters. The literati's painting was simpler and at times quite unschooled, yet they would criticize these other two groups as mere professionals, since they relied on paid commissions for their livelihood and did not paint merely for enjoyment or self-expression. The scholar-artists considered that painters who concentrated on realistic depictions, who employed a colorful palette, or, worst of all, who accepted monetary payment for their work were no better than butchers or tinkers in the marketplace. They were not to be considered real artists.[9]

However, during the Song period, there were many acclaimed court painters and they were highly esteemed by emperors and the

Cai Wenji (177–250 AD) of the earlier Han dynasty. The Southern Song dynasty court painters included Zhao Mengjian (趙孟堅, c. 1199–1264), a member of the Imperial family, known for popularising the Three Friends of Winter.[10]

During the Song period Buddhism saw a small revival since its persecution during the Tang dynasty. This could be seen in the continued construction of sculpture artwork at the

Anyue, Sichuan province features a wealth of Song era Buddhist sculptures, including the Buddha and deities clad in lavish imperial and monastic robes.[11]

Paintings

  • A long, portrait-oriented painting. To the right is a small hill with a tree protruding from it. Two birds are swooping in from the upper right corner, one passing in front of the tree. In the bottom left corner is a hare with its head tilted upwards, facing the birds. The scroll uses dark inks, and has darkened and become orange with age.
    Magpies and Hare, signed and dated by Cui Bai, latter 11th century.
  • A portrait-oriented painting depicting two young children, a boy and a slightly older girl, playing with figurines on a table in a garden. Behind them is a tall rock flanked by branches of a flowering tree.
    Playing Children, by Su Han Chen, 1150.
  • A square painting depicting four cats, two in the bottom left tussling and two on the bottom right not doing anything in particular, in a garden with small flowering bushes.
    Cats in the Garden, by Mao Yi, 12th century.
  • A long, portrait-oriented scroll depicting a very tall mountain in the background and a stream with trees in the foreground, near the bottom of the painting. Contrary to the name of the painting, there are no travelers shown.
    Travelers among Mountains and Streams, by Fan Kuan, 11th century
  • A square painting depicting a small bird, with a grey top and white underbelly, perched on a branch that ends with a large cluster of orange tinted fruits, each about half the size of the bird.
    Loquats
    and Mountain Bird    , anonymous painter of the Southern Song
  • A square painting with irregularly sloped curved corners depicting a puffy bird with a blue-grey back and white underbelly perching on top of a bamboo branch.
    Bird on a Branch, Li Anzhong, early-mid 12th century
  • A square painting of a duckling with a grey back, white underbelly, and yellow-tinted face. The duckling is looking down towards the lower, right hand corner.
    A duckling, anonymous painter of the Southern Song
  • A square painting of four well dressed small boys playing in a circle. Unused toys sit in a corner. The background uses darker colors while the children are wearing mostly white and bright colors.
    Palace children playing, Northern or Southern Song
  • A landscape-oriented painting of gnarled looking trees on top of wavy mountaintops. A large collection or square, red seal stamps are arranged at the corners and edges of the work.
    Early Spring, by Guo Xi (c. 1020–1090), 1072.
  • A landscape-oriented painting showing a Buddha in red robes, seated in a throne, surrounded by sixteen adult figures and one baby. With the exception of the baby, all of the figures, including the Buddha, have blue halos.
    The
    Sakyamuni Buddha
    , by Zhang Shengwen, c. 1173–1176
  • A long, landscape-oriented painting. On the right half are several white birds flocking around the roof of a building. On the left half is a block of vertically oriented text.
    Painting by Emperor Huizong of Song, a renowned scholar and painter, 1112
  • A long, portrait-oriented painting of a bare-chested, bearded man sitting on a mat under a tree, reading.
    A Scholar in a Meadow, 11th century.
  • A portrait-oriented painting depicting a six-armed figure with a red halo sitting inside of a white lotus flower. The flower is resting on the back of a peacock, whose tail feathers are fully extended.
    The Peacock King, Gunsho Mingwang, 11th century.
  • A portrait-oriented painting of four birds perched on a set of vertical branches originating from the same short tree. A fifth bird is hiding behind the base of the tree.
    Birds in a Bamboo and Plum Tree Thicket, 12th century.
  • A square painting of a branch with a cluster of white flowers at the end. The branch is superimposed over a red square with rounded edges.
    The White Jasmine Branch, 12th century.
  • A painting of a cluster of bamboo sprouting up among rounded rocks. The background of the painting is bright yellow.
    Bamboos and Rock, by Li Kan (1244–1320)
  • A long, landscape-oriented scroll depicting a mountain range wrapped in clouds. The painting uses only dull colors.
    Cloudy Mountains, by Mi Youren (son of Mi Fu), 1130.
  • A landscape-oriented painting showing three men dressed in thick robes standing on a patch of land at the edge of a large stream, laughing with one another. Their attendants are on either side.
    Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are one, a painting in the Litang style, 12th century.
  • a portrait-oriented painting with a large white bird with a black head in the foreground, and several smaller birds perched on a cluster of small branches and fern in the background.
    Mountain Magpie, Sparrows and Bramble, by Huang Zhucai (933–after 993).
  • A square painting of a woman in an intricately decorated blue dress and a large blue hat, sitting in a throne. She is flanked by two female attendants in black dresses with flower covered black hats.
    Official Song era portrait painting of Empress Cao, wife of Emperor Renzong of Song
  • A landscape-oriented painting of a dragon drifting though clouds. The painting is done entirely in black, white, and grey.
    One of the Nine Dragons by Chen Rong, 1244.
  • A portrait-oriented painting of a man in white robes sitting under a tree with crooked bends. The painting, with the exception of the man in white, is in brown tones.
    Listening to the Wind, by Ma Lin, 1246.
  • A faded, landscape-oriented fragment of a painting depicting a black and white cat and a monkey staring at each other and clinging to one another.
    Monkey and cats, by Yi Yuanji, 11th century.
  • An oval painting mounted on a square background depicting a man in a white robe, holding a small stick, next to a tree. Strong wind blows everything in the painting leftward. The painting is done mainly in green tones.
    Holding a Wand Under the Pine Tree, by Xu Daoning, 11th century
  • A long portrait-oriented painting depicting two figures, the man to the right is a man in blue robes, facing right. The figure to the left is a much larger, bare-chested, outwardly male figure with an oversized head, also facing right.
    A Luohan, painted in 1207 by Liu Songnian, Southern Song period
  • A long, portrait-oriented scroll. The top quarter is a block of vertically oriented text, the bottom three fourths depicts a large yellow hen bending down near four yellow chicks, each about the size of the hen's head, all on a black background.
    Mother Hen and Chicks, anonymous Song artist
  • The Three Friends of Winter by Zhao Mengjian, c. 1199–1264
    The Three Friends of Winter
     by Zhao Mengjian, c. 1199–1264

