There are over 2.9 million volumes of rare ancient books in the National Library of China’s Ancient Books Museum, among which the most precious are these exquisitely engraved Song typefaces. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, there has been a saying that one page of Song typefaces is worth one or two gold. Song typefaces are often made of leather and hemp paper, with a firm and resilient texture, a clear and elegant layout, and often have the names of the engraving workers and the number of words on each page at the bottom of the typeface. The font and ink used are extremely meticulous, with distinct characteristics of the Song Dynasty. From these Song edition books that have been passed down to the present day, people can not only see the mature woodblock printing technology of the Song Dynasty, but also restore the culturally prosperous and technologically advanced Song Dynasty nearly a thousand years ago through the text on them.
Liyuan Classical Theater Quanzhou City, Fujian Province
Yue Opera “Liu Yong” by Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe
This is the performance of the original Yue opera “Liu Yong” in Quanzhou, Fujian. The Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe has performed nearly fifty performances on Liu Yong’s play. Liu Yong was a representative of the gentle and graceful poets of the Northern Song Dynasty, and also the first professional lyricist to devote his life to poetry creation. His numerous melodies and works have been widely sung and popular, “wherever there is a well to drink, one can sing Liu Ci.”.
Liu Yong played by Wang Jun’an: He is a talented person with a very charming personality. He was willing to be a lyricist, and on the other hand, he wanted to embark on this career path, which was very bumpy. He had a very difficult journey all the way, so in the end, he realized that creating and writing lyrics was actually his most important thing. In the end, he completely let go, and he felt that writing lyrics was what he wanted.
Liu never only depicts the joys and sorrows of red men and green women, as well as the sorrows of spring and autumn. He also incorporates themes such as urban prosperity, travel scenery, citizen life, and the melancholy of travel into his poetry. With unique artistic personalities such as popular and colloquial language and imagery that blends emotions and scenery, he boldly innovates the literary theme of ci in both content and form, thus having a profound impact on the development of Song ci.
Zheng Yongxiao, a researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Ci, as a literary style, originated in the Sui and Tang dynasties. Therefore, his emergence is mainly related to the rise of banquet music. So, this term was quite popular during the late Tang Dynasty. Due to changes in the style of the times, after the An Lushan Rebellion, this prosperous Tang Dynasty atmosphere was gone forever, and literati no longer pursued achievement and success. Therefore, he entrusted this spirit to these singers and dancers, writing some small poems to pass the time for them. So after the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty, and some poets from the Southern Tang Dynasty came under the Song Dynasty, but their poetic realm was basically not explored. This city saw the emergence of Liu Yong, who was adept at absorbing their expertise in singing slow music. He then expanded the realm of this word and it has had a significant impact not only in the Central Plains but also in ethnic minority countries in the north.
Song poetry initially inherited the style of the late Tang and Five Dynasties, with a focus on depicting romance and children’s customs. The ideological content was inevitably narrow, but the structure was deep and meticulous, the rhythm was gentle and harmonious, the language was fresh and beautiful, and had the artistic characteristics of being gentle and graceful. Since the middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the graceful and restrained poets represented by Liu Yong have expanded their artistic expression and enriched their artistic techniques, and their lyrical expression is impressive. By the Southern Song Dynasty, there were still many excellent works of lyricism emerging. (Singing: “Red hands, yellow wine, full of spring palace walls and willows, the east wind is evil, the joy is thin, a cup of melancholy, years of separation, wrong, wrong, wrong.”) This poem by the Southern Song Dynasty poet Lu You, “Hairpin Phoenix,” depicts the tragic love story between Lu You and Tang Wan. The entire poem expresses the deep attachment and longing between the two, expressing the author’s resentment, sorrow, and indescribable sadness and infatuation. It is a unique and tear jerking work.
