The
Song DynastyThe Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
(960–1279 AD) was a culturally-rich and sophisticated age for
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. There was blossoming of and 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 appreciation for the various arts. The Song Dynasty also saw improvements of many cultural developments of previous centuries. This included refinements of the
TangThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
ideal of the universal man, who combined the qualities of scholar, poet, painter, and statesman that pursued interests in historical
writingsChinese classic texts or Chinese canonical texts refer to the pre-Qin Chinese texts, especially the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics . All of these pre-Qin text were written in classical Chinese...
,
paintingChinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
,
calligraphyEast Asian calligraphy is calligraphy using Chinese characters. It is widely practiced and revered in the Sinosphere. This most often includes China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The East Asian calligraphic tradition originated and developed from China. There is a general standardization of the...
, and the collection of antiquarian items such as hard-glazed porcelain and Chinese inkstones. People in urban areas enjoyed
theatrical drama on stageChinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE. There are numerous regional branches of Chinese opera, of which the Beijing opera is one of the most notable.-Dynastic periods:Canjun opera of the Three Kingdoms period was...
, restaurants that catered to a variety of regional cooking, lavish clothing and apparel sold in the markets, while both urban and rural people engaged in
seasonal festivities and religious holidaysThe Traditional Chinese holidays have been part of Chinese tradition for thousands of years; they are an essential part of Chinese culture. Many holidays are associated with Chinese mythology and folklore tales, but more realistically, they probably originated from ancient farmer rituals for...
.
The visual arts
Chinese paintingChinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
during the Song Dynasty reached a new level of sophistication with further development of landscape painting. The
shan shuiShan Shui refers to a style of Chinese painting that involves or depicts scenery or natural landscapes, using a brush and ink rather than more conventional paints. Mountains, rivers and often waterfalls are prominent in this art form.-History:Shan shui painting first arose to prominence during the...
style painting—"shan" meaning mountain, and "shui" meaning river—became prominent features in Chinese landscape art. The emphasis laid upon landscape painting in the Song period was grounded in
Chinese philosophyChinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. Chinese philosophy has a history of several thousand years; its origins are often traced back to the Yi Jing , an ancient compendium of divination, which uses a system of 64 hexagrams to guide action...
;
DaoismDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
stressed that humans were but tiny specks amongst vast and greater
cosmosIn its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek term κόσμος meaning "order, orderly arrangement, ornaments," and is the antithetical concept of chaos. Today the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The words cosmetics and...
, while Neo-Confucianist writers often pursued the discovery of patterns and principles that they believed caused all social and natural phenomena. The making of glazed and translucent porcelain and celadon wares with complex use of
enamelIn a discussion of material science, enamel is the colorful result of fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The powder melts and flows and hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic...
s was also developed further during the Song period.
Longquan celadonLongquan celadon refers to Chinese celadon produced in Longguan kilns which were largely located in Lishui prefecture in southwestern Zhejiang Province...
wares were particularly popular in the Song period. Black and red
lacquerwareLacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. The lacquer is sometimes inlaid or carved. Lacquerware includes boxes, tableware and even coffins painted with lacquer in cultures mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere.-History:...
s of the Song period featured beautifully-carved artwork of miniature nature scenes, landscapes, or simple decorative motifs. However, even though intricate
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
-casting, ceramics and lacquerware, jade carving, sculpture, architecture, and the painting of
portraitPortrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
s and closely viewed objects like birds on branches were held in high esteem by the Song Chinese, landscape painting was paramount. Chinese landscape artists mastered the formula of creating intricate and realistic scenes placed in the foreground, while the background pertained qualities of vast and infinite space, with distant mountain peaks rising out of high clouds and mist, as streaming rivers would run from afar into the foreground.
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. 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. 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. This change in attitude from one era to the next stemmed largely from the rising influence of
Neo-ConfucianNeo-Confucianism / is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. It formed the basis of Confucian orthodoxy in the Qing Dynasty of China. It was a philosophy that attempted to merge certain...
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.
Ever since the
Southern and Northern DynastiesThe Southern and Northern Dynasties following the Jin Dynasty and followed by the Sui Dynasty in China. It was an age of civil war and political disunity. However it was also a time of flourishing in the arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of foreign Mahayana Buddhism and...
(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. 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 ShiSu Shi was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...
(1037–1101) and his accomplice
Mi FuMi Fu , also known as Mi Fei , was a Chinese painter, poet, and calligrapher born in Taiyuan, Shanxi during the Song Dynasty. In painting he gained renown for his style of painting misty landscapes. This style would be deemed the "Mi Fu" style and involved the use of large wet dots of ink applied...
(1051–1107) often partook in these affairs, often borrowing art pieces to study and copy, or if they really admired the art piece then a persuasion to make a trade for it was often proposed. The small round paintings popular in the Southern Song were often collected into albums as poets would compose poems to the side to match the theme and mood of the painting.
Although they were avid art collectors, Song scholars did not readily appreciate artworks commissioned by those considered beneath their
social classThe four occupations or "four categories of the people" was a hierarchic social class structure developed in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou Dynasty and is considered a central part of the Fengjian social structure...
. Anthony J. Barbieri-Low, a Professor of Early Chinese History at the
University of California, Santa BarbaraThe University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Santa Barbara, California, northwest of Los Angeles...
, 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:
During the Northern Song (960–1126 CE), a new class of scholar-artists emerged who did not possess the tromp l'oiel 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.
Despite this attitude of scholar-officials, talented court painters were highly esteemed by the emperor and royal family. One of the greatest professional landscape painters given patronage by the Song court was
Zhang ZeduanZhang Zeduan , alias Zheng Dao, was a famous Chinese painter during the twelfth century, during the transitional period from the Northern Song to the Southern Song Dynasty, and was instrumental in the early history of the Chinese art style known as shan shui.-Biography:He was a native of Dongwu...
(1085–1145), who painted the original for the famous
Along the River During Ching Ming FestivalAlong the River During the Qingming Festival is the title of several panoramic paintings; the original version is generally attributed to the Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan . It captures the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital, Bianjing, today's Kaifeng...
scroll.
