EAST 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Six Dynasties, Taoism, Later Zhou
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Song Dynasty
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
Six Dynasties (220-589)
•
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
•
Five Dynasties (907-960)
5 dynasties in 50 years
○
During this time, the empire is not unified; split into kingdoms that are
fighting
○
Time of disunity and constant warfare
○
•
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Unified realm for 300 years
○
•
Two questions:
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?
Understanding of periodization
○
Early in history to have 'early modern' period
China is 'modern' ~500 years before Europe
§
○
Late imperial: continuity with past and imperial system
Time before the modern
§
○
1.
Song dynasty as a “Confucian age”?
Age where Confucianism has this resurgence
○
Tang and Six Dynasties: Buddhism and Daoism were very popular
○
2.
Fall of the Tang Dynasty
Civil vs. Military Authority
Part of the reason for the fall is the inability to balance these 2 forces
○
You need a strong military, and Tang tended to privilege professional
military generals and soldiers. Problem: military grows too powerful,
becomes independent and threatens empire (what happens with An
Lushan, a general)
○
-
An Lushan rebellion (755-763)
Tang Dynasty continues for another 150 years but doesn't have the same
power; gets split up. An Lushan takes over key cities
○
Regional governors in different parts of the empire become powerful and
independent from Tang rulership
○
-
Five Dynasties (and Ten Kingdoms) (907-960)
Later Liang (907-923)
○
Later Tang (923-936)
○
Later Jin (936-947)
○
Later Han (947-951)
○
Later Zhou (951-960)
○
-
The Song Dynasty and Border States
Problem with military power affects the Song Dynasty
Strong military force or militia (less skilled at warfare bc they are
principally farmers)?
○
-
Northern Song 北宋, 960-1127
-
Southern Song 南宋, 1127-1279
Move Capital to the South (now Hangzhou) after the Jin Dynasty takes
over the capital Kaifong
○
-
Song gains control but is still threatened by non-Chinese empires
Mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic groups that were very powerful and
threatened the Song Dynasty throughout their rule
○
-
Non-Chinese Empires:
Liao Empire (Khitan), 907-1125
○
Jin Dynasty (Jurchen), 1115-1234
Took over Northern half of empire, including the capital city
§
○
Yuan Dynasty (Mongol), 1279-1368
○
-
Understanding the Song Dynasty: Modernity
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?1.
Defining modernity: What concepts/ideas/characteristics do you associate with
what is “modern”?
Technology
○
Economic advancements
○
Rationalization (Confucian philosophy as rational and non-secular?)
○
Urbanization and cities
○
Lack of industrialization often prevents the Song from being considered
'modern' (this come from Western Europe later)
○
-
Song Dynasty as “Early Modern”
demographic changes
Changes in the composition of population and class
○
-
urbanization and commercialization
-
technological innovations
-
cultural changes
As a result of urbanization and technological innovations
○
-
*When we talk about the Song as Late Imperial, we emphasize continuity not change
Demographic Changes in the Song
Educated, elite gentry class vs. Tang aristocracy
No longer have aristocratic class; they lose their wealth and privilege
during the fall of the Tang
○
Elite class in the Song is more broad than in the Tang (Tang aristocracy
was hereditary)
○
Entry to elite society is more accessible and open
Get there through education (literary cultivation),
commercialization (economic activity), etc
§
○
-
Shift from North to Southeast
Economic political center moves
○
Part of the reason is that they are able to produce more rice and sustain
more people
○
-
Civil Service examination
Young men study classic Confucians texts then take the exams. Many
young men from elite families spend their lives study for these exams, but
very few pass
○
Northern Song: 100,000 men competed for 500 degrees (only 0.5%, or 1
in 200 of the candidates passed)
○
-
Why is this still so important? Why do so many people study for these exams if
the chances of passing are so slim?
Had to have wealth in order to prepare for the exam (support children,
buy books, pay tutor, etc)
○
A family needs one member of their extended family in their generation
to pass this exam in order to retain elite status, because it is so privileged.
Once one person is high up in the government, they can get other people
in. also, these men who studied became valuable for marriage. Could
marry educated sons to women from elite families
○
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
Economic specialization
Focus on one commodity and trade
○
Song dynasty was known for exporting principally tea, but also silk and
medicines
○
-
Paper money
First time that any state in the world uses paper money
○
Eventually they print too much and it deflates in value so they stop using
it
○
-
City layouts change and become determined by commerce
-
Tang Dynasty: Chang’an (7th-9th c. CE)
Grid-like structure organized to represent the cosmos and be at one with nature
-
Rulers could control markets (economic activity) in the city; make sure activity
was contained within city walls
-
Markets have curfews
-
Northern Song (960-1127): Kaifeng (Bianjing)
Grid-like structure breaks down. Not as organized as Tang Chang'an
-
City overflows outside the walls. People live in the suburbs
-
Empire can no longer control economic activity as closely (ex emergence of
lively night markets)
-
Markets: food, restaurants, goods (ex tea, medicine), entertainment (ex music),
prostitutes (provided music poetry and companionship as well as sexual
favours)
-
Southern Song (1127-1279): Hangzhou (Lin’an)
Another attempt for a controlled grid but markets overflow and trade can no
longer be strictly controlled by the empire
-
Technology
Agriculture: rice cultivation
Certain grains of rice and farming techniques that allow people in the
Southeast to produce more rice and use it as a form of trade and to
sustain a large population
○
-
Ships for Maritime trade
Led to strong Navy
○
-
3 important ivenetions:
Gunpowder
Led to military advantage
§
○
Compass
Helped with navigation to organize barter trade routes (particularly
in the sea)
§
○
Printing
○
-
Woodblock Printing:
Tang Dynasty (618–907)
Diamond Sutra, printed 868
○
Print Buddhist texts using woodblocks
○
Buddhists had interest in printing because of the karmic merit that could
be gained by their scriptures
○
-
Printing starts in the Tang Dynasty but really developed in the Song Dynasty
-
Buddhist Canon: Woodblock Printing
Song Dynasty printed an entire Buddhist Canon:
Took from 972-983
○
Involved carving of 130,000 blocks
○
Carve characters in mirror image in order to get these texts (labor
intensive)
○
-
Korean Buddhist Canon
Image shows the blocks of the Korean Buddhist canon
○
Approx. 5000 sūtras; 81, 258 blocks; 11th C.; 13th C.
○
-
Song Dynasty Printing
Woodblock printing
-
Buddhist Canon
-
Confucian Classics
If you produce more Confucian Classics, more people have access to these
texts and can study for the civil service exam
○
-
Commercial publishing
Print texts in popular demand
○
Larger diversity of literature published for entertainment
○
-
Paper money
-
Images:
Moveable Type Printing (11th C.)
Happened long before moveable type printing the West
○
Developed a system where you carved a series of characters to produce a
text instead of carving each individual block
○
But Chinese were not interested in Moveable Type Printing (not like
Europe - where it was a huge thing). One reason was that they didn't want
one set of characters in one calligraphic style; part of writing someone's
work was including their calligraphy to more completely embody the spirit
of the author. The other reason is that there are so many Chinese
characters. Today, characters are limited to 3,000 printed characters but
they were unlimited in the Song Dynasty and there are about 80,000
possibilities of characters
○
-
Paper money: 1st in the world
-
European Printing and the Protestant Reformation
Image: Gutenberg press (ca. 1440)
-
Europe: People become more literate and orthodox interpretations break down;
people no longer follow the Catholic Church
-
Happened in China as well; people felt more entitled to interpret the Confucian
Classics for themselves
-
Printing press also leads to the dissemination of new ideas --> new environment
-
The Song Dynasty as a “Confucian Age”?2.
*if the Song is a Confucian age - does this mean Confucianism is modern or
traditional?
--> this is where we look at Neo-Confucianism
Confucian elements of the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Foreign and domestic policy:
wen (civil/literary principle) over wu (military)
○
-
Literacy, printing, and civil service exam: Confucian classics
-
Rise of Neo-Confucianism (Daoxue 道學)
Neo-Confucianism is Western term, in China it is Daoxue (study of the
Dao)
○
Strong element of Confucianism on the surface but same elements are
responding to breakdown of Confucian order and Confucian elements.