“Fisherman’s Pride” handwritten by Mao Zedong at the Fan Zhongyan Memorial Hall in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
And this poem by Fan Zhongyan, “Su Muzhe,” is different from the typical gentle and graceful style of poetry. It uses a heavy and vigorous pen power to write a low and gentle melancholy, “Blue clouds, yellow leaves, autumn waves, and cold smoke on the waves.” The person who recites it is called Xu Ping. Due to work reasons, he has developed a strong interest in Fan Zhongyan’s past years and can also recite some of Fan Zhongyan’s words and phrases casually.
Xu Ping, Deputy Secretary General of the Fan Zhongyan Research Association: Fan Zhongyan was a famous military strategist, educator, writer, and thinker of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was later known as the Duke of Fan Wen and was also a poet highly appreciated by Mao Zedong.
Fan Zhongyan Memorial Hall, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province
The Song character flag and a row of signs with Fan Zhongyan’s poems and famous lines in the distant Tianping Mountain Fan Zhongyan Memorial Hall in Suzhou convey the local people’s nostalgia for Fan Zhongyan.
Xu Ping, Deputy Secretary General of the Fan Zhongyan Research Association: Fan Zhongyan is a clean and upright official, so he has been demoted multiple times, but he has always attached great importance to this measure of promoting education. Even when he resisted the invasion of Western Xia in Shaanxi, he still did not forget the importance of promoting education and talent cultivation.
Suzhou Tianping Mountain Fan Zhongyan Memorial Hall
In 1040 AD, at the age of 52, Fan Zhongyan was tasked with organizing Shaanxi defense to resist the invasion of Western Xia. Faced with the desolate scenery caused by the war outside the frontier, he wrote the term “Fisherman’s Pride”, which has been passed down for thousands of years. “In autumn, the scenery from the frontier is unique, and the geese from Hengyang go unnoticed. The sound of horns rises from all sides, and smoke grows from thousands of mountains. The city is closed at sunset. A cup of turbid wine fills the house for thousands of miles, and Yan Ran has no plans to return. The Qiang Guan Guan is leisurely covered in frost on the ground, and people cannot sleep. General Bai Fa Zheng Fu tears.” This generous and bold phrase expresses the heroic spirit and difficult life of the border guards at that time. The artistic conception is majestic and broad, desolate and tragic.
Baochu Tower, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province
Afterwards, like Fan Zhongyan, he reflected major issues of the country and society in his poetry, expressing political views and ideals through his works, becoming an increasingly common way of expression for Song dynasty poets. The literary magnate Su Shi further pioneered a new era, creating a bold and unrestrained hero that competes with the gentle and graceful.
“Nian Nu Jiao – Red Cliff Nostalgia” handwritten by Su Shi in Huanggang City, Hubei Province
“The great river flows eastward, the waves are washed away, and the legendary figures of the ages. To the west of the fortress, humanity is like the Three Kingdoms’ Zhou Lang on the Red Cliff.”
Dongpo Chibi Scenic Area Huanggang City, Hubei Province
In 1082 AD, Su Shi, who was exiled to Huangzhou for writing a poem satirizing the reform and new policies, climbed onto the Chibi Rock and wrote a timeless poem called “Nian Nu Jiao · Chibi Huai Gu”.
Researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Wu Guangxing: Su Shi, through his writing practice, changed the way poetry was created. He transformed the lyrics of singers into those of poets, and the originally simple entertainment words into literary figures and scholars, reflecting his care and character as a literary style. Of course, he also opened up a new literary world.
Su Dongpo Statue, Dongpo Chibi Scenic Area, Hubei Province
The scenery depicted in Su Shi’s poetry is often unique and broad, expressing a broad and lofty sentiment. He combines the emotions of the poet with those of the poet very well, greatly improving the taste of the poem. When the poem reaches the eastern slope, its style begins to be respected. Su Shi’s transformation of the style of poetry established the important position of the bold and unrestrained school in the Song Dynasty’s literary world. However, the bold and unrestrained poetry of the Northern Song Dynasty was more reflected in the suppressed pursuit of spiritual liberation under the feudal system. With the Jingkang Rebellion, the fall of the Central Plains, the instability of the Southern Song Dynasty, the pain of losing one’s home, and the desire to reclaim lost territory, more and more of them are reflected in the poetry of the poets of Nandu.
