A General History of Chinese Art. Volume 4 A General History of Chinese Art: From the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty 9783110790948, 9783110789317

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A GENERAL HISTORY OF CHINESE ART

////// Volume 4

VOLUME 1–6 From the Prehistoric Era to the Zhou Dynasty From the Qin Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties Sui and Tang Dynasties From the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty Ming Dynasty Qing Dynasty

A GENERAL HISTORY OF CHINESE ART Edited by Xifan Li

////// Volume 4

FROM THE FIVE DYNASTIES TO THE YUAN DYNASTY Yuyang Chen, Shuangbai Feng, Jie Han, Yi Li, Yonglin Li, Beng Liao, Tuo Liu, Xiaolu Liu, Yong Liu, Zhen Liu, Jun Lu, Jingxian Mao, Songnian Pu, Tiezheng Song, Xingqun Sun, Zhixiang Tan, Mo Xiao, Hui Yu, Tianchi Yu, Quanli Zhao, and Zongya Zhou

The Chinese edition is published by Beijing Normal University Press (Group) Co., LTD., 2013. No reproduction and distribution without permission. ALL rights reserved.

Part One The Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Western Xia, and Jin Dynasties Overview–Chapter IX Authors: Shuangbai Feng, Beng Liao, Xingqun Sun and Tianchi Yu Abbreviated by: Beng Liao Translators: Lisa Xiangming Chen, Ana Padilla Fornieles, Laurence Harper Chapter X–XVI Authors: Yuyang Chen, Jie Han, Yonglin Li, Tuo Liu, Xiaolu Liu, Jingxian Mao, Songnian Pu, and Quanli Zhao Abbreviated by: Quanli Zhao Translators: Joshua Rawson Part Two Yuan Dynasty Authors: Yi Li, Yong Liu, Zhen Liu, Jun Lu, Tiezheng Song, Zhixiang Tan, Mo Xiao, Hui Yu, Zhixiang Tan, and Zongya Zhou Abbreviated by: Xian Cui and Yi Li Translators: Laurence Harper, Maya Lindenforest

ISBN 978-3-11-078931-7 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-079094-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Book production: Kerstin Protz, De Gruyter Cover design: Thomas Bauer, deblik Berlin Cover image: A New Year’s picture of Romance of the Western Chamber produced during the Qing Dynasty Copyediting: Matt Turner, New York Typesetting: Dörlemann Satz GmbH & Co. KG, Lemförde Printing and binding: Beltz Grafische Betriebe GmbH, Bad Langensalza www.degruyter.com

CONTENTS

Part One  The Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song, Liao, Western Xia, and Jin Dynasties Overview

3

Section 1  Change of Cultural Environment

4

Section 2  The Prosperity of Urban Cultural Life

5

Section 3  The Flourishing Artistic Life of the Literati

9

Section 4  The Transformation of the Arts

12

Section 5  The Realm of Aesthetics

18

Section 6  Aesthetic Features

24

Chapter I  The Brilliance of the Performing Arts

31

Section 1  The Magnificence of Court Banquet Entertainment

31

Section 2  The Rise of Marketplace Arts 1. Emergence of the Pleasure Precincts and Their Theaters in the Capital

35 36

VI

Contents

2. The Subsequent Rise of Pleasure Precincts and Their Theaters in Lin’an 3. The Establishment of Performance and Creative Organizations

39 42

Section 3  The Performing Arts of Different Ethnic Groups and Their Exchanges 1. The Performing Arts of the Liao Dynasty 2. The Performing Arts of the Western Xia 3. The Performing Arts of the Jin Dynasty

44 44 45 46

Chapter II  The Flourishing of Folk Dance

48

Section 1  Overview

48

Section 2  Dance of Urban and Rural Dance Troupes 1. Names of the Urban and Rural Dance Troupes 2. Repertoires of Song Dynasty Dance Troupes

51 51 52

Section 3  Ritual Dance and Dance for Entertainment 1. Ritual Music and Dance 2. Music and Dance for Entertainment

57 57 58

Section 4  The Independent Development of Ethnic Dance in the South 1. Folk Song and Dance of the Yao, Miao and Other Ethnicities 2. Zhuang Folk Dances 3. Li Folk Dances

62 62 66 67

Chapter III  A Historic Turning Point for Court Dance

69

Section 1  Song Court Dance 1. Court Banquet Music, Dance Performances and the Grand Suite 2. Examples of Grand Suite Performances 3. Other Court Banquet Music and Dance Performances 4. Court Yayue Dances

69 69 72 76 78

VII

Contents

Section 2  Court Team Dance and Aristocratic Banquets 1. Court Team Dances 2. Small-scale Team Dances in Aristocratic Households

79 79 82

Section 3  The Diverse Development of Liao, Western Xia and Jin Dance 1. Dance in the Liao Dynasty 2. Dance of the Western Xia 3. Dance in the Jin Dynasty

83 83 85 86

Chapter IV  The Brilliant Art of Storytelling

89

Section 1  Shuohua, the Most Compelling Form of the Storytelling Art

89

Section 2  Xiaoshuo, the Most Popular Subgenre of Shuohua

93

Section 3  Jiangshi, Rival to Xiaoshuo

97

Section 4  The Remnants of Sujiang 1. Shuojing, Telling Scriptures 2. Shuo Canqing, Telling about Meditation 3. Shuo Hunjing, Telling Comic Sutras

100 100 101 102

Section 5  The Byproducts of Storytelling 1. Hesheng, Performing Instant Poems 2. Shangmi, Discussing Riddles 3. Shuo hunhua, Telling Jokes

102 102 103 103

VIII

Contents

Chapter V  The Development and Prosperity of the Art of Singing-Storytelling in Urban Life

105

Section 1  The Traditional Artistry of Singing 1. Xiaochang: Singing Small Excerpts from Grand Suites 2. Piaochang: Expressive Singing from the Street 3. Singing of Popular Short Songs and Lyrics

105 105 107 108

Section 2  Changzhuan, Popular Songs of the Entertainment Quarters

109

Section 3  Artistry Derived from Vendors’ Cries 1. Hawking 2. The Singing Peddler

111 111 112

Section 4  Zhugongdiao Ballads in All Keys and Modes

113

Section 5  Liu Zhiyuan and Romance of the Western Chamber 1. Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao 2. Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao

117 118 118

Section 6  Guzici, the Drum-Song of the Literati

120

Chapter VI  Opera Takes Center Stage

122

Section 1  Transformations of Zaju 1. Youxi of the Five Dynasties 2. Zaju of the Northern Song 3. Zaju of the Southern Song 4. Zaju of the Liao and Jin

122 122 124 126 130

IX

Contents

Section 2  The Preliminary Integration of Zaju Performing Techniques 1. System of Structure 2. Role System 3. Music System 4. The Performance System 5. Aesthetic Pursuits

131 131 132 133 134 135

Chapter VII  The Formation of Southern Opera, an Integrated and Mature Stage Art

139

Section 1  Systems of Southern Opera 1. The Performance System 2. Role System 3. Music System

139 139 144 148

Section 2  Initial Formation of the Artistic Characteristics of Chinese Opera

150

Chapter VIII  Great Explorations in Music

155

Section 1  Urban Music 1. Music Activities in the City 2. Folk Songs and Folk Music

155 155 158

Section 2  Court Music 1. Yayue 2. Yanyue 3. Drum and Pipe Music 4. The Grand Suite

163 163 170 172 174

Section 3  Song Lyrics and Literati Music 1. Basis for the Development of Song Lyrics 2. Musical Forms of Song Lyrics 3. Writers and Works of Song Lyrics

175 176 177 179

X

Contents

Chapter IX  The Development of Music of Different Nationalities

183

Section 1  Music of the Liao Dynasty 1. Folk Music 2. Court Music

183 183 187

Section 2  Music of the Western Xia 1. Folk Music 2. Court Music

191 192 195

Section 3  Music of the Jin 1. Folk Music 2. Court Music

198 198 199

Chapter X  The Influence of Contemporary Culture on the Fine Arts

201

Section 1  The Divide between Ancient and Modern

201

Section 2  Poems and Paintings

203

Section 3  The Rise of Literati Painting

205

Section 4  The Establishment of the Royal Academy and the Academic Style of Painting

206

Section 5  Trends and Achievements in the Various Disciplines of Fine Arts

207

XI

Contents

Chapter XI  Landscape Painting at its Peak Section 1  Overview 1. »Observe the Object and Take its Truth« 2. Ink Styles 3. The North-South Divide and a Diversity of Styles 4. Maturation of the Texturing Method and »Academic« Landscape Painting Section 2  Northern and Southern Landscape Painting in the Five Dynasties 1. The Northern Painting School and Jing Hao and Guan Tong 2. The Southern Painting School and Dong Yuan and Ju Ran

209 209 209 211 212 214

216 216 219

Section 3  Landscape Painting in the Northern Song Dynasty 1. Northern Landscape Painting Represented by Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi 2. The Group of Noble Painters and Academic Paintings of Blue and Green Landscapes after the Middle Northern Song 3. Other Northern Song Landscape Painters

228 230

Section 4  The Four Masters of the Southern Song 1. Li Tang, Pioneer in the Wind 2. Liu Songnian 3. The Corner Compositions of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui

233 233 236 238

Section 5  Other Landscape Paintings in the Southern Song, Liao, and Jin Dynasties 1. »The Two Zhaos« and Their Blue and Green Landscapes 2. Landscape Paintings with Abbreviated Brush and Splashed Ink 3. Masters Who Migrated from the North to the South and the Group of Painters in the Qiantang Area 4. Landscape Paintings in the Liao and Jin

223 223

242 242 244 245 247

XII

Contents

Chapter XII  New Developments in Bird-and-Flower Painting and Figure Painting

250

Section 1  The Formation of the Bird-and-Flower Painting Genre: The Differing Styles of Xu and Huang 250 250 1. »The Luxuriance of the Huang School« 2. The Tranquility of Xu Xi 253 Section 2  The New Style of Flower-and-Bird Painting in the Middle and Late Northern Song Dynasty 1. »Sketcher Zhao Chang« 2. Cui Bai and the New Style of Flower-and-Bird Painting at the Academy 3. Flower and Bird Painting of Emperor Huizong and the Xuanhe Style

254 254 256 259

Section 3  Exquisite Academic-Style Flower-and-Bird Paintings of the Southern Song 1. Academic-style Flower-and-Bird Paintings in the Early Southern Song Dynasty 2. Academic-Style Flower-and-Bird Paintings in the Late Southern Song Dynasty

263

Section 4  The Great Achievements of Court Figure Painting in the Southern Tang 1. Gu Hongzhong and The Night Revels of Han Xizai 2. Paintings of Court Figures by Zhou Wenju and Wang Qihan 3. Wei Xian and Other Painters of Court Figures and Their Works

266 267 268 270

Section 5  The Flourishing of Genre Painting and History Painting 1. Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival 2. Other Genre Paintings and History Paintings of the Northern Song 3. Genre Painting of the Southern Song 4. History Painting of the Southern Song 5. Activities of the Painting Academies of the Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Dali, Paintings of Horses and Figures, and History Paintings

261 262

271 271 274 275 278

281

XIII

Contents

Section 6  Buddhist and Daoist Paintings and Mural Figures 1. Buddhist and Daoist Paintings of the Shu Kingdom and the Northern Song Dynasty 2. Zen Painting of the Southern Song Dynasty 3. Mural Figures

283 286 289

Chapter XIII  Literati Painting and Calligraphy in the Age of Shangyi

294

Section 1  The Rise of Literati Painting 1. The Ideas and Theories of Literati Painting: Sources 2. Wen Tong and the Huzhou Bamboo School 3. Su Shi and His »Withered Tree and Strange Rock« 4. »Cloudy Mountains of the Mi Clan« 5. Li Gonglin and His Line Drawings of Horses and Figures 6. The Achievements of Other Literati Painters

294 294 297 298 299 303 305

Section 2  Changes in Calligraphic Practice and the Characteristics of the Times 1. Changes in Calligraphic Style 2. Characteristics of the Era 3. Yang Ningshi, Fulcrum of the Study of Calligraphy

308 309 310 311

Section 3  »The Four Song Masters« in Calligraphy 1. Cai Xiang, »First of His Time« 2. Su Shi, Founder of the Shangyi Style 3. Huang Tingjian, a Milestone in the Evolution of Cursive Script 4. Mi Fu, the Pinnacle of Shangyi Calligraphy

313 313 315 318 321

Section 4  Other Song Calligraphers and Liao and Jin Dynasty Calligraphy Circles 1. Zhao Ji’s »Skinny Golden Style« 2. Other Calligraphers in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song 3. The Calligraphic World of the Southern Song 4. Calligraphy Circles of the Jin Dynasty

324 325 325 328 331

283

XIV

Contents

Section 5  Song Dynasty Engravings 1. The Flourishing and Influence of Calligraphy Engravings 2. Noteable Extant Engravings

332 332 334

Chapter XIV  Printmaking, Sculpture, and the Architectural Arts

337

Section 1  The First Boom of Printmaking 1. Prints of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 2. Religious Prints of the Song Dynasty 3. Book Illustrations and Folk Prints of the Song Dynasty 4. Prints from Liao, Western Xia, and Jin

337 337 338 341 344

Section 2  Sculpture with Secular Tendencies 1. Sculpture in Temples, Ancestral Halls, and Sutra Pillars 2. Grotto Sculptures 3. Mausoleum Sculpture 4. Folk Sculpture

346 346 351 354 356

Section 3  Systematic Achievements in Architectural Arts 1. The Impact of Urban Transformation and Technological Progress on Architecture 2. The Art of Spatial Arrangement in Architecture 3. The Evolution of Architectural Form 4. The Art of Garden Design 5. Architectural Decoration

357 360 365 369 372

Chapter XV  Song Porcelain and Other Crafts

375

Section 1  Elegant Song Porcelain 1. The System of Song Porcelain 2. Characteristics of Song Porcelain

375 375 376

357

XV

Contents

Section 2  The Five Great Kilns 1. Ru Ware with Lustrous Blue-Green Glaze 2. Classical and Elegant Guan Ware 3. Ge Ware with Beige and Cracked Glaze 4. Jun Ware with Luminous and Red Glaze 5. Ding Ware with White Glaze and Engraved Patterns

379 379 380 382 383 384

Section 3  Other Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty and the Porcelains of the Liao and Jin 1. Other Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty 2. Porcelains of the Liao and Jin

385 385 389

Section 4  Textile Weaving, Dyeing, and Embroidery 1. Song Brocade 2. Silk Tapestry and Patterned Gauze 3. Dyeing and Embroidery 4. Weaving and Embroidery of the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and the Uyghurs

391 391 393 394 396

Section 5  Metal, Jade, and Glass Work 1. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Work 2. Jade and Glass Work

397 397 399

Section 6  Lacquer, Bamboo, Wood, Ivory, and Rhino Horn 1. Lacquerware 2. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory, and Rhino Horn

400 400 402

Section 7  The Four Treasures of the Study 1. Xuan Writing Brush and Famous Inks 2. Famous Papers and Ink Stones

402 403 404

XVI

Contents

Chapter XVI  New Achievements in Writing About Fine Arts Section 1  Theories of Painting 1. Jing Hao’s Notes on the Art of the Brush 2. Guo Xi’s Lofty Record of Forests and Streams 3. Han Zhuo’s Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes 4. Theoretical Writings on Bird-and-Flower and Figure Painting Section 2  Painting Reviews 1. Huang Xiufu’s Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou 2. Liu Daochun’s Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty and Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties 3. Other Painting Reviews Section 3  Art-Historical Writing 1. Guo Ruoxu’s Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting 2. Deng Chun’s A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art-Historical Writings Section 4  Records of Painting, Writings on Connoisseurship and Collection, and Writings on Epigraphy and Architecture 1. Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting, and the Writings on Connoisseurship and Collection of Mi Fu and Others 2. The Beginning of Epigraphy and Relevant Writings 3. The Timber Classic and Treatise on Architectural Methods Section 5  Writings on the History and Theory of Calligraphy 1. Writings on Calligraphy by Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Others 2. Xuanhe Catalogue of Calligraphy and Other Writings on Calligraphy of the Northern Song 3. Major Writings on the History of Calligraphy of the Southern Song

406 406 406 407 408 409

410 410

411 412

413 414 415

416 416 418 419

420 420 421 422

XVII

Contents

Part Two Yuan Dynasty Overview

427

Section 1  The Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty and the Development of the Chinese Arts 1. The Great National Integration 2. The Coexistence of Multiple Religions 3. Cultural Inclusion and Development 4. The Situation of the Literati and their Artistic Creations

427 428 429 433 435

Section 2  Characteristics and Achievements of the Arts of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Convergence and Diversity 2. Symbiotic and Parallel Developments 3. The Twin Peaks and a Generation of Marvels 4. Interpenetration and Convergence

438 438 441 443 446

Chapter I  Zaju of the Yuan Dynasty

449

Section 1  Proliferation of Zaju 1. Establishment of the Status of Zaju as »Literature of a Generation« 2. Performance Centers for Zaju 3. Integration and Evolution of Multimedia Arts 4. Influences of Arts of the Mongols and Other Surrounding Groups on Zaju 5. Abolition of the Imperial Examinations and the Role of Zaju Scriptwriters Section 2  Guan Hanqing and His Plays 1. Biography and Works of Guan Hanqing 2. The Injustice of Dou E and its Social Criticism 3. Saving a Prostitute and the Image of Women 4. Meeting the Enemies Alone and Heroism 5. Artistic Characteristics of Guan Hanqing’s Zaju Works

449 449 449 451 452 452

453 453 454 455 456 456

XVIII

Contents

Section 3  Wang Shifu and Romance of the Western Chamber 1. Biography and Works of Wang Shifu 2. Transformation of the Story of Romance of the Western Chamber 3. Ideological Content of Romance of the Western Chamber 4. Artistic Characteristics of Romance of the Western Chamber Section 4  Ideas and Artistic Achievements of Zaju 1. Facing Reality: The Critical Function of Zaju 2. People are the Roots of the State: A Downward Shift in the Aesthetic Perspective of Zaju 3. Poetic and Picturesque: Poeticism of Zaju 4. Rich and Powerful: The Aesthetic Styles of Zaju 5. A Happy Ending: The Structural Pattern of Zaju 6. Appealing to Both Refined and Popular Tastes: The Aesthetic Realm of Zaju

Chapter II  Southern Opera of the Yuan Dynasty

458 458 459 461 462

464 464 464 465 465 466 467

468

Section 1  468 The Boom of Southern Opera 1. Differences between Southern Opera and the Zaju of the North 470 470 2. Focusing on Real Life and Reflecting People’s Voices Section 2  Gao Ming and Tale of the Pipa 1. The Life and Thought of Gao Ming 2. Tale of the Pipa as a Thrilling Picture of Life 3. The Artistic Image of Zhao Wuniang 4. The Artistic Image of Cai Bojie 5. The Artistic Achievements of Tale of the Pipa

472 472 473 474 474 475

Section 3  The Four Southern Opera Classics 1. The Thorn Hairpin 2. The White Rabbit 3. Praying to the Moon 4. Slaying the Dog

477 478 479 480 481

XIX

Contents

Chapter III  Opera Performance Formats and Stagecraft of the Yuan Dynasty

483

Section 1  Performance Structure and Form 1. The Literary Society, the Dramaturge, and the Scribe 2. Theatrical Troupes and Performance Formats

483 483 483

Section 2  The Music of Zaju 1. Origin of the Tunes 2. How Suites Formed 3. The Flexibility of Tune titles 4. The Relationship Between Mode and Structure 5. The Characteristics of Musical Styles

485 487 487 490 490 492

Section 3  The Music of Southern Opera

492

Section 4  Performing Arts 1. The Lineage of the Performing Arts 2. The Principle of Blending Fantasy with Reality and the Flexibility of Time and Space 3. The Genesis of Stylized Acting 4. The Roles of Northern Zaju and Southern Opera

494 494 495 496 496

Section 5  Stage Art 1. Costuming of Southern Opera and Zaju 2. Stage Property and Mise-en-scène

498 498 499

Chapter IV  Music of the Yuan Dynasty

501

Section 1  Songs and Their New Developments 1. Street Music 2. Ciqu, Narrative Songs 3. Sanqu, Lyric Verse 4. Singing Activities of Courtesans in Pleasure Quarters

501 501 502 502 504

XX

Contents

5. Xiong Penglai and The Classic of Poetry 6. Mongolian Music

505 506

Section 2  Singing-Storytelling Music 1. Zhugong diao, Ballads in All Keys and Modes 2. Taozhen, Sieving the Truth 3. Yushuo, Driving the Words 4. Pipa Song-Lyrics 5. Cihua, Song-Lyric Storytelling 6. Daoqing, Daoist Chants 7. Huolang’er, Peddler’s Tunes

507 507 508 509 509 510 510 511

Section 3  Musical Instruments and Instrumental Music 1. Musical Instruments 2. Instrumental Music 3. Pipa Lute Music

511 511 517 519

Section 4  Yayue Ceremony Music and Yanyue Banquet Music 1. Yayue Ceremony Music 2. Yanyue Banquet Music

519 519 520

Chapter V  Dance of the Yuan Dynasty

521

Section 1  Court Music and Dance 1. Yayue Dance for Sacrifices 2. »Orchestra« in Assemblies and Banquets 3. The »Jamah Banquet« 4. The Mysterious Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons 5. Other Dances Seen through Historical Documents and Artifacts

524

Section 2  Religious Dance 1. Mongolian Dances in Worship of Grand Trees 2. Songs and Dances of Shamanic Séance and Andai 3. The Capital Parade, a Grand Buddhist Event 4. The Cham Dance, a Monastic Dance of Tibetan Buddhism

526 526 526 527 527

521 521 522 523 523

XXI

Contents

5. Dance in Yuan Dynasty Dunhuang Murals 6. Dongba Dances as Recorded in Dongba Scriptures

528 529

Section 3  Folk Dance 1. The Widely Circulated »Stomp Song« 2. The Kuku Headdress and Dancing Wild Geese 3. The Huihui Dance Passed from Central and West Asia 4. Refined Music of Baisha, Folk Music and Dance of the Southwestern Peoples 5. Han Folk Dances

533 533

Section 4  Dance in Zaju and Opera

534

Chapter VI  Painting, Calligraphy, and Seal Carving in the Yuan Dynasty

536

Section 1  Painting of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Loyalist Painters Hold to Tradition 2. Zhao Mengfu’s Achievements in Painting 3. A Peak in Literati Painting, the »Four Masters of the Yuan« 4. Yongle Temple Murals

536 536 540 543 552

Section 2  Calligraphy and Seal Carving of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Trends and Development in Yuan Dynasty Calligraphy 2. Calligraphers of Ethnic Minorities 3. Seal Carving in the Yuan Dynasty

558 558 568 570

Chapter VII  Architecture and Sculpture of the Yuan Dynasty

573

Section 1  Architecture of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Khanbaliq (Grand Capital of the Yuan Dynasty) 2. The Palaces and Gardens of Khanbaliq 3. Buddhist and Daoist Temples

573 573 577 581

531 531 532 532

XXII

Contents

Section 2  Sculpture of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Buddhist Sculpture 2. Daoist Sculpture and Carving 3. The Famous Sculptor Araniko

585 585 589 592

Chapter VIII  Crafts of the Yuan Dynasty

594

Section 1  Changes in Clothing and Developments in Weaving, Embroidery, and Dyeing 1. Changes in Clothing 2. Exquisite and Rich Silks and Brocades 3. Ethnic Felt Rugs 4. Cotton Cloth Popular Across the Country

594 594 597 602 602

Section 2  Artistic Trends and the Creation of Vessels 1. Extravagant Large-Scale Works of Jade 2. Gorgeous Works of Gold and Silver 3. New Trends in Lacquerware from Private Commercial Kilns

604 604 606 608

Section 3  Aesthetic Transition in Pottery and Porcelain 1. Movement of Porcelain Production to the South and the Birth of a »Porcelain Capital« 2. The Transition of Private Commercial Kilns 3. Innovations in Pottery and Porcelain at Jingdezhen

610 610 611 617

Chapter IX  Yuan Dynasty Theories of Art

622

Section 1  Treatises and Theories of Opera 1. Zhong Sicheng and The Register of Ghosts 2. Jia Zhongming and The Sequel to the Register of Ghosts 3. Xia Tingzhi and The Green Bower Collection 4. Sporadic Discussions

622 622 623 624 624

XXIII

Section 2  Treatises on Music 1. Treatise on Singing 2. Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains 3. A Detailed Explanation of the Qin Zither 4. »Examination of Music,« An Account of the Qin and Publication on Temperament Section 3  Treatises on Calligraphy and Painting 1. Theories of Literati Painting 2. Theories of Painting Technique 3. Writings on Calligraphy

Contents

627 627 628 629 631

632 632 634 637

PART ONE  THE FIVE DYNASTIES, NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN SONG, LIAO, WESTERN XIA, AND JIN DYNASTIES

OVERVIEW

The arts of the Song Dynasty occupy a special place in the history of the Chinese arts. After thousands of years of historical evolution and continuous development and refinement, the river of Chinese arts flowed into an era of great accomplishment in the Song Dynasty. Although the Song was not as broad and open as the Han and Tang in terms of territory, fate of the nation, and zeitgeist, it was able to build a hall of arts that was unprecedented and unsurpassed through its comprehensive and unique creations, thus making a mark in history and radiating its glory through a thousand years. Poetry, ci-lyrics, prose, calligraphy, landscape painting, and bird-and-flower painting, porcelain, architecture, and gardens of the Song Dynasty all inherited from their predecessors and entered either a mature or a unique stage. Song Dynasty literature was on a par with that of the Tang Dynasty, with poetry surpassing that of Tang in volume, as well as prose and ci-lyrics in quality. Although Song poetry lacks the freshness and naturalness of earlier poetry, it was given more lyrical and structural turns, and was infused with philosophical thinking. The prose of the Song Dynasty is known for its lyrical and argumentative qualities; compared with Tang prose, it is more detailed and precise, and the flow is smoother. Together, the literature of both dynasties gave rise to a group of famous prose writers known collectively as the »Eight Masters of the Tang and Song.« Song ci-lyrics are particularly celebrated for their brilliance, with delicate and subtle touches catching the fleeting moments of emotions of everyday life that are otherwise hard to capture and put in words. The choice of words and articulation of

moods, difficult for later generations to surpass, opened up a new realm of Chinese poetry. Both landscape and bird-and-flower paintings of the Song Dynasty reached their peak based on the legacies of the Five Dynasties. Landscape painting, with its mature brushwork and ink techniques, searching for the realm of the spirit and inner rhythm, was so remarkable and accomplished that it was able to replace figure painting, dominant in the Tang Dynasty, as the supreme genre. Bird-and-flower painting established the norm of fine brushwork and rich coloration, creating vibrant and colorful scenes that were followed for the next thousand years during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Although the calligraphy of the Song Dynasty was not as rigorous as that of the Tang Dynasty, it surpassed that of Tang with its expressive qualities. The four great masters, Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai, each with their own style, led the fashion. Song Dynasty craftsmanship and architecture were highly developed and known for their precision and ingenuity, of which Song porcelain is a wonderful representative, with its colors and textures evoking ice, crystal, and snow, as well as its unique charm, making a significant mark in history. Urban marketplaces and theatres became the places where various forms of literary and performing arts flourished, creating a unique landscape for the arts of the Song Dynasty. Among them, operas and novels poured out, becoming the source of the running river of popular arts in Yuan, Ming and Qing. Although the unparalleled sound of majestic ceremonial music played in the temple during the Tang Dynasty reverberated in people’s hearts for a long time after, the after-effects eventually

4

faded, followed by the urgent pipes and strings from the thousands of lanes and alleys in the Song Dynasty. Their varied sounds rose and fell, overlapping with each other, like summer night rain falling into a lotus pond and the frogs’ singing after the rain. All these sounds set into motion a multi-movement symphony, converging into a polyphonic chorus. The curtain was drawn for a new era of classical arts of China.

Section 1:  Change of Cultural Environment The Song Dynasty had a small territory. Although the glimpses of the vast territories of the Han and Tang in memory, they were transformed into a lingering sadness in the psyche of the Song people. Although a unified empire was formed, the Song people’s attempt to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, including today’s Beijing, was trampled by the iron hooves of the powerful Liao that invaded the south. To relieve the military invasion of Liao, Emperor Zhenzong of Song hastily made the Chanyuan Treaty at the price of an annual tribute of 100,000 taels of silver and 200,000 bolts of silk to Liao, resulting in a generation of shrinking hearts and minds. As can be seen from historical maps, the situation of the Northern Song Dynasty was the following: To its north was the overpowering Liao, and to its west was the competing power of Tubo; the Western Xia cut off the Silk Road west of Lanzhou, and Dali blocked the way to South Asia. The Southern Song Dynasty further lost the entire Central Plains and became a local power hunkered down in the Yangtze River Valley. During the three hundred years of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, there were countless wars with the Liao, Western Xia, and the Jin; the Song lost almost every war, suing for peace, sending gifts, ceding lands, and paying reparations, which increasingly emptied its treasury and reduced its national strength. The Song

Overview

Dynasty became the weakest dynasty in Chinese history. Not only did it no longer have the courage of the Han to open up borders and expand territory, who commemorated their military expansions with inscriptions on the Yanran Mountains (in present-day Mongolia), but the Song also lost the boldness of the Tang, which produced poetic sentiments such as: »If only the Heavenly General of the Dragon City was still alive, forbidding hu horses from crossing the Yin Mountains.« Even the Yanran and Yin Mountains themselves became distant and unreachable. In the overall tragic atmosphere of the Song, captured by the ci poem »There is nothing to do about it, the flower falls away,« although the individual bravery »to clean up the old mountains and rivers from the beginning« had not yet been extinguished, it had also been tainted with the strong sadness of »knowing that it cannot be done but doing it.« This external environment had a profound psychological impact on the Song people. It made them lose the broad, open, outward-looking, and the vigorous vision, the broad-mindedness, ambitions, and ideals of the Han and Tang dynasties. Instead, they became cowardly, timid, inward-looking, and frail, withdrawing their eyes from the outside world, and turning to self-reflection, introspection, meditation, and self-control. This spiritual trend, although directly determined by the social environment of the Song Dynasty, was connected to a major ideological and conceptual change that had taken place in Chinese society since the middle Tang Dynasty, and thus had great energy. The Song Dynasty was a period of transition in traditional Chinese thought. The Song people began to develop a new philosophical consciousness, a new way of thinking and a new attitude toward the world. Psychologically, the Song was quiet and weak instead of strong, subtle instead of open, and convergent instead of expansive. In terms of tendencies, the Song emphasized civil

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matters over the military, and did not pursue external achievements, emphasizing instead internal cultivation. In terms of behavior, people preferred to sit and discuss, and although there was more discussion there was less decision, and a lack of ability to take action. In terms of their code of conduct, the Song people respected the calm and solemn, and resented the light and impetuous. Under the overall domination of this trend, the Song eventually moved toward a closed, inward-looking, and conservative cultural mentality. The establishment of the cultural mentality of the Song depended on the changes of the cultural environment at the time, and this mentality played a decisive role in reaching the peak of cultural glory in the Song Dynasty. From the heyday of the Tang Dynasty to the transitory phase of the Song Dynasty, from the open Tang culture to the closed Song culture, from the peak of classical culture to early modern culture, Chinese culture completed a great historical turn and spiritual transmigration. The kind of magnificent and broad, bold and outward-looking, bright and confident atmosphere of the Tang was lost, replaced by restraint, elegance, and the careful and cautious psychological character of the Song. The ideal of life that people pursued was no longer the external achievements of the Tang Dynasty, such as being a general or a minister and making victorious accomplishments on the battlefield, but a kind of inner enrichment of practicing the leisurely arts of the scholar and attaining inner tranquility through meditation. People’s aesthetic interests were no longer focused on the grand view of the frontier, its smoke, desert, sunsets, and rivers, but the subtle sentiments of the hidden path leading to a deep garden or withering flowers and their falling petals. People were no longer curious and excited about the unfamiliar, but focused on feeling the intimacy and warmth of everyday, familiar things. The external world seemed to have nothing to do with them, and people hid in their closed inner worlds, adjusting all their thinking

SECTION 2: THE PROSPERITY OF URBAN CULTURAL LIFE

and behavior with the Heavenly Principle and regulating their psychological balance. This closed mentality, although not conducive to the strength of the state, was conducive to the profound development of the spirit and the creation of art, and thus the achievements of the latter became an outstanding characteristic. There are two obvious characteristics of the arts of the Song Dynasty: First, urban dwellers’ mass consumption of cultural life brought about the extreme prosperity of popular literature and arts, and almost all varieties of popular literature and arts in later times were produced at this time, such as various forms of singing-storytelling, popular opera and theatre, popular prints, etc., all of which caused a major shift in the history of Chinese arts. Second, abundance and leisure gave the scholarly class energy, and the role of Daoism, Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism clarified their minds, so they turned their attention to the arts and exerted great creativity, making a comprehensive summary and perfection of classical arts while at the same time picking up the essence of marketplace arts and opening up a new realm of vitality. The trend of development of the Song arts was cut off by the Jin Dynasty, and the scholars flowed into the class of commoners and began to pay attention to the combination of the aesthetic interests of the people in their creations, so a new aesthetic style emerged, heralding the next big transition, namely, the integration of the arts of the literati and popular literature and arts.

Section 2:  The Prosperity of Urban Cultural  Life The great development of commerce and trade in the Song Dynasty promoted the development of urban towns. Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, became the largest commercial

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city in the East at the time, and Meng Yuanlao described its situation in the preface of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital as follows: The eight remotenesses converge and compete with each other and all countries are connected; the curios and treasures of the four seas can be all bought at the market, and the exotic tastes of the world can be all found in the kitchen […] Raise your eyes [and you will see] green bowers with painted pavilions, decorated doors and pearl curtains […] The gold and the jade dazzle the eyes, the silk leaves fragrant traces.

This is an extremely vivid and vibrant picture of city life, which precisely mirrors the delicate depiction of Bianjing’s street scenes by Zhang Zeduan, a painter of the Imperial Painting Academy of the Northern Song Dynasty. The situation was similar in many other big cities at the time, such as Luoyang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Chengdu, etc. The ci-poet Liu Yong described Hangzhou in his Watching the Tides as follows: [Occupying] a strategic location in the southeast, being the meeting point of three Wu Regions, Qiantang [Hangzhou] has been prosperous since ancient times. Misty willows and painted bridges, there are about 10,000 households. […] The market is loaded with pearls and jades and the households are full of silk fabrics, competing for luxury.

In these commercial cities, the power of merchant-landowners and the emerging civil class rose rapidly, which gradually became on a par with that of the nobility and aristocracy, shaking the old social structure and customs. People no longer valued family, but wealth as a marker of identity: »Daughters of the nobility, if poor, might be in their prime but could not be married, the rich families among the commoners could then form marriage ties with the marquis, or have a first-ranked civil examinee as the son-in-law.« The adjustment of class relations forced the Song government to completely get rid of the concept of nobility in the cities and determine people’s social class entirely according to their assets. The huge

Overview

population, complex social classes, and prosperous commercial conditions inevitably demanded a colorful cultural life, and so, in this cultural environment where all people gathered and the pursuit for leisure and entertainment was prevalent, the arts of the marketplace were able to grow out of the most suitable soil and quickly flourish into a splendid artistic landscape. After Emperor Taizong pacified the empire, Emperor Zhenzong and Emperor Renzong allowed time for rest and recuperation during their reigns, and as peacetime went by, city life became more and more prosperous. In the first year of Emperor Zhenzong’s reign (1017), Yan Shu described ­Bianjing as »a city of millions of families with their doors unclosed, with boiling pipes, strings, lights, and candles.« After the reign of Emperor Ren, ­Bianjing became the largest place of amusement in the East, and there were large and small entertainment precincts in the city, known as wazi 瓦子. Inside each entertainment precinct there were many theatre-stalls designated for performance, as well as many »spare workers« and »idlers« wandering around, with oftentimes thousands of people gathering to watch zaju and various other performances: »Rain or shine, cold or hot, people come to watch [performances] in each stall, and it’s the same day after day.« In addition to daily performances, there were many big festivals celebrated throughout the year, such as the Lantern Festival, the Double Third Festival, the Ghost Festival, and the emperor’s birthday, birthdays of deities, etc., when folk artists and court entertainers performed on temporary stages set up in crowded markets or traffic routes, attracting thousands of people. Amidst this prosperous urban cultural life, people spent their days in »exhaustive appreciation and repeated entertainment, never feeling tired of [them].« Music was played throughout the city, and people indulged in entertainment. This kind of situation had not been seen even during the most powerful feudal empires, the Han and Tang.

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The city’s recreational life was supported by a large number of government and private entertainers, the majority of which were marketplace performers. In the city of Bianjing, in addition to the prefectural troupes of Kaifeng and army troupes, there were thousands of musicians registered under governmental organizations, including Imperial Academies, the Yunshao Department, the Junrongzhi, and the East and West Departments, while the artists in entertainment precincts were beyond measure. When the Jin captured Bianjing, in a single request they demanded »one thousand female performers waiting on an open stage.« Marketplace performers normally performed at entertainment precincts, while the government entertainers also had extensive contacts with people beyond the public performances staged during the annual festivals: »Imperial Academies and the Junrongzhi perform music whenever it is the official holiday [once every ten days], and they also allow people to watch«; »Sometimes the military camp releases the musicians, [who] would play the drums and music in their spare time, [going] along alleys to attract children and women to watch.« Such recreational conditions greatly improved the level of appreciation of the people. The official musicians were supplemented by commoners, and Chen Yang, a vice minister of the Ministry of Rites in the reign of Emperor Huizong, criticized that »musicians mostly came from marketplaces and farms, [who joined the music service to] avoid the grand corvee, and who did not usually know music.« The criticism however reflected the popularity of the music practiced in the city. The trend led to the phenomenon described in Casual Notes from Yanggu (Yanggu manlu 旸谷漫录), cited by Liao Yingzhong in his Miscellaneous Notes from a Journey Along the River (Jiangxing zalu 江行杂录): »The middle and lower class families of the capital do not give importance to the birth of male children, but whenever a female child is born, she is loved and cared for like a pearl.« When they »grew up, they were taught to

SECTION 2: THE PROSPERITY OF URBAN CULTURAL LIFE

do arts according to their qualities,« such as singing and dancing, singing-storytelling, and zaju, so that they could go to the marketplace to engage in commercial performances. The expansion of the ranks of marketplace artists was one of the signs of social change that occurred after the middle Tang Dynasty. Before then, the artists were mainly attached to the palace and the nobles to make a living, but after the An Shi Rebellion, a large number of performers went to the people and started to engage in commercial performances. The suitable urban commercial environment in the Song Dynasty provided an excellent living space for the marketplace performers, which led to the unprecedented development of their teams. There were still a large number of private musicians and performers housed by aristocratic or wealthy families in the Song Dynasty, but they were no longer the main force in the development of performing arts, and marketplace performances became the mainstream of aesthetic and entertainment activities in the era. The abundant entertainment life cultivated a high degree of aesthetic interest, appreciation, and creative enthusiasm among the people. Amateur creators in the marketplace proliferated. The creation of songs had been popular since Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty, and there were »many people who made new voices,« and their composing skills were also very advanced. For example, hearing the rooster in the morning inspired people to intimate it and compose the tune Rooster Crowing (Jijiaozi 鸡叫子). Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter (Biji manzhi 碧鸡漫志) described the situation in the end Emperor Renzong’s reign as the following: »During the Jiayou period, in the capital Bianjing, [even] three-year-old children drinking milk in their [mothers’] arms, on hearing a song, would twist their fingers to a beat, responding to the music without making a mistake.« Although the description is not free from exaggeration, it reflects the prevalence of music in full bloom in

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Bianjing at the time. In this era of peace and pleasure, new varieties of secular literature and art were increasingly produced. During the Renzong reign, popular forms of narrative and performing arts emerged, such as novella-storytelling (xiaoshuo 小说), music-accompanied storytelling (taozhen 陶真), hawkers’ singing (yinjiao 吟 叫) and so on, and the stories of the Three Kingdoms entered shadow operas during this period. In the late Northern Song Dynasty, new forms of performances such as elongated singing (piaochang 嘌唱) and abbreviated zaju dramas (zaban 杂扮) also emerged. Some of the singing varieties came directly from the life of the marketplace, for example the hawkers’ singing (yinjiao) originated from fruit vendors’ hawking in the marketplace. The interior decoration and display of the stores and rooms were in pursuit of artistic and elegant senses, paying attention to hanging paintings and flower arrangements, furnishings, and decorative objects. As a result, the market was extremely prosperous for painting and handicraft trading, and there were many stores selling all kinds of paintings, treasures, small handicrafts, and stationary, and dealers were very active in acquiring paintings from all over the country to sell them in the city. The painters, who traditionally painted the walls of the temple and the palace, began to paint the walls of the merchant houses. For example, the walls of the Song Family Medicine Shop in Bianjing were covered with landscapes painted by Li Cheng, a famous landscape painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, with the high development of marketplace arts, a new type of commercial hiring of performances emerged. According to the entry »Music of Female Entertainers« in Wu Zimu’s A Dream of Sorghum, families of officials and commoners alike in Lin’an, »[for] banquets or festivals, all use sanyue performers based in Ronghe Fang, New Street, Xiawazi,« who would report to the job upon immediate request. Even the court no longer paid huge expenses to

Overview

sustain the specialized music institutions but relied on marketplace artists. When organizing various types of ceremonies, the court could temporarily »hire« marketplace performance groups to perform at the palace, paying them a certain amount for labor on the spot, and the advantages of this model were ease of operation, economic simplicity, and relatively good level of artistic quality. The infiltration of commercial relations into the highest forms of imperial ritual and entertainment demonstrated the true independence and maturity of the arts of the marketplace. Of course, the arts of the marketplace werestill lacking in class in the eyes of some scholars. For example, as Wu Chuhou put it in his Random Notes from a Green Box of Knowledge (Qingxiang zaji 青箱杂记), quoted in Zeng Zao’s Classified Explanations (Leishuo 类说), »Nowadays, there are two kinds of music and art: the Imperial Academy has a gentle and charming style, and the outside way is coarse and wild mockery, and the village songs and dances imitate [them] to be even more so.« However, this did not stop the rapid development of the arts of the marketplace from becoming a surging trend. The flourishing of popular arts and cultural life, as well as the lure of the real-life paradise of the marketplace for people, changed the zeitgeist. From the emperor down to the commoners, people indulged in the pursuit of material enjoyment and worldly pleasures. When Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of Song, trying to lessen the control of military generals over his carefully staged drinking banquet, he told his general Shi Shouxin and others the following: »Life is [short] like a white horse galloping across a small gap. The so-called rich and noble want nothing but to accumulate more money, in order to treat themselves well with entertainments […] have more sets of singing boys and dancing girls, drink every day and havefun with them, to end life happy.« Emperor Huizong was further known for his encouragement of wild festival parades, giving commoners

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gold cups to drink wine from, watching performances with the people, and lingering among the entertainment quarters. The connection between imperial power and municipal society, on the one hand, was a symbol of the strong economic and political power of the civil class, which in turn had become an important reason for the prosperity of civil culture. Unlike the imperial and aristocratic arts locked deep in the palace, the literati and scholarly arts in their private homes, the marketplace arts, with the two wings of commercial operation and market dissemination, swept widely across the lanes, squares, and streets, providing service to anyone with cultural and entertainment needs, thus gaining very strong life and support.

Section 3: The Flourishing Artistic Life of the Literati The social conditions of the Song Dynasty cultivated a vast and special social class, namely, the literati. Due to the popularity and redundancy of the imperial examination system, the number of people in this class increased sharply since the Song Dynasty, and those who were engaged in preparing for entering this class constituted a huge base of the literati class. The living conditions of civil officials in the Song Dynasty were very generous, with good salaries and heavy rewards. All kinds of favorable conditions put the literati of the Song Dynasty in a situation of satiety and grace. Since they were well-fed and clothed and did not need to engage in specific industries, they had ample resources, time, and energy to explore their intellect and talents, and fully used them for reading and writing, qin music, go, calligraphy, and painting, as well as other literary and artistic creations. The literati class was a vital force engaged in cultural and artistic creation in ancient China. By the Song Dynasty, this group had achieved real

SECTION 3: THE FLOURISHING ARTISTIC LIFE OF THE LITERATI

growth, and at the same time, due to the advancement of social culture, they had also become truly self-conscious in their role as artistic creators. Nourished by all kinds of rich sources, the literati of the Song Dynasty were a class with high cultural cultivation. They fully inherited the spiritual heritage of ancient Chinese culture, as well as the essence of Confucianism in self-cultivation and moral codes, and took it to the extreme—but at the same time they knew how to enjoy life to the most. They attached great importance to perfecting the spiritual construction of individuals, pursuing the gracefulness and generosity of the external image, the tranquility and quietness of the inner world, the elegance and leisure of life, and the simplicity and nobleness of the ideal of life. This led them to turn their attention from the external to the internal, from the pursuit of worldly achievements to the search for the meaning of life, to the exploration of artistic talents and wisdoms, thus cultivating their aesthetics known for its extremely high level of knowledge and cultural taste. However, they were an indulgent generation in terms of attitude towards life, and their generous living conditions in their luxurious city dwellings made them actively participate in and devote themselves to the creation of marketplace arts. Song Dynasty scholars had a more sensitive and delicate artistic sense than the Tang people, and they enjoyed life with a more hedonistic attitude than the Tang people. They waved farewell to the Tang imagery of warriors, horses, conquests, and borderland dust, searching sources of inspiration instead only in their tranquil and nicely-incensed scholars’ studios. They were not warriors and heroes who left the country with their swords, but gentle and elegant lyricists and scribes; they were not noble recluses in the mountains and forests, but romantic literary talents mingling among the people of the marketplace. Despite their love for nature, they were fonder of the beauty and charm of urban life. They wanted to enjoy both the es-

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sence of nature, but also the luxurious nourishment of the world. Thus, during their free time from official duties, they devoted their time and energy to the arts. The chapter »Teachings on Painting Mountains and Waters« in Lofty Record of Forests and Streams (Linquan gaozhi 林泉高 致) by Guo Xi and Guo Si provides a profound analysis of the reason for the flourishing of literati landscape painting in the Song Dynasty: »As they could not be in the actual landscape, they painted landscapes on the walls and hang them in the buildings, and as they could not see the natural scenery, they used the natural scenery as decoration.« This way, the literati of the Song Dynasty managed to not abandon official duties and social relations set out by the Confucian codes of conduct, and at the time not break faith with their lofty and pure hearts and sentiments. In this self-cultivated equilibrium of mind, the scholars of the Song Dynasty began to engage in their creation of beauty with pleasure. These literati of the Song Dynasty, who were knowledgeable and had a wide range of interests, displayed their talents and spirituality in all fields of the arts. »Su Zimei once said: ›A bright window and a clean desk, brush, ink, and paper, all extremely fine, is also a joy of life.‹« Staying in their elegant studios, surrounded by the scholars’ »four treasures,« accompanied by beauties and maids, they used the brush to explore everything from calligraphy to painting, from poetry to writing, from music to song and dance, endowing the things in their life with a strong literati taste, creating the beauty of great charm and appeal. This was a full manifestation of one’s own ability and self-appreciation of one’s own value. As a result of the expansion of the literati’s influence in Song arts, literati painting emerged. To the literati, the important thing for painting was the spiritual charm, for calligraphy the artistic form, for poetry the philosophical ponderance, for ci lyrics the gracefulness—which painted a different color in the history of the Chinese arts.

Overview

The Northern Song literati had the most artistic temperament, and there were many scholars who had comprehensive artistic cultivation and were good at everything from poetry, calligraphy, painting, and music. Su Shi, who was capable of poetry, literature, ci lyrics, calligraphy, and painting, became an outstanding representative of the high artistic talent of the literati of the Northern Song Dynasty, as he opened up a generation of styles and made remarkable achievements in many aspects. Su Shi’s classical style prose was as powerful and spontaneous as swirling clouds and flowing water, and he became the backbone of the Classical Prose Movement of the Northern Song Dynasty, together with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan and Ouyang Xiu. Su Shi’s poetry is known for its surging momentum and free spontaneity, and although the poems are carefully composed with literary content, they are fresh and unrestrained, making Su Shi a great master after the famous Tang poets Li Bai and Du Fu. Su Shi’s ci is open and magnificent, changing the old idea of ci as a genre limited to the subtle and subdued style, starting the Bold Faction of ci writing. Su Shi’s calligraphy, with its fast-moving and defined brushstrokes, puts him at the top of the four master calligraphers of the Northern Song, followed by Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang. Su Shi’s painting employs calligraphic brushwork, emphasizing the literati’s interest and the spiritual charm of the painting, and he became the patriarch of literati ink painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. Su Shi also has many extremely insightful opinions in art theory. His rich literary and artistic practice helped him tput forward his famous »Theory of Uniformity in Poetry and Painting« and »Theory of Transmission of Spirit in Painting,« which had a profound impact. In short, Su Shi was a rare artist in ancient China, and it was not a coincidence that he appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. Su Shi cultivated a group of disciples, including the famous Four Scholars of the Su School, Huang Tingjian, Chao Tenzhi, Qin

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SECTION 3: THE FLOURISHING ARTISTIC LIFE OF THE LITERATI

Guan, and Zhang Lei, all of whom were talented in various artistic disciplines. From the Southern Song Dynasty, as the scholars started to separate the artistic and the philosophical, people began to put more emphasis on the latter and less on the former, resulting in a situation where artistic temperament gradually weakened. There were also a number of musical talents among the literati of the Song Dynasty, such as Zhou Bangyan, Jiang Kui, and Zhang Yan, who could read ancient scores, understand the tuning system, and compose music. Their achievements promoted the development of Song Dynasty lyrics and songs. The prosperity of the city life provided an excellent environment for the literati of the Song Dynasty to cultivate. They were indulged in the city, intoxicated with pleasure, spending their days in the tavern, singing »in the streets of smoke and flowers, faintly behind the painted screen, fortunately there is a person of interest, worthy of a visit,« and their ideal was built on worldly enjoyment. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the minister Wang Jiong’s youthful love affairs in the pleasure districts were »spread into the Music Bureau« by the »wretched and indecent,« and widely sung in the musical tune of Liuyao. The lyricist Liu Yong was known for abandoning a pursuit of official career, indulging in wine, and lingering in pleasure quarters, »to put fame in exchange for shallow pouring and low-voiced singing.« This environment played an important role in influencing the character and style of the literati, prompting them to create a new generation of literary styles, and even their direct participation in the creation of the marketplace arts. Liu Yong’s ci works, featuring long verses and slow tempos, were produced in this kind of visits to pleasure quarters. During the Zhihe reign of Emperor Renzong (1054–1056), some writers began to »make funny and mischievous words in long-and-short verses [ci],« and the phenomenon gradually flourished during the Jiayou reign. Later,

Between Xining and Yuanfeng [1068–1085], Zhang Shanren of Yanzhou earned himself a unique place in the capital with his wittiness, and [he] uttered one or two pieces from time to time. Kong Sanchuan of Zezhou was the first one to create the ancient tradition of zhugongdiao, which all scholar-officials were able to recite. […] [Wang] Yanling made a lot of noise in Heshuo with his comic language. [Cao] Zu was scribbling without success, and made [the musical work] Hongchuang jiong as well as a few hundred pieces of miscellaneous songs; the hearers fell over [laughing], and [he was] the top among comics and rascals.

»Funny and mischievous words in long-and-short verses« and »miscellaneous songs,« are ci works imitating the style of folk songs, which was the beginning of the change in the genre of ci towards the development of the more accessible and flexible sanqu. The popularity of zhugongdiao among the scholar-officials also gave it an opportunity to flourish. In addition, Su Shi, Song Qi, and other great writers also wrote »team-forming lyrics« and »team-releasing lyrics« for the court’s zaju and dance performances, and even though they were improvised works, they were infused with great vitality through the hands of literary genius. In the special cultural environment of the Song Dynasty, the cultivation of the feudal emperors, who were the general representatives of the literati and who »shared the world with the scholar-officials,« also demonstrated their versatility in arts. Several emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, including Emperor Taizong, Emperor Zhenzong, and Emperor Renzong, knew music well, and could compose their own songs. Zhenzong loved to write scripts for plays: »[Emperor Zhenzong] sometimes made scripts for zaju, [which was] never announced to the outside.« Renzong, on the other hand, »always compose music in the palace to give to the Imperial Academies.« He was also good at calligraphy, and once made a cursive calligraphic work in a special style known as the »flying white« to thank Emperor Xingzong of L ­ iao’s gift of painted horses. Emperor Huizong was an

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emperor who was fond of te arts and talented in almost every category. He was good at calligraphy and painting, with his original »slender gold style« calligraphy, his unique bird-and-flower paintings, and his landscape paintings being known as »Huizong landscapes.« Furthermore, Emperor Huizong founded the Imperial Painting Academy, and selected students by giving them assigned topics, following the system of imperial examinations; He also taught the students himself, and used a large number of treasures of painting and calligraphy in the imperial collection as teaching materials, and trained many painters of high standard. He was also famously known to often go to the marketplace during the festival to watch the performances with the people, creating the tradition of the emperor »sharing the fun with the people,« which became the custom of the emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty. The dominant aesthetic psychology of Song Dynasty was that of the literati. In traditional society, the arts of the literati were always the elite arts of an era, and it led the trend of the times. Thus, the arts created and appreciated by the scholar-officials became the mainstream of the aesthetic trend in the Song Dynasty, which influenced the arts of the marketplace and guided the arts of the court.