Why Neo-Confucianism arises: scholars want to get back to Confucian
order
○
-
But.......
Foreign and Domestic Policy
Policy of : wen 文(civil principle, literature) over wu 武(military)
Wen: civil side of government, Chinese culture, literary study
○
Wu: military aspect of government; important for repelling invaders and
defence
○
Have yin and yang type relationship
○
Policy adopted for practical reasons
○
-
internal reason
Civil administrators as Confucian Sages
○
General from Zhou of the 5 dynasties wants to maintain control but there
are many states fighting and in-fighting within states
○
Worried about what happened with An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty
(general gaining too much power and overthrowing their empire); didn't
want to concentrate military power in the army and in a few powerful
generals again
○
-
external reasons
Powerful non-Chinese states that threaten the Song's existence and
eventually tool over many parts of the state
○
Liao/Jin, Xia, Tibetans are powerful and often challenge the Song military
and political rule; Song is not able to defeat this people and must settle
things diplomatically. Eventually the Jin take over the Northern half of the
Song, and splits the song into South and North
○
-
Non-Chinese Neighbors
Nomadic/semi-nomadic
Nomadic peoples often have different cultures, are skilled militarily
○
Non-Chinese states adopt Chinese customs and institutions at the elite
levels
○
Semi-Nomadic: in some groups, the elite settle and no longer live nomadic
life. Adopt Chinese customs. Power declines because they no longer have
the military power of the nomadic lifestyle
○
-
Chinese customs and institutions: “dual institutions” vs. ethnic/cultural
background
Dual institutions: 2 forms of political institutions within the state
One based on traditional nomadic forms of organizations (ex tribes -
pass power down to who is most militarily powerful)
§
Adopt Chinese bureaucratic structure, customs (ex rituals) and
language (didn't have written language of their own - if they want
to write, they learn Chinese)
§
○
Tension between Chinese culture and traditional culture
○
-
Song dynasty
Policy of coexistence and wen over wu
-
Realizes that they can't defeat the nomadic groups militarily so they maintain
peace through diplomatic measures. Song recognizes nomads as 'equals' or
'superiors' which is embarrassing for the Song because they are supposed to be
at the center of the universe and they are supposed to be civilized in opposition
to the barbaric nomads
-
Song Dynasty also offers tributes to the nomads; offer precious materials, silk,
jewels, wealth, etc. Argument: it would be more costly to wage war than to pay
them off
-
Sometimes formed marriage bonds: imperial princesses would be given to non-
Chinese neighbours
-
Policy of wen 文over wu 武
Reality of Continual Warfare
Wen and Wu was used to solve practical problems, but the Song were still
very militaristic and engaged in constant warfare
○
The Song army: approx. 500,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers (11th C.)
Largest army in the world at this time
§
Didn't concentrate power with any particular generals; tried to
disperse military power to avoid threats
§
○
Technologically advanced : gunpowder (ex canons, catapults), incendiary
weapons (ex flamethrowers), superior navy
○
-
So why weren't they able to defeat the 'barbaric' nomads?
Urbanization and Commercialization
Increased urbanization and commercialization during the Song --> Breakdown of
traditional Confucian order
-
City layout determined by commerce (markets and trade)
Markets no longer controlled by city officials
○
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
scholars (shi 士)1.
farmers (nong 農)2.
artisans/craftsmen (gong 工)3.
merchants (shang 商)
There is an ideal was that society should be organized according to
Confucianism.
○
Scholars should be at the top of social organization, they were the elite
that study/embody Confucian virtues so they should be at the top and
manage the empire. Then farmers were next because they produced
sustenance for the agricultural society. Scholars and Farmers were the
two pillars of society: Farmers provided material goods and scholars were
benevolent and made sure society was operating well for the farmers.
○
Artisans were next because they also produced things, like baskets and
medicine. They were useful, but not essential to the empire
○
Merchants (people involved in trade/business) are seen as evil; the lowest
level of society. Seen as being driven by profit for themselves, which is
selfish. They are useless, all they do is create selfish desire within the
empire
○
4.
With urbanization and commercialization in the Song, the scholar class and
merchant class become closer together. Some elite scholarly families get
involved in business class. Also, there are marriage alliances between scholarly
families and merchant families.
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
City layout determined by commerce
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
Popular/vulgar arts and entertainments
Tang dynasty would never take part in these things, which are
traditionally seen as 'vulgar'
○
New elite in the Song is more diverse and fluid so they are more involved
in popular entertainment in the city
○
'Vulgar': something that is popular. For example, peonies (bc peony
festivals were popular) were not something that the Tang elite would ever
write about, but the Song did
○
-
Printing: diversity
-
Literacy, printing, and the civil service exam
Civil service examination: Confucian Classics
-
Challenge to orthodox interpretations
Come up with new interpretations to the Confucian classics
○
-
Song Political Factionalism:
-
Reformists vs. Conservatives
-
By end of Song dynasty (13th C.):
“Four Books” replace “Five Confucian Classics”
○
-
Song Literary and Cultural Trends
Guwen 古文 (“ancient prose”/ “old culture”) movement
○Interest in returning to the classics and the literary style of the classics.
The messages were simple and the meaning/moral intention of the
writing was the most important aspect
-
Initiated by Han Yu (768-824) in the Tang
○the prose style of the classics;
§Tang dynasty: wrote in flowing, elegant, artful phrases. Had literary
value, not only about moral meaning
moral significance over craft
○
-
Mei Yaochen (1002-1060) and Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072)
○Prominent poets and statemen in this period
“even and bland” (平淡 pingdan) style
§Used vulgar and common words in writing
§Wrote about ordinary life and commented on society within
Confucian ideas of the function of poetry
○
-
Shihou Said that from Ancient Times No One Had Ever Done a Poem About Lice and
Invited Me to Write One on the Subject
Wretched clothes, tattered and easily soiled—
Easily soiled, but hard to free of lice!
They swarm together between the belt and robe,
Then climb in droves to the edge of the fur collar.
Who can find these hidden creatures,
Eating blood and living quite comfortably?
Look up, look down, and human life is past:
Your life seems hardly worth a glance!
(Trans. Jonathan Chaves)
-Crude, vulgar, ordinary topic but with Confucian function of poetry
Song Lyrics (ci 詞)
-Tang Dynasty = Golden age of Poetry (shi 詩)
-Song Dynasty = great age of song lyrics (ci 詞)
-Song lyrics = lyrics written to popular tunes
○Have a melody and write words to go with this melody; people write
different lyrics to the same tune
-Courtesan culture: Late Tang dynasty
○Men were writing songs for courtesans to sing to them; projected male
fantasies into these songs
○Lyrics crafted to be erotic and feminine (even though they were written
by men)
§Irony: this is very un-Confucian
○Sex was often involved in these transactions, but that wasn't everything.
Courtesans were admired as beautiful women with cultural refinement
-craftsmanship (vs. moral significance)
○Craftsmanship: This form is difficult to write within.
-Famous Song Lyricists: Wei Zhuang, Wen Tingyun, Li Qingzhao, etc.
To the tune: “Bodhisattva Barbarian” by Wen Tingyun (812-870)
Head-dress of kingfisher feathers, gold threads: pair of partridges;
Ripples spreading lightly over the spring pond; cerulean blue.
Over the pond, a crab apple;
When the rain clears, branches are loaded with red.
Embroidered sleeves hide the dimples on her face;
Misty grasses adhere to flying butterflies.
The blue-gauze door faces fragrant blossoms;
Yet from the Jade Pass, no word arrives.
(Trans. By Kang-i Sun Chang)
-Writing in his own voice but representing the male gaze objectifying women
○Looking into the boudoir (private area) of the women
-Tune ("Budhisattva Barbarian") has nothing to do with the lyrics
-Detailed sensual description of a woman, her bodily features, and her inner
quarters
Ouyang Xiu: To the Tune “West of the little market”
I’m thinking of someone
Sweet face, just sixteen
Born beautiful—
She has got to be a minx.
