Download - History and Culture of Song Dynasty, China
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“History and Culture of the Song Dynasty” Compiled by Robert Ponzio Chair, Fine Arts Oak Hall School
“The Spring Festival Along the River”
A Hand Scroll by
Zhang Zeduan (created in the early 12th Century)
To Be Read Right to left
We can learn about the Song Dynasty by examining the scroll:
The scroll depicts a journey from the rural countryside to the imperial capital Bianliang (modern Kaifeng), the Northern Song capital
along the Grand Canal.
“The Spring Fes.val The Spring Fes.val Along the River” provides a wealth of detail on the
varieLes of commercial acLvity in Kaifeng during it’s day.
Major Route of Commerce
The Grand Canal was a major route of commerce and an engineering marvel.
The Grand Canal "
City Gates
Passing through the great Gate of the City
Welcome to Kaifeng! Over a million people live in this largest city in the world.
There are hundreds of people depicted in the scroll. We can learn a great deal about the people of the Song by examining their acLviLes.
Advances in Agriculture
New developments in irrigaLon and rice culLvaLon, especially the introducLon of new strains of Rice from Champa what is now Central Vietnam, spectacularly increased rice yields.
As a result the populaLon, which had never before exceeded 60 million, grew to 100 million by 1127.
Many Song Dynasty agricultural techniques are sLll in use today
Vibrant Market Economy
The basic unit of payment was copper coins strung on a string, but these were heavy and cumbersome for use in large‐scale transacLons.
The Song soluLon was to print paper money — Helping to grease the wheels of trade was the world's first paper
money.
Marco Polo's report of this was met with incredulity in
the West.
Ewer, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), 11th–12th century; Yaozhou ware China
Stoneware with incised, carved, and relief decoraLon under glaze; H. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm) Gif of Mrs. T. Samuel Peters, 1926 (26.292.73)
Ceramics
Advancement
in the Arts:
Poem Wrihen in a Boat on the Wu River, Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), ca. 1100 Mi Fu (Chinese, 1052–1107) China
Handscroll; ink on paper; 44 columns in running‐cursive script; 12 1/4 in. x 18 f. 3 1/4 in. (31.1 x 557 cm) Gif of John M. Crawford Jr., in honor of Professor Wen Fong, 1984 (1984.174)
Scroll for Zhang Datong, dated 1100 Huang Tingjian (Chinese, 1045–1105)
Handscroll; ink on paper; 34.1 x 552.9 cm The Art Museum, Princeton University Gif of John B. Ellioh
Calligraphy
Summer Mountains, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), 11th century Ahributed to Qu Ding (Chinese, acLve ca. 1023–ca. 1056) China
Handscroll; ink and pale color on silk; 17 7/8 x 45 3/8 in. (45.4 x 115.3 cm) Ex coll.: C.C. Wang Family, Gif of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.1)
PainLng
Emperor Huizong
Five‐Colored Parakeet Emperor Huizong 12th c.
He was also a great painter and calligrapher
who invented the "Slender Gold" style.
•He was one of the three Chinese emperors
to prohibit Buddhism.
PainLng
Finches and Bamboo, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127)
Emperor Huizong (Chinese, 1082–1135; r. 1101–25) China
Handscroll; ink and color on silk; 11 x 18 in. (27.9 x 45.7 cm) Inscribed with the cipher of the emperor
John M. Crawford Jr. CollecLon, Purchase, Douglas Dillon Gif, 1981 (1981.278)
Confucianism
Ask me about: Mencius vs. Xunxi!
Confucianism provided a faith for people to live by, a convincing account of the natural and human world, and a theoreLcal framework for state and society.
It emphasized self‐culLvaLon as a path not only to self‐fulfillment but to the formaLon of a virtuous and harmonious society and state.
Some might emphasize one aspect more than the other, but ideally, learning to be a beher and wiser person went hand in hand with service to the larger social body.