Section 4:  The Transformation of the Arts Due to the changing social conditions, the arts of the Song Dynasty underwent profound transformation. To explain this phenomenon, it is necessary to discuss about the arts in the Five Dynasties. The arts of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were mainly inherited from the Tang Dynasty, which was divided along two paths. The northern regimes were all ruled by the hu people, and they were preoccupied with war and expansion. They did not have the same cultural cultivation

Overview

and interest of the Tang emperors, nor did they have the relaxed state of mind of the Tang. These courts did not make huge artistic achievements, except for hobbies in popular literature and arts, such as dramas. The southern regimes were very different, especially the Southern Tang and the Western Shu Dynasties, whose lords usually had high cultural and artistic training. For example, Li Jing and Li Yu of the Southern Tang were excellent lyricists, and Wang Jian of the former Shu was a lover of music and dance. Due to their relatively stable and isolated ruling regions, it was possible to gather a large number of artistic talents and preserve many of the Tang Dynasty’s customs and culture. On the other hand, they felt pessimistic about their state’s decline and destiny, so could only cover and console the pain and helplessness through indulgence in art and entertainment. The arts flourished, with figure painting, bird-andflower painting, flower ci verse, and ci verses of the two lords becoming well-known at the time and attaining a high level of achievement. Court banquet music and drama performances also developed significantly. However, born in this decline, the arts were trivial, flamboyant, and vainly decorative, matching the ci verses brushed by Li Yu: »I didn’t know I was a guest in my dream, and I was greedy for pleasure for a moment.« With the unification of China, the ambition of the Northern Song Dynasty was soaring. However, after all, the Northern Song territory was not expansive, and the dynasty was lacking in vitality; the court was indulgent and gathered all forms of luxurious enjoyment from the former dynasties and kingdoms. Thus, the aesthetic habits of flashy form and poor content since the late Tang and the Five Dynasties were still popular in the early Song Dynasty. Official writers sang empty praises of the prosperous dynasty, ministers such as Yang Yi and Liu Yun took pride in their meticulous compositions and beautiful phrases, the formalist Xikun Style ruled the poetry world, while the painting world was the exclusively dominated by the Acad-

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SECTION 4: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARTS

6.0.1 Anonymous, Night Banquet (partial), Palace Museum

emy, in line with the ruler’s interests, depicting rare birds, exotic flowers, and strange rocks. Certainly, due to the change of time and zeitgeist, painting had begun to change in terms of genre. For example, figure painting, which was very important in the Tang and Five Dynasties, took a backseat, while bird-and-flower painting and landscape painting took a dominant position. The former was associated with the Academy and the latter with the literati. Academic painting and literati painting was in competition, each with their representative figures and schools. In birdand-flower painting, there was »Huang Quan’s richness and nobleness and Xu Xi’s wildness and

leisure.« In landscape painting, the Northern and Southern Schools emerged. There was an increase of scroll paintings, whereas wall paintings were gradually reduced to the work of craftsmen, disdained by literati painters. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Guo Ruoxu was agile enough to notice this change in the subject matter of painting, and pointed out in his A Record of Things Seen and Heard About Painting that »if we talk about Buddhism and Daoism, figures, ladies, cattle and horses, the present is not as good as the ancient; if we talk about mountains and waters, forests and rocks, flowers and bamboo, birds and fish, then the ancient is not as good as the pres-

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6.0.2 Liu Songnian, Appreciating Antiquities, National Palace Museum

Overview

ent.« The change in subject matter reflected the change in the aesthetic concepts of the creator, revealing a tendency to shift the focus from the human to nature. After a century of peace in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, with the restoration of national power and the gradual increase of social tensions, the pompous and extravagant arts could no longer meet the needs of the times, and some upper-class literati such as Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi and others started a powerfully innovative movement in literature and art. The styles of poetry, literature, ci verses, and paintings thus changed, and simplicity then replaced extravagance and became the trend of the times. For a while, the art world was full of emerging talents and masterpieces. Thesee were Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong, and Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Zhe being prominent in classical prose; Su Shunqin, Mei Yaochen, Wang Anshi, and Huang Tingjian in poetry; Yan Shu and Yan Qidao, as well as Liu Yong, Qin Guan, and Zhou Bangyan in ci verse; Guo Xi and Mi Fu in landscape painting; Li Gonglin in figure painting; Cui Bai and Wu Yuanyu in bird-and-flower painting; and Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang in calligraphy. The rise of literati painting and calligraphy that prioritized the spirit was an important event in the art world during this period. This was the work of the literati class who injected their aesthetic interests and ideals into the field of art. In their paintings and calligraphy, they »took spiritual charm as the core,« boldly breaking established rules, and wielding the brush at will, »to express the running spirit in their chests,« or, as Su Shi called it, »spitting out the ink from the chest when drunk.« He used landscape painting to express »the will of the forest and the spring, the accompany of the clouds and mists,« and calligraphy to express the character of the person. He promoted the art of wildness and tranquility, and bareness and simplicity, which established an important and accomplished school in Chinese painting and calligraphy.

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SECTION 4: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARTS

6.0.3  Zhang Zeduan, Along the River During the Qingming Festival, Palace Museum

From the middle to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, with the full development of commercial and cultural life in the cities, the creation of arts in the marketplace reached an unprecedented height. Artistic creations that used to take place only in the palace buildings and the literati’s studies were now moved to commoners’ houses and the marketplace. All kinds of narrative and performing arts were staged on marketplace theatres and their scripts were printed and published. In all categories of performing arts, there were a number of famous actors who »were truly the role,« with their unique skills and outstanding performances. Zaju rose to become the most prominent and popular form of performing arts. From the daily performance to the annual festival, from the marketplace to the palace, zaju became an indispensable art style for both folk and court activities, thus attracting the criticism of some scholars who advocated adherence to the traditional values. Chen Yang, an erudite of the Imperial Academy, presented the 200-volume Book of Music to Emperor Huizong in 1101, in which it was stated that »the holy [Song] dynasty once discussed the rituals of archery and banquet music, later it is only performing music, drinking wine, and staging zaju, which I am afraid does not

match the system of the previous kings.« However, the influence of the times did not depend on the will of man. Urban life also influenced painting and contributed to the flourishing of fine architectural painting known as jiehua, and genre painting. Zhang Zeduan’s majestic and meticulous scroll, Along the River During the Qingming Festival, is an exemplary piece of work. It depicts the city of Bianliang, the capital of the Song Dynasty, in the early 12th century, with its stores and inns, the constant flow of land and water freight, the crowded market and busy trade, the common people wandering, and the vendors hawking on the road, portraying bustling city life and the vibrant life of the people, creating a school of painting that portrayed prosperous city life. The fragmented territory of the Southern Song Dynasty aroused strong patriotic fervor and high nationalist emotions among the people and scholar-officials, which led to the emergence of a bold poetic style, with ci verses by Zhang Yuangan, Zhang Xiaoxiang, Yue Fei, Xin Qiji, and poems by Lu You and Fan Chengda, all of which were fervent and intense, changing from a previously weak and hollow poetic style. Even Li Qingzhao, a representative of the Graceful School, had a poem that reads, »Alive one ought be an outstanding

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Overview

6.0.4 Wei Xian, The Water Mill, the Five Dynasties, Shanghai Museum

man, dead a heroic ghost. To this day, I think of Xiang Yu and refuse to cross the river eastward.« The ink landscape that »swept a thousand miles within reach and wrote ten thousand things at fingertips« during the Northern Song Dynasty was reduced to »the broken mountains and remaining waters« as the territory of the Southern Song shrank. The full view changed to the corner view, and huge long scrolls became albums and fan leaves. Xia Gui’s »half« and Ma Yuan horse »corner« types of landscape emerged, »although the painter viewed them as the broken mountains and remaining waters, they can be described as the extreme of fine work.« The Southern Song Dynasty, holding a small part of their territory and creating imbalanced prosperity in southeastern cities, ensured that the arts of the marketplace continued to flourish and mature. The interest of the ordinary citizens for fantastic stories and anecdotes continued to increase, so the arts of the marketplace competed in this aspect: Zhugongdiao »compiled legends and ghost stories into the music for singing« and fuzhuan »changed to love stories to war stories.« Storytelling was divided according to the content into »four schools«:

Xiaoshuo is called the silver word, [whose contents] include mist and powder [beauties], spirits and monsters, and legend; public cases are all about fighting and rising to fame and fortune; iron rider stories refer to war accounts. Shuo jing is said to be the performance of Buddhist stories. Shuo canqing gives accounts of the guest and the host engaged in Zen debates. Shuo shishu, uses history books and tells the wars and the rise and fall of the previous dynasties.

With this trend, a groundbreaking event finally occurred in the Southern Song art world: the establishment of Southern Opera. At the beginning of Southern Opera, the brush was directed at the sorrow and happiness of human fate, and plays such as Wang Kui, the Chaste Lady Zhao and Cai Erlang, and Top-ranked Examinee Zhang Xie were very popular for a while, which shows how the imperial examination system distorted normal human relationships at the time. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, genre paintings reached a great height, featuring all kinds of elements including city quarters, market towns, urban markets, boats and bridges, carriages and horses, merchants, ladies, hawkers, infants, farming and weaving, herding, village doctors, and village schools. This kind of

17

arts of the marketplace and commoners directly influenced the rise of illustrations and New Year pictures in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Although Song art overall gave the impression of being »small and weak,« the improvement of the quality of cultural life and the artistic quality of people pushed the development of the arts in the direction of refinement and delicacy, and refinement became the basic feature of Song arts. Although Song ci verses lacked a broad and deep underlying tone, they created new and acute sensibilities, and the context was closer to and more intimate with daily life, expressing various complex and delicate moods through various subtle and delicate rhetorical devices. The grand music performances consisting of multiple divisions of the Tang court disappeared, replaced by the music of imperial academies of the Song Dynasty, which was repeatedly reduced and eventually even abolished. The grand suites of the Tang were only left as sporadically-performed »excerpt selections« (zhaibian) in the Song Dynasty. However, the transition was also that the grand court and the high-ceilinged hall became the low-hanging curtain, the orchestra of bells and drums became low-voiced singing over drinks, the grand team dance became the solo dancer weaving light fabric, and the different excerpts from the grand suites became finely adapted tender lyrics. People paid attention to the environment and quality of material and cultural life, and pursued exquisiteness and meticulousness in all aspects. Household items, whether porcelain, lacquer, jade, gold and silver, wood, silk textile, carved brick, carved stone, were all finely considered and made with ingenuity. The decorative style was changed from the free and unrestrained, bold and magnificent of the Tang Dynasty, to the exquisite, dense, graceful, and delicate. Daily necessities gradually transformed into handicrafts, and began to pursue precious materials and fine workmanship, integrating practicality and ornamental qualities. Architecture was also glamourous and

SECTION 4: THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARTS

6.0.5 Anonymous, The Eighteen Scholars, National Palace Museum

exquisite, adding all kinds of complex structures of platforms and pavilions, largely increasing the number of decorative components on the ceiling and the roof, which were all finely painted. The size of the architecture, on the contrary, became increasingly smaller. Song architecture was more elaborate, detailed, and glamourous than that of the Tang, but far inferior in grandeur. The tombs are also small and exquisite. Imitating the style of wooden houses in the world of the living, they were built and carved into complex and sophisticated underground buildings. The decorations on the walls of tombs also shifted from the out-

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ward-looking themes of hunting, outings, and ball games in the Tang Dynasty to interior scenes with tables, chairs, cups, and plates, tea and stoves, court music and dance, and opera entertainment, seeking a sense of stability within the small world of the family. The spiritual veneration of the Kingdom of Heaven was replaced by a desire for worldly material pleasures, and thus the themes of painting in the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty shifted from the gods and the buddhas to the nobility and then to the customs of everyday life of the citizenry, and religious painting was increasingly replaced by popular painting. Song Dynasty cave sculptures reduced in number and scale, and the solemn, sacred, and passionate religious spirit disappeared, turning into a different, secular, and earthly beauty. The bodhisattva sculptures in Dazu, Maiji Mountain, Dunhuang display beautiful and feminine faces, frail and attractive physique. They no longer embodied fearful and terrifying images, they lost the mysteriousness of the religious otherworld, and changed towards the amiable images of ordinary people. They were more realistic, relatable, and intimate than Tang Dynasty sculpture, infused with a real sense of humanity. Statues of Guanyin, in particular, often have a soft face, half-closed eyes, handsome appearance, and slender physique, making the bodhisattva look like an attractive young girl of the human world. The sculptures of the delicate and gentle heavenly maids in the Jin ancestral shrine are even closer to real earthly women, who exude a warm and rich atmosphere of life. In language transmission, the sutra lectures of the Tang Dynasty monasteries were popularized and evolved into the folk storytelling of the Song Dynasty, and this new form of oral literature, with the general public as its target, already had a wide range of sources to draw from. It no longer used the miraculous world of the Buddha to satisfy the curiosity of believers, but described the real situation of earthly life for the pleasure of the general audience.

Overview

Section 5:  The Realm of Aesthetics The arts of the Tang and Song Dynasties are two peaks in the history of the Chinese arts. Comparing the two, one can see the obvious difference in style, and using Tang art as the counterpart can highlight the characteristics of Song art. As determined by national power and cultural trends, the character of the Tang people was open, positive, generous and vigorous, and Tang culture was extremely tolerant, self-confident, progressive and unrelenting, reflecting the grand Tang spirit; The Song people were calm, cautious, introverted and reserved, and the Song culture is very graceful, delicate, sensitive, and gentle, reflecting the soft and romantic Song style. Under the domination of this trend, Song arts lost the strong emotional impact of the Tang Dynasty, and instead of embracing life whole-heartedly and singing praises of the times, sought refuge and solace in a small, locked personal world under crushing nature and society. However, compared to the rough, austere, and simple arts of the Tang Dynasty, the arts of the Song Dynasty advanced to a refined, profound, and mature state, showing the evolution and maturity of its aesthetics. The direct impact of territorial contraction and spiritual isolation on the Song people was the narrowing and inward turn of the aesthetic vision. In terms of creative imagery, the Tang were broad, open, and full of vitality, while the Song were narrow, constricted, and deep in mood. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River in the Tang writings are grand scenes of water flowing rapidly with the force of a thousand pounds, such as »The water of the Yellow River comes from the sky, flowing to the sea without returning« (Li Bai, »Wine Will be Served«), and »In the morning [I] departed from Baidi, amongst rosy clouds, returning to the one-thousand- li [away] Jiangling in one day.« (Li Bai, »Early Departure from Baidi City«). The Yangtze River and the Yellow River in

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Song writings are scenes of congestion and blockage of flow, such as »Why did the pillar mountain [inside the Yellow River,] [which originates from] the Kunlun Mountains suddenly topple over, causing the yellow waters to flood the land of the Nine States?« (Zhang Yuangan, »Congratulations to the Groom«); »Looking afar, the path to the pass and the river is closed« (Xin Qiji, »Congratulations to the Groom«).« The moon of the Tang people was the moon of the sea and the sky, shining over all the rivers, such as »The moon rises above the sea, and the world is sharing this moment« (Zhang Jiuling, »Looking at the Moon and Longing for One Far Away«), and »Rippling with the waves for millions of miles, where is there no moonlight in the spring river« (Zhang Ruoxu, »A Flowery Moonlit Night by the Spring River«). The moon of the Song was the moon of the private garden, the moon in front of the eyes, such as »No one is in the house and the moon is shining in autumn« (Zhang Lei, »Sitting at Night«), and »The clouds block the moon and the flowers create shadows« (Zhang Xian, »Heavenly Maiden«); »The most adorable is the little silver hook« (Wang Yisun, »Charming Eyebrows«); »The embroidered curtain is open, a little bit of bright moon peeps at people« (Su Shi, »Song of the Cave Immortal«). Tang people liked to travel, and many famous mountains and rivers entered the poetic realm in eulogies of the natural landscape; Song people attached great importance to human relations, the realm of ci verses incorporated depictions of red railings and decorated buildings, deep paths and secluded gardens. The Tang people were adventurous, and sought after new things, and the majestic scenery of the borderlands were often depicted: »A riverbed of rocks as big as buckets, along with the wind the rocks are rolling widely across the ground« (Cen Shen, »Song of Running Horse River«); »Suddenly, like a spring breeze, a thousand trees [are covered with] pear blossoms [white snow]« (Cen Shen, »White Snow Song«). The Song people were only concerned with the familiar scenery and small

SECTION 5: THE REALM OF AESTHETICS

matters around them: »After a dream, the tower is locked up, and the curtain hangs low when I wake up« (Yan Jidao, »Immortal at the River«); »The green leaves hide the warbler, the red curtain separates the swallows, and the incense from the burner is swirling quietly with the loose gossamer« (Yan Shu, »Stepping on Sandy Creek«). The Tang people were empowered and confident, believing that »I am born with talent to be useful,« and that »one day, [I will ride] the long wind and break the waves, hoisting my sail to reach the ocean« (Li Bai, »The Difficult Journey«). The Song people were hesitant and frustrated, lamenting that »my heart had promised my country to eventually pacify the enemies, but I was born at the wrong time and suitable only for retiring to farming« (Su Shunqin, »Looking at the Mirror«), and »I have exchanged my ten-thousand-word pacification strategy for a book on tree planting from the landlord« (Xin Qiji, »Partridge Sky«). In line with the contraction of vision, the aesthetic standards of the Song people also transformed from the appreciation of heroism and martial arts of the previous dynasty to that of sophisticated and refined culture. The status of the literati and the culture they created rose sharply in the minds of the Song people, and the literati who studied replaced the warriors who killed and conquered as the aesthetic model respected by society. The Song people were only eager to seek honor and success through the imperial examinations, and regarded studying to be an official as the only proper way to strive for success. They indulged in poetry, ritual, calligraphy, and painting, and were increasingly moving towards the image of the »weak scholar,« who despised martial arts and regarded military life in the border areas as a fearful path. The masculine values of the Tang people, and »To attain fame and fortune only from the horseback is heroic« (Cen Shen, »Sending the Deputy General Li to the Official Army in the Western Regions«) and »I’d rather be a hundred-member commander than a scholar« (Yang

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Jiong, »Song of Joining the Army«) were completely abandoned. The poets of the Tang Dynasty wrote so many poems entitled »Song of Joining the Army,« and sang so many popular brave verses: »The yellow sand enters into the golden armor after a hundred battles, [but I] will not return until I defeat the Loulan (Wang Changling, »Song of Joining the Army«); »Who knows not the hardship of the frontier, but even if one dies, the fragrance of the chivalrous skeletons can still be smelt« (Wang Wei, »Song of the Young Man«); and »Drunkenly lying in the battlefield, laugh me not, how many people have returned from battles in the past« (Wang Wei, »Verse of Liangzhou«). These lines are sorrowful but not desolate, tragic but still progressive, reflecting the positive and high spirit of aspiring to the frontier and to build a successful career through military struggle. In reality, they also lived adventurous lives wandering the world with sword and horse, and their footprints covered a wide range of territory and reached all borderlands. This mentality of striving for success was lost after the Song Dynasty and was transformed into an inherent mentality of fear, hesitation, and dread, which changed people’s value scale, as Chao Buzhi said: »Even if [I can] earn a lordship [at the borderland battlefield] 10,000 li away like Ban Chao, I am afraid of being too late at my return« (»Catching the Fish«). For them, military life was a kind of purgatory where they had to leave their homeland and become isolated, with their home and country being very far away and seemingly impossible to return to, and their footprints only covered an area less than half of that of the Tang people. Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty only fought against the Western Xia in Yan’an, located in present-day Shaanxi Province, but he composed the following lines, »A cup of muddy wine, home is ten thousand li away, and there is no hope for returning before Yan’an is conquered,« which led to the tragic association of »the general’s white hair and the soldier’s tears.« (»Fisherman’s Pride«).

Overview

The psychological shadow of the war between the north and the south and the national policy of the Southern Song Dynasty of bearing with humiliation in exchange for temporary peace added an even stronger sense of tragedy and a feeling of helplessness in the face of historical desolation to the creations of the Southern Song people. Not to mention the aspirants who insisted on fighting against their enemies, this also applies to people who generally only chanted about flowers and snow, which was not found in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Xiaoxiang said, »When I think about the events of the past, it is a matter of heaven, not human power« (»Song of the Six States«). Lu You said, »In my early years, how did I know that things in the world were difficult? Looking north at the Central Plains I felt great strength like a mountain,« and »I made an empty promise to [recover] the Great Wall on the border, before [the promise was delivered] my sideburns were already speckled in the mirror« (»Writing My Indignation«). Lü Benzhong said, »[People] only speak of the beautiful scenery on the left side of the river, not mentioning that the hope of returning to the Central Plains is bleak« (»Southern Song«). In face of this irreversible historical trend, some steadfast people had a strong anger that their aspirations could not be realized: »The wanderers to the south of the Yangtze River have looked at the Wu hooks and beaten the railings all over, but no one understood why I climbed up the building« (Xin Qiji, »Water Dragon Song«). »The sword on the waist, the arrow in the box, are of no use and left to dust and worms, what has one achieved in the end?« (Zhang Xiaoxiang, »Song of the Six States«). This strong emotion of mourning made the Song people lose their ambition and pride to build up their career, leaving only a trace of hopeless attachment in their dreams and souls, as demonstrated in »the iron horse and the ice river come into the dream« (Lu You, »Stormy Night of November Fourth«), and »When the imperial army pacifies the Central Plains in the north, for-

21

get not to tell your father when visiting his tomb« (Lu You, »To My Son«). In this historical context, Song people also spoke of their sorrow: »[The boat] can’t carry this much sorrow« (Li Qingzhao, »Wuling Spring«), and »How can a word of sorrow be enough« (Li Qingzhao, »Slow Sounds«). Even unwarranted idle sorrow came to the end of their writing from time to time: »When I wake up from a sad dream, the slanting sun shines in the deep courtyard« (Yan Shu, »Stepping on Sandy Creek«); »Flowers float and water flows, a kind of love for each other, two places of idle sorrow« (Li Qingzhao, »A Plum Branch«). The Song people had a special cultural mentality due to their special historical context, and they tried to force themselves to be accepting: »So many things I wanted to talk about but stopped« (Li Qingzhao, »Thinking of the Flute Being Played on the Phoenix Terrace«); but they could not erase the thousand threads of depression, »I’m drunk and I want to laugh, and how can I find the energy to feel sad« (Xin Qiji, »New Moon on the River«). However, it could not erase the feeling: »[the sorrow] just left the eyebrows, but stuck to the heart« (Li Qingzhao, »A Plum Branch«). This was the psychological atmosphere and artistic tone of the era, lacking cheerfulness, brightness, and innocence, with bitterness implied in laughter, and hopeless sadness mixed in with forced amusement. In line with the spirit of the times, the artistic qualities of the Song Dynasty also developed towards a focus on mood and inner charm, forming a new aesthetic trend that determined the artistic achievements of the Song Dynasty and influenced the arts of later generations. Through the filtering and nurturing of Daoist and Zen (chan 禅) philosophy and Neo-Confucianism, the aesthetics of the Song people were refined to an extremely pure degree. What it pursued was no longer the imposing and majestic, nor fervent emotions, but the deep observation of a certain spiritual situation, the thoughtful identification of a certain emotional mood, the careful and deli-

SECTION 5: THE REALM OF AESTHETICS

cate understanding of a certain life situation. This was a kind of open-minded and untrammeled life attitude where one, while having gone through many sorrows, »speaks, instead, of the good, cool autumn weather« (Xin Qiji, »Ugly Servant«). The arts of the Song Dynasty chose the lean and hale over the rich and robust in form, the submerged mood over the surface look in character, the autumn leaf over the spring flower in spirit. It was like a lake that collected millions of streams, where the swirls of the torrent disappeared and the noise of the waves sunk, and the water that eventually floated to the surface was full, calm, and clear. Therefore, mood (yijing 意境) and spiritual charm (yunwei 韵味) became important concepts and characteristics of the arts of the Song Dynasty. Song people pursued mood and spiritual charm. The Buddhist monk Puwen said that »the mood comes from the environment.« Huang Tingjian said, »One ought to look for spiritual charm in all paintings and calligraphy,« and »The core of painting and calligraphy is spirit.« Mood, as interpreted by the Tang Dynasty writer Sikong Tu as »the image beyond the image,« and »the scene beyond the scene,« »can be gauged but cannot be placed in front of the eyes.« Spiritual charm, according to Fan Kuan, is the following: »The residual feeling is called the spiritual charm.« What they have in common is the pursuit of an aesthetic sentiment naturally triggered by the image of external objects. In the words of Yan Yu at the end of the Song Dynasty, that is, »words have an end but meaning is infinite«—deep connotations in the artwork. It is like »the antelope hanging its horn [on the tree], [so] no trace can be found.« It is »like the sound in the air, the color in the appearance, the moon in the water, the image in the mirror.« »Its subtlety is so thorough and exquisite that it cannot be pieced together.« The pursuit of meaning beyond the words in artworks naturally brewed the aesthetic criterion that the literati of the Song Dynasty regarded »untrammeled class«

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Overview

6.0.6 Fan Kuan, Snowy Scene of Wintry Trees, Tianjin Museum Collection

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SECTION 5: THE REALM OF AESTHETICS

6.0.7  Li Song, Watching the Tide on a Moonlit Night, National Palace Museum

(yipin 逸品) as the highest quality, which was reflected in the widely-accepted classification of paintings into four classes of untrammeled (yi 逸), heavenly (shen 神), ingenious (miao 妙), and able (neng 能) by Huang Xiufu of the Northern Song Dynasty. The »untrammeled class« meant that, in addition to being based on nature, work can also emit an air of transcendence, revealing a deep taste of life and historical comprehension. This shows the artist’s transcendent attitude to life and spiritual realm, and distances himself from the reality of life, thus displaying the aesthetic imagery of simplicity, tranquility, and leisure, which contains a profound and endless lingering feeling. The pursuit of the spiritual charm, and the placing of the untrammeled on top of the

other categories, reflects the transformation of the aesthetic trend from reproduction to expression, from realism (xieshi 写实) to the spirit (xieyi 写意) in the Song Dynasty. The pursuit of mood and spiritual charm inevitably led to a growing tendency for artistic style to be simple and light, as the saying goes, »in the midst of simplicity and leisure, there is a profound and infinite feeling,« or, »there is no [hierarchy between] ancient or modern poetry, but the making of simple and plain poetry is difficult,« or again, »ancient blandness has true taste,« and »the best taste in plainness.« When we look at the landscapes of the Song Dynasty, we can see that they all reflect the rich mood of tranquility and quietness, and their subjects are mostly snow

24

scenes and winter forests, fishing villages in snow, autumn rivers and overnight moorings, temples in mist, fishing alone in winter, etc. They create a remote, quiet, leisurely, and spare mood, pursuing a sense of transcendence and seclusion from the world. Among them, the monochrome ink landscape was the most prominent type, which emphasized loneliness and solitude, the philosophy of harmony of nature and man. Elegant and plain were the highest level of arts pursued in the Song Dynasty, and Song porcelain can best represent this style. Song porcelain features simple forms, with very little decoration, with clear and pure colors. This style had been established since the Five Dynasties, where the silver- and snow-like white Xing ware of the north and the jade- and crystal-like celadon Yue ware had become the best precursors of Song porcelain. Although Song porcelains produced in different locations varied widely in terms of the body, glaze, and color, they all shared the same pursuit of elegance and purity. Whether it was the skygreen and lush-green Ru ware, the classical and elegant Guan ware, the Ge ware covered in celadon cracks, the purple-red Jun ware with a milky glow, the Cizhou ware with white glaze and black paint, the carved celadon ware of Yaozhou kiln, the tortoiseshell-like Jizhou ware in black glaze, the pink-celadon and plum-celadon Longquan ware, the blue-and-white porcelain of Jingdezhen, the Jian ware with patterns of rabbit hair or oil drops, they all fully reflect this outstanding stylistic characteristic of Song porcelain. Comparing Tang sancai with Song porcelain, the former is ornate and luxurious, the latter is plain and elegant; the former is coarse and bold, the latter is rigorous and sophisticated; the former is emotionally exuberant, the latter is thoughtful and subtle. The characteristics of Song porcelain are very representative of the arts of the Song Dynasty. It can be said that the plain and elegant was the realm all literati art pursued.

Overview

Section 6:  Aesthetic Features Due to the dominance of orthodox values in society, the elegant art of the scholars was always dominant in the Song Dynasty. But after the development in the Xuanhe reign of the Northern Song Dynasty, popular literature and arts enjoyed by the citizens became strong enough to compete with elegant literature and art of the literati and the aesthetics of the scholar’s studio. Eventually, the divergence between the elegant and the pop­ ular became established—in the Southern Song Dynasty. This divergence had a profound impact on the development of Chinese aesthetics, pointing the direction for popular literature and art after the Song Dynasty, and breaking through the traditional norms of elegant literature and art. Both the elegant and the popular arts had a profound impact on the Jin Dynasty, especially the latter, which developed vigorously in a relatively relaxed cultural environment, unrestrained by traditional Confucian codes of conduct and the emerging Neo-Confucianism. The aesthetic pursuit of the arts of the literati and that of the citizen was different. The literati pursued inner tranquility and a life beyond the mundane, which at its core was the spiritual liberation of the individual, so that the aesthetic interests of Chinese scholar-officials tended to be clean, quiet, natural, unadorned, and leisurely. The civil class, on the other hand, sought worldly pleasures, which directed their aesthetic interests to the frivolous and debauched, vulgar and stimulating, leading to a preference for brightly-colored paintings, light and airy music, provocative ditties, and a taste for the detailed, realistic, vivid, and representational. This difference in interest constituted the dichotomous divide between elegant and popular Song Dynasty arts. A distinctive feature of the aesthetic dichotomy is that the two aesthetic strategies, the disregard of formal qualities, and extreme detailedness, be-

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came the two principles of painting at the same time, and guided two different artistic practices. The former was mainly represented by the literati painting and the latter mainly by academic painting. In order to reflect individual emotions and aesthetic pursuits, and to embody individuality, literati painters respected the »untrammeled« style (yipin) and advocated the idea of expressing the spirit (xieyi) through their works. Whether it is Ouyang Xiu’s »Poem on the Painting of the Water Mill,« which says, »Ancient painting is about the spirit, not form«; or Su Shi’s »At the End of Wu Daozi’s Painting,« which says, »it is achieved beyond the image«; or Shen Kuo’s Painting and Calligraphy, which says, »Apprehended in the heart and applied by the hand, once the spirit is there [the work] is ready,« they all emphasize the principle of painting which prioritizes spiritual comprehension over formal resemblance: As long as a certain elegant aesthetic interest is conveyed, the painting has achieved its purpose. The purpose of the painting was not to achieve meticulous formal resemblance, which is often the practice of inferior craftsmen. That is why Shen Kuo said, in Painting and Calligraphy: The beauty of painting and calligraphy is apprehended by the spirit and can hardly be sought in the form. Most of the viewers of painting in the world can only make criticism about the flaws in representation, composition, and color; It is rare to see those who can apprehend the deep meanings of the painting […] This is apprehended in the heart and applied by the hand, once the spirit is there [the work] is ready, thus the spirit created is reasonable and very much the will of heaven, this can hardly be discussed with the common people.

Su Shi also said in »Two Poems on the Broken Branches Painted by the Assistant Magistrate Wang of Yaling«: »If you talk about painting by resemblance, you will see that you are next to a child; if you have to use this particular poem when composing a poem, you definitely are not

SECTION 6: AESTHETIC FEATURES

someone who understands poetry.« The aesthetic principle that prioritizes spiritual quality over formal resemblance originates from the concept of »leaving the form to attain resemblance,« coined by the late Tang Dynasty writer Sikong Tu in »Form,« in his Criticism of the Twenty-Four Poems. As it proposes a kind of aesthetic principle that detaches from formal traces and focuses on mood and spiritual charm, transcending the confines of the form found in popular painting, and facilitating the creator’s individual expressions, it was therefore respected and advocated by literati painters. Ouyang Xiu said, in »Identification of Paintings« in his Testing the Brush, Blandness and simplicity are feelings hard to be painted. [Even when] the painter gets it, the viewer may not know it. Therefore, it is easy to see the fast-flying or slowly-walking things that are shallow in meaning, while it is difficult to represent the leisurely and quiet heart that has profound feelings. As for [the actual composition of the painting such as] the high and low, the facing and opposite, the distant and close, the repetition, they are only the skills of the painter-craftsman, not the matter of a fine critic.

This idea of abandoning form and pursuing spiritual charm outside the image became the main trend of thought in Song Dynasty aesthetics. The famous painting Withered Tree and Strange Rock by Su Shi, with its flowing brushwork that only roughly captures the form but delivers the spirit, perfectly embodies this. In the field of calligraphy, the literati also promoted the idea of shangyi (»promoting the spirit«) calligraphy. From the promotion of the model to the promotion of spirit, calligraphy passed its initial stage of imitation, and has entered into the era of individual expression. The creations of the Four Great Calligraphers of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang marked the establishment of shangyi calligraphy: Whether it was Su’s plump, round, thick, and crisp style, Huang’s typical characters that are tight in the center and

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Overview

6.0.8  Anonymous, Two Magpies among Plum Blossoms and Bamboo, Palace Museum

loose on all sides, Mi’s unrestrained and dancing brushwork, or Cai’s dignified, strong, and free style, they all fully reflect the prominence of individualities. While literati painting that prioritizes spiritual charm over formal resemblance was in vogue, academic painting, with its refined and meticulous style, also continued to develop. The academic style was influenced by the aesthetics of the urban marketplace, with a focus on the poetic presentation of images, close observation of objects, and precise and realistic depictions. The meticulous depictions and the deep appreciations of the subtleties of everyday objects and natural scenes in academic paintings are breathtaking. In Deng Chun’s Painting Sequel (Hua ji 画继), the author gives the examples of Emperor Huizong, who can distinguish that the China rose »[has] different

flowers, pistils, and leaves according to the four seasons and the time of the day«; and that »when the peacock rises, [it] always first raises from the left,« which illustrate the importance of objective observation. The book also contains an academic painting in which a court lady »discards fruit peels and nut shells in a basket, such as duck-feet corns, lychees, walnuts, torreya nuts, and hazelnuts, all of which can be identified, and are different from each other,« and he thus exclaims that »the brushwork can be this fine!« The aesthetic judgement looking for such detailed qualities found in very fine bird-and-flower painting the best embodiment of this standard. The principle of academic painting’s emphasis on likeness and detailed realism ran counter to literati panting’s disregard of formal qualities in exchange for spiritual charm. Therefore, the untrammeled works

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(yipin), which were considered by the literati to be the best expression of one’s inner spirit were condemned to second-class status in the academy, and placed below the heavenly works (shenpin). The division of art between the elegant and the popular in the Song Dynasty is also evident in the functional distinction between poetry and ci verse. Ci was an artistic form that emerged from the marketplace and was favored by the literati, who introduced it into the hall of literature. However, due to the profound influence of the arts of the marketplace, ci was still used as an outlet for worldly feelings under the brush of the literati, while poetry was used to express noble aspirations. Poetry, as a traditional tool for expressing the will and the emotions, gradually lost its original innocence and freshness, and became more complex due to the infiltration of Daoism, Zen Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism. The Song people liked to build arguments and talk about philosophy in their poems, which, although gives a sense of sophistication, also adds to pedantry, losing purity, vividness, and clarity. Comparing Tang poems with Song poems, the former is full of talent, while the latter is deep in thought; the former is rich in spiritual and emotional qualities, while the latter is good for its structure and reasoning; the former is full of youthful vigor, while the latter gives a sense of old age. Song poetry was more mature in philosophical thought and reasoning, but weaker in artistic genius and charm. At a time when Song poetry was becoming increasingly polemical and a serious facade for the literati, its original function to express emotions was overtaken by the new genre of ci. The difference between ci and poetry is the fact that ci was a style of art cultivated in the debauched environment of the marketplace, whose content initially only included romantic love and later expanded, but was still mainly lyrical, writing about the soft and the beautiful. As described by the statement that »ci is a sensual category,« it naturally diverged from poetry in subject mat-

SECTION 6: AESTHETIC FEATURES

ter and style. As upright, elegant, and dignified Song poetry became the dominant voice, ci verse, expressing the subtle and delicate feelings of the inner world of the individual literatus and dedicated to the private environment, became the best outlet for emotions. The literati, upright and serious in their poems, could become relaxed in ci verses, speaking in flirtatious, joking, or even obscene tones. The two creative attitudes put the poem and ci on two completely different paths. The image of the poem is the admonishing Neo-Confucian with a serious face, while the image of ci is as fresh and lively as human nature. Going through collections of writings by the Song literati, one often finds that there is a significant difference between the images of some famous officials who are concerned with their status and reputation in their poems and ci verses. For example, this applies not only to people like Yan Shu, who is known for using seemingly upright language to enhance the tantalizing image; even Ouyang Xiu, who wrote such high political ambitions as »Worry and labor can revitalize the country, while freedom and leisure can kill the body,« and took it as his mission to reform the country, was also good at writing ci verses, and had such racy lines as »Playing with the brush [the girl] has nestled in [my arms] for a long time, painting the flowers she is trying her hands for the first time« (»Southern Ballad«); The great scholar Sima Guang, who was praised for his wisdom and sophistication, had such words as »The bun [decorated with] treasured accessories is loosely pulled up, and [the face] is lightly made up with powders« (»The West River Moon«). Even Su Shi, who »could not be bound by song,« broke through and expanded the realm of ci, leaving a good amount of ci works that describe romantic pleasures, such as »the person is not yet sleeping, leaning on the pillow with titled hairpin and loose hair« (»Song of the Cave Immortal«). The Song people separated ci from poetry, and there was a certain division of labor between

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the two, with poems being used mainly to write about subjects that could be easily discussed or reasoned about, and ci being used to write about romance between men and women. The division reflects the two sides of human nature, the dichotomy between emotion and reason, and the division between elegance and vulgarity. Amid the unstoppable historical trend of the divergence of the elegant and the popular, the arts of the marketplace of the Song Dynasty matured and took an independent path of development. For the first time in the history of the Chinese arts, it came to the fore with its own strong aesthetic characteristics. The arts of the marketplace were nurtured in the streets, developed in the entertainment quarters, and grew in the environment of citizens who were not constrained by orthodox values and had a free and unrestrained character. It was new and vivid, unpretentious and vulgar, lively and witty, spicy and vibrant, injecting a strong, fresh, and youthful blood into Chinese art, and developing with increasing vigor. One of the characteristics of marketplace art is that it turns the traditional literary concern for nature and merit into a taste for the life of the world. The arts of the marketplace shrugged off the burden of scholarly aesthetic sensibilities and political ideals. »Depicting every variety of human emotions and worldly conditions, fully infused with the extreme examples of sorrow and joy,« the arts of the marketplace focused on the emotions of the ordinary people and mundane life, in which the lower classes and their fates, which had never been considered worthy of attention, were brought into sharp focus. From poetry to ci to storytelling arts, there was a growing transition from the depiction of external objects to concern for human society, from concern for nature to devotion to the human world, from the grasping of the beauty of the objective world to the sweet and warm feeling of the everyday. In the arts of the marketplace, there were depictions of sex and romance, and despite the eroticism and carnal over-

Overview

tones, they reflected a certain concept of gender equality and mutual love; there was undisguised interest in materialism, but it also emphasized the importance of legitimate business and trade; there were court cases and ghost stories that satisfied a strong curiosity, but also demonstrated the justice of the world. Although they were full of all kinds of petty, low-class, vulgar, boring, shallow, and shady content, far from being able to compete with the elegant and pure arts of the literati, their vividness in plot, mastery of narrative techniques, precision in depiction, and accessibility, were all refined to a very high degree through long and repeated exchanges with city audiences, and thus had strong artistic impact. As the saying went, »The most fearful are the xiaoshuo storytellers. They can accentuate the stories of one dynasty or one generation in a moment.« The Drunken Man’s Talks describes the effect and infectious power of the arts of xiaoshuo: [When] telling [the story of] traitors’ treachery and evil conducts, [they] send [even] fools to anger; [When] telling [the story of] the loyal courtiers who are wronged, [even] iron hearts shed tears; [When] telling [the story of] ghosts and monsters [they] make the Daoist priest’s heart chill; [When] telling [the story of] unrequited love [they] give the beauty grieved appearance; [When] telling [the story of] people fighting [they] give the Daoist priest relief; [when] telling [the story of] two armies in a battle [they] make the strong man feel brave.

This essential characteristic of marketplace art was its vitality. Once it appeared, it ended the absolute dominance of the elegant arts in all fields and opened up the world of popular arts. Another characteristic of the marketplace arts is that its grasp of the things portrayed had changed from a general overview to close scrutiny. Compared with Tang poetry, Song ci had developed toward capturing more delicate senses and emotions, and the Song arts of singing-storytelling had become more in touch with the richness and vivid-

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ness of human life and emotions. It was often said that the realm of poetry realm is deep and rich, the realm of ci sharp and new, the realm of song accessible; the poem is implicit, the ci is enchanting, the song is popular. The texts for Song Dynasty singing-storytelling are smooth, clear, straightforward, and uncomplicated, providing quick, realistic, and relatable sketches of scenes from everyday life. The liberation of the arts of singing-storytelling from the constraints of length provided the foundation for its development. Both poetry and ci only talk about one matter or describe one situation within one piece of work, which can easily become either too broad or too trivial. The Wei and Jin dynasties’ ghost-themed novellas and the Tang Dynasty’s literati sagas used short literary texts and were bound to a particular choice of words and rhetoric. The art of singing-storytelling in the Song Dynasty, however, told a complete story using a wide range of space and accessible language. Zhugongdiao used several music sets to sing about one event, though Southern Opera used multiple acts to deliver a long plot, and xiaoshuo could go to unlimited lengths. They were able to fully unfold in time and space, while also making specific, close, detailed, and exquisite descriptions of objects, things and events. This strength of the arts of the marketplace made it easy to write about life’s fate, sorrow and joy, and thus created a new dimension of narrative art. A further characteristic of the arts of the marketplace was that the expressive technique was less lyrical and more narrative. Classical Chinese poetry had a predominantly lyrical tradition, which changed in the Tang Dynasty. When it came to the art of singing-storytelling in the Song Dynasty, detailed descriptions of events and close depiction of scenes became a major feature. The flourishing of narrative arts in the Song Dynasty extended to numerous forms of performing arts, not only in zaju, zaban, zhugongdiao, changzhuan, puppet plays, shadow plays, Southern Operas, but also in dance, which has traditionally focused on lyricism

SECTION 6: AESTHETIC FEATURES

and rhythm. Dance changed from the pure lyrical form of the Tang Dynasty to embody narrative qualities in the Song Dynasty. Song Dynasty grand suite dance was mostly story-based, often interspersed with one to several episodes of historical or mythological stories in its long structure of multiple iterations, such as the Feast of Hongmen, the Goddess of Mt. Wu, and the sword dance of Lady Gongsun. Even popular festival team dance and parade pavilions become an exhibition of historical and legendary figures incorporating storylines. The team dances acted out stories of Sun Wuzi teaching female soldiers, the tributary mission of the Hollow-Heart Kingdom, the Return to Danyang, etc.; the parade pavilions showcased idle fisherman, going hunting on a bamboo horse, and Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. The enhancement of narrative and plot satisfied the interest and curiosity of the common people in the marketplace, giving the arts of the marketplace the greatest popularity and the largest audiences. The arts of the marketplace changed the aesthetic sensibility of society. If Tang poetry was more about the poet’s individual aspirations and social ambitions, and Song ci was more about the writer’s private feelings and moods, Song singing-storytelling and other performing arts were about the public expectations and collective psychology of civil society. If Song ci verses and Song landscape paintings show more of the literati’s heart and mind, Song popular literature and arts depict the customs and sensibilities of their urban life, unfolding a picture of social customs that were rich and colorful, despite being sometimes ordinary and trivial. The arts of the marketplace depicted all aspects of secular life in vivid and detailed language and images, making them rich, spectacular, fresh, and seductive, thus calling on the people of the marketplace to fully enjoy life and feel the warmth of the world. It is therefore supported and cared for by a growing team of readers and viewers, securing an irreplaceable position in the hall of arts.

CHAPTER I  THE BRILLIANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS Section 1  The Magnificence of Court Banquet Entertainment With unification of the Song Dynasty, and the cultural policies its court adopted, the dance, music and drama which had been dispersed across separate regimes during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period and developed in an uneven manner came together, bringing about their overall development. The Northern Song inherited its authority from the Zhou, settled its capital in Bianjing, and continued to follow the old system of court music, establishing four departments in the Imperial Office of Music. When Emperors Taizu and Taizong of Song dispatched troops to subjugate the seven states, they took care to bring back musicians and other artists from these states into the capital, concentrating musicians from all over China there, and seeing the finest performers gathered in the capital’s palace. In volume 146 of his General Study of Literary Remains (Wenxian tongkao 文献通考), »Examination of Music, 19: Music of the Secular Department: Female Musicians,« Ma Duanlin of the Yuan Dynasty recorded that »The Song Dynasty followed the old system with the Imperial Office of Music being of four departments. Thereafter, 32 musicians were acquired on suppression of Jingnan, 139 on suppression of Xichuan, 16 on suppression of Jiangnan, and 19 on suppression of Taiyuan. A further 83 were donated as tribute by ministers of vassal states and Taizong had a further 71 musicians from the palaces of vassal states. Thus, the finest of musicians from all quarters were brought together.« The concentration of

the finest musicians in Bianjing set the conditions for the development of the performing arts in the capital. The Imperial Office of Music was in charge of performances to mark the seasons; in other words, it directed the programs for celebrations of the new year, birthdays of the imperial family, and banquets held in honor of visiting foreign emissaries. These programs, which were secular performances, included instrumental music, song, dance, drama and acrobatics. The performances of the Imperial Office of Music were banquet entertainment stood in distinction to the formal court music performed for court audiences and which were presided over by the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In addition to the Imperial Office of Music, Zhao Kuangyin, formally Emperor Taizu of Song, also established the Department of Flute Music, which was later renamed the Department of Cloud Music. 80 talented performers were initially selected from eunuchs who had surrendered in the south of China; subsequently, the tradition was continued by eunuchs from within the palace. The Department of Flute Music was the emperor’s private orchestra which performed its repertoire specifically at palace banquets. In volume 188 of Chen Yang’s Book of Music ­(Yueshu 乐书), the entry on »Illustrations and Theories of Music: The Secular Music Department, Miscellaneous Music, Department of Cloud Music« (Yuetulun subu zayue yunshaoyue 乐图论· 俗部·杂乐·云韶乐) records: During the Kaibao reign of the present sacred dynasty subdued the region beyond the Five Ridges, and selected eighty vigilant people from there to establish the Department of Flute Music

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where they practiced music in the Imperial Office of Music. It was renamed the Department of Cloud Music in the early Yongxi reign. It was further complemented with officials from the Palace and Temple. In total, there were three singers, four players each of the sheng reed pipe, the pipa, the zheng and the clapper, three players of the fangxiang percussive instrument, seven flautists, two players of the bili bamboo pipe, twenty-four actors, and eight puppeteers. Each year on the eve of the first day of the year, as well as the Double Third Festival and while watching the games on the water during the Double Fifth Festival, they would be ordered to perform within the palace. They would also perform in the palace during the archery rituals for the Winter Solstice, the imperial audience on the first day of the year, the Pure Brightness Festival and the Harvest Festival.

Records show that performances by the Department of Cloud Music comprised three groups of performers, namely singers, instrumentalists and dramatic performers, the latter comprising actors and puppeteers. This shows that palace banquet performances had become secularized in Bianjing as early as the beginning of the Northern Song. Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of Song, was attracted to banquet entertainment after he ascended to the throne. The fifth chapter on music, entitled the »Imperial Office of Music« (Jiaofangyue 教坊乐) of the Song Dynasty Manuscript Compendium (Song huiyao jigao 宋会要辑稿) states that on the one hand he had the popular tunes put in order and recreated, and on the other he gradually increased the number of palace banquet entertainment agencies. In the second year of the Taiping Xinguo reign (977), he brought those in the military adept at performing music together to form a musical agency named Leading the Dragon Straight (yinlongzhi 引龙直). In the fourth year of the Chunhua reign (993), the group’s name was changed to the Junrongzhi 钧容 直. Comprising 434 members, it was responsible for accompanying the emperor whenever he traveled, performing. Also, during the Taiping Xinguo reign, adept performers from the East and West

CHAPTER I THE BRILLIANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

Squads were selected to form the musicians of the East and West Squads. This would become the system followed throughout the Song Dynasty. Outside of the palace, the military forces had their own musicians, and prefectural governments had their own musicians. Together, these formed the official performing institutions in the Song Dynasty and would become the main reason the performing arts flourished. The use of music in the Northern Song to accompany court events continued the tradition of the Tang Dynasty. The seventeenth treatise on music in the History of the Song Dynasty (Songshi 宋史) states, »The court music of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices was used during ritual ceremonies and for grand audiences, while performers of the departments in the Imperial Office of Music were used for the seasonal banquets.« At the great banquets of spring, autumn and the emperor’s birthday, for example, music of the Imperial Office of Music was employed to add to the atmosphere as the emperor and his courtiers drank in celebration. Volume 146 of Ma Duanlin’s General Study of Literary Remains and the 17th treatise on music in the History of the Song Dynasty both record this while the entry entitled »Government Officials, Princes, Members of the Imperial Clan and Officials of All Ranks Enter the Inner Palace for the Emperor’s Birthday« in volume nine of Song Dynasty writer Meng Yuanlao’s The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor Past (Dongjing menhua lu 东京梦华录) records the scene of these performances in detail. We can learn from them that the emperor and his courtiers would enjoy instrumental music, song and dance, drama, acrobatics, and displays of sporting prowess as they drank. The feasts for the important festivals of spring and autumn were formal court feasts for which there were fixed rules concerning the ceremonial music which could not be changed at will. The performances the emperor watched normally, however, were different: temporal and spatial arrangements could be made

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to suit the requirements of the performance, and the scene would be much heartier. The entry in volume seven of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past entitled »The Emperor Steps Upon the Baojian Tower Where the Armies Gave a Variety Performance« describes in detail the variety performances by the military which Emperor Huizong enjoyed during the Pure Brightness Festival in the third lunar month, giving a very good example. In addition to serving the palace and the government, Song Dynasty palace and official musical institutions also occasionally came face to face with the people. During the celebrations for festivals, for example, the musical groups from the palace, the military and prefectural governments would hold public performances in the capital and other large metropolitan cities, creating scenes of great jubilation. Of these, the most important festival was the Lantern Festival, which is recorded under the »Night of the Lantern Festival« in volume six of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past thus: »Timber was piled up under the Xuande Tower to form a terrace which was surrounded by railings,« »The Imperial Office of Music, the Junrongzhi, and the disciples of the terrace took turns to perform,« and »commoners watched from below the terrace.« On the evening after the Lantern Festival, »a music canopy was erected in front of the main hall of the Daxiangguo Temple where the governor’s musicians performed«; in the capital, »each gate had its own official music canopy, and all the roads and lanes bustled.« It was the same with major temple fairs in the city: in volume eight of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, for example, it is recorded that on the birthday of Erlang in the Shenbao Temple on the 24th day of the sixth month, »a music canopy was erected on the platform before the Yu Hall where the Imperial Office of Music, the Junrongzhi performed music, and took turns to perform poetic drama, and spin dancing.« The folk shehuo 社 火 performances were held on the platform, with

SECTION 1 THE MAGNIFICENCE OF COURT BANQUET ENTERTAINMENT

variety performances being made from the morning onwards, including diabolo balancing, leaping, rope walking, wrestling, drums and clappers, ditty singing, cock fighting, joke telling, sketches, riddle guessing, reed instrument playing, strong man displays, wrestling displays, prodigal son dramas, shouting one’s wares, cross-talk, knife play, drumming, and Daoist magic. It was most colorful, and did not stop even after night fell. Ordinarily, the courts and other official musicians would also have contact with civilians as they refined their art; volume five of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, for example, states, »Whenever they were without official engagement, the Imperial Office of Music and the Junrongzhi would perform for others«; volume three also says, »When the barracks put their musicians to rest they would raise their drums and perform at their leisure.« Such infiltration raised the level of appreciation among common people. Court and other official artists maintained an exchange, including in skills and personnel, with civilian musicians at all times. Civilian artists were often hired by the court or government for the excellence of their performing skills; renowned Northern Song actor Ding Xianxian, for example, was selected for the court from among theater actors, serving as ambassador of the Imperial Office of Music. Sketch actor Liu Qiao and sanyue 散乐 musician Wang Yanxi also served as deputy ambassadors in the Imperial Office of Music. Musicians in the court and government were also often weeded out, returning to perform among the ordinary people in the city pleasure precincts. Chapter five of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, in the entry on the »Arts of the Capital’s Pleasure Precincts,« records that Zhang Cuigai and Zhang Cheng were actors who had been »dismissed from the Imperial Office of Music.« Such artists who came and went between the court and civil society by nature created exchange in performance on both sides, promoting improvement of both.

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CHAPTER I THE BRILLIANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

6.1.1 The Procession of Taoist Immortals Paying Homage to the Primordial (section), Northern Song, Wu Zongyuan, Collection of C. C. Wang, New York, USA

After Zhao Gou ascended to the throne as Emperor Gaozong at Yingtianfu in the Southern Capital (Shangqiu, Henan Province), he fled to Lin’an where the ad hoc court was formed in haste. The Imperial Office of Music was not established. In the 11th year of the Shaoxing reign (1141) the Song negotiated a peace settlement with the Jin, and three years later the Imperial Office of Music was formally established in 1144. It was subsequently abolished in 1161 when it was learned that Jin ruler Digunai planned to send his army into the south. When Xiaozong ascended to the throne following Gaozong’s retirement to the Deshou Palace, he had considered reinstating the Imperial Office of Music but it was met with resistance at the time. This was partly because the Song and Jin were still at war, and therefore excessive merrymaking was inappropriate, and partly because there was already

an abundance of artists performing in the pleasure precincts of Lin’an who could be »hired« temporarily to assume the role. Therefore, the plan to reinstate the Imperial Office of Music was abandoned, and the so-called »Imperial Office of Music« of the Southern Song was in fact a music education facility within the Palace Maintenance Office. The structure of the Junrongzhi was the same: it was reformed during the Shaoxing reign but with less than half the number of personnel under the old system, and it was discontinued in the 30th year of the Shaoxing reign Actors who were still physically able to perform were taken in by the Department in Front of the Palace as military musicians, while outstanding performers were selected for the Imperial Office of Music. Shortly after this, however, the Imperial Office of Music was also discontinued and its performers had to fend for themselves.

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After suspension of the Imperial Office of Music in the Southern Song, the number of court banquet entertainment institutions did not in fact decrease: rather, their names were simply changed so as to pull the wool over others’ eyes to give the impression of simplification. While Gaozong did not agree with establishing the Imperial Office of Music, he did establish his group of musicians in the Deshou Palace in which he resided after his abdication. He selected performers for what became a new banquet entertainment institution. The Lin’an government musicians also expanded to become a musical agency which often performed before the emperor. In addition, a large number of artists were hired by the Palace Maintenance Office. The entry, »The Imperial Office of Music in the Time of Emperor Xiaozong,« in volume four of Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin (Wulin jiushi 武 林旧事), for example, records the circumstances of court performers at the time, with performers having one of five affiliations: Deshou Palace, the government, the former Imperial Office of Music, the former Junrongzhi and those hired externally. Of these, the »Former Imperial Office of Music« was probably under the Palace Maintenance Office, while the »Former Junrongzhi« was probably a part of the Office before the Palace. The book lists in detail the names of each category of performer. Actors alone comprised: ten in Deshou Palace, 22 in the Office Before the Yamen, two in the Former Imperial Office of Music, two in the former Junrongzhi and 30 hired externally. This totaled 66 actors, which is by no means a small number. When the court held festive banquets, these actors would vie to exhibit their skills. The entry »Imperial Birthday« in the first volume of Memoirs of Wulin records the drama performances of the »birthday banquet entertainment in the inner court of Lizong,« which included a performance of the Saintly Sovereign, Virtuous Minister and the Cooking Stove, Letters Delivered from the Three Capitals, Yang’s Meal and Travels of Four Young Men by actors including Wu Shixian,

SECTION 2 THE RISE OF MARKETPLACE ARTS

Zhou Zhaoqing, He Yanxi and Shi He. Of these four actors, Wu Shixian, He Yanxi and Shi He were actors »externally hired« from Lin’an’s pleasure precincts, their names appearing in the list of »various performers« in volume six of Memoirs of Wulin.