Emperor Gaozong of SongEmperor Gaozong , born Zhao Gou, was the tenth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the first emperor of the Southern Song. He reigned from 1127 to 1162. He fled south after the Jurchens overran Kaifeng in the Jingkang Incident, hence the beginning of the Southern Song dynasty 1127-1279...
(1127–1162) once commissioned an art project of numerous paintings for the
Eighteen Songs of a Nomad FluteEighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute are a series of Chinese songs and poems about the life of Han Dynasty poet Cai Wenji, accompanied by 18 scenes painted on a handscroll, commissioned by the Emperor Gaozong of Song .-Epitome:...
, based on the woman poet
Cai WenjiCai Wenji , also known as Cai Yan, was a Han Dynasty poet and composer. She was the daughter of Cai Yong, also a musician. Her courtesy name was originally Zhaoji, but it was changed to Wenji during the Jin Dynasty to avoid a naming conflict with Sima Zhao.She spent part of her life as a prisoner...
(177–250 AD) of the earlier
Han DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
. During the Song period
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
saw a small revival since its persecution during the
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. This could be seen in the continued construction of sculpture artwork at the
Dazu Rock CarvingsThe Dazu Rock Carvings are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings, dating back as far as the 7th century A.D., depicting and influenced by Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist beliefs...
in
Sichuan' is a province in Southwestern China with its capital in Chengdu. The current name of the province, 四川 , is an abbreviation of 四川路 , or "Four circuits of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from 川峡四路 , or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the...
province. Similar in design to the sculptures at Dazu, the Song Dynasty temple at Mingshan in
AnyueAnyue County is a county within a prefecture-level city, Ziyang, in Sichuan province of China. Its area is about 2,690 km² with a population of 1,538,400. Anyue is famous for her lemon plant and stone carvings....
, Sichuan province features a wealth of Song era Buddhist sculptures, including the Buddha and deities clad in lavish imperial and monastic robes.
Poetry and literature
Chinese literatureChinese literature extends back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novel that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
during the Song period contained a range of many different genres and was enriched by the social complexity of the period. Although the earlier
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
is viewed as the zenith era for
Chinese poetryChinese poetry is the most highly regarded literary genre in China. Traditionally, it is divided into shi , ci and qu . There is also a kind of prose-poem called fu . During the modern period, there also has developed free verse in Western style...
(with
Du FuDu Fu was a prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty.Along with Li Bai , he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations...
,
Li BaiLi Bai or Li Po was a Chinese poet. He was part of the group of Chinese scholars called the "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup" in a poem by fellow poet Du Fu. Li Bai is often regarded, along with Du Fu, as one of the two greatest poets in China's literary history. Approximately 1,100 of his poems...
,
Bai JuyiBai Juyi was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty. His poems mostly concern his responsibilities as governor of several small provinces. He is also renowned in Japan, where his name is read Hakkyo'i.-Life:...
, etc.), there were still significantly famous poets of the Song era. This included the social critic and pioneer of the "new subjective style"
Mei YaochenMei Yaochen was a poet of the Song dynasty. He was one of the pioneers of the "new subjective" style of poetry which characterised Song poetry....
(1002–1060), the politically controversial yet renowned master
Su ShiSu Shi was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...
(1037–1101), the eccentric yet brilliant
Mi FuMi Fu , also known as Mi Fei , was a Chinese painter, poet, and calligrapher born in Taiyuan, Shanxi during the Song Dynasty. In painting he gained renown for his style of painting misty landscapes. This style would be deemed the "Mi Fu" style and involved the use of large wet dots of ink applied...
(1051–1107), the premier Chinese female poet
Li QingzhaoLi Qingzhao Li Qingzhao (Traditional Chinese: 李清照; Simplified Chinese: 李清照, pinyin: Lǐ Qīngzhào; Wade-Giles: Li Ch'ing-chao,pseudonym Yi'an Jushi (易安居士 “Yi'an Householder”),) Li Qingzhao (Traditional Chinese: 李清照; Simplified Chinese: 李清照, pinyin: Lǐ Qīngzhào; Wade-Giles: Li Ch'ing-chao,pseudonym...
(1084–1151), and many others. Although it found its roots during the
Liang DynastyLiang Dynasty , also known as Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of Southern dynasties in China, followed by the Chen Dynasty...
(502–557 AD), the
ci formCi is a kind of lyric Chinese poetry. For speakers of English, the word "ci" is pronounced somewhat like "tsuh". It is also known as Changduanju and Shiyu .Typically the number of characters in each line and the arrangement of tones were determined by one of around 800 set...
of Chinese poetry found its greatest acceptance and popularity during the Song Dynasty, and was used by most Song poets. The high court
ChancellorChancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
Fan ZhongyanFan Zhongyan , born in Wuxian 吳縣, Suzhou , was a prominent politician and literary figure in Song dynasty China. He was also a strategist and educator...
(989–1052), ardent Neo-Confucian
Ouyang XiuOuyang Xiu , was a Chinese statesman, historian, essayist and poet of the Song Dynasty. He is also known by his courtesy name of Yongshu, and was also self nicknamed The Old Drunkard 醉翁, or Householder of the One of Six 六一居士 in his old age...
(1007–1072), the great calligrapher
Huang TingjianHuang Tingjian , is predominantly known as a calligrapher but was also admired for his painting and poetry. He was one of the Four masters of the Song Dynasty. Huang was a student of Su Shi at his school of literati painting....
(1045-1105), and the military general
Xin QijiXin Qiji was a Chinese poet, military leader, and statesman during the Southern Song dynasty.-Life:At the time of his life, northern China was occupied by the Jurchens, a nomadic people from what is now north-east China then regarded as barbarians. Only southern China was ruled by the Han Chinese...
(1140–1207) were especially known for their ci poetry, amongst many others.
HistoriographyHistoriography is the history of history, the aspect of history and of semiotics that considers how knowledge of the past, either recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted...