Public School System
“To enrich your family, there is no need to buy good land: Books hold a thousand measures of grain. For an easy life, there is no need to build a mansion: In books are found houses of gold. When you go out, do not be upset if no one follows you: In books there will be a crowd of horses and carriages. If you wish to marry, don't be upset if you don't have a go‐between: In books there are girls with faces like jade. A young man who wishes to be somebody will devote his Eme to the Classics. He will face the window and read”. The Song Emperor, Renzong
Confucius taught that all people possessed the same potenLal, and that educaLon was the correcLve means to curb any tendencies to stray from ethical behavior.
•Confucius made educaLon available to students from all classes.
•EducaLon in China has thus been a equalizing force from ancient Lmes which became the means by which individuals from even the humblest backgrounds could rise to great heights.
•The ethics of Confucius which informed the tradiLonal curriculum, it was also a powerful mechanism for implemenLng the ethical and social norms of Chinese society.
The Examina+on System
Since the Sui Dynasty (581‐617), passing a series of examinaLons led to office in the civil service. It was only in the Song, however, that the examinaLon system came to be considered the normal ladder to
success, though even then many took alternate routes.
Exams based on a command of Confucian texts.
Honesty was ensured by such measures as idenLfying papers by number rather than the
candidate's name.
ExaminaLon taking could become a lifeLme endeavor. CompeLLon was keen from the start, but became intolerable by the end of the Song
Dynasty.
Buddhism Chinese, Northern Song Dynasty
Guanyin, 11th century wood with polychrome and gilt
39 inches high
The Iron Pagoda, Kaifeng
Women of the Song • Under the Song, many women gained rights to own property, their ability to inherit, and to control their children's educaLon.
• • Women also ran businesses and oversaw family budgets.
Foot Binding
While foot binding was finally outlawed in 1911,
it was not unLl the Chinese Cultural RevoluLon of the 1940s and '50s that it was genuinely obliterated.
paper, 105 CE [received in the West, 1150] tea, 264-273 CE • • • 200 CE • • • [received in the West, 1600s]
Word for porcelain first used • • • 300 CE • • • [produced in the West, 1709] sedanchair • • • 400 CE • • • [received in the West, 1600s]
kite, 549 • • • 500 CE • • • [received in the West, 1589] silk, 552-554 [in China, ca. 1300 BCE]
• • • 600 CE • • • playing cards • • • 700 CE • • • [received in the West, 1377]
dominoes gunpowder (?) [received in the West, 1330]
porcelain described, 851 • • • 800 CE • • • [produced in the West, 1709] oldest printed book, 868 [Bible printed in the West, 1456]
The Song Dynasty, 960-1279 • • • 900 • • • movable type, 1041-1049 • • • 1000 • • • [block printing in the West, 1423]
compass [received in the West, 1190] zinc used in coins, 1094-1098 [described in the West, 1500s; industrially produced, 1740]
orange [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated] • • • 1100 • • • paper, 1150 [in China, 105 CE]
explosives, 1161 [gunpowder and cannon in the West, 1330] compass, 1190 [in China, 1000s]
• • • 1200 • • • • • • 1300 • • • gunpowder and cannon, 1330 [in China, 700s] playing cards, 1377 [in China, 700s]
lemon [earlier origins in China, but cannot be accurately dated] • • • 1400 • • • block printing, 1423 [movable type in China, 1041-1049]
Gutenberg's Bible, 1456 [China's first printed book, 868] chaulmoogra oil and
ephedrine described, 1552-1578 • • • 1500 • • • [received in the West, after 1700s] zinc described [used in coins in China, 1094-1098]
kite, 1589 [in China, 549 CE] • • • 1600 • • • sedanchair [in China, 400s CE]
tea [in China, 264-273 CE] folding umbrella [in China, in the 300s BCE] wallpaper manufactured, 1688
• • • 1700 • • • porcelain, 1709 [in China, word first used, 300s CE; first described, 851 CE]
© Columbia University, East Asian Curriculum Project China: A Teaching Workbook | afe.easia.columbia.edu
The use of the following also originated in China in early times, but cannot be accurately dated: peach, apricot, orange, lemon, pomelo, chrysanthemum, tea rose, camellia, azalea, China aster, gingko, "German silver," wallpaper, goldfish.