Where she is most remarkable
Is when she laughs and her dimples show.
She has a hundred ways and a thousand charms,
And the more you embrace her
The more sweet and slippery she gets.
I’ve neglected her a long time.
Last night in a dream
We made love
Like old times.
Then just when I was happy
The cock next door woke me up.
Everything was quiet
But I could not get back to sleep;
The setting moon outside my window
was wasted.
(Trans. Hightower)
-Guwen, 'ancient prose' writer
○See simplistic phrasing and diction in his writing; has 'speech-like' quality
-Neo-Confucian, hates Buddhists
-Writes song lyrics in his own voices (instead of writing as a gaze or as a
courtesan woman)
-Writes in his own voice and about his own emotions
-Becomes a problem for Ouyang Xiu:
○Shows how seriously the Chinese took poetry
○Writing in a women's voice was acceptable for men
○Writing as yourself was seen to be auto-biographical and true expressions
of your emotions
○Ouyang Xiu was a prominent political figure and his rivals took this poem
and said 'this is proof that Ouyang Xiu is having an illicit affair with his
niece.' This poem was admissible evidence in court because poems were
true expressions and Ouyang Xiu was thrown in jail
Li Qingzhao (ca. 1084-1151): To the tune: “Spring at Wuling”
The wind subsides—the dust carries a fragrance of fallen petals;
It’s late in the day—I’m too tired to comb my hair.
Things remain but he is gone, and with him everything. On the verge of words, tears
flow.
I hear at Twin Creek, spring’s still lovely;
How I long to float there on a small boat—
But I fear that at Twin Creek my frail grasshopper boat
Could not carry this load of grief.
(trans. Eugene Eoyang)
-Most famous woman poet in Chinese history
○Many elite women were educated and would write poetry, but we don't
have much of it
-Not a courtesan
-Li Qingzhao criticizes male song lyricists that came before her for not
understanding women's emotions; men's writing are crude and awkward and
only she can write about women's emotion
○Because she writes from her own voice, some assumed that they were
true/auto-biographical (ex wrote about missing her husband because he
was at the frontier and people thought that was true - but her husband
was never actually at the frontier)
-Poem: expression of emotion
○Beyond what was appropriate for Confucian man or woman
-Also shows new idea of womanhood; women are not valued as objects of
beauty but for talent, particularly literary talent. She had this relationship with
her husband and they were 'literary equals.' became an ideal later on, where
women should be educated and literate to be good companions for their
husbands
Traditional History of Zen Buddhism
-CE 520? Bodhidharma arrives in China
-638-713 Huineng, Sixth Patriarch of Zen
-617-907 Tang Dynasty: “Golden Age of Zen”
-845 Buddhist Persecution
-960-1279 Song Dynasty: “Decline of Zen"
○Song Dynasty Zen = institutional, literary, ritualized
○Tang Dynasty Zen = spontaneous, free, iconoclastic
*popularity of Zen is obscured in the Song. Tang Dynasty was 'golden age' of Zen
because you had masters who lived separately and were beyond rules of morality,
etc… Song Dynasty was seen as more institutionalized, literary, etc whereas Zen
Buddhists had knowledge that transcended words and literature.
Popularity of Zen Buddhism during the Song
-Institutionalization and Imperial patronage: Zen monasteries
○Zen forms during this time as an institutionalized form of Buddhism (other
side of institutionalization of the Song Dynasty). First time you get Zen
Buddhism monasteries with actual institutional framework
○In order to run monasteries, you need patronage from the empire.
Recognizes the monasteries and publishes new Zen writings (recorded
saying)
“Recorded sayings” (yulu 語錄)
New genre of Chinese Buddhist literature
§"anti-literature literature"
○
as “oral transcription” of the enlightened Buddha
§Masters don't write anything themselves, monks record
spontaneous dialogues with their masters
○
○“Golden Age of Tang” as Song literary creation
-
-Famous “recorded sayings” attributed to Tang masters:
○Linji 臨濟 (J. Rinzai; d. 866)
○Zhaozhou 趙州 (J. Jōshū; 778-897)
“Recorded Sayings” Dialogues
-Master Yunmen
Someone asked, “I heard a teaching that speaks of the purity of all-
encompassing wisdom. What is that purity like?”
Master Yunmen spat at him.
○Example of master doing something inappropriate that doesn't answer
the question, but is seen as a Buddhist teaching
-A monk asked: “What is Buddha?”
The master said....
○Monk is asking 'what is the truth/ultimate'
○Masters have lots of creative answers to this, for example:
§'who are you'
§'I'm tired today, go ask someone else'
○So masters are rejecting formal monastic practices by rejecting 'what is
Buddha' and traditional icons. Represents independence of the masters
-Conventional = Ultimate
Zen Influence on Song Literature:
-Su Shi (Su Dongpo; 1037-1101)
○Protégé of Ouyang Xiu
-The sound of the stream – Buddha’s long broad tongue,
The form of the mountains – his pure bod
Ten thousand verses chanted through the night,
In the morning, how will I explain them to others?
16: The Song Dynasty
Monday, February 26, 2018
9:11 AM
The Song Dynasty
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
Six Dynasties (220-589) •
Tang Dynasty (618-907) •
Five Dynasties (907-960)
5 dynasties in 50 years
○
During this time, the empire is not unified; split into kingdoms that are
fighting
○
Time of disunity and constant warfare
○
•
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Unified realm for 300 years
○
•
Two questions:
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?
Understanding of periodization
○
Early in history to have 'early modern' period
China is 'modern' ~500 years before Europe
§
○
Late imperial: continuity with past and imperial system
Time before the modern
§
○
1.
Song dynasty as a “Confucian age”?
Age where Confucianism has this resurgence
○
Tang and Six Dynasties: Buddhism and Daoism were very popular
○
2.
Fall of the Tang Dynasty
Civil vs. Military Authority
Part of the reason for the fall is the inability to balance these 2 forces
○
You need a strong military, and Tang tended to privilege professional
military generals and soldiers. Problem: military grows too powerful,
becomes independent and threatens empire (what happens with An
Lushan, a general)
○
-
An Lushan rebellion (755-763)
Tang Dynasty continues for another 150 years but doesn't have the same
power; gets split up. An Lushan takes over key cities
○
Regional governors in different parts of the empire become powerful and
independent from Tang rulership
○
-
Five Dynasties (and Ten Kingdoms) (907-960)
Later Liang (907-923)
○
Later Tang (923-936)
○
Later Jin (936-947)
○
Later Han (947-951)
○
Later Zhou (951-960)
○
-
The Song Dynasty and Border States
Problem with military power affects the Song Dynasty
Strong military force or militia (less skilled at warfare bc they are
principally farmers)?
○
-
Northern Song 北宋, 960-1127
-
Southern Song 南宋, 1127-1279
Move Capital to the South (now Hangzhou) after the Jin Dynasty takes
over the capital Kaifong
○
-
Song gains control but is still threatened by non-Chinese empires
Mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic groups that were very powerful and
threatened the Song Dynasty throughout their rule
○
-
Non-Chinese Empires:
Liao Empire (Khitan), 907-1125
○
Jin Dynasty (Jurchen), 1115-1234
Took over Northern half of empire, including the capital city
§
○
Yuan Dynasty (Mongol), 1279-1368
○
-
Understanding the Song Dynasty: Modernity
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?1.
Defining modernity: What concepts/ideas/characteristics do you associate with
what is “modern”?
Technology
○
Economic advancements
○
Rationalization (Confucian philosophy as rational and non-secular?)