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
New Book of TangThe New Book of Tang , is a classic work of history about the Tang Dynasty edited by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi and other official scholars of the Song Dynasty. The emperor called for a revision of the former Book of Tang in 1044. The New Book was presented to the throne in 1060. It was given its...
by 1060, covering the history of the Tang Dynasty. Chancellor
Sima GuangSīmǎ Guāng was a Chinese historian, scholar, and high chancellor of the Song Dynasty.-Life, profession, and works:Sima Guang was born in 1019 in present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi to a wealthy family, and obtained early success as a scholar and officer...
(1019–1086), the political nemesis of
Wang AnshiWang Anshi was a Chinese economist, statesman, chancellor and poet of the Song Dynasty who attempted controversial, major socioeconomic reforms...
(1021–1086), was responsible for heading a team of scholars that compiled the enormous historical work of the
Zizhi TongjianThe Zizhi Tongjian was a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, under the form of a chronicles. In 1065 CE, Emperor Yingzong of Song ordered the great historian Sima Guang to lead with other scholars such as his chief assistants Liu Shu, Liu Ban and Fan Zuyu, the...
, a
universal historyUniversal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of mankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
completed in 1084 AD with a total of over 3 million written
Chinese characterA Chinese character, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese , Japanese , less frequently Korean , and formerly Vietnamese , and other languages...
s in 294 volumes. It covered the major themes and intricate nuances of Chinese history from 425 BC during the
Warring StatesThe Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, covers the period from 476 BCE to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE...
all the way up to the 10th century and the fall of the Tang Dynasty. In 1189 it was compiled and condensed into fifty-nine books by
Zhu XiZhu Xi or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
(1130–1200), while this project was totally complete with the efforts of his disciples around the time of his death in 1200.
There were also very large encyclopedic works written in the Song period, such as the
Four Great Books of SongThe Four Great Books of Song was compiled by Li Fang and others during the Song Dynasty . The term was coined after the last book was finished during the 11th century...
compiled first by
Li FangLi Fang , courtesy name Mingyuan , was a Chinese scholar, compiler and prime minister from the Song Dynasty known for his leading in the compilation for the three of the Four Great Books of Song. He was born in what is now Hengshui, Hebei and once served the Later Han and Later Zhou....
in the 10th century and fully edited by the time of Cefu Yuangui in the 11th century. The largest of these was the 1013 publication of the
Prime Tortoise of the Record BureauThe Prime Tortoise of the Record Bureau was the largest encyclopedia compiled during the Chinese Song Dynasty . It was the last of the Four Great Books of Song, the previous three encyclopedias published in the 10th century....
, a massive encyclopedia consisting of 9.4 million written Chinese characters divided into 1000 volumes. There were are also
rhyme dictionariesA rime dictionary, rhyme dictionary, or rime book is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary used for writing poetry or other genre requiring rhymes. It collates characters by rime and tone, instead of radical...
written during the Song Dynasty, such as the
JiyunThe Jiyun is a Chinese rime dictionary published in 1037 during the Song Dynasty. The chief editor Ding Du and others expanded and revised the Guangyun. It is possible, according to Teng and Biggerstaff , that Sima Guang completed the text in 1067...
of 1037. Although
Neo-ConfucianismNeo-Confucianism / is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. It formed the basis of Confucian orthodoxy in the Qing Dynasty of China. It was a philosophy that attempted to merge certain...
became dominant over
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
in China during this period, there was still a significant amount of Buddhist literature. For example, there was the collection of
ZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhyāna, which means "meditation" ....
Buddhist
kōanA kōan is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Zen Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition...
s in the
Blue Cliff RecordThe Blue Cliff Record is a collection of Chán Buddhist koans originally compiled in China during the Song dynasty in 1125 and then expanded into its present form by the Chán master Yuanwu Keqin ....
of 1125, which was expanded by
Yuanwu KeqinYuanwu Keqin was the Chinese Chan Buddhist monk who wrote commentaries on the one-hundred koans compiled by Xuedou Zhongxian...
(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
narrativeA narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events...
or
proseProse is the ordinary form of written language. The word "prose" is derived from the Latin prosa, which literally translates to "straightforward". Prose is adopted for the discussion of facts and topical reading, as it is often articulated in free form writing style...
styles, and included authors such as
Fan ChengdaFan Chengda , courtesy name Zhineng , was one of the best-known Chinese poets of the Song Dynasty , a government official, and an academic authority in geography , especially the southern provinces of China...
(1126–1193). A great example of Chinese
travel literatureTravel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
in the Song period would be
Su ShiSu Shi was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...
'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
Shen KuoShen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...
(1031–1095) and his contemporary
Su SongSu Song was a renowned Chinese statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song Dynasty .Su Song was the engineer of a water-driven astronomical clock tower in...
(1020–1101). Shen Kuo published his
Dream Pool EssaysThe Dream Pool Essays was an extensive book written by the polymath Chinese scientist and statesman Shen Kuo by 1088 AD, during the Song Dynasty of China...
in 1088 AD, an enormous encyclopedic book that covered a wide range of subjects, including literature, art, military strategy, mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, geology, geography, metallurgy, engineering, hydraulics, architecture, zoology, botany, agronomy, medicine, anthropology, archeology, and more. As for Shen Kuo's equally brilliant peer, Su Song created a celestial atlas of five different star maps, wrote the 1070 AD pharmaceutical treatise of the
Ben Cao Tu Jing (Illustrated Pharmacopoeia), which had the related subjects of botany, zoology, metallurgy, and mineralogy, and wrote his famous
horologicalHorology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...
treatise of the
Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao in 1092 AD, which described in full detail his ingenious
astronomicalAn astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.- Definition:...
clock towerA clock tower is a tower built with one or more clock faces. The clock tower is usually part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall, but many clock towers are free-standing....
constructed in the capital city of
KaifengKaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China...
. 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
SericultureSericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...