Section 2  The Rise of Marketplace Arts Urban life in China saw dramatic changes from the Later Zhou to the Northern Song, changes which were reflected prominently in the transformation of the organization of the capital. Before the Song, urban block planning continued the traditions of the Sui and Tang dynasties in which the layout of the city’s buildings followed a checkerboard grid pattern, with blocks being delineated. There were clear zonal ruled for commercial spaces, curfews were routinely imposed, and one could not move at will—with punishments in place for those who did not keep to the system. This situation severely impeded the commercial and economic prosperity of the city, and had a devastating impact on a civil society which had flourished so quickly. To resolve this tension in Bianliang between the »limited residences and businesses within the city« and the »outward expansion of businesses without limit,« numerous pavilions for commercial and leisure purposes had already been built along the banks of the Bian River in the Later Zhou Period. In the early Northern Song, Bianliang quickly expanded to a population of over one million due its geographical location, with its land and water connections, and the political purpose of the Northern Song Dynasty establishing its capital there. It also became a consumer city in which urban economic standards and trade conditions were highly developed. Consequently, the prosperity of the commercial market further propelled reform of the urban system. First was the expansion of shops, hostels and residences along the Bian River, which meant that

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businesses could open on both sides of the city streets. The urban layout of the fixed block system for commercial activity of the Sui and Tang dynasties was gradually replaced by the thriving street frontages in which centers of commercial activity could be opened anywhere. This led to the destruction of the urban block system of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The first volume of Song Dynasty Zhu Changwen’s Supplementary Records to the Illustrated Guide to Wu Commandery (Wujun tujing xuji 吴郡图经续记) states, »Those close to the blocks lost their signage, and the people did not put them back up«. The times markets within the city blocks were open could easily be constrained as the gates to the block were opened and closed at fixed times each day. Business along the city streets, however, was not so limited and could extend its business hours at will. Night markets had been on the gradual rise since the time of Emperor Taizu of the Song. In »Foodstuffs Number 67« in the Song Dynasty Manuscript Compendium Records, it is stated, »By imperial decree of the 13th day of the fourth month of the sixth year of the Qiande reign of Emperor Taizu in the Prefecture of Kaifeng, night markets in the capital shall not be prohibited before the beat of the three drums at midnight.« By the Qingli and Huangyou reigns (1041–1054), and in the middle of Renzong’s reign, this had pervaded to such an extent that »nobody in the streets listens for the watchman’s drum and the role of the patrolmen is redundant.« In the Northern Song Period, morning markets usually started at the fifth watch just before dawn and marked the beginning of the busy day. After the abolition of night markets was lifted, the block system broke down, accelerating the rate of urban commercialization in the capital. This is reflected vividly in Meng Yuanlao’s The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past and Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival. It is stated in volume two of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past that the »streets

CHAPTER I THE BRILLIANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

and alleyways of the Eastern Watchtower … had the liveliest shops,« such as at Panlou Street. »South of the street is a hawk shop which serves only buyers of hawks and falcons, all the other stores are for pearls and silks, or incense and medicine.« There was also Jieshen Alley, »which was the place for trading in gold, silver and silks, the houses were magnificent with wide doors and dense interiors. Each trade was for tens of millions, which shocked all those who heard.« Along the River During the Qingming Festival depicts in detail the riverside street markets within the capital’s Tongjian Gate. In the painting can be seen the ornate entrance and multicolored building of the three-story Sun Family Restaurant, the silk shop which hangs a banner reading Wang Family Silk Fabric Shop, the pharmacy which hangs a banner reading Liu Family Colored Sandalwood Incense, the art mounting shop above which hangs a banner reading Third Uncle Liu’s Fine Painting and Calligraphy Mounting, the food shop with the banner reading Sun’s Mutton Shop, the store which hangs the banner reading Longtime Home of Wang Esquire and the chemist above which hangs a banner reading Zhao Taicheng and Family. The shops stand side by side, running as far as the city, and between them are the stalls of storytellers as well as diviners soliciting business on the street with their banners for »lessons of the gods«, »fortune telling« and »questions answered.« This shows that the capital had become a commercial metropolis of free trade and, in line with this, marketplace recreational activities inevitably thrived.

1. Emergence of the Pleasure Precincts and Their Theaters in the Capital After the commercial economy flourished, many leisure spots for citizens sure enough appeared, that is, commercial entertainment districts which at the time were called pleasure precincts (washe 瓦舍, wazi 瓦子 or wasi 瓦肆). The pleasure precincts were commercial recreation areas in the

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town which transitioned from the temple performance venues of the Tang Dynasty. They covered large areas and incorporated numerous theaters known as goulan (written variously as 勾栏, 勾 阑 or 钩栏) or gousi 构肆. The precincts also had many auxiliary facilities supplying meals and other consumables. Because they were venues for everyday leisure, they were generally welcomed by the city residents, and became a shelter for the performing arts in Song Dynasty civil society. Based on the account in The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, after the Chongqing and Daguan reigns (1102–1110), there were nine famous pleasure precincts in the capital: the New Gate Precinct on the west side out of the Zhuque Gate, the Sang Family Precinct, Middle Precinct and Inner Precinct in the southeast corner of the city, the Zhu Family Bridge Precinct out of the Jiucao Gate, the West Precinct to the west of the Liang Gate, the Baokang Gate Precinct south of the Xiangguo Temple, the Prefectural North Precinct out of the Old Fengqiu Gate, and the Song Gate Outer Precinct. Each of these precincts occupied a large area. The Prefectural West Precinct, for example, stretched for over a mile from the banks of the Bian River in the south to the Liang Gate Main Street, second only in scale to the Inner Precinct.

From this we can learn that the Inner Precinct was larger than the Prefectural West Precinct. A varying number of theaters were set up in the pleasure precincts as venues for a variety of commercial performance. Volume two of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, for example, records that there was a concentration of pleasure precincts in the southeast corner of the imperial city, of which the Sang Family Precinct was to on the south of the street, and close by to the north were the Central Precinct and then the Inner Precinct, which contained over fifty theaters. The largest theaters were the Lotus Canopy and Peony Canopy within the Central Precinct and the Yaksha and Elephant Canopies in the Inner Precinct, which

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could accommodate several thousand people. From the generation of Ding Xianxian, Wang Tuanzi and Zhang Qisheng onwards, people performed here.

The Sang Family Precinct, Central Precinct, and Inner Precinct incorporated over fifty theaters, meaning each precinct averaged seventeen or eighteen theaters. The scale was huge with the largest theater able to admit thousands! Even if we do not accept that one theater could accommodate several thousand people, and we understand this to be the combined capacity of four theaters, the scale is still amazing. Since the theater was a fully enclosed wooden building, it would be required to cover sufficient area to accommodate a thousand people, and the size of a modern theater with a capacity for a thousand people is itself significant (of course, the seats in the theaters of the precincts would not have been as spacious of those in today’s theaters, which means that the size would fall well short of modern theaters). Each theater had its own name, such as the Lotus Canopy, Peony Canopy, Yaksha Canopy and the Elephant Canopy mentioned above. The theaters were structures made from wooden supports which is reflected in the fact that their names all include the word »canopy« (peng 棚). The time of the rise of the pleasure precincts can be inferred from this record. The figure Ding Xianxian mentioned in the record entered the Imperial Office of Music before the ninth year the Xining reign of Emperor Shenzong (1076) where he served as an ambassador. Volume three of Zhu Yu’s Matters Worth Discussing from Pingzhou (Pingzhou ketan 萍洲可 谈) states he »was in the Imperial Office of Music for several decades.« Therefore, his performing in the pleasure precincts should have been before he joined the Imperial Office of Music. Given this, these pleasure precincts had appeared before the Xining reign of the Emperor Shenzong. The theaters in the pleasure precincts brought together various performances which were popular at the time and which were performed every

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6.1.2  Remnant of a stone carving from the Five Dynasty Tower, Shanghai Museum

day in continuous rotation. The large number of »disciples of the terrace« were civilian artists who delivered fixed performances as the commercialized urban conditions developed. They each specialized in different arts. The entry entitled »Arts of the Capital’s Pleasure Precincts« in volume five of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past has a very detailed list of the names and specialties of the main performers in the pleasure precincts of Bianjing since the Chongning and Daguan reigns. The list included a number of actors: the hosts Zhang Tingsou and Meng Zishu; the ditty singers Li Shishi, Xu Poxi, Feng Yinu and Sun Sansi who were sincere in their roles; the piaochang 嘌 唱 singers Zhang Qiqii, Wang Jingnu, Zuo Xiaosi, An Niang and Mao Tuan; Zhang Cuigai and Zhang Cheng who had been removed from the Imperial Office of Music, and their pupils Xue Zida, Xue Zixiao, Qiao Zhier, Yang Zongxi, Zhou Shounu and Cheng Xin, who performed dramas; the rod puppeteer Ren Xiaoxian who performed small sketches each day at the fifth watch of night which you would not get to see if you were late; the string puppeteer Zhang Jinxian and Li Waining, who performed puppetry with smoke; Zhang Zhenmiao, Wen Nuge, and Zhen Geqiang, who

could perform acrobatics such as making one’s neck disappear into one’s navel, and piercing the body with knives. »Body of Eyes« Li Zongyan and Zhang Ge could balance balls and sticks with their feet; Sun Kuan; Sun Shiwu, Zeng Wudang, Gao Shu and Li Xiaoxiang told tales from history; Li Zao, Yang Zhongli, Zhang Shiyi, Xu Ming, Zhao Shiheng and Jia Jiu recounted tales; Wang Yanxi, Gai Zhongbao, Liu Mingguang performed sanyue 散乐 dance; Zhang Zhennu performed spin dancing; the young son of Yang Wangjing wrestled and gave other performances; then there was the knife throwing Dong Shiwu; Zhao Qi, Cao Baoyi, Zhu Po’er, Mo Kuntuo, Feng Sengge, Zu Liujie performed shadow plays; Ding Yi,and Shou Ji also acted out shadow plays; Liu Beiqin played with insects; Kong Sanchuan played with talent in the gongdiao 宫调 ancient music style; Mao Xiang and Huo Bochou told riddles; Wu Baer performed duets; Zhang Shanren told jokes; Liu Qao, Hebeizi, Bo Sui, Hu Niuer, Dayan Wuchongming, Qiao Luotuo’er and Li Dun were in a variety troupe; Sun San told of ghosts; Huo Sijiu told tales of the Three Kingdoms; Yin Chang read from the history of the Five Dynasties; Wen Baniang performed the skill of shouting one’s wares; and others too numerous

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to mention. These artists were all celebrities at the time, and one can imagine there were also a large number of first-rate artists whose names did not appear in this list. The number would have been considerable, which is why when the Jin captured the city walls of Bianjing in the Jinkang reign, they were able to take captive hundreds or thousands of them. The theater performances usually took place during the daytime, with performances running throughout the day. Sometimes the performances started very early; as volume five of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past states, »Every morning at the fifth watch the sketches would begin and if one were late, one would not be able to see it.« The performances continued until dark, or as volume two of the same book states, »spending the whole day here, one would have no sense that twilight had fallen.« The audience of city dwellers gave the theater performances a great welcome and they flourished for a time. Volume five states, »come rain or shine, summer or winter, the audiences came to the theaters every day.« The theater performances in the pleasure precincts attracted not just common citizens but people from all walks of life, including scholars and children of government officials. As volume five of Guo Tuan’s Records of Kuiche (Kuiche zhi 睽车志) states, »The scholars dressed in civilian attire visiting the pleasure precincts in the day to watch the actors.« In volume six of his Later Record of Waving the Duster (Huichen houlu 挥麈后录), Wang Mingqing states, »During the Xining reign, the king and his father had command of Kaifeng … he ordered that his nephew be followed by the monk Xue, as he watched a puppet show in the pleasure precinct.« These records illustrate such scenes. The performances in the pleasure precincts of Bianjing may have been under centralized management. Volume five of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past states, »From the Chongguan reign on, performances in the capital’s pleasure precincts were maintained by Zhang Tingsou and

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Meng Zishu.« Here, »maintained« has the sense of »presided over« or »organized,« so Zhang Tingsou and Meng Zishu may have been the general managers of the capital’s pleasure precincts. Meng Zishu served as a music officer within the court’s Imperial Office of Music; Zhang Tingsou’s identity, however, is not known: it may be that he was also a person within government. It is likely that both men were delegated by the government to manage affairs relating to the pleasure precincts of the capital. Records from the Northern Song Period of pleasure precinct and their theaters are apparently only found in Bianliang, and the only historical record available for research is Meng Yuanlao’s The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past. It may be that the pleasure precincts and their theater were a new thing when they emerged in the capital, and there had not yet been sufficient time for them to spread to other cities. From the middle of Emperor Renzong’s reign in the Song Dynasty to the migration of the dynasty south, the theaters and pleasure precincts were able to remain active for several decades. It can be reasoned that pleasure precincts with theaters should have also been constructed in the cities of the area surrounding the capital. This is because, on the one hand, the position of the capital as the economic and cultural center made it the source of emulation of fashions across the whole country, and on the other hand, archaeological finds also prove that in the later Northern Song, the region at least between the eastern capital and the western capital of Luoyang had become an area for the propagation of drama, and pleasure precincts with theaters may have been constructed in towns and cities within this region.

2. The Subsequent Rise of Pleasure Precincts and Their Theaters in Lin’an Following the Jingkang Incident, the Song court migrated moved south, and large numbers of commoners from the capital and the Central

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Plains also migrated to the south. The script of the Song Dynasty play Feng Yumei Reunited recorded in volume 16 of Capital Editions of Popular Stories (Jingben tongsu xiaoshuo 京本通俗小说), for example, states, »At that time, the commoners in the Eastern Capital region were afraid of the foreign invaders from the north, and followed the chariots to the south.« These migrants included various performers such as the »ditty singer Li Shishi,« a performer from Bianjing’s pleasure precincts who wandered destitute through Zhezhong and Huxiang. Many of those who migrated south gathered in Lin’an, where the Southern Song emperor took up temporary residence. They opened shops modeled on the system in Bianjing; the artists who took up residence in Lin’an also established pleasure precincts with theaters where

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they performed, modeled on those of Bianjing. It can be seen from volume 19 of Records of Lin’an from the Xianchun Reign (Xianchun Lin’an zhi 咸淳 临安志) by the Song Dynasty writer Qian Yueyou that: (1) the pleasure precincts in Lin’an were established by northerners who had migrated south; (2) those who performed there were all recruited from northern performers who had resettled in the south; (3) the pleasure precincts were first established to provide entertainment for the soldiers from the north and later developed into leisure venues in the city; (4) the pleasure precincts beyond the city walls of Lin’an were built by the Office Before the Palace while those within the city walls were built by the Palace Maintenance Office, and these precincts were managed respectively by the two agencies.

6.1.3 Mural of large scale performance, Eastern Wall, Front Chamber, Liao Tomb no. 1, Xiabali Village, Xuanhua, Hebei

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The Southern Song were content to rule over just a part of their former territory, and from Emperor Gaozong onwards, construction began to flourish in Lin’an with construction of the Hall of Enlightenment and the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The Central Plains no longer recoverable, urban construction occurred on a scale larger even than that in Bianjing. Pleasure precincts in Lin’an were established after the Shaoxing reign. In Old Man of West Lake’s Record of Luxuriant Scenery (Fansheng lu 繁胜录) and the Records of Lin’an from the Xianchun Reign, which date to the middle of the Southern Song, there are mention of a total of twenty-five precincts: five within the city walls and 20 beyond the city walls—a number far exceeding that of Bianjing. This shows that performances in the streets of Lin’an were more than those of Bianjing. These 25 precincts were: the Southern Precinct, the Central Precinct, the Great Precinct, the Northern Precinct, the Puqiao Precinct, the Qianhu Gate Precinct, the Theater Gate Precinct, the Jiahui Gate Precinct, the Houchao Gate Precinct, Xiaoyan Gate Precinct, New Gate Precinct, Jianqiao Gate Precinct, Vegetable Market Gate Precinct, Shanmen Precinct, Rice Market Precinct, the Old Precinct, Beiguan Gate Precinct, Yangfang Bridge Precinct, Wangjia Bridge Precinct, Xingchun Bridge Precinct, Chishan Precinct, Longshan Precinct, Bianmen Precinct, Beiguodian Precinct, and the Single Theater Precinct. The theaters in Lin’an were open all year round with no break, as is illustrated by Record of Luxuriant Scenery, which states that the citizens of Lin’an »had not shehuo performances to watch in the cold months of deep winter, but would pass time in the pleasure precincts.« Notes on the Chief Sights of the Capital (Dushi jisheng 都城纪 胜) states the theaters in the pleasure precincts »were places where even the gentry could let their hair down, and they were places where the sons of scholars would linger until broken.« Even the scholar-official class would linger there, as Zhang Duanyi’s Collections for Noble Ears (Guier ji 贵

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耳集) states: »The Central Precinct in Lin’an on Imperial Street was somewhere scholar-officials had to visit, as all the artists of the world were gathered there.« From that time, Lin’an again started to prosper in variety performances similar to those of Bianjing. It became ever prosperous, with all manner of singing and dancing on offer, so that »Hangzhou [in which Lin’an was located] became known as Bianzhou,« until the downfall of the Southern Song. In comparison with the Northern Song, there were more types of performances in the theaters of the Southern Song. Zhou Mi of the late Song Dynasty, in the entry »various performers« in volume six of his Memoirs of Wulin (Wulin jiushi 武林 旧事), records: history through storytelling, piaochang singing, musical roles, clappers, dramas, sketches; singing while playing an instrument; singing opera from the capital, singing in the ancient court style, singsong dancing, breathless singing; joke telling, riddle guessing, archery displays, local accent mimicry, coiled dancing variety performances, supernatural displays, playing the fool, mud cakes, gambling, foot skills, puppetry, balancing on one’s head on a tightrope, refined singing, wrestling, play wrestling, women’s wrestling, baton play, whip cracking, weightlifting, ball clubbing, football skills, archery, vaudeville, playing the talented young scholar, bird songs, harmony singing, sand drawing, taming beasts, taming birds and insects, water play, kite flying, fireworks, recounting tales of medicines, snake catching, the show of the seven sacred blades, disappearing acts and so on. This record is far from complete: volume 20 of Dream of Bianliang (Meng Bianliang 梦汴梁) by the Southern Song writer Wu Zimu, for example, also mentions other genres, such as ditty singing, high-volume shouting, large-scale singing and dancing, shouting one’s wares, musical roles, various handicrafts, puppetry, shadow plays, storytelling, telling religious tales and so on. Wu Zimu divided these genres into the four categories of »courtesan

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music,« »variety performances,« »wrestling« and »storytelling and historical narrative«—which are close to the modern categories of spoken and sung drama, acrobatics, sports, and ballad storytelling. This shows just how broad the range of performances in the theaters was at the time. The content of performances in the theater was not necessarily fixed, and different types of performance were usually presented on rotation. Because of the concentration of spectators in Lin’an, however, some performances would occupy a single theater for a long time. In the Old Man of West Lake’s Record of Luxuriant Scenery, for example, it is recorded that in the Northern Precinct »there were often two theaters with telling of tales and history,« and that the Lotus Canopy »usually showed dramas before the emperor.« There was also the storyteller Little Zhang Silang, »who performed storytelling for his whole life in a single theater in the Northern Precinct, performing not once in another precinct. People called the theater ›Little Zhang Silang’s Theater‹.« This demonstrates just how popular performances were. Over time, surrounding cities and towns came to emulate Lin’an’s pleasure precincts and their theaters. Consequently, after the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty, many cities of what are now Jiangsu and Zhejiang established pleasure precincts. There are historical records, for example, that Mingzhou (Ningbo in Zhejiang Province), Huzhou (Wuxing in Zhejiang Province), and Zhenjiang and Pingjiang (Suzhou in Jiangsu Province) all had pleasure precincts, and that they spread to a wider region.

3. The Establishment of Performance and Creative Organizations Some of the performances in the theaters of the pleasure precincts were by individuals, and others required the establishment of groups. Poetic drama, for example, was a composite art in which many characters would appear in a single performance. In the entry entitled »Music and Dance«

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in volume 20 of Dream of Bianliang, Wu Zimu states, »There would be four or five people in one scene«; therefore, several people would form into a theatrical troupe. It is recorded in the entry on »The Imperial Office of Music in the Time of Emperor Xiaozong,« in volume four of Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin, that there was an organization of »the three classes for poetic drama« within the court; this in fact was a theatrical troupe in which roles were clearly defined. For example, »There were eight in the Liu Jingchang group: the lead Li Quanxian, narrator Wu Xing, the clowns Mao Shangzhong, Hong Liang, and Zhou Tai, the jester Wang Xi, and then the male actor who played female role Sun Zigui. The Gaimen Qingjinxiang group had five people: the lead Sunzigui, narrator Wu Xing, clown Hou Liang, and jester Wang Xi. The Neizhong Diying group of five people: the lead Sun Zigui, narrator Pan Liangxian, clown Liu Gun, and jester Liu Xin. The Pan Liangxian group of five people: the lead Sun Zigui, narrator Guo Mingxian, clown Zhou Tai, and jester Chenggui.« The entry entitled »Music and Dance« in volume 20 of Dream of Bianliang states that the »male lead was the head of the group« in these theatrical troupes, and was responsible for the arrangements of every performance. This was known as »the male lead role serving as the host.« The dynamism of the pleasure precinct theaters in the towns facilitated the great development of all artistic genres which promoted each other while also being in competition with each other. Market norms were gradually established which led to the formation of guilds. The art forms in the pleasure precincts of Lin’an established guilds for themselves. The entry entitled »Society« in volume three of Memoirs of Wulin records the temple fair rituals in the Prince’s Temple in Tongchuan, in Lin’an’s Huoshan, and the names of some of the groups of Lin’an artists who traveled there to perform:

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the poetic drama of the Red and Green Guild; the football skills of the Qiyun Guild; the musical roles performances by the Eyun Guild; the word play of the Tongwen Guild; the wrestling of the Jiaodi Guild; the refined singing of the Qingyin Guild; the archery of the Jinbiao Guild; the embroidery of the Jinti Guild; the club play of the Yinglüe Guild; the storytelling of the Xiongbian Guild; the dramas of the Cuijin Guild; the shadow plays of the Huige Guild; the hair styling of the Jingfa Guild; the rhythmic calls of the Lühua Guild; and the foolery of the Yunji Guild.

These troupes were guild-like organizations similar to the urban commercial guilds, internally regulating the market and externally serving the function of protecting the trade. This is why when performing at temple fairs and other social events they appeared under the name of their guild. That the performing arts of the pleasure precincts could establish their own guilds fully demonstrates the number of practitioners and the frequency of their activities. The Red and Green Guild, which performed poetic drama, was one of the famous drama groups in Lin’an, and other drama groups would often boast of them when bragging of their own skills and fame. In the opening scene in the script of the Southern Song drama Number One Scholar Zhang Xie (Zhang Xie zhuangyuan 张协状元), for example, the jester appears on stage chanting, »The Imperial Office of Music sets the standard, and the Red and Green Guild warrants mention in the same breath.« This was them playing up how superb their skills were, stating that they were comparable with the pedigree of the Imperial Office of Music. Number One Scholar Zhang Xie was produced in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and was also performed in that area. Its mention of the name of a guild in Lin’an shows how far the fame of the Red and Green Guild had spread. The signing of musical roles was signing for a living. The name »Eyun« means »stopping the clouds« and implies that the sound of the singers’ voices was enough to stop the clouds. Chen Yuanjing, in

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volume seven of the Continuation of the Vast Records of the Forest of Matters (Shilin guangji xuji 事林广记续集), records the »Host of the Clouds«, which may be considered a declaration of the art of the role-singing Eyun Guild, which states, »Their rhymes were easy on the ear, their sound in no way vulgar, they stopped the clouds in their tracks. Their harmonies and rhythms were clear, and it was if meeting immortals among the flowers. They would worship in the temples of all the mountains, and often be the champion of competitions, their fame spreading across the four seas.« Other texts also include the name of the drum and clapper Stopping the Clouds Guild, the name of which means that the sound of their music stopped the clouds in their tracks. The drums and clappers, also known as dancing to the drum, refer to a small musical ensemble of drums, flute and clappers. The Imperial Office of Music in the Qiandao and Chunxi reigns (1165–1173) of the Southern Song Dynasty included drums and clappers. Volume four of Memoirs of Wulin, in the entry entitled »The Imperial Office of Music in the Time of Emperor Xiaozong,« states that »the group of the Office Before the Yamen« had »Yin Shicong who played the drums, Zhang Shun on the clappers, and the flautists Zhang Sheng and Zhang Shimeng.« Other guilds, such as the Qingyin Guild, which performed refined singing, the Xiongbian Guild, which told stories, and the Huige Guild, which performed shadow plays, are also worthy of attention. It can be seen from Number One Scholar Zhang Xie that in the Southern Song Period there was already a writing association in Wenzhou which wrote dramas of the south. There was in fact more than one such association between which there was competition, which is why in the opening song of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie it says, »The Jiushan Writing Association is agitated,« and »this writing association wants to take the top position.« The writing associations were commer-

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cial organizations of lower-class literati within the pleasure precinct theaters who came together to write popular literary works. The entry »various performers« in volume six of Memoirs of Wulin includes »Writing association: Li Shuangya, peerless in writing music roles; Li Da the official, debates; Ye Geng, Zhou Zhuchuang, Zhou Erlang from Pingjiang, Jia Ganerlang.« The majority of popular literary works of all genres in the Song Dynasty were the creations of talents in writing associations, or were adapted by them from works which had been produced by the people.

Section 3  The Performing Arts of Different Ethnic Groups and Their Exchanges The intersection of dance and song between the Song, Liao, Western Xia and Jin, and its far spread, occurred because it accompanied war and the great migration of the populace. Crossover and the fusion of music and dance cultures became an indisputable fact. At the same time as they widely absorbed the merits of Han culture and promoted implementation of Han systems, ethnic groups such as the Khitan, Tangut and Jurchen often placed a particular emphasis on music and dance culture, which led to a boom in the music and dance arts of the ethnic groups in the great frontier regions beyond the Central Plains.

1. The Performing Arts of the Liao Dynasty The Khitan people had an outstanding talent for the arts of song and dance. This can be seen from the rich material legacy of the Khitan people. The Liao Dynasty, which was founded by the Khitan, had national music, elegant music, grand music of the court, miscellaneous music, military music and wind instrument music. Since the Liao and Northern Song dynasties had long co-existed in peace, the mutual exchange of music and dance was a natural thing. The music and dance of the

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Liao Dynasty played a positive role in promoting exchange in those fields between different ethnic groups. Development of its own dance also benefited from the active absorption of the music and dance culture of the Han. At the same time, Liao Dynasty music and dance also spread widely across China to far-reaching effect. The chieftains of the Liao State knew how to perform the basic dances of the Khitan people. After establishment of the Liao Dynasty, their own ethnic dances and music became known as the »national music.« The Liao Dynasty also mimicked the Han system, establishing musical institutions at court such as the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Imperial Office of Music, within which were elegant music, grand music of the court, miscellaneous music and so on—which all derived from the Later Jin regime of the Central Plains. Shi Jingtang, the Emperor Gaozu of the Later Jin, relied on the power of the Khitan to be the »emperor son« of the Liao, fawning on the dynasty by helping it to establish its own court music institutions. However, the entry of music and dance from the Central Plains into the court also marked a heyday for ethnic cultural exchange. The entry on »Elegant Music« in the »Treatise on Music« in the History of the Liao (Liaoshi 辽史) states, »In the first year of the Datong reign, as Taizong was to return from Bian, he obtained musical scores, palace hangings, and musical instrument stands from the Jin Court of Imperial Sacrifices which he commissioned his attendants to first return with to the capital.« »The eight-tone device [used in elegant music] was probably that used in the Tang Dynasty of old.« The entry on »Grand Music« states, »Emperor Gaozu of the Jin had Feng Dao and Liu Xu appear at the request of the emperor’s mother and the Taizong emperor; their musical instruments, official performers and imperial carriages all went to the Liao … the grand music of the Liao Dynasty was passed on from the Jin Dynasty.« The entry on »Miscellaneous Music« states, »The legacy sounds of the Han music offices can often

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be heard in the miscellaneous music of today, with its comedians and combinations of song and dance. In the third year of the Tianfu reign in the Jin Dynasty, Liu Xu was sent to return as an official actor. The miscellaneous music of the Liao was continued in this way.« The great banquets of the Liao court copied the etiquette of the Central Plains, while also making use of miscellaneous music for entertainment. The »Treatise on Music« in the History of the Liao records that circumstances of the performance of sanyue in the celebrations in court on the occasion of emperor’s birthday, and the circumstances of the sanyue performance in court to receive the emissary from the Song state, was similar to that of the great court banquets. The order of etiquette in the Liao Dynasty court banquet was very close to that of the Song Dynasty court. While relatively crude, and could not compare with the elaborate nature of the banquets of the Song Dynasty court. Although lacking large-scale dances by young boys, or the girl dance troupes, the rudiments were in place.

2. The Performing Arts of the Western Xia While Western Xia culture maintained its self-reliance as it developed, it was to some degree influenced by the Tang and Song. There are few written records concerning Western Xia music and dance. In the large number of murals in Buddhist grottoes hewn in the Western Xia Period, however, are artistically distinctive images of music and dance artists which are of great value. The ceremonial system established by the Western Xia court was similar to that of the Han ethnic group and to some extent would have mimicked the ceremonial music institutions of the Song Dynasty. Emperor Xizong of the Tang bestowed Tuoba Sigong with a complete set of percussion and wind instruments, from which point the Western Xia had the percussion and wind music of the Tang. Li Yuanhao’s father Li Deming served the Song, and in his small court he established

SECTION 3 THE PERFORMING ARTS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS AND THEIR EXCHANGES

musical scales which relied entirely on the Song system. At the time of Li Renxiao, the Xia State sent music official Li Yuanru to gather the music books of the Han which were consulted for the Xia system into which new scales were added. The Xia court imitated the Han system by establishing various music institutions, such as the Imperial Office of Music and the Institute of Foreign and Han Musicians. The term »Imperial Office of Music« appears in »Imperial Offices 18,« in the Western Xia dictionary of Miscellaneous Chinese Characters (Zazi 杂 字): the Office was in charge of performances at great court banquets and other ceremonial occasions. »Music Section Nine« in the same work also contains terms such as »poetic drama,« »puppetry« and »shadow play,« which demonstrates that the Imperial Office of Music of the Xia State also had performances of poetic drama, puppetry and shadow play similar to that of the Song Dynasty. The musical instruments accompanying these performances comprised at least flutes—the definition of the term »flute« in the Western Xia dictionary, The Sea of Chinese of Writing (Wenhai 文海) is given as »it is played by blowing, and it used within musical performances.« This shows that the flute could be used in both percussion and wind music, and performances of poetic drama. The term »Institute of Foreign and Han Musicians« is found in volume thirteen of Record of the Western Xia (Xixia ji 西夏纪), by Dai Xizhang of the Qing Dynasty. While the nature and responsibilities of the Institute of Foreign and Han Musicians is unknown, it was listed as being the »lowest rank« among the five ranks in the Xia court. Volume 13 of the Record of the Western Xia states, Lowest rank: Engraving Department, Table Making Department, Gold Working Department, Silk Weaving Institute, Institute of Foreign and Han Musicians, Institute of Ritual Vessels, Iron Working Institute, Institute of Carpentry, Paper Making Institute, Institute of Bricks and Tiles, and the Institute for Dispatching Vehicle.

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Given that the Institute of Foreign and Han Musicians was classed with manufacturing organizations, it would on the whole have been a service agency in the court. Its name suggests that was an organization that gathered together Tibetan and Han musicians for when they were required and, given that it stood separate to the Imperial Office of Music, likely mainly performed the folk songs and dances of different ethnic groups. The emperors of the Western Xia liked the music and dance of the Han. It is recorded in »Biographies of the Western Xia« in Wang Cheng’s Concise Account of the Eastern Capital (Dongdu shilüe 东都事略) that »Nangxiao [Li Yuanhao] sent those Chinese who had no arts down to the river to till the fields.« Of the Han he captured, Li Yuanhao sent those who did not have any arts to Hexi (literally »west of the river«) to farm, leaving those who did possess arts behind in his service. These arts naturally included performance skills. The same also states that »In the fourth year of the Yuanfeng reign  … General Li enticed musicians and female dancers and singers for Bingchang [the third emperor of the Western Xia].« Han musicians and female performers were enticed with lucrative rewards to the Western Xia court to provide entertainment to the Xia emperors. According to volume 13 of Record of the Western Xia, Liangzuo, the second emperor of the Western Xia, sent a minister to the Song Dynasty to request official performers, »buying the headgear of musicians« and »buying silks used to decorate the walls« for use as costumes by his own performers. Prose Notes on the River Su, by Song Dynasty writer Sima Guang, also states that Liangzuo sent an emissary to the Song Dynasty to request official performers and artisans, and also purchased theatrical costumes and make-up.

3. The Performing Arts of the Jin Dynasty The valuable impression the Jurchen left on the history of dance in China is that they could both dance and sing. The Jurchen established the re-

CHAPTER I THE BRILLIANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

gime of the Great Jin. As they destroyed the Liao and Northern Song, they worked hard to learn their advanced cultures, on a broad level taking on the elegant court music and banquet entertainment systems of the Liao and Song which created to some extent a pass for the exchange of music and dance culture between the Han and the ethnic minorities of the north. It also retained to a great extent the artistic features of the music and dance of their own people. The Jurchen were originally a nomadic tribe. The Jin Dynasty writer Yu Wenzhao in »Environment and Customs at the Beginning of Prosperity,« in volume 39 of his Treatise on the Great Jin Dynasty (Dajinguo zhi 大金国志), states, »Its music comprised only percussion and wind instruments, and the only song was the Partridge Melody, tones and lengths of the notes simply sounding like the call of a partridge.« In the first month of 1122, the troops led by Aguda, Emperor Taizu of the Jin, overthrew the Liao’s capital, obtaining the four sections of the Imperial Office of Music—whereupon the Jin Dynasty also had music and dance performance institutions similar to those of the Central Plains; the performances, however, incorporated some content from their own people. In the seventh year of the Xuanhe reign (1125) of the Northern Song, for example, the Song envoy Xu Kangzong traveled to the Jin Dynasty to congratulate Wuqimai, Emperor Taizong of the Jin, on his accession to the throne. He recorded the scenes of the performances he saw on his journey, and the banquet entertainment at the reception he was thrown on his arrival, in Record of the Envoys’ Journey to the State of Jin in the Seventh Year of the Xuanhe Reign (Xuanhe jisi fengshi jinguo xingcheng lu 宣和乙巳奉使金国行程录). One instance was his arrival in Xianzhou (Kaiyuan, Liaoning Province) where he watched the banquet entertainment performance of the prefectural government: both the instruments and melodies had been inherited from the Central Plains and passed down from the Khitan; they were, therefore, fun-

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SECTION 3 THE PERFORMING ARTS OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS AND THEIR EXCHANGES

6.1.4 Carved stone figures of Jin dancers on the terrace of the main hall in the Temple of the Two Immortals, Xilimen Village, Gaoping, Shanxi

damentally the same as those of the Song, with there just being slight differences in playing techniques—probably due to an issue in the Jurchen artists grasping or transforming the techniques during their long-term spread. The style of dance, meanwhile, was that of the Jurchen people, with the dancers wearing the everyday apparel of the Jurchens—as opposed to the dancers of the Central Plains, who wore long-sleeved costumes. The dance movements were also ones which the Song envoy had not previously seen and he was, therefore, unable to understand its meter. The pairing of Jurchen dance with the music of the Central Plains demonstrates the difficulty in the transmission of dance. Of course, the music and dance of the Central Plains first transmitted to the Jurchen would have been uniform, but during its longterm transmission, the playing of the musical instruments and the melodies remained unchanged

while transmission of the dances was broken, with the Jurchen only able to replace them with their own dance. Another instance was watching the performances of banquet entertainment at the Jin court. The situation was generally similar to that of Xianzhou: some of the performance had been passed down and some had been altered: »With each performance, there would be tens of people singing aloud and playing wind instruments, the sound surpassing that of ordinary music, being most unique.« A further instance was a formal banquet for the Song envoy, which still differed to that of the Song. In the performances between toasts, poetic drama and variety performances, the costumes were similar to those of the Song Dynasty but a mirrored effect at been added to them. It is not known whether this was an invention of the Khitan or the Jurchen.

CHAPTER II  THE FLOURISHING OF FOLK DANCE Section 1  Overview On the whole, the development of Chinese dance entered a new stage after the Tang Dynasty, while dance of the Five Dynasties, the Song, Liao, Western Xia and the Jin served to connect that of the preceding period with what was to follow. Dance took from the Tang Dynasty and was passed on during Yuan and Ming, enjoying unique status in history and culture, and remaining a constant in trends and great historical transitions. The dance of the Song Dynasty was not as magnificent as that of the Tang Dynasty: it was influenced by the characteristics of the time, and the meticulous thinking of the Song people who paid great attention to artistic inner spirit while unconsciously promoting a new fusion of poetry, song, dance and music through drama. The independent nature of music and dance arts gradually weakened in the Song, a trend which was clearly reflected in the transformation of the music and dance arts of the court. At the beginning of the Northern Song, within an atmosphere of a societal return to tradition, the system of elegant court music was promoted and studied, and apparently flourished for a time; after the Southern Song, however, it was limited only to major events in the courts, having long lost its status and function. The court of the Southern Song even abolished the system of the Imperial Office of Music, and there were very few performances by professional dance companies outside. Popular preference increasingly tended towards artistic performances which made use of narrative, and were closer to their

own lives—such as opera and spoken and sung drama. The most striking elements of Song Dynasty dance within the development in the arts can be summarized as follows: first, besides flourishing in civil society, folk dance also appeared on urban stages and the direction of its development was profoundly influenced by the styles of urban entertainment and the tastes of city dwellers. Second, the music and dance of the court lost the refinement, excellence and precision of the performances of the Tang Dynasty, moving towards large-scale performances in which means of performance were stylized. Third, driven by the two above artistic trends, dance and the operatic arts combined. In subsequent developmental history, dance elements were absorbed on a large scale into the operatic arts, and opera became extremely prevalent and a favorite of the time, consequently weakening the independent status dance had enjoyed. Within the context of the prevalence of dance of the Song Dynasty, music and dance of the southern ethnic minorities and the Liao, Western Xia, and the Jin in the north enjoyed great popularity. They also engaged in close exchange and mutual interaction with Song dance, injecting Song dance with wave after wave of forceful vitality. Most able to demonstrate the historical and cultural status of dance in the Five Dynasties and the two Songs was the development of the art of folk dance. The folk dance of the Han in particular made great progress during the Song Period. The source of almost all of the wide variety of traditional folk dance forms we can see today, from their names to their moves, can be found in the

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SECTION 1 OVERVIEW

6.2.1  One Hundred Children Play in Spring, Southern Song, Su Hanchen (attributed), National Palace Museum, Taipei

Song Dynasty. This point alone shows the huge impact of the music and dance culture of the Song Dynasty. The dance of the capital’s pleasure precincts occupied a special position within the urban culture of the Song Dynasty. It was performed on the stages of the pleasure precincts and their theaters in the capital, entertaining those as lofty as the emperor, the nobles and their families down to the common people, with creative objectives which were both real and imagined, with all kinds of characters and illusions, among an atmosphere of performances of weapon play and fire eating. Integrating different genres to become an important part of Song Dynasty folk dance, it was an opportunity

for the dance of the Song Dynasty to merge with the operatic arts. The rise of urban cultural and recreational life during the Song Dynasty provided the social basis for the survival of Song Dynasty folk dance as well as the support for its actual performances. Within the general atmosphere of a time of urban development in the two capitals of of Bianjing and Lin’an, led by festival customs, and with performance venues in the flourishing commercial districts, a highly distinctive »art of the pleasure precincts of the capital« developed in the two Song dynasties. »Art of the pleasure precincts of the capital« was a general term used in literature of the time to encapsulate the song, dance and vari-

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ety performances commonly seen in the theaters of the pleasure precincts. These arts were specifically divided into numerous categories, of which some related to dance performances. Below are some specific descriptions based on the record in volume seven of Song Dynasty writer Meng Yuanlao’s The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past: (1) Lions and Leopards: a performance which imitated animals. Besides being performed during festivals to heighten the sense of celebration, it was also performed at birthday celebrations for the emperor and his family, officials, the nobility and even the rich. (2) Flag Waving: a performance of dancing with banners, characterized by the combination of body movements with props. (3) Rough Shields: a group dance in battle array. (4) Gong Handling: the dancers struck gongs while dancing a circuit around the venue. (5) Firm Ghosts: a show in which the performers dressed as spirits and ghosts. (6) Dance of Judgment: performers dressed as judges and goblins. (7) Axe Chopping, Breaking the Accounts, Painted Faces and Plank Balancing, and Playing Country Folk: various artistic forms with content and techniques mainly taken form the martial arts. (8) Spin Dancing: originally the dance portion of large-scale performances before becoming a performance in its own right. Overall, dance in the Song Dynasty comprised folk dance with the music and dance of the imperial court. It existed and developed in an environment in which they permeated each other while standing independently. Within the main context of the cultural and recreational life of the capitals of the two Songs, and having the theaters of the pleasure precincts for a main stage, folk dance extended into a broader area, becoming a fresh kind of artistry. Folk dance, musical performance and other artistic skills combined in the pleasure precincts and their theaters to vividly create a new chapter in the cultural and recreational life of Song Dynasty cities.

CHAPTER II THE FLOURISHING OF FOLK DANCE

Song Dynasty dance was inherited from that of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period—a period which, while having few new works and not being comparable with the Tang or Song, should be given attention for its role as a nexus between what came before and what followed. The system, institutions and content of music and dance in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period mainly continued those of the late Tang; their scale and vigor, however, were greatly reduced. Each imperial court established its own ceremonies and music, with many courts establishing a Court of Imperial Sacrifice in charge of the elegant music of the court, and establishing representative elegant dances of court; the standard of performance, however, was not high. Each court also imitated the Tang Dynasty in establishing an Imperial Office of Music which was responsible for the secular music performed at court banquets, or at other times when entertainment was required. A strong Tang Dynasty style can be seen in the expressions of the dancers, their costumes and the musical instruments on the reliefs of musicians and dancers on the stone sarcophagus in the tomb of Wang Jian, emperor of the Former Shu, and in the postures and costumes of the figurines of male and female dancers unearthed from the tombs of Li Bian and Li Jing of the Southern Tang. While the two Songs were constantly hampered by foreign invasion and internal political strive for more than three centuries, during periods of peace, and driven by socio-economic forces, as well as adapting to the cultural needs of society, court music and dance did to some extent still develop. The large-scale group dances of the court and large court musical performances, which were new ways of performing, along with the Song Dynasty itself, underwent the excitement of prosperity and the pain of decay.

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Section 2  Dance of Urban and Rural Dance Troupes If one considers the folk performances in the pleasure precinct theaters to be a point of stability, then the »dance troupes« of the festivals and holidays which were active both in the streets and lanes of Song Dynasty cities and in rural thoroughfares »circulated« the art. Folk dance troupes were teams which came from the villages during festivals, performing as they advanced. In the main, these troupes belonged to designated villages or clans that went to the cities and the capital directly from their villages, onto the big stages to perform a variety of folk-style shows. They even performed on »terraces« specially erected for the emperor, giving their all to receive a cry of praise from the »Son of Heaven.« These folk dance troupes appeared in the Song Dynasty and were active during the period, having their own fixed repertoire and performance programs; they had far-reaching impact on the subsequent advance of Chinese dance and its artistic style.

1.  Names of the Urban and Rural Dance Troupes In the entry »Dance Troupes,« in volume two of Memoirs of Wulin, Song Dynasty writer Zhou Mi records the names of a total of 71 different dance troupes: Daxiao Quanpeng Kuilei, Chachagui, Hefengnian, Tuji, Li Dakou, Changhulian, Chisui, Dahan, Mapozi, Huangjinsing, Kuaihuo Sanniang, Yilianmo, Donggongzui, Hedongzi, Wang Tie’er, Jiabang, Nanü Zhuma, Daxiao Zhuodao Baolao, Zidi Qingyin, Zhuguo Xianbao, Sun Wuzi Jiao Nübing, Siguochao, Feilüshe (Red and Green Guild), Fengruan Jiqin, Huiyangdan, Wepengu, Qiaosanjiao, Qiaoqinshi, Qiaozhoshe, Qiaozhaijuan, Qiaoshiniang, Dixian, Jiaoxiang, Cudan, Kuaihuo Sanlang, Xiapanguan, Shenchengwu,

SECTION 2 DANCE OF URBAN AND RURAL DANCE TROUPES

Mao’er Xianggong, Xidan, Heisui, Jiaoyi, Pingfeng, Nannü Chuge, Jiaogun Baoloa, Nütong Qingyin, Chuanxin Guorugong, Liuguochao, Eyun Guild, Hu’annü, Da Hudie, Huoyao, Jiaochuijia’er, Qiaoyingjiu, Qiaoyueshen, Qiaoxuetang, Qiaoxiangsheng, Duziqiao, Hanhuachuan, Zhuangtai, Cuntianyue, Taqiao, Baoluo Zhuanggui, Shizhailang, Liu Gun, Hualang, Guyue, Puqi (»flag waving«), Shibao Manpai (»Lions and Leopards, and Rough Shields«), Shu Heshang, Sanqianxing, and Da Jiaoxi. Dream of Bianliang, which also records the cultural and recreational activities of Southern Song Hangzhou, also records the names of dance troupes. One example is the entry entitled »Lantern Festival,« in volume one, which records the names of troupes such as Qingyin, Eyun, Diaodao Baolao, Hunü, Liu Gun, Qiaosanjiao, Qiaoyingjiu, Qiaoqinshi, Jiaochuijia’er, Shinü, Chuge, Zhuguochao, Zhuma’er, Cuntianyue, Shengui and Shizhailang. Besides these, there were also Qiaozhaijuan, Hanlongchuan, Tideng Baolao, Tuoxiangshe and so on. The book states that names of dance troupes »could be counted dozen-upon-dozen.« Some of the dance troupes recorded above were troupes which performed folk songs and dances such as Hobby Horse, Dry Land Boat, Village Music and Playing the Monk. There were also others clearly related to the pleasure precincts— and the same names appear in the »art of the capital’s pleasure precincts,« such as Flag Waving and Axe Chopping. This shows the multi-directional, intersecting nature of urban and rural cultural and recreational activities in the Song Dynasty, and a mutual influence of cities and the countryside. Performance forms also naturally infiltrated each other, containing elements from the other. In addition, Song Dynasty dance troupes were originally folk performances; given that they played a role in society for expressing feelings, the variety of the names of troupes is unsurprising.

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CHAPTER II THE FLOURISHING OF FOLK DANCE

6.2.2  Painting of a lantern performance (Part 1), Southern Song, Zhu Yu

Dance troupes of the Song Dynasty were an important recreational event in the year’s festivals and were loved by all classes of people, performing chiefly during the first month of each year. The venues for their performances were the footpaths of the countryside and municipal thoroughfares. In addition to performing in their own villages or giving roving performances between groups of villages, the folk dance troupes most important goal was the perform in the »important« capital, or prefectural towns and cities. The entry »Lantern Festival,« in volume two of Memoirs of Wulin, gives a wonderful description of the venues, atmosphere and characteristics of dance troupe performances: at the end of the year, dancing troupes performed Girls Riding On Shoulders, Percussion and Wind, Coiled Dancing and others at the most important celebrations of the year. They would perform before the gates of the »noble residences« and »homes of the rich and powerful« for their entertainment. The most lively place was the lantern market, and the most prosperous guest houses were also frequented. After New Year’s Day, »Troupes such as the Siguochao, the Puppeteers,

and the Rice Thrashing Songs would increase to almost one hundred.« The fifteenth day of the first month marked the climax of dance troupe performances. »The officials in the capital would ride on sedans, flanked to the front and rear by the many dance troupes which clustered and stretched for more than ten miles, their brocades piled on high as their flutes and drums sounded, a veritable feast for the ears and eyes.« Performances by folk dance troupes were concentrated in the cities and also spread from there in all directions, forming a quite spectacular sight.

2. Repertoires of Song Dynasty Dance Troupes Although the names of many Song Dynasty dance troupe pieces can be found, only a very few were described in detail by the literati, historians or aficionados of the time. The occasional record, therefore, has left later generations with valuable clues.

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SECTION 2 DANCE OF URBAN AND RURAL DANCE TROUPES

6.2.3 Painting of a lantern performance (Part 2), Southern Song, Zhu Yu

1. Village Music This is a commonly seen name for dance troupes, but there are only rare records of specific performances. The poet Fan Chengda’s poem »Playful Verse in Thirty-Two Rhymes Commemorating Seasonal Goods at the Lantern Festival in the Wu Region« (Shangyuan ji Wuzhong jiewu paixieti sanshier yun 上元纪吴中节物俳谐体三十二韵) is valuable for understanding »village music«: Lightly they passed by in song; performing the manic she dance [annotation by the poet: folk drum music is called shehuo, it cannot all be recorded but in the main involved comedy]. The crude straw hats of the village [annotation by the poet: village music]; the clear wind and strings of the urban streets [annotation by the poet: refined urban music].

These lines from the poem and the poet’s own annotations make the nature of the »village music« performances very clear: they were a kind of »social dance« which was manic as well as comical. Just what was the content that won the public’s favor? The poem does not say. But the term »vil-

lage music« continued to be used after the Song Dynasty. The folk-style poem »Yellow Clock: Lyrics to the Tune of Drunk in Blossom Shade« (Huangzhong zuihuayin 黄钟醉花阴) by Ming Dynasty writer Zhu Youdun includes the lines, »Hey, hey, hey, let’s dance together to the village music.« After the Qing Dynasty, »village music« dance continued to spread among the people. The origins of the Rice Sprout Song of Maxin Village, Wangzhu Township in Puyang City, Henan Province are related to »village music.« According to the artist Ma Zhongbo, who began studying the Rice Sprout Song in 1923, his master, Ma Guoming, once told him off the origins of the Rice Sprout Song: during in the reign of the Zhenzong Emperor of the Northern Song, during clashes between the Liao and the Song, the two states signed the Chanyuan Treaty in Chuanyuan (in the southwest of modern P ­ uyang). To celebrate, local people and soldiers took to the streets and danced the »village music«; this was the origin of Puyang’s Rice Sprout Song. Even today, the role of the clown in the Rice Sprout Song of Puyang is known as the

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»Tartar« and wears a northern-style mandarin jacket and a rounded cap. One can also perhaps see from the role of the clown the »comedic« nature at the origins of the »village music.« The continuous integration of new content in the evolution of a dance is common in the history of folk arts. Any dance troupe also had performers who held large umbrellas, known as canopy carriers, and the umbrellas they held were called »imperial silk umbrellas«, hinting at the historical story of the emperor having made the expedition himself. The props of the dancers included double-edged swords, wheels of wind and fire and other weapons, which to some extent also reflected historical influence. 2. Dry Land Dragon Boat Also known as Rowing the Dry Land Boat or Rowing the Boat on Dry Land, Rowing the Dry Land Boat appears in the list of names of dance troupe perfromances in the entry on the »Qingyue Guild« in Record of Luxuriant Scenery, and the entry on the »Lantern Festival« in Dream of Bianliang. In Memoirs of Wulin, it is referred to as Rowing the Boat on Dry Land. This performance is still loved by people today. The »boat« is constructed of strips of bamboo, wood, colored silk or other materials, with a space in the center which the performer attaches to his waist. His legs are concealed by cloth and decorated with patterns of water which hang from below his waist. The dancer steps back and forth, giving the effect of the boat floating upon water. What was the performance of the Dry Land Dragon Boat specifically like in the Song Dynasty? It is not easy to understand the differences between it today and during the Song Dynasty due to a lack of historical materials. Fan Chengda wrote that »The dry land boat from afar appeared to float; the water at close sight was as if real.« He also annotated the lines: »One wore it as one walked on land, and it was used for the fun of racing; it was called ›rowing the dry land boat‹.«

CHAPTER II THE FLOURISHING OF FOLK DANCE

3. Hobby Horses Dream of Bianliang records this. Similarly, volume two of Memoirs of Wulin in the entry under »Dance Troupes« mentions »male and female hobby horses.« Record of Luxuriant Scenery mentions »children’s hobby horses« and »stepping hobby horses« within »Banquet Celebration Dance Troupes«. The »hobby horse« was a relatively common performance by Song Dynasty dance troupes, in which as bamboo pole represented a horse. It was often performed by children, because from ancient times riding hobby horses had been a children’s game, for example as described by Li Bai in his »Poem of Changgan« (Changgan xing 长干行): »When you, my lover, on a bamboo horse, came trotting in circles and throwing green plums.« Poetic drama flourished in the Yuan Dynasty which followed not long after the Song Dynasty. In the drama, Seizing the Spear with a Single Whip (Danbian duoshuo 单鞭夺槊), which describes the story of the Wagang Uprising in the late Sui Dynasty, when heroes Yuchi Gong, Shan Xiongxin and Xu Maogong appear on the stage, the script prompts that they »ride upon a hobby horse.« Such a form of performance can still be seen today. A traditional folk dance called Hobby Horse is popular in the Dancheng region of Henan, in which ten people perform heroes of the Wagang Uprising, such as Xu Maogong, Shan Xiongxin, Qin Qiong, Luo Cheng, Cheng Yaojin, Wang Bodang, Xie Yinzeng, and Lu Mingyue, as well as a »horse leader« in front of the dance troupe, and a flag bearer behind the troupe. Such a performance in which the roles are clearly defined can also be seen in today’s Changping District, in Beijing, which also numbers ten performers. The hobby horses used for performances are mostly made by weaving bamboo strips into a framework which is covered with cloth to form the head and outer surface of body, onto which are drawn the torso, eyes and face. The dancer wears the frame and several performers form a com-

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pany. During the performance, they run about in a variety of formations and patterns, bearing the clear traces or features of agricultural civilization and the arrays of war. 4. The Bao Lao Performance The entry »Dance Troupes« in Memoirs of Wulin contains the terms »Bao Lao chopping with large and small knives« and »tumbling Bao Lao.« Dream of Bianliang mentions the »knife play of Bao Lao« and »Bao Lao balancing lamps with his feet.« In the historical record, Bao Lao is a character who frequently appears alone in Song Dynasty opera and dance troupe performances. What kind of performance was it? Chapter 33 of Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan 水浒传) describes Song Jiang as he watches a shehuo performance: »The one who danced the role of Bao Lao twisted his body like a clumsy yokel, and Song Jiang laughed out loud as he watched.« The term »clumsy yokel« describes dance movements in which the performer of Bao Lao moves about in a clumsy, oafish way. The Song Dynasty dance troupes which included the name »Bao Lao« probably did so with the aim of attracting an audience with comedic characters. »Entertainment at the Snack Stalls on the Birthday of the Lizong Emperor,« in volume one of Memoirs of Wulin, records that there was a performance of Puppet-Dance Bao Lao after the thirteenth cup of wine. In his »Poem of Puppets« (Kuilei shi 傀儡诗), Song Dynasty writer Yang Daren also described a performance with puppets: »Bao Lao laughed at Guo Lang at the banquet; laughing because his dancing sleeves were not up to standard. It was like teaching Bao Lao how to perform the banquet dance; how to perform the long-sleeved dance.« In the poem, comparison is drawn between Bao Lao and Guo Lang. Guo Lang himself was a singer and dancer drawn from Tang Dynasty comedies. He was bald, and liked to laugh. »Puppets,« in Miscellaneous Notes on Songs from the Music Bureau (Yuefu zalu 乐府杂录), records that Guo Lang

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»was always at the head of the comedians in any show,« demonstrating how popular the character was. The comparison drawn between Bao Lao and Guo Lang is specifically recorded in records of puppet shows which to some extent can illustrate the comedic nature of the »Bao Lao« performance. In addition, the puppet performances used long sleeves, which may have been a characteristic of »Bao Lao« performances. The Bao Lao of the dance troupes also appears to have had his own »skills,« perhaps involving knife play. The Bao Lao of different dance troupes also reflected different local cultural backgrounds. Record of Luxuriant Scenery has the names »Bao Lao of Fujian« and »Bao Lao of Chuan«: When celebrating the Lantern Festival, each needed to have several fires, and there would be perhaps over one thousand people … The Qingyue Guild [original interlinear notes: there were several guilds, which each guild numbering no less than one hundred people), and the Fujian Bao Lao Guild numbered more than three hundred people; the Chuan Bao Lao Guild also had more than one hundred people.