Ceramics

  • A white, rectangular stone tablet with two sections. The top quarter section contains a carving of a fish, and the bottom three-fourths contain a shallow, circular indent for the ink.
    A
    Chinese inkstone with gold and silver markings, from the Nantoyōsō Collection, Japan
  • A white teapot with an almost perfectly spherical body and a large, cylindrical cap in the center which is topped with a small crown shaped embellishment. Several vertical lines are glazed into the body of the pot.
    A Song teapot in the Qingbai style, from Jingdezhen.
  • Longquan ware black stoneware vase with celadon glaze, Song dynasty.
    Longquan ware black stoneware vase with celadon glaze, Song dynasty.
  • A green-grey bowl with a small bottom, a very wide center, and a top opening wider than the base but not as wide as the center. A pattern of out-dented large leaves covers the body of the bowl.
    A cut and engraved sandstone and celadon jar from Yaozhou in Shaanxi, 10th–11th century.
  • A green-tinted grey teapot with a small base and a tall body in the shape of a cone with the smallest point facing downwards. The cap covering the point that the water is poured into is a tall cylinder, and fits into a thick, wide cylindrical rim in the pot.
    Stoneware with greenish glaze, Northern Song, 10th to 11th century.
  • A blue-green tinted grey pot with a wide bottom supported by three stubby legs, a wide body, and a smaller opening at the top. A large five petal flower pattern is out-dented on the body of the jar.
    A small celadon tripod from Yaozhou in Shaanxi, dated to the late 10th century.
  • A blue-grey bowl with a nearly perfect half sphere body, and a rim that narrows from the edge of the half sphere, then goes up slightly.
    A small "qinbai" porcelain jar from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, 11th–12th century.
  • A grey-green shallow bowl with a painted decoration on the inside consisting of dozens of small petals moving outward from the center of the dish in a spiral pattern.
    Gray sandstone dish with a celadon coating, decorated with a peony motif, from Yaozhou in Shaanxi, 11th–12th century.
  • A grey statue of a thin figure in a flat topped hat and loose robes holding a piglet. The robes and hat are painted brown.
    A funerary porcelain figurine in the personification of the Chinese zodiac, from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, 12th century.
  • A grey-green shallow bowl or curved plate with a large orchid design painted into the inside of the bowl.
    Celadon plate from Yaozhou in Shaanxi, 10th–11th century.
  • A blue-grey, cylindrical case with three white bowls inside of it.
    A Song ceramic box with floral medallions
  • A tall, thin, off white vase with an eastern dragon wrapped around the portion where the main body of the vase and the beginning of the rim area meet.
    A Southern Song (1127–1279) vase with applied dragons and painted floral sprays
  • A tan jar with several rounded bands carved into the body and five upward-facing tubes equidistantly spaced along the top area of the jar. The lid is crowned with a lotus flower carving.
    A Song five-tubed jar with lotus petal design, made of Longquan celadon
  • Two small polished black bowls. One has a large blue streak in it, the other has a polka-dot pattern on the inside consisting of black spots on a dark grey background. All of the coloring is created by features of the stone, rather than paint.
    A pair of stoneware tea bowls from the Song
  • Bluish white glazed figurine, Northern Song period
    Bluish white glazed figurine,
    Northern Song
    period