), included description of a
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
-reeling machine that incorporated the earliest known use of the
mechanical belt driveA belt is a looped strip of flexible material, used to mechanically link two or more rotating shafts. They may be used as a source of motion, to efficiently transmit power, or to track relative movement. Belts are looped over pulleys...
in order to function. In the literary field of
agronomyAgronomy is the science and technology of using plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology, chemistry, ecology, earth...
, there was the
Jiu Huang Huo Min Shu (The Rescue of the People; a Treatise on
FamineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
Prevention and Relief) edited by Dong Wei in the 12th century, the
Cha Lu (Record of
TeaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
) written by
Cai XiangCai Xiang was a Chinese calligrapher, scholar, official, structural engineer, and poet. Cai Xiang had the reputation as the greatest calligrapher in the Song Dynasty.- Life :...
in 1060 AD, the
Zhu Zi Cang Fa (Master Zhu on Managing Communal
GranariesA granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food from mice and other animals....
) written by
Zhu XiZhu Xi or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...
in 1182 AD, and many others. There were also great authors of written works pertaining to
geographyThis article explores the history of geography.-Ancient geography:The ancient Greeks saw the poet Homer as the founder of geography. His works the Iliad and the Odyssey are works of literature, but both contain a great deal of geographical information. Homer describes a circular world ringed by a...
and
cartographyCartography , or mapmaking, has been an integral part of the human story for a long time, possibly up to 8,000 years...
during the Song Dynasty, 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). Although an early form of the local geographic
gazetteerA gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social...
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, during the Song Dynasty. 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. The widespread availability of
printingPrinting is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing.-History:...
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 medicineTraditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM , includes a range of traditional medical practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medical system in much of the western world.TCM practices include...
,
domestic economicsThe Song Dynasty of China was a period 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...
, geography,
divinationDivination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual. Diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact with a supernatural agency...
, and Daoist rituals.
Performing arts
Theatre and drama in ChinaChinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE. There are numerous regional branches of Chinese opera, of which the Beijing opera is one of the most notable.-Dynastic periods:Canjun opera of the Three Kingdoms period was...
trace their roots back to the
academy of musicAcademy of Music is a name of many College or university school of music.It may refer to:* Boston Academy of Music in Boston, Massachusetts* Academy of Ancient Music in Cambridge, England* Academy of Music in Baltimore, Maryland...
known as the
Pear GardenThe Pear Garden or Liyuan , the first known royal acting and musical academy in China. It was founded during the Tang Dynasty by Emperor Xuanzong . It may be the first institutional Academy of Music in the world....
, founded in the early 8th century during the
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. However, historian Stephen H. West asserts that the Northern Song era capital
KaifengKaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China...
was the first real center where the performing arts became "an industry, a conglomerate involving theatre, gambling, prostitution, and food." The rise in consumption by merchants and scholar-officials, he states, "accelerated the growth of both the performance and the food industries," asserting a direct link between the two due to their close proximity within the cities. Of the fifty some theatres located in the 'pleasure districts' of Kaifeng, four of these theatres were large enough to entertain audiences of several thousand each, drawing huge crowds which nearby businesses thrived upon. The chief crowd that gathered was composed of those from
the merchant classThe four occupations or "four categories of the people" was a hierarchic social class structure developed in ancient China by either Confucian or Legalist scholars as far back as the late Zhou Dynasty and is considered a central part of the Fengjian social structure...
, while
government officialsScholar-bureaucrats or scholar-officials were civil servants appointed by the emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance from the Sui Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, China's last imperial dynasty. These officials mostly came from the well-educated men known as the...
only went to restaurants and attended theatre performances during holidays.
From Kaifeng, the
zaju dramatic style employed the
beiqu style of poetic lyrics. After the capital had shifted to
Hangzhou' is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the People's Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located southwest of Shanghai, as of 2004 the entire Hangzhou Region or Prefecture-level city had a registered population of 6.4 million people...
, the dramatic style of
xiwen (also
nanxiNanxi is an early form of Chinese drama, developed from ancient traditions of mime, singing, and dancing during the Song Dynasty in the 12th century AD...
or
nanqu) developed separately. 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 tunesThe music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
. In Kaifeng drama, one singer was preferred for each play, accompanied by string and percussion instruments. In Hangzhou drama, there was a multitude of singers on stage for each set, while string and wind instruments were preferred.
Color and clothing distinguished the rank of theatre actors in the Song. Similar to vendors who wore specific outfits to identify which
guildA guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade.The earliest guilds were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel and a secret society...
they belonged to, actors' generic costumes reflected the role type they played on stage, whether it be student, young man, young woman, official, soldier, etc. Actors honed their theatrical skills at drama schools. Musicians also found work in the theatre industry, since plays performed in the markets were often accompanied by music. Actors on stage always spoke their lines in
Classical ChineseClassical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
;
vernacular ChineseVernacular Chinese is a style or register of the written Chinese language essentially modeled after the spoken language and associated with Standard Mandarin. This term is not to be confused with the various present-day vernacular spoken varieties of Chinese...
that imitated the
common spoken languageMandarin , is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and south-western China. When taken as a separate language, as is often done in academic literature, the Mandarin language has more native speakers than any other language...
was not introduced into theatrical performances until the
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was both the continuation of the Mongol Empire and the Mongol founded historical state in Mongolia and China, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he had his grandfather Genghis Khan placed on the...
. Although trained to speak in the erudite Classical language, acting troupes commonly drew their membership from one of the lowest classes in society: prostitutes. 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." 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.
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. This practice was so widespread that West claims "the city itself was turned into a stage and the citizens into the essential audience." Many of the songs played for stage performances were tunes that originated from vendors' and peddlers' songs. Contests were held on
New Year's DayChinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the...
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. 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." 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.
PuppetA puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by a puppeteer. It is usually a depiction of a human character, and is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre...
shows in the streets and wards were also popular.