That there could be so many Bao Laos was perhaps because he was absorbed by so many dance troupes and into so many dances—finally becoming many stylized performances. Because the role of Bao Lao was common in dance troupes, and the character’s actions and formations stylized, even the Bao Lao Pickup Dance was listed in the famous Song Dynasty Dance Notes of the Deshou Palace (Deshougong wupu 德寿宫舞谱). 5. The Groom of the Ten Studios Also known as The Groom of the Dancing Studio. In comparison with Bao Lao, the fate of The Groom of the Ten Studios was more ridiculous. The title of Groom of the Studio (zhailang 斋郎) was originally an official in the Tang and Song periods who was in charge of the sites of official sacrifices, and the full title was based on the particular side for which he was responsible, such as

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Groom of the Studio of the Ancestral Temple or Groom of the Studio for the Winter and Summer Sacrifices. From the Song Dynasty onwards, what had originally been a very sacred task became one that could be bought, and many who had gained office through bribery were incompetent—therefore, people satirized them in song and dance. In volume five of Record of Things Heard and Seen from Four Dynasties (Sichao wenjian lu 四朝闻 见录), Song Dynasty writer Ye Shaowen states, »(Zhao) Shize once mimicked the bark of a dog in the village of Nanyuan, and there was also The Groom of the Dancing Studio that made fun of Han Tuowei, with four people.« This shows that The Groom of the Dancing Studio was a comedic show which could be performed by one person or with a lineup of several. It is not known if the number »ten« The Groom of the Ten Studios refers to ten people or if there were ten studios. 6. Rice Thrashing Song As the name suggests, this was a dance troupe performance closely related to physical labor. It mainly imitated the action of using thrashing rice with pestle and mortar. The dance would perform to a similar musical accompaniment to that of the rhythmic sound made as pestle hits the mortar. In »Lantern Festival,« in volume one of Dream of Bianliang, there is mention of the »lady’s rice thrashing song«; volume two of Memoirs of Wulin mentions »male and female rice thrashing song« in the entry on »Dance troupes,« and »female rice thrashing song« appears on a list in Record of Luxuriant Scenery. The form of the performance probably drew greatly from actions used in real life. 7. Riding on Shoulders Dance Troupes This was relatively rare in the Northern Song but had become a well-known dance troupe performance in the streets of Lin’an in the Southern Song. »Lantern Festival« in volume two of Memoirs of Wulin states, »Driving back to the capital in the first month of winter last year, there were

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already tens of dance troupes with girls riding on shoulders, percussion and wind instruments with coiled dancers for the entertainment of the noble residences and homes of the rich and powerful.« The so-called »riding on shoulders« was where a girl stood atop the shoulders of an adult, waving her arms in dance. The entry »Courtesan Music,« in volume 20 of Dream of Bianliang states, »In the streets were troupes of three or five musicians, and one or two girl children would be held aloft to spin in dance.« Song Dynasty writer Wu Wenying, in his poem »Spring in the Jade Pavilion: Dancing Ladies of the Capital« (Yulou chun jingshi wunü 玉楼春京市舞女), writes, »The furry raccoon hats masked their plum-colored foreheads; The golden lace as thin as a cicada is cut into a tapered blouse of the northern style. Riding upon the shoulders, they vie to catch sight of the small waist; Weary, they follow the strength of the drums and the pipes … With graceful pose and moves in time with the rhythm.« The last few words of the poem, »in time with the rhythm,« can throw some light on the particular style of the »riding on shoulders« performance: there was a strong rhythm and the beauty of the movements was found in the balance of tilting and moving. There were many other names of Song Dynasty dances that are very similar to the names of performances in the pleasure precincts. Rough Shields was once popular in Bianliang (modern Kaifeng) of the Northern Song. In the West Gate area of Kaifeng, »shield dancing« (originally called »vine shield dancing«), which was the direct origin of the »rough shields« of the Song Dynasty, still circulates today. The performers are mainly based on »arrays« with three, six or ten people: they break from the array to spar, and their martial arts surpass those of others.

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Section 3  Ritual Dance and Dance for Entertainment If the pleasure precinct arts in the capitals and the city and rural dance troupes at the new year festivals of the two Songs created a unique style of folkdance in the Song, the cities (including the capitals) and the wider area at different times of the year were also a place where folk singing and dancing were able to develop. The folk arts in the capitals can alternatively be considered as constituting the most concentrated and prosperous stage for cultural and artistic life in the whole of Song-dynasty society.

1. Ritual Music and Dance 1. The Nuo Ritual Foremost of the ceremonial folk music and dance activities of the Han would be the nuo 诺 exorcism ritual at the end of each year. The entry »New Year’s Eve« in volume ten of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past records: On the last day of the year, the great nuo ritual was held in the forbidden palace. Officers from within the imperial city were used: imperial bodyguards wore masks, colorful embroidered and painted clothing, and held golden spears and dragon pennants. The burly emissaries of Meng Jingchu, of the Imperial Office of Music, passed by deputies who were dressed as generals in copper armor plated in gold. Two generals, also in armor, protected the hall dressed as door gods. On the south river of the Imperial Office of Music the burning coals were ugly and loomed on high. There were those dressed as judges, and others dressed as Zhong Kui, young girls, the land spirit, the kitchen god and so on. In total there were more than one thousand people. The evil spirits were driven from the forbidden palace, exiting through Nanxun Gate out to the Dragon Bend, where they stopped; this was called »burying the evil spirits.«

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The »great nuo ritual« in which more than a thousand people participated must have been a spectacular sight. The entry »New Year’s Eve« in volume six of Dream of Bianliang states, »The great nuo exorcism ritual was held on New Year’s Eve in the forbidden palace, and bodyguards of the imperial city wore masks and colorful clothes which were embroidered and painted. They held golden spears, silver halberds, painted wooden swords, five-colored dragon and phoenix pennants, and five-colored banners. The professional performers of the Imperial Music Academy dressed as generals, tally officials, judges, Zhong Kui, the six ding [‌丁] and six jia [‌甲] gods, spiritual soldiers, the ghost envoys of the five directions, the kitchen god, the god of land, the door god, the spiritual lieutenant and other gods. The drums and wind instruments were sounded in the forbidden palace, and the evil spirits were driven out of the Donghua Gate, taking a turn at the Dragon Pool Creek where they dissipated in what was known as »burying the evil spirits.«

The circumstances of the nuo ritual described here are somewhat different to the nuo ritual of the Northern Song. New characters were added to those who participated in the ceremony, with those dressed as generals being the »professional performers of the Imperial Office of Music« rather than the »burly« envoys of that office. The entry »New Year’s Eve« in volume three of Memoirs of Wulin also records the same ceremony, but the generals were no longer the main characters— rather, the girls. From the Northern Song to the Southern Song, the tradition of the nuo ritual had been inherited from pre-Qin times, and the importance attached to the ritual only increased with time. This can be proven by the exquisite manufacture and expense of the masks used in the ritual. In volume one of his Notes from an Old Study Shed, the Southern Song writer Lu You states, »In the great nuo ritual in the Zhenghe reign, masks would be brought in from the Gui government. They would be compared on

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arrival, and this was known as ›a set‹. At first there was little of surprise, but one set cost eight hundred gold coins. Old and young, beautiful and ugly, not one was alike. This was a great surprise.« This records the exquisite nature of the masks used in the nuo ritual in the Guilin region in the Southern Song. One mask set cost eight hundred gold coins, showing the fine division of characters. There is a record of the nuo ritual in Guilin in the Song Period in the entry »Classification of Musical Instruments,« in Zhou Qufei’s Substituted ­Replies from Beyond the Passes (Lingwai daida 岭外代答): From the Chengping reign, the nuo ritual in Guilin was renowned in the capital, and it was known as the ›nuo ritual of the armies of Jingjiang‹. In the country lanes too, the ordinary people had their own nuo rituals. Their bodies would be adorned in decorations, and they would move back and forth uttering words—it was very impressive. In one’s field of vision, the prefecture army looked superior. Extending this logic, the people of Gui were adept at making dramatic masks, a good one fetching ten thousand copper coins, which were valued by other districts. Thus, one can know the truth.

The richness and variety of the masks was naturally to meet the needs of the performances. This shows that by the Song Dynasty, the nuo ritual had indeed undergone large changes, increasing the entertainment elements. Adding more entertainment to the ritual dances of this ceremony increased its aesthetic function, a common trend in Song Dynasty folk activities. 2. Burying Evil Spirits In addition to nuo ritual, there was a similar ritual for expelling spirits in the Song Dynasty known as »burying evil spirits,« the term appearing in the historical sources cited above. »Burying the evil spirits« is in fact »jumping the oven king,« an activity which took place in the twelfth month of the year. People would invite Buddhist priests and Daoist monks to »read the scriptures,« and

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they would burn »paper money for the blessing of the family,« build snow lions if it was snowing, and decorate with snow lamps. In »The Twelfth Month« in volume ten of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, Meng Yuanlao states: three or more poor people would form a group and dress as female spirits and ghosts. They would sound their gongs and beat their drums as they went door to door begging for money. This was commonly known as ›causing a commotion at night‹ It was also a way of driving out evil spirits.‹ Such activities occurred particularly on the twentyfourth day of the twelfth month, that this day known as the »Little New Year.«

3. Ordinary Ritual Dances With entertainment growing more secular after the Tang, song and dance were commonplace in Song Dynasty society—yet respect for and fear of spirits and ghosts in song and dance performances remained real. Inhabitants of the Shu region in the Song Dynasty used song and dance when holding rituals for ghosts and spirits, the sages or the ancestors. Volume 23 of Categorized Garden of Historical Fact (Songchao shishi leiyuan 宋朝事 实类苑) records how the population of Western Chuan would associate each year to make rites to Erlang, in which they would express their respect by »clashing drums and blowing flutes.« Respect was paid not only to the divinities of legend, homage was also paid to those who had been benevolent to the people. Volume two of the Collected Works of Zong Ze (Zong Ze ji 宗泽集) contains a similar record of folk rites, stating that in Bazhou, people held rites for »General Yan,« »singing and dancing in a ceremony to him through the years.«

2. Music and Dance for Entertainment 1. The Rite of Spring, and Music and Dance at Spring Outings Historical materials from the Song Dynasty document many ritual activities on various festivals.

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Picture of the Great Nuo Ritual, in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing, is a picture of a folk shehuo dance troupe in the Song Dynasty. It depicts a scene of celebration among the common people to mark the »festive day of the first day of spring,« which had been passed down from ancient times to the Song. This painting is extremely vivid: twelve dancers, each dressed differently and performing different roles, variously have a dustpan on a head, and a water ladle or a pot brush tucked into their waists. Some hold clapper boards while others hold large plantain leaf fans, others still carry bamboo yu 渔 drums and bamboo clappers, and others carry small narrow-waisted drums and hold wooden hammers with which to strike them. The headdresses or costumes of these dancers are decorated with butterflies, flowers, pine branches and moths, giving a simply marvelous image. Of course, the most magnificent of the song and dance entertainment in the spring was that at the spring outings of the imperial family, officials, and the families of nobles. In the Southern Song, these outings were known as »spring exploration.« Each year, ordinary people would gather on the banks of the West Lake to listen from afar to the »sounds of songs of joy, flutes and drums,« while viewing close-at-hand the »brocade coats and flower hats« and the »gorgeous refinement.« They would jostle each other in the crowd, sharing the joy of spring; it was such a grand occasion that there was almost no space to plant one’s feet. At that time, people found song and dance artists called »water fairies« particularly striking. In »A Joyful Trip to West Lake,« in volume three of Memoirs of Wulin, Zhou Mi writes: In the Chunxi reign, the long-lived emperor cultivated himself across the land. Whenever he made offers to the three halls of Deshou, he would tour the West Lake in the great imperial dragon boat. The prime minister and government officials would respond to the various bureaus by bestowing them with jewelry and appeasing the

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government of the capital with the same; each would board the great boat, there easily being over one hundred on board […] The singers and dancers dazzled in their makeup so much that they were called »water fairies« by the hosts.

This description is of the court after it became content to rule just part of the land, and it is a portrayal in which comfort is sought in the sound of song and dance during this »long-term peace.« 2. The Waist Drum Dance Dancing with drums is a major category in the development of Chinese dance, within which are many factions which themselves have numerous branches. They are many different shapes and structures to drums, and the dance methods are also numerous. This has created a unique landscape for the drum culture of China. The drum dances of the Song Dynasty continued to develop on the basis of previous dynasties; those for which there is evidence include the ya 砑 drum, the waist drum and the taiping 太平 drum. Fragments concerning the waist drum dance can be found in the poetry of the Song Dynasty. The waist drum is a musical instrument which is long and round in shape with a narrow waist, and is struck on both ends; it is used in a dance performance known as the waist drum dance. Volume 127 of The Book of Music by Song Dynasty writer Chen Yang states: The stick drum and the waist drum were used in the Han and Wei. The large ones were made of tile while the small ones were made of wood. All drums of this type have a broad head and a slender waist. This is what Xiao Sihua of the state of Song in the Southern Dynasties referred to as the narrow-waisted drum … later generations called this the stick drum or hand-beaten drum, and it was also known as the drum of the Wei.

Besides narrow-waisted drums, another type which had a strong connection to dance was a waist drum which had a thick waist and was tubular in shape. The dancers would hang the drum

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6.2.4 Picture of the Great Nuo Ritual, Song, Unsigned, Palace Museum, Beijing

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at their waist, striking it with both hands as they danced. In the poem Do not Ascend the Pavilion (Modenglou 莫登楼), Mei Shengyu praised the waist drum performance: »The sound of the drum on the pavilion was endless; one hundred faces with red arms as they strike the waist drums. First they play the liuyao dance and then that entitles Liangzhou; the small narrow ways through the curtained canopy are so enchanting.« In his poem Treasuring Flowers (Xihua 惜花), Su Shi wrote, »The Daoist priest persuaded me to come to the Pure Brightness Festival; the one hundred faces with their waist drums were like thunder in spring.« Common features of the waist drum performances described in these poems are: first, the large number of performers—with »one hundred« indicating how numerous they were. Second, the scale of the performance was considerable and movements were large; the description of the sound of the drums being like thunder is an exaggeration but does demonstrate the impression created in the mind of the audience. Third, waist drum performances had a clear style as demonstrated by the term »enchanting,« which is somewhat unexpected. Is this a description a certain vivid aspect of the waist drum dance performance? Fourth, the poems lay bare the time of the waist drum performance as the Pure Brightness Festival, which is probably related to the customs of ritual activity. Fifth, there was a close association between the waist drum and the melodies Liuyao and Liangzhou which had been popular since the Sui and Tang dynasties. The waist drum may have accompanied these melodies or may have been the dominant instrument in it. 3. Interrupted Beating (the Taiping Drum) In the streets in and outside of the capital in the Chongning and Daguan reigns (1102–1110) of Emperor Huizong of the Song, a form of singing involving drums, flutes and clappers was popular. It was known as »interrupted beating« or »the taip-

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ing drum.« In chapter one of Loose Records from the Studio of Possible Change (Nenggaizhai manlu 能改斋漫录), Song Dynasty writer Wu Ceng wrote, »Since the reign periods of Chongning and Daguan, drums, flutes and clappers were performed in the inner and outer streets, known as ›interrupted beating‹  … the common people did not later abandon performances of drums and clappers but did change the name to ›Taiping drum‹.« This demonstrates that »interrupted beating« was already popular in the Northern Song. During the Zhenghe reign (1111–1118), this performance was expressly prohibited by officialdom for being too risqué. However, as has occurred many times in Chinese history, a performing art or recreational activity which had won the favor of the people could not be banned. 4. The Ya Drum The ya drum is written in Chinese in a number of ways, and is also called the »ya drum performance« or »dancing the ya drum.« The number of alternative names can in itself demonstrate its popularity and diverse development. In the Song Period there was a belief that Wang Zichun created the ya drum, and it was believed that it was a necessity of war or military life. There is a drum dance which has spread in the areas of Pingding, Yuxian and Xiyang in today’s Shanxi Province, and the areas of Linzahng and Cixian in Hebei, which the locals call the ya drum, and which is said to have been passed down from the Song Dynasty. That which is dominated by the spoken and sung word was called the »civil« ya drum, while that which is based around the arrangement of arrays was called the »military« ya drum—the latter performed by twenty-one artists with sets of gongs and drums. The ya drum was mainly performed in mass entertainment events. Remnant Affairs of the Xuanhe Reign (Dasong xuanhe yishi 大宋宣和遗事) records that »ya drums played through the night« in the twelfth month before the Lantern Festival.

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Volume eight of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, in the entry »Birthday of Erlang in the Shenbao Temple on the 24th Day of the Sixth Month,« records that »ya drums, and shields and clubs, were performed on the terrace.« The performances in these two historical records are of new year festivities and celebratory activities for the birthday of the Erlang deity respectively. While their purposes were different, the close connection between the ya drum and folk shehuo is clear. Many records state that the ya drum was a dance performed in public squares at festivals. Dancers dressed as different characters accompanied in their dance by the sound of gongs and drums. As volume 139 of Classified Discussions of Master Zhu (Zhuzi yulei 朱子语类) states, »The dance of the ya drum was thus: there were men and women, Buddhist monks and Daoist priests, and all kinds of characters. None was missing, but they were all false.« Zhu Xi drew an analogy with the ya drum in his satire of falsity. This does, however, show that dressing as different male and female characters was a key feature of the ya drum performance. Besides the drums above, which were performance props, the Song also had »flower drums« and »beaten drums« played by Buddhist monks and Daoist priests. The details of the nature and content of these performances, however, are not known.

Section 4  The Independent Development of Ethnic Dance in the South The Old Man of West Lake recorded in the Record of Luxuriant Scenery that there was a skilled dancer of »foreign music« called Zhang Yuxi in the pleasure precincts of Lin’an. From that time, the »dancing to foreign music« became part of the repertoire in the dance history of ancient China. In the vast lands of China, each ethnic group has its own history of dance, among which some eth-

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nic dances had to some certain extent become fully formed performances with fixed repertoires. They provide us today with precious examples to understand the long history and rich diversity of Chinese dance with.

1. Folk Song and Dance of the Yao, Miao and Other Ethnicities In the Song Dynasty, descendants of the ancient Baiyue became protagonists in the history of the areas that are Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei. In Collected Tales of the Barbarians of the Southwest (Ximan congxiao 溪蛮丛笑), Zhu Fu stated that there were five ethnic minorities in what was known as the Xidong area in the south: »the Miao, Yao, Liao, Tong, and Mulao.« The Liao were the ancestors of today’s Gelao ethnic group. These ethnicities, along with those of the Dong, Shui, Jing and Maonan, contributed greatly to the progress of the economy and culture of southern China. Various ethnic dances also developed correspondingly. 1. The Water Song Large numbers of Miao and Yao people inhabited the Jinghu South Circuit (modern Hunan and Hubei), Guangnan West Circuit (modern Guangxi) and Guangnan East Circuit (modern Guangdong) in the Song Dynasty; one of their famous dances was the »water song.« »Biographies of the Southwest Tribes« in the History of the Song Dynasty states, In the first year of the Zhidao reign, their king Long Hanyao sent his emissary Long Guangjin to the Song court with several people of the southwestern ethnic groups from Zangke as tribute […] the emperor ordered them to perform the songs and dances of their own countries; one person blew the reed pipe piaosheng, which made the sound of a gnat and lasted a long time, while tens of others danced gracefully with linked sleeves, marking the rhythm with their feet. When enquiry was made about the song, it was told to be the »water song.«

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Accompanied by a reed pipe instrument, the water song of the Miao was performed by a large number of people, probably with arms linked, and with forceful foot movements known as »foot stamping« to match the rhythm. 2. The Stepping Yao Popular among the Yao people in the Song Dynasty was a dance called the »stepping yao« 瑶 (yao also written as 傜 or 摇). In volume ten of Substituted Replies from Beyond the Passes (Lingwai dai’an 岭外代答), Zhou Qufei wrote, »A ceremony was held on the first day of the tenth month each year in Dong for the Great King Dubei, in which unmarried men and women would meet in front of the temple. The men and women would select those they liked and dance with looped arms. This was called the ›stepping yao‹.« In volume 328 of General Study of Literary Remains, Ma Duanlin cited Fan Chengda’s Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian of the Cinnamon Sea (Guihai yuheng zhi 桂海虞衡志): On the first day of the tenth month, everybody would gather for the ceremony in honor of the Great King Dubei; men and women would stand in parallel lines and dance arm in arm. This was called »stepping yao.« The intention was to find a partner, and the men would squeak as they leaped into the crowd of women. They would carry the one they liked away on their back and the pair would become husband and wife.

The stepping yao was a dance in which young men and women selected the partner they liked; the climax of this activity was the man »escaping« with the woman he liked carried on his back, at which they became husband and wife. Behind this custom we can see the legacy of the original institution of marriage in the social life of the Yao, that is, the »marriage by capture« of primitive society. Of course, they only retained some external expressions of the »marriage by capture« system. Therefore, the social connotation of the stepping yao went beyond that of a simple dance perfor-

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mance, and had wider social and cultural functions. 3. The Long Drum Dance The »long drum dance« of the Yao is a folk dance with a long history. The Record of Those Who Passed over the Mountain (Guoshan bang 过山榜) which was passed down over generations in the Yao, records a legend in with Panhu, forefather of the Yao, aided the emperor Gaoxin Shi in a military campaign to root out disloyal factions. He was given three princesses for his contribution and was ennobled as King Pan. Once, when King Pan was hunting in the mountains, he was butted off a cliff by a goat and died beside a degong tree (in the language of the Yao, degong is the name for the Paulownia tree). Overcome with grief on hearing this news, the princesses commanded their children to cut down the degong tree, turning it into a drum eight feet in length and six smaller drums thirteen feet in length which were covered in goat skin and were used for percussion when singing rites to King Pan. While this legend cannot be taken as a rigorous historical source which demonstrates the exact origins of the long drum dance of the Yao, it is very clear that such drum dances do have a long history and that they are connected to the ancestor and totemic worship of the Yao. This belief can be corroborated by a legend in Text of the Record of those who Passed over the Mountain among the Twelve Families of the Yao (Shi’erxing Yaoren guoshan bang wen 十二 姓瑶人过山榜), which dates to the second year of the Shaoxing reign in the Southern Song (1132): »(King Pan) entered the mountain on a hunting trip, and was butted to death by a goat. He fell over the cliff and came to rest by a jujube tree. Day after day his children and grandchildren searched for his body which they found and buried in the Seven Treasure Cave in the south.« Another text from the fifth month of the second year of the Shaoxing reign, the Text of the Record of those who Passed over the Mountain of the Yao

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People (Yaoren guoshan bang wen 瑶人过山榜 文), also makes a clear reference to long-waisted wooden drums: Before the Hall of the Song of Heaven, the king would dress in a long robe with big sleeves, with a long-waisted wooden drum, and a spotted coat with red color, and there were zithers, and wind instruments and singing […] his children and grandchildren would link arms, and sing and dance, making earth-shattering merriment for three days and three nights.

The Yao, in the historical records of the Ming and Qing, as well as the Yao of today, have retained the customs of the »long drum dance« and »fulfilling one’s promise to King Pan.« 4. The Stepping Song The »stepping song« of the Yao in the Song Dynasty was completely different to the song and dance of the Han. Zhu Fu recorded their customs in Collected Tales of the Barbarians of the Southwest as follows: »At a death, groups would gather to sing and dance. The dance was generally performed with linked hands as feet stamped the ground to mark the rhythm; the family of the deceased would provide cattle and much wine for participants. This was known as the stepping song.« The »stepping song« was used in a funeral ceremony to express remembrance of a deceased relative; more importantly was perhaps the awe expressed to the ghosts and spirits in a request for them to protect the deceased. In volume four of Notes from an Old Study Shed, Lu You also describes the stepping song performed by the »barbarians« in the prefectures of Chen (modern Yuanling, in Hubei), Yuan, (modern Zhijiang, in Hubei) and Jing (modern Jingzhou, in Hunan) at celebrations outside the farming season. »It was a song and dance that was joyous in nature: drunk, they would get together and dance the stepping song. During gaps in the farming season, one or two hundred people would gather together, holding hands to sing; several people

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playing reed pipe instruments would lead them from the front.« The prefectural governments recorded above were important areas inhabited by ethnic groups such as the Yao and Miao, in the Song Dynasty. The form of the stepping song was favored by many ethnicities, and had broad geographical distribution. In Notes on Calligraphy from the Xuanhe Reign (Xuanhe shupu 宣和书谱), Cai Liang recorded that »In the customs of the south, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the women link hands to performing the stepping song, whirling under the shadow of the moon in most grand gathering.« The stepping song of that time was richly poetic, being a »grand gathering« because of the »whirling under the shadow of the moon.« This was apt, as there surely should be a distinctive flavor at the heart of the wonderful Mid-Autumn Festival. It shows that the stepping song could both be performed at funeral ceremonies and at general festivities to maximize joy; at the same time, it shows that the stepping song was also liked by the Han population. 5. Shovel Dancing There are numerous examples of instruments of labor being used as dance props in ancient times. In Collected Tales of the Barbarians of the Southwest, Zhu Fu recorded a dance of labor of the Yao ethnic group which was called »shovel dancing.« The shovel is a spade-like tool made of wood. It is difficult today to investigate how this long-handled wooden shovel would have been used in dance, and the features of the movements it would have given. However, the ethnic minority groups of Wuxi 五溪 in the Song Dynasty did use the shovel as a prop, swinging it as they leaped, having imbibed alcohol. It is not difficult to imagine the intensity of the feeling.

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6.2.5 Picture of the Stepping Song (section), Southern Song, Ma Yuan, Palace Museum, Beijing

6. Skipping and Touching the Chicken Collected Tales of the Barbarians of the Southwest records another dance, known as »skipping and touching the chicken.« While dancing, highly skilled artists would throw a knife into the air, catching it in their hands as it fell back down. This must have been a performance within the dance. The Annals of Dongji County (Dongji xianzhi 峒谿 县志) of the Qing Dynasty attributes this dance to the Miao of Guizhou. 7. Dance of the Reed Pipe The Yao and Miao of the Song Dynasty had a »reed pipe dance« which was a popular form of dance which both served to encourage affection between young men and women, and more importantly played an irreplaceable role in major celebrations. In volume 41 of Exhaustive Overview of All Parts of the Empire (Fangyu shenglan 方舆胜览), Zhu Mu recorded that when Fan Chengda was commander in Guilin,

Each year he would order the Yao people to a banquet to celebrate in advance the birthday of the emperor; in addition to those of the county fortresses, several thousand people from the prefectural court would sit along the sides of the hall … they would play the paosheng reed instrument which sounded like a swarm of mosquitoes; more than ten would link arms and dance by spinning, stamping their feet on the ground to mark the rhythm.

This is an example of the Yao celebrating the birthday of the emperor with dance. Several thousand onlookers would have made for a very spectacular scene. The dance was characterized by »playing the paosheng,« »linking arms and dancing by spinning« and »stamping on the ground to mark the rhythm.« The dances of the Yao and Miao described above all have a strong sense of life. Many of their dances appear to share common features. First, performances of both the water song and the stepping

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yao involved stamping the feet and had a strong sense of rhythm. Second, the dances often included movement in which the body was bent at the waist, which is why words such as »in unity« and »whirling« are used to describe them. Such forms of movement can still be clearly seen in the reed pipe instrument dances of the Yao and Miao today. Third, the dancers would call out and respond to each other, phrases such as »competing calls« or »shouting out chants« convey the warm atmosphere of such songs and dances. The majority of dances in the southern regions of China are connected to mountain songs; song and dance is considered equally important, so singing and dancing is often accompanied by cries or chanting in response, and the majority are folk songs for specific ethnic groups. Fourth, the basic vehicle for dance performances was group dancing in which dancers often linked arms in dance, with several tens or even one or two hundred people dancing together. Fifth, the musical instruments used in the dances were quite unique: many, for example used the reed pipe instrument which at a deep level influenced the postures of the dances and the formation of the rhythms.

2. Zhuang Folk Dances Before the Tang Dynasty, the Zhuang of the Baiyue had not yet formed into a clear and independent ethnic group. From the Song Dynasty, however, the Zhuang did gradually develop into one of the relatively strong branches of the »foreign tribes« of the southwest. In the five ethnic groups recorded in Collected Tales of the Barbarians of the Southwest, what are today’s Zhuang ethnic group were referred to as the »Tong.« As there are few records about the dances of the Zhuang in the Song Dynasty, these records are very precious. 1. The Copper Drum Dance The »copper drum dance« in the ethnic groups of the southwest has the purpose of sustaining faith, and for the worship of the deities. As such,

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it is very common. In his poem »To the Melody of Bodhisattva Barbarian« (Pusa man 菩萨蛮), Five Dynasty poet Sun Guangxuan wrote, »The cotton flowers shine, among a small temple; within the sounds of the passing birds comes the light of the spring dawn. The copper drum excites the songs of the barbarian; the people of the south pray to win more.« In volume two of Notes from an Old Study Shed, Lu You records: When I was in Xuanfusi, there were the copper drums of the southwestern tribes, all made of fine copper which was very thin yet firm. The textual engravings on them were also very fine. When beaten, they resounded like normal drums and did not have the sound of copper […] this drum is still used by the southern barbarians today in warfare and rituals.

The copper drum dance remains today an important dance style in the lives of the southwestern ethnic groups such as the Zhuang, Miao, Yi and Wa. It has been passed down from generation to generation in the villages of Datong and Sihe, in Donglan Township, Guangxi, and mainly expresses celebration for a bumper harvest and an invocation for a rich harvest in the year to come. In performance, two each of the »male« and »female« copper drums are hung off stage and a leather drum placed center stage. Four people beat the copper drum, one person beats the leather drum, and two people accompany with dance. The drummers beat the drums while dancing, and one of the accompanying dancers holds a rice sieve while the other carries a bamboo clapper. They dance to the dense sound of the majestic drums, which comes to an end in a sense of jubilance. Historically, the copper drum of Donglan Township has enjoyed some renown. According to a recent study of historical artifacts, over five hundred copper drums are in this township. Of these, 121 are in villages. The scale of the scene at festivals each year in which the copper drum dance is performed is unconceivable unless one sees it for oneself.

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2. The Rice Pounding Trough In the first volume of Record of the Unusual Beyond the Passes (Lingbiao luyi 岭表录异), Tang Dynasty writer Liu Xun states: In Guangnan are rice pounding troughs, which are whole pieces of timber into which groove are cut. Around ten parallel grooves are made on either side. Men and women stand inside and pound the rice grain. As the side of the trough is hit and knocked all over, it resounds like a drum; the sound can be heard for several miles. While one may wonder whether the women had the skills to strike the »autumn anvil,« none was much brighter than this sound.

The »rice huller dance« popular among the Zhuang in Guangxi today is very similar to this dance. The rice huller is a wooden mortar used to hull the rice. In ancient times, »the rice huller dance« was known as the »pounding trough.« This dance was performed on the first day of the first month of each year, and the dancers would use long pestles and thrashers used to hull rice as their props. The striking of the pestle against the wooden mortar and the clash of pestle against pestle simulated the process of hulling rice. One of the most fascinating aspects of this dance is the waving of the hands up and down as the knees tremble and the upper body swings from left to right in a primitive and simplistic style. During the dance, the props make a pleasing sound. As Song Dynasty writer Zhou Qufei recorded in volume seven of Substituted Replies from Beyond the Passes: When the people of Jingjiang obtain millet, they remove the kernel and the ear of the grain which they keep. This is known as cleaning the grain. There are large wooden troughs in the corners of the room from which the millet was taken when ready to be eaten. The sound is like that of the wooden fish-shaped knockers used in Buddhist temples. The women accompany with musical sounds as they apply the pestle at will, this is known as the ›pounding trough‹. Every day at sunrise and the period after noon when the sun is

SECTION 4 THE INDEPENDENT DEVELOPMENT OF ETHNIC DANCE IN THE SOUTH

in the west, the sound of the pounding trough can be heard everywhere.

This gives a most wonderful description in which the pestle is applied »at will« to form a very special kind of »musical sound.« This shows that the »pounding trough« had become a truly artistic activity in the Tang and Song periods. The materials also point to the sex of the performers: they were laboring women. The intrinsic reason that this dance has been transmitted for a long time is that it draws from physical work and expresses their aspirations. 3. Nongla »Nongla« means »sounding the gong.« It is a folkdance found among the Zhuang in Maba Village, Ande Town, Jingxi County in Guangxi. Its content is closely related to the Nongla Festival of the Zhuang. The Nongla Festival is held in the first lunar month each year, with objects for the ritual being the coarse »blood vine« (a type of vine which is a thick a wrist) from the mountains, and other ceremonial objects donated by each household. An elder in the village who enjoys authority presides over the ceremony, which is in homage to the ancestors. People strike gongs as they dance, circling around the blood vine, to commemorate how the ancestors overcame obstacles, and the achievements they made. All performers of the nongla dance are men from the village; four men form a group and they take turns to dance to show that they have not forgotten their ancestors. After the dance, they will hold a tug-of-war contest with the blood vine. Young men and women can take this opportunity to find a romantic match, and the merry-making often lasts through the night.

3. Li Folk Dances The Li, who have their origins in the ancient Baiyue, mostly live in modern Hainan Province. They have their own language, which belongs to the Li

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language branch of the Zhuang-Dong group of the Sino-Tibetan phylum. It is recorded in literature of the Song Dynasty that the Li were good singers and dancers. In »Foreign Countries, Part One« in volume two of Substituted Replies from Beyond the Passes, Zhou Qufei states that »When the Li join country fairs, at nightfall they may sound the cow horn to call their people back.« »Four, Foreign Tribes, Part Eight« in volume 331 of General Study of the Literary Remains cites the Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian of the Cinnamon Sea (Guihai yuheng zhi 桂海虞衡 志) in stating that the Li people would »also beat drums, sing and dance when they congregated.« The »country fairs« of the southern ethnic groups were places where they exchange goods. These were also where social contact and emotional connections increased, particularly for young men and women. Besides going to the market, seeking joy in gathering together was also natural. When-

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ever there was a gathering, it stood to reason there would be an exchange of song and dance. The Song Dynasty continued the prefectural and county administrative setup of the Tang Dynasty in Hainan; all the Li who fell under this administration were known as the »familiar Li,« while those outside of it were called the »unfamiliar Li.« »Lingnan Circuit, Thirteen,« in Imperial Geography from the Taiping Reign (Taiping huanyu ji 太平 寰宇记) records that the »unfamiliar Li« of Qiongzhou (Hainan) had their own recreational life and would »make music by striking drums and blowing reed instruments.« The »drums« in this record should refer to copper drums. Hainan already had copper drums by the Song Dynasty, as can be confirmed by place names in Hainan; the entry entitled »Qiongzhou« in volume 43 of Exhaustive Overview of all Parts of the Empire states, »Copper Drum Ridge: in Wenchang County, custom has it that the people obtained copper drums which were the zheng bells of Zhuge Liang.«

CHAPTER III  A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE Court dance of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties falls fundamentally into »elegant music« (yayue 雅乐) and »banquet entertainment« (yanyue 宴乐), also known as »secular music« (suyue 俗乐). Elegant music (and dance) was used in important events such as the emperor’s rituals, prayers to the forefathers, praying for rain and good fortune, and conferment of titles by the emperor or empress. It inherited from and imitated the institutional forms of preceding dynasties, and did not intrinsically offer anything fundamentally new. While banquet entertainment (including dance) was not as brilliant as it had been in the Tang Dynasty, it did remain active and was relatively artistically accomplished in the court of the Song Dynasty.

Section 1  Song Court Dance The court music and dance of the Song Dynasty can generally be divided into elegant music and

banquet entertainment. Dance occupied a very important position within court banquet entertainment, mainly manifested in the two veins of the »court banquet entertainment grand suite« (gongting yanyue daqu 宫廷宴乐大曲) and the »court banquet entertainment team dance« (gongting yanyue duiwu 宫廷宴乐队舞). Team dancing shared a close relationship with grand suites (daqu 大曲), with team dances using grand suite music as the accompanying melody: all grand suites were dance music, and its performance was always to accompany dance; however, not all dances within grand suites were team dances.

1. Court Banquet Music, Dance Performances and the Grand Suite The banquet entertainment of the Song court was similar in nature to that of the Tang Dynasty, and included some highly ritualized music and dance which can be termed »elegant music for banquets«; it also included song and dance which were entertainment, as well as instrumental music, »miscellaneous music« (»sanyue« 散乐),

6.3.1 Five Dynasties, Gu Hongzhong, The Night Entertainment of Han Xizai (section of the scene in which Wang Wushan dances), Palace Museum, Beijing

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poetic dramas, variety performances and »cloud music« (»yunshaoyue« 云韶乐). The main content and types of court banquet music can be seen in »Music 17« in the History of the Song Dynasty (Songshi 宋史), in which the order of performances during great banquets included the Tartar pipe, song, variety performances, speeches, grand suites, the pipa, teams of children, poetic dramas, the sheng reedpipe, cuju football, the zheng zither, a team of female pupils, tunes on percussion and wind instruments, and wrestling. The music, dance and variety performances during the whole banquet were rich in both nature and content. There were, naturally, some performances of song, dance and instrumental music in banquet entertainment which could not be included. The main dance performance forms within banquet entertainment were grand suite performances and team dances. The grand suite was an impressive form of performance among the court music of the Song Dynasty. According to the records of »Music 17« in the History of the Song Dynasty, the Imperial Office of Music in the early Song Dynasty had performances of eighteen tunes and forty grand suites. Song Dynasty grand suites continued that of the Tang Dynasty, maintaining its basic feature of equal importance being laid on the integrity of sets and singing, dancing and music. In form, it was more refined, with richer changes made to each part. In volume five of Brush Talks from Dream Brook (Mengxi bitan 梦溪笔谈), for example, Shen Kuo states that grand pieces (dabian 大遍) also contained grand suites of several dozen types, such as »overtures, preludes, songs, sa [‌㽂] musical compositions, sui [‌ 嗺] resolution, the whistle, the urge, the stamp, the roll, the breakdown, the line, the middle tune, and the stamping song, with each resolution comprising several which overlap.« Not only did the grand suite of the Song Dynasty comprise many pieces, many of the names of the parts above were not seen in the Tang Dynasty. In volume three of Random Jottings from Biji (Biji manzhi 碧鸡漫志), Wang Zhuo states:

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

[E]ach grand suite had a scattered overture, a sa [‌靸] composition, arranged sections, the stamp, the stamp proper, the entry into the breakdown, the hollow urge, the substantial urge, the rolling section, the rhythmic halt, the extreme roll (in one version the substantial urge is followed by the roll, rhythm, sections, rest and extreme roll), which first came together as a tune which was known as the great section.

The complexity of the above names perhaps gives us a rough glimpse into how Song Dynasty grand suites each overlapped in their pieces which tended to be more refined, and that people still paid attention and favored the grand suite. Because a full performance of a grand suite had considerable requirements in terms of materials, actors and musicians, the Song Dynasty continued the development of the mid- and late Tang Dynasty practice of »selecting pieces« which were »cut down to size,« adapting them to the time and place, and picking some parts of the grand suite, which would be several tens of pieces in length, to perform. From the mid- and late Tang Dynasty onwards, this was the preferred method, and in the Northern Song it became yet more prevalent; therefore, in volume five of Brush Talks from Dream Brook, Shen Kuo writes, »The grand suites are all cut down to size nowadays, none of them using the larger pieces.« The longest existing lyrics to a grand suite are Dong Ying’s Daodiao baomei (‌道 调薄媚), which tells the tale of the King of Yue, Gou Jian, and Xi She. The beginning piece starts with »piece eight,« followed by »piece nine« and »piece ten,« and then »first, entry into the breakdown,« »second, the hollow urge,« »third, the roll and section,« »fourth, the urge and rhythm«, »fifth, the rolling section« and ending with »seventh, the sudden role.« The scattered overture through to the seventh sequential piece of the grand suite were cut, with only the ten pieces from the »eighth sequential piece« to the »sudden roll« being used. Additionally, sometimes song, dance and music were separated, leaving only the grand

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suite or part of the grand suite performed as an instrumental ensemble or a song. The dance forms of the grand suite in the Song Dynasty were also richly diverse. In volume 185 of the Book of Music, by Chen Yang of the Northern Song, in the entry »Final Section on Female Musicians« (»Nüyue xia« 女乐下), it is stated that the official performers often danced grand suites in which a single performer would enter alone, performing just with hands and sleeves as they stamped their feet to mark the meter. Wonderful performers would twirl as if turned by the wind, but would not turn overly fast. There was no dancing during the slow repeat before the grand suite, and then at the entry into the breakdown, the striped drum, great drum, and stringed and reed instruments would play together, with each bar increasing in speed. When the dancers entered, their appearance was based on the meter and so had different poses for the urgent rhythm and the rhythmic halt, giving them a hundred different poses with a simple change of angle.

The grand suite mentioned here is a solo dance which undoubtedly demanded a high artistic standard from the performer. The grand suite did, however, also include duo performances—in which the performers danced while singing as, for example, recorded in the »Sword Dance« (Jianqi wu 剑器舞) in Southern-Song Shi Hao’s Random Records from the Zhenyin of Maofeng (Maofeng zhenyin manlu 鄮峰真隐漫录). Others were performed collectively by multiple dancers, like the elegant grand suite of the court. In addition, the names of many team dances by children or female pupils at the great banquets share names with those of grand suites, and the performers of team dances would number several tens or even hundred. The grand suite Lotus Plucking (Cailian 采 莲) recorded in Random Records from the Zhenyin of Maofeng was performed by five female dancers, one of whom, known as »the flower heart,« led the dance, while the four performers danced as a group.

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There were two consequences to the »sequential piece« performances of grand suites: first, selected pieces gradually grew independent as they developed; second, the rarely-performed parts of grand suites were gradually lost. The selected pieces of grand suites which were performed were often the most beautiful and moving parts; for example, the climax of a dance would be the fast-paced dance after the »entry into the breakdown piece« (rupo 入破), which was part of the grand suite with »busy sounds,« or the section known as the decadent »sounds of the states of Zheng and Wei«—in fact, this was the section rich in artistic charm and with multiple changes and a fast pace. These parts became increasingly independent, thus refining the performances of grand suites and raising the artistic level. Some independent performances became popular in the Song Dynasty after selection of the rupo, and it even became a specialized genre known as the »breakdown tune« (qupo 曲破) which was performed in parallel to other art forms. »Music 17,« in the History of the Song Dynasty, records that Emperor Taizong of the Song »had a clear knowledge of the rules of music« and in total personally composed three hundred and ninety »grand and small suites, as well as recomposing tunes based on old ones,« including 29 breakdown tunes and fifteen »pipa solo breakdown tunes.« »Selected pieces« were not only replete with artistic charm, the indefinite number of pieces readily allowed the flexibility of the addition of new content or the direct addition of dance narratives; this in turn enabled them to adapt relatively easily to the fondness of the imperial court and the urban population for narrative performances. This was also an important factor in the rapid development and gradual independence of »selected pieces.« The independent development of performance of »selected pieces« also accelerated the gradual fading into oblivion of the less frequently selected sections of grand suites. Shen Kuo of the Northern Song, for example, stated that the Dance of Cudra-

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nia Branches (Zhezhi wu 柘枝舞) was originally comprised of numerous movements but »these movements no longer exist.« He took the Dance of Cudrania Branches of Kou Zhun’s family to illustrate that Kou Zhun was very fond of this dance, and that their home had many female Cudrania branch dancers who would dance to welcome guests—the dance lasting the whole day. In Shen Kuo’s time there was an old nun who had been a cudrania branch dancer in Kou Zhun’s family, who said that in Kou Zhun’s time there were tens of movements to the Cudrania Branches, but that only two or three tenths of the Cudrania Branches of that time could still be danced. While Shen Kuo and Kou Zhun lived just a generation apart, the rarely-performed parts of the Cudrania Branches had been quickly forgotten. Fortunately, the old nun could still sign the tunes, so the music of the grand suite could be passed to those who were interested. Another important direction in the development of the Song Dynasty grand suite was its gradual integration with new art forms such as opera and spoken and sung drama, making a positive contribution to the conception and growth of opera.

2. Examples of Grand Suite Performances Southern Song Metropolitan Graduate Shi Hao, in the lists of names of »grand suites« in volumes 45 and 46 of Random Records from the Zhenyin of Maofeng, recorded some of the lyrics to Lotus Plucking: Lyric of Longevity Realm (Cailian: Shouxiang ci 采莲·寿乡词) as well as details to the sequence, recitation, lyrics and positioning of the six musical dances Lotus Plucking Dance (Cailian wu 采莲舞), Dance of Extreme Clarity (Taiqing wu 太清舞), Dance of Cudrania Branches, Flower Dance (Hua wu 花舞), Sword Dance (Jian wu 剑舞) and the Dance of the Fisherman (Yufu wu 渔父舞). These works are all representative of the performed repertoire of the Southern-Song grand suite. Shi Hao provided detailed descriptions not unlike the scripts used in stage performances

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

today, which are of great value and from which we can learn many details relating to the grand suite in the Song Dynasty. It would appear that a considerable part of Song Dynasty grand suites preserved the comprehensive performance form of music, dance and song. 1. The Lotus Plucking Tune There were a total of six performers. In addition to »the flower heart« who led the dance and the four group dancers, there was also a »bamboo pole boy« (also known as the army member, canjun 参军, because it was mostly undertaken by artists who performed the role of army members), who appeared to command and dispatch by calling the performers on stage and dismissing them from the stage, as well as reciting speeches. Several others served as the »back line« (houhang 后行) which was the accompanying group of musicians. There were a variety of dance formations. Initially, dancers stood »in opposite lines of five people,« standing in row ready to enter the stage. Once on stage, they would »divide into the five directions«— which maybe denoted a plum-shaped formation of one dancer each at north, east, south and west, and central position. After this, they would either »turn into one straight line« (dancing in one row) or »separate into the five directions«; the flower heart and bamboo pole boy would make recitations to each other, after which »the Lotus Plucking Breakdown Tune would be played,« the five dancers would dance together, two dancers would dance a duo, and the flower heart would perform a solo dance. Following from this, Free-Spirited Fisherman (Yujia ao 渔家傲) would be played; the flower heart would dance while plucking a flower as she sang, the singing and dancing combined, and the five dancers would switch positions as the flower heart stood still to recite a poem. The five dancers would change positions three times in all, and the flower heart would either recite or sing Free-Spirited Fisherman before returning to her original position. They would then all sing Spring

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of the Painted Hall (Huatang chun 画堂春), with the group of musicians playing the same tune, before they also sang Tale of the River (Hechuan 河 传) together, with the musicians playing the same tune until the end of the group dance. The bamboo pole boy would then read the closing words as the performers left the stage to the sound of the instrumental Double-Headed Lotus Tune (Shuangtoulian ling 双头莲令), which marked the end of the whole performance. This dance used various songs, such as Lotus Plucking Breakdown Tune, Free-Spirited Fisherman, Spring of the Painted Hall and Tale of the River; the dancing included group dances, pair dancing and solos which were alternated, while the formations and positions of the dancers included horizontal rows, vertical rows, five positions and mutual switching; in addition, there were an interlacing of dance, recital, repartee, singing together, solo singing, and instrumental music. The form of the grand suite as a whole was varied, with a richly layered structure, and the group dancing clearly sets out the concept of the »five positions« which demonstrates the level of choreography of the Song Dynasty. Much attention was placed on collaboration between the flower heart and the four roles, which shows that the Lotus Plucking Dance achieved a high artistic standard. In the dance, the dancers dressed as goddesses, and there were no specific plots or particular characters—which is close to the pure music and dance of Tang Dynasty grand suite. There was, however, the addition of essential roles and patterns in performances, such as the bamboo pole boy, dialogue, and words of greeting. 2. The Dance of Cudrania Branches Originally, the Dance of Cudrania Branches was a famous dance of the Tang Dynasty which originated in Talas (in modern Zhambyl, Kazakhstan), which was under the jurisdiction of the Anxi Protectorate. It was a popular dance in cen-

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tral Asia. The Dance of Cudrania Branches of the Tang Dynasty was mostly performed as a female solo dance and was occasionally performed as a dance for two. The dancers who specialized in the Dance of Cudrania Branches in the Tang Dynasty were known as »cudrania branch dancers.« In the Song Dynasty, this dance developed into a largescale court team dance, with performers being called onto the stage and dismissed from it three times, after which would follow a song and dance team performance in praise of ten celebrated flowers, before finally ending with a chorus. In form, the Dance of Cudrania Branches remained one in which poems were sung or recited in interaction with song and dance. The structure was of »single songs« in which the team were called onto the stage three times and dismissed three times during the performance (probably to enable changes in the props the performers held, or costume changes). It is recorded in the Treatise on Music in History, of the Song Dynasty, that a team of children also had a Cudrania Branch Team Dance (Zhezhi duiwu 柘枝队舞), which was probably much simpler in routine. 3. Dance of the Fisherman In terms of artistic structure, Dance of the Fisherman also had a form relatively typical for teams. Unlike other dances, however, the performance included a specific character: a fisherman. An additional four dancers also participated, whose function was to give the performance a simple plot, and to express emotion through song and dance. The poetry and tunes of Dance of the Fisherman had an orderly structure, with the former being recited and the latter sung. The turns of phrase were mostly in the plain tone of civil society as can be seen, for example, in the words used by the fisherman to call the performers on stage: »In the City of Mao, there is Penglai Island. If not an immortal, how is one to get there?« The words and movements in the performance had an excitement to them.