Sculpture

  • Seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), wood and pigment, 11th century
    Seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), wood and pigment, 11th century
  • The bodhisattva Kuan-yan (Guanyin), Northern Song dynasty, China, c. 1025, wood
    The bodhisattva Kuan-yan (Guanyin), Northern Song dynasty, China, c. 1025, wood
  • Bodhisattva, Song Dynasty, 11th–12th century
    Bodhisattva, Song Dynasty, 11th–12th century
  • White-glazed pillow in the shape of an infant boy; ding ware, Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)
    White-glazed pillow in the shape of an infant boy; ding ware, Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)
  • Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), limestone, Song dynasty
    Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin), limestone, Song dynasty
  • Standing Bodhisattva, China, Song dynasty, 12th century, painted wood
    Standing Bodhisattva, China, Song dynasty, 12th century, painted wood

Poetry and literature

Four lines of vertically oriented Chinese characters. The two on the left are formed from a continuous line, the calligraphy equivalent of cursive. The two on the right use a more traditional multiple stroke writing style.
Chinese calligraphy of mixed styles written by Song dynasty poet Mi Fu (1051–1107)
Main articles: Chinese literature, Chinese poetry, and Song poetry

Li Yu
(who ruled the Southern Tang under the name Li Houzhu) wrote some of his most famous works during his time as a prisoner at the first Song court, following the demise of his former kingdom: Li Yu is an important transitional figure, sometimes considered to be the first major Song poet, and sometimes acclaimed as the last major Tang poet.

Historiography in literature remained prominent during the Song, as it had in previous ages and would in successive ages of China. Along with Song Qi, the essayist and historian Ouyang Xiu were responsible for compiling the

Chinese characters in 294 volumes.[12] It covered the major themes and intricate nuances of Chinese history from 425 BC during the Warring States all the way up to the 10th century and the fall of the Tang.[12][13] In 1189 it was compiled and condensed into fifty-nine books by Zhu Xi (1130–1200), while this project was totally complete with the efforts of his disciples around the time of his death in 1200.[14]

A portrait oriented painting of a blue butterfly hovering to the left of a branch with hanging white flowers attached to it.
A butterfly and wisteria flowers, by Xü Xi (c. 886 – c. 975), painted around 970
A white, handle-less jar with a small base, a wider body, and then a long, thin, opening at the top. Four flower-shaped ornaments are attached to the point where the body and the stem of the jug meet.
Funerary vase and cover, stoneware in the Longquan celadon style; from Zhejiang province, Northern Song era, 10th or 11th century.

There were also very large encyclopedic works written in the Song period, such as the

kōans in the Blue Cliff Record of 1125, which was expanded by Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135). 'Travel record literature' ('youji wenxue') was also a popular category of literature during the Song period, which was accounts of one's own travel experiences typically written in narrative or prose styles, and included authors such as Fan Chengda (1126–1193).[15] A great example of Chinese travel literature in the Song period would be Su Shi's (1037–1101) Record of Stone Bell Mountain
.