○
Urbanization and cities
○
Lack of industrialization often prevents the Song from being considered
'modern' (this come from Western Europe later)
○
-
Song Dynasty as “Early Modern”
demographic changes
Changes in the composition of population and class
○
-
urbanization and commercialization
-
technological innovations
-
cultural changes
As a result of urbanization and technological innovations
○
-
*When we talk about the Song as Late Imperial, we emphasize continuity not change
Demographic Changes in the Song
Educated, elite gentry class vs. Tang aristocracy
No longer have aristocratic class; they lose their wealth and privilege
during the fall of the Tang
○
Elite class in the Song is more broad than in the Tang (Tang aristocracy
was hereditary)
○
Entry to elite society is more accessible and open
Get there through education (literary cultivation),
commercialization (economic activity), etc
§
○
-
Shift from North to Southeast
Economic political center moves
○
Part of the reason is that they are able to produce more rice and sustain
more people
○
-
Civil Service examination
Young men study classic Confucians texts then take the exams. Many
young men from elite families spend their lives study for these exams, but
very few pass
○
Northern Song: 100,000 men competed for 500 degrees (only 0.5%, or 1
in 200 of the candidates passed)
○
-
Why is this still so important? Why do so many people study for these exams if
the chances of passing are so slim?
Had to have wealth in order to prepare for the exam (support children,
buy books, pay tutor, etc)
○
A family needs one member of their extended family in their generation
to pass this exam in order to retain elite status, because it is so privileged.
Once one person is high up in the government, they can get other people
in. also, these men who studied became valuable for marriage. Could
marry educated sons to women from elite families
○
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
Economic specialization
Focus on one commodity and trade
○
Song dynasty was known for exporting principally tea, but also silk and
medicines
○
-
Paper money
First time that any state in the world uses paper money
○
Eventually they print too much and it deflates in value so they stop using
it
○
-
City layouts change and become determined by commerce
-
Tang Dynasty: Chang’an (7th-9th c. CE)
Grid-like structure organized to represent the cosmos and be at one with nature
-
Rulers could control markets (economic activity) in the city; make sure activity
was contained within city walls
-
Markets have curfews
-
Northern Song (960-1127): Kaifeng (Bianjing)
Grid-like structure breaks down. Not as organized as Tang Chang'an
-
City overflows outside the walls. People live in the suburbs
-
Empire can no longer control economic activity as closely (ex emergence of
lively night markets)
-
Markets: food, restaurants, goods (ex tea, medicine), entertainment (ex music),
prostitutes (provided music poetry and companionship as well as sexual
favours)
-
Southern Song (1127-1279): Hangzhou (Lin’an)
Another attempt for a controlled grid but markets overflow and trade can no
longer be strictly controlled by the empire
-
Technology
Agriculture: rice cultivation
Certain grains of rice and farming techniques that allow people in the
Southeast to produce more rice and use it as a form of trade and to
sustain a large population
○
-
Ships for Maritime trade
Led to strong Navy
○
-
3 important ivenetions:
Gunpowder
Led to military advantage
§
○
Compass
Helped with navigation to organize barter trade routes (particularly
in the sea)
§
○
Printing
○
-
Woodblock Printing:
Tang Dynasty (618–907)
Diamond Sutra, printed 868
○
Print Buddhist texts using woodblocks
○
Buddhists had interest in printing because of the karmic merit that could
be gained by their scriptures
○
-
Printing starts in the Tang Dynasty but really developed in the Song Dynasty
-
Buddhist Canon: Woodblock Printing
Song Dynasty printed an entire Buddhist Canon:
Took from 972-983
○
Involved carving of 130,000 blocks
○
Carve characters in mirror image in order to get these texts (labor
intensive)
○
-
Korean Buddhist Canon
Image shows the blocks of the Korean Buddhist canon
○
Approx. 5000 sūtras; 81, 258 blocks; 11th C.; 13th C.
○
-
Song Dynasty Printing
Woodblock printing
-
Buddhist Canon
-
Confucian Classics
If you produce more Confucian Classics, more people have access to these
texts and can study for the civil service exam
○
-
Commercial publishing
Print texts in popular demand
○
Larger diversity of literature published for entertainment
○
-
Paper money
-
Images:
Moveable Type Printing (11th C.)
Happened long before moveable type printing the West
○
Developed a system where you carved a series of characters to produce a
text instead of carving each individual block
○
But Chinese were not interested in Moveable Type Printing (not like
Europe - where it was a huge thing). One reason was that they didn't want
one set of characters in one calligraphic style; part of writing someone's
work was including their calligraphy to more completely embody the spirit
of the author. The other reason is that there are so many Chinese
characters. Today, characters are limited to 3,000 printed characters but
they were unlimited in the Song Dynasty and there are about 80,000
possibilities of characters
○
-
Paper money: 1st in the world
-
European Printing and the Protestant Reformation
Image: Gutenberg press (ca. 1440)
-
Europe: People become more literate and orthodox interpretations break down;
people no longer follow the Catholic Church
-
Happened in China as well; people felt more entitled to interpret the Confucian
Classics for themselves
-
Printing press also leads to the dissemination of new ideas --> new environment
-
The Song Dynasty as a “Confucian Age”?2.
*if the Song is a Confucian age - does this mean Confucianism is modern or
traditional?
--> this is where we look at Neo-Confucianism
Confucian elements of the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Foreign and domestic policy:
wen (civil/literary principle) over wu (military)
○
-
Literacy, printing, and civil service exam: Confucian classics
-
Rise of Neo-Confucianism (Daoxue 道學)
Neo-Confucianism is Western term, in China it is Daoxue (study of the
Dao)
○
Strong element of Confucianism on the surface but same elements are
responding to breakdown of Confucian order and Confucian elements.
Why Neo-Confucianism arises: scholars want to get back to Confucian
order
○
-
But.......
Foreign and Domestic Policy
Policy of : wen 文(civil principle, literature) over wu 武(military)
Wen: civil side of government, Chinese culture, literary study
○
Wu: military aspect of government; important for repelling invaders and
defence
○
Have yin and yang type relationship
○
Policy adopted for practical reasons
○
-
internal reason
Civil administrators as Confucian Sages
○
General from Zhou of the 5 dynasties wants to maintain control but there
are many states fighting and in-fighting within states
○
Worried about what happened with An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty
(general gaining too much power and overthrowing their empire); didn't
want to concentrate military power in the army and in a few powerful
generals again
○
-
external reasons
Powerful non-Chinese states that threaten the Song's existence and
eventually tool over many parts of the state
○
Liao/Jin, Xia, Tibetans are powerful and often challenge the Song military
and political rule; Song is not able to defeat this people and must settle
things diplomatically. Eventually the Jin take over the Northern half of the
Song, and splits the song into South and North
○
-
Non-Chinese Neighbors
Nomadic/semi-nomadic
Nomadic peoples often have different cultures, are skilled militarily
○
Non-Chinese states adopt Chinese customs and institutions at the elite
levels
○
Semi-Nomadic: in some groups, the elite settle and no longer live nomadic
life. Adopt Chinese customs. Power declines because they no longer have
the military power of the nomadic lifestyle
○
-
Chinese customs and institutions: “dual institutions” vs. ethnic/cultural
background
Dual institutions: 2 forms of political institutions within the state
One based on traditional nomadic forms of organizations (ex tribes -
pass power down to who is most militarily powerful)
§
Adopt Chinese bureaucratic structure, customs (ex rituals) and
language (didn't have written language of their own - if they want
to write, they learn Chinese)
§
○
Tension between Chinese culture and traditional culture
○
-
Song dynasty
Policy of coexistence and wen over wu
-
Realizes that they can't defeat the nomadic groups militarily so they maintain
peace through diplomatic measures. Song recognizes nomads as 'equals' or
'superiors' which is embarrassing for the Song because they are supposed to be
at the center of the universe and they are supposed to be civilized in opposition
to the barbaric nomads
-
Song Dynasty also offers tributes to the nomads; offer precious materials, silk,
jewels, wealth, etc. Argument: it would be more costly to wage war than to pay
them off
-
Sometimes formed marriage bonds: imperial princesses would be given to non-
Chinese neighbours
-
Policy of wen 文over wu 武
Reality of Continual Warfare
Wen and Wu was used to solve practical problems, but the Song were still
very militaristic and engaged in constant warfare
○
The Song army: approx. 500,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers (11th C.)
Largest army in the world at this time
§
Didn't concentrate power with any particular generals; tried to
disperse military power to avoid threats
§
○
Technologically advanced : gunpowder (ex canons, catapults), incendiary
weapons (ex flamethrowers), superior navy
○
-
So why weren't they able to defeat the 'barbaric' nomads?