Xin Qiji’s Former Residence in Jinan, Shandong Province
“Where to look at the Shenzhou, full of scenery in Beigu Tower, with countless ups and downs throughout history, leisurely and endless flowing Yangtze River.” Xin Qiji, a famous and bold poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, devoted his life to the resistance against the Jin Dynasty and participated in the anti Jin army multiple times. His lyrics also opened up new horizons and transcended the past and present. Xin Qiji is skilled at using literature as his lyrics, writing about the past and present. His themes are broad and his style of poetry is varied. He has both the heroic and heroic qualities of being drunk, lighting lamps and watching swords, and dreaming of blowing horns and camping. He also looks back on the vivid and delicate character of that person in the dim light, earning him the nickname “Dragon of Poetry”.
In 1205 AD, in the first year of the Kaixi reign of Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty, Xin Qiji was appointed as the magistrate of Zhenjiang in his twilight years. He climbed to the Beigu Pavilion and wrote “Nanxiangzi · Beigu Pavilion at Jingkou · Huai”, recalling the past and the present. With the name of Sun Quan, a hero of the Three Kingdoms, he lamented that there were no wise and brave people in the Southern Song Dynasty who could turn the tide.
“Nanxiangzi Ascends the Beigu Pavilion at the Capital Entrance with Huai” by Xin Qiji, Beigu Mountain Scenic Area, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province
“At a young age, with ten thousand banners, I have yet to rest in the Southeast War. Who is the hero of the world to compete with? Cao Liu, giving birth to a son should be like Sun Zhongmou.” Xin Qiji, with three questions and three answers, echoes before and after, desolate and majestic, with a lofty artistic conception. Compared with his simultaneous work “Eternal Encounter of Music: Remembering the Past at Beigu Pavilion in Jingkou”, one has a lively style, the other is full of frustration, and at the same time, it is nostalgic and nostalgic. It is a masterpiece of the ages, but its writing style is completely different.
Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall, Zhangqiu City, Shandong Province
Li Qingzhao, who is also known as Jinan Er’an along with Xin Qiji, is an outstanding representative of female poets in the Song Dynasty, known as the Wanyue Ci School. Li Qingzhao lived a prosperous life in his early years, with a clear and lively style in his poetry. Later, he encountered changes in his family and country, and his poetry often lamented his background with a sentimental tone. “The sky meets the clouds, the waves connect the dawn mist, and the starry river wants to turn a thousand sails and dance, as if a dream soul is returning to the emperor’s place. Hearing the heavenly language, he earnestly asks me where I belong.”
Researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Zheng Yongxiao: This poem has a subtitle called “Sending Dreams”, which means it depicts a scene in a dream. So, I think this scene is very broad and majestic, and its style is not like Li Qingzhao’s original poem, but rather more bold. Previous evaluations of this poem are very similar to the Su Xin School, more bold, and very different from her original gentle style.
Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall, Zhangqiu City, Shandong Province
Yi An’s poetry stands out and has its own unique style in the flourishing Song Dynasty poetry garden. Li Qingzhao believes that poetry should emphasize harmony and elegance, and writing should be different from writing poetry and prose. In fact, many poets in the Song Dynasty had diverse styles and did not specialize in the righteous school. They were both elegant and generous, which also contributed to the richness and diversity of Song poetry. Song Ci embodies the highest achievement of literature in the Song Dynasty and is a unique flower in Chinese language and literature. At the same time, Song Ci creation has entered a period of high productivity.