Festivities
In ancient China there were many domestic and public pleasures in the rich urban environment unique to the Song Dynasty. For the austere and laborious 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. People would gather around their local sanctuary to observe the festival's games, theatrical entertainments, juggling, clowning, and other performances. The fesitivities on
New YearsChinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the...
were considered the most important of the year by the Chinese, its momentous occasion correlating with the beginning of February on the Western calendar. Preparations for the New Years festival took place over a month's time, as people busied themselves painting
door godA door god is a Chinese decoration placed on each side of an entry to a temple, home, business, etc., which is believed to keep evil spirits from entering....
s, crafting paper streamers with lucky characters for "welcoming the spring," making printed images of
Zhong KuiZhong Kui is a figure of Chinese mythology. Traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons, his image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are...
, and cooking special kinds of foods such as porridge of red haricot beans. The widely popular
Lantern FestivalThe Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also sometimes known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore, Malaysia...
was held every 15th day of 1st lunar month. According to the scholar official
Zhou MiZhou Mi is a Chinese female badminton player. During much of her career she represented the People's Republic of China, but since 2007 she has represented Hong Kong which has a sports program and teams independent from those of the mainland.-Career:Since 1998 Zhou has won more than twenty...
(1232–1298 AD), during the Xiao-Zong period (1163–1189 AD) the best lantern festivals were held at
SuzhouSuzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction...
and
Fuzhou' is the capital and the largest municipality of Fujian province, People's Republic of China.The city is also referred to as Rongcheng ' ' onMouseout='HidePop("46253")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Hangzhou">Hangzhou
' is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the People's Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located southwest of Shanghai, as of 2004 the entire Hangzhou Region or Prefecture-level city had a registered population of 6.4 million people...
was also known for the its great variety of colorful
paper lanternPaper lanterns come in various shapes and sizes, as well as various methods of construction. The easiest form, is simply a paper bag with a candle placed inside, although more complicated lanterns consist of a collapsible bamboo or metal frame of hoops, covered with tough paper.-In Asian...
s, in all shapes and sizes. Written in his memoirs, Meng Yuanlao (active 1126-1147) recalled how the earlier Northern Song capital at
KaifengKaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China...
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. There were also other venerated holidays, such as the
Qingming FestivalThe Qingming Festival , Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice , usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar...
, as it was supposedly this period of the year that was depicted in the artwork (mentioned above) by the artist
Zhang ZeduanZhang Zeduan , alias Zheng Dao, was a famous Chinese painter during the twelfth century, during the transitional period from the Northern Song to the Southern Song Dynasty, and was instrumental in the early history of the Chinese art style known as shan shui.-Biography:He was a native of Dongwu...
(although some would argue the painting actually represented the time of autumn in the year).
With the advent of the discovery of
gunpowderGunpowder, also called black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. The term gunpowder also refers broadly to any...
in China, lavish
fireworksA firework is a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
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. The common people also purchased
firecrackerA firecracker is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing, to contain the explosive compound...
s from city shopkeepers and vendors, made of simple sticks of bamboo filled with a small amount of gunpowder.
Although they were discontinued after the devastation of the Anshi Rebellion (755–763) during the
Tang DynastyThe Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
, lavish Chinese
carnivalCarnival is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during January and February...
s were revived and once again celebrated during the Song Dynasty. Nationwide 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
harvestIn agriculture, the harvest is the processes of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. The harvest marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop, and this is the...
s after long
droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
s or
famineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
s, the granting of grand
amnestiesAmnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. The word has the same root as amnesia...
by the throne, sacrifices to deities, the installation of a
crown princeA Crown Prince or Crown Princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
, marriages within the imperial family, etc.
Clothing and apparel
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.
CoalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
used for heating one's home was scarce and often expensive, so people often wore clothing with extra silk-floss and fur-lined coats in the winter. The clothing material preferred by the rich was
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
, and for special occasions they had
silk robesHan Chinese clothing or Hanfu , also known as Hanzhuang , Huafu , or guzhuang , and sometimes referred in English sources simply as Silk Robe or Chinese Silk Robe refers to the historical dress of the Han Chinese people, which was worn for millennia before the conquest by...
with gold
brocadeBrocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and with or without gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian broccato meaning "embossed cloth," originally past participle of the verb broccare...
. The clothing material used by the poor was often
hempHemp is the name of the soft, durable fiber that is cultivated from plants of the Cannabis genus, cultivated only for industrial use....
en cloth, but
cottonCotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
clothes were also used, the latter being most widely available in
the southNorthern China and Southern China ,also referred to in China as simply the North and the South, are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions has never been precisely defined...
. The types of clothes worn by peasants and commoners were largely uniform in appearance (with color standard of black and white), and so was the case for the upper class and elite. In fact, wealthy and leading members of society followed accepted guidelines and ritual requirements for clothing. In the upper class, each stratified grade in the social hierarchy was distinguished by the color and specific ornamentation of robes, the shape and type of headgear, and even the style of girdle worn. This rigid order was especially so during the beginning of the dynasty. However, the lines of hierarchy slowly began to blur as the color purple, once reserved solely for the attire of third rank officials or higher, began to diffuse amongst all ranks of officials who bore the color indiscriminately. Along with lower grade civil officials in the government protesting the rigid regulations for attire, the wealthy members of the merchant class also contributed to the disintegration of rules for ceremonial attire worn only by certain members of society. Yet there were still visible distinctions between civil officials and the class of rich merchants and business owners; the officials were distinguished by
their long robesHan Chinese clothing or Hanfu , also known as Hanzhuang , Huafu , or guzhuang , and sometimes referred in English sources simply as Silk Robe or Chinese Silk Robe refers to the historical dress of the Han Chinese people, which was worn for millennia before the conquest by...
reaching to the ground, while merchants often wore a blouse that came down below the waist with
trousersFor the TrouSerS implementation of the TCG Software Stack, see Trusted Computing Group.Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
. Pants and trousers were introduced to China during the Warring States in the 4th century BC, and were not exclusive to merchants; every soldier wore trousers as part of his uniform, while trousers were also worn by the common people. Although most men were cleanshaven, soldiers, military officers, and
professional boxingChinese martial arts, sometimes referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , consist of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries. Those fighting styles can be classified according to common themes that are identified as "families" , "sects" ...
champions preferred side-whiskers and goatee beards, as they were a sign of virility.