Urbanization and Commercialization
Increased urbanization and commercialization during the Song --> Breakdown of
traditional Confucian order
-
City layout determined by commerce (markets and trade)
Markets no longer controlled by city officials
○
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
scholars (shi 士)1.
farmers (nong 農)2.
artisans/craftsmen (gong 工)3.
merchants (shang 商)
There is an ideal was that society should be organized according to
Confucianism.
○
Scholars should be at the top of social organization, they were the elite
that study/embody Confucian virtues so they should be at the top and
manage the empire. Then farmers were next because they produced
sustenance for the agricultural society. Scholars and Farmers were the
two pillars of society: Farmers provided material goods and scholars were
benevolent and made sure society was operating well for the farmers.
○
Artisans were next because they also produced things, like baskets and
medicine. They were useful, but not essential to the empire
○
Merchants (people involved in trade/business) are seen as evil; the lowest
level of society. Seen as being driven by profit for themselves, which is
selfish. They are useless, all they do is create selfish desire within the
empire
○
4.
With urbanization and commercialization in the Song, the scholar class and
merchant class become closer together. Some elite scholarly families get
involved in business class. Also, there are marriage alliances between scholarly
families and merchant families.
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
City layout determined by commerce
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
Popular/vulgar arts and entertainments
Tang dynasty would never take part in these things, which are
traditionally seen as 'vulgar'
○
New elite in the Song is more diverse and fluid so they are more involved
in popular entertainment in the city
○
'Vulgar': something that is popular. For example, peonies (bc peony
festivals were popular) were not something that the Tang elite would ever
write about, but the Song did
○
-
Printing: diversity
-
Literacy, printing, and the civil service exam
Civil service examination: Confucian Classics
-
Challenge to orthodox interpretations
Come up with new interpretations to the Confucian classics
○
-
Song Political Factionalism:
-
Reformists vs. Conservatives
-
By end of Song dynasty (13th C.):
“Four Books” replace “Five Confucian Classics”
○
-
Song Literary and Cultural Trends
Guwen 古文 (“ancient prose”/ “old culture”) movement
○Interest in returning to the classics and the literary style of the classics.
The messages were simple and the meaning/moral intention of the
writing was the most important aspect
-
Initiated by Han Yu (768-824) in the Tang
○the prose style of the classics;
§Tang dynasty: wrote in flowing, elegant, artful phrases. Had literary
value, not only about moral meaning
moral significance over craft
○
-
Mei Yaochen (1002-1060) and Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072)
○Prominent poets and statemen in this period
“even and bland” (平淡 pingdan) style
§Used vulgar and common words in writing
§Wrote about ordinary life and commented on society within
Confucian ideas of the function of poetry
○
-
Shihou Said that from Ancient Times No One Had Ever Done a Poem About Lice and
Invited Me to Write One on the Subject
Wretched clothes, tattered and easily soiled—
Easily soiled, but hard to free of lice!
They swarm together between the belt and robe,
Then climb in droves to the edge of the fur collar.
Who can find these hidden creatures,
Eating blood and living quite comfortably?
Look up, look down, and human life is past:
Your life seems hardly worth a glance!
(Trans. Jonathan Chaves)
-Crude, vulgar, ordinary topic but with Confucian function of poetry
Song Lyrics (ci 詞)
-Tang Dynasty = Golden age of Poetry (shi 詩)
-Song Dynasty = great age of song lyrics (ci 詞)
-Song lyrics = lyrics written to popular tunes
○Have a melody and write words to go with this melody; people write
different lyrics to the same tune
-Courtesan culture: Late Tang dynasty
○Men were writing songs for courtesans to sing to them; projected male
fantasies into these songs
○Lyrics crafted to be erotic and feminine (even though they were written
by men)
§Irony: this is very un-Confucian
○Sex was often involved in these transactions, but that wasn't everything.
Courtesans were admired as beautiful women with cultural refinement
-craftsmanship (vs. moral significance)
○Craftsmanship: This form is difficult to write within.
-Famous Song Lyricists: Wei Zhuang, Wen Tingyun, Li Qingzhao, etc.
To the tune: “Bodhisattva Barbarian” by Wen Tingyun (812-870)
Head-dress of kingfisher feathers, gold threads: pair of partridges;
Ripples spreading lightly over the spring pond; cerulean blue.
Over the pond, a crab apple;
When the rain clears, branches are loaded with red.
Embroidered sleeves hide the dimples on her face;
Misty grasses adhere to flying butterflies.
The blue-gauze door faces fragrant blossoms;
Yet from the Jade Pass, no word arrives.
(Trans. By Kang-i Sun Chang)
-Writing in his own voice but representing the male gaze objectifying women
○Looking into the boudoir (private area) of the women
-Tune ("Budhisattva Barbarian") has nothing to do with the lyrics
-Detailed sensual description of a woman, her bodily features, and her inner
quarters
Ouyang Xiu: To the Tune “West of the little market”
I’m thinking of someone
Sweet face, just sixteen
Born beautiful—
She has got to be a minx.
Where she is most remarkable
Is when she laughs and her dimples show.
She has a hundred ways and a thousand charms,
And the more you embrace her
The more sweet and slippery she gets.
I’ve neglected her a long time.
Last night in a dream
We made love
Like old times.
Then just when I was happy
The cock next door woke me up.
Everything was quiet
But I could not get back to sleep;
The setting moon outside my window
was wasted.
(Trans. Hightower)
-Guwen, 'ancient prose' writer
○See simplistic phrasing and diction in his writing; has 'speech-like' quality
-Neo-Confucian, hates Buddhists
-Writes song lyrics in his own voices (instead of writing as a gaze or as a
courtesan woman)
-Writes in his own voice and about his own emotions
-Becomes a problem for Ouyang Xiu:
○Shows how seriously the Chinese took poetry
○Writing in a women's voice was acceptable for men
○Writing as yourself was seen to be auto-biographical and true expressions
of your emotions
○Ouyang Xiu was a prominent political figure and his rivals took this poem
and said 'this is proof that Ouyang Xiu is having an illicit affair with his
niece.' This poem was admissible evidence in court because poems were
true expressions and Ouyang Xiu was thrown in jail
Li Qingzhao (ca. 1084-1151): To the tune: “Spring at Wuling”
The wind subsides—the dust carries a fragrance of fallen petals;
It’s late in the day—I’m too tired to comb my hair.
Things remain but he is gone, and with him everything. On the verge of words, tears
flow.
I hear at Twin Creek, spring’s still lovely;
How I long to float there on a small boat—
But I fear that at Twin Creek my frail grasshopper boat
Could not carry this load of grief.
(trans. Eugene Eoyang)
-Most famous woman poet in Chinese history
○Many elite women were educated and would write poetry, but we don't
have much of it
-Not a courtesan
-Li Qingzhao criticizes male song lyricists that came before her for not
understanding women's emotions; men's writing are crude and awkward and
only she can write about women's emotion
○Because she writes from her own voice, some assumed that they were
true/auto-biographical (ex wrote about missing her husband because he
was at the frontier and people thought that was true - but her husband
was never actually at the frontier)
-Poem: expression of emotion
○Beyond what was appropriate for Confucian man or woman
-Also shows new idea of womanhood; women are not valued as objects of
beauty but for talent, particularly literary talent. She had this relationship with
her husband and they were 'literary equals.' became an ideal later on, where
women should be educated and literate to be good companions for their
husbands
Traditional History of Zen Buddhism
-CE 520? Bodhidharma arrives in China
-638-713 Huineng, Sixth Patriarch of Zen
-617-907 Tang Dynasty: “Golden Age of Zen”
-845 Buddhist Persecution
-960-1279 Song Dynasty: “Decline of Zen"
○Song Dynasty Zen = institutional, literary, ritualized
○Tang Dynasty Zen = spontaneous, free, iconoclastic
*popularity of Zen is obscured in the Song. Tang Dynasty was 'golden age' of Zen
because you had masters who lived separately and were beyond rules of morality,
etc… Song Dynasty was seen as more institutionalized, literary, etc whereas Zen
Buddhists had knowledge that transcended words and literature.