There were many technical and scientific writings during the Song period. The two most eminent authors of the scientific and technical fields were

horological treatise of the Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao in 1092 AD, which described in full detail his ingenious astronomical clock tower constructed in the capital city of Kaifeng.[17][18][19][20][21] Although these two figures were perhaps the greatest technical authors in their field during the time, there were many others. For producing textiles, Qin Guan's book of 1090 AD, the Can Shu (Book of Sericulture), included description of a silk-reeling machine that incorporated the earliest known use of the mechanical belt drive in order to function.[22] In the literary field of agronomy, there was the Jiu Huang Huo Min Shu (The Rescue of the People; a Treatise on Famine Prevention and Relief) edited by Dong Wei in the 12th century, the Cha Lu (Record of Tea) written by Cai Xiang in 1060 AD, the Zhu Zi Cang Fa (Master Zhu on Managing Communal Granaries) written by Zhu Xi in 1182 AD, and many others.[23][24] There were also great authors of written works pertaining to geography and cartography during the Song, such as Yue Shi (his book in 983), Wang Zhu (in 1051), Li Dechu (in 1080), Chen Kunchen (in 1111), Ouyang Wen (in 1117), and Zhu Mu (in 1240).[25] Although an early form of the local geographic gazetteer existed in China since the 1st century, the matured form known as "treatise on a place", or fangzhi, replaced the old "map guide", or tujing, under the Song.[26] The major differences between the two were that fangzhi were products of local initiative and decision-making, were typically ten to fifty chapters in length, and were almost always printed for a large audience, whereas tujing were products of infrequent demands from the central government and were typically only four chapters long.[27] The widespread availability of printing in the Song allowed many ordinary people to access materials that were once read almost exclusively by experts, such as printed texts and handbooks on agriculture, childbirth, pharmacy and medicine, domestic economics, geography, divination, and Taoist rituals.[28][29]

Performing arts

Puppet Show
" (傀儡婴戏图轴), a painting by Liu Songnian (刘松年 1174–1224 AD)
peacock
feather banner like the one used in dramatical theater to signal an acting leader of troops.
Further information:
Beijing opera

government officials only went to restaurants and attended theatre performances during holidays.[33]

From Kaifeng, the

nanxi or nanqu) developed separately.[34] These two different regional genres of musical drama used different regional dialects of speech, recitation, and dialogue, entailed their own unique sets of role types (juese), and employed different types of musical instruments playing different tunes.[35] In Kaifeng drama, one singer was preferred for each play, accompanied by string and percussion instruments.[35] In Hangzhou drama, there was a multitude of singers on stage for each set, while string and wind instruments were preferred.[35]

Color and clothing distinguished the rank of theatre actors in the Song.

vernacular Chinese that imitated the common spoken language was not introduced into theatrical performances until the Yuan dynasty.[38] Although trained to speak in the erudite Classical language, acting troupes commonly drew their membership from one of the lowest classes in society: prostitutes.[39] Themes enjoyed in stage skits varied from satires about corrupt officials to comedy acts with titles like "Setting fire when delivering the soup," "Raising a ruckus in the winehouse," "The peony smells best when the wine is stolen," and "Catching a monkey in a restaurant."[40][41] The only xiwen play to have survived from the Southern Song era is the Zhang Xie zhuang yuan (张協狀元), featuring interludes such as a clown stealing food and wine at a wedding banquet in act 16 and a quick comedy sketch about renting a room in act 24.[42]

Surprisingly, actors on stage did not have a wholesale monopoly on theatrical entertainment, as even vendors and peddlers in the street, singing lewd songs and beating on whatever they could find to compensate for percussion instruments, could draw crowds.[43] This practice was so widespread that West claims "the city itself was turned into a stage and the citizens into the essential audience."[44] Many of the songs played for stage performances were tunes that originated from vendors' and peddlers' songs.[45] Contests were held on New Year's Day to determine which vendor or peddler had the best chants and songs while selling wares; the winners were brought before the imperial court to perform.[44] The Wulin jiushi of the Southern Song states that these vendors, when presented to the consorts and concubines of the palace, were lavished with heaps of gold and pearls for their wares; some vendors would "become rich in a single evening."[37] Theatrical stunts were also performed to gain attention, such as fried-glutinous-rice-ball vendors hanging small red lamps on portable bamboo racks who would twirl them around to the beat of a drum to dazzle crowds.[46] Puppet shows in the streets and wards were also popular.[37]

Festivities

Main article:
Traditional Chinese holidays
Along the River During Qingming Festival), a large horizontal scroll painting by Zhang Zeduan
(1085–1145)

In ancient China, there were many domestic and public pleasures in the rich urban environment unique to the Song dynasty. For the austere and hardworking peasantry, annual festivals and holidays provided a time of joy and relaxation, and for the poorest it meant a chance to borrow food and alcoholic drink so that everyone could join in the celebration.