The Complete Song Poetry – Library of the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The Complete Song Poems includes nearly 10000 poems, with over 200000 poems recorded. The number and length of poets exceed five times that of the Complete Tang Poems. Song Dynasty poets attach great importance to ideological content and are skilled in using literature as poetry and discussion as poetry. The formation of this trend is related to a poetic and literary reform movement in the Song Dynasty. The poetry and prose reform movement that emerged in the Northern Song Dynasty after the Tang Dynasty’s ancient prose movement mainly opposed the superficial literary style and advocated for the reform of poetry and prose.
Canglangting, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province
In 1044 AD, Su Shunqing, an important member of the poetry and literature reform movement and a poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, was impeached and stripped of his position for the people. He left Tokyo and came to Suzhou. He bought the abandoned garden of the Sun family, which was previously the governor of Wu and Yue, and built a pavilion by the water, naming it Canglang Pavilion. His friend Ouyang Xiu was invited to write a long poem for “Canglang Pavilion”, and wrote the famous line: “The clear wind and bright moon are priceless, but unfortunately only sold for 40000 yuan.”. Canglang Pavilion gained great fame as a result.
Researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Wu Guangxing: Su Shunqing and Ouyang Xiu should be in their twenties and have known each other since their youth. Both of them have a mission and are passionate about the reform of poetry and literature. Of course, they are a pair of like-minded young people. At that time, there was a group of young people who appreciated and encouraged each other, and of course, they also formed friendships. From the perspective of literary history, they are a particularly strong group of promoters of poetry and literature reform.
Su Shunqin was dedicated to the writing of ancient Chinese literature and poetry, advocating that poetry and composition should be based on moral principles and should not be carved to harm righteousness. His proposition had a positive impact on many writers at the same time. If Su Shunqin was an active advocate of the poetry and literature reform movement in the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu was undoubtedly the leader of this movement. Ouyang Xiu regarded the artistic form and level of literature as equally important as the ideological content, elevated the status of literature, and established the correct guiding ideology for the poetry and prose reform of the Northern Song Dynasty. It opened up broad prospects for the great development of literature in the Song Dynasty.
Zuiwengting, Chuzhou City, Anhui Province
In order to express his admiration for Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi handwritten the full text of Ouyang Xiu’s “Record of Drunken Weng Pavilion”. The Baosu Studio, now located on the west side of Drunken Weng Pavilion in Chuzhou, Anhui, was specially established by the Ming Dynasty to protect Su Shi’s calligraphy of “Record of Drunken Weng Pavilion”. Among Su Shi’s calligraphy works, “Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Collection” is the most famous, known as the third running script in the world.
“Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Collection” Japanese copy of Erxuan Society, Hangzhou Celebrity Memorial Hall, Zhejiang Province
The Cold Food Poetry Collection was written during Su Shi’s exile to Huangzhou. Although he was poor and destitute, his literary and calligraphy creations during this period reached a new peak. Calligraphy is vigorous and melancholic, full of spirit and vigor, integrating poetry, painting, and calligraphy, with strong infectious power. Such an artistic height not only represents Su Shi’s own artistic cultivation, but also fully reflects the spiritual realm of the elite group of literati in the Song Dynasty.
Interpreter at Hangzhou Celebrity Memorial Hall – He Yinjie: The class of literati and officials in the Song Dynasty was a very special one in our Chinese history. They always could distinguish between public and private affairs very clearly. Struggles in public affairs would not involve their personal relationships, and personal relationships would not affect their debates in public affairs. This is a special representative of many people, such as Su Shi. In his early years, Su Shi was classified as the old party because he opposed the new law. However, when the old party came to power and overthrew all the new laws in one go, Su Shi once again stood up and spoke candidly, saying that there were many good things in the new law. As a result, he was excluded by the old party. However, in such circumstances, when Sima Guang passed away, Su Shi still respectfully came to Sima Guang’s homestead and mourned before his funeral. At the same time, he also put in a lot of effort in this matter, and although he and Wang Anshi had different political views in history, Wang Anshi never stopped his nephews from reading Su Shi’s poetry.