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One example is that after the fisherman recites a seven-character verse, »they sing Free-Spirited Fisherman together, and take up oars with which they make rowing movements.« Singing and dancing at the same time, »gold weighing ten thousand bushels, making one lose sense of up and down; the lightness of the boat is no hindrance for the pair of flying oars. The light penetrates azure clouds for hundreds of thousands of feet; it truly warrants appreciation, as if people were going back and forth in a mirror.« The entire dance was thus repeated over and over. While the passage of time had long taken away the gracefully flowing dance postures, the dynamics expressed in these words enable us to conceive of their beauty. 4. The Flower Dance The Flower Dance was a performance in which only two people recited poetry, and sung and danced. Initially, the two performers would stand facing each other at opposite ends of the stage and »read their call onto the stage,« that is, the performers themselves read the words of the bamboo pole boy calling them on stage. The group of musicians played the Three Terraces as the two performers began to dance and took a vase of flowers which they placed facing their guests. They then read the »Poem of the Peony« (Mudanhua shi 牡丹花诗). And they then sang and dances The Butterfly Misses the Flower (Die nian hua 蝶 恋花) while maidservants extolled the guests to drink. Once this finished, the group of musicians again performed the Three Terraces, and there was dancing predominantly comprised of twirling movements. Next, »The Poem of Daphne« was recited and The Butterfly Misses the Flower was sung. This sequence would be repeated ten more times, with songs of praise given to eleven types of flower. Following this, the two dancers would sing the duet The Three Terraces of Plucking Flowers (Zhehua santai 折花三台) and perform the Dance of the Three Terraces (Santai wu 三台舞). At the end, the dancers read their own poems to dismiss

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

themselves off stage and the whole performance would come to a close. The performance of the Flower Dance was comprised of one poem each for the calling onto stage and dismissal from stage, eleven songs and dances for presenting flowers, and two duets with dance—placing the entire piece among small-scale performances. 5. The Sword Dance One of the most striking developments in Song Dynasty grand suite was the absorption of dramatic elements like plot and characters from artistic performances such as song and dance dramas and poetic dramas from the Sui and Tang dynasties which added greatly to the function of narrative and acting through music, dance and song. This development further accelerated the close integration of the arts of song and dance with drama. The dramatic arts rich in Chinese characteristics that would later flourish were born out of, and nurtured in, this close integration of drama with music and dance. The Sword (Jianqi 剑器), recorded in Random Records from the Zhenyin of Maofeng, was a work which combined both drama and grand suite to present simple plots and characters. Since the dancers take to the stage from the very beginning of the performance, the whole dance would have been the »breakdown« section of the grand suite. A total of seven people participated in the performance of The Sword. The bamboo pole boy was responsible for calling the performers on stage and dismissing performers from the stage as well as recitation. First, two dancers in Han Dynasty apparel would take to the stage, one dressed as Xiang Zhuang and one as Xiang Bo. Two others, also in Han apparel, would sit opposite each other drinking; these would have been Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. In the latter section are a man and a woman, both dressed in Tang apparel; the man was the famous cursive grass script calligraphist Zhang Xu, while the woman was the dancer Lady Gongsun. In addition, there was a »music sec-

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tion« of several people who would accompany with music and song. Through a combination of song and dance with recitation, they performed two stories from history. The first story was that of the Feast at Hongmen, when the states of Chu and Han were at war with each other. Xiang Zhuang performed a sword dance with an eye on the Duke of Pei (Liu Bang) while Xiang Bo would protect Liu Bang with his body in the pretext of joining in the merry-making with dance. The other story is that of Lady Gongsun of the Tang Dynasty, who was skilled in sword dancing. The virtuosity of her agile skills, and the »elegant turns« in majestic momentum triggered inspiration in the cursive grass script calligraphist Zhang Xu, enabling a great advance in his calligraph skills that made his style bolder and more self-assured. The two stories, and associated characters, would occur several centuries apart. The connection of the sword dance which tied to two together into a single grand suite performance demonstrates the ingenuity of the its creator. It can perhaps be said that in the history of dance, this mystical sword pierced the barrier of two different ages to create a wonderful effect. While the performance was a very simple drama, and it had not yet separated itself from the nature of song and dance drama, it cannot be denied that the narrative, acting (including costumes) and stage props in the grand suites of the Song Dynasty were a great advance in comparison with the song and dance dramas of the Tang Dynasty. 6. Other Grand Suite Performances Poetry of the Song Dynasty also often makes mention of grand suite performances such as those of Liangzhou and Green Waist. Ouyang Xiu’s »Magnolia Flower with Words Reduced« includes the chant, »Twisting and turning at the entry breakdown in Liangzhou.« The music of Liangzhou had the distinctive style of the Western Regions; the descriptions of »twisting and turning,« »dance of the sleeve« and the »Chu-style waist« portray to

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some extent the dynamics of such dances. After watching the Liangzhou dance, Zhao Changqing wrote apoem to the tune of the Water Dragon’s Chant (Shuilong yin 水龙吟), in which anote to the title states, »Seated in the riverside tower, the actress looks on in anticipation; the coil-haired beauty urging one to drink, with drinking songs, she plays tunes on the pipa and dances the Liangzhou as one utteres drunken words to her.« In the song and dance performance of Liangzhou, the pipa was first played and then dance performed. Poets have likened the dance steps to »lotus steps« (lianbu 莲步), which describe a state of walking over waves; this was probably a dance step characterized by lightness and elegance, which is why poets described it with the word »shifting.« The Green Waist (Lüyao 绿腰) is another example. One famous painting by Gu Hongzhong, the painter of the Five Dynasties, is The Night Entertainment of Han Xizai, which depicts a scene in which the dancer Wang Wushan performs a routine simple form of the Six One (Liu yao 六幺) for her mistress and guests. The poem »Spring in the Jade Pavilion,« by Ouyang Xiu, contains a line which expresses his fondness for this dance: »The cup is deep and the glass does not feel slippery, I long to see the Six One of the eighteen flowers.« Sleeve dancing appears to have been particularly important in the Green Waist dance, something proven by the lines of Chen Yunping’s poem, »The Free-Spirited Fisherman«: »In the Six One the sleeves are rolled to show the bowing; And the greengages are plucked secretly as one is urged to drink to intoxication.« The grand suites of the Song Dynasty court had their own unique artistic features. First, they retained the feature of song and dance being equally important. Within the traditional structure, Song Dynasty grand suites also made use of »selected pieces.« This was particularly the case after the »entry breakdown«: because the pace of the music tended to be fast and varied, it gained favor. The Sword Dance, Warble of the Spring Ori-

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ole, Wild Buddha, Remembering the Meritorious Service in the Borders and Dance of Rainbow Skirts were all famous works of the »breakdown tune« type. Second, Song Dynasty grand suites were used both in the court and in ordinary banquets, both of which placed more attention on the format of the lyrics. Ci 词 lyric poetry of the Song Dynasty, which become a peak in the history of Chinese literature, is inseparable from the development of sound poems in grand suite dances. The flexibility and close attention in Southern Opera grand suites to artistic styles, structure, the number of performance sections, and the matching of people, was identical to the development of sound poems, or the overall literary development in the Song Dynasty. Finally, dance and drama tended to integrate in the grand suite, which was a historically significant change in direction for the grand suite art of the Song Dynasty.

3. Other Court Banquet Music and Dance Performances In the court banquet entertainment of the Song Dynasty, in addition to the grand suite songs and music, and team dances, there were also other dance performances, for example the music of the Department of Cloud Music, which was originally placed under Yellow Gate (court) music. This music was played at the court during the Lantern Festival, Double Third Festival, and for water lantern entertainment at the Dragon Boat Festival. The music played were the thirteen grand suites such as Ten Thousand Years of Happiness (Wannian huan 万年欢) in the zhonglü key, Zhonghe Music (Zhonghe yue 中和乐) in the Yellow Bell key, and the Putian Offerings to Longevity (Putian xianshou 普天献寿) in the nanlü key. Among these grand suites were some not seen among those of the Imperial Office of Music or those composed by the Emperor Taizong. »Music 17« of History of the Song Dynasty states that in addition to the use of musical instruments such as the pipa, the sheng reed pipe instrument, the Tartar pipe, flute and

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the fangxiang percussive instrument, the poetic drama also made use of puppets; there is no clear record of whether there was also dance. It can be speculated, however, that since the grand suite of the time generally still combined song, dance and music this type of grand suite would also have included dance performance. The entry »Government Officials, Princes, Members of the Imperial Clan and Officials of All Ranks Enter the Inner Palace for the Emperor’s Birthday« in volume nine of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital records that at court birthday celebrations, besides the teams of children and female pupils, there were many other types of dance including roles from poetic dramas which, after the performers were all dressed in costume, would descend from the palace to the music pavilions where they would stand tall: »when the dancers entered, they stood in a row with their arms folder, raising both shoulders, and moving their feet in time with the meter. They danced in unison, and this was called ›rubbing the tune‹.« Another example is the first round of toasting in which the performer standing while beating the meter sang the Middle Tune (Zhongqiang 中腔), followed by the reed pipe and vertical flute playing as an ensemble before all the instruments played together. When all the officials drank, Three Terraces was performed, mainly by Lei Zhongqing. Other musicians and dancers, would wear headdresses and wide sleeves. Lei Zhongqing alone had an official position and so was dressed in the zhanguo 展裹 robes. The Tune Breakdown was performed with a stamp in the first section. The dancer entered up to the rhythmic halt, and then another dancer entered to dance several meters together. The former would retreat and the latter would dance alone until the end of the suite, this was known as ›the end of the dance‹.« Lei Zongqing was an ambassador of the Imperial Office of Music who also participated in the dance. What followed was two dancers who performed solos, between which they danced a duet.

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6.3.2 Southern Song, unsigned, Processional Paraphernalia of the Jade Carriage, Liaoning Provincial Museum

There was no significant development in the court banquet entertainment of the Southern Song, for which there are only sporadic records. One example is volume ten of Rustic Talks from the East of Qi, which states that in the early Southern Song court, Lady Ju of the Xianshao Institute was a consummate dancer known as the »head of the Ju section«; her performance of the Liangzhou Dance (Liangzhou wu 梁州舞) was second to none. Volume seven of Memoirs of Wulin records that in the fifth month of the third year of the Chunxi reign (1176), Ambassador of the Imperial Office of Music Shen Zhengde presented the newly composed Tune of My Majesty Rising Dragon (Wansui xinglong qu 万岁兴龙曲), which was a »breakdown tune was played and a duet danced«; in the eighth month of the same year, at the banquet in celebration of the empress dowager’s birthday, »the

young Liu Wanrong presented his self-composed breakdown tunes Ten Colors of Chrysanthemum and One Thousand Autumns which the palace performers Qiongqiong and Rourou danced as a duet«; in the tenth month, »Officer of the Imperial Office of Music Wang Xi and others presented the elegant breakdown tune they had composed, Gathering to Celebrate Ten Thousand Years, which was danced as a duet.« The same book also records than in the sixth year of the Chunxi reign (1179), »emissary Liu Jingchang presented the newly composed breakdown tune Floating ­Orchid Boat, which was danced by Wu Xingyou.« These performances were apparently small-scale dances which adopted the form of the breakdown tune. Later courts abolished the Imperial Office of Music, temporarily employing civilian musicians from outside the palace, known as »mercenaries«

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(»hegu« 和雇) to perform in large celebratory banquets. There were consequently fewer large-scale banquet entertainment dances, which led to court dance being less influential than in civil society.

4. Court Yayue Dances Elegant music is a special phenomenon within Chinese dance culture. It was revered by successive rulers who used it to reflect the legitimacy of their authority and to demonstrate that they had achieved »the joy that is brought by a meritorious king.« For a long time, however, elegant music was nothing but rigid ritual music and dance used for rites and ceremonies, lacking any artistic vitality. The elegant music of the early Tang incorporated folk music and dance, such as The Tune of Prince of Qin Defeating the Troops (Qinwang pozen yue 秦王破阵乐), which gave it a new vibrancy which caused quite a stir. After the height of the Tang, however, elegant music fell into a continuous decline in which it gained an increasingly conservative and rigid formality. It did, nevertheless, remain a tool which the feudal rulers were unwilling to give up: each short-live regime in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period seized the opportunity to create rites and music through which to gloss over and strengthen their rule. As a dynasty which reunited a great state and continued the rule of several centuries, the Song Dynasty naturally placed importance on the formulation and transmission of elegant music. In the period from the Jianlong reign (960–963) of Emperor Taizu of the Northern Song to the Chongning reign (1102–1106) of Emperor Huizong, six major modifications were made. During these, each generation took an interest in the formulation and improvement of elegant music, some personally composing tunes or even making musical instruments, and engaging in much discussion for this end. In »Music One« of the History of the Song Dynasty, for example, it is stated that in the first year of the Zhidao reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song, the seven-stringed qin zither was modified to become

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the nine-stringed qin zither, and the former fourstringed ruan lute was modified to become the five-stringed ruan lute; in addition, »thirty-seven volumes of new scores were created.« Overall, the elegant music and dance of the Song Period comprised civil dance and military dance, the basic structures and styles of which followed previous dynasties with the occasional variation but were largely remaining unchanged. There are no detailed records of the specific performances of civil and military dance within the elegant music of the Song Period. In the second year of the Yuanfeng reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song (1079), officials in the Ministry of Rites petitioned the emperor to formulate elegant music. The movements of the »two dances« described in the petition were clarified which can provide an overall reference for understanding the dance of elegant music in the Song Period: Dancers of the civil dance wore a cap worn for audiences with the emperor, and held a short flute in their left hand and pheasant feathers in the right, and were divided into eight rows; two performers, dressed alike with a bow in front of them, held a banner aloft. The dancers’ movements as they advanced were peaceful and gentle, as they took a step forward each pair would bow to each other, bowing once to each other with each step for three steps. On the fourth step the appearance was of giving way to each other three times. This formed a movement and the remaining movements were also like this. The first pattern from the south to the second pattern was the first set, and then to the third pattern was the next set. The first pattern to the north was the third set, and the covering of bodies and stepping back into the third pattern was the fourth set. The move to the second pattern was the fifth set, while the repetition to the first pattern in the south was the sixth set, at which time the military dances entered. The military dancers wear flat turban caps, hold a shield in their left hands and a dagger-axe in their right. Two performers advance holding a banner; two performers each hold tao hand drums and war bells, and the tubular golden chun percussive instrument is held aloft by two or for

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performers. Two performers hold small bells and large cymbals; the holders of the xiang are to the left, while the holders of the ya are to the right, two performers on each side. They flank those who lead the dance, who are dressed in the same way. They divide into eight rows in front of the southern former pattern, first sounding the war bell to instruct the drums to start, the drums are then beaten in warning. When the dancers hear the sound of the drums, they each stand firm in their places as they chant a long song to it. Then hand drum is then beaten to lead the dance, the dancers move ahead from south to north as far as the southern pattern so that the dance appears gradually. Those to the left, right, and flanked in the middle, then sound the war bell followed by the drums, the golden chun harmonizes with it while the small golden bells mark the meter; the xiang supports the music while the ya steps to the edge of the stage. The dancers are most spirited, their steps most speedy. They advance with each step, dagger and shield of each pair facing each other, one blow and one thrust forming a strike, four strikes being a movement which was known as a change. The first change was at the second pattern, the second change was at the third pattern, and the third change was at the first pattern of the north. The dancers turn towards the hall while moving to the south, the fourth change being when they reach the third pattern; they then attacked in front, before returning into lines at the second pattern. The chong pounder and ya take slight steps and kneel separately to the left and right, with their right knees to the ground and their left foot raised as if the civilian has stopped the military, this is the fifth change; the dance moves forward as if an army is returning victorious, war bells are sounded, tao hand drums are shaken, drums are struck, and the golden chun harmonizes with them as the zhuo bells are cast aside and the symbols sounded; the dancers return to the first pattern in the south, which is the sixth change, and the dance concludes.

The sequence of moves in the »two dances« described above, as well as placement, number of dancers, and props and costumes, were very strict. Moreover, while there were many changes, the sequence styles were continuous.

SECTION 2 COURT TEAM DANCE AND ARISTOCRATIC BANQUETS

Section 2  Court Team Dance and Aristocratic Banquets 1. Court Team Dances Team dance as a form of court singing and dancing had appeared in the mid- to late Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, the court music official Li Keji compiled the Wild Buddha Dance (Pusa man wu 菩萨蛮舞) and the Dance of Lamentation for a Hundred Years (Tan bainian wu 叹百年舞), both of which were famous large-scale team dances. The Song continued the systems of the Tang, and continued the performance of team dance in court banquet entertainment; in addition, relative to the Tang Dynasty, there were many new developments in the court team dances of the Song Dynasty, not only forming specific dance forms but also embracing a varied repertoire—which is why History of the Song Dynasty was able to record »team dance« as a specialized item within court music and dance. According to »Music 17« of the History of the Song Dynasty, court team dance of the time was divided into »teams of children« and »teams of female pupils,« each of which comprised ten teams. The teams of children comprised seventy-two performers whose team names and costumes were as described below: The first was called the Cudrania Branch Team, who dressed in five-colored embroidered silk wide gowns, wore foreign-style hats on their heads and a silver band tied around their waists; The second was called the Sword Team, who dressed in five-colored embroidered silk short jackets, had bound feet and wore scarves upon their heads, they word red embroidered silk headbands and carried arms for battle; The third was called the Braham Team, who dressed in the purple silk robes of Buddhist monks over which they wore a short deep red gown, they held tin rings and sounding sticks; The fourth was called the Drunken Huteng Team, who dressed in red brocade short jackets with silver Khitan-style belts, and felt caps upon their heads;

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6.3.3 Stone carving of grand suite dance on the terrace of the main hall in the Temple of the Two Immortals, Xilimen Village, Gaoping, Shanxi The fifth was called the Joking Subject Pleasing Your Majesty Team, who wore silk blouses of purple, deep red and green, they jokingly wrapped bunches of flowers into their head scarves; The sixth was called the Children Appreciate Imperial Favor Team, who dressed in vivid blue-green clothes, with a silk band tied about their waists, and a two-cornered hat; The seventh was called the Jade Rabbit Mongolian Hat Team, who wore four-colored embroidered silk short jackets, with a silver band tied about their waist and a jade rabbit hat upon their heads; The eighth was called the Foreigners Paying Visit to the Emperor Team, who dressed in bright jackets, had a bridle tied about their waists, wore the hats of foreign tribes upon their heads, and carried jade plates; The ninth was called the Child Xie Hong Team, who dressed in purple and deep red embroidered short jackets, with silver bands tied about their waists and patchwork flower phoenix crowns with ribbon bands; The tenth was called the Uighur Shooting the Eagle Team, who dressed in short jackets embroidered with circling eagles, and had silver bands about their waists with leather to the right and Khitan-style belts to the right, they shot as eagles circled.

The teams of female pupils comprised 153 people whose team names and costumes were as described below:

The first was called the Wild Buddha Team, who dressed in narrow costumes of deep red with vivid patchwork and wore rolling cloud hats upon their heads; The second was called the Reforming Music Team who dressed in blue-green outfits embroidered with vivid colors, had their hair back combed into topknots tied with ribbon bands; The third was called the Felt Ball Throwing Music Team, who dressed in four-colored embroidered blouses, with a silver band tied about their waists, they presented embroidery; The fourth was called the Beauties Cutting Peonies Team, who dressed in red patchwork clothes, wore golden crowns upon their heads as they cut peonies; The fifth as called the Rainbow Robes Team, who dressed in red patchwork goddess robes with green embroidered capes, they wore goddess crowns with red embroidered headbands; The sixth was called the Lotus Plucking Team, who dressed in red vests embroidered in vivid colors and floaty dresses, their hair was tied into cloud-like topknots, and the rode upon colorful boats as they plucked lotuses; The seventh was called the Phoenix Greeting Music Team, who dressed in red patchwork goddess robes, with their hard tied into cloud-like topknots with phoenix buns; The eighth was called the Buddha Presenting Fragrant Flowers Team, dressed in narrow costumes of red with vivid patchwork, they wore treasured crowns upon their heads, and carried fragrant flower plates;

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The ninth was called the Goddesses on Colorful Clouds Team, who dressed in vivid yellow Daoist robes with purple embroidered capes, and goddess crowns upon their heads. They carried tally flags and fans of crane feathers; The tenth was called the Felt Ball Playing Music Team, who dressed in four-colored narrow silk short jackets, with silver bands tied about their waists, their feed bound in the favorable wind style with bunches of flowers wrapped into their head scarves, they carried felt balls and sticks.

History of the Song Dynasty finally indicates that the team dances were »largely likely this, and appropriate changes were readily made to them«; furthermore, it also describes the main occasions at which team dances were performed: first were the grand banquets and drinking parties each year at spring, autumn and the emperor’s birthday, at which there were a total of nineteen routines. The team of children was the ninth to perform, and the team of female pupils the fourteenth; within the program were also interspersed grand music ensembles, instrumental solos on the pipa, zheng zither and reed pipe, performances of poetic dramas (a total of two in the program), football demonstrations, performances of percussion and wind music, and wrestling. The banquet in honor of the Khitan emissary was of the same specifications, with the exception of there being no performance by the team of female pupils or the second poetic drama. Second was the lantern viewing at the Lantern Festival where a terrace would be erected in before the Xuande Gate of the imperial palace in the Eastern Capital (Kaifeng), upon which the Imperial Office of Music would play music and the team of children would perform. South of the terrace a mountain of lanterns would be erected, before which variety performances would be given, and within the canopy miscellaneous music would be performed and the team of female pupils would dance. Because the performances at the Lantern Festival were open to everyone to reflect the emperor sharing his joy with all his people, they were unusually crowded.

SECTION 2 COURT TEAM DANCE AND ARISTOCRATIC BANQUETS

Of the names of the teams of children and female pupils described above, eight were largely the same as those of the Tang Dynasty, namely the Cudrania Branch, Sword, Huteng, Braham, Jade Rabbit Mongolian Hat (known in the Tang as the Mongolian Hat Dance), the Child Xie Hong (known in the Tang as the Xie Hong Dance), the Wild Buddha, Rainbow Robes, and the Lotus Plucking. These eight dances were most likely a continuation from the Tang Dynasty given that they share much in common in terms of props and costumes with those of the Tang dances with the same names. The Dance of Cudrania Branches, for example, came from the Western Regions, and was highly popular for a while during the Tang Dynasty; in the Song Dynasty, the dancers still wore »foreign-style hats« and retained the original costumes of those ethnic groups. Likewise, in the Sword Dance of the Tang Dynasty, the dancers danced holding swords, while in the team dance of the Song Dynasty the dancers »carried arms for battle.« These commonalities demonstrate that team dances of the Song Dynasty occurred as a result of the historical development of song and dance since the Tang. These dances, nevertheless, were simply performed in an identical manner to that of the Tang: they underwent change which demonstrates that they were influenced by the unique atmosphere of the art and culture of the Song Dynasty. Dances such as Cudrania Branches, Sword and Huteng, for example, were solo dances or duets in the Tang, and there were no fixed occasions on which they were performed, being performed within the palace or in the halls of the aristocracy and bureaucracy, and even among common society. The team dances of the Song Dynasty comprised numerous performers and were performed especially at the great court feasts. Because the court team dances of the Song Dynasty had both ceremonial and entertainment functions, the content mostly glorified merits and virtues, and extolled peace and tranquility, and they were combined with other

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performances. For example, a »single play of two sections« of poetic drama would be inserted between team dances, with the team dancers not leaving the stage for the performance of the poetic drama; in addition, the team dancers would enter the stage and go off stage at the control of the army member who would call them on stage and dismiss them from it. Before and after the team dance performances, the army member had words of greeting and farewell which were words of goodwill in rhythmical prose style with parallelism and ornateness before the performances. These were mostly formulaic words which would sometimes explain the repertoire about to be performed or which dance team would perform. The army member would sometimes intersperse the performance with »words to the team« to the head of the team of children or the lead of the girls’ team, to which the performers would express their best wishes by shouting out »slogans.«

2. Small-scale Team Dances in Aristocratic Households Although the team dance performances in the domestic banquets of the aristocracy and scholar officials were smaller in scale than those of the court team dances, the programs performed were by no means simple. One example of a small team dance is the Dance of the Assembled Immortals recorded in Southern Song writer Wang Yishan’s Jiacun’s Music Collection (Jiacun yuefu 稼村乐府). Structurally, the Dance of the Assembled Immortals was comprised of five parts, each of which had poetry, song and dance, with the recitation, song and dance of each five parts being performed in turn. There was a total of five dancers who were the five immortals: Wu the Immortal, Shen the Immortal, He the Immortal, Long the Immortal and Bai the Immortal. The beginning of the performance was still marked by reading words to call the performers on stage, after which each immortal would recite and then sign a poem in turn, during which there would also be singing and

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

dancing. It is now impossible to ascertain what the dance movements were, but some slight traces can be found within some poems of the immortals. The poem sung by Wu the Immortal, for example, includes the lines, »We may link our arms, and all come together again, the dance of the Chu accompanying the song of Wu«—which clearly shows that this dance comprised movements in which five people linked arms. After this, the last contingent finished. The six musical dances recorded by Shi Hao in Random Records from the Zhenyin of Maofeng are most likely small team dances. With the exception of the Flower Dance, they were all structurally distinct. Of these, three musical dances had multiple tunes, with distortions or variations in the structure which included performances of poetry, song and dance, in turn. More importantly, they included many dramatic elements. Generally speaking, a significant artistic feature of Song-dynasty team dances was their »single tune form« with the alternating of song and poetry recital in which song and poetry were performed in turn. Changes occurred in the alternating performance of these musical dances; the Lotus Plucking Dance, for example, used as many as six tunes, reflecting traces of the changes in form team dances underwent in the transition from Northern Song to Southern Song, which shows the result of the integration of Southern Song team dance with the grand suite. The basic pattern of the small-scale team dance in the mansions of the aristocracy was identical to that of court team dances, and they were an approximate microcosm of team dance at the court. Their performance did, at the same time, also have a certain individuality. The Sword Dance recorded by Shi Hao includes a small drama performance, much like the interspersing of poetic drama in the team dances of court. This, however, is a special case which cannot be considered for small-scale team dances as a whole. The form of performance clearly reflects the characteristics of the age in the Song Dynasty arts of

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song and dance. The content mostly glorified merits and virtues, and extolled peace and tranquility (large-scale team dance tended to glorify merits and virtue while small-scale team dance tended to sing of matters of the human world); however, it has unique value in the history of dance. Its performance fused multiple elements such as the recital of poetry, the performance of melodic poems, singing and dancing, and pure dance, into a comprehensive art performance which was based around singing and dance, and contained a variety of artistic elements (which had not yet formed a single entity).

Section 3  The Diverse Development of Liao, Western Xia and Jin Dance 1. Dance in the Liao Dynasty The ceremonies and banquets in the Liao Dynasty court used the »grand music« (dayue 大乐), which originated in the Han regime, which since the Qin and Han dynasties had established the music and dance of the »grand music.« The Treatise on Music in the History of the Liao (Liaoshi 辽史) records that at the court gathering on the first day of each year, »grand music« would be used; after the performance of the »breakdown tune,« miscellaneous music would then be performed. It would, therefore, appear that the »grand music« of the Liao Dynasty was the same as the »grand suite« of the Han. In banquets in the court, however, the Han did not perform the civil and military dances of elegant music; the Liao, meanwhile, did perform these »two dances« during the banquets, with the civil and military dances each comprising three movements—which was unlike that of the Han. The »Treatise on Music« in the History of the Liao also records that grand music was passed down from the Jin 晋 Dynasty, and was the legacy of the music of the standing sections and music of

SECTION 3 THE DIVERSE DEVELOPMENT OF LIAO, WESTERN XIA AND JIN DANCE

the sitting sections of the Tang Dynasty. Social unrest in Tang and Five Dynasty society led to the serious loss of much music and dance, with only the four parts of the Music of the Auspicious Clouds music and dance remaining. The specific parts of the Music of the Auspicious Clouds were: Dance of the Auspicious Clouds, eight people; Music and Dance Celebrating the Clouds, four people; Music and Dance of Defeating the Troops, four people; Music and Dance of Obeying Heaven, four people. This totals twenty people. The music and dance enjoyed at court banquets in the Liao Dynasty was known as »miscellaneous music.« The Treatise on Music in the History of the Liao records a scene of the Liao receiving the emissary from the Song state with miscellaneous music. At the court banquet there were nine rounds of drinking, with each round having a performance of the Tartar pipe, the zither, a solo played on the pipa, or the singing of a breakdown tune which was interspersed with »words of greeting« so that after the food had been enjoyed, there was also performance of poetic drama to appreciate. The end of the banquet was market with spectacular wrestling which fully embodied the customs of the Liao people. Once cannot help but make an association between such a »banquet with miscellaneous music« and the ceremonial routines of the court banquets of the Northern and Southern Song. Performances of miscellaneous music also included variety performances, wrestling and equestrian entertainment. The Picture of the Treaty at the Bian Bridge in the collections of the Palace Museum depicts a female dancer standing aloft a horse as she makes play with her hands. Such equestrian entertainment skills are rarely seen today. The most distinctive dance of the Liao Dynasty was that in the Khitan ethnic style. Yunju Temple in Beijing’s Fangshan District has a Liao pagoda and stone columns upon which appear precious images of music and dance. Although they have been severely weathered and many of the images

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6.3.4  Mural of a Grand Suite Performance, Eastern Wall, Front Chamber, Liao Tomb no. 5, Xiabali Village, Xuanhua, Hebei

are blurred, dancers in boots, dressed as northern nomads, can still be distinguished. The dancers are in various poises, some with their legs raised and sleeves thrown up, others with their bodies oblique and their legs curved, some stand with their arms held high and musical instruments in their hands; each has its own demeanor and they are very lively. Images of female musicians and dancers sitting in a dignified manner and dressed in Han Dynasty apparel can be found in some of the semi-circular niches. Some of them also have very dynamic dance gestures while others at the side are entranced as they play music. Functionally, these musicians are probably images of Buddhist offerings. Khitan dance had the distinctive features of the northern regions, with amplified movements and

imposing dynamism while remaining plain and simple which gave it a special beauty. A large pure silver band of performing children unearthed in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, includes an image of a group of nine children performing music and dance. Some beat small waist drums, some ride hobby horses, and others hold masks as they dance, creating a lovely and joyous image rich with the flavor of the song and dance of the north. A stone relief unearthed from a Liao tomb in Jingchang in Liaoning has the distinctive image of female musical dancers who fling their sleeves as they dance, and take broad steps while twisting their torsos and rotating at the waist. On the White Pagoda in Dule Temple, Jixian, Hebei, are several bricks engraved with images of music and dance, among which are two dancers whose legs

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are stretched out, arms curved and sleeves folder as if they are about to begin a dance. With deepset eyes, large noses and full beards, the dancers appear to be from the Western Regions. Another two dancers holding a long scarf make dance steps. The style of dress of the dancers and those holding musical instruments are similar but not identical, and appear to show the fusion and coexistence of music and dance of different ethnic groups in Hebei during the Liao Dynasty. The music and dance of the Liao Dynasty is not just found in northern regions: because of the long-term peaceful coexistence of the Northern Song and the Liao Dynasty, the mutual exchange of dance and music was a natural occurrence. Minister of the Southern Song Ministry of Personnel, Fan Chengda, wrote a poem entitled »Partridges in the Sky,« which begins with the exclamation: »Dance no more the Little Khitan wearing silver sable; All the guests have come from the furthermost mountain passes. None can still properly appreciate the beauty of the swaying.« This poem was probably written when Fan Chengda was serving in office in Guizhou (present Guilin) in or around 1175, 50 years after the Liao had been destroyed by the Jin in 1125. At that time, performances of the Little Khitan dance with silver sable costumes could still be seen in the south, which attests to how widely it had spread. Of course, as Fan Chengda was writing, the Northern Song had already fallen under the steely foot of the Jin. The poem, therefore, appears to be a lament of fate. The poem does not state whether the Little Khitan performed at banquets of officials was danced by Han people or the descendants of the Khitans who came from the north. Nor does the poem clarify the dance performed, or the state of mind of the dancers. However, after the Jin destroyed the great state of Liao established by the Khitan, it is very possible that musicians and dancers did leave their homeland and migrate south to live in exile. This is the reality of music and dance in the Northern and Southern Song and the Liao.

SECTION 3 THE DIVERSE DEVELOPMENT OF LIAO, WESTERN XIA AND JIN DANCE

2. Dance of the Western Xia After Western Xia ancestor Tuoba Sigong submitted to the authority of the Tang, the Tanguts started to learn »Han rites,« and there are historical records of Emperor Xizong of the Tangut having given complete sets of percussion and wind instruments to the Western Xia. »Foreign Tribes: Record of the Western Xia« in History of the Liao records that Liangzuo, Emperor Yizong of the Western Xia, once sent an emissary to the Northern Song to obtain official performers and artisans, and also dispatched people to »buy the headgear of musicians.« This shows that at the same time as persevering and creating their own cultural traditions, the Western Xia also actively studies the essence of the ritual music of Han culture. In the sutra paintings in Cave no.  3 of the Yulin Grottoes in Anxi is a picture of dancing and music, the four sides of which has images of musicians playing conch-shaped horns or striking small cymbals. A dancer in the center moves her hips, the right leg is extended, the right arm outstretched, and a band is twisted around both hands. There is a sense of rhythm to the flowing dance. It is clear that this image that in taking shape this image integrated the artistic exaggeration and imagination of the painter; nevertheless, is also not without grounds, being a recreation by the artist of what he saw in the live music and dance of the Western Xia. The Western Xia established itself for a long time in the Hexi Corridor and gradually accepted the ideas of Buddhism. Consequently, the iconography in the caves reflects the process by which people of the Western Xia expressed Buddhism through artistic means. An inscribed stele erected by in the fifth year of the Tianyou Baoan reign (1094) of Li Qianshun, Emperor Chongzon of the Western Xia, still stands in Wuwei (Liangzhou), Gangsu. The only inscribed stele from the Western Xia to have been discovered to date, it bears Western Xia script on its front side, and Chinese

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script on the back, memorializing An Inscription on the Reconstruction of Ganying Pagoda in Huguo Temple, Liangzhou (Liangzhou chongjiang Huguosi Ganyingta beiming 凉州重修护国寺感应塔碑 铭). There is an image of a female dancer on each side of the top of the stele: both plump, they twist their waists, their feet are hooked and fingers upturned, as they dance languidly. There is a similar wooden carving of a female in the Hongfo Pagoda in the temple at Hongxingcundong, Panxu Township, Xiahe County in Ningxia. The original image on the pagoda was fractured into five parts; when pieced back together, it reveals an exceptionally graceful female dancer. She looks back and turns her body as she dances on a lotus platform, her left hand resting lightly on her forehead while her right arm is outstretched in front of her chest. Her bare upper body is covered by a shawl around which runs a belt. Researchers believe this image to have a strong Indian or Nepalese artistic style.

3. Dance in the Jin Dynasty Music and dance of the Jin and Liao shared the common feature that importance was given to the role of the system of Han ritual music within political rule. What differed in the Jin and Liao that they did not indirectly accept the system of music and dance of the Tang Dynasty but rather directly absorbed the music and dance culture of the Song Dynasty. The music and dance rites of the Jin absorbed the old system of the Song, such as civil dances and military dances within elegant music. During the Huangtong reign of the Jin Dynasty (1141–1148), civil dance was named the Dance of Securing High Position and Establishing Achievement (Baoda dinggong zhi wu 保大定功之舞), while military dance was the Dance of All States Coming Together (Wanguo laitong zhi wu 万国来同之舞). In the eleventh year of the Dading reign of the Emperor Shizong of the Jin (1172), the Dance of the Four Seas Coming Together (Sihai huitong zhi wu 四海会同之

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

舞) was also added, »at which the system of the dynasty started to come to be.« When the court held audiences and banquets, bells and chimes would be hung on the four sides of the palace in line with ancient tradition, the dancers would hold short flutes known as yue 磬 and pheasant feathers as they danced the »civil dance,« or vermillion rods and jade battle axes as they danced the »military dance.« When performing, the civil and military dance teams would each comprise 64 people, and in front of each team would be a lead dancer, and those who held flags, large banners, ivory rods, hand drums, war bells, golden zheng 钲 bells, xiang 相 drums and elegant drums to form a symmetrically paired complete team for performing the music and drama of the ceremonial music. In other ritual performances, use would also be made of the chime bells, stone chimes, jian 建 drum, lu 路 drum, lu 路 hand drum, the Jin 晋 drum and other percussion instruments as well as string and reed instruments such as the reed pipe, the vertical flute, ocarina, chi 篪 pipe, flute, xuanqin 弦琴 zither and se zither. These instruments would have produced quite a rich sound. The scale in which the Jin Dynasty studied the elegant music of the Han people can be seen from the form of the music and dance within the ceremonial music. The music and dance enjoyed in the large banquets in the court of the Jin Dynasty was known as the »music and song of the palace court.« In form, it comprised feasting and drinking as song and dance were performed. The banquets were held in rounds, with a performance being made after each round, which would have included singing, civil and military dances, the performance of dance tunes (without dancing), the performance of songs (without singing) and so on. In addition, the Jin had a completely open attitude to the highly artistic song and dance performances of the Han people. A very striking feature of the cultural mentality of the Jin people was their study and dissemination of the advanced culture

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of the Han people. The octahedral white marble stone column with reliefs of music and dance performances unearthed from the ancient tomb at Jinshantun, Yichun, in Heilongjiang, is engraved with eight musicians and dancers, of which one is squatting on both legs, arms stretched horizontally out to the stage; head and torso inclined slightly to the right, and the left foot appears as if about to step into the rhythm. The other eight musicians on the column all have Han musical instruments, such as the konghou harp, reed pipe instruments and flutes or drums. The image of Han musicians and dancers in this Jin tomb is a good illustration of the Jin temperament for ac-

6.3.5  Figurine of a dancer unearthed from a Jin tomb in Xifengfeng Village, Jiaozuo, Henan

SECTION 3 THE DIVERSE DEVELOPMENT OF LIAO, WESTERN XIA AND JIN DANCE

commodating the cultures of other ethnic groups. Another unearthed image if that of the dancing figurine from the Jin tomb in Jiaozuo, Henan, who wears a small peaked hat, has a tightly clenched right fist as they enter the stage, while the left fist is pulled back as if about to kick forward with the while twisting the head back. This costume of a »broad-rimmed bamboo hat« and »small-sleeved zhisun robe« is the image of a Mongolian musical dancer; at their most powerful, the Jin had controlled and repressed the Mongolian tribes. The excavation of this image, therefore, shows exactly the diversity in the culture of music and dance of the Jin.

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The Jurchen had always been a nation able to sing and dance. In volume one of his Things Heard in the Pine and Desert Lands, Song Dynasty writer Hong Hao recorded that the Jurchen liked to drink and sing and dance, and that to find a partner of the opposite sex, the children of the aristocracy would »lead their way on a galloping horse, making merry and drinking, and when the women of the place they arrived at heard of their arrival they would gather to look at them, sitting amongst them and giving them wine to drink, and some would take to dance or sing ballads to add to the fun atmosphere.« The custom of finding a beauty by leading one’s way on a galloping horse, and the bold drinking to stir up the excitement, were completely different from the customs of the Han. It was this temperament that meant even when the Jin established a capital and built palaces, and the position of monarch and ministers had been determined, they retained this custom. Volume ten of Records of the Great Jin (Dajinguo zhi 大金国志) records, »When the sovereign returned to the homes of his subjects, they would hold a banquet, and hand in hand they would

CHAPTER III A HISTORIC TURNING POINT FOR COURT DANCE

grip arms, bite each others’ necks and twist each others’ ears with no regard to hierarchy.« Following the establishment of the dynasty, at the same time as absorbing external music and dance culture, the Jin continued to pay considerable attention to their own ethnic music and dance. Once, during a banquet in the Huangwu Hall for members of the imperial household, Wanyan Yong, Emperor Shizong of the Jin Dynasty, was moved to recite the many years of struggle by the Jin people, which had united the world. He could not help but drink, and asked, »Why do we not drink to music?« At that, the women of the imperial household started to dance, and made toasts as they sang. The gathered officials, even the old, then started to dance one by one, and Wanyan Yong himself sang the songs of their people about the many difficulties of their forefathers in their undertakings, until he became so sad he could no longer make a sound—at which he stopped singing and shed several tears. Such historical material vividly portrays the natural ability of the Jurchen to sing and dance, and their custom of breaking into dance.

CHAPTER IV  THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING Chinese vernacular storytelling (shuochang 说唱) matured in the Northern Song Dynasty as a genre of popular entertainment, consisting chiefly of talking and singing, that reached quickly its apex during the Southern Song Period. The main venues for shuochang performances were pleasure quarters and brothels. In addition, there were itinerant road artists that made a living performing in the open country, as well as at wine shops, teahouses, temple fairs and village shows. Performers were also sometimes requested to entertain at private mansions and imperial residences, and the literati as well as officialdom hosted their own banquets—where they amused themselves by composing guzici, a form of versified stories that were sung to the accompaniment of a small drum and other instruments. The emergence of these pleasure quarters reflected cultural trends. From the perspective of the development of shuochang, pleasure quarters did not only alter the formerly scattered state of the art form, providing it with fixed performance venues and shaping a very new secular art. They also liberated shuochang of its role as a vehicle for religious teachings, and thus vernacular storytelling became an art that aimed to entertain townspeople, whom performers depended upon for their livelihood. Storytellers no longer condescendingly preached Buddhist scriptures while gazing pitifully at Buddhist devotees. Instead, they tried to use their skills to ingratiate themselves with the city folk that were now their customers. Storytellers in the Song Dynasty turned to shuochang to seek their livelihood, with the audience dipping into their own pockets to reward them for their entertainment. Performers catered

to townspeople with their repertoire, echoing their happiness, anger, and sorrows and joys—to garner their audience’s favour and ensure their livelihood. The arts of the pleasure quarters laid the foundations for the development of Chinese vernacular storytelling and its subgenres, and tentatively shaped the specific notion of narrative song for shuochang, subsequently providing folk musical theatre with its features of declamation, singing, memorisation and loud laughter.

Section 1  Shuohua, the Most Compelling Form of the Storytelling Art Shuohua (‌说话), literally »telling tales,« was a form of oral art in the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties. It was the fortunate recipient of its predecessors’ legacies, and its success has been carried forward into its present age. In later periods, it would also become a form of shuochang to be passed on from one generation to the next. Shuohua was subject to a great deal of development and thorough categorisation during the Song Dynasty. This was particularly the case for two of its most popular forms, namely telling folk history (jiangshi 讲史), and novels (xiaoshuo 小说), both of which had their own specialized performers, and some of whom rose to stardom. The prosperity of shuohua should be understood as intrinsically linked to the flourishing of the pleasure quarters, which were on the rise during the middle Northern Song Period and reached their peak during the Southern Song Dynasty.

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6.4.1  Jiangxi Jingdezhen ­porcelain earthen tomb figurine representing a shuochang performer (1)

Book five of Meng Yuanlao’s Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital describes »The Artistry of Pleasure Quarters in the Capital,« citing a total of seven jiangshi performers and six shuohua artists in Kaifeng. »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« in book six of Zhou Mi’s Affairs of the Martial Grove records a total of 23 jiangshi performers and 53 xiaoshuo artists in Hangzhou, thus showing the prevalence of the latter. Shuohua performers in the Southern Song Dynasty also associated under the »Guild of Vigorous Eloquence« (»xiongbian she« 雄辩社). Shuohua was a form of storytelling art. Far from being homogeneous, it had subgenres—namely xiaoshuo, jiangshi and scripture lectures (jiangjing 讲经)—all of which possessed their own specific traits. For instance, xiaoshuo had a short format that lent itself well to single performances, as well as a rather lively storytelling style. Vocal

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

performance of ci, a form of poetry written to certain tunes with strict tonal patterns and rhyme schemes and fixed numbers of lines and words, featured in early instances of xiaoshuo. Meanwhile, the stories related by jiangshi extended over a rather ample timespan and owed their solemn style and sparse verses to the numerous elements that they incorporated from historical sources. Last, the style of jiangjing bore the influence of temple scriptures that were recited partly in verse and partly in prose. However, the fundamental differences between these subgenres were determined by their narrative content. Otherwise, they remained much alike in terms of their storytelling. Song Dynasty shuochang had greeting words, and shuohua was not an exception. Volume one in Luo Ye’s Chatterings of an Old Drunkard, describing »Introductory Remarks on Tongue Cultivation,« has two sections, one addressing »the introduction of Xiaoshuo« and another one devoted to »the opening of Xiaoshuo.« These are the only two known instances of greeting words in xiaoshuo. Greeting words were different from specific prologues (ruhua 入话), which served as remarks on an individual xiaoshuo. However, greeting words were meant to introduce the art form or the performer, to convey the artistic traits and professional requirements, and the performer’s artistic pursuits. Although greeting words were essentially polite commercial formulas, they highlighted the style and features of the performer and served as signboards for their craft. This was precisely the original motivation behind the »Introductory Remarks on Tongue Cultivation.« Storytellers also indicated their themes at the performance venue, as exemplified by Volume four, book three of the Second Collection of the Records of Yijian (Yijian zhizhi 夷坚支志): »Lü Deqing met his friends […] sitting at the entrance of the teahouse next to the venue of a grand feast, and seeing the strip of red paper attached to the door, said: ›Tonight’s theme shall be the Book of Han‹.«

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SECTION 1 SHUOHUA, THE MOST COMPELLING FORM OF THE STORYTELLING ART

Shuohua topics were meant to be short, eye-catching and easy to remember, and included names, nicknames, and names of things and places. For instance, »The Development of Xiaoshuo« in Chatterings of an Old Drunkard enumerated titles such as Sun Li the Stony Man, Lone Tiger, The Shahe River Courtyard, Dai Sizong and Daxiangguo Temple with this very purpose: coming up with catchy jingles that rolled off the tongue easily in seven or eight characters. Shuohua is roughly divided into three parts: prologue, body and dénouement. The introduction at the beginning was a digression meant to ease the audience into the main story line. Both this introduction and the dénouement were understood as additional parts. The main storyline was fleshed out in the body of the shuohua and comprised the chief portion of the artist’s performance. The prologue usually came in two forms. It could possibly begin with one or multiple poems, or poetry written to certain tunes with strict tonal patterns and rhyme schemes in fixed numbers of lines and words (ci 词), which were then interpreted prior to introducing the body. Poetry served therefore as a means to identify the main plotline, summarise the whole gist of the story or set the mood of the piece while creating an atmosphere. It could also give expression to deep feelings, enhancing the story by setting it off with content at the back and front of the main plot. For instance, Yang Wen, the Road-Blocking Tiger had a poem serve as prologue. The prologue to The Monk with the Love Letter was a ci known as »Partridge Sky« (Zhegu tian 鹧鸪天), and The Upright Manager Zhang was also introduced by a poem. Four ci and ten poems introduced Carving the Jade Guanyin. Prose could also introduce shuohua in the form of one or several excerpts that preceded the body in order to enhance it by narrating a story similar to or a counterpart of the main plot. These were complete stories that stood on their own and preceded the body. Therefore, these special starters were sometimes known as the »initial segment,« »playful initial segment,«

or »triumphant initial segment.« In the absence of a fixed pattern, the prologue sometimes combined both forms. For instance, Mistaken Execution of Cui Ning began with a poem. According to the convention, this explanatory verse should have been followed by the main body. Instead, it added a »triumphant initial segment« subsequently followed by a »poem standing in evidence.« Only then did the proper body of the story commence. The central part of the shuohua, the story’s theme, is known as zhenghua, both of which imply the idea of a main plotline where a third-person, omniscient approach is adopted and generally consisting of prose and verse. Prose relied on common spoken language, mainly for the sake of narrating stories and shaping characters throughout the plot’s development. Stock phrases such as »it is said,« »we were telling you,« »to mention only one point,« and »let us stop with the tedious chatter« were a frequent occurrence in the narration. This also allowed the audience to maintain a constant degree of distance from the story, therefore producing the so-called »alienation effect.« Performers sometimes interrupted their narration at any given point to offer explanatory notes or commentary on any matter. Verse included poems, ci, parallel prose written in the parallel style, parallel couplets and triplets and other forms for the purpose of chanting and singing. Even though they were part of the main body structure, in comparison to prose they generally played a subordinate role: they were supplementary, meant to set off a plot or provide intonation. Their deletion did not affect the plot. Sometimes there was not an evident transition between poetry and prose. The former played the role of a mere connector, linking a joint narration without a distinguishable relation between the main and subordinate elements. Verse and prose were therefore essential and indivisible, much like flesh and blood are for the human body. The dénouement of the shuohua was not a coda to the story, which was already made clear in the

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body. Instead, it signalled the end of the performance. The dénouement came after the plot in the body was wrapped up. It was delivered directly by the performer on stage by means of poems, ci or casual commentary in prose and then finished with a seven-character-quatrain (jueju 绝句), a form of regulated verse with four lines of seven characters each. Content-wise, the dénouement served different purposes. It could summarise the piece, admonish the audience, convey emotions or trace back the origin of the story. Albeit unnecessary and verbose, the dénouement was still a compulsory element in shuohua. The ending of a story and that of a piece are two entirely different matters. The former could be rich and colourful, have a clear outcome, or else leave some room for suspense. The latter, however, needed to unequivocally provide the audience an explanation, or even offer patterns and hints that are as reliable and clear as the coda in any given musical composition. The placement of jueju at the ending of a shuohua piece was likely due to additional reasons other than their simplicity and easiness of composition. It was also a matter of contrast between the verses and the preceding prose, with the former being more rhythmic and forceful from a language point of view and therefore conducive to the dénouement of a piece. Shuohua was a craft that relied on language to tell stories. The requirements of the genre in terms of language craftsmanship and patterns were therefore rather strict. Performers would be able to »recite ci, read aloud poetry and employ banter,« and it was equally stressed that »the act of speaking cannot be sluggish, nor can it tire [the audience]; the expounding must be adequately scaled and orderly.« Likewise, »orderliness in speaking can usually be attained a million ways, and there are easily thousands of aspects to a conversation.« However, these were merely the essential requirements for the expression of form in external language, a standard for language to serve as a vehicle of narration. With regard to the craft itself,

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

shuohua required an arrangement of language that was conducive to storytelling. Stories were the essence and soul of shuohua, the key point that determined the genre’s ability to lure the audience in. Shuohua in the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties was actually jointly created by performers and gifted men of letters who engaged in playwriting, among other popular genres. Its structure and artistic traits were also jointly standardized. Shuohua performers were sometimes separate from those who crafted the stories they narrated. When this happened, the performer would make it clear in the dénouement, to show that they did not dare to claim credit due to others. For instance, Hangzhou bibliophile and publisher Hong Bian’s collection Sixty Stories featured a play named The Lovers’ Rendezvous where Murder Was Committed (Wenjing yuanyang hui 刎颈 鸳鸯会). The finale of this story reads as follows: »Dear readers, you should dutifully prepare yourselves by observing the summary of the narration and carefully listening to Qiu Shan’s The Lovers’ Rendezvous where Murder Was Committed.« In most cases, however, shuohua performers were indeed those who wrote the stories. At the very least, they were involved in the process, because they were the ones who performed on-the-spot and provided the audience further details about the story. Due to the fact that any given shuohua performance could be interpreted and recreated differently depending on the performer, the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties saw the different schools of shuohua engage in intense debate and vie with each other for the audience. Language as a form of art relies on the sense of hearing. Shuohua therefore generally adopted a single, linear structure pattern for narrative purposes, with few characters onstage. Even though the plot could be tortuous and complicated, the scene structure did not have noticeable leaps in time and space. This was also true for xiaoshuo, as well as for jiangshi and jiangjing within shuohua. In order to preserve the smooth, undisturbed

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development of the plot thread, a simple, straightforward style of writing was used for character portraitures, scene descriptions and backgrounds alike. Only the plot was central to shuohua, and everything else revolved around the plotline. The phrase, »If you want to know what is in store, listen to the next chapter for an explanation,« conveyed rather accurately the technical characteristics of shuohua based on the story’s plotline. The principles of putting the story above everything and a simple, straightforward style of writing would both influence literary creation profoundly in subsequent generations. The literary form known as huaben (‌话本) was originally meant to serve as aide-mémoires for shuohua performers. They were also used as practice between teachers and speakers or for future generations to enjoy the artistry of shuohua. They were not written for the purpose of literary reading, but for the sake of craftsmanship and practicality. The language of early huaben was sometimes plain, so that it would be simple and easy to remember. Content was also briefly summarized as the mere outline of the story. Because the details involved in speaking and expounding all relied on the artist’s performance on the spot, performers leaned on their own craft to embellish their narrations and show their skill at the shuchang (‌书场), the venue that hosted performances. The growth of shuohua brought about the swift development of its literary themes. Soon afterwards, the art form underwent varying degrees of refinement and delineation, while masters and apprentices exchanged increasingly minute editions. Simultaneously, townspeople became more demanding from shuohua with each passing day. No longer content with merely playing the role of an attentive audience, they expected regular performances and mastery of the texts. As a result, huaben circulated in private editions with a great deal of additions, deletions and refinement. As bookshop-cum-printshop patrons sought their own profits, manuscripts that had originally been

SECTION 2 XIAOSHUO, THE MOST POPULAR SUBGENRE OF SHUOHUA

in the hands of performers were published in large numbers and ultimately became huaben xiaoshuo (storybook novels).

Section 2  Xiaoshuo, the Most Popular Subgenre of Shuohua Out of all the subgenres of shuohua, xiaoshuo (fictional novels) enjoyed the greatest deal of popularity. Song Dynasty scholar Nai Deweng provided some explanation on this popularity in the section »On the Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters« (Washe Zhongji 瓦舍众伎) of his volume Records of the Splendors of the Capital (Ducheng Jisheng 都城纪胜): »Those who engage in fiction can break at once and in a split moment with the stories of a generation.« This means that narration was brief and concise. However, this was probably far from being the only reason. The actual reason was that xiaoshuo drew its themes from real life, with content that was at once novel and lively and therefore more suited to meet townspeople’s entertainment demands. Xiaoshuo did not have a particularly prominent place in the artistry of the pleasure districts in the Northern Song Dynasty. Furthermore, it seemingly lacked categorisation into themes. In the Song Dynasty, book five of Meng Yuanlao’s Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital includes a section describing »The Artistry of Pleasure Quarters in the Capital Districts,« where it was stated that performers of xiaoshuo were even fewer than those devoted to jiangshi. Xiaoshuo would reach its peak in pleasure districts during the Southern Song Dynasty, when it became the most powerful competitor among all arts linked to these venues. Book six of Zhou Mi’s Affairs of the Martial Grove described, in »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« a colossal line-up of 53 xiaoshuo performers at one time. Many of them were noted to be not only outstanding at shuochang, but also second to

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CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

6.4.2  Image of a fresco on the west wall of Wenshu Hall in Yanshang Temple (Fanshi, Shanxi Province), depicting a scene of a shuochang performance at a marketplace winehouse, dating from the 7th year of the Jing Dading period (1167)

none in a broader sense within the field of the performing arts. The list of artists included not only those entertainers who served the emperor or otherwise wrote poems or essays upon his order in Deshou Palace, but also armoured soldiers. This goes to show that xiaoshuo was not only popular with the masses, but also had a large crowd of enthusiastic listeners in the imperial court and the army. Volume one, book one of Luo Ye’s Chatterings of an Old Drunkard listed eight kinds of xiaoshuo stories: spirits and demons (lingguai 灵怪), rouge and powder, i.  e., love stories (yanfen 烟粉), marvels (chuanqi 传奇), court cases (gong’an 公案), broadsword (pudao 朴刀), staff (ganbang 杆棒), sorcery (yaoshu 妖术) and immortals (shenxian 神仙). Lingguai were stories where the spirits of the mountains and old trees were conjured to

make trouble. Yanfen referred to love stories that happened between humans and supernatural beings. Chuanqi were the sentimental tales of those known as »talented scholars« and fair ladies. Gong’an dealt with accounts of litigation, and trials. Pudao and ganbang covered the stories of obscure heroes and brave men who rose to power and position, while yaoshu and shenxian praised the extrasensory powers of extraordinary men and women. These were the stories that garnered the most popularity from the masses. In addition to this, xiaoshuo also dipped into jiangshi and accounts of recent contemporary conflicts and wars. It can be said that xiaoshuo covered almost every theme, as there was nothing that it could not encompass. In Chatterings of an Old Drunkard, Luo Ye enumerated sixteen types of lingguai, 16 types of yanfen, 17 types of chuanqi, 16 types of gong’an,

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11 types of pudao, 11 types of ganbang, 14 types of shenxian and nine types of yaoshu, amounting to a total of 110 different kinds of stories. In the middle years of the Ming Dynasty, literatus Chao Li recorded 52 types of Song Dynasty xiaoshuo in his volume The Catalogue of the Baowentang Library Collection. In the early Qing Dynasty, book collector Qian Zeng also listed 16 titles in his Catalogue of Books Preserved at the Yeshi Garden, some of which were duplicates from The Catalogue of the Baowentang Library. However, the circulating editions of these xiaoshuo are largely no longer extant. The remaining editions of xiaoshuo are mainly found in works such as Popular Stories from the Metropolitan Editions, Ming Dynasty writer Hong Pian’s Storytelling Scripts from the Qingping Mountain Studio, four xiaoshuo composed and printed by the Jianyang publisher Xiong Longfeng during the Wanli Period, and late Ming Dynasty works such as Stories Old and New, Stories to Caution the World and Stories to Awaken the World, all edited by Feng Menglong. Because these circulating editions came from the hands of Ming Dynasty publishers and writers, most of them were revised and polished accordingly. They are therefore inevitably different from Song Dynasty vernacular stories, but they remain largely unchanged in terms of the stories’ basic frames, main ideas and artistic features. Contemporary scholars have identified an approximate total of 40 huaben hailing from the Song Dynasty. Xiaoshuo in Song Dynasty show obvious plebeian traits. In an unprecedented move, most of their leading characters are city folk. In Carving the Jade Guanyin, Cui Ning is a jade worker and Qu Xiuxiu is the daughter of a framer. In Supervisor Zhicheng Zhang, Zhang Sheng is in charge of a wool store whose owner is a young lady. In The Mistaken Execution of Cui Ning, Cui Ning is a villager with a silk floss retail business, while Chen Erjie is the daughter of Chen Maigao the baker, and Liu Gui is a small businessman. In Wan Xiuniang Takes Revenge Through Toy Pavilions, Wan Xiuniang is the

SECTION 2 XIAOSHUO, THE MOST POPULAR SUBGENRE OF SHUOHUA

daughter of a tea shop owner. In Wu Qing Meets Ai’ai by Golden Bright Pond, Ai’ai is the daughter of an inn owner. In Le Xiaoshe Fighting for Love, Le is the son of a grocery shop owner. The seven characters in One Songbird Causes Seven Deaths are a householder of production machinery, a hooper, a medicine dealer, a sedan chair carrier and so on. Moreover, the plot is determined and unfolds according to the values of city folk, conveying their feelings of happiness, anger, grief and joy, their appreciations and interests. Love elements in the plot of Song Dynasty xiaoshuo unfolded through the figures of city folk daughters with minimal qualms and no bashfulness. These are bold, daring and ardent stories where a strong sense of individuality is particularly apparent for the female characters. All these traits relied on the characters’ financial self-reliance and capacity to live. Gallant leading characters in the Song Dynasty were largely plebeian vagrants, and some of them were even thieves, such as in Toy Pavilions or Song the Fourth Greatly Torments Tightwad Zhang. In the latter, Song the Fourth, Zhao Zheng, Hou Xing, Wang Xiu and others are all thieves extraordinaire who cut off Inspector Ma Han’s sleeves and Magistrate Teng’s golden buckle, playing tricks on them. High ranking officials and despotic gentry are scorned and derided in a piece that is not without a dose of black humour. However, Song the Fourth still lays special emphasis on flaunting the characters’ theivery skills in a story brimming with the wit and humour of the plebes. With regard to gong’an, Song Dynasty xiaoshuo incorporated to a greater degree the grief and sorrows of townspeople. Cui Ning, a silk vendor in The Mistaken Execution of Cui Ning, is publicly executed without further evidence upon being found carrying 15 strings of cash, the same amount reported by the victim of a thief. One Songbird Causes Seven Deaths narrates a trifling and petty story of ruined morality where seven characters meet their demise due to a thrush that is merely worth a couple of silver pieces. The

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aforementioned traits, in fact, are meant to reflect the miserable lives of the lower classes, as well as the seamy side of local officials’ administration. Hence the unreal illusion of Bao Zheng was established as a Northern Song official renowned for his ideal honesty and uprightness. Lingguai and shenxian themed xiaoshuo in the Song Dynasty had very little religious sacredness to them. Likewise, they eliminated the literati’s interests and romantic fantasies that featured in Tang Dynasty xiaoshuo, replacing them with elements of horror, violence, sexuality and perversity. The Account of the Three Pagodas of the West Lake, The Three Demons of Luoyang and A Grotto of Ghosts in the West Mountain are all instances of such works. Although Song Dynasty xiaoshuo had a wide range of themes, they dealt most extensively and deftly with love and court stories. The former placed particular emphasis on young men and women who lived and died for freedom and joy in marriage. Upon death, they became spirits united in their vigorous struggle and unaltered feelings. The ardent, steadfast and self-driven heroines of these stories were particularly inspiring for the audience, with the best exponents being stories such as Carving the Jade Guanyin, The Passionate Zhou Shengxian Creates Havoc at the Fan Tower and The Upright Manager Zhang. Meanwhile, gong’an have their most accomplished instances in titles such as The Mistaken Execution of Cui Ning and The Monk with the Love Letter. Albeit with bizarre plots, the cases themselves were not complicated. The involved character always confessed to false charges under torture and was a victim of injustice. Ultimately, everything would rely on the one-sided efforts of the victim, the assailant’s own accord to lay the case bare—or even a ghost to solve the injustice. Decrepit and muddle-headed government officials and the utter disregard for human life were therefore exposed, and the darkness of the feudal judicial system was equally ferreted out and criticized.