Dongjing Meng Hua Lu (Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital) how the earlier Northern Song capital at Kaifeng would host festivals with tens of thousands of colorful and brightly lit paper lanterns hoisted on long poles up and down the main street, the poles also wrapped in colorful silk with numerous dramatic paper figures flying in the wind like fairies.[49] There were also other venerated holidays, such as the Qingming Festival, as it was supposedly this period of the year that was depicted in the artwork (mentioned above) by the artist Zhang Zeduan
(although some would argue the painting actually represented the time of autumn in the year).

A long, landscape-oriented scroll segment depicting twenty-two people, both men and women, in elegant garb at a party. Near the center of the scroll five women in light colored robes play flutes while a man in a black outfit plays a wooden instrument composed of a stick and a triangular block. At the far right of the scroll is an area with two men and two women behind a curtain wall, staring off canvas.
A half-section of the 12th-century Song remake of the Night Revels of Han Xizai, original by Gu Hongzhong;[50] the female musicians in the center of the image are playing transverse bamboo flutes and guan, and the male musician is playing a wooden clapper called paiban.

With the advent of the discovery of gunpowder in China, lavish fireworks displays could also be held during festivities. For example, the martial demonstration in 1110 AD to entertain the court of Emperor Huizong, when it was recorded that a large fireworks display was held alongside Chinese dancers in strange costumes moving through clouds of colored smoke in their performance.[51] The common people also purchased firecrackers from city shopkeepers and vendors, made of simple sticks of bamboo filled with a small amount of gunpowder.[48]

Although they were discontinued after the devastation of the

Anshi Rebellion (755–763) during the Tang dynasty, lavish Chinese carnivals were revived and once again celebrated during the Song dynasty.[52] Chinese carnival celebrations were held nationwide when the emperor felt a great occasion warranted a grand display of his benevolence and generosity, such as renowned military victories, abundant harvests after long droughts or famines, the granting of grand amnesties by the throne, sacrifices to deities, the installation of a crown prince, marriages within the imperial family, etc.[53]

It was during the Song dynasty that the custom of sitting on chairs instead of floormats became commonplace. However, the older practice continued to be customary for some time, with a Imperial birthday banquet in the Southern Song reportedly involving "officials sitting on sheets with purple edges on the ground". Southern Song scholar Lu You testified that the custom of low-level furniture was preserved in the palace but became phased out among the commoners, and the etiquette rules against the use of chairs was increasingly outdated.[54]

Clothing and apparel

Further information: Hanfu and Chinese clothing
long robes and official headgear of the emperor. This type of headgear, along with the headgear of officials and merchants, was made of black-colored silk.[55]
rujin
(儒巾) headscarf. Various kinds of headscarves became fashionable among the commoners and the educated gentry

There were many types of clothing and different clothing trends in the Song period, yet clothes in China were always modeled after the seasons and as outward symbols of one's social class.

Warring States in the 4th century BC, and were not exclusive to merchants;[57] every soldier wore trousers as part of his uniform, while trousers were also worn by the common people.[57] Although most men were cleanshaven, soldiers, military officers, and professional boxing champions preferred side-whiskers and goatee beards, as they were a sign of virility.[55]

The attire of Song women was distinguished from men's clothing by being fastened on the left, not on the right.[60] Women wore long dresses or blouses that came down almost to the knee.[60] They also wore skirts and jackets with short or long sleeves.[60] When strolling about outside and along the road, women of wealthy means chose to wear square purple scarves around their shoulders.[60] Ladies also wore hairpins and combs in their hair, while princesses, imperial concubines, and the wives of officials and wealthy merchants wore head ornaments of gold and silver that were shaped in the form of phoenixes and flowers.[57]

People in the Song dynasty never left their homes barefoot, and always had some sort of headgear on.[57] Shops in the city specialized in certain types of hats and headgear, including caps with pointed tails, as well as belts and waistwraps.[61] Only Buddhist monks shaved their heads and strolled about with no headgear or hat of any sort to cover their heads.[57] For footwear, people could purchase leather shoes called 'oiled footwear', wooden sandals, hempen sandals, and the more expensive satin slippers.[57]

Food and cuisine

Further information: History of Chinese cuisine
A bowl of reddish-purple, oval-shaped fruits with raisin texture.
Dried jujubes such as these were imported to Song China from South Asia and the Middle East. An official from Canton was invited to the home of an Arab merchant, and described the jujube as thus: "This fruit is the color of sugar, its skin and its pulp are sweet, and it gives the impression, when you eat it, of having first been cooked in the oven and then allowed to dry."[62]
Song dynasty painting showing commoners engaged in tea competition.