Famous calligraphers and painters of the Song Dynasty
The spiritual resilience and personal charm of the elite group of literati and officials in the Song Dynasty also symbolized the arrival of a brilliant era of culture and art, reflected in calligraphy, which is commonly referred to as the Jin people valuing rhyme, the Tang people valuing law, and the Song people valuing meaning. The so-called meaning refers to the artistic conception and interest, and advocating for artistic conception and interest was the main characteristic of calligraphy and even painting in the Song Dynasty. And this characteristic is closely related to the development of philosophical thought in the Song Dynasty.
Southern Song Dynasty Li Tang Picking Wei Scroll, Beijing Palace Museum
Many literati in the Song Dynasty were enamored with Zen Buddhism, emphasizing contemplation and a sense of emptiness, striving to incorporate the concept of Zen into the artistic conception of poetry, calligraphy, and painting. They wandered through the mountains and forests, befriended Zen monks, and often imbued their poetry, literary criticism, and timeless writings with the wisdom of Buddhism and Zen. The rise of literati painting in the Song Dynasty was also a side of the spiritual pursuit of literati. Scholars in the Song Dynasty were skilled in expressing emotions and expressing emotions through painting, and they emphasized the beautiful artistic conception hidden in natural scenery. From the subject matter to the brushwork, we emphasize the temperament and charm of literati, attach importance to personal emotions and cultural cultivation, and reflect them in the artistic conception of painting, striving to achieve a painting in poetry. The Song Dynasty was once again the heyday of palace painting, and a Hanlin Painting Academy was established in the palace, which concentrated a large number of excellent painters at that time to engage in creation.
A Thousand Mile Map of the Northern Song Dynasty’s Rivers and Mountains
Landscape painting of Song Xiawa, Library of the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Song Huizong Liu Ya Lu Yan Picture Scroll Shanghai Museum
The famous Northern Song paintings “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” and “A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains” were both created in art academies. Painting is meticulously divided into different subjects, with a style that emphasizes pattern and precision, precise color setting, and delicate brushstrokes, imbued with an aristocratic aesthetic taste. Almost all categories of traditional Chinese painting were perfected in the Song Dynasty, and many excellent works were produced, such as figures, landscapes, flowers, and birds. Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty, was one of the few talented calligraphers and painters in Chinese history. His thin gold calligraphy, which he founded, stood out in the world. He was skilled in painting flowers, birds, and landscapes, and also had extremely high attainments.
Yu Hui from the Research Institute of the Palace Museum in Beijing: During the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he established the School of Painting in terms of talent cultivation. After entering the School of Painting, students not only learned painting but also learned cultural knowledge. What were his requirements? They wanted to be able to depict realistic objects in a very exquisite way. However, he also demanded that you draw in a very subtle way, so as not to let the audience see everything at a glance. Sometimes, when he asked some questions, he would only test these students. For example, one time he gave a question called “Selling Restaurant by the Bamboo Bridge”, and many candidates painted a tavern next to the bamboo forest. The person who painted the best was named Li Tang. He didn’t paint the tavern, but instead painted a wine flag fluttering in the wind, giving the impression that there was a tavern behind this bamboo grove, This kind of painting was welcomed by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. As a result, many painters are pursuing artistic forms and means of expression, which should be subtle, have content, and the techniques should be exquisite and exquisite.
The Song Dynasty was the heyday of Chinese painting history. Song Dynasty painting is a treasure of traditional Chinese art, but it is rare and widely circulated, and has never been systematically collected, organized, and studied.