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Although Song Dynasty xiaoshuo focused on the weaving and interspersing of the plot, relying on the story to lure the audience, it has been noted that there is a dialectical relation between the details of the story and the crafting of the characters. One instance would be the beginning of The Monk with the Love Letter, where it is stated that a »thick-browed, big-eyed, snub nose, sharpmouthed« gentleman arrived at a small teahouse at the head of Date Spear Lane. The gentleman, who is actually a monk that desires Yang Shi, Captain Huangfu Song’s beautiful wife, sends her an anonymous letter through a boy named Seng’er, calculating that it will be intercepted. Upon being discovered by Captain Huangfu Song, and under interrogation to Great Magistrate Qian, Seng’er describes the gentleman’s appearance to both of them. Cast off by her husband, Yang goes to live with a woman who pretends to be her paternal aunt and introduces her to the priest, persuading Yang to marry him. When Captain Huangfu Song happens to meet his former wife and the priest at a temple, he realises that his looks were exactly as relayed by Seng’er. From beginning to end, the monk’s appearance is stressed five times, in a simple and apparent, yet vague, way. The wrongdoings of the wicked priest are written in an indistinct, yet particularly clear-cut fashion. In The Passionate Zhao Shengxian Creates Havoc at Fan Tower, Zhao Shengxian and Fan Erlang meet by chance in a teahouse and fall in love at first sight. To make her acquaintance with Fan Erlang, Zhao Shengxian plots a quarrel with a vendor over a glass of sweet water. Zhou Shengxian claims there is a blade of grass in her cup and proceeds to scold the seller: »Why, you’ve played a dirty trick on me! Who do you think I am? I am Zhao Dalang’s daughter from Caomengli. My nickname is Little Miss Shengxian, and I am eighteen years old. Never in my life have I been fooled, and now you try to play your tricks on me! I am an unmarried girl.« Fan Erlang also addresses the seller: »Why, aren’t you the proper trickster! Who do you think

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I am? My brother, who is known as Fan Dalang, runs a lodge at Fan Tower, and I am Fan Erlang. I am nineteen years old, and I have never been fooled. I am an adept crossbowman, and I can manage just fine with a slingshot. And I am not married, either.« Vexed by their words, the sweet-water seller rebukes them: »Have you both lost your minds? What on earth is your point in telling me all of this? Do you want me to act as your matchmaker?« How was the seller to know that this was the scheme of two youngsters for making each other’s acquaintance? It can therefore be inferred that shuohua performers at that time would catch their audience’s attention by vividly imitating the tones of two different characters. Compared to Tang Dynasty shuohua, Song Dynasty xiaoshuo achieved substantial progress in the organisation of storyline and the crafting of characters. With regard to language, Song Dynasty xiaoshuo do not show any vestiges of influence from the translations of Buddhist scriptures, whether in dialogue or narrative. Likewise, they all used the vivid language of the marketplace, as well as a large number of strongly descriptive folk adages and set expressions. With a strong popular flavour, they embodied the popular way of thinking. They thus stood in stark contrast to numerous quotations from shuohua present in Tang Dynasty Buddhist ballad-singing, and different in their structure from the many poems and quatrains found in Tang Dynasty chuanqi. In addition to folk adages and set expressions, Song Dynasty xiaoshuo also contained commentary, annotations, poetry, ci and parallel prose, particularly so in the transition between paragraphs. These can all be cumbersome from a reader’s perspective. From the perspective of shuohua craftsmen and their audience, however, they served to enliven the atmosphere and add some variety to the genre. They are particularly necessary for adjusting the rhythm of the narration. From a certain point of view, this trend towards

SECTION 3 JIANGSHI, RIVAL TO XIAOSHUO

stylisation was precisely a sign of the great progress and maturity attained by the xiaoshuo genre.

Section 3  Jiangshi, Rival to Xiaoshuo Jiangshi (telling folk history) was one of the earliest developed categories of shuohua in the Song Dynasty, as well as was second only to xiaoshuo as the most popular genre of storytelling. The categorization of Song shuohua is unclear. Texts such as The Second Collection of the Records of Yijian, Jiang Shaoyu’s A Collection of Famous Words and Deeds of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi’s Dongpo’s Forest of Anecdotes and Gao Cheng’s Record of the Origins of Things and Affairs all included shuohua that dealt mostly with historical narration. At the time they were not known of yet as jiangshi, but as shuoguhua (‌说古话), i.  e., »telling ancient tales.« Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital listed five jiangshi performers in the Northern Song Dynasty, Sun Kuan, Sun Shiwu, Zeng Wudang, Gao Shu and Li Xiaoxiang. Although they were fewer than the six who engaged in xiaoshuo, the text did mention that »Huo Sijiu« was renowned for »his telling of the Three Kingdoms,« while »Yin Changmai« stood out for »his History of the Five Dynasties.« Therefore, there were actually seven jiangshi performers, one more than there were shuohua entertainers. Furthermore, jiangshi had a genre subdivision that was unprecedented in xiaoshuo, with stories that dealt specifically with the Three Kingdoms and Five Dynasties periods. From this it can be drawn that jiangshi enjoyed an earlier development than xiaoshuo did in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was also more marketable. In fact, jiangshi continued to flourish with the general development of shuohua throughout the Southern Song Dynasty. Book six of Zhou Mi’s Affairs of the Martial Grove, describing »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« lists a total of 23 jiangshi performers. Meanwhile, book 20 of Wu Zimu’s

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6.4.3  Jiangxi Jingdezhen porcelain earthen tomb figurine representing a shuochang performer (2)

Record of the Splendors of the Capital City, »On Classical and Historical Narrations in Xiaoshuo,« cited another two performers, adding up to 25 artists. This very same book also introduced the figure of senior official and jiangshi performer Wang Liu, an outstanding speaker. It is worth noting that shuohua performers recorded in literary works from both Song dynasties were accomplished and renowned gentlemen, most of whom also doubled as jiangshi artists. This is due to two main aspects. On one hand, the strength of jiangshi performers was their ability to »inquire into and record sources,« something that earned them respect from an audience that bestowed upon them titles such as jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), gongshi (candidates who had successfully passed the first grade of the examination system), xuanjiao (proselytizers), wanjuan (literally »ten thousand scrolls«) and other nicknames denoting a high social status. On the other hand, it is also a reflection of the great influence and force that

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

jiangshi enjoyed at that time. It can be said that although jiangshi was not as prosperous as xiaoshuo during the Southern Song Dynasty, it was its only competitor within the genre of shuochang. Guanpu Naide Weng (lit. »the Old Man who Waters His Garden and Practices Patience«) explained clearly the scope of jiangshi in »On the Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters,« in his book Records of the Splendors of the Capital: »The accounting of historical records, the narration of the stories of rise and fall and wars contained in the books, historical and literary works and annals from earlier generations.« It is emphasized that only characters or major events pertaining to the rise and fall of a nation or warfare were recorded in history annals; not all historical events were suitable for the scope of jiangshi. In Record of Splendor, the Old Man of West Lake also emphasized that jiangshi is »a narration of historical records.« However, Song Dynasty jiangshi were not separated from other themes by definite boundaries. For instance, Luo Ye stated in Chatterings of an Old Drunkard, »The Origins of Xiaoshuo«: They also tell of Huang Chao Plagues the World as well as Zhao Zheng Creates Havoc in the Capital. Those who relate tales of war have at their disposal Liu and Xiang Vie for Supremacy, while those who discuss stratagems speak of Sun and Pang Contest Their Wits. New stories tell of Zhang, Han, Liu, and Yue, whereas those who relate historical accounts speak of the Jin, the Latter Song, the Qi, and the Liang dynasties.

Jiangshi had the »new stories« of quixotic robber Zhao Zheng and heroes Zhang Jun, Han Shizhong, Liu and Yue Fei, who rose up against the Jin Dynasty. Record of the Splendors of the Capital City by Wu Zimu introduces senior official Wang Liu not only as a man who was »well versed in all history,« but also as the one who »elaborated the texts The Recovery of China and The Legends of the Famous Generals in the Xianchun period.« Perhaps, to the eyes of jiangshi performers, the epic deeds of these contemporary heroes who resisted

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the Jin Dynasty were inevitably bound to stand out on the grounds of »books, historical and literary works and annals.« As a subgenre of shuohua, the structure of jiangshi was also composed of an introduction, a main body and a dénouement. However, this structure was generally simple, unadorned and less refined, with few changes and comparatively rather inferior to xiaoshuo. The introduction was usually composed merely of one or two quatrains or septasyllabic regulated verse. Tales from the Five Dynasties has a concise and comprehensive introduction: »Long years the dragons and tigers fought, / in the Five Dynasties: Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou; States rose and fell as candles gutter out in the wind,  / In swift succession sovereigns lost their thrones.« The imagery and meaning of this ruhua thoroughly summarized the historical content of the Five Dynasties, inviting the audience to listen to the narration intently. However, a majority of ruhua enumerated in a stereotyped way the rise and fall of dynasties and were as dull as rhymed formulas. This goes as far as Fully Illustrated Tales of King Wu’s Toppling of King Zhou and A Brief Account of the Subjugation of Liao by Xue Rengui having the exact same introduction—something unprecedented in xiaoshuo. With regard to their main body, jianghua were deeply influenced in their narrative method by historical records, narrating events chronologically, from beginning to end. Their main framework was composed of chronological records and history presented in separate accounts of important events. Given that jiangshi is also known as »narrating historical records« (»jiang shishu« 讲 史书), this narration logically adhered to official history, particularly with regard to significant events of the rise and fall of dynasties and warfare campaigns. Sometimes this adherence came to the extent of taking large passages or piecing together books, historical and literary works and annals from earlier generations. Likewise, the sto-

SECTION 3 JIANGSHI, RIVAL TO XIAOSHUO

ries of characters who rose to power and position were often embedded with numerous legends (chuanshuo 传说) and folk stories. These were said to »narrate the rise and fall [of dynasties] and adhere to historical records; praise scholarly honour and always stay true to tales.« The language of jiangshi also imitated formal history and was not as vivacious and smooth as that of xiaoshuo. Even though jiangshi had rather strong spoken language overtones, it was not purely vernacular and urbane. The language of yanyi (historical novels) and xiaoshuo of later generations was developed on the basis of the language of jiangshi. Due to the extensive time span of events narrated in jiangshi, they had to be recounted in many takes. Therefore, jiangshi huaben were not only divided into books and volumes, but also had detailed tables of contents. Because they also had numerous main threads, narratorial addresses such as »say,« »meanwhile,« »we were telling you,« »and then speak of,« and »the narrative divides at this point,« were constant throughout the narration process. Jiangshi also had sanchang (dénouement) poems that mostly followed the pattern of pentasyllabic and heptasyllabic quatrains and were quite simple. It should be noted, however, that they were rather frequent throughout the body of the jiangshi. Compared to xiaoshuo, jiangshi appears to be a relatively naïve genre within vernacular storytelling art, with many instances of structurally messy works, characters of a vague nature, consistently incoherent plots and a mix up of classical and vernacular language. Stories crafted by a shuohua performer, as well as those that were originally folk tales, had a mostly colloquial and vernacular language. Meanwhile, it appears that events recorded in historical books took over classical Chinese. It is estimated that extant huaben dealing with jiangshi are merely outlines or simple records of the shuohua of jiangshi performers, unlike the remaining huaben of xiaoshuo that were intensively polished by literati.

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Master Liang’s Nine Remonstrances is a jiangshi huaben from the Northern Song Dynasty which has been unanimously verified by a large part of academia. It is also a product of the transition period from the shuochang of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties to the shuochang of the Song Dynasty. Master Liang’s Nine Remonstrances represents the early form of Song Dynasty jiangshi. The New Edition of Tales from the Five Dynasties is a sample of jiangshi artistry in the middle period of the Song. Remnant Affairs of the Xuanhe Reign likely stemmed from adherents of the Song Dynasty upon its subjugation. It is a volume revised by survivors from the Song Dynasty and then polished and printed for publication during the Yuan period, reflecting some of the patterns present in late Song Dynasty jiangshi artistry. Although the comprehensive volume was abridged to appear in book form, it does not show mastery of its subject through comprehensive study, nor is it particularly artistic. However, from the point of view of either the development of jiangshi or Chinese xiaoshuo in history, it seems as though it is more worthy of investigation than extant jiangshi huaben.

Section 4  The Remnants of Sujiang 1. Shuojing, Telling Scriptures The rampant temple preaching and chanting of religious scriptures in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the practise of »singing bian,« a popular form of narrative literature with alternate prose and rhyme for recitation and singing, often on Buddhist themes (zhuanbian 啭变), was not only a method of proselytising for Buddhist monks, but also a way to »speak to the laity to solicit alms.« Following the vogue of the artistry of Song Dynasty pleasure quarters, either as a means to spread Buddhism or with the intention of solicit-

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

ing alms from the laity, the school of vernacular storytelling art form known as shuojing (»telling scriptures«) also found its way from the temples into the pleasure quarters, becoming one of its art forms. However, book five of Meng Yuanlao’s Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, »The Artistry of the Pleasure Quarters in the Capital« does not contain any mention to shuojing. When shuojing entered the pleasure quarters, it became a subgenre of shuohua, approximately during the Southern Song Period. This, as well as the flourishing of pleasure quarters, was closely related to the prosperity of Neo-Confucianism and Chan (Zen) Buddhism in the south. There were three types of shuojing in the Song Dynasty. Besides shuojing itself, also known as the »orating of Buddhist texts« (»yanshuo foshu« 演说 佛书), there were also »telling about meditation« (»shuo canqing« 说参请) and the subsequent »telling comic sutras« (»shuo hunjing« 说诨经). Those who cultivated this art form were not only Buddhist monks, such as You Yuan, Da Li or Zhou Taibian, but also laymen such as Yin Xiu, Hun Su and Dai Xin’an—as well as Buddhist nuns such as Lu Miaohui and Lu Miaoying. It is worth noting that Miaohui and Miaoying wrote poems and essays upon Emperor Xizong of Jin’s order. The emergence of shuo hunjing as a type of shuojing and the fact that there were Buddhist nuns among the artists of this genre show that the telling of sutras was increasingly critical of the tendency of secularisation during the Song Dynasty. However, the prosperity of shuojing was hardly a match for the success of xiaoshuo and jiangshi. The peak of Tang Dynasty sujiang, which »filled the temple with listeners,« soon resembled the fleeting beauty of a daylily. The Story, With Poems, of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Obtained the Buddhist Sutras is the only extant shuojing huaben from the Song Dynasty, and it is also the earliest existing literary work dealing with the theme of Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk and translator Xuanzang, and his

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pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures. It is believed that it was merely a master copy for shuojing craftsmen in their reciting of scripture. It has an unbalanced number of words in each paragraph, with a maximum of over one thousand and six hundred characters and a minimum under one hundred. Although the language used is puerile and plain, it still reveals a simple, vivid pen. A proper instance of this is the description of a beautiful woman who turns out to be a devil at the Valley of the Fire-spitting White Tiger Spirit: »[It was] a woman dressed in white gauze who wore a white bodice and a white skirt with a belt while holding in her hands a single white peony. Her face was beautiful as a white lotus, and her ten fingers seemed to be sculpted in precious jade.« The character for »white« is used five times in order to give readers a distinct impression. Reminiscing those who recited sutras perfunctorily picking up this book is certainly and exceedingly splendid. The Story, With Poems, of How Tripitaka of the Great Tang Obtained the Buddhist Sutras took Xuanzang’s historical pilgrimage to India for Buddhist scriptures and transformed it into a full-fledged mythological story. It also implies the transformation of the main character of Journey to the West, Xuanzang, from Buddhist monk to monkey traveller. Last but not least, it provides the foundations for some rather bizarre plotlines in Journey to the West.

2. Shuo Canqing, Telling about Meditation The vernacular storytelling art form known as shuo canqing (»telling about meditation«) is not seen in any of the sujiang of the Tang Dynasty, and is believed to have developed as a subgenre of shuojing in the pleasure quarters. Canqing is a Buddhist temple term implying the act of sitting in deep meditation to attain enlightenment. Shuo canqing refers to the telling of such stories to entertain the audience. The doctrine of canchan had a recreational side with plenty of »sharp words.« Lending themselves to infinite adaptation, and in-

SECTION 4 THE REMNANTS OF SUJIANG

cisive like tongues wagging in a debate, their foolish and simple stories incited laughter and closely resembled the gags from Song Dynasty zaju. For this reason, shuohua performers borrowed them as themes and dramatized them to eke out a livelihood. Quotations of Questions and Answers Between Lay Buddhist Su Dongpo and Chan Master Fo’yin is considered to be a shuo canqing huaben and is divided in twenty-seven sections. The book is mostly a record of Su Dongpo and Chan Master Fo’yin mutual teasing. Despite being a lay Buddhist and a Buddhist monk, the bright banter of this volume is rarely related to Buddhist doctrine and more often resembles drinkers’ wager games and riddles. For instance, »Enjoying Drinking Games with Fo’yin« states: Dongpo and Fo’yin were drinking together when the latter said: »I shall dare to utter a few verses that I hope you will enjoy: ›If one is not stingy, one can’t be rich; if one is not rich, one can’t be stingy. Turn stingy and turn rich; turn rich and turn stingy. Wealth is stinginess; stinginess is wealth.‹« Dongpo promptly sneered: »If one is not bald, one can’t be evil; if one is not evil, one can’t be bald. Turn evil and turn bald; turn bald and turn evil. Evil is bald; bald is evil.«

Since shuo canqing was composed of brief banter and replies, it was difficult to perform independently. Performances may have been carried out in two ways. One of them was as a prelude to shuojing and therefore equivalent to the humorous introduction (xiaoshua touhui) to xiaoshuo huaben, or prior to the beginning of shuojing and with equally comical purposes. The other one was as an interlude to shuojing, where some simple canqing stories were mixed in the plot to arouse the audience’s interest. Shuo canqing was a mere appendage to shuojing, as Affairs of the Martial Grove, describing »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« notably proved by including the names of shuo hunjing craftsmen within the subgenre of shuojing, but not those of shuo canqing performers.

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3. Shuo Hunjing, Telling Comic Sutras Although shuo hunjing appears in Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital and Affairs of the Martial Grove, neither of these works introduced its specific content. It is generally fairly difficult to compose an art form of comic talk and banter in Buddhism. As such, it is believed that shuo hunjing were mainly concerned with jokes and even vulgar stories at Buddhist temples. In those clans that practiced shuohua artistry, shuojing occupied a fairly low status, having never been a match for either xiaoshuo or jiangshi. Following the fall of the Song Dynasty and the disappearance of the pleasure quarters, the art of scripture telling was also dispersed into the wind and scattered like the clouds. Temples themselves stood no comparison between past and present, and the telling of sutras lost its support, never to regain it. From then on, having perished upon the end of Song Dynasty itself, part of its function was inherited by, and managed to survive in, popular storytelling and signing scripts.

Section 5  The Byproducts of Storytelling Art forms similar to shuohua were hesheng 合生, shangmi 商谜, i.  e., »discussing riddles« and shuo hunhua 说诨话, i.  e., »telling jokes«. Speaking as a central part of the performance was common for all of them. They differed in that shuohua was a narrative art, while hesheng, shangmi and shuo hunhua were not.

1. Hesheng, Performing Instant Poems Hesheng is a poetry- and ci-based school of the vernacular storytelling art form. Volume two, book six of Song Dynasty historian Hong Mai’s The Second Collection of the Records of Yijian, »Hesheng Poetry,« states:

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces had itinerant female entertainers, clever and artful women who could read and promptly chant poetry on demand. Those performers who had to earn their living at the command of others were called hesheng. Those performers who added leisure and satirical elements to their art were known as qiao hesheng. Such were the customs of the capital.

Hong Mai simultaneously cited two examples, one for reciting or composing poetry and one for chanting ci. It is thus clear that hesheng could refer to either reciting or chanting. Because these poems were short, small and musical, they often closely resembled the drunken literati’s wager games at banquets. Therefore, when Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital mentions hesheng in »The Artistry of Pleasure Quarters in the Capital,« it is stated that »hesheng surged with and resembled drinking games, and they were both the same affair.« It is possible that the form of early hesheng was not inflexible, and that it gradually adopted a fixed form and even a fixed tune. Southern Tunes with Nine Modes and Correct Origins and the sanqu anthology Exquisite Selections from the Forest of Song both had hesheng-themed qu and ci from Southern Drama. Qiao hesheng can be seen in Ballads of the Romance of the Western Chamber at several instances: when Zhang Sheng receives Ying Ying’s letter and in Maid Hongniang’s chant, as well as when Zhang Sheng gives Hongniang an account of the real circumstances in which Ying Ying sent the letter. In all of these there is a taste of self-complacency that conforms with Hong Mai’s definition of »[Those performers who added] leisure and satirical elements to their art were known as qiao hesheng.« It can be said that this qu, from its lyrics to the pitch, offers a glimpse of the authentic nature of the practise of qiao hesheng in the Song Dynasty.

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2. Shangmi, Discussing Riddles Shangmi was an art form revolving around riddle guessing, where shang alluded to the act of discussing. The common practice of guessing riddles enjoyed great popularity in the Song Dynasty. Not only they were a part of the Lantern Festival, as indicated per the saying: »May lantern riddles be abundant for people to discuss,« but they also permeated daily life. Quotations of Questions and Answers between Lay Buddhist Su Dongpo and Chan Master Fo’yin had the two eponymous characters guessing riddles: Fo’yin had two hundred and fifty copper coins and showed them to Dongpo, saying: »I have this riddle here for you to discuss with me.« Dongpo thought some and then replied: »One copper cash coin has four characters. Therefore, there are one thousand characters in two hundred and fifty coins. Is it possible that this riddle is alluding to The Thousand Character Classic?« Fo’yin smiled without answering.

Records of the Splendors of the Capital describes in its section,  »Society,« the existence of clubs dedicated to guessing riddles: »The South, North and West Pavilion all dealt with the guessing of riddles in the Jiangyou [a dated term for Jiangxi Province] style. Those who studied poetry gathered in groups.« However, the commercial nature of shangmi in the pleasure quarters transformed the course of the riddle guessing process into a visual, audible and enjoyable artistry. Shangmi had a rich riddle form and a fixed melody that beckoned the audience, and the guessing of the riddle itself relied on a rather cleverly arranged course: there was a principle to the mystery, a proper guess, an assessment of the riddle’s knots, a solving of the knots, a move towards wisdom, an examination of reasons and, finally, reaching clarity. There were questions and answers, as well as the constant contest of wits. Because it still allowed the audience to take part in the riddle guessing, it was

SECTION 5 THE BYPRODUCTS OF STORYTELLING

considered to put both the performer and the public on equal footing, therefore granting a rather interesting performance. The mention to shangmi in the Old Man of West Lake’s Record of Splendor is in the line »learning shangmi by heart,« and from this it can clearly be seen that at that time shangmi had a script. In the Yuan period, Li Zhi stated in Supplementary Records from the Past to the Present that: »Court musician Liu Zicai has recently accumulated several dozen riddle books from men of talent.« It is believed that these were actually shangmi scripts penned by »talented writers of writing clubs« that were handed down from the Song Dynasty but are unfortunately lost nowadays. Book five of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital states that renowned shangmi artists in the Northern Song Dynasty Period included Mao Xiang and Huo Bochou. Book 20 of Record of the Splendors of the Capital City narrates that shangmi artists Ma Dingzhai and Buddhist monk You Gui were »well-versed in the writing of records.« Book six of Affairs of the Martial Grove, describing »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« cites a total of 13 shangmi artists: Hu Liulang, Wei Dalin, Zhang Zhen, Zhou Yueyan, the Buddhist monks Man Ming and Jie Ji, scholar Dong Wu, Chen Yun, Zhang Yuezhai, Wei Zhihai, Xiao Huliu, Ma Dingzhai and Wang Xinzhai. Among the non-narrative storytelling arts, shangmi was quite popular.

3. Shuo hunhua, Telling Jokes The art of »telling jokes«, known as shuo hunhua or, alternatively, tan hunhua, was a regular feature in the pleasure quarters of the Song Dynasty. Book five of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital cites Zhang Shanren as a performer of this art form, while the Old Man of West Lake’s Record of Splendor and book six of Affairs of the Martial Grove speak only of Zhang Silang. It is thus clear that shuo hunhua was not particularly prosperous in the artistry of the pleasure quarters in either of the Song dynasties. Zhang Shanren, however, did

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enjoy great popularity among the artists of such venues in that period. In Song Dynasty documents and literature of value, he was said to have dominated the scene of male performers, being only second to Li Shishi. Zhang Shanren, whose personal name was Shou, hailed from Shandong and made it to Kaifeng as a performer. Shuo hunhua was logically not only merely comprised of mocking huaji stories to be interpreted at their face value. Instead, the art form used either a pre-Tang verse form that consisted chiefly of seven-character lines interspersed with shorter or longer ones, or 17-syllable poems that satirized affairs of the times. 17-syllable long poems followed a structure where every three five-syllable verses were interspersed with a two-syllable verse. The core of the poem was in the last two characters. Song Dynasty scholar Wang Zhuo referred to them as changduanju, and it is possible that they were meant to be chanted in that period. Tao Zongyi, an eminent scholar of late Yuan period, stated in book 25 of his Records Taken at the Southern Village After Farm Work, in »Names of Opera Scripts«: »There was traditional opera, chanted jest and ci poetry in the Song Dynasty.« Due to its

CHAPTER IV THE BRILLIANT ART OF STORYTELLING

use of poetry to satirise current events, shuo hunhua was dreaded by those who had eventful lives. Volume two, book 18 of Hong Mai’s The Second Collection of the Records of Yijian describes Zhang Shanren as »[a man] whose mouth was feared by all and showered in gifts of food and drink, money and silk.« In Record of Banquet Tales by the Sheng River, Wang Zhi narrates that Zhang Shanren incurred lawsuits due to his artistry. It is believed that this might have been a reason why shuo hunhua did not prosper. Upon the fall of the Song Dynasty, shangmi, hesheng and shuo hunhua all faded—along with the pleasure quarters where they had developed. However, documents and significant literature from the Yuan and Ming dynasties show that they were kept alive by the folk, albeit their forms were thoroughly changed. For instance, riddle guessing did prevail among townspeople, while hesheng remained in vogue at feasts. Meanwhile, according to book 47 of Lang Ying’s Revised Drafts in Seven Categories, the 17-syllable poems characteristic of shuo hunhua were still a resource for skilful performers to satirise events in the time of the Zhengde Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

CHAPTER V  THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE ART OF SINGING-STORYTELLING IN URBAN LIFE Section 1  The Traditional Artistry of Singing In the vernacular storytelling art of the Song and Jin dynasties, ditties (xiaochang 小唱) and popular short songs and lyrics (chang lingqu xiaoci 唱 令曲小词) were well-established, vastly spread art forms. Pleasure quarters were far from being their only, or even main, performance venues. Instead, they were scattered around all kinds of entertainment venues, from the imperial palace to aristocratic courtyard villas, and even »blue mansions« (a euphemistic name for brothels), wine shops and teahouses.

1. Xiaochang: Singing Small Excerpts from Grand Suites As implied by the Chinese term xiaochang, ditties were a rather casual, small-scale vocal performance meant to serve as an accompaniment— similar to the short songs of the present. However, the genre had a specific meaning in the Song and Yuan dynasties. The content of the tunes was to be considered primary. The Song Dynasty author known by the pen name of Nai Deweng stated in the section on »Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters« of his volume Records of the Splendors of the Capital: Xiaochang, meaning a type of slow tune [manqu 慢曲] or breakdown tune [qupo 曲破] that is sung with clappers, basically layed stress on frivolity and lightness, and was therefore intended as a cultured way of enjoying oneself. It was of the same form as the forty grand suites and whirling dances [wuxuan 舞旋] and has vanished from today’s pleasure quarters altogether.

Song Dynasty author Zhang Yan wrote in Sources of the Ci (Ciyuan 词源): »Slow tunes, introductions and close beats [jin 近, also known as jinpai 近拍] are quite distinct, [and] they are known as xiaochang.« Although records vary slightly in both books, slow tunes, breakdown tunes, introductions and close beats were all components of grand suites. Manqu, which as explained above means »slow tunes,« were also known simply as »slow« (man 慢) or »preludes« (getou 歌头). Slow tune lyrics were known as »long song lyrics« (manci 慢词) and were part of a »mid-prelude« (zhongxu 中序) in the grand suites of the Song Dynasty. Breakdown tunes were the third part of the grand suites of the Tang Dynasty, and included both singing and dancing. Because the dance predominated, it was also known as the »dance section« (wubian 舞遍). In the Song Dynasty, breakdown tunes already stood separately as song and dance performances. An instance of this is found at Shi Hao’s Random Records from the Wise Man Living in Seclusion in Maofeng, which describes »sword dances« ­(jianwu 剑舞). Introductions were present in the initial part of the mid-prelude, while close beats followed the slow tune that was part of that mid-prelude and preceded the breakdown tune, with an initially slow tempo that sped up gradually. It is thus clear that ditties were excerpts of grand suites. In ancient China, grand suites were large scale combinations of singing, dancing and instrumental music. Their lyrics were poems during the Tang Dynasty and ci during the Song Dynasty. They were mostly popular at imperial feasts and sacrificial ceremonies, where ceremonial and court music was appropriate.

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Although all Song Dynasty songs had the tonal patterns and rhyme schemes of ci poetry, ditties mainly understood as slow tunes and what were known as »short, sung ci poems« were still different from each other. In chapter  20 of Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan 水浒传), Dame Wang asks Ximen Qing about his mistress in the outer house (waizhai 外宅, a euphemistic term for brothel), to which he replies that she must mean »Zhang Xichun, who sings slow tunes.« This goes to show that those ditty performers who sang slow tunes were entirely different to those who usually sung songs and arias (ciqu 词曲). Because ditties came from grand suites, they were rather similar to songs selected from the genres of opera (geju 歌 剧) and song and dance dramas (gewuju 歌舞剧). Compared with performances of opera and song and dance dramas, ditties were easy, convenient and unrestrained; compared with the average vocal performance, they were refined and adequate. The second peculiarity of ditties was their singing method. Because they were part of grand suites, numerous particularities and norms applied to them. Zhang Yan’s Sources of the Ci states: With regard to ditties, it is necessary to possess a mellow and full voice. Combined with the plain tartar pipe, it has an excellent sound, unrivalled by that of a vertical bamboo flute. Slow tunes are not to exceed a hundred characters, and present high and low modulations in their middle section; there are secondary symbols involving holds or ornaments and deflections such as »stops« [ding 丁], »sustaining a high note« [kang 抗], »reductions« [qing 擎] and »gliding« [zhuai 拽], and there are major pauses, minor pauses, major stops, minor stops, strikes, turns and other notations; it can truly be said that the musical contour must rise and fall at will and be able to turn, and the finale resemble [the breaking of] a willow tree; emphatic notes seem made by the square; quavers are like the hook [of a spear], and those prolonged on the same key are like pearls strung together. Therefore there is a certain degree of difficulty involved.

CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE ART OF SINGING-STORYTELLING IN URBAN LIFE

This goes to show that the singing of ditties had numerous and rather strict requirements in terms of skills. The musical instruments that served as an accompaniment for ditties were originally those used for grand suites. For instance, volume nine of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, in »Ministers and High Officials, Princes, Members of the Royal Clan, and the Hundred Officials Enter the Forbidden Interior to Offer Long Life Wishes to the Emperor,« states that: […] for the emperor’s wine [yujiu 御酒] within the first round of cups, one person from the song and clapper section sings the »middle section« [of a major sequence] through to the end; the first time through one each of the reed organ, the panpipes, and the flute play harmony; the second time through all of the instruments play in unison, and then the voice of the singer is heard solo.

However, apart from the indispensable clappers, the most standard instrumental accompaniment to ditties was the Tartar pipe (bili 觱篥). Zhang Yan’s Origins of the Ci explains: »When combined with the mute Tartar pipe, the sound is superb, unrivalled by that of the vertical bamboo flute.« Much like the genre itself, ditty performers originally emerged from grand suite singers. The strongest evidence of this claim is the account of the court celebrations on the occasion of the emperor’s birthday, where the name of Lu Enxian is cited as both an official in charge of court meetings, banquets, worship and praise—and a ditty performer among the various artists. Therefore, ditties in the Song and Yuan dynasties had both male and female performers in its ranks. In brief, it was during the Song and the Jin dynasties that ditties separated themselves from grand suites and became independent—a specialised art form with its own performance scope, patterns and methods. From then on, they were known as ditties, and became a counterpart to the grand suites that had been their parent genre.

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SECTION 1 THE TRADITIONAL ARTISTRY OF SINGING

6.5.1  Frescoes depicting singers on the southwestern wall of Song Dynasty Tomb no. 2 of the Zhenying East ­Mausoleum Area, Baisha, Yuzhou (formerly Yu County), Henan

2. Piaochang: Expressive Singing from the Street Another counterpart to ditties were so-called »dirty songs« (piaochang 嘌唱). What were these? Records of the Splendors of the Capital describes them in the section »On the Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters«: »[it] is the singing of popular short songs and lyrics to a drum accompaniment. They drive forth filler words and make free use of all the gong and diao modes. They are of the same form as the fruit hawking songs and the singing of comic melodies.« In accordance with tradition, ditties were accompanied by clappers, while drums were used to control the rhythm in dirty songs. The contents of ditties were slow tunes and breakdown tunes, whereas dirty songs were composed of popular short songs and lyrics. The performance style of ditties was described as »essentially laying stress on frivolity and lightness, and therefore intended as a cultured way of enjoying

oneself, being of the same form as the forty ›grand suites‹ and ›whirling dances‹.« Meanwhile, the performance style of dirty songs was based on the abovementioned method of »driving forth filler words and making free use of all the gong and diao modes, being of the same form as the fruit hawking songs and the singing of comic melodies.« That is to say, the style of ditties was refined and unhurried, and belongs to the category of the forty grand suites and whirling dances, while the style of dirty songs was full of marketplace flavour, intense and fluctuating, and was integrated with the so-called fruit hawking songs (jiao guozi 叫果子) and comic melodies (shuaqu 耍曲). Dirty songs in particular at that time emerged from the marketplace, were vigorous and exuberant, and made their way from there into the courtyard houses gradually. Ditties, on their part, waned gradually due to the strict adherence of the genre to the specifications of the forty grand suites, to such an extent that they even »vanished from today’s pleasure quarters altogether.«

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CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE ART OF SINGING-STORYTELLING IN URBAN LIFE

6.5.2  Tianxi Town, Anyang City, Henan Province. Facsimile of a fresco depicting piaochang performers on a tomb dating from the tenth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1077)

Judging from the records of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital and Memoirs of Wulin, ditties could not vie with dirty songs. It is an undisputable fact that the latter far exceeded the former in terms of prosperity in the pleasure quarters. Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital listed as piaochang performers the names of Zhang Qiqi, Wang Jingnu, Zuo Xiaosi, An Niang and Mao Tuan. Memoirs of Wulin cited the names of Shi Erniang, Shi Chunchun, Shi Jiajia, He Zonglian, Yan Piantou, Xiang Dabi, Ge Si, Xu Shengsheng, Geng Si, Niu An’an, Jin Yuanyuan, Qian Yinnu and Zhu Banban among others—far more than there were ditty performers.

3. Singing of Popular Short Songs and Lyrics Ci songs were popular in the Song Dynasty. In addition to the more specific skills for ditties and dirty songs, the singing of popular short songs and lyrics had more numerous and extensive forms. They were extremely simple and merely involved the use of clappers as an accompaniment. They were meant to either amuse oneself or entertain

others. Although this style of performance did not gain independence within the pleasure quarters, it was actually the most widespread and flourishing, because it was related with the prostitution at tea houses and wine shops. What was then the difference between the singing of popular short songs and lyrics and ditties? In terms of theme and content, ditties were excerpts from grand suites, mainly the slow tune. These ci poems composed to the set tunes were generally polished and improved by performers themselves in workshops, with a rather strict tuning and considerably difficult vocal music, much like the present-day art of singing. Popular short songs and lyrics were comparatively short and lively, light-hearted and expressive, easy to learn and sing, and similar overall to present-day popular tunes. With regard to the aesthetics of the vocal performance, ditties combined both masculine and feminine elements, while popular short songs and lyrics were more lyrical, and emphasised a gentle and lovely sound. This was largely related to their setup in a social context charged with

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intense eroticism. In terms of the pattern of the vocal performance, ditties had rather rich accompaniment. They could be sung as an ensemble to the background of the entire grand suite, with the accompaniment of the clappers and the Tartar pipe or even just the clappers. Meanwhile, the accompaniment of popular short songs and lyrics resembled sung opera arias more closely, with few accompaniments other than the clappers. Lastly, both men and women could be ditty performers, while popular short songs and lyrics were generally performed by young women and frequently had sexual connotations. However, the fact that both popular short songs and lyrics and ditties were forms of ci songs meant that neither of them had definite boundaries. Even though ditties were the long song lyrics from grand suites, these differed from other ci songs merely in that they were comparatively longer in characters, had a complex structure, and a slow, unhurried rhythm. Their main accompanying instrument was the clappers, and it is believed that it was not difficult back then for one of the genres to reverse into the other, as they often influenced and permeated each other. Upon the decline of ci songs in the late Song Dynasty, both ditties and popular short songs and lyrics changed with the seasons, the one developing under the cover of the other. Although their names remained unchanged, their contents were replaced by those of the non-dramatic songs (sanqu 散曲) and the folk song genre known as »little melodies« (xiaodiao 小调). The differences became indistinguishable.

Section 2  Changzhuan, Popular Songs of the Entertainment Quarters The form of narrative singing known as changzhuan 唱赚, i.  e., cadenzas or turns, was a popular song style in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty.

SECTION 2 CHANGZHUAN, POPULAR SONGS OF THE ENTERTAINMENT QUARTERS

6.5.3 Picture by Southern Song Dynasty artist Su Hanchen depicting acrobat children, from the collection of the Taipei Palace Museum

On the one hand, it enjoyed a great deal of popularity with townspeople, even winning the favour of the upper classes. For instance, volumes three and six of Memoirs of Wulin state that changzhuan associations in the Southern Song Dynasty included the »Cloud Stilling Society,« and cited the names of Pu Sanlang and Shanli Erlang among a total of 20 artists. They were only second in number to those of novels and historical storytelling, which proves the popularity of the genre. This same book narrates the ceremony of the empress returning on a visit to the ancestral temple, where »the brief pause in the middle of a banquet« (xiezuo 歇坐) and »the fourth cup« (disizhan 第四 盏) actually referred to changzhuan—therefore proving that they were very much in vogue. On the other hand, this vocal art form was criticized by authors of traditional ci songs, who excluded

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it from their orthodox craft, and thought it plain and deceitful despite its straightforwardness and concision. According to Records of the Splendors of the Capital, the origins of changzhuan trace back to the Northern Song Dynasty. The genre went through three periods—the first being the Northern Song Dynasty Period (the »days of the capital of the country«), followed by the intermediate Southern Song Dynasty Period (after the restoration) and a third period comprised approximately of the two-year long Duanping era of Emperor Lizong of Song’s reign, that is, the date of Records of the Splendors of the Capital itself, and was therefore considered as »present time« in the book. The songs themselves went through three styles: the early vernacular storytelling song forms known as intertwined tunes and alternate tunes (changling 缠令 and chanda 缠达), Zhang Wuniu’s vocal tunes, known as turns (zhuan 赚), and later vocal performances known as repeated variations ­(fuzhuan 覆赚). Zhang Wuniu lived during the Shaoxing reign period of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song, and was known as a master in the history of changzhuan. According to books such as Songs of Great Peace and Memoirs from the Blue Mansions, he not only authored changzhuan, but also penned the »all keys and modes« (zhugongdiao 诸 宫调) piece known as Ballad of Shuang Jian and Xiao Qing, in collaboration with Shang Zhengshu. Books such as Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital and Records of the Splendors of the Capital state that »Zhang Wuniu created the changzhuan after hearing the Four-Sectioned Great-Peace Drum, coming up with the present meter pattern that is modulated by clappers and composed of four parts, beginning slowly and concluding in an accelerando stretto, approaching free-time. This is how ›turns‹ came to be.« Its name also derived from Zhang Wuniu. The etymology of the word itself is »tricker, trick; it makes people just feel how beautiful it is to listen to, so

CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE ART OF SINGING-STORYTELLING IN URBAN LIFE

they are not aware when it has already reached the coda.« This shows that the musical structure of changzhuan was rather compact, because the transition between the tunes was seamless and unified into an integral whole. The most famous author of deviations was Li Shuangya, who was cited in Memoirs of Wulin as being a member of Hangzhou’s »Book Society« and praised as »peerless in the craftsmanship of turns.« Hangzhou, then known as Lin’an and the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, had changzhuan artists such as officials Dou Si and Li Qi, Zhou Zhuchuang, Chen Jiulang, Bao Dushi, Xiangchen Erlang, Diaohua Yilang, Zhao Liulang and Shen Mama. Changzhuan were the songs of the Song Dynasty and experienced a process of development through intertwined tunes and alternate tunes, switches and repeated variations. The first two are the names that were given to the genre prior to Zhang Wuniu’s craft. Upon his creation of the changzhuan-style vocal tune, no matter whether it was an intertwined or alternate tune, a single turn or suites in the hanzhuan style, they were all equally known as changzhuan. It gained increasing independence as a vocal performance in the Song Dynasty, and became a new force of its own as a suite of songs aligned under the same musical mode. As for repeated variations, turns assumed this form in the later period as a suite of songs. Due to changzhuan embracing rich melodies, it was extremely complex in terms of the form of its operatic tunes, while synthesizing the strengths of many of these tunes at that time. Records of the Splendors of the Capital states: »The most remarkable difficulty of changzhuan is the need to simultaneously compose slow tunes, breakdown tunes, grand suites, ditties, popular short songs and lyrics, recurring tunes, yells and master tunes.« There aren’t many extant music scores for slow tunes, popular short songs and lyrics or yells. However, through the changzhuan music scores of Chen Yuanjing’s book Vast Records of the Forest of Matters, volume seven (»The Marketplace

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Language of the Football Society«), we can infer that Purple Perilla Pellets belonged to yells, while Man (Long Song): Two With You was a slow tune, and Pozi (»Broaching« piece) in the same mode was a breakdown tune. Through these we can still vaguely infer the way in which all sorts of contemporaneous tunes concurred in changzhuan. Changzhuan was also a performance style with a fixed program where first soliloquy texts (ding chang shici 定场诗词) opened a play in what was called a prelude. Moreover, the composition of the band and orchestration had rules as well, i.  e., one person held the clappers, while another beat the drums and a third one played the bamboo flute. Changzhuan was the most popular singing style of its time. It was no longer a style where a bunch of vocal forms disconnected from each other converged together, but a song cycle composed of different tunes that shared one musical mode. Compared to ditties, changzhuan were rich, and felt complete; compared to grand suites and »dharma tunes« (faqu 法曲), they were plain and flexible, and needless to say enjoyed a greater degree of popularity among the townspeople. Wu Zimu’s Account of Dreaming Over a Bowl of Millet described in volume 20, »Entertainment and Pleasure,« the prosperity of prostitutes engaged in entertainment in the capital as well as the numerous banquets and societies of the literati at the time, where changzhuan was always held in high regard. Perhaps the key reason for the prosperity of changzhuan among the townsfolk was that it embodied their tastes while being a straightforward, enthusiastic, sincere and popular style. If popular short songs and lyrics within the Song Dynasty ci are to be considered as the vocal art of the Song Dynasty, then it can be equally said that changzhuan were the popular songs of the pleasure quarters. It naturally comes as no surprise that they were greatly welcomed in the marketplace. Changzhuan in Vast Records of the Forest of Matters were placed in the »literary and artistic« category, and marked as »drinkers’ wager games«.

SECTION 3 ARTISTRY DERIVED FROM VENDORS’ CRIES

They were also the only, single-standing category of vocal performance. This is all evidence that changzhuan was the most common vocal art form in banquets during the late Song and early Yuan periods.

Section 3  Artistry Derived from Vendors’ Cries In the artistry of the Song and Jin dynasties, the vocal art forms known as »yells« and »vernacular peddling« (shuochang huolang’er 说唱货郎儿) stemmed directly from commercial hawking and were closely interrelated to commerce. The difference between both of them is that »yells« belonged to the artistry of pleasure quarters and was popular in town, while the prosperity of »vernacular peddling« was restrained to the shopping streets of the countryside.

1. Hawking »Yells« are also known as »singing cries« ­(yinjiao 吟叫), »reciting with cadence« (yin’e 吟哦) or »fruit hawking songs« (jiao guozi 叫果子), and were also described as »the sounds of marketplace hawking, integrating elements from both the imperial court and trade to compose their ci.« It is believed that yells could be both recited and sung. According to volume nine of Song Dynasty author Gao Cheng’s Compound Source of Matters and Facts, »yelling« as an art form was originally created during the Jiayou reign by musician Du Renjing, who polished the hawks of purple perilla pellet sellers. After the Chongning-Daguan Period came artist Wen Baniang. During the Southern Song Dynasty, yelling performers became more and more numerous. According to volume six of Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin, in »All Kinds of Professional Entertainers,« they were: Jiang Ade, Zhong Sheng, Wu Baisi, Pan Shanshou, Su Ahei and Yu Qing. Yelling artists had their own guilds, known as the »Maids’ Xiangsheng Yelling Soci-

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ety« and the »Magnificent Music Society.« In the vernacular storytelling art of the Song Dynasty, yelling was most closely related to business, and took place mostly at the marketplace—to such an extent that sometimes it was hard to tell whether these performers were actually peddling their art or some ware. The lyrics of Song Dynasty yells were not passed down to our present time. However, the Yuan Period poetic drama Talented and Lustful Wang Huan at the Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers from Selected Yuan Theatre Plays contains an excerpt in the form of a »yelling« ci where Wang Huan is peddling candied pear strips. That moving, alluring, and vivacious piece has been chanted into present time, still mellifluously overflowing with the romantic charm of the marketplace. Equally, despite the lack of any extant music scores for Song Dynasty yelling, volume seven of Vast Records of the Forest of Matters, in »The Marketplace Language of the Football Society,« describes the piece Purple Perilla Pellets, featuring in the changzhuan Little Butcher Sun and the southern drama play Top Scholar Zhang Xie, and instances of yelling found in Yuan Period poetic dramas Raindrops on the Parasol Tree and The Clay Sculpture Doll—and this still allows readers to catch a brief glimpse of the genre. Because yells originated from peddling, they were densely lined with filler words and words inserted for the sake of balance or euphony, the tone was as sweet and agreeable as it was complicated, and there were many changes. Records of the Splendors of the Capital described dirty songs in the section »On the Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters«: »driving forth filler words and making free use of all the gong and diao modes, being of the same form as the fruit hawking songs and the singing of comic melodies.« It can also be said that »driving forth filler words and making free use of all the gong and diao modes« were both characteristic of the operatic tunes for yelling. Volume 20 of Record of the Splendors of the Capital

CHAPTER V THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY OF THE ART OF SINGING-STORYTELLING IN URBAN LIFE

City, »Entertainment and Pleasure,« describing the traits involved in the performance of ditties, stated that: »The voice must be gentle and beautiful while preserving the tune from ›hawking fruit‹ and ›playful singing‹.« This is further evidence that the performance of yelling was not particular about traits such as melodiousness and gracefulness, but was rather imbued with virility. Performances had drums and sets of water-filled cups and bowls that were struck with sticks as instrumental accompaniment. During the Song Period, yelling performances enjoyed great popularity as art forms within the marketplace vernacular storytelling genre, and were quite plentiful in terms of variety. Nai Deweng elaborated in »On the Professional Performers of the Pleasure Quarters,« in his volume Records of the Splendors of the Capital: If a dirty song is added as a rhymed prologue, and then four lines of verse in a row, the result is known as a »vague lead« [yingdai 影带]. If this part is removed, it is then called a »scattered cry« [sanjiao 散叫]. If, instead of beating the drum, one taps only on porcelain, it is known as a »tap« [dapai 拍打].

From the poetic song Purple Perilla Pellets, ever present in southern plays, we can also infer the popularity of the yelling operatic tunes.