Other Song InvenLons
Chain drive ‐ 800 years later in the West Canal pound‐lock ‐ 400 years later in the West Mercator map projecLon ‐ 600 years later in the West Phosphorescent paint ‐ 700 years later in the West Immunology ‐ 800 years later in the West War technology Flamethrower ‐ 1000 years later in the West Flares and fireworks ‐ 250 years later in the West "Sof" bombs and grenades ‐ 400 years later in the West
Movable type prinLng is invented in 1045 ‐ 400 years later in the West _____________________________
High culture develops. PainLng, Poetry, Calligraphy becomes mainstream. Military powers decline. The Jin invade the North, the Sung moves capital from Kaifeng to Hangzhou.
Shen Kuo (Kua)
He also formulated an hypothesis for the process of land formaLon: based on his observaLon of fossil shells in a mountain hundreds of miles from the ocean, he
inferred that the land was formed by erosion of the mountains and by deposiLon of silt. Shen Kuo was not only a geologist; his memoirs also examined magneLsm,
astronomy, and engineering, and other fields.
He created a book Meng Xi Bi Tan
(Translated “The Sketchbook of Dream Brook” or “Dream Pool Essays”) (1086) in which he wrote about mineralogy, erosion, sedimentaLon and uplif, mathemaLcs, astronomy, and meteorology. AhempLng to compile all of the
scien+fic knowledge of his day. Among this he also documented the knowledge of the common people, the creaLve invenLons and innovaLons created by those who
were not of the gentry.
This book s+ll survives today.
Born: 1031 ‐ Died: 1095
Song Dynasty scienLst, mathemaLcian, general, diplomat, financial officer was the inventor of compasses for navigaLon. He found out, that the compasses do not point north but to the
magneLc north pole. That was the decisive step to make them useful for navigaLon.
Chinese Compass
South Facing Chinese Compass. model of the first instrument known to be a compass. The spoon is of magneLc loadstone, and the plate is of bronze
Mariner's compass, with a floaLng magneLzed needle poinLng north
and south.
A further refinement in the box compass (to the right) is from about 1200 CE, and is much more suitable for navigaLon.
A modern reproducLon of the movable type invented by Pi Sheng between 1041 and 1048, and a page printed from it. Movable type was not invented by Johann Gutenberg, in 1423 as is universally believed in the West. The reproducLon was made from the detailed descripLon by Shen Kuo which survives from 1086.
PrinLng Press w/ Movable Type
Advances in Science, Math and Medicine
Chinese Armillary
“The Golden Age of Mathematics” occurred
under the Song.
Advances were also made in medicine, as the first
autopsy was performed in about 1145 AD on the
body of a Southern Chinese captive.
• The Silk Road ‐ A Vast Network of Trade Routes During the first millennium B.C.E. through the middle of the second millennium C.E., a vast network of trade routes known as the "Silk Road" linked the people and tradiLons of Asia with those of Europe. These historic routes served as a major conduit for the transport of
knowledge, informaLon and material goods between East and West and resulted in the first global exchange of scienLfic and cultural tradiLons.
The Silk Road
Transfer of InnovaLons Many important scienLfic and technological innovaLons
migrated along the Silk Road to the West.
Transfer of these innovaLons, including gunpowder, the magneLc compass, the prinLng press, silk, mathemaLcs, musical instruments, ceramic and lacquer crafs, was gradual, so that the West had no clear
idea as to their origins.
Marco Polo
Kublai Khan giving protecLon tablets to Marco Polo's father and Uncle.
Marco Polo Marco Polo (1254‐1324), The famous VeneLan traveled on the Silk Road. His journey through Asia lasted 24 years. He reached further than any of his predecessors, beyond Mongolia to China. He became a confidant of Kublai Khan (1214‐1294). He traveled the whole of China and returned to tell the tale, which became the
greatest travelogue.
Song Shipbuilding
The Song were world leaders in ship‐building including water‐
Lght compartments and
stern‐post rudders.
Their ships contained as many as four decks, six masts, a dozen
sails and held 500 sailors.
They navigated with the aid of (south‐poinLng) compasses, another Chinese invenLon.
The Song period improvements in speed, adaptability to marine condiLons, and steadiness.