Complete Collection of Song Paintings, Library of the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
The complete collection of Song paintings, first published in Beijing in 2008, consists of 8 volumes and 32 volumes, containing over 1500 high-quality Song paintings from both domestic and foreign sources, filling a historical gap. During the Song Dynasty, among the upper class literati and samurai officials, the collection, evaluation, and extension of paintings by painters became popular. At the same time, the trend of private and folk book collection was also extremely popular. The highly developed woodblock printing technology in the Song Dynasty led to the rapid development of official and folk publishing, gradually forming four book carving centers in Tokyo, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Fujian. The distribution of books became increasingly widespread, providing favorable conditions for private book collection. Many book collectors, as well as educators and renowned scholars, in the Song Dynasty also served as the center of education, academia, and culture. The Song government also satisfied the educational needs of schools at all levels by publishing and issuing a large number of books centered around Confucian classics. In addition to books bestowed by the imperial court, many local officials are also enthusiastic about establishing cultural and educational institutions, purchasing a large number of books for use in school teaching. The prosperity of cultural and educational undertakings has promoted the progress and development of science and technology. In the mid-11th century, the inventor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng, invented the technique of clay movable type printing, which was about 400 years earlier than the German lead movable type printing. Bi Sheng and his movable type printing were first seen in the book “Mengxi Bitan”.
Dream Creek Essays – Library of the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
“Mengxi Bitan” is a comprehensive note taking work that involves ancient natural sciences, technological processes, and social historical phenomena. It summarizes the scientific achievements of ancient China, especially during the Northern Song Dynasty, and is praised by British historian Joseph Needham as a coordinate in the history of Chinese science. The author of “Mengxi Bitan”, Shen Kuo, was a versatile scientist of the Song Dynasty. He was knowledgeable and skilled in literature, and had knowledge in astronomy, local chronicles, calendar, music, medicine, and divination. He discovered the existence of geomagnetic declination by accurately measuring the meridian, which was 400 years earlier than Europe. Shen Kuo also analyzed the observations of solar and lunar eclipses at that time and found that the sun and moon were spherical rather than planar. He also determined the position of the North Star for centuries, allowing sailors to more accurately determine the direction when using a compass for navigation. Shen Kuo is also an outstanding water conservancy expert. During his tenure as the chief clerk of Shuyang County, he presided over the project to control the water in Shuyang. Not only did he alleviate the threat of floods, but he also cultivated 7000 hectares of fertile land, changing the face of Shuyang. In 1072 AD, Shen Kuo presided over the water conservancy construction of the Bian River. He used the layered weir construction method to accurately measure the elevation difference between Kaifeng and Sizhou to an inch. In just four or five years, he diverted water and silted up more than 17000 tilts of farmland. This was another versatile scientist of the Song Dynasty, Su Song, who knew everything about astronomy, geography, calendar, music, and medicine.
The Compendium of Materia Medica, Science and Technology Management Office of Tong’an District, Xiamen City
Water Transport Instrument Image Station, Tong’an District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province
During the Jiayou period of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, Su Song presided over the compilation of the “Compendium of Materia Medica”, which was the first pharmacology work with illustrations that has been passed down to this day. It covers a lot of knowledge from disciplines such as pharmacology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy. Not only did it provide a basis for the formulation of medicinal properties, but it also corrected the erroneous techniques of previous herbal medicines, enabling many drugs that were previously unidentifiable to be confirmed without errors. The water transport instrument elephant platform standing in Suzhou Song Park in Xiamen is another contribution of Suzhou Song to human society. The water transport instrument elephant platform he invented is a comprehensive observation instrument that integrates the observation of celestial phenomena, demonstration of celestial phenomena, time measurement and automatic timing mechanical devices. The entire instrument is about 12 meters high and 7 meters wide, with a wooden structure. The entire platform is divided into three compartments. The upper compartment is equipped with a celestial globe, and the top panel can be freely opened. It already has the prototype of a modern astronomical observation room, with a central grid placed in the lower compartment including a timing device and the power mechanism of the entire platform. The escapement device in the lower compartment is the timing device. The key component of the water transport instrument, the Water Transport Observatory, was an outstanding astronomical instrument in China at the end of the 11th century and also the oldest astronomical clock in the world. Its invention reflects the high level of knowledge and application of ancient Chinese astronomy and mechanics, And the Water Transport Elephant Platform was taken away by the Jin army when they invaded Bianjing, and ultimately destroyed in the Mongol Jin War.