The attire of Song women was distinguished from men's clothing by being fastened on the left, not on the right. Women wore long dresses or blouses that came down almost to the knee. They also wore skirts and jackets with short or long sleeves. When strolling about outside and along the road, women of wealthy means chose to wear square purple
scarvesA scarf is a piece of fabric worn on or near the head or around the neck for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons.-Uses and types:In cold climates, a thick knitted scarf, often of wool, is tied around the neck to keep warm...
around their shoulders. 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
phoenixesFenghuang are mythological birds of East Asia that reign over all other birds. The males are called Feng and the females Huang. In modern times, however, such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and the Feng and Huang are blurred into a single feminine entity so that the bird can be...
and flowers.
People in the Song Dynasty never left their homes barefoot, and always had some sort of headgear on. Shops in the city specialized in certain types of hats and headgear, including caps with pointed tails, as well as belts and waistwraps. Only Buddhist monks shaved their heads and strolled about with no headgear or hat of any sort to cover their heads. For footwear, people could purchase leather shoes called 'oiled footwear', wooden sandals, hempen sandals, and the more expensive
satinSatin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibers such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...
slippers.
Food and cuisine
From the Song period, there are many surviving lists of names for entrées and food dishes in customer
menuIn a restaurant, a menu is a printed brochure or public display that shows the list of options for a diner to select. A menu may be a la carte or table d'hôte....
s for restaurants and taverns, as well as for feasts at banquets, festivals and carnivals, and modest dining. Many of the peculiar names for these dishes do not provide clues as to what types of food ingredients were used. However, judging from the listed seasonings they used for these dishes, such as pepper, ginger,
pimentoThe pimento, pimiento, or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper that measures 7 to 10 cm long and 5 to 7 cm wide . The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper...
, soya sauce, oil, salt, and vinegar, Song era cuisine is perhaps not too different from the
Chinese cuisineChinese cuisine originated in China and has become widespread in many other parts of the world — from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa. In recent years, connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine have also sprouted in Eastern Europe and South Asia...
of today. Other additional seasonings and ingredients included
walnutWalnuts are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts but not the hickories in the same family.The 21 species...
s,
turnipThe turnip or white turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot...
s, crushed Chinese cardamon kernels,
fagaraFagara is a genus of plant in family Rutaceae. It is also known as prickly ash and is commonly used in Chinese cuisine. Its Chinese name is huajiao 花椒. When eaten, it produces a mildly spicy and numbing effect in the mouth, a distinct component of the mala 麻辣 style of Chinese cooking...
,
oliveThe Olive is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin, from Lebanon, Syria and the maritime parts of Turkey and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea...
s, ginkgo nuts,
citrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of the world. The most well known examples are the orange, the lemon, the grapefruit, and the lime. The Latin word citrus was borrowed from ancient Greek kedros...
zest, and
sesame oilSesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. Besides being used as a cooking oil in South India, it is often used as a flavor enhancer in Chinese, Korean, and to a lesser extent Southeast Asian cuisine.-Composition:Sesame oil is composed of the following fatty acids:Sesame oil...
.
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
Hangzhou' is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the People's Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located southwest of Shanghai, as of 2004 the entire Hangzhou Region or Prefecture-level city had a registered population of 6.4 million people...
. After the mass exodus from the north, people brought
HenanHenan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the eastern central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is 豫 , named after Yuzhou Province , a Han Dynasty province that included parts of Henan...
-style cooking and foods (popular in the previous Northern Song capital at
KaifengKaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China...
) to Hangzhou, which was blended with the cooking traditions of
ZhejiangZhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
. However, records indicate that already in the Northern Song period, the first capital at Kaifeng sported restaurants that served southern Chinese cuisine. This catered to capital officials whose native provinces were in the southeast, and would have found northern cuisine lacking in sufficient seasoning for their tastes. In fact, texts from the Song era provide the first use of the phrases
nanshi,
beishi, and
chuanfan to refer specifically to northern, southern, and Sichuan cooking, respectively. Many restaurants were known for their specialties; for example, there was one restaurant in Hangzhou that served only iced foods, while some restaurants catered to those who wanted either hot, warm, room temperature, or cold foods. Descendants of those from Kaifeng owned most of the restaurants found in Hangzhou, but many other regional varieties in foodstuffs and cooking were sponsored by restaurants. This included restaurants catering
Sichuan cuisineSzechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in Sichuan Province of southwestern China famed for bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting from liberal use of garlic and chili peppers, as well as the unique flavour of the...
that emphasized use of pimento pepper, dishes and beverages from
Hebei' is a northern province of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province , a Han Dynasty province that included southern Hebei...
and
ShandongFor the people of Shandong, see Shandong people' is a coastal province of eastern People's Republic of China. Its abbreviation is Lǔ, after the state of Lu that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
, and coastal foods of
shrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
and saltwater fish. 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. 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.
In the early morning in Hangzhou, along the wide avenue of the Imperial Way, special breakfast items and delicacies were sold. This included fried
tripeTripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals.- Description :Beef tripe is usually made from only the first three chambers of a cow's stomach: the rumen , the reticulum , and the omasum . Abomasum tripe is seen much less frequently, owing to its glandular tissue content...
, pieces of mutton or
gooseThe word Goose is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
, soups of various kinds, hot pankaces, steamed pancakes, and iced cakes.
Noodle shopsChinese noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation....
were also popular, and remained open all day and night along the Imperial Way. According to one Song Dynasty 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.
There were also some exotic foreign foods imported to China from abroad, including
raisinRaisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world, such as Armenia, the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Syria, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern and...
s,
datesPhoenix dactylifera , commonly known as the Date Palm, is a palm in the genus Phoenix, extensively cultivated for its edible sweet fruit...
, Persian
jujubeZiziphus zizyphus , commonly called Jujube, Red Date, or Chinese Date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily for its fruits.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought to be in...
s, and
grape wineWine in China refers to grape wines that are produced in China. Grape wine has a long history in China, along with other Chinese alcoholic beverages....