Popularity of Zen Buddhism during the Song
-Institutionalization and Imperial patronage: Zen monasteries
○Zen forms during this time as an institutionalized form of Buddhism (other
side of institutionalization of the Song Dynasty). First time you get Zen
Buddhism monasteries with actual institutional framework
○In order to run monasteries, you need patronage from the empire.
Recognizes the monasteries and publishes new Zen writings (recorded
saying)
“Recorded sayings” (yulu 語錄)
New genre of Chinese Buddhist literature
§"anti-literature literature"
○
as “oral transcription” of the enlightened Buddha
§Masters don't write anything themselves, monks record
spontaneous dialogues with their masters
○
○“Golden Age of Tang” as Song literary creation
-
-Famous “recorded sayings” attributed to Tang masters:
○Linji 臨濟 (J. Rinzai; d. 866)
○Zhaozhou 趙州 (J. Jōshū; 778-897)
“Recorded Sayings” Dialogues
-Master Yunmen
Someone asked, “I heard a teaching that speaks of the purity of all-
encompassing wisdom. What is that purity like?”
Master Yunmen spat at him.
○Example of master doing something inappropriate that doesn't answer
the question, but is seen as a Buddhist teaching
-A monk asked: “What is Buddha?”
The master said....
○Monk is asking 'what is the truth/ultimate'
○Masters have lots of creative answers to this, for example:
§'who are you'
§'I'm tired today, go ask someone else'
○So masters are rejecting formal monastic practices by rejecting 'what is
Buddha' and traditional icons. Represents independence of the masters
-Conventional = Ultimate
Zen Influence on Song Literature:
-Su Shi (Su Dongpo; 1037-1101)
○Protégé of Ouyang Xiu
-The sound of the stream – Buddha’s long broad tongue,
The form of the mountains – his pure bod
Ten thousand verses chanted through the night,
In the morning, how will I explain them to others?
16: The Song Dynasty
Monday, February 26, 2018 9:11 AM
The Song Dynasty
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
SECTION III: Late Imperial/Early Modern China
Six Dynasties (220-589) •
Tang Dynasty (618-907) •
Five Dynasties (907-960)
5 dynasties in 50 years
○
During this time, the empire is not unified; split into kingdoms that are
fighting
○
Time of disunity and constant warfare
○
•
Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Unified realm for 300 years
○
•
Two questions:
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?
Understanding of periodization
○
Early in history to have 'early modern' period
China is 'modern' ~500 years before Europe
§
○
Late imperial: continuity with past and imperial system
Time before the modern
§
○
1.
Song dynasty as a “Confucian age”?
Age where Confucianism has this resurgence
○
Tang and Six Dynasties: Buddhism and Daoism were very popular
○
2.
Fall of the Tang Dynasty
Civil vs. Military Authority
Part of the reason for the fall is the inability to balance these 2 forces
○
You need a strong military, and Tang tended to privilege professional
military generals and soldiers. Problem: military grows too powerful,
becomes independent and threatens empire (what happens with An
Lushan, a general)
○
-
An Lushan rebellion (755-763)
Tang Dynasty continues for another 150 years but doesn't have the same
power; gets split up. An Lushan takes over key cities
○
Regional governors in different parts of the empire become powerful and
independent from Tang rulership
○
-
Five Dynasties (and Ten Kingdoms) (907-960)
Later Liang (907-923)
○
Later Tang (923-936)
○
Later Jin (936-947)
○
Later Han (947-951)
○
Later Zhou (951-960)
○
-
The Song Dynasty and Border States
Problem with military power affects the Song Dynasty
Strong military force or militia (less skilled at warfare bc they are
principally farmers)?
○
-
Northern Song 北宋, 960-1127
-
Southern Song 南宋, 1127-1279
Move Capital to the South (now Hangzhou) after the Jin Dynasty takes
over the capital Kaifong
○
-
Song gains control but is still threatened by non-Chinese empires
Mostly nomadic or semi-nomadic groups that were very powerful and
threatened the Song Dynasty throughout their rule
○
-
Non-Chinese Empires:
Liao Empire (Khitan), 907-1125
○
Jin Dynasty (Jurchen), 1115-1234
Took over Northern half of empire, including the capital city
§
○
Yuan Dynasty (Mongol), 1279-1368
○
-
Understanding the Song Dynasty: Modernity
Song dynasty as “early modern”? or “late imperial”?
1.
Defining modernity: What concepts/ideas/characteristics do you associate with
what is “modern”?
Technology
○
Economic advancements
○
Rationalization (Confucian philosophy as rational and non-secular?)
○
Urbanization and cities
○
Lack of industrialization often prevents the Song from being considered
'modern' (this come from Western Europe later)
○
-
Song Dynasty as “Early Modern”
demographic changes
Changes in the composition of population and class
○
-
urbanization and commercialization
-
technological innovations
-
cultural changes
As a result of urbanization and technological innovations
○
-
*When we talk about the Song as Late Imperial, we emphasize continuity not change
Demographic Changes in the Song
Educated, elite gentry class vs. Tang aristocracy
No longer have aristocratic class; they lose their wealth and privilege
during the fall of the Tang
○
Elite class in the Song is more broad than in the Tang (Tang aristocracy
was hereditary)
○
Entry to elite society is more accessible and open
Get there through education (literary cultivation),
commercialization (economic activity), etc
§
○
-
Shift from North to Southeast
Economic political center moves
○
Part of the reason is that they are able to produce more rice and sustain
more people
○
-
Civil Service examination
Young men study classic Confucians texts then take the exams. Many
young men from elite families spend their lives study for these exams, but
very few pass
○
Northern Song: 100,000 men competed for 500 degrees (only 0.5%, or 1
in 200 of the candidates passed)
○
-
Why is this still so important? Why do so many people study for these exams if
the chances of passing are so slim?
Had to have wealth in order to prepare for the exam (support children,
buy books, pay tutor, etc)
○
A family needs one member of their extended family in their generation
to pass this exam in order to retain elite status, because it is so privileged.
Once one person is high up in the government, they can get other people
in. also, these men who studied became valuable for marriage. Could
marry educated sons to women from elite families
○
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
Economic specialization
Focus on one commodity and trade
○
Song dynasty was known for exporting principally tea, but also silk and
medicines
○
-
Paper money
First time that any state in the world uses paper money
○
Eventually they print too much and it deflates in value so they stop using
it
○
-
City layouts change and become determined by commerce
-
Tang Dynasty: Chang’an (7th-9th c. CE)
Grid-like structure organized to represent the cosmos and be at one with nature
-
Rulers could control markets (economic activity) in the city; make sure activity
was contained within city walls
-
Markets have curfews
-
Northern Song (960-1127): Kaifeng (Bianjing)
Grid-like structure breaks down. Not as organized as Tang Chang'an
-
City overflows outside the walls. People live in the suburbs
-
Empire can no longer control economic activity as closely (ex emergence of
lively night markets)
-
Markets: food, restaurants, goods (ex tea, medicine), entertainment (ex music),
prostitutes (provided music poetry and companionship as well as sexual
favours)
-
Southern Song (1127-1279): Hangzhou (Lin’an)
Another attempt for a controlled grid but markets overflow and trade can no
longer be strictly controlled by the empire
-
Technology
Agriculture: rice cultivation
Certain grains of rice and farming techniques that allow people in the
Southeast to produce more rice and use it as a form of trade and to
sustain a large population
○
-
Ships for Maritime trade
Led to strong Navy
○
-
3 important ivenetions:
Gunpowder
Led to military advantage
§
○
Compass
Helped with navigation to organize barter trade routes (particularly
in the sea)
§
○
Printing
○
-
Woodblock Printing:
Tang Dynasty (618–907)
Diamond Sutra, printed 868
○
Print Buddhist texts using woodblocks
○
Buddhists had interest in printing because of the karmic merit that could
be gained by their scriptures
○
-
Printing starts in the Tang Dynasty but really developed in the Song Dynasty
-
Buddhist Canon: Woodblock Printing
Song Dynasty printed an entire Buddhist Canon:
Took from 972-983
○
Involved carving of 130,000 blocks
○
Carve characters in mirror image in order to get these texts (labor
intensive)
○
-
Korean Buddhist Canon
Image shows the blocks of the Korean Buddhist canon
○
Approx. 5000 sūtras; 81, 258 blocks; 11th C.; 13th C.