Peng Wanwan, a researcher at the Xiamen Political Consultative Conference: This water transportation instrument and elephant platform was located in the capital city of Kaifeng at that time. However, during the Northern and Southern Song dynasties and the end of the Southern Song dynasty, the Yuan army attacked Kaifeng. When they saw the water transportation instrument and elephant platform, they moved it away, but they didn’t understand science and technology. They dismantled it twice and then dismantled it, but they didn’t know how to keep it. They lost all the original parts.
The sunken ship Nanhai No.1, a porcelain export vessel from the Song Dynasty
Like the fate of the Water Transport Instrument Elephant Platform, due to years of war, many cultural treasures of the Song Dynasty were damaged or even lost during the war. Today, people can only infer their appearance from scattered records in historical materials. These exquisite porcelain pieces come from a Song Dynasty sunken ship over 800 years ago, on board the ship known as Nanhai No.1. There are over 60000 pieces of such porcelain, which have been identified through archaeological research. These porcelain pieces come from five famous kilns: Jingdezhen Kiln in Jiangxi, Longquan Kiln in Zhejiang, Dehua Kiln in Fujian, Minqing Kiln in Fujian, and Cizao Kiln in Fujian, with over 30 varieties. The discovery of these Southern Song porcelain pieces once again confirms that the Song Dynasty was the first prosperous era of Chinese porcelain.
Southern Song Ge Kiln Porcelain Beijing Palace Museum
The five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty, namely Ru, Guan, Ge, Ding, and Jun, produced elegant monochromatic glazed porcelain, which is widely recognized as one of the beauties of Chinese porcelain.
Explanator at the Southern Song Official Kiln Museum – Tong Fang: Porcelain from Southern Song official kilns usually needs to be glazed three to four times. Only after multiple rounds of glazing can it be fired at 1200 degrees Celsius in a single round in the Dragon Kiln. At this time, the resulting porcelain is as light as jade.
In the cultural exchange of the Song Dynasty, ceramics played a crucial role. Exquisite Chinese porcelain was like a business card, transported to more than 50 countries worldwide through the sea ceramic route. However, the overseas sales of Song porcelain were closely related to the highly developed shipbuilding technology of the Song Dynasty. In ancient times, China had already mastered shipbuilding and navigation technology. After entering the Sui and Tang dynasties, China’s shipbuilding and navigation technology made rapid progress, and by the Song and Yuan dynasties, it was far ahead of the world.
Watertight compartment model, Quanzhou Overseas Transportation History Museum, Fujian Province
The watertight compartment, rudder, and keel device are the three major inventions of ancient Chinese shipbuilding technology. These three technologies were quite mature in the Song Dynasty. Rudders were used to control the direction of ship navigation, which the ancients called Lingbo Zhibao. During the Song Dynasty, ships mostly used rectangular door openings. In order to save effort in turning the rudder, the Song people invented perforated rudder to reduce water resistance. In the “Along the River during the Qingming Festival”, the balance rudder appeared by moving a small portion of the rudder surface to the front of the rudder stock to reduce the swinging torque of the rudder surface, making the control more flexible and lightweight. In addition, there were elevators on ships of the Southern Song Dynasty that could rise and fall with the depth of the water. (Lecturer: Everyone, take a look. Now I am holding this ship model in my hand. Its most obvious feature is that it has three compartments, which is our focus today. This is called a compartment board. It seems like a simple technology today, but it is very important in the Song Dynasty of our country or in the historical process of the whole world.) In the classroom of Jinjiang Vocational and Technical School in Fujian, the teacher is conducting teaching courses such as watertight compartments. (Lecturer: The entire cabin is breathable, and the curves you made were not in place. They couldn’t even be nailed together, so they couldn’t function as watertight compartments. That’s the truth. Let’s take a look. Now I’m holding a small boat with only three compartments. If I zoom in, would it necessarily be three compartments? No, that’s right. Depending on the size of your boat, compartments can be flexibly changed. The larger the boat, the more compartments there are, and of course, the smaller the boat will be.) The watertight compartment technology of the Song Dynasty was already very mature, using compartment panels to divide the cabin into several independent compartments. Not only has the ship’s structure been improved, but also its safety and performance have been enhanced.