;
rice wineRice wine is an alcoholic beverage made from rice. Unlike wine, which is made by fermentation of naturally sweet grapes and other fruit, rice "wine" results from the fermentation of rice starch converted to sugars...
was more common in China, a fact noted even by the 13th century
VenetianVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
traveler
Marco PoloMarco Polo was a merchant from the Venetian Republic who wrote Il Milione, which introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, voyaged through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for...
. Although grape-based wine had been known in China since the ancient
Han DynastyThe Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
Chinese ventured into
HellenisticHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BC to about 146 BC ; note, however that Koine Greek language and Hellenistic philosophy and religion are also indisputably elements of the Roman era till Late Antiquity...
Central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
, grape-wine was often reserved for the elite. Besides wine, other beverages included pear juice,
lycheeThe lychee or laichi and lichu is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is a tropical fruit tree. It is primarily found in China, India, Madagascar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Southern Africa and Mexico...
fruit juice,
honeyHoney is a sweet food made by some insects using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
and
gingerGinger is a tuber which is consumed whole as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale....
drinks, tea, and
pawpawPawpaw is a genus of small clustered trees with large leaves and fruit, native to North America. The genus includes the largest edible fruit indigenous to the continent. They are understory trees found in well drained deep fertile bottomland and hilly upland habitat...
juice.
DairyA dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. Typically it is a farm or section of a farm that is concerned with the production of milk, butter and...
products and farming were foreign concepts to the Chinese, which explains the absence of cheese and milk in their diet. Beef was also rarely eaten, since the bull was an important draft animal. The main consumptionary 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. The rich are known to have consumed an array of different meats, such as
chickenThe chicken is a domesticated fowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other bird...
,
shellfishShellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
,
fallow deerThe Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae.The male is a buck, the female is a doe, and the young a fawn. Bucks are 140-160 cm long and 90-100 cm shoulder height, and 60-85 kg in weight; does are 130-150 cm long and 75-85 cm shoulder height, and 30-50 kg in weight. Fawns...
,
hareHares and jackrabbits are leporidaes belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets.Hares are very fast-moving...
s,
partridgePartridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group.These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East...
,
pheasantPheasants is subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have longer tails. Males play no part in...
,
francolinThe francolins are birds of the genus Francolinus. They are members of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. Francolins are terrestrial birds of the Old World that feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds. Most of the members have a hooked upper beak, tails with fourteen feathers and in many of...
,
quailQuail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds in the pheasant family Phasianidae. New World quails and buttonquails are not closely related but named for their similar appearance and behaviour....
,
foxFox is a common name for many species of carnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail ....
,
badgerBadgers, occasionally referred to as brocks, are short-legged, heavy-set carnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are some eight species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
,
clamIn the USA, the word "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, is as a general term covering all bivalve mollusks. The word can also be used in a more limited sense, to mean bivalves which burrow in sediment, as opposed to ones which attach themselves to the substrate , or ones which can...
,
crabCrabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax.Crabs have a soft body covered with a hard shell. They are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and armed with a...
, and many others. Local freshwater fish from the nearby lake and river were also caught and brought to market, while the
West LakeXī Hú is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic center of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province of eastern China.The lake is divided by the causeways of Sū Dī , Bái Dī , and Yánggōng Dī .-Overview:...
provided geese and
duckDuck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks...
as well. Common fruits that were consumed included
melonMelon is a name given to various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit. Melon can refer to either the plant or the fruit, which is a false berry. Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of muskmelons...
s,
pomegranateThe pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight meters tall. The pomegranate is native to Southwest Asia and has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times...
s,
lycheeThe lychee or laichi and lichu is the sole member of the genus Litchi in the soapberry family Sapindaceae. It is a tropical fruit tree. It is primarily found in China, India, Madagascar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Southern Africa and Mexico...
s,
longanThe longan The longan The longan in Chinese, Ash-fol (আঁশফল) in Bengali, lengkeng in Indonesia, mata kucing (literally...
s,
golden orangesAn orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus ×sinensis and its fruit. The orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo and tangerine...
,
jujubeZiziphus zizyphus , commonly called Jujube, Red Date, or Chinese Date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily for its fruits.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation, but is thought to be in...
s, Chinese and Japanese
quinceThe Quince , or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region...
s,
apricotThe Apricot is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus...
s and
pearThe pear is a tree of genus Pyrus and also the name of the tree's edible pomaceous fruit. The pear is classified within Maloideae, a subfamily within Rosaceae...
s; in the region around Hangzhou alone, there were eleven kinds of apricots and eight different kinds of pears that were produced. Specialties and combination dishes in the Song period included scented shellfish cooked in rice-wine, geese with apricots,
lotus-seedLotus seeds or Lotus nuts are the seeds of plants in the genus Nelumbo, particularly the species Nelumbo nucifera. The seeds are of great importance to East Asian cuisine and are used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese desserts. The seeds are most commonly sold in the...
soup, pimento soup with
musselThe common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s and fish cooked with
plumA plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and the side buds solitary , the flowers being grouped 1-5 together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one side,...
s, sweet soya soup, baked
sesameSesame is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India...
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
chestnutChestnut is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The Chestnut belongs to the same Fagaceae family as the Oak and Beech...
s, salted fermented bean soup, fruit cooked in scented honey, and 'honey crisps' of kneaded and baked honey, flour, mutton fat and pork lard. 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).
Philosophy
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
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
, 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 Daoism, 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 TingguiLin Tinggui was a Chinese painter of the Southern Song Dynasty...
and
Zhou JichangZhou Jichang , Japanese: Shuu Kijou) was a Chinese painter of the Song Dynasty . His artwork featured many central themes of Chinese Buddhism and Buddhist folklore....
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 DynastiesThe Southern and Northern Dynasties following the Jin Dynasty and followed by the Sui Dynasty in China. It was an age of civil war and political disunity. However it was also a time of flourishing in the arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of foreign Mahayana Buddhism and...
