The Song Reception of Earlier Literature

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Owen
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Major Change ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Poetry ◽  
Tao Yuanming ◽  
Scholarly Editing ◽  
Tao Qian ◽  
Poetic Composition ◽  
Literary Legacy

The literature of the Song dynasty was engaged with earlier literature, primarily that of the Tang, far more intensely than any earlier period had been engaged with the literary past. Scholarly editing and eventually widespread printing made past texts available on an unprecedented scale. They were relatively uninterested in pre-Tang literature, with the exception of the poetry of Tao Qian (Tao Yuanming, 365–427), but developed their own poetics through changing interpretations of the Tang literary legacy. The major change came in the early thirteenth century with Yan Yu’s Canglang shihua (Canglang’s Remarks on Poetry), which tied poetic composition to a literary historical curriculum of reading that did include pre-Tang poetry, with each period judged in relation to the whole. This set the model for the poetics of later dynasties.

A National Flower’s Symbolic Value During the Tang and Song Dynasties in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Ying
Keyword(s):  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Tree Peony ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Tang Poetry ◽  
Su Shi ◽  
Tang And Song Dynasties ◽  
Li Bai ◽  
Symbolic Value ◽  
Northern Climate ◽  
Plum Tree

The concept of a national flower was an important part of the culture and poetry of the imperial courts of the Tang and Song dynasties. Li Bai and other poets in the Tang period used the tree peony as an icon of the imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan’s beauty. Later Tang poetry, however, also includes undertones of disquiet, using this flower-image as a sign of unhappiness at the state of the country. With the advent of the Song dynasty, the poetic focus exalts the plum blossom, a very different kind of flower than the tree peony. I argue that this reflects the Song dynasty’s different mentality. Writers of this age emphasized refinement, rationality, and introspection. For example, Lin Bu felt wedded to his plum tree. Su Shi developed a theory of the plum blossom’s character. The shift in government from North to South may have also contributed to the shift. The tree peony suited the northern climate; the plum tree thrived in the South.

Connecting with the Local, or Not: The Song Emperor’s Terrace

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-119
Author(s):  
Helena Y.W. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Filial Piety ◽  
Cultural Icon ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Imperial China ◽  
Late Nineteenth

By taking the Song Emperor’s Terrace as the main object of analysis, Chapter 4 takes a step into history. The Terrace was once a popular cultural icon, for that it was valorized as a rock that stood witness to the royal visit paid to Hong Kong by the last two Song emperors at the end of the Song Dynasty in the thirteenth century—because of this event, the terrace became an oft-cited chanting object among the émigré-literati who fled China to Hong Kong during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To vent frustration at the loss of their home(land), nostalgia for ancient (Imperial) China and adherence to virtues such as loyalty and filial piety, the Terrace became a place of gathering for these literati in everyday life and an object that frequently appeared in their creative works, ranging from verses, calligraphy to paintings. With an eye to the special bond between the émigré-literati and the rock and David Der-wei Wang’s notion of “post-loyalism”, this chapter challenges the presumed collectivity of this literati community by unfolding their varying political aspirations, worldviews and connections to “Hong Kong” through the relationships they constructed with the rock.

The Tang Poet in Song Poetics, Song Poetics in the Tang Poet: The Construction of Du Fu’s Image as Verbal Master

T oung Pao ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 537-571
Author(s):  
Jue Chen
Keyword(s):  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Word Usage ◽  
Du Fu ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Textual Variants ◽  
Poetic Texts ◽  
Poetic Composition

AbstractThe image of Du Fu as a poet who excels at using the most appropriate words in his poetry was, to a large extent, constructed by the poets and critics of the Song dynasty. When reading, transcribing, editing, and commenting on Du Fu’s poetic texts, the Song literati prioritized textual variants in Du Fu’s poetry that could in their opinion better demonstrate Du Fu’s poetic craftsmanship; by doing so, they defined Du Fu as a verbal master who was able to use the finest words in poetic composition. The Song literati’s interest in word usage in Du Fu’s poetry was essentially a projection of their own desire to pursue expressional effect in poetic composition, which drove them to learn from Du Fu.

Marco Polo: From Hangzhou to Quanzhou

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-512
Author(s):  
Stephen G. Haw
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Fujian Province ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
Persian Language ◽  
Marco Polo

Abstract When Marco Polo left China, he passed through Hangzhou (Quinsai) and then travelled approximately southwestwards into what is today Fujian province, to the cities of Fuzhou and Quanzhou (Zaiton). There are still a number of disagreements regarding his route, however, which are discussed here. Consideration is also given to Marco’s use of “Facfur” to designate the last Emperor of the Song dynasty, and more generally to the issue of the use of Persian language in Yuan China. It is suggested that there is no clear evidence that Marco Polo learned Persian. An error regarding consumption of pepper in China during the thirteenth century is corrected. More evidence of the importation of very substantial quantities of pepper into China during the Song and Yuan periods is adduced. Identifications of all the places which Marco mentions in this section of his book are suggested, with the support of evidence.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document