Shipbuilding craftsman inheritor – Chen Fangcai: With a watertight compartment, the ship’s stability and strength have increased significantly. Secondly, this watertight compartment divides each ship into several compartments. If there is a special situation where water enters a hole in one compartment, it cannot flow into other compartments to ensure your safety. It can also save time for maintenance. The third function is that with a watertight compartment, if you want to load dry things on one side and liquid things on the other, it will not be able to communicate. The fourth function is that our ship usually needs to dock. If there is no watertight compartment, it is easy to move or break when you come into contact with the empty space inside. With the watertight compartment, it is tightly connected to this hemp rope, so there is no space, so it will not move when it comes into contact with the dock, making it much stronger.
Until today, whether it is an oil tanker carrying hundreds of thousands of tons or a nuclear submarine diving into the deep sea, although materials are constantly changing, the interior of the hull still adopts a watertight compartment structure. This type of pointed bottom keel boat is called a lucky boat because it was born in Fujian. The Song Dynasty’s Fu ship is considered an outstanding representative of ancient Chinese shipbuilding technology. The ship type and hull structure of the Fu ship are determined by the keel, which is installed at the lower end of the pointed top to connect the ship’s bow and stern, forming a pointed head and bottom that is conducive to breaking through waves. Moreover, due to the deep draft and good stability of the ship’s bottom, it was easy to turn the rudder and change direction, making it suitable for use on narrow and rocky waterways. Therefore, the Fu ship was once the most active ship type on various ocean waterways at that time. Another major breakthrough and new achievement in the navigation technology of the Song Dynasty was the widespread use of the compass and compass. The Song people were already able to draw accurate nautical charts based on maritime traffic routes, providing more technical tools and knowledge for navigation, and taking a big step forward in the direction of marine geographic identification and detection.
The Song Dynasty was the peak period of technological development in ancient China, during which numerous technological achievements had a profound impact on the progress of human civilization. For example, three of the the Four Great Inventions of ancient China were invented, perfected and widely applied in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty civilization not only affected China and East Asia, but also the world in terms of technology and lifestyle. The elegant spiritual temperament of the Song Dynasty made it an elegant dynasty in Chinese history, and this elegant cultural temperament gradually became a cultural imprint representing the spiritual temperament of the Chinese people. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the culture of the Two Song Dynasties was a typical culture of China, and even today, people can still feel the spiritual atmosphere from the elegant Song Dynasty from the cultural aesthetics and lifestyle of the Chinese people.
90 seconds in history: Burning firewood to end the day
In January 907 AD, a grand burning firewood ceremony was held on the northern grasslands to announce the ascension of the leader of the Khitan tribal alliance. The firewood burned fiercely in the fire, and thick smoke rose to the sky, symbolizing an oath to heaven. From then on, Yelv Abaoji officially became the leader of the Khitan Khaganate. He would undertake the significant mission of the strong rise of the Khitan people. The Khitans had a strong will, but due to the dispersion of their camp forces and the pressure of strong enemies, they repeatedly suffered heavy failures. However, they eventually united from within and formed the Khitan tribal alliance. They longed for strength and hoped for a strong leader to lead them to stand upright. With his backbone, he stepped out of his weakness. At this moment, Yelv Abaoji stood out and under his leadership, the Khitan army marched eastward and westward, Almost all Khitans have high hopes for Abaoji, who has won numerous victories. At the ceremony, everyone sang and danced, wishing Abaoji success. However, no one would have expected that the biggest challenge Abaoji will face four years later will come from within the Khitans.