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
XianbeiThe Xianbei were a significant nomadic people residing in Manchuria and eastern Mongolia, or Xianbei Shan.-Origins:The Xianbei were descendants of the Donghu, which used to be believed to represent the “Eastern Hu” based on the Chinese record...
ruling over the north, and China's political schism that caused warfare and other ills. Although
Emperor Wen of SuiEmperor Wen of Sui , personal name Yang Jian , also known by the Xianbei name Puliuru Jian during Northern Zhou, nickname Naluoyan , was the founder and first emperor of China's Sui Dynasty. He was a hard-working administrator and a micromanager...
(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 Wright describes Confucianism in this period as being reverted to a state of "stale archaism". 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?
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. MenciusMencius , most accepted dates: 372 – 289 BCE; other possible dates: 385 – 303/302 BCE) was a Chinese philosopher who was arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself.-Life:...
deplored this and devoted himself to teaching benevolence and righteousness. His exposition of benevolence and righteoussness 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".
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
MahayanaMahayana is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. It was founded in India...
Buddhism, the
BodhisattvaIn Buddhism, a bodhisattva means either "enlightened existence " or "enlightenment-being" or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." Another translation is...
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. 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 Dynasty government took on this ideal role instead, through its various programs of welfare and charity (refer to Society section). 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.
Although Buddhism lost its prominence in the elite circles and government sponsorships of Chinese society, this did not mean the disappeance of Buddhism from Chinese culture.
ZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhyāna, which means "meditation" ....
Buddhism continued to flourish during the Song period, as
Emperor Lizong of SongEmperor Lizong 理宗 was the 14th emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the fifth emperor of the Southern Song. His personal name was Zhao Yun . He reigned from 1224 to 1264. His temple name means "Reasonable Ancestor"...
had the monk
Wuzhun ShifanWuzhun Shifan was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and prominent Zen Buddhist monk who lived during the late Song Dynasty .-Life:...
share the Chán (Zen) doctrine with the imperial court. Much like the Eastern Roman Emperor
Julian the ApostateFlavius Claudius Julianus, known also as Julian, Julian the Apostate or Julian the Philosopher , was Roman Emperor , last of the Constantinian dynasty...
promoting Roman
paganismPaganism is a word with several different meanings.In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Other usages are:*Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the...
and
TheurgyTheurgy describes the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.See also...
amongst the leading members of Roman society while pushing
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
'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.
In terms of Buddhist
metaphysicsMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
, the latter influenced the beliefs and teachings of Northern Song-era Confucian scholars such as
Cheng HaoCheng Hao , neo-Confucian philosopher; brother of Cheng Yi and contemporary of Shao Yong....
and
Cheng YiCheng Yi , courtesy name Zhengshu , also known as Mr. Yinchuan , was a Chinese philosopher born in Luoyang during the Song Dynasty. He worked with his older brother Cheng Hao . Like his brother, he was a student of Zhou Dunyi, a friend of Shao Yong, and a nephew of Zhang Zai...
(who were brothers), the former being one of the tutors of Zhu Xi. 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. 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. 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. 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.
The Song Neo-Confucian philosophers, finding a certain purity in the originality of the ancient classical texts, wrote commentaries on them. The most influential of these philosophers was Zhu Xi, whose synthesis of Confucian thought and Buddhist,
TaoistDaoism refers to a variety of related philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for over two millennia and the West for over two centuries. The word 道, Tao , means "path" or "way", although in Chinese folk religion and philosophy it has taken on more...
, and other ideas became the official imperial ideology from late Song times to the late 19th century. The basis of his teaching was influenced by the Cheng brothers, but he greatly extended their teachings, forming the core of Neo-Confucianism. This included emphasis on the Four Books: the
Analects,
Mencius,
Doctrine of the Mean, and the
Great Learning (the latter two being chapters in the ancient Book of Rites). His viewpoint was that improvement of the world began with improvement of the mind, as outlined in the
Great Learning. His approach to Confucianism was shunned by his contemporaries, as his writings were forbidden to be cited by students taking the Imperial Examinations. However,
Emperor Lizong of SongEmperor Lizong 理宗 was the 14th emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the fifth emperor of the Southern Song. His personal name was Zhao Yun . He reigned from 1224 to 1264. His temple name means "Reasonable Ancestor"...
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.
Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucian philosophy evolved into a rigid official creed, which stressed the one-sided obligations of obedience and compliance of subject to ruler, child to father, wife to husband, and younger brother to elder brother. The effect was to inhibit the societal development of pre-modern China, resulting both in many generations of political, social, and spiritual stability and in a slowness of cultural and institutional change up to the 19th century. Neo-Confucian doctrines also came to play the dominant role in the intellectual life of
KoreaKorea is a civilization and formerly unified nation currently divided into two states. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it borders China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait....
,
VietnamVietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east...
, and
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
until modern times.
See also
- Society of the Song Dynasty
Chinese society during the Song Dynasty was marked by political and legal reforms, a philosophical revival of Confucianism, and the development of cities beyond administrative purposes into centers of trade, industry, and maritime commerce...
- Economy of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty of China was a period 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...
- Technology of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty provided some of the most significant technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen drafted by the government through imperial examinations....
- Architecture of the Song Dynasty
The architecture of the Song Dynasty built upon the accomplishments of its predecessors, much like the subsequent dynastic periods of China. The hallmarks of Chinese architecture during the Song period were; its towering Buddhist pagodas, enormous stone and wooden bridges, its lavish tombs, and...
- History of the Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty of China was a ruling dynasty that controlled China proper and southern China from the middle of the 10th century into the last quarter of the 13th century...
- Society and culture of the Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was a period of ancient China divided by the Western Han and Eastern Han periods, when the capital cities were located at Chang'an and Luoyang, respectively. It was founded by Emperor Gaozu of Han and briefly interrupted by the regime of Wang Mang The Han Dynasty (206 BCE –...
- Culture of China
The Culture of China is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures...
- Shao Yong
Shao Yong , courtesy name Yaofu , named Shào Kāngjié after death, was a Song Dynasty Chinese philosopher, cosmologist, poet and historian who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism in China....
External links