A strong navy of an ahacking army could come right up to a riverside city. If a ship's deck was high enough, soldiers could step from it to the top of
the city's wall.
"Sea Hawks," as the type of ship above was called, had floaLng boards on each side to stabilize the ship. (it is difficult to disLnguish the oars from these boards.)
Song ships were also strengthened with iron in the hull. Some had several decks to keep the ship steady.
Song bahleships were equipped with fire‐bomb catapults and incendiary arrows that used gunpowder. SomeLmes protected staLons on upper decks were created for crossbowmen
who also played the role of watchmen.
The Military "Whirlwind" catapult
The Song possessed superior militarily technology rather than military skills.
Determined to keep power out of the hands of the military leaders, Song rulers reduced the status of its military men.
No longer could officials move between the civil and military services.
Some soldiers were tahooed to keep them from deserLng. "Bamboo fire
hawk"
"Thunderbolt‐ball"
Raised "flower" and ball bombs
Flame Throwers
"Fire‐spurLng lances" were also invented during the Song. Bamboo was used as a barrel to hold the gunpowder, though by the Song, metal barrels were also used. Some had narrow barrels and could be held by one person. Others were mounted on wooden frames and can be understood to precede the modern cannon; these were called eruptors.
Emperor Huizong’s System of Tributes
Huizong neglected the army, and Song China became increasingly weak and at the mercy of foreign enemies.
To the North, the Jurchen of Manchuria founded the
Jin Dynasty pressured the Song on the northern border.
Emperor Huizong began a system of tributes where gold, silk, grains and other goods were offered to the Jin in exchange for peace.
The Jin soon declared war and by the beginning of 1126 they crossed the Yellow River and came in sight of Kaifeng, the capital of the Song empire.
Stricken with panic, Huizong abdicated on January 18, 1126 in favor of his son who became Emperor Qinzong.
Captured by the invading Jin, Huizong spent the last 8 years of his life as a capLve. The man who once had been the most powerful ruler on earth and had lived in opulence and art died a broken man in far‐away Northern Manchuria in June 1135 at the age of 52.
In 1125, when the Jurchen, a seminomadic people from northeast Asia, invaded Song China and captured the capital at Bianliang (modern Kaifeng), founding their own Jin dynasty in the north, the Song court reestablished itself in the south in Hangzhou, where it conLnued to rule
for another 150 years as the Southern Song dynasty.
Yue Fei • Days afer his birth, flooding of the Yellow
River destroyed Yue Fei's village.
• His father drowned in the floods, but not before he had ensured the survival of his wife and son by floaLng them downstream in a jar.
• Yue Fei became proficient in warfare at an early age. As a young man narrowly escaped execuLon afer killing the Prince of Liang in a marLal arts tournament.
• He did not join the fight against the Jurchen invaders unLl he was 23.
The Most Famous Tattoo in Chinese History"
The first word, from the lef, the ulLmate.
loyalty. is to serve.
Your Country.
Yue Fei : Famous general of the Southern Song Dynasty. While serving as a soldier defending the Jin from the North, his commanding Field Marshal went over to the enemy In disgusted, Yue Fei returned home to care for his mother. His mother was displeased, and lectured him that a soldier's first duty is loyalty to his country. To be sure that this would never be forgohen, she tahoo the words on his back! Yue Fei went back and led another army to defend the country.
Famous Bad Guy! Qin Gui
• born 1090 ‐ died 1155
Chief counselor to the Southern Song Emperor Gaozong. He maintained external security by signing a peace with the Juchen in the north and internal security by undermining the power of leading generals, notably Yue Fei, who had argued for war with the Juchen and whom Qin Gui executed.
Had Yue Fei Killed.
Qin Gui is remembered as China’s greatest traitor.
•
Yue Fei was only 39 at the Lme he was executed. Yue Fei was soon cleared of the groundless charges and a temple was
built in his memory by West Lake in Hangzhou.
Before Yue Fei's tomb are four cast‐iron kneeling figures, with chests bare and hands bound behind their backs to kneel forever before the tomb.
Yue Fei’s Temple and Tomb
“No Spitting”