2. The Singing Peddler Vernacular peddling as a subgenre of vernacular storytelling art originally emerged from peddling. Much like yelling, it was described as »the sounds of marketplace hawking, integrating elements from both the imperial court and trade to compose their ci.« Because of its rich melody and unique traits, it was gradually acknowledged and imitated in society, eventually becoming an art form within the vernacular storytelling genre. Although  peddling and yelling both originated from commercial peddling, they were separate art forms and did not inherit anything from each other. Peddling tunes were their own genre, and so  peddling melodies,  peddling songs of great

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peace (huolang taiping ge 货郎太平歌),  modulated peddlers’ songs (huolang zhuandiao ge, 货 郎转调歌) and yelling tunes such as  Purple Perilla Pellets, were not related to each other. Yelling was very popular in shopping and pleasure quarters. However, peddling storytellers were not considered as performers, but rather as »itinerant sellers who made their way in and out of countryside villages, baskets in tow.« Yelling never quite became a vernacular storytelling art form—unlike peddlers’ songs, which adopted such pattern. We can see further traces of peddlers’ songs in the poetic drama A Peddler, Imitating Sounds in Storms and Rains. Zhang Sangu, reduced to a mere vernacular storytelling peddler, encounters Li Yanhe by chance and resorts to vernacular peddlers’ songs to narrate his own lot to former official Chun Lang. As a result, the whole family reunites and takes revenge. From A Peddler, Imitating Sounds in Storms and Rains, we can see that peddlers’ songs followed a rather simple and crude vernacular storytelling pattern. When singing, its instrumental accompaniment was merely that of »a few jingling shakes of a snakeskin drum.« Such drumming was not only meant to help with peddling wares and to attract customers, but as a percussion instrument it also served to control rhythm. However, in the absence of a musical instrument that provided melodic accompaniment, singing was »musical and leisurely; an unrestrained tune.« In its spoken form, it greatly resembled shuohua, having small pieces of wood similar to those used in storytelling to strike the table for the audience’s attention at key moments in order to suppress the beginning of a performance. It also shared similar introductory conventions, and the subject of the shuochang had to be stated prior to the main body. Said subject was rather rich and ranged from »new and rare matters on earth« to historic stories and popular hearsay. Sometimes the storytelling was much too long to be finished at one time, and had to be divided into several parts or »chapters.« An instance of this can be found in a play where Zhang Sangu

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says, about himself: »For the sake of narrating all that concerns his entire family and all events, old Zhang Piegu shall divide his storytelling in 24 chapters.«

Section 4  Zhugongdiao Ballads in All Keys and Modes »Medleys,« also called »all keys and modes« (zhugongdiao 诸宫调), emerged in the 11th century as a product of vernacular storytelling literature during the Northern Song Period. Prior to the emergence of these medleys there had been all sorts of vernacular storytelling art forms. However, their tunes were either sung separately, as was the case with numerous little lyrics and shortened melodies, or songs with the same tune and tune name to which ci poems were composed were simply repeated, such as poetic drums or dance melodies with shifting tones (zhuanta wuqu 转踏 舞曲) or, at best, series of changzhuan shared the same tune but had different titles. However, the chanted part of medleys was composed of songs with different tunes. Polyphony was an important feature of medleys, which in fact owe their name to this exact characteristic. Volume two of Song Dynasty author Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter states: »Zezhou County raconteur Kong Sanchuan pioneered the medley that was then passed on and can be recited by all scholars.« The life of Kong Sanchuan remains obscure, and it is believed that »Sanchuan« was merely the performer’s nickname. Other than his hailing from Zezhou County (currently Jincheng city in Shanxi Province), it is only known that he was a medley performer in the pleasure quarters along with Shua Xiucai during the Chongning and Daguan reign periods of Emperor Huizong of Song. Medleys were sung by a single performer. Prior to following the conventions of the Song and Jin

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periods, there were also »greeting words« that functioned as an »introduction« (yinci 引辞, yinzi 引子or yin 引). There could also be a »forfeited introduction« (duansong yinci 断送引辞), implying that said introduction was superfluous, and a gift to the audience. A single medley could have more than one introduction. The prelude of the artist preceding their performance could introduce the contents of the medley, serving as a synopsis; it could boast the brilliance and splendidness of said contents, serving as an advertisement; it

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could even serve as the artist’s own praise of the unrestrained nature and elegance of their style, and the high level of their performance skills. Medley introductions could vary in length and style, and had the highest literary value among all the Song and Jin vernacular storytelling art forms. In terms of the introduction ushering in the main body of the medley, there are presently two known types of introduction. One of them takes place at the beginning of a prose introduction for

6.5.4  Illustration from an edition printed in red and black by the Min family of Wuxing, of the Tianqi Emperor of Ming, depicting a scene from Jin Dynasty writer Dong Jieyuan’s The Western Chamber by Master Dong

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the main body of a medley, where the introduction is chanted from the beginning to the end, bringing everything together. Dong Jieyuan’s The Ballad of the Romance of the Western Chamber is an instance of this type. The second type is seen at the beginning of a verse introduction for the main body of a medley, where the introduction ends with prose to create an intricate contrast. Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao is an instance of this type. Performers played a total of four instruments to accompany medleys: drums, gongs, clapper bars and the Chinese lute. For instance, book two, volume six of Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener states: »In guarded Kuaiji County, there was a female performer of medleys named Hong Huiying. Once, when she was singing, she suddenly interrupted her drumming to say, about herself: ›Huiying has a short song to pour out her heart that she wishes to share.‹ And so she sang …« The Yuan Period poetic music drama (zaju 杂剧) A Medley Play of Wind and Moon in the Courtyard of Purple Clouds had, as a theme, »The Ivory Clappers and the Silver Gong that Please the Lady.« However, the libretto states that »[…]  it was requested that the clappers and the gong were muted« and that »none of those instruments were lifted again,« as »O, that should be far better than forfeiting me  / in the walk of gong and clapper hardwood.« Yuan Dynasty author Xia Tingzhi’s Record of the Pleasure Quarters reproduced a line of verse from a medley by Yang Lizhai: »A lovely, weeping face and a choking string.« The word »string« is in reference to the Chinese lute. However, all references of using the Chinese lute as an accompaniment are restrained to this quote. It seems to be a change brought by the refinement or addition of libations for fun that were part of the later evolution of medleys. Medley songs contained a certain number of musical form units. In terms of musical structure, there were approximately three different types of musical forms: A single tune, used independently.

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A middle-sized intertwined tune that was to be understood as a fixed melody belonging to a similar musical mode, either repeated twice or multi-layered as coda and structure. The third type was composed of a certain number of musical compositions belonging to a similar mode, with a prelude and a coda in a complete and large-scale intertwined tune. This type was rather long and complicated, and the fixed changzhuan melodies they included were often even longer. In terms of their usage, these three types of medleys had different manifestations according to their development. Early period medleys often consisted of single tunes, and the mode changed quickly. Upon singing one or two qu verses from a medley, it turned into a melody belonging to a different mode. An instance would be the medleys in Top Scholar Zhang Xie, which followed a section of vocal operatic music, which was used only for the qu and did not require a coda. This was an excerpt of spoken operatic parts, composed by interspersions. During the Jin Dynasty, the basic patterns followed by medleys did not only rely on the use of single verses, but also on a large number of medium-sized musical forms, that is, early period changzhuan-style intertwined tunes that were composed of a fixed melody belonging to a similar mode that was either repeated twice or multi-layered as a coda and structure. For instance, the extant fragments of Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao show a total of 80 suits, 77 of which followed this musical form. Dong Jieyuan’s The Ballad of the Romance of the West Chamber included 193 song suites, 147 of which were simple intertwined tunes composed of double solo qu verses. In the later period, with the further development and usage of changzhuan-style songs and the development of its own tunes, medleys combined with music based on a unified musical mode also underwent an intensive transformation, with plenty of varieties. Dong Jieyuan’s Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao stands again

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as an instance here, with its longest suite having a total of 15 songs. Meanwhile, the Yuan period work Tales from the Tianbao Era later developed to the point of merging into the antithetical musical suites of contemporaneous non-dramatic songs and poetic dramas. Early medleys used tonal patterns and rhyme schemes of ci poetry. Middle period medleys were transitional in terms of style and had some similarities and differences with both qu-style verses and ci poetry. They were similar to ci in that song lyrics had refrains at the end of each stanza (houdie 后叠), double refrains, triple refrains—up to quadruple refrains. However, qu verses usually did not use refrains at the end, and if they did it was called »a song to the previous tune title« (qianqiang 前腔) or »same tune as above« (yaopian 幺篇). Much like ci, medleys admitted the use of the three rhymes known as hanjian 寒间, luanduan 鸾端 and xianyuan 先元, but not the use of hanshan 寒山, huanhuan 桓欢 and xiantian 先天. They were similar to qu in that medleys had certain ci verses did not use posterior repetitions. In terms of the musical composition of medleys, they were most closely related to the then in vogue changzhuan-style songs. The latter had all sorts of intertwined and alternate tunes and repeated variation suites that were absorbed by medleys and then used in other works. This was particularly true after the Shaoxing Period in the Southern Song Dynasty. Master Zhang Wuniu, the famous founder of the changzhuan style ci, was also a medley author. In a sense, changzhuan-style singing was a subgenre of the medley, which in turn was a combination of prose and changzhuan. The prose section of medleys was mostly used for narrative purposes. However, it also combined lyricism, commentary, and explanation. Essentially, it adopted the language of the marketplace and the spoken language of that moment, therefore becoming a form that was popular, vivacious and catchy. However, as far as the extant Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao and Romance of the Western

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Chamber Zhugongdiao are concerned, the artistic nature of their prose sections was far more modest than their lyric. This was due to reasons including, but not limited to, the fact that the structure of medleys was largely based on singing and the attention of both the compilers and the audience being fully focused on said singing. For instance, the prose in Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao had a section that was evidently outlined and concise—but not specific. It is believed that this was either meant to leave some leeway for the performers, or purposely omitted at the time of engraving, to save some space. As for Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao, its prose section imitated the old text of The Story of Yingying. As a result, it was cramped and remained unexpanded. In order to create some contrast with the vocal part, as well as for the sake of rhyme and rhythm, the prose part of medleys was sometimes actually interspersed with other prose. The verses of the song, however, appeared to be plain and blunt. To make a long story short, there were few words that were barred from entering a qu, and there was a strong spoken flavor to the language. For instance, the section in Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao titled Zhiyuan’s Farewell to Sanniang for Careers in Taiyuan that narrates the conflict between Zhiyuan and his wife, Hong Xin, and Hong Yi, is just as described above. If it can be said that the tunes of medleys were most deeply influenced by changzhuan-style tunes in the vernacular storytelling art form of the Yuan Period of the Song Dynasty, sometimes directly using the sequences of songs characteristic from the changzhuan style, their subjects and prose receiving the deepest influence from vernacular storytelling. This is not only reflected in the compilation of the narrative, which was known to be »edited into a legendary tale of spirits and demons, a sung vernacular storytelling.« The story classification and themes of »broadsword and staff, spears and official names« and »snow,

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6.5.5 Stone carving from a Southern Song tomb depicting music performers at the Guangyan Huangze Temple Cultural Relics Center, located at the prefecture-level city of Guangyuan, Sichuan

moon, wind and flowers; lovers leaning on jadeite in their rendez-vous« were identical, to such an extent that many themes were directly derived from novels. Besides, it is also evident that medleys and historical popular storytelling were both divided in sections and chapters, and that suspense was placed in the plot at the turn of each chapter, »wanting to know what were the events of that chapter prior to listening to the following one.« Its specific techniques, such as feigning striking words in the middle of the narration, were meant to attract the attention of the audience among other reasons, and it also merged with the distinctive style and techniques handed down from master to apprentice. For instance, volume Eleven of Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao narrates in the coda the scene where Liu Zhiyuan and his wife come across and are intercepted and beaten by spouses Hong Xin and Hong Yi:

A group of evil spirits chased the emperor and encountered the gods who keep the law, meeting by chance with Nezha, the Crown Prince. Two wicked murderers came. Zhiyuan’s desire to stay out of harm was unmatched by his feelings for his wife Sanniang. What did that day have in store for the lives of husband and wife?

Up to this point, the vernacular storytelling performer had held his tongue without saying anything, the following contents being volume 12 of this literary work.

Section 5  Liu Zhiyuan and Romance of the Western Chamber There are only three extant medley pieces dating from the Song Dynasty and Jin Period, includ-

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ing fragments of chapters and incomplete texts. These are: Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao, Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao, and the Southern drama Top Scholar Zhang (which had a final section entirely sung in the form of a medley). As for the names of the medley performances at that time, these are the only ones known of: Teasing the Graduate, Stories Between Shuang Jian and Su Jing, The Hegemon King, The Book of Divination, Zhao Wuniang and Cai Bojie, Cui Tao Encounters the Female Tiger, Zheng Zi Meets the Fox Demon, Silver Bottle at the Bottom of a Well, Two Women Compete for a Husband, The Soul of a Beautiful Lady Departs, Cui Hu Asking for Water, Liu Yi Sends a Letter, History of the Three Kingdoms, The Five Kingdoms, The Seven Kingdoms and Scripture of the Eight Yang. These were the names of medleys from the Song and Jin Period that were collected according to documents and literature of value. Essentially, there was no distinction between historical storytelling and the novel in terms of categorization, i.  e., »broadsword and staff, spears and official names« and »snow, moon, wind and flowers; lovers leaning on jadeite in their rendez-vous«. Such seemed to be the repertoire of medleys as well—otherwise Dong Jieyuan would not have been so familiarized with »forfeited introductions.«

1. Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao was discovered in 1907– 1908 by the Russian Kozlov expedition during the excavation of the ancient town of Heishui (west bank of Heishui river, headwaters of the Ruo Shui) in Zhangye, a prefecture-level city in Gansu Province belonging to the Western Regions, a Han Dynasty term for the region west of what was then known as Yumen Pass or Jade Gate. According to simultaneous findings of cultural relics, as well as the layout of the block-print edition of Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao, the language style and the structural stylistic rules used throughout this literary work, the standards of its usage of musical modes

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and other aspects, scholars were able to determine that this was a literary work dating from the 12th century, as well as the earliest extant instance of a block-print edition of a medley. The extant, incomplete edition of Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao has 42 pages and 78 suites of melodies. According to these remaining parts, it can be inferred that the complete edition would have had an approximate total of 200 suites. Although the original volume is incomplete, it also remained unaltered by later generations. As a result, it has preserved the true traits of early medleys and become valuable material for researchers to study the history of Chinese folk musical theater and even the history of language and culture. It was rather simple in its usage of medleys, just like the tone, fast in rhythm with false pauses, known as xiezhidiao 歇指调. However, this tune was not seen in Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao, and became even more of a lost art after the Yuan Period. Its lost melodies, Pillow, A Play of the Three Terraces Tune and Joy of Eternal Union, were all only seen in Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao. Although it is an incomplete volume, Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao retains the initial form of the medley. Judging as it neither used alternate tunes nor a changzhuan-style divertimento, it is quite safe to assume that its emergence can be traced back to the early reign of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin. Language in Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao was close to spoken language, and therefore naturally unsophisticated and clean. It makes for a rather close account of the style characteristics in medleys that showed some similarities with historical storytelling in the styles of broadsword, staff, spears and official names.

2. Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao is the only extant complete medley work, as well as a literary work of the highest ideological and artistic value. Its author was Dong Jieyuan, whose

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life story has been lost. The plot itself stems from Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Zhen’s novel The Story of Yingying. The original author had publicly proclaimed that »it is a general rule that those women endowed by Heaven with great beauty and intelligence invariably either destroy themselves or destroy someone else.« This enabled Scholar Zhang’s character to become heartless for the sake of his rationality, therefore reducing the literary value of the work. For countless years, people have taken great delight in talking about the story of Scholar Zhang and Yingying, a theme that has been repeatedly altered and adapted into numerous versions, and acclaimed as an acme of perfection in the history of Chinese art. The Story of Yingying became a subject of great interest in vernacular storytelling literature and among the literati and craftsmen themselves. Authors such as Yan Shu, Su Shi and Qin Guan all alluded to it in their poetry. Mao Pang’s Song of Flirtation, Zhao Lingzhi’s Shang mode: Butterflies in Love among Flowers: Yuan Weizhi and Cui Yingying, the printed version of the prompt-book for The Story of Yingying and the Song Dynasty poetic drama Yingying’s Dance, among other famous works, all included a chanted version of this story. Although all of them expressed different degrees of regret for Scholar Zhang’s ungrateful behavior of »gleefully casting aside a loved one,« and showed deep sympathy towards Yingying, none of these broke with the setup of seduction and abandonment in The Story of Yingying. The emergence of Dong Jieyuan’s Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao fundamentally broke with the feudal point of view that confined Cui Yingying, the »extraordinarily beautiful woman,« and Scholar Zhang, the seducer bound to abandon his love interest, to a virtuous atonement. In this work, Cui Yingying and Scholar Zhang resolutely flee from the pressure of feudal etiquette and eventually assert their right to marry, therefore replacing the tragic ending in The Story of Yingying, where she was cast aside by

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Scholar Zhang. Dong also put forward the proposition of »genius and beauty being an ideal match since ancient times,« and introduced for the first time the theme of the opposition to feudalism in Scholar Zhang and Cui Yingying’s love story. This is Dong Jieyuan’s bold recreation of The Story of Yingying, as well as the embodiment of the commoners’ wishes for the protagonists of this cherished love story. Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao reshaped the characters in The Story of Yingying according to the needs of the main theme. Albeit still beautiful and full of tenderness for her paramour, Cui Yingying was no longer willing to yield to fate, nor was she a delicate woman pouring her melancholy and secret grudges into poetic letters. The author highlighted her rebellious character against the feudal ethical code through her drastic actions, such as her lifelong pride, and her elopement. Scholar Zhang is written as an affectionate, faithful character who does well from start to finish and fights with Yingying for the sake of their shared happiness. The maid Hongniang was not a prominent character in The Story of Yingying. However, in Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao she becomes a dynamic figure whose power was ubiquitous: Hongniang is a source of courage for Yingying, helps Scholar Zhang, and fights back at Yingying’s mother, the wife of a late senior official. The author used the description of this young maid as an embodiment of the townspeople’s wishes for the protagonist couple. Likewise, the author put the elderly lady, who stubbornly opposes Yingying and Scholar Zhang’s union in wedlock, with Zheng Heng and Sun Feihu for satire, ferreting out and castigation. These two antagonistic groups of characters with a complex network of connections were, in fact, a concentration and summary of their equivalent tropes in the feudal society of that period, therefore reflecting the author’s ideology. Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao was also remarkable in terms of its artistic achieve-

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ments. It has a magnificent structure, where The Story of Yingying, which did not even surpass two thousand characters in length, was expanded to a vernacular storytelling work with 14 types of musical mode, 199 song suites and two singles approximately 50,000 characters in length. It takes love as a plot thread and uses an overlapping technique to describe the thoughts, feelings and actions of the hero and heroine, portraying their character’s development in the process of their falling in love with each other. The ups and downs of the plot are free and unconstrained, with plenty of subtle, vivid and detailed descriptions that are extremely touching. The work makes full use of a narrative technique unbounded by time and setting, integrating an exquisite style of writing, blended narrative, lyricism and scenery description, highlighting the characters’ thoughts and feelings and achieving an artistic sublimity where everything was »so vividly described that one seemed to see and hear the person.« For instance, when Scholar Zhang is cut off by the elderly lady, Yingying’s infatuation and the couple’s poignant, reluctant separation at the travelers’ pavilion is detailed vividly and incisively, penetrating deeply into the heart. In terms of language, Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao was adept not only in refining the lively spoken language of the townspeople, but also in absorbing the quintessence of classical poetry, forming a novel, fluent and unadorned language that had unique characteristics. As a literary work, Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao represents a peak in terms of maturity in the history of the development of changzhuan that made great strides in comparison with Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao. The incomplete extant fragments of Liu Zhiyuan Zhugongdiao merely employed three suites of intertwined tunes, and basing calculations on scale it is estimated that there was an approximate total of ten suites in the work. Meanwhile, Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao had over 43 sets. Intertwined tunes

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were a comparatively complex vocal form, and the duplicity of their usage speaks to the maturity of the form. The arrangement of musical forms in the intertwined tunes used in Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao was equally more complicated. Many were composed of over ten melodies, with just as many even reaching 15 melodies, and there also emerged tunes intertwined with changzhuan. It is therefore inevitable to admire Dong Jieyuan’s spirit of learning and creativity. The melodies in Romance of the Western Chamber Zhugongdiao, with all of their variations included, amount to over 444. A work of vernacular storytelling art with this many melodies—what marvellous creativity, what a monumental work!

Section 6  Guzici, the Drum-Song of the Literati Equally popular among the Song Dynasty literati was the subgenre of vernacular storytelling art known as poetic drums. Because it was an art form unique to men of letters, it was rarely featured in those volumes that addressed the artistry of the Song Dynasty marketplace and pleasure quarters, such as Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, Records of the Splendors of the Capital, Record of Splendor, Record of the Splendors of the Capital City and Memoirs of Wulin. Therefore, it was often ignored by later generations. However, the preservation of these poetic drums in the anthologies and collections of Song Dynasty literati has enabled us to catch more easily a glimpse of their true nature in comparison to other vernacular art forms of the Song Period. At present, the earliest known author of poetic drums is Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), while authors from the later period, such as Zhang Lu and Yao Shuyao, were from the Shaoxing and Chunxi reign periods (1131–1189). In other words, the prevalence of poetic drums stretches over the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. After the Southern

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Song Period, the art form went into a decline, much like ci itself did, and poetic drums were no longer recorded in documents and literature of value. Without any new ci literary works known of, it is estimated that the genre had vanished by the Yuan Dynasty. An overall view of the tunes used in extant poetic drums includes a total of 14 tunes: Picking Mulberries, To the Tune: Sheng Chazi (Yuanxi), The Fisherman’s Pride, Butterflies in Love with Flowers, Touching Up Red Lips, Magnolia and Ten Plum Flowers Abbreviated, Ruan Langgui, Moon over West River, The Drunken Wretch, Bodhisattva Barbarian, Chao Zhongcuo, Telling of Innermost Feelings, Magnolia Flower (Abbreviated) and Fresh Lotus Leaves—all of which were basically middle note ci that differed from the short-tune brief ci poem that was mainly used in song and dance. There was no limit on the number of times that poetic drums could be used within ci: they could be one or two scattered pieces, ten, or even a few more. It is estimated that a total of ten was common procedure, with one or two being simple variations. Poetic drums were different from ordinary ci in terms of their performance structure because they were mostly accompanied by drums. Song Dynasty performances of ci songs, for instance, used clapper-boards to control the rhythm, while using drums was rather exceptional. Therefore, the use of drum accompaniment set it apart from conventional ci songs and resulted in it being known as »poetic drums.« In addition to musical tunes, orchestration, and other similar aspects, poetic drums had remarkable characteristics in terms of performance, creativity and content. For example, the extant instances of poetic drums include greeting words that were different from the brief introductions that preceded conventional ci. They not only clearly accounted in detail the origins of the creation of ci, but also combined the functions of control, temperance and command characteristic

SECTION 6 GUZICI, THE DRUM-SONG OF THE LITERATI

of poetic drums in live performances, preserving their atmosphere. At that point, their function was quite identical to that of the greeting words of song and dance. These are precious resources for us to study the performance of poetic drums. Based on them, we can ascertain that poetic drums performances were moderately scaled. Compared to daqu and qupo performances, they had simple orchestration and a reduced ratio of performers. However, compared to xiaochang, they had sufficient quality and rich orchestration, and were suitable to be performed at small parties. Most extant poetic drums are seasonal works. In terms of their literary taste, Ouyang Xiu and the circle of authors that surrounded him in the Northern Song Dynasty were rather accomplished, as was Southern Song author Zhang Lu with his folk tales chanted to the accompaniment of a fisherman’s drum. Although their poetic drums had chronological features, their meaning was rooted in the individual expression of their character, and they were not created ex aequo. Ouyang Xiu’s outstanding Picking Mulberries poetic drum is the earliest and most distinctively literary instance of the art form known of so far. This piece conveyed the four seasons of the year by Yingzhou West Lake, most particularly the bright spring colours. The author portrayed vividly and thoroughly the wonders of West Lake. There is no better exponent of poetic drums than Zhao Lingzhi’s Shang Mode: Yuan Zhen’s Cui Yingying: Butterflies in Love with Flowers. Such was its fame that many works on literature, music and folk musical theatre (quyi 曲艺) history quote it as the most representative work within the genre of poetic drums. It was Zhao Lingzhi’s first attempt at fusing the drama of Yuan Zhen’s The Story of Yingying with music and vernacular storytelling art. Thus, he transformed Yuan Zhen’s work from an instructional and simple account of the love between Scholar Zhang and Cui Yingying based on unsophisticated visual impressions into something multidimensional.

CHAPTER VI  OPERA TAKES CENTER STAGE After the 11th century CE, the performing arts of all ethnic groups entered a new period of development, with those of the Song Dynasty at the forefront. A significant phenomenon resulting from this was the gradual maturation of drama, and its increasing role in cultural life. Initially one of the many performing arts in urban pleasure quarter theaters, it was a dramatic art that portrayed stories of human life. Zaju, the main object of attention, was followed by the sudden emergence Southern Opera, which made an epoch-marking impact. From this time onwards, the elderly face of Chinese opera beamed brightly in the performing arts sphere, greatly impacting late ancient Chinese society, and stealing the spotlight from other performing arts. Following the Tang Dynasty, the status of drama regularly rose above those of other performing arts. Tang Emperor Xuanzong established the royal academy for sanyue as well as the Pear Garden, in which variety performance actors rehearsed. It was after this that jester plays began to receive the court’s special attention. This tradition was inherited by all Five Dynasties rulers, who would often even perform alongside the actors, demonstrating the extent to which they valued these plays. The Liao, Song, and Jin courts continued this practice, each establishing royal academies and preserving sanyue, the most important feature being operatic performance. The Department of Cloud Music, established by the Northern Song court, was an institution dedicated to festival banquet opera performances. After the Southern Song, royal academy zaju actors became the most important members of the court with regard to sanyue, and were known as zheng se (leading

roles). In the »Many Actors of the Pleasure Quarters«(Wasshe zhongji 瓦舍众伎) section of his Notes on the Chief Sights of the Capital (Ducheng jisheng 都城纪胜), Song Dynasty writer Naide Weng stated: »Of the thirteen royal academy departments imparting knowledge of sanyue, only zaju holds the leading role.« This was to say that »sanyue« had been »imparted« from the royal academy to pleasure quarter theaters, and that only zaju held the status of »leading role« amongst the thirteen types of sanyue. In contrast, the other types would have been secondary. That zaju was able to achieve to the highest position of all demonstrates its status as the most popular performance art of its time.

Section 1  Transformations of Zaju As an art form of its age, the basic stage format of zaju underwent gradual changes during the Song and Jin dynasties. Based on jester plays and the song and dance dramas of the Tang Dynasty, it is first mentioned in late Tang literature. This early Five Dynasties form came to fruition in the Northern Song, developing further in the Southern Song and Jin dynasties. After the Yuan Dynasty, it was replaced with Southern Opera and northern zaju, having completed its historical trajectory. This chronological process is outlined in the following sections.

1. Youxi of the Five Dynasties Emperor Zhuangzong of the late Tang (personal name Li Cunxu) was a celebrated actor. Once,

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while performing alongside others in a jester play, he mistakenly called for »Li Tianxia.« Jester Jing Xinmo then took this as an opportunity to slap him in the face for comedic effect. This incident was recorded by Kong Pingzhong in chapter six of Continued Tales of the World (Xushi shuo 续世 说). In jester plays of this time, actors would beat each other to incite laughter—how else would Jing Xinmo dare to strike Zhuangzong. The evidence suggests that performance techniques used in jester plays during the Five Dynasties were quite advanced compared to those of the Tang Dynasty. Simple use of quick speech for humorous effect gave way to interspersal of comic remarks during fight scenes. This later became the most frequently used comedic technique in Song zaju. Moreover, canes and rods took the place of hands as weapons. The form of Southern Tang jester plays was approaching that of Song zaju. In chapter 22 of Ma Ling’s Book of the Southern Tang (Nantang shu 南 唐书), it is recorded that »Han Xizai was informal. He often attended cross-dressing Yan operas with Shu Ya. He found Mo’s Jealousy amusing.« This performance that Han Xizai and Shu Ya changed clothes to attend was called Mo’s Jealousy. This »mo« most likely refers to the Song zaju »moni« character. During the moni’s performance, he would often read out a few verses of poetry about his so-called »jealousy.« Southern Tang opera had previously featured early forms of Song zaju characters and performances. The basic outline of Southern Tang jester play performances is recorded in chapter 25 of Book of the Southern Tang (Nantang shu 南唐书) In these plays, there were several characters (the old man, old woman, sister-in-law, etc.) played by approximately five or six actors. The spectacle was large, and the subject matter reflected household trifles in common life, which was the starting point for Song zaju. Although lead actor Li Jiaming was not yet an official court jester performer, he served the emperor excellently. His duty was not only to per-

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form, but also to follow the emperor around, using language to provoke laughter and relieve boredom. Qualities of this kind had been possessed by all court jesters prior to the Five Dynasties. By the Song Dynasty, official zaju court jesters had recently emerged and, given the fixed division of roles, they could no longer crack jokes or make comic remarks in front of the emperor. They were only permitted to perform plays. Wuyue jester plays also continued to develop. In 1987, in Lingshi Pagoda, located in Chaoji village, Huanguan District, Zhejiang Province, six bricks carved with jester play characters from Wuyue, in the third year of Qiande (965 in the Song Dynasty calendar) were discovered. This reflects the situation at the time. The engraved bricks are 22–36 cm high and 15–30  cm wide, each carved with one or two characters. Their form is lively, and their poses are theatrical, as if in a scene. However, there is no correlation between them. They do not resemble Song Dynasty zaju brick carvings or murals, which featured 4–5 actors. This indicates that jester plays of this time were simple compared to those of the Song Dynasty, and that the characters were not yet fully developed. Five Dynasties song-and dance dramas also developed alongside jester plays. For example, during the later Liang of the Five Dynasties, in Jinzhou (now Ankang in Shaanxi) the song and dance drama A Year of Plenty was once performed. In chapter five of Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter, Wang Zhuo wrote: »An actor dressed as a ragged married woman entered, clutching male and female round bamboo baskets, and performed song and dance from A Year of Plenty, relating the assiduousness of wheat harvesting.« This song and dance performance portrayed the lives of poor people who carried out this wheat-harvesting work. With costumes, acting, and songs, although the plot was relatively simple, the scene was complete.

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2. Zaju of the Northern Song Northern Song youxi inherited performance traditions from the Tang and Five Dynasties. Although it existed all over the nation, Song zaju first appeared in Northern Song capital of Bianjing, where it would later thrive. This was because Emperor Taizu, Song Taizong, gathered court performers from seven different states there. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, institutions such as the royal academies, the Department of Cloud Music, and the Junrongzhi military band were required to give a fixed number of zaju performances. In Chapter 186 of Chen Yang’s Book of Music (Yueshu 乐书), »Musical Theory—Instruments of the Common Folks—Za Music—Plays« (yuetulun—subu— zaju—juxi 乐图论-俗部-杂乐-剧戏), it is written: »Musical performances in the current imperial dynasty: Drum and pipe zaju performers, 42. Department of Cloud Music zaju performers, 24. Junrongzhi zaju performers, 40. There are also some temporary ones.« These zaju actors would perform in all kinds of festival celebrations and banquets. The perfection of the Northern Song Dynasty yanle (banquet music) institute provided ideal conditions for the development and improvement of Song zaju. This resulted in its first transformation, that is, the emergence of official zaju performers. These court performers, with zaju as their sole responsibility, now differed greatly from the jesters of the previous dynasty, who had been required to carry out comical teasing in front of the emperor. Division of specializations allowed zaju actors to refine their performance skills. The yanle institute was also responsible for the training and selection of zaju performers. According to »Music Record Five: Royal Academy Music« (yuewu: jiaofang yue 乐五: 教坊乐) of Song Dynastic Record Manuscript (Song huiyao jigao 宋会要辑稿), as Royal Academy zaju was annually reviewed by its envoy and vice-envoy, the zaju musicians were divided into three ranks. With the establishment of strict

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cultivation and elimination standards, as well as opportunities to perform in the Jiying, Zichen and Chuigong Halls during banquets of the emperor and his ministers, zaju performers were able to improve further. By the end of Emperor Renzong’s reign, Bianjing had become one of the largest entertainment centers in the east, and zaju was among its most dynamic performing arts. In pleasure quarter theatres, »workers« and »layabouts« alike would habitually roam around, and thousands of people would gather to watch zaju and various other performing arts. In addition to daily performances, there were also many festival celebrations throughout the year, such as the Lantern Festival, Double Third Festival, Ghost Festival—as well as the birthdays of the emperor and the deities. At a given time, theater enthusiasts would come into contact with Royal Academy, Junzhong, and Kaifeng performers in the packed, noisy, venues of zaju variety shows, which attracted tens of thousands of people, emptying the city streets. With its huge circulation, even Liangcheng’s peasants became enthusiastic spectators of zaju. In chapter three of Hong Mai’s Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi 容斋随笔), he wrote that when Fan Chunli visited the Song Dynasty capital of Kaifeng, he saw genuine villagers »trying to get involved in the performance of a play.« On his journey home, he saw there a craftsman’s hooped barrel, so he took it and placed it on his head, copying the character in the play. This adornment prompted teasing from Liu Bei. Fan Chunli knew that Kaifeng was established during the time of Huizong, probably during the Chongzhu period (1102–1106), precisely when Bianjing zaju was thriving. Although the location of the »play scene« mentioned in the literature is unknown, villagers were permitted to visit the market pleasure quarters to watch zaju performances. In these kinds of plays, which were observed by city residents, the development of zaju was influenced daily by the fact of its appreciation from the

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SECTION 1 TRANSFORMATIONS OF ZAJU

6.6.1 Rubbing of brick carvings showing zaju in a Northern Song tomb in Qiandongnanwang Village, Wen County, Henan

city-dweller class. As zaju performances in theatres were not restricted, performances could be freely chosen. Due to their contact with the common people, they were familiar with life in lower social classes, and much of their content therefore reflected this point of view. The plays could be performed in any desired manner, and were humorous and lively. This would have been impossible in court zaju, which was constantly subject to feudal etiquette and moral restrictions, with performances being in no way liberal. For example, at a time in which plays often featured restrictions and morality, in chapter nine of Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (Dongjing menghua lu 东京梦华录), »Governing Prince and Imperial Clan Officials Receive Longevity« (Zaizhi qinwang zongshi baigong runei shangshou 宰执亲王宗室 百官入内上寿), it is written: »Inside the zaju hall, the servants were required to banquet in advance, not daring to carry out humorous repartee.« This clearly demonstrates that, during normal performances, there would be all kinds of taboos to avoid and look out for. This tied the hands of the performers, preventing them from fully displaying their abilities. This precisely captures the unique quality of theatre zaju, which grew amongst the people by the day, constantly building on Song

zaju performance methods. This firmly set the precedent for more advanced forms of zaju in later generations. The four large canals of Bianjing, along with its main radial-patterned land route transport lines, formed a huge water and transport network which covered the Central Plains and lead to the rest of country. Following the flourishing of Bianjing zaju, zaju perormers gradually followed these water and land transport thoroughfares to travel between performances in the area that surrounded Bianjing. In the Central Plains, a central hub of Bianjing zaju activity was formed. The majority of those spreading Bianjing zaju to all parts of the country were common luqi (roadside) performers. Luqi performers were normally members of performing groups that could not compete in the city theater scene. For example, in chapter six of Memoirs of Wulin, Zhou Mi mentions acting troupes that »did not enter the theatres, simply romping around far and wide,« and refers to them as »second-rate artists.« In chapter four of Zhou Nan’s Compilation of Mountains and Houses (Shanfang ji 山房集), entitled »Mr Liu Circulates« (Liu xiansheng zhuan 刘先生传), a performance of a zaju troupe of this kind is described. Unable to make it into one city, they move

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to another, or towards a rural area to seek development, and thus the luqi zaju performers who travelled around selling their art were born. Although records of this kind of luqi zaju performances have not been found in Northern Song historical records, archeological excavations of underground relics have provided information. In 1978, the »Song Dynasty 3rd Year of the Shaosheng Era November Eighth Soul of Zhu Sanweng« sarcophagus was excavated in Donghuaixi in Xingyang, Henan. A scene of a country bureaucrat and his wife banqueting whilst luqi zaju actors perform is finely carved onto the right side of the coffin. As a rustic »private theater« performance, its form is relatively simple, and it was classified as a rustic »communal gathering« performance. As regards luqi zaju performances, they would usually follow weddings, funerals, or drinking parties and banquets; they were also performed at spring and autumn community festivals, as well as at sacrificial ceremonies. Before the Tang Dynasty, jester play performances had never made use of scripts. At the beginning of the Northern Song, zaju scripts began to be written by the Royal Academy envoy and even the emperor. The birth of the script caused Chinese opera to break away from on-the-spot improvised performances, and move towards literature. This changed the scene patterns created in previous jester plays, which now had to abide by fixed rules, with specific requirements regarding characters, song-stories, and speech in accordance with the situation stipulated by the script. Although there were still many opportunities for improvisation, actors could no longer change the characters’ emotions as they pleased. Since there was a script, they had to rehearse in advance, which also significantly improved zaju acting skills.

3. Zaju of the Southern Song In a dramatic turn of events, the Song Dynasty lost half of the country overnight. Pushed south of the Yangtze, the imperial household satisfied

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itself with the wonderful lakes and mountain scenery, not thinking of recuperation, and only concerned with immediate amusement. Against this kind of unique cultural background, the imperial household’s beloved Bianjing zaju moved south towards Hangzhou, where it would go on to flourish even more than it had in Bianjing. Of the Royal Academy’s 13 categories, it was the only one to hold lead role status, boasting around 280 plays. The imprint of Southern Song zaju activity was apparent across the Jiang, Zhe, and Chuanshu regions. After being pushed south, the court zaju institute was somewhat adjusted due to the war, with organizations such as Deshougong Music Group, Lin’an Government Office Music Group, and the Maintenance Office Music Academy taking on leading roles. In addition, for every large event such as a court banquet, common pleasure quarter actors would be »hired« to perform. In chapter four of Zhou Mu Memoirs of Wulin, it is written that zaju actors performing in the court at the time were divided between five organizations: Deshougong, the Former Imperial Office of Music, the Former Royal Academy, the Former Junrongzhi, and Gu. Of these, the Former Imperial Office of Music was most likely under the Palace Maintenance Office, while the Former Junrongzhi was probably part of the Office before the Palace. The book features detailed lists of names of zaju actors in each institution. The Deshougong had ten, the Former Imperial Office of Music had 22, the Former Royal Academy had two, the Former Junrongzhi two people, and the Gu had 30. This totaled 66 actors, which was by no means a small number. During festive court banquets, these actors would vie to exhibit their skills. In Chapter 1 of Memoirs of Wulin, entitled »The Emperor’s Birthday,« it is recorded that in a zaju performance of Forbidden Birthday Banquet Music in the Court of Li Zong ­(Lizong chao jinzhong shouyan yue ci 理宗朝禁 中寿筵乐次), actors such as Wu Shixian, Zhou Chaoqing, He Yanxi, and She He performed zaju

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6.6.2 Stone carvings showing zaju (partial) in a Southern Song tomb in Guangyuan, Sichuan

plays including Enlightened Monarch Virtuous Servants (Junsheng chenxian cuan 君圣臣贤爨), Letters to the Three Jings (Sanjing xiashu 三京下 书) Poplar Meal (Yangfan 杨饭), and Travels of the Four Youngsters (Si ruo shaonian you 四偌少年游). Among these four zaju performers, Wu Shixian, He Yanxi, and He She were »rented« from the Lin’an pleasure quarters. Their names are listed in chapter six of Memoirs of Wulin (Wulin jiushi 武 林旧事), entitled »Various Performing Artists.« The development of Southern Song street zaju continued to flourish. In Qian Shuiyou’s Veritable Lin’an Records (Xianchun linan zhi 咸淳临安志), it is said that not long after moving southwards, the various common performers who flocked to Lin’an imitated the system in Bianjing, establishing pleasure quarter theaters in which to hold performances. Zaju actors also began to participate in these commercial performing activities. In 1161, the 3rd year of the Shaoxing Era, the court prohibited Royal Academies, leaving musicians and actors free to do as they pleased. Many of them may have joined these theatres. They brought their strict training and performance skills learned in the court to pleasure quarter actors, which led to

improved acting skills. Therefore, common performances began to imitate those of court music departments. The liveliness of Lin’an pleasure quarters zaju performances can firstly be seen in History of the Song Dynasty (Songshi 宋史), in »Music Record 17« (Yuezhi shiqi 乐志十七), in which it is said that the court did not establish Royal Academies. Here, a temporary »calling the city residents to action« strategy is evident. A »Lotus Flower Canopy« theatre in Lin’an’s northern district is mentioned in Old Man of West Lake’s Record of Many Victories (Fansheng lu 繁胜录): »There is frequently palace zaju: Zhao Tai, Wang Niexi, Song Bangzhu, He Yanqing, and Chu Tou perform.« These actors were often »hired« by the court to perform in front of the emperor. Next, all kinds of performing arts groups were be established one after the other in Lin’an. Among them was the specialized zaju group, the »Scarlet Green Society.« Lin’an pleasure precinct zaju performances usually fell into one of the following four categories: (1) Theatre stage. As Lin’an had 25 pleasure quarters in total, and probably over 100 theaters, one can divine the frequency of its daily zaju per-

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formances. (2) Temple fair performances. In the section of chapter three in Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin, »Society,« he states that on February 8 the Scarlet Green Society gave a zaju performance in the Zhangbo Temple in Huoshan for the Temple Fair. He goes on to say: »If on March 3rd in the palace office Zhenwu Hall, and March 28th on Mount Tai, birthday celebrations flourish, these activities will be of a large frequency, with no time for superfluous displays.« It is clear that zaju was respectfully performed in each temple. Activities were especially numerous in Lin’an temple. Throughout the year, the temples acted as suitable zaju performance venues. (3) Festival performance. There were many festivals throughout the year, for all of which had zaju was performed. (4) Luqi performances. In chapter four of Zhou Nan’s Compilation of Mountains and Houses (Shanfang ji 山房集), entitled »Mr Liu Turns Around,« there is a written account of a scene performed by a luqi zaju troupe: In the south of the city, there are three people who have failed in their schemes, two female companions, and a confused brother’s wife, teasing and begging for money. A city dweller says: »It’s a zaju performer.« He continues: »Actors and so on.« For every occasion, filling the narrow city, besides feudal matters, welcoming spirits, depicting scenes stage, they cause observers to laugh. From one coin or more, they take anything …

At that time the number of luqi actors was rather surprising to people. The city streets were almost completely empty as people flocked to see these performances. After Southern Song pleasure precinct theatres and zaju had flourished in Lin’an, they gradually spread to other nearby areas. A key driver of this was the congregation of northerners in southeastern coastal areas. After this »quiet and healthy transformation,« northerners and Central Plains-dwellers moved southwards in great numbers, practically filling up the Jiang, Zhe, and Min regions. Like the northerners in Lin’an, they were

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accustomed to whiling away their time in pleasure quarters theatres, watching zaju performances. Therefore, numerous pleasure precinct theatres were built in towns outside of Lin’an, commercializing the performance of zaju. This is what is usually written in records of this time or after. These theaters were the foundation upon which Southern Song zaju was able to stand. From their existence, it can be can inferred that the environment remained rather suited to zaju performances. Activities were frequent, as Linan’s court and street zaju conformed to one another, striving for victory. This consolidated the hold of zaju on the Southern Song. Another area in which Southern Song zaju flourished was the territory of Shu. During the Tang and Five Dynasties, Shu had a tradition of jester plays. Yizhou (now Chengdu) in Shu was a town at the time. In Hong Mai’s Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi 容斋 随笔), he states: »The proverb ›Raise one, Profit from two‹, speaks of everything that flourishes: raise one and Shu is second.« According to one chapter in Zhuang Jiyu’s Chicken Rib Compilation (Jilei bian 鸡肋编), it is recorded that a zaju competition was held in Yizhou at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, Shu Han zaju was known as »Chuan zaju.« Its performance standard was considerably high, and the praise it received for it its repertoire and performers was well-deserved. For example, in Yue Ke’s A History of Pillars (Tingshi 桯史), a wonderful Chengdu zaju performance of Diamond Far Away is recorded. He praises it, saying: »The Shu actors are very cultured, with mocking words quick and mixed with history.« In Zhou Mi’s Eastern Qi Field Tellings (Qidong yeyu 齐东野语), he writes an account of another zaju performance of Diamond Far Away (Zuan miyuan 钻弥远), also praising it, and saying, »The Shu actors can skim through the ancient and the modern, quoting classical history, using assisting tones, and providing something to laugh at.«

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6.6.3 Painting of the zaju performance Eye Ointment Grievances, Song Dynasty, Anonymous, Palace Museum, Beijing

Chuan zaju’s most famous actor was Yuan San. In Zhou Mi’s Eastern Qi Field Tellings, the intelligence and quick wit of his performance is described. The flourishing of Chuan zaju can also be seen in the Southern Song mausoleum zaju carvings excavated in Guangyuan, Sichuan. The mausoleum was built in 1204, during the Jiatai period of the Song Dynasty. On two of the walls in

its eastern room, there are four relief sculptures of zaju performances. Each side features two scenes, carved on identical slabs, each 51  cm long and 43 cm wide. In one of the scenes portrayed by one the relief sculptures, there is a band consisting of three people who are performing on a large drum, a jangu, and a sham. In three of the scenes depicted by the relief sculptures, there are two zaju

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characters, performing opposite one another. The fact that Chuan zaju was engraved in mausoleums demonstrates the depth of its local influence.

4. Zaju of the Liao and Jin The Liao dynasty’s zaju performance traditions were carried over from the Central Plains. This first occurred in 938, during the Tianfu era of the later Jin, when Emperor Shi Jingtang, (Gaozu), sent Liu Xu to help establish court sanyue in the Liao Dynasty. Thereupon, zaju was brought into the Liao Dynasty. After this, Liao zaju in the Liaodong region developed in parallel with Northern Song zaju in the Bianjing region. The Liao and Song were in contact, and the two regions maintained cultural exchange, causing their individual zaju forms to influence one another. Similar to the Song Dynasty, zaju was an essential item on the program of large Liao dynasty court banquets. In the »Musical Records« (Yuezhi 乐志) of History of Liao Dynasty (Liaoshi 辽史), it is recorded that during the court celebrations for the emperor’s birthday, and »Music for the Song Banquet in the Song Dynasty,« zaju was always one of the items on stage, similar to the process of pouring wine. It can be assumed that a theater group was used for this, using delicate language, and a zaju performance two-part scene. And like other monarchs from the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty also produced an emperor who was fond of performing. For example, Emperor Xingzong of Liao (Yelu Zongzhen) formed strong ties with the Royal Academies through lightening their taxes. Not only did he slip into acting troupes, he even played the part of an imperial concubine. The monarch’s personal taste was one of the reasons why Liao zaju was able to flourish. When Northern Song zaju was vigorously developing in the Bianjing region, the north gradually became rich and powerful due to the Jin, formed by the Jurchen tribe. By the first month of 1122, Emperor Taizu of Jin (personal name Aguda) had

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captured Liao, acquiring the four music departments of its Royal Academies. Thereupon, the Jin Dynasty also began to hold Song zaju-style drama performances. In 1127, Jin forces also captured the Northern Song capital city of Bianjing, along with its many skilled artists. Fleeing artists stranded in the Hedong region would later becoming the driving force of its zaju and song-and-dance variety performance art. The remaining artists were sent by the Jin to Yanshan and the Jin Dynasty upper capital in Huining Prefecture (now Harbin) to enter the court. Staying in the Yan mountain range, they laid the foundation for all later Jin opera culture development. Upon reaching Huining, there were a few Jin Dynasty Royal Academies that they could join, and they merged with the previously acquired Liao Royal Academy Musicians, forming a Jin Dynasty court zaju group. Later, in 1552, during the Tiande Period, the Jin Prince of Hailing moved the upper capital to Yanqing. Jin court zaju again converged with Yanjing’s remaining Song Dynasty artists, and began developing in the Yanqing region. Due to different source channels, two Jin Dynasty zaju systems were formed: one was the Yanqing zaju from Liao that followed on from that of the Song dynasty. The other was the Hedong (now the area south of Shanxi and north of Henan) zaju spread from folk zaju in the Bianjing region. Jin Dynasty court zaju was virtually the same as that of the Northern Song. The rise of Jin Dynasty Hedong zaju was admittedly caused by Bianjing zaju actors fleeing the place, as well as by local folk traditions. When late-stage Northern Song Bianjing zaju spread to the Henan region, Hedong’s Pingyang District (now Linfen in Shanxi, Yuncheng region) may have been one of the trade routes it followed, merging and communicating with local jester plays, thereby creating Hedong zaju. Recently discovered Song and Jin zaju cultural relic mausoleums in northern Henan Province can be regarded as a mark of Bianjing zaju’s spread to Hedong. As for geographical location,

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this was an important land route from Bianjing to Hedong. These tomb relics are likely the result of how Bianjing zaju travelling north affected the social life in the region. At the end of the Northern Song, Bianjing zaju spread to the Hedong region, later also fusing with dispersed musicians seized by the Jin in the area, preceding the success of Hedong zaju in the time of emperors Shizong and Zhangzong of Jin. In the deciding years of Emporer Shizong, the Jin had gave way to the Five Dynasties, and with almost ten years of economic and cultural development, the wounds of war on the people had gradually healed. Soon, Hedong zaju gradually increased, becoming ever more crucial in the present climate. Although written records have not yet been found, it is preserved by the many zaju brick carving decorations in southern Shanxi and northern Henan Jin mausoleums, which prove the extremely close connection of zaju performances with local cultural life. The many scenes portrayed on the zaju brick carvings also testify to the tendency at the time to use zaju for the adornment of tombs. Through restoring these gloomy and cold zaju carvings, which have lain dormant underground for several hundred years, one can gain a sense of the historical situation. We can understand the vigorous thriving of Hedong popular opera, and the lively, prosperous prestige of performances. Bianjing zaju then spread to Hedong. As this was not a large city like Bianjing, with numerous city-dwelling spectators, it lacked the space for pleasure quarter theaters. However, there was a strong local tradition of popular entertainment, including events such as weddings and funerals, New Year Festival entertainment, and Temple Fair offering activities. After zaju reached Hedong, it gradually became less attached to the city, and more closely combined with popular forms of entertainment. Its main audience also changed from city residents to peasants.

SECTION 2 THE PRELIMINARY INTEGRATION OF ZAJU PERFORMING TECHNIQUES

Section 2  The Preliminary Integration of Zaju Performing Techniques In the maturation period of Chinese opera, Song and Jin zaju systems were already somewhat embryonic of opera development in later generations. Its pursued dramatic effect was still purely comedic, with amusement as its main goal. Because of this, it remained in a phase of short depictions, not yet performing complete life stories. However, many performance elements had been integrated into it, and its structure had developed, with the formation of official character roles, and a growing tendency to incorporate song-and-dance elements. These reflected the process of its performance format.

1. System of Structure Five Dynasties jester plays, the predecessors to Song zaju, made no use of structure, with their performances being improvised section by section, and Northern Song zaju developed two performances, one of which was followed by the other. In Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital, so-called »two-part performances« were a fixed aspect of the performance format. Of these two parts, the first concerned »common matters,« and was known as the »yuanduan,« meaning »opening words«; the second part was »proper zaju.« This meant that in every zaju performance, the first part of the set always had to be performed first, as an opening introduction. Only then they could new, officially-compiled zaju be performed. The Southern Song Dynasty also developed somewhat. The two-part structure transformed into a three-part-structure, meaning that after yanduan and proper zaju was another part called »zaban« (mixed disguises) would be performed as the final »sanduan« (loose part) of the zaju performance. The so-called zaban, meant dressing up as vari-

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ous people. For example, often the characteristics of villagers were imitated and mocked. The socalled sanduan took place after the official performance, providing an extra part to satisfy the audience, similar to the later Yuan zaju bourgeois tragedy, in which after the end there would be an additional sanduan after the performance. Its performance form was also simpler than that of zaju. The manner in which several sections were performed consecutively exhibited a kind of structural tension. This reflected the increasing expectations of drama in society, and led to drama moving away from single-section plays towards multiple-section plays. The form of Jin Dynasty zaju was inherited from the Song Dynasty, with its two-part performance structure. Although there are a lack records from this time, one can speculate about this from Du Shanfu’s description of a Yuan opera script of the sanduan The Banker Does Not Know the Theater during the period of Jin and Yuan overlap. The Yuan opera script was written on the basis of Song and Jin zaju. Its performance began with the yanduan, which consisted of several characters stamping on the stage together and performing song-and-dance numbers. This was followed by the proper zaju item, Romantic Melody. In contrast to Southern Song zaju, Jin zaju did not develop the later zaban section. However, it developed in its own right the Yuan zaju system of the north, although northern zaju was already a mature operatic form. Its content differed from that of the aforementioned Song and Jin zaju, and furthermore its appearance had already reached the overlap of the Jin and Yuan. But this will not be discussed here. Jin Dynasty zaju two-part performances underwent remarkable development, each splitting into several types with different content and form. For example, the yanduan was divided into the »mixed institution play,« the »collision poem,« the »bundled yanduan,« and the »bundling beating strategy«—among others. Mixed institution

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performance methods mainly consisted of stamping on the stage, dance performances, reciting verse, singing folk tunes, and jesting with each other. In collision poem performances, clashing language and movement were used to create contradictions, leading to the later proper zaju performance. Bundled yanduan was used to bundle together the yanduan parts of proper zaju, in the same way as the introduction to proper zaju. Its difference with the collision poem lay mainly in the fact that it did not contain contradicting collisions. The bundling beating strategy also bundled up yanduan, but did not adorn the story, instead using vocal mimicry to lead into proper zaju. This was the so-called »beating plan,« which meant scolding or ridiculing. As can be clearly seen from the Jin Dynasty’s yanduan category, its two-part structure differed somewhat from that of Song zaju. Here, the relationship between them and the importance attached to their related and transmitted skills began to be seen. In Jin Dynasty zaju, proper zaju was also divided into different forms, such as »harmonic song scripted opera,« »superior emperor scripted opera,« »subject scripted opera,« »hegemon scripted opera,« »mixed-size scripted opera« and »courtyard tiny.« The basis of these classifications is not clear, as their exact meanings have not been found. However, we do know that their forms were developed.

2. Role System The role system for characters is a distinct feature of Chinese opera, and its official form lies in Song zaju. Song zaju had an official five-character system, comprised of the moni, yinxi, fujing, fumo, and zhuanggu. In Notes on the Chief Sights of the Capital (Ducheng jisheng 都城纪胜), it is written that these five roles were explicitly divided. The moni was the leader of zaju performances, the so-called »forever moni in zaju.« In the Southern Song, the moni was referred to as the »play head,« and specifically embodied the role of the zhuzhang (advocate), which

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entailed the idea of a host, or a conductor. He was responsible for arranging and scheduling the entire performance, in addition to reciting verse poetry and singing on stage. The yinxi originated in Tang Dynasty court dayue yin dances. In zaju performances, he would firstly perform a dance on stage, then introduce other characters. He embodied the fenfu (commander) role, the meaning of which being to deliver, to trust, or to deal with. This most likely pointed to the fact that he brought out other characters. In performances, the fujing was the specialized faqio (clown) character, meaning that he would play the fool. Wearing ink and paint on his face, he was a comical character. Like the fujing, the fumo was also a comedic role, with a white face. He was in charge of »da hun« (interspersing comic remarks) in zaju performances. One da hun method was making asides that mocked the fuijing while he was playing the fool. Another was to use intelligent, humorous, agile, and witty language to conclude a meticulously constructed performance by bringing out the main theme, prompting laughter. In zaju, the fumo and fujing would act as a comedic duo. They were compatible with one other, often creating comic scenes. The zhuanggu embodied the role of the official. This character was not particularly well-developed and could only function in bureaucratic scenes. He was known as the »possibly added zhuanggu.« Of course, the aforementioned divisions simply concern the function and characteristics of each role. In individual performances, the characters could be altered according to the situation, resulting in customization.