From the Song period, works such as

fagara, olives, ginkgo nuts, citrus zest, and sesame oil.[46][64]

Regional differences in culture brought about different types of foods, while in certain areas the cooking traditions of regional cultures blended together; such was the case of the Southern Song capital at

Sichuan cuisine that emphasized use of pepper, dishes and beverages from Hebei and Shandong, and coastal foods of shrimp and saltwater fish.[62] The memory and patience of waiters had to be keen; in the larger restaurants, serving dinner parties that required twenty or so dishes became a hassle if even a slight error occurred.[66] If a guest reported the mistake of a waiter to the head of the restaurant, the waiter could be verbally reprimanded, have his salary docked, or in extreme cases, kicked out of the establishment for good.[66]

Twelve people gather around an outdoor table decorated with a black tablecloth, several potted plants, and dozens and dozens of small dishes. Most of the people are talking with one another. Off to the side a servant stands watching, and in the bottom of the painting four people are crowded around a smaller table set up as a staging area for the preparation of tea.
A Chinese painting of an outdoor banquet, a Song dynasty painting and possible remake of a Tang dynasty original.

In the early morning in Hangzhou, along the wide avenue of the Imperial Way, special breakfast items and delicacies were sold.

mutton or goose, soups of various kinds, hot pancakes, steamed pancakes, and iced cakes.[68] Noodle shops were also popular, and remained open all day and night along the Imperial Way.[69] According to one Song source on Kaifeng, the night markets closed at the third night watch but reopened on the fifth, while they had also gained a reputation for staying open during winter storms and the darkest, rainiest days of winter.[70]

There were also some exotic foreign foods imported to China from abroad, including raisins, dates, Persian

Hellenistic Central Asia, grape-wine was often reserved for the elite.[62] Besides wine, other beverages included pear juice, lychee fruit juice, honey and ginger drinks, tea, and pawpaw juice.[72][73] Dairy products and farming were foreign concepts to the Chinese, which explains the absence of cheese and milk in their diet.[74] Beef was also rarely eaten, since the bull was an important draft animal.[74] The main diet of the lower classes remained rice, pork, and salted fish, while it is known from restaurant dinner menus that the upper classes did not eat dog meat.[75] The rich are known to have consumed an array of different meats, such as chicken, shellfish, fallow deer, hares, partridge, pheasant, francolin, quail, fox, badger, clam, crab, and many others.[46][65][70] Local freshwater fish from the nearby lake and river were also caught and brought to market,[74] while the West Lake provided geese and duck as well.[75] Common fruits that were consumed included melons, pomegranates, lychees, longans, golden oranges, jujubes, Chinese and Japanese quinces, apricots and pears; in the region around Hangzhou alone, there were eleven kinds of apricots and eight different kinds of pears that were produced.[46][74][76] Specialties and combination dishes in the Song period included scented shellfish cooked in rice-wine, geese with apricots, lotus-seed soup, spicy soup with mussels and fish cooked with plums, sweet soya soup, baked sesame buns stuffed with either sour bean filling or pork tenderloin, mixed vegetable buns, fragrant candied fruit, strips of ginger and fermented beanpaste, jujube-stuffed steamed dumplings, fried chestnuts, salted fermented bean soup, fruit cooked in scented honey, and 'honey crisps' of kneaded and baked honey, flour, mutton fat and pork lard.[46][70][77][78][79] Dessert molds of oiled flour and sugared honey were shaped into girls' faces or statuettes of soldiers with full armor like door guards, and were called "likeness foods" (guoshi).[80]

Philosophy

Main articles: Chinese philosophy and Chinese Buddhism
A wooden carving of a female human figure, sitting with one knee on the ground and one knee pointing up, with a hand resting on that knee. The carving includes loose fitting clothing, which is covered mainly in gold foil.
A wooden Bodhisattva statue from the Song dynasty

Song intellectuals sought answers to all philosophical and political questions in the Confucian Classics. This renewed interest in the Confucian ideals and society of ancient times coincided with the decline of Buddhism, which was then largely regarded as foreign, and as offering few solutions for practical problems. However, Buddhism in this period continued as a cultural underlay to the more accepted Confucianism and even Taoism, both seen as native and pure by conservative Neo-Confucians. The continuing popularity of Buddhism can be seen with strong evidence by achievements in the arts, such as the 100 painting set of the Five Hundred Luohan, completed by Lin Tinggui and Zhou Jichang in 1178.