○
-
Song Dynasty Printing
Woodblock printing
-
Buddhist Canon
-
Confucian Classics
If you produce more Confucian Classics, more people have access to these
texts and can study for the civil service exam
○
-
Commercial publishing
Print texts in popular demand
○
Larger diversity of literature published for entertainment
○
-
Paper money
-
Images:
Moveable Type Printing (11th C.)
Happened long before moveable type printing the West
○
Developed a system where you carved a series of characters to produce a
text instead of carving each individual block
○
But Chinese were not interested in Moveable Type Printing (not like
Europe - where it was a huge thing). One reason was that they didn't want
one set of characters in one calligraphic style; part of writing someone's
work was including their calligraphy to more completely embody the spirit
of the author. The other reason is that there are so many Chinese
characters. Today, characters are limited to 3,000 printed characters but
they were unlimited in the Song Dynasty and there are about 80,000
possibilities of characters
○
-
Paper money: 1st in the world
-
European Printing and the Protestant Reformation
Image: Gutenberg press (ca. 1440)
-
Europe: People become more literate and orthodox interpretations break down;
people no longer follow the Catholic Church
-
Happened in China as well; people felt more entitled to interpret the Confucian
Classics for themselves
-
Printing press also leads to the dissemination of new ideas --> new environment
-
The Song Dynasty as a “Confucian Age”?2.
*if the Song is a Confucian age - does this mean Confucianism is modern or
traditional?
--> this is where we look at Neo-Confucianism
Confucian elements of the Song Dynasty (960-1279)
Foreign and domestic policy:
wen (civil/literary principle) over wu (military)
○
-
Literacy, printing, and civil service exam: Confucian classics
-
Rise of Neo-Confucianism (Daoxue 道學)
Neo-Confucianism is Western term, in China it is Daoxue (study of the
Dao)
○
Strong element of Confucianism on the surface but same elements are
responding to breakdown of Confucian order and Confucian elements.
Why Neo-Confucianism arises: scholars want to get back to Confucian
order
○
-
But.......
Foreign and Domestic Policy
Policy of : wen 文(civil principle, literature) over wu 武(military)
Wen: civil side of government, Chinese culture, literary study
○
Wu: military aspect of government; important for repelling invaders and
defence
○
Have yin and yang type relationship
○
Policy adopted for practical reasons
○
-
internal reason
Civil administrators as Confucian Sages
○
General from Zhou of the 5 dynasties wants to maintain control but there
are many states fighting and in-fighting within states
○
Worried about what happened with An Lushan in the Tang Dynasty
(general gaining too much power and overthrowing their empire); didn't
want to concentrate military power in the army and in a few powerful
generals again
○
-
external reasons
Powerful non-Chinese states that threaten the Song's existence and
eventually tool over many parts of the state
○
Liao/Jin, Xia, Tibetans are powerful and often challenge the Song military
and political rule; Song is not able to defeat this people and must settle
things diplomatically. Eventually the Jin take over the Northern half of the
Song, and splits the song into South and North
○
-
Non-Chinese Neighbors
Nomadic/semi-nomadic
Nomadic peoples often have different cultures, are skilled militarily
○
Non-Chinese states adopt Chinese customs and institutions at the elite
levels
○
Semi-Nomadic: in some groups, the elite settle and no longer live nomadic
life. Adopt Chinese customs. Power declines because they no longer have
the military power of the nomadic lifestyle
○
-
Chinese customs and institutions: “dual institutions” vs. ethnic/cultural
background
Dual institutions: 2 forms of political institutions within the state
One based on traditional nomadic forms of organizations (ex tribes -
pass power down to who is most militarily powerful)
§
Adopt Chinese bureaucratic structure, customs (ex rituals) and
language (didn't have written language of their own - if they want
to write, they learn Chinese)
§
○
Tension between Chinese culture and traditional culture
○
-
Song dynasty
Policy of coexistence and wen over wu
-
Realizes that they can't defeat the nomadic groups militarily so they maintain
peace through diplomatic measures. Song recognizes nomads as 'equals' or
'superiors' which is embarrassing for the Song because they are supposed to be
at the center of the universe and they are supposed to be civilized in opposition
to the barbaric nomads
-
Song Dynasty also offers tributes to the nomads; offer precious materials, silk,
jewels, wealth, etc. Argument: it would be more costly to wage war than to pay
them off
-
Sometimes formed marriage bonds: imperial princesses would be given to non-
Chinese neighbours
-
Policy of wen 文over wu 武
Reality of Continual Warfare
Wen and Wu was used to solve practical problems, but the Song were still
very militaristic and engaged in constant warfare
○
The Song army: approx. 500,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers (11th C.)
Largest army in the world at this time
§
Didn't concentrate power with any particular generals; tried to
disperse military power to avoid threats
§
○
Technologically advanced : gunpowder (ex canons, catapults), incendiary
weapons (ex flamethrowers), superior navy
○
-
So why weren't they able to defeat the 'barbaric' nomads?
Urbanization and Commercialization
Increased urbanization and commercialization during the Song --> Breakdown of
traditional Confucian order
-
City layout determined by commerce (markets and trade)
Markets no longer controlled by city officials
○
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
scholars (shi 士)1.
farmers (nong 農)2.
artisans/craftsmen (gong 工)3.
merchants (shang 商)
There is an ideal was that society should be organized according to
Confucianism.
○
Scholars should be at the top of social organization, they were the elite
that study/embody Confucian virtues so they should be at the top and
manage the empire. Then farmers were next because they produced
sustenance for the agricultural society. Scholars and Farmers were the
two pillars of society: Farmers provided material goods and scholars were
benevolent and made sure society was operating well for the farmers.
○
Artisans were next because they also produced things, like baskets and
medicine. They were useful, but not essential to the empire
○
Merchants (people involved in trade/business) are seen as evil; the lowest
level of society. Seen as being driven by profit for themselves, which is
selfish. They are useless, all they do is create selfish desire within the
empire
○
4.
With urbanization and commercialization in the Song, the scholar class and
merchant class become closer together. Some elite scholarly families get
involved in business class. Also, there are marriage alliances between scholarly
families and merchant families.
-
Urbanization and Commercialization
City layout determined by commerce
-
Challenge to Confucian class structure
-
Popular/vulgar arts and entertainments
Tang dynasty would never take part in these things, which are
traditionally seen as 'vulgar'
○
New elite in the Song is more diverse and fluid so they are more involved
in popular entertainment in the city
○
'Vulgar': something that is popular. For example, peonies (bc peony
festivals were popular) were not something that the Tang elite would ever
write about, but the Song did
○
-
Printing: diversity
-
Literacy, printing, and the civil service exam
Civil service examination: Confucian Classics
-
Challenge to orthodox interpretations
Come up with new interpretations to the Confucian classics
○
-
Song Political Factionalism:
-
Reformists vs. Conservatives
-
By end of Song dynasty (13th C.):
“Four Books” replace “Five Confucian Classics”
○
-
Song Literary and Cultural Trends
Guwen 古文 (“ancient prose”/ “old culture”) movement
○Interest in returning to the classics and the literary style of the classics.
The messages were simple and the meaning/moral intention of the
writing was the most important aspect
-
Initiated by Han Yu (768-824) in the Tang
○the prose style of the classics;
§Tang dynasty: wrote in flowing, elegant, artful phrases. Had literary
value, not only about moral meaning
moral significance over craft
○
-
Mei Yaochen (1002-1060) and Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072)
○Prominent poets and statemen in this period
“even and bland” (平淡 pingdan) style
§Used vulgar and common words in writing
§Wrote about ordinary life and commented on society within
Confucian ideas of the function of poetry
○
-
Shihou Said that from Ancient Times No One Had Ever Done a Poem About Lice and
Invited Me to Write One on the Subject
Wretched clothes, tattered and easily soiled—
Easily soiled, but hard to free of lice!