The conservative Confucian movement could be seen before the likes of Zhu Xi (1130–1200), with staunch anti-Buddhists such as Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072). In his written work of the Ben-lun, he wrote of his theory for how Buddhism had so easily penetrated Chinese culture during the earlier

Southern and Northern Dynasties period. He argued that Buddhism became widely accepted when China's traditional institutions were weakened at the time. This was due to many factors, such as foreign Xianbei ruling over the north, and China's political schism that caused warfare and other ills. Although Emperor Wen of Sui (r. 581–604) abolished the Nine Ranks in favor of a Confucian-taught bureaucracy drafted through civil service examinations, he also heavily sponsored the popular ideology of Buddhism to legitimate his rule. Hence, it was given free rein and influence to flourish and dominate Chinese culture during the Sui and Tang periods; historian Arthur F. Wright describes Confucianism in this period as being reverted to a state of "stale archaism".[81]
Ouyang Xiu wrote:

"This curse [Buddhism] has overspread the empire for a thousand years, and what can one man in one day do about it? The people are drunk with it, and it has entered the marrow of their bones; it is surely not to be overcome by eloquent talk. What, then, is to be done?[82]

A portrait of an older, balding man in a half pale green and half sky blue robe. He is sitting on an armchair holding a thin wooden stick, possibly a folded up fan.
Portrait of the Chinese Zen Buddhist Wuzhun Shifan, painted in 1238 AD.

In conclusion on how to root out the 'evil' that was Buddhism, Ouyang Xiu presented a historical example of how it could be uprooted from Chinese culture:

Of old, in the time of the

Warring States, Yang Zhu and Mo Di were engaged in violent controversy. Mencius deplored this and devoted himself to teaching benevolence and righteousness. His exposition of benevolence and righteousness won the day, and the teachings of Mo Di and Yang Zhu were extirpated. In Han times the myriad schools of thought all flourished together. Tung Chung-shu deplored this and revived Confucianism. Therefore the Way of Confucius shone forth, and the myriad schools expired. This is the effect of what I have called "correcting the root cause in order to overcome the evil".[83]

Although Confucianism was cast in stark contrast to the perceived alien and morally inept Buddhism by those such as Ouyang Xiu, Confucianism nonetheless borrowed ideals of Buddhism to provide for its own revival. From Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva ideal of ethical universalism with benevolent charity and relief to those in need inspired those such as Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, along with the Song government.[84] In contrast to the earlier heavily Buddhist Tang period, where wealthy and pious Buddhist families and Buddhist temples handled much of the charity and alms to the poor, the Song government took on this ideal role instead, through its various programs of welfare and charity (refer to Society section).[85] In addition, the historian Arthur F. Wright notes this situation during the Song period, with philosophical nativism taking from Buddhism its earlier benevolent role:

It is true that Buddhist monks were given official appointments as managers of many of these enterprises, but the initiative came from Neo-Confucian officials. In a sense the Buddhist idea of compassion and many of the measures developed for its practical expression had been appropriated by the Chinese state.[86]

A small, green-grey statuette of a lion, sitting down and looking upwards. The lion's limbs are thin and angular.
A seated lion statue, celadon, from Yaozhou, Shaanxi, 11th to 12th century

Although Buddhism lost its prominence in the elite circles and government sponsorships of Chinese society, this did not mean the disappearance of Buddhism from Chinese culture.

Julian the Apostate promoting Roman paganism and Theurgy amongst the leading members of Roman society while pushing Christianity's influence into the lower classes, so too did Neo-Confucians of the 13th century succeed in driving Buddhism out of the higher echelons of Chinese society.[87]