They swarm together between the belt and robe,
Then climb in droves to the edge of the fur collar.
Who can find these hidden creatures,
Eating blood and living quite comfortably?
Look up, look down, and human life is past:
Your life seems hardly worth a glance!
(Trans. Jonathan Chaves)
-Crude, vulgar, ordinary topic but with Confucian function of poetry
Song Lyrics (ci 詞)
-Tang Dynasty = Golden age of Poetry (shi 詩)
-Song Dynasty = great age of song lyrics (ci 詞)
-Song lyrics = lyrics written to popular tunes
○Have a melody and write words to go with this melody; people write
different lyrics to the same tune
-Courtesan culture: Late Tang dynasty
○Men were writing songs for courtesans to sing to them; projected male
fantasies into these songs
○Lyrics crafted to be erotic and feminine (even though they were written
by men)
§Irony: this is very un-Confucian
○Sex was often involved in these transactions, but that wasn't everything.
Courtesans were admired as beautiful women with cultural refinement
-craftsmanship (vs. moral significance)
○Craftsmanship: This form is difficult to write within.
-Famous Song Lyricists: Wei Zhuang, Wen Tingyun, Li Qingzhao, etc.
To the tune: “Bodhisattva Barbarian” by Wen Tingyun (812-870)
Head-dress of kingfisher feathers, gold threads: pair of partridges;
Ripples spreading lightly over the spring pond; cerulean blue.
Over the pond, a crab apple;
When the rain clears, branches are loaded with red.
Embroidered sleeves hide the dimples on her face;
Misty grasses adhere to flying butterflies.
The blue-gauze door faces fragrant blossoms;
Yet from the Jade Pass, no word arrives.
(Trans. By Kang-i Sun Chang)
-Writing in his own voice but representing the male gaze objectifying women
○Looking into the boudoir (private area) of the women
-Tune ("Budhisattva Barbarian") has nothing to do with the lyrics
-Detailed sensual description of a woman, her bodily features, and her inner
quarters
Ouyang Xiu: To the Tune “West of the little market”
I’m thinking of someone
Sweet face, just sixteen
Born beautiful—
She has got to be a minx.
Where she is most remarkable
Is when she laughs and her dimples show.
She has a hundred ways and a thousand charms,
And the more you embrace her
The more sweet and slippery she gets.
I’ve neglected her a long time.
Last night in a dream
We made love
Like old times.
Then just when I was happy
The cock next door woke me up.
Everything was quiet
But I could not get back to sleep;
The setting moon outside my window
was wasted.
(Trans. Hightower)
-Guwen, 'ancient prose' writer
○See simplistic phrasing and diction in his writing; has 'speech-like' quality
-Neo-Confucian, hates Buddhists
-Writes song lyrics in his own voices (instead of writing as a gaze or as a
courtesan woman)
-Writes in his own voice and about his own emotions
-Becomes a problem for Ouyang Xiu:
○Shows how seriously the Chinese took poetry
○Writing in a women's voice was acceptable for men
○Writing as yourself was seen to be auto-biographical and true expressions
of your emotions
○Ouyang Xiu was a prominent political figure and his rivals took this poem
and said 'this is proof that Ouyang Xiu is having an illicit affair with his
niece.' This poem was admissible evidence in court because poems were
true expressions and Ouyang Xiu was thrown in jail
Li Qingzhao (ca. 1084-1151): To the tune: “Spring at Wuling”
The wind subsides—the dust carries a fragrance of fallen petals;
It’s late in the day—I’m too tired to comb my hair.
Things remain but he is gone, and with him everything. On the verge of words, tears
flow.
I hear at Twin Creek, spring’s still lovely;
How I long to float there on a small boat—
But I fear that at Twin Creek my frail grasshopper boat
Could not carry this load of grief.
(trans. Eugene Eoyang)
-Most famous woman poet in Chinese history
○Many elite women were educated and would write poetry, but we don't
have much of it
-Not a courtesan
-Li Qingzhao criticizes male song lyricists that came before her for not
understanding women's emotions; men's writing are crude and awkward and
only she can write about women's emotion
○Because she writes from her own voice, some assumed that they were
true/auto-biographical (ex wrote about missing her husband because he
was at the frontier and people thought that was true - but her husband
was never actually at the frontier)
-Poem: expression of emotion
○Beyond what was appropriate for Confucian man or woman
-Also shows new idea of womanhood; women are not valued as objects of
beauty but for talent, particularly literary talent. She had this relationship with
her husband and they were 'literary equals.' became an ideal later on, where
women should be educated and literate to be good companions for their
husbands
Traditional History of Zen Buddhism
-CE 520? Bodhidharma arrives in China
-638-713 Huineng, Sixth Patriarch of Zen
-617-907 Tang Dynasty: “Golden Age of Zen”
-845 Buddhist Persecution
-960-1279 Song Dynasty: “Decline of Zen"
○Song Dynasty Zen = institutional, literary, ritualized
○Tang Dynasty Zen = spontaneous, free, iconoclastic
*popularity of Zen is obscured in the Song. Tang Dynasty was 'golden age' of Zen
because you had masters who lived separately and were beyond rules of morality,
etc… Song Dynasty was seen as more institutionalized, literary, etc whereas Zen
Buddhists had knowledge that transcended words and literature.
Popularity of Zen Buddhism during the Song
-Institutionalization and Imperial patronage: Zen monasteries
○Zen forms during this time as an institutionalized form of Buddhism (other
side of institutionalization of the Song Dynasty). First time you get Zen
Buddhism monasteries with actual institutional framework
○In order to run monasteries, you need patronage from the empire.
Recognizes the monasteries and publishes new Zen writings (recorded
saying)
“Recorded sayings” (yulu 語錄)
New genre of Chinese Buddhist literature
§"anti-literature literature"
○
as “oral transcription” of the enlightened Buddha
§Masters don't write anything themselves, monks record
spontaneous dialogues with their masters
○
○“Golden Age of Tang” as Song literary creation
-
-Famous “recorded sayings” attributed to Tang masters:
○Linji 臨濟 (J. Rinzai; d. 866)
○Zhaozhou 趙州 (J. Jōshū; 778-897)
“Recorded Sayings” Dialogues
-Master Yunmen
Someone asked, “I heard a teaching that speaks of the purity of all-
encompassing wisdom. What is that purity like?”
Master Yunmen spat at him.
○Example of master doing something inappropriate that doesn't answer
the question, but is seen as a Buddhist teaching
-A monk asked: “What is Buddha?”
The master said....
○Monk is asking 'what is the truth/ultimate'
○Masters have lots of creative answers to this, for example:
§'who are you'
§'I'm tired today, go ask someone else'
○So masters are rejecting formal monastic practices by rejecting 'what is
Buddha' and traditional icons. Represents independence of the masters
-Conventional = Ultimate
Zen Influence on Song Literature:
-Su Shi (Su Dongpo; 1037-1101)
○Protégé of Ouyang Xiu
-The sound of the stream – Buddha’s long broad tongue,
The form of the mountains – his pure bod
Ten thousand verses chanted through the night,
In the morning, how will I explain them to others?
16: The Song Dynasty
Monday, February 26, 2018 9:11 AM
Document Summary
During this time, the empire is not unified; split into kingdoms that are fighting. Early in history to have "early modern" period. Late imperial: continuity with past and imperial system. Tang and six dynasties: buddhism and daoism were very popular. Part of the reason for the fall is the inability to balance these 2 forces. You need a strong military, and tang tended to privilege professional military generals and soldiers. Problem: military grows too powerful, becomes independent and threatens empire (what happens with an. Tang dynasty continues for another 150 years but doesn"t have the same power; gets split up. Regional governors in different parts of the empire become powerful and independent from tang rulership. Problem with military power affects the song dynasty. Move capital to the south (now hangzhou) after the jin dynasty takes. Move capital to the south (now hangzhou) after the jin dynasty takes over the capital kaifong.