In terms of Buddhist metaphysics, Zhou Dunyi influenced the beliefs and teachings of Northern Song-era Confucian scholars such as Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi (who were brothers), and was a major influence for Zhu Xi, one of the leading architects of Neo-Confucianism. They emphasized moral self-cultivation over service to the ruler of the state (healing society's ills from the bottom-up, not the top-down), as opposed to statesmen like Fan Zhongyan or Su Shi, who pursued their agenda to advise the ruler to make the best decisions for the common good of all.[88] The Cheng brothers also taught that the workings of nature and metaphysics could be taught through the principle (li) and the vital energy (qi). The principle of nature could be moral or physical, such as the principle of marriage being moral, while the principle of trees is physical. Yet for principles to exist and function normally, there would have to be substance as well as vital energy.[88] This allowed Song intellectuals to validate the teachings of Mencius on the innate goodness of human nature, while at the same time providing an explanation for human wrongdoing.[88] In essence, the principle underlying a human being is good and benevolent, but vital energy has the potential to go astray and be corrupted, giving rise to selfish impulses and all other negative human traits.

luohan and one attendant, by Lin Tinggui
, 1178 AD

The Song

Emperor Lizong of Song found his writing to be intriguing, reversing the policy against him, and making it a requirement for students to study his commentaries on the Four Books.[89]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 162.
  2. ^ Morton, 104.
  3. ^ Barnhart, "Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting", 93.
  4. ^ Morton, 105.
  5. ^ a b c d Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 163.
  6. ^ Walton, 199.
  7. ^ Ebrey, 81–83.
  8. ^ Ebrey, 163.
  9. ^ a b Barbieri-Low (2007), 39–40.
  10. ^ Cultural China. "Narcissus". Shanghai News and Press Bureau. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  11. ^ Sorensen, 282–283.
  12. ^ a b Pratt & Rutt, 478.
  13. ^ Brownlee, 19.
  14. ^ Partington, 238.
  15. ^ Hargett, 67–68.
  16. ^ Needham, Volume 1, 136.
  17. ^ Sivin, III, 32.
  18. ^ Needham, Volume 3, 208 & 278.
  19. ^ Wu, 5.
  20. ^ Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 445–448.
  21. ^ Bodde, 140.
  22. ^ Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 107–108.
  23. ^ Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 621.
  24. ^ Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 623.
  25. ^ Needham, Volume 3, 521.
  26. ^ Bol, 44.
  27. ^ Bol, 46.
  28. ^ Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 158.
  29. ^ Hymes, 3.
  30. ^ a b West, 69.
  31. ^ West, 69 & 74.
  32. ^ West, 76.
  33. ^ West, 98.
  34. ^ West, 69–70.
  35. ^ a b c d e West, 70.
  36. ^ a b c Gernet, 223.
  37. ^ a b c West, 87.
  38. ^ Rossabi, 162.
  39. ^ West, 72.
  40. ^ West, 78–79.
  41. ^ Gernet, 224.
  42. ^ West, 79.
  43. ^ West, 83–85
  44. ^ a b West, 85.
  45. ^ West, 91.
  46. ^ a b c d e West, 86.
  47. ^ a b c Gernet, 106.
  48. ^ a b Gernet, 186.
  49. ^ a b Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 128.
  50. ^ Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 148.
  51. ^ Kelly, 2.
  52. ^ Benn, 157.
  53. ^ Benn, 154–155.
  54. ISBN 978-1107167865
    .
  55. ^ a b Gernet, 131.
  56. ^ a b Gernet, 127.
  57. ^ a b c d e f g h Gernet, 130.
  58. ^ a b Gernet, 128.
  59. ^ Gernet, 127–128.
  60. ^ a b c d e f Gernet, 129.
  61. ^ West, 71.
  62. ^ a b c Gernet, 134.
  63. ^ a b c d e Gernet, 133.
  64. ^ West, 73, footnote 17.
  65. ^ a b Gernet, 137.
  66. ^ a b c West, 93.
  67. ^ Gernet, 133–134
  68. ^ a b Gernet, 183–184
  69. ^ Gernet, 184.
  70. ^ a b c West, 73.
  71. ^ Gernet, 134–135.
  72. ^ Gernet, 138.
  73. ^ Gernet, 184–185.
  74. ^ a b c d Gernet, 135.
  75. ^ a b Gernet, 136.
  76. ^ West, 73–74.
  77. ^ Rossabi, 78.
  78. ^ West, 75.
  79. ^ West, 75, footnote 25.
  80. ^ West, 89.
  81. ^ Wright, 92.
  82. ^ Wright, 88.
  83. ^ Wright, 89.
  84. ^ Wright, 93.
  85. ^ Wright, 93–94.
  86. ^ Wright, 94.
  87. ^ Brown, 93.
  88. ^ a b c Ebrey et al., 168.
  89. ^ a b Ebrey et al., 169.

References

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Art of the Song Dynasty.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Culture_of_the_Song_dynasty&oldid=1201972531"