3. Music System Due to the current lack of sufficient written evidence of the music system of Song and Jin zaju, we can only glean a general outline. When Song zaju appeared on stage, it usually had an instrumental accompaniment, known as a »forfeit.« In Guanpu Naide Weng’s Notes on the Chief Sights of

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the Capital, it is written of zaju performances that their »songs were interspersed with the forfeit.« This is to say that at the beginning of zaju, the musicians would first play the »forfeit« musical composition, during which the zaju actors would come onstage. The meaning of »forfeit« being »to deliver,« an orchestral interlude was played with which to deliver the zaju actors onto the stage. In Northern Song zaju, there was already a musical »forfeit« stage-entering performance. In addition, there are some Northern Song zaju engravings that show a complete orchestra. For instance, the zaju brick carvings in Baisha in a Yuzhou, Henan, Song mausoleum, and Wen County’s Xiawangcun Song Dynasty tomb each portray a group of accompanying musicians composed of 6–7 people. The Wen group of characters also entirely face zaju characters. This may suggest that they are accompanying a zaju performance. Southern Song zaju had already introduced several musical elements into own system. In chapter ten of Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin, it is recorded in »Official Zaju Rankings« that over half of accompaniments had melody names, such as »grand suite.« These melodies were clearly used in Song zaju performances. In the Southern Song zaju performance format, the accompaniment had been combined with the performance. For example, in Guangyuan, Sichuan, on one of the Song tomb zaju stone inscriptions in 072 Hospital, there is a zaju performer and a music group. Consequently, Southern Song zaju had its own musical structure. In the list of accompaniments in »Official Zaju Rankings,« although one section used the cidiao (poem song) which was popular at the time, the grand suite was the main melody. The cidiao, at that time known as »small singing,« was a popular kind of sung performance art that accompanied lyrics. It came to thrive, becoming extremely fashionable. Its performance method was very simple. There was usually only one person singing, and there could also be a string accompani-

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ment. Southern Song zaju only used cidiao music in performances when it could be inserted into sung arias. Its musical structure was probably similar to that of small singing. The grand suite was a kind of large-scale dance music form that incorporated instrumental music, vocal music, and dance. Its music structure was tremendous, composed of tens of sections, each of which had a certain number of »piles,« which combined to create a complete musical composition. Within these, there were rich changes in melody. In fact, when people performed grand suites, they usually would not play the entire movement, taking only a part of it. As for zaju, only one part of that was taken as well, and so was therefore able to fulfil its performance content requirements. In this way, the »borrowing« grand suite sung performance began to approach »small singing.« The structural tension of the grand suite musical structure was unique. It had its own rhythmic pattern, which had to be followed during performances—otherwise the melody would be ruined. Consequently, when this was brought into the zaju performance system, its original structure also had to be considered, and its rhythm complied with. In this way, the structure of zaju became inextricably linked with its musical structure. In general, zaju that used any kind of musical structure had to be performed in accordance with this musical structure and rhythm. Throughout recitation, singing, and dancing, it was constant. The required musical rhythm for the grand suite in zaju performances was highly restricted. Often during performances, the rhythm of the story could not at all coordinate with the characters’ emotional trajectories, resulting in them becoming completely disconnected. As Song zaju was unable to break through this frame of its musical stricture, it was only able to stay in the relatively simple dramatic phase. Jin zaju took a different course of development. This began with its transformation from short Northern Song comical jester plays to Yuan sung

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performances. Its performance format had progressed much further than that of Northern Song zaju. Tomb zaju brick carvings provide a concrete example of this. In the zaju brick carving tombs in Macun, Jishan, there are three tombs all carved with accompanying musical groups. Compared with the position and arrangement of Song zaju brick carvings of musical groups, a great transformation can be seen. This is because the Jishan tombs without exception found a place for music groups behind the zaju actors. This format is completely identical to that of the zaju scenes depicted in Zhong Duxiu’s Yuan dynasty mural. This reflects the fact that the Jin zaju system had begun to focus more on singing. As a result of singing’s growing presence in zaju performances, it developed increasingly close ties with instrumental performance. The importance of music groups was outstanding. Not only did they become indispensable elements of zaju performances, but going on stage with actors became a compulsory part of the performance, causing a harmonious rapport between the actors’ performance and singing. Although we cannot tell the exact content of singing scenes from the brick carvings, by looking at the scene of performers in the front and accompaniers at the back, it is certain that singing occupied a rather important position in Song zaju. Amongst the northern folk, Jin Dynasty zaju took on a melodic format that was different from Southern Song zaju cidiao and grand suites. This was rather the rise of a new mode of ancient Chinese music, and caused the music structure to break through the original frame, developing the path of northern melody zaju.

4. The Performance System Like the jester plays of the Tang and Five Dynasties, Song zaju still focused on short, comical, teasing-style theatrical works. Usually, in performances of this kind, a story would first be acted out, then a comic character would perform a jest and summarize the main theme, creating a sense

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of comedy and provoking laughter. In Wang Zhifang’s Notes on Poetry (wang zhifang shihua 王 直方诗话), Wang Lizhi says that the poet Huang Tingjian once compared performing zaju to composing poetry: »Creating poetry is like performing zaju: first you arrange it, then await comic remarks, and finally place it on stage.« Here, Huang Tingjian outlines the general approach to zaju performances at the time. However, Song zaju by no means remained completely in the oral jesting phase, already beginning to absorb and combine performance methods such as song-and-dance, shuochang (singing and comic storytelling), and acrobatics. Of the characters in Song zaju, the yinxi in particular dealt with dance performances. During the yanduan, he would first go on stage to dance, and his posture and movement is very much preserved in images portrayed by cultural relics. Of course, dance of this kind had not yet been merged with dramatic story performances themselves. When the proper zaju began, the yinxi dance was no longer used, only appearing as an external element of zaju. However, Southern Song zaju used a great deal of grand suite melodies. Since all grand suites were song-and-dance melodies, had Southern Song zaju transformed into a composite art that incorporated dance performances? The fact that singing was featured in Southern Song zaju can be seen in many historical records. In chapter ten of Wu Zimu’s Dream Sorghum Records (Mengliang lu 梦粱录), in the »Prostitute Music« (»jile« 妓乐) section, forms of zaju performance are explained, and »response singing« is mentioned. This was the Southern Song zaju performances feature of singing and reciting. There is also evidence of the Lin’an zaju group the Scarlet Green Society. Dream Sorghum Records also mentions the »rich and powerful youngsters of the Scarlet Green Clear Sound Society.« Guanpu Naide Weng’s Notes on the Chief Sights of the Capital also states: »The Grand and Noble Scarlet Green Clear Music Society is outstanding and most magnifi-

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cent.« As the Scarlet Green Society was referred to as the »Clear Sound Society« or the »Clear Music Society,« it was obviously renowned for singing. Simply due to lack of historical material, we are unable to speculate about the extent to which Southern Song zaju fused with other comprehensive performance methods. There is clear evidence to show that comprehensive performance methods were extensively used in Jin zaju. Still with comic jesting performances as one of its main characteristics, it attached the most importance to three kinds of performance skills: reciting, somersaulting, and kefan. These three kinds of acting all mainly concerned the fujing. Therefore, in Tao Zongyu’s Nancun Plowing Record (Nancun chuogenglu 南村辍耕录), it is said that: »In between the fujing’s scattered lines, there is reciting, somersaulting, and kefan.« Among these, reading poetry and reciting words, were elegant. Tumbling martial arts performances did not at all take up an obvious position in Song zaju, but underwent significant development in Jin zaju, thereby becoming the source of the Yuan zaju Lulin opera experience. »Kefan« signifies performance skills, including walking rapidly, making faces, blowing whistles, etc. In addition, the yinxi’s on-stage dancing posture is frequently seen in Jin dynasty brick carving designs. Furthermore, the ubiquity and prominent position of music groups on stage proves the occurrence of singing. When Jin Dynasty zaju entered the transition into mature northern zaju, comprehensive onstage performance methods developed significantly.

5. Aesthetic Pursuits After acquiring traditions and accumulating experience, Song and Jin zaju performances formed their own distinctive aesthetics. These mainly embodied the three aspects of comic style, satirical content, and sudden result.

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1. Comedy Comic style was firstly decided due to the performance systems of Song and Jin zaju. The performance process usually began with an introduction to the story, followed by a jest and a speech by a comic character to bring out the main theme. This created a comic effect, making people laugh. With amusement as its main goal, the result of these performances mainly reflected the content of comic banter. If they could not achieve their goal of making the audience laugh, the performance would be seen to have failed. If the audience did not laugh, this would suggest that the actors’ skills were poor. Therefore, creating intense laughter was the purpose of Song and Jin zaju performance.The zaju actors in the aforementioned scripts, for optimal performance results, even researched and grasped the psychology of certain audience members (such as Su Shi) with great success. Through techniques such as arranging the scene, the zaju method of mocking a real person or situation constituted the fixed form of its comic performance. In the context of creating comedy and maximizing the audience’s excitement, Song and Jin zaju

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performances appeared in Zhuang Jiyu’s Chicken Rib Compilation. It is written that, in a zaju competition in Chengdu, Sichuan, the team’s merits and drawbacks were judged by the number of times the audience laughed. The competition not only used pure comic results as the standard for judgement, but also issued clear-cut regulations regarding the degree of comic results: they had to look at the upper-class spectators in the canopied private room, and the common spectators sitting on high stools, noting the reaction from all. With this kind of standard, the compulsory comic element could be enjoyed by scholars and lay-people alike. 2. Satire Satirical content was related to the Song and Jin zaju prerequisite of implementing comic results. In order to create a source of laughter, zaju performances usually had to use examples to draw parallels. To do this they would obliquely refer to a real person, ridiculing and mocking them. These people were often present, or well-acquainted with those on stage. The performers’ taunts were not necessarily ill-intentioned—but the audience

6.6.4  Xiguancun Jin Tomb no. 1 west wall zaju mural in Pingding, Shanxi

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was still afraid that their own offenses would be satirized, and that they would be targeted. In most cases, however, they were simply impromptu adlibs intended to cause amusement. For example, in Memoirs of Wulin it is recorded that academy zaju performers used Zhang Junduo’s wealth for a performance, saying »only Zhang Junwang sits in money’s eye.« The aim of this taunt was only to borrow a funny current event and use it to excite the audience, focusing on the result of creating laughter. However, if they mocked a real-life event at the wrong time, people would also not laugh, and it could even turn into real tragedy. For example, Hong Mai recorded that zaju actors satirized wicked official Qin Hui, and as a result they were murdered. Due to the risks of political satire, when using ridicule in performances, zaju actors would usually restrain themselves—keeping it as far as possible within the realm of comedy. 3. Sudden Result Another Song and Jin zaju prerequisite for comedy was the sudden result. The most important condition for sudden result was surprise. When zaju scenes started to be arranged and compiled, they needed clever arrangement that was winding and tactful, that would not allow people to guess the ending. Song Dynasty Lu Benzhong, in Teaching the Young and Ignorant, said: »For Dongpo the length of a sentence has great billows and unexpected changes, like doing zaju: dreaming and jesting, yet dreaming jest.« This meant that to Su Shi, poetry composition was like a zaju performance. The arrangement was full of change, and the ending was often unexpected. In addition, we can also see the familiarity of the people with zaju performances. The comedy of zaju performances concentrated on the result of interspersing comic remarks during the coda, therefore it had to maintain the intensity of the result. After causing confusion for long time, speaking while interspersing comic remarks, people

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would have a sudden realization. Another condition of implementing sudden results was the language of interspersing comic remarks while staying on topic, allowing people to understand only after listening. Chen Shan’s Menshi Xinyu states: »I say that in zaju performances, those who do not intersperse comic remarks only rarely keep to the subject.« Keeping to the subject was a prerequisite for humor, otherwise the audience would feel as is they were in a fog, not feeling the codic result. In the sudden result format, the crucial point was the final interspersal of comic remarks that brought out the main theme, and that usually used language techniques such as homonyms and puns for implementation. Hononyms such as recorded in Zhang Duanyi’s Collections for Noble Ears (Gui erji 贵耳集): in a zaju by performed in front of the emperor, referring to the tree »huangbo kuren« was used to point out the bitterness of the common people (»kuren«) in Hangzhou towards »Huangbo« Xiu Wangli. In the academy zaju recorded in Zhou Mi’s Eastern Qi Field Tales, »36 ji« was used to indicate that Tong Guan’s army retreated from Jizhou, referring to the Chinese proverb »of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best.« Discussed above is the theory of creating sudden comic outbursts. Another frequently used comic methods in Song and Jin zaju was when actors beat each other. Accompanying the final words with beating their partner increased the strength of the jest, causing the mood of the performance to come to a climax. In zaju, performers beating each other was a frequent channel for quipping, using different methods, such as hands to criticize, and canes to hit. For instance, in Hong Mai recorded that, in the Chongzhu period (1102–1106) zaju was performed in front of Emperor Huizong of Song, and one performer dressed up as the prime minister. He did not need to blame or name all of the policies implemented during the previous dynasty, but upon noting that the previous dynasty’s money was still in place, another actor used a cane

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6.6.5  Brick carvings showing zaju ­performance and side stage in Jin Tomb no. 5 in Macun, Jishan, Shanxi

to beat him, saying: »You are the prime minister, but it turns out that you just want to keep money!« It concluded with this comic remark that brought out the main theme. Although the personal beatings were only an external source of laughter, it

had to have the content as the foundation, otherwise it could change into shallowness. However, it was capable of enormously reinforcing the level of the comic result, and was therefore used as an effective comic method in Song and Jin zaju.

CHAPTER VII  THE FORMATION OF SOUTHERN OPERA, AN INTEGRATED AND MATURE STAGE ART Southern Opera was a completely new form of opera, the rise of which initially was based on the jester plays and song and dance dramas of the Tang and the Five Dynasties, as well as folk song. After a long period in the Northern Song during which it began to take shape, it finally came into formation in the early twelfth century, at the intersection of Northern Song and Southern Song in the region where Zhejiang and Fujian meet in the south of the country. With its foothold in Wenzhou, it quickly spread, becoming an important type of drama across Zhejiang, Fujian—and even covering some parts of Jiangxi which were characterized by the singing of southern tunes. During its development, in addition to absorbing considerably from local folk tunes, shehuo dances and folk skills, the poetic drama of Bianjing after the Song had settled in the south also provided rich material. Both the performance and music of Southern Opera differed from that of Song Dynasty poetic drama, in that it was already able to integrate poetry and song and dance on stage in a relatively mature manner. In its stage performance, singing became one of the most important means of expression, and while its musical structure appeared complex and disordered, it was able connect tunes into a long musical work. Roles also developed into more refined distinctions, including the seven roles of male lead (sheng 生), female lead (dan 旦), older male role (wai 外), extra female role (tie 贴), clown (chou 丑), painted-face role (jing 净), and supporting male role (mo 末), each of which had its own performative features. Most importantly, Southern Opera established the fundamental aesthetic principles for Chinese

opera overall, such as flexible use of space and time on stage. As a consequence, Southern Opera ultimately completed the transition of Chinese opera performance from amusing sketches and banter to complete and serious dramas.

Section 1  Systems of Southern Opera 1. The Performance System 1. Form The Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty had the structure of complete and independent fulllength performances, unlike the segmented performance of poetic dramas or the interspersal of a performance among other arts. Its aim to was represent a complete life story on the stage, with each performance revealing an integral story from beginning to end. Performance was purely dramatic, not being mixed with other arts—although sometimes, during the development of the drama, an artistic performance would appear by necessity of a link to the plot. For instance, a performance of zhugongdiao 诸宫调 song-speech drama occurs before the opening of the drama Number One Scholar Zhang Xie (Zhang Xie zhuangyuan 张协状元) which, while still bearing the vestiges of the practice of interspersing drama and artistic performance, was connected to the thematic content of the drama. Judging from Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the jester first appeared on stage at the opening of Southern Opera performances in the Song Dynasty, chanting two lyric poems to attract the

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6.7.1  Stone engraving of a grand suite from a Southern Song tomb (section), Guangyuan, Sichuan

attention of the audience, in which he explained context. After the Yuan Dynasty, this form became fixed. However, the jester then continued with zhugongdiao song-speech performance, the content of which was the story of Zhang Xie— which he recounted until the climax, at which point he stopped and called for the male lead to take to the stage before beginning again. This zhugongdiao performance had clear traces of the poetic drama of the pleasure quarter theaters and the alternating of different performances on the stage. It then borrowed from the sections of the rhythmic steps of the poetic drama known as yanduan 艳段, which drew on daily life, with the male lead first taking to the stage to give a dance and to interact with the »back line« artists before the drama proper commenced. The additional of other performance arts and the rhythmic steps on stage at the beginning of the drama were actually superfluous to the integrity of the plot structure in Southern Opera, and made an already lengthy performance even more bloated and procrastinated. This reveals that the original appearance

of early Southern Opera had not yet had sufficient time to digest and distill the many performing arts it had widely absorbed. In the Southern Opera of the Yuan Dynasty, the form of such openings was gradually simplified until ultimately being fixed as the refined opening program of the jester. The set-up of each scene after the opening was mainly decided by plot requirements; naturally, it also took into consideration the time spent on and off stage by each character, and adjustments to the particular atmosphere at a given performance, which could be long or short, and was largely arbitrary. Once a section came to an end, all the characters left the stage, marking the end of a scene. There were also no restrictions on the total number of scenes, which were likewise decided by the content; Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, for example, totaled more than 50 scenes. The characters in Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty had different forms for taking to the stage; these forms were relatively arbitrary since they lacked maturity. Characters in serious drama usually took to the stage by first singing a song

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6.7.2  Stone engraving of a grand suite from a Southern Song tomb (section), Guangyuan, Sichuan

in which they revealed their mood, before clarifying their identity and scenario in spoken word. In Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, Zhang Xie, Poor Girl Wang, Shenghua and Mrs Wang all made their appearance this way. Among these characters, Shenghua and Mrs Wang both sang three or four songs before revealing their identities, while Poor Girl Wang left the stage after she had sung three songs, not revealing her identity until she appeared on stage three scenes later and had sung again. This would inevitably have led to the audience not understanding who the character was or the situation for a long time. The appearance on stage of secondary characters was generally not announced, which meant their identities were frequently not known. Occasionally, however, some of the secondary characters did brazenly introduce themselves; in the eighth appearance, for example, the clown appears as a strong man, and reads a long humorous piece similar to the language used in everyday life. The differences in the ways characters entered the stage gave a sense of chaos and imbalance

in performance, demonstrating that no effective pattern for the entry on stage of characters had yet formed in early Southern Opera: some characters borrowed from the ready-made modes used in Song Dynasty poetic drama or spoken and sung drama, while for other characters there was no precedent, and the mode of entry had to slowly be found through trial and error. The reading a seven-word quatrain by characters when they left the stage at the end of scene became fixed, the content of the poems, which could be recited alone, split between the characters, or recited in unison, was generally related to the plot and the mentality of the characters or progress of the story. The above are the substantial parts of the mature structure of Southern Opera performance, but the structure of early Southern Opera was highly complex, revealing evident traces of the absorption of various performing arts, constantly absorbing »nutrition« from its surroundings during to form its own unique structure. Considering Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the structure of early Southern Opera had at the very least absorbed

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performances from Song Dynasty poetic dramas, spoken performances and shehuo dance troupes. There are many traces of Song Dynasty poetic drama performance in Southern Opera. The comedic sketches of the painted-face role, supporting male role and the clown were in the main influenced by the poetic drama of the Song Dynasty. Number One Scholar Zhang Xie even absorbed the poetic drama performance Lai’s Rent (Lai fangqian 赖房钱) completely. The traces of spoken word performance are also significant in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie; examples include the long prose speech of the eighth appearance described above, when the strong man leaves the stage, and even in the 32nd appearance, in which Shenghua dies of anger, and the characters leave the stage in panic, one of the supporting male roles still comes onto the stage to give the following comment: Look! Do not say that water can never be fixed, with this end being square and that end round. The maiden Shenghua wished to marry the top scholar, but top scholar Zhang was a bad guy, and she could not live on. Mr Wang was prime minister at the time, and so his daughter was poorly judged, wouldn’t you say? I fear that greedy for the mid-autumn moon you see in the sky above, you have lost the temple beads the moon shines on in your plate.

This tone is precisely that of storytellers, a form which later became the break between opera and spoken and sung drama. Number One Scholar Zhang Xie also absorbed elements from performances of puppetry and folk shehuo troupe dance; in the 53rd appearance, for example, the clown performs an umbrella dance in imitation of Bao Lao, and the supporting male role says, »This is like Bao Lao in front of the puppet show canopy.« 2. Linear Structure From Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, it can be seen that at least by the mid-Southern Song, the performance structure of Southern Opera had already formed a particularly successful mode. Most

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prominent was the treatment of complex plots through dual or multiple story lines, ensuring throughout the play they were kept within sight of the audience. Specifically, the male and female leads would first take to the stage separately, and in song and spoken word would announce his identity as a scholar who was preparing to travel to the capital to participate in the examination. He then would say that he had dreamed he was being pursued by a tiger, which gives a hint of his subsequent robbery by the strong man, and encountering the poor girl on his journey. After Zhang Xie left the stage, the poor girl would enter the stage and indicate her poverty as well as the love she looked forward to. The subsequent plot followed the two separate story lines set out by Zhang Xie and the poor girl, alternating between the two lines until at some point they combined into one story line. At the beginning of the overlap of Zhang Xie and the poor girl entering the stage, no poetry recital is used to clarify the scenarios, situations or mentalities of the two different story lines. They did set the basis for the subsequent unfolding of conflict and plot development, with scenes extending along the double story lines. Zhang Xie’s first appearance on stage, for example, demonstrates a certain necessary association, which forms suspicion and suspense in the mind of the audience, and causes an expectation for how the plot will develop. The establishment of this double story line structure was both an inevitable presentation on stage of the system of male and female leads, and the natural result of displaying the theme of love between men and women. This became a constant within later Southern Opera. Social life, however, does not in fact follow a linear trajectory, and events often form into a complex and interconnected network of relationships. Southern Opera treated this by simplifying lateral connections as much as possible, while stressing longitudinal threads. When dual story lines could not adequately express the content of life,

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6.7.3  Southern Song, Su Hanchen, Five Auspicious Objects, the Palace Museum, Beijing

the same means were applied by adding one or more other story lines, which in short facilitated the appropriate expression of time and space on stage. Number One Scholar Zhang Xie is permeated with the efforts of such treatment, to good effect. There are not just two main story lines but three, the other being the story of Prime minister Wang Deyong and his daughter. This story line keeps those of Zhang Xie and the poor girl in line without diluting the positions of either lead characters. This is because this story line is placed in a secondary position, the main means of which

is achieved by pushing the representatives of the story line towards the back when they are on stage. This creates a certain distance when the protagonists enter the stage, with their appearance unable to interfere with the development of the main story lines. In the play, Wang Deyong’s daughter Shenghua appears in the 13th scene, which is after the convergence of the two main story lines. However, the additional of the subsidiary story line cannot occur too late or it would feel too abrupt. The treatment of placing this story line just after the two main

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story lines converge in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie is exactly right, and demonstrates that in the age of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, Southern Opera was already able to freely treat complex and interrelated plot lines. The linear structure is one of the aesthetic features of Chinese opera, the foundation of which had been laid by the Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty, Not all of the settings for story lines in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie were rational: there are some places which are simply passable or even forced, which can at times even appear cumbersome. An example of this is in the 15th scene, where the older male role plays the secondary character of the wife of the prime minister. In order to connect to the third story line, the character appears on stage alone, to sing and speak; this is completely unnecessary. The content imparted is a duplicate of the earlier appearance of Shenghua (scene 13) and the later drama between the prime minister’s wife and Shenghua (scene 17); it is speculated that the reason for setting up this drama was probably just to intersperse a story line between Zhang Xie and the girl while avoiding this story line being too hidden. There are also similar failures in other places, defects which would have had some adverse impact on Southern Opera of later generations, causing issues such as complex and trivial scenes, a repetition of scenes between acts, and unduly drawn-out performances. Besides the main story lines assumed by the male and female leads, one feature of Southern Opera was often being interspersed with comic sketches played by the painted-face role, the supporting male role, and the clown. For example, when Zhang Xie wants to find someone to bring about his dream, there is a sketch involving disreputable scholarly friends and a master who makes dreams come true. Before Zhang Xie enters the ancient temple, there is some slapstick involving the temple god, a judge, and a goblin. The content and methods used in the scenes of comic gestures and remarks were frequently borrowed from Song

CHAPTER VII THE FORMATION OF SOUTHERN OPERA, AN INTEGRATED AND MATURE STAGE ART

Dynasty poetic drama; where scenes permitted, the whole section from a poetic drama could be implanted, as is the case in scene 24, in which the performance of the rent of the county-level scholar Lai is obviously the same in as Lai’s Rent and Ma Lang (Lai fangqian Ma Lang 赖房钱麻郎)—a »section from the official text of poetic dramas.« The interspersal of these comic sketches was sometimes overly forced, diluting the main story line, and adding complexity to plots and characters; the bringing about of the dream by the unruly friends, for example, is unnecessary and it simply adds characters who serve no purpose in the drama as a whole, while dispersing the plot and the attention of the audience. The interspersal of comedic sketches by secondary characters did, however, have a function which cannot be denied: on the one hand, they adjusted the atmosphere of the venue, diluting the cold and serious scenes of serious drama with light and lively comedy, which could relieve the nervous tension and fatigue of an audience, and enable them to continue maintaining their concentration; on the other hand it also created an opportunity for the serious roles of the male and female leads to take a rest, as otherwise appearing in as many as several dozen scenes would be too much. Performances which interspersed serious drama with comedy would become the formula for later generations of Southern Opera and for the poetic drama of the Yuan Dynasty. It would also have a continuous impact on the appearance of the stage in the various styles of opera in the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as local opera, to become the basic stylistic feature of Chinese opera.

2. Role System 1. The Seven Roles There were seven main roles in the Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty, namely the male lead, female lead, painted-face role, supporting male role, older male role, extra female role, and the

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6.7.4  Pottery Southern Opera figurine (1), Tomb of Hong Zicheng, Poyang, Jiangxi

clown. While there were certain connections to the roles in the poetic drama of the Song Dynasty, but these roles were not identical. For example, the male lead corresponded to the moni 末泥 male lead, the female lead dan corresponded to the narrator (yinxi 引戏) and was connected to the male actors in female roles known as zhuangdan 装旦, and the painted-face role and supporting male role corresponded to the fujing 副净 and fumo 副末; other roles were unrelated to those of Song Dynasty poetic drama: the role of the older male was an expansion of the role of the male lead. Ming Dynasty writer Xu Wei, in A Record of Southern Opera (Nanci xulu 南词叙录), stated that the older male role was »another leading male outside of that of the leading male«; the extra female role was an expansion of the female lead role (Xu Wei stated it was »an extra female lead in addition

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to the female lead«); and the role of the clown was an invention of the Southern Opera. The history of the word sheng, which in opera is the male lead, refers to a talented person of learning, the usage of which can be traced back to the era of the Classic of Poetry (Shijing 诗经). After the Han Dynasty, Confucian scholars were called sheng, a term which was then expanded to include all educated people—all of whom were, of course, men. Thus, A Record of Southern Opera stated, »Sheng is a name given to men. In history there were those known as the sheng of the Dong family and the sheng of the Lu family, and the Music Bureau had the sheng of the Liu family.« In Southern Opera, the sheng was the male lead who often played such as young scholar-type characters such as Zhang Xie, Cai Erlang, Wang Kui, Wang Huan, and Xu Deyan. It may be that because of the function of these characters that the term was then adopted as the name of the role itself. The sheng is a character in serious drama who mainly sings, and emphasized in the performance of sheng are a clear sound and beautiful tones. This is why during the comedy of the clown in the fourth scene of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the male lead is likened to the descendant of a swallow, »his voice was so clear, and his tones so beautiful,« »if his ancestors had not been swallows, how could he sing with sounds that lingered around the rafters?« The older male role was an extension of the male lead, and played old men in serious dramas. In the medieval period, dan referred to women. The Song Dynasty Buddhist monk Wen Ying 文莹 stated in his Unofficial History from a Jade Pot (Yuhu yeshi 玉壶野史) that Han Xizai 韩熙载 »retained over forty vocalists; there was no system in place to restrict them, and they often went out of their rooms, and guests had dealings at will with sheng and dan.« The »dealings at will with sheng and dan« refers to unrestricted contact between men and women. The term dan is a loanword, the root of which is used widely in dance in the

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languages of China’s Western Regions. After the Han Dynasty, the term entered China, along with dance from the Western Regions. In the Tang and Song periods, dan was frequently used to refer to dancers or other performers, and from ancient times the majority of dances were performed by women; therefore, the term dan gradually came to indicate women. In Southern Opera, the dan was the female lead who usually played a young woman, such as the poor girl, the virtuous woman Zhao (Zhao zhennü 赵贞女), Guiying 桂英, He Lianlian 贺怜怜 and Princess Lechang 乐昌公主. Like the male lead, the female lead was a role in serious drama who mainly sang, and together with the male lead constituted the systematic tunes for men and women in Southern Opera. An extension of the female lead role, the extra female role plays the roles in serious drama of females second only in importance to the female lead. As in the poetic drama of the Song Dynasty, the painted-face role and supporting male roles developed from the jester plays of the Five Dynasties, and there was mutual influene with the poetic drama of the Song. Therefore, as with the poetic drama of the time, the two collectively constituted a pair of fools who performed sketches in comedies. The same division of function applied to the painted-face role and supporting male roles in Southern Opera, as those described by Nai Deweng in Notes on the Chief Sights of the Capital (Ducheng jisheng 都城纪胜) for Song Dynasty poetic drama: »the fujing painted-face role plays the fool, and the fumo supporting male role clowns around.« There are many examples in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie which make this point clear: the play includes several two-man performances between the painted-face role and the supporting male role, all of which comply with the fujing playing the fool and the fumo clowning around. Unlike the poetic drama of the Song Dynasty, Southern Opera had the addition of the clown role. In Southern Opera, the clown was a role which had a painted face, as did the jing paint-

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ed-face role. A Record of Southern Opera states that »his face was painted with powdered ink which made him look very ugly.« The clown also most likely had particular costumes; there is the following dialogue in the fifth scene of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie: »[Clown:] Brother, why not buy one of these good medicated plasters I have? [Male lead:] What is it for? [Clown:] Stick it on your little sister, the one with a head like a tortoise and a back hunched like a camel.« It may be that, physically, the clown’s body was distorted. The origin of the clown is not known; it may be that similar to later folk operettas, it came from the earliest songs and dances performed by the female lead and the clown. Some of the scenes in which the female lead and clown perform together in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie are similar to these operettas, the origin of which can be traced to the Tang Dynasty song and dance drama The Dancing and Singing Wife (Tayaoniang 踏摇娘). The clown also occasionally formed a pair with the supporting male role, clowning around with each other. When the clown appeared in the same scene as the painted-face role, meanwhile, they would form a pair that acted like dullards or fools, and would perform slapstick with each other as the supporting male role would egg them on, ridiculing them and laughing at them from the side. This was a highly effective performance pattern of buffoonery, which played a positive role in helping adjust the atmosphere at performances of the large and lengthy Southern Opera, as well as changing the rhythm on stage, and maintaining theatricality. This approach became the comedy stage gestures and movements in the Southern Opera of the later Yuan and Ming periods, and was employed on stage for a long period of time. 2. Division of Functions The roles in Southern Opera were increased from four of five Song Dynasty poetic dramas to seven, with additions being made both to the roles in se-

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6.7.5 Pottery Southern Opera figurine (2), Tomb of Hong Zicheng, Poyang, Jiangxi

rious drama and comedy. This is a reflection of internal change, to the expansion of the capacity of the stage to assimilate, and a precise adaptation to the functional requirement of displaying a complete life story and social context. In the division of functions for these seven roles, the sheng and dan played only the male and female protagonists respectively, while the other roles would perform many characters. Therefore, with the exception of the sheng and dan, who were able to unhurriedly give complete shape to the personalities of their characters, the other characters were played by other roles who appeared as themselves and hurriedly went through the motions. In Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the painted-face role played a total of thirteen different characters: Zhang Xie’s friend, his mother, a trader, a mountain spirit, Women Li, a female shopkeeper, a seller of official degrees, maid of the Wang household, Zhang Xie’s doorman, porters, Villager Liu, Military Commissioner Tan, and a person seeing off his relatives. The clown plays nine different charac-

ters: the master who makes dreams come true, Zhang Xie’s younger sister, the strong man, a goblin, Second Boy Li, Wang Deyong, an examination candidate, a porter, a person seeing off relatives. The supporting male role plays ten different characters: a friend of Zhang Xie, a merchant, the god of the land, a judge, Grand Duke Li, the officer behind the hall, an examination candidate, a buyer of a government degree, a petty official in the Zhang household, and a person seeing off relatives; there are also three scenes in which he appears on stage as the jester. The large number of characters played by the painted-face role, supporting male role and the clown did simply not allow the time or space for the roles to be shown, which meant they appeared in their usual costumes. They often appeared back on stage after having just left it; for example, in scene 48, the painted-face role first plays Villager Liu, a farmer, and Military Commissioner Tan, separated by just a few lines of dialog between the clown and the supporting male role. The costumes for the char-

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acters probably merely comprised a quick change of coat or hat, with little or no room to shape the personality of the characters. Furthermore, the time each of the seven roles spent on and off stage was imbalanced: the older male role and the extra female role were both rarely seen on stage, with the former only playing Zhang Xie’s father and Mrs Wang, and the latter playing just Shenghua and a maidservant. None were frequent, and had little to do on stage—so in comparison with the busy painted-face role, supporting male role, and clown, these had little purpose—and all needed to be gradually explored and improved upon through subsequent practical stage experience.

3. Music System The music in Southern Opera was not specifically designed for that purpose, but nor was it random: all the tunes were songs popular among ordinary society at the time, with the melody of each tune being fixed. Southern Opera simply absorbed the tunes, combining several into one so that together they could meet plot requirements. This feature of the music of Southern Opera being external to the creation of the script would become a prominent feature of Chinese opera, in which the music was stylized. Of course, this stylization was not particularly evident in early Southern Opera, because the combining of tunes was at an initial stage of exploration and had yet to form relatively standardized melodies. Much later, with the accumulation of experience in connecting separate songs, a stylized series formed in which there were conventions for combining tunes of different musical modes. It was at that time that the stylization of operatic music stood out, and it is most concentrated not in Southern Opera but in Northern poetic drama. 1. Sources The songs from ordinary society which Southern Opera absorbed came in part from traditional

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tunes and folk music, but were mostly popular tunes in society. The large number of »labeled melodies« (qupai 曲牌) passed down through history, and those popular in society, were combined to form the basis of music in Southern Opera, and each named lyric poem was associated with a specific melody and lyrics. The named lyric poem originated in the lyrical music which came into being in the Tang and Song periods, and evolved out of »labeled lyrics« (cipai 词牌). A large number of labeled lyrics based on songs were created in the Tang and Song periods, of which a large part would be absorbed into later labeled lyrics. In the Tang and Song, new music forms for labeled lyrics and labeled melodies were constantly created on the basis of sung lyrics, such as grand suites, lyrical poetry accompanied by small drums, the zhugongdiao song-speech drama, piaochang singing, chanling 缠令 and chanda 缠达 forms, as well as singing and turns. The labeled melodies would be combined using different methods to form different styles of melody, which provided Southern Opera with experience and stylistic rules. A total of 155 different labeled melodies were used in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the various sources of the tunes and forms being ancient poetry, grand suites, breakdown tunes of Buddhist songs, melodies sung in the Imperial Office of Music, as well as folk performances such as shadow plays, shehuo dance troupes, turn singing, zhugongdiao song-speech drama, and songs sung within common society. Among these, the tunes from the Imperial Office of Music and some of the tunes from folk performances may have been northern tunes which were taken to the south when the emperor migrated. It is also possible the same applied to some of the grand suites—the majority of which would, however, have been folk ballads which circulated in the southeast. The long-term development of Southern Opera in this region enabled it to gradually incorporate a large of number of tunes from different sources into its musical structure, and to apply a certain arrangement of melo-

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dies which served to give expression to characters and stories. A Record of Southern Opera by the Ming Dynasty writer Xu Wei is very clear on the point that the earliest music in Southern Opera originating in folk ditties: »Poetic drama flourished in Yongjia, which comprised little melodies from the local villages. Originally there were no musical modes, and rhythms were rare too, with only the rough women from the country markets singing as they pleased—giving rise to so-called spontaneous tunes.« It also states, »Their tunes were the poems from the Song Dynasty boosted with the rhyming songs from their village lanes. There were no melodious musical modes, so the scholar-officials were barely aware of it.« The music of Southern Opera of which Xu Wei wrote as being overly vulgar and disdained by scholar-officials continued until the Ming Dynasty. Volume 24 of Zhu Yunming’s Collection of Huaixing Hall (Huaxingtang ji 怀星堂集), which predates Xuwei, states in the »Preface to the Re-engraved Phonology of the Central Plains« (»Chongke Zhongyuan yinyun xu« 重刻中原音韵序) that »It is unfortunate that in the tunes to the scripts of plays from the Wen and Zhe areas of the Southern Song, the cacophony is almost like that of poultry—just where were the tunes?« Zhu Yunming had contempt for the tunes of Southern Opera, believing them to lack any melody, and resemble nothing more than the racket made by poultry. Based on the above statistics relating to the source of the melodies in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, there is foundation to Xu Wei’s belief that the earliest origin of the music in Southern Opera was the folk ditty. Another look at the names of the labeled melodies included in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie shows them to have a distinct folk flavor: Zhao’s Leather Shoes, The Fourth Sun Wu, Pairs of Fighting Cocks, The Ferryboat Filled with Geese and Ducks, The Chicken in the Forest, Sprouts of Fresh Ginger, The Oily Walnut, and A Peck of Black Sesame. These probably originated

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from village ditties. Tunes such as Fuzhou Song, Fuqing Song and Taizhou Song, meanwhile, are probably the names of labeled melodies which developed from the ballads sung in the lanes. The content of their lyrics contains what appear to be popular folk ballads. 2. Musical Organization The musical structure in early Southern Opera was quite crude. There are no obvious rules to the combination of labeled melodies in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie; while there may have been some custom for the connecting of the end of a labeled melody to the beginning of the next, actual rules had yet to be fixed. For example, the main plot to which one labeled melody is linked to another is through the repeated use of the same melody. While inspiration for this musical structure may have been influenced by grand suites, in which the same melodies were sung several times, a more direct cause was perhaps the inadequate unifying force of melodies over all. It can be seen from the above narratives on the origin of labeled melodies that the musical components in early Southern Opera were heterogeneous, absorbing a wide range of musical elements from many forms of performance. The most common form of repeatedly singing the same labeled melody, for example, was a musical form employed in the legato of labeled lyrics, lyrical poetry accompanied by small drums and grand suites. Other musical forms were also absorbed by Southern Opera: Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, for example, also includes the chanling form in one scene, two scenes incorporate a musical ensemble from chanling or singing and turns, and another scene also is cut through with the music from a grand suite. Within these structures, the melodies conform to the rules of chanda, chanling, singing and turns or grand suites. Southern Opera formed in the Wu linguistic and cultural area. The village ditties and lane ballads widely sung by ordinary people naturally had Wu

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features, the musical mode of which was characterized by having a pentatonic scale (comprising gong 宫, shang 商, jue 角, zhi 徵 and yu 羽 degrees)—which differed from the diatonic scale of northern tunes. The instruments used to perform the musical accompaniment to early Southern Opera remain unclear, but the opening of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie at least included drums, the sheng reed pipe, and the vertical flute. Some have understood from the words of »plucked silk and savored bamboo« in the opening recital by the supporting male role to indicate that Southern Opera employed stringed instruments, but there is insufficient evidence to support this, given that these words actually describe the romantic scene of the children from families of officials, rather than the Southern Opera performance itself. In fact, because music in Southern Opera did not conform to musical modes, Southern Opera of the Yuan and Ming was for a long time unable to use stringed instruments for musical accompanied. Consequently, there is only a very small probability that stringed instruments were used in the Song Dynasty, either. 3. Singing Singing became one of the most important methods in stage performances of Southern Opera. Through song, the characters would provide narration, express their moods, develop the plot, and create ambience. While the male and female leads were the main singing roles, any role could sing. The main forms employed were solos, duets, antiphonal singing, singing in rounds, and choruses. Sometimes a few performers would pass a labeled melody between them, and the end of the song would often be sung in chorus by offstage singers. In summary, arrangements for which roles sang which songs was very arbitrary. In a 32nd scene of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the song The Wild Goose Passes Over the Desert is sung four times to express the depressed mood of the prime minis-

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ter’s daughter, Wang Shenghua, including solos and round singing as well as singing by the offstage chorus. It is sung both high and low, and full of drama, which drives the emotion of the protagonist to a climax, in which the use of song shows incisively the state of mind of the characters, and changes in development. The offstage chorus was a method peculiar to Southern Opera, the form of which can be seen as early as the Tang Dynasty song and dance drama The Dancing and Singing Wife. Many common tunes in later Southern Opera retained this feature, and it is still used in the associated gaoqiang 高腔 rhyming schemes of opera today.

Section 2  Initial Formation of the Artistic Characteristics of Chinese Opera When early Southern Opera took shape, it laid the foundations for the basic scope of the aesthetic features of Chinese opera, such as the casual liberty in transitions in time and space in performances, the virtual nature of performance methods, and the integrated use of singing, spoken word and sketches. Although performance was stylized, and there was still a need to gain further practical experience, it was beginning to take shape. Laying the foundations for freedom of time and space. In Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, highly proficient use was made of the performance methods of singing, spoken word, and moving around the stage to treat transitions in time and place in the plot. In the second scene, Zhang Xie arrives home on the street and sees his father, which is resolved through song: »[Male lead sings:] I have walked the flowery streets and returned home alone, I clasp hands seeing how my father is. [The older male role playing the father appears:] In this cottage I heard the sound of feet, my son has returned.« In the 50th scene, Military Commissioner

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Tan and Zhang Xie’s servant discuss something as they go from the Tan household to the Zhang household. This is achieved in just a few words of description and a few steps: »[Supporting male role:] We have passed down long streets. [Painted-face role:] And through short alleyways. [Supporting male role:] Passing by teahouses. [Painted-face role:] And leaned against the wine stores. [Supporting male role:] It towers up at the bottom here.« The most prominent example is in the 40th scene, in which Zhang Xie leaves the capital, passing through Jiangling in Hubei to take up office in Zizhou, Sichuan. He makes a journey of thousands of miles—which is completed with a few rounds of song between the four characters of himself (male lead), his attendant (supporting male role), and his porters (the clown and painted-face roles). In this, the characters make their journey as they sing to each other, with each certainly having different dance movements. The movements of Zhang Xie, for example, were of riding a horse, while those of the two porters were of carrying loads on their shoulders. It was through this performance of singing and dancing that, unknown to the audience, this great crossing of time and space was readily achieved. This treatment of time and space on stage was a major achievement for Southern Opera, establishing the aesthetic principle of freedom of time and space in Chinese operatic performance. This principle, which would become a method used on stage in opera for a millennium, also transformed into the most essential aesthetic feature of the Chinese operatic stage. Second is the virtual nature of performance methods on stage. The use of virtual methods abounds in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, mainly in the use of onomatopoeic sounds and imitative movements. The following performance can be found in scene 35, for example: »[Painted-face role:] Slam! (Closes door.)« The painted-face role imitates the action of closing a door while making the sound

SECTION 2 INITIAL FORMATION OF THE ARTISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINESE OPERA

of a door closing with his mouth. The imitative action is reminiscent of similar stages performances in later operas. The 44th and 45th scenes also contain two sections of imitative performance, in which prime minister Wang Deyong rides at speed on horseback and dismounts his horse: (Supporting male role appears) The Tune of the Three Terraces is beaten out on a drum, rat-a-tattat, and a gong is hit, boing, boing! [Clown:] You are rushing along on the horse. [Supporting male role:] I rise and fall upon this horse. See how the horse and I, Wang, are as one. [Clown:] The horseshoes reflect the light. [Supporting male role:] They cook it and sell it themselves. [Together:] Bangbangba, bangbang bababang. [Supporting male role:] One shall dismount this horse. [Clown:] Bangbang babangbang. ­[Shouting:] There is news! [Supporting male role:] Who is the news for? [Clown:] When an officer dismounted for a long time, a pipe will sound the horse music making a sound like bababangbang.

The actors make movements imitating riding and dismounting a horse while they make the sound of horse with their mouths. Actions such as closing a door or riding a horse are easy to imitate; this is not necessarily the case for other actions. In the 48th scene, for example, when Villager Liu (the painted-face role) pays his respects to Wang Deyong (the clown), there is a comedic section: »[Clown:] Please sit. [Painted-face role:] But there is nothing to sit on. (Imitating sitting, interpose)«. Such »imitating of sitting« is difficult to achieve on stage, and it was probably indicated just for a brief moment. This shows that early Southern Opera had not yet grasped the scope of what imitative performance could successfully achieve. More common in Number One Scholar Zhang Xie is the use of performance to imitate objects. In the 16th scene, for example, the grand duke and his wife hold a banquet in celebration of the marriage of Zhang Xie to the poor girl. There are no tables on the stage, and Second Boy Li (the clown) is required to serve as a table, and so »the clown

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bends his body« and »the plates are placed upon the clown’s back.« Another example occurs in scene  21: »[Clown:]  … bring seats from left and right. [Supporting male role:] One would return, but the painting hall is far, as is the library. It is too much to discuss. [Clown:] Discuss it here  … (Dragged upside down) There are no folding chairs so I will become one for you. (The clown sits on his back)«. The most prominent example of such a performance is found in the tenth scene, in which a person pretends to be a door: »[The female lead calls:] Open the door! (Slapping the clown’s back) [Clown:] You are disheveled! Disheveled! Disheveled! [Supporting male role:] The second night watch has just sounded. [The female lead calls:] Open the door! (Slapping the clown’s back again) [The clown calls:] Why not hit me with the other hand too!« The above examples illustrate the problem: from the very beginning, Southern Opera directly acknowledged before its audience that it was a performance, and it put this premise to further good use to produce a comic effect within its performances. Actual examples show that Southern Opera not only included dressing up in disguise, it also often intentionally revealed the disguise for comic effect; in scene 39, for example, in which the poor girl pays worship to the spirit, the painted-face role, who plays Old Woman Li, stands up straight—and when her husband tells her to walk off, the painted-face role says, »But I have to play the spirit.« This is because the painted-face role in fact plays both the spirit and Old Woman Li. In the 25th scene, too, the poor girl endures uncountable hardships to come to the capital in search of her husband. When she arrives in front of Zhang Xie’s household, his doorman takes her to be a porter, playing on the joke that her character is played by a man in drag. There are numerous examples of such revelations of the true identity of the characters in the play. More outrageous is the 16th scene, in which Second Boy Li (the clown) plays the part of table. At some points, Second

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Boy Li secretly consumes the meats and wine on the table (his back), and at other times he yells that his back aches. Others warn him to stop making a racket, or ask him from where he is speaking. He finally stands up, and others ask where the table has gone. This theatrical concept which recognizes the fiction has led Chinese opera for eight centuries, its expressive technique playing a role in subsequent opera, being repeatedly drawn upon to become an important means of comedy. Third is the beginning of stylized performance. In performances of early Southern Opera, there was a small amount of stylized action, such as in the 32nd scene of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, where the prime minister’s daughter Wang Shenghua falls ill because Zhang Xie refuses to marry her. After she appears on stage, the stage direction is »use the sick person’s stance,« which means that on the stage at that time sick people had their own special standing posture. In the 16th scene, in which the painted face plays the god of the land, the direction is »the painted-face role stares to show his might«; in other words, the styling of those playing spirits was to stare as a demonstration of their might. Relatively speaking, however, there were few stylized performances in early Southern Opera. The way in which characters appeared on stage, for example, was relatively casual, with most not being given any introductory poem when they appeared, which often led to their identities not being known. In the early scenes of Number One Scholar Zhang Xie, the supporting male role had no character identity, and merely made his appearance as the supporting male role. In scenes two, four and five, for example, the scene appears to play Zhang Xie’s family servant, but in the script the only call is to »call the supporting male role over,« and there is no call as to the character he plays. In the fifth scene, the supporting male role expresses his resentment for this name, and there is a performance in which he and the painted-face role depart from their characters:

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[The painted-face role speaks:] Hey! Call the supporting male role over. (Supporting male role appears) … You haven’t done anything. First call yourself over and don’t bother with him (The supporting male role stands with his back to the painted-face role) [Painted-face role:] Hey! Don’t bother with him, don’t bother with him. (pulling the supporting male role’s ear) Who are you talking about? [Supporting male role:] I haven’t said anything. (The painted-face role pretends).

Stylization is the refinement and abstraction of performance methods. It’s maturity still required long-term practice and the gathering of experience, which would take time. Fourth, the shifting of integrated stage methods. Early Southern Opera was already able to skillfully use stage methods such as the interspersing of singing, recital and action, so that they could serve to display the plot, and shape characters. One example is in the 30th scene, in which nothing is heard of Zhang Xie after he has left to take part in the examinations. Missing him, the poor girl let’s her imagination run away with itself. She suddenly hears that he came first in the highest imperial examination, but she dares not believe it. In the play, the performance integrates singing, the spoken word, and action, to flawlessly express the emotional changes from initial melancholy to the surprise of hearing the good news which she dared not believe was true—bringing a fleshand-blood character to life on the stage. Although each character in Southern Opera could make use of the expressive means of song, spoken word and action, there was a bias. Ordinarily, when the male and female leads appeared on stage together, duets and action dominated; when the painted-face role, supporting male role and clown appeared on stage together, meanwhile, dialogue and buffoonery were predominant; when the male and female leads appeared on stage, mingled with the painted-face role, supporting male role and clown, there was singing, spoken word and buffoonery.

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When Southern Opera of the Song Dynasty used song and speech to represent a character, there was already a certain idea as to the features of a particular character. One of the most common rules was that the protagonists played by the male and female leads were usually shaped within the serious drama, while the secondary roles played by the painted-face role, supporting male role and clown were formed using comic means. Performances of the former tended to the elegant and dignified, while the later tended to the witty and humorous. The language of the former characters tended to often employ classical Chinese in communication between the upper classes, while the latter used the vulgar vernacular of everyday life. In the singing of labeled melodies, the former paid attention to selecting prevailing melodies, while the latter used popular folk songs. One example of a funny character employing a popular song is in the 19th scene, where the painted-face role plays the role of Old Woman Li from the countryside, who sings The Pock-Marked Woman (Ma pozi 麻婆子): »How good is the spring light in February; the seedlings can be pulled out so finely. Sometimes I walk out of the fields; countless tadpoles swim in the water. Scoop out a bowl beside me; I must hurry to buy some oil.« Most importantly, Southern Opera adopted the structural mode of male and female leads, which formed the basis of Chinese opera for several centuries. Early Southern Opera selected the most compelling and moving topics, such as the ethics of love, and human joys and sorrows, to form the subject of its concentrated expression. It took as the fundamental mode of its content the development and changes of feelings between the young male and female protagonists, or the setbacks they faced. This was exactly suited to performances of Southern Opera in which the male and female leads performed song and dance. Its large capacity for life and for the full content of legends could also be fully expressed in the loose stage structure of Southern Opera, which

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could be lengthened at will to readily express any twists and turns. Conversely, during the earliest formation of Southern Opera, the loves and joys and sorrows between the male and female leads formed the basis on which this stage form was established. Additionally, the two types of drama, comprising the fickle scholar and the tribulations of love, both had as their structure natural con-

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flicts and the development of the main plot line towards a clear conclusion. They were easy to display on the stage, and readily served for the catharsis of the audience’s emotions—and so were natural subjects suitable for opera. Thus, it was inevitable that the very earliest mature forms of Chinese opera would pick them.

CHAPTER VIII  GREAT EXPLORATIONS IN MUSIC The flourishing of the commodity economy in feudal society prompted the emergence of city-oriented material life, as well as the increasing modernization and urbanization of cultural life. This caused all groups during the Xiantong period, along with the bustling Bianliang and Lin’an, to develop new folk and urban musical activities: »New sound and laughter filled brothels, and in teahouses and wine shops, wind instruments were blown and strings were played.« Places such as pleasure precinct theatres and arts houses formed the diverse urban music culture, which brimmed with vitality. Court Royal Academy music continued the yayue, yanyue, drum and pipes, song-anddance, and grand suites of past dynasties, which were still used in court assemblies, banquets, sacrifices, and ceremonial weaponry services of the ruling class. During the mid-Tang Dynasty, scholars and common poets broke beyond the five-toseven syllable regulated verse form, integrating folk song lyrics and, along with the rhythm and cadence of melodies, developed song lyrics with lines of irregular lengths, thus promoting the development of music. The introduction of string instruments was among the Song Dynasty’s contributions to the development of Chinese music. Xiyue (thin music), qingle (clear music), academy grand suites and other such group musical formats promoted the development of the instrumental music of Chinese ethnic groups. Not only did seven-string guqin music, along with several guqin players, emerge, but so did multiple playing styles, giving rise to various schools. Through collation of ancient music, there were new achievements in the creation of new music, and several treatises on the seven-string guqin were written.

The development of musical study and musical tuning were considered symbolic of the nation’s development of music theory. The tuning system of the Song Dynasty underwent development, becoming the subject of many original ideas. In music notation methods, gongche notation began to take shape, constituting an essential contribution to the music and scores of later generations. Although music aesthetics was restricted by the Cheng-Zhu School of Principle, or Neo-Confucianism, the establishment of all kinds of musical concepts, along with the publishing of various music studies, illustrated the liveliness of musical thought in the Song Dynasty. This not only reflected the music of one dynasty, but also led to the advancement of music in later generations. From a historical perspective, the Song Dynasty was a transformative age of Chinese musical development. These transformations included the following: court music into popular music, aristocratic music into folk music, and song-and-dance music into opera music. This was necessitated by development of a business economy as well as urban music. The transformation, namely that of ancient music into a new sound, was similar to the custom of ancient rites, in that its influence was inevitable.

Section 1  Urban Music 1. Music Activities in the City According to Meng Yuanlao’s Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (Dongjing menghua lu 东

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京梦华录), the pleasure precinct theatres of Bianjing hosted several lively folk music performers. For example, »true leaders« of xiaochang (small-singing) performers included Li Shishi, Xu Poxi, Feng Yinu, and Sun Sansi. There were also piaochang (fast-singing) »followers« such as Zhang Qiqi, Wang Jingnu, Zuo Xiaosi, An Niang, and Mao Tuan. In sanyue, there was Yan Xi, Gai Zhongbao, and Liu Mingyan, and all-rounders included Zhu Sanchuan and Shu Xiucai. Xiaochang performer Li Shishi and four others like her were esteemed as »leaders,« attesting to their role as outstanding individuals. The word »true« here expresses the meaning of »reliable.« From this, it is clear Northern Song pleasure precinct theatre performers had already formed different levels, such as »leaders« and »followers.« In addition, the capacity of Northern Song spectators to appreciate the arts also reached a considerable level, to the point that they were able to define and differentiate between performers’ levels. In the sheltered nook of the Southern Song, despite the daily distress of national affairs, life was increasingly lavish. As a result, pleasure precinct theatres existed on a larger scale, with musical performances growing in success. In Zhou Mi’s

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Memoirs of Wulin (Wulin jiushi 武林旧事), it is recorded that there were 55 items on the program of a Lin’an pleasure precinct theatre, with 512 wellknown performing artists. Among these items, there were a total of 15 musical art forms, and 180 actors. In Old Man Xihu’s Record of Luxuriant Scenery (Fansheng lu 繁胜录), it is recorded that Lin’an’s »Qingyue Societies« had multiple members, with each group holding 100 or more. The many urban »sanyue masters« specialized in musical services. In Dream Sorghum Records (Mengliang lu 梦粱录), it is recorded that in urban households hosting »banquets or social occasions, [it was common to] employ sanyue masters from the Harmony Quarter, the New Street, or the Lower Pleasure Precincts, with girls dressed as moni, playing zhuan music on stringed instruments, only as accompaniment.« Urban music performers inhabited the lower levels of society, frequently mixing with urban courtesans. In the same way that artists had to sell their art, they also had to sell their bodies. However, courtesans also tended to be skilled in some form of musical song-and-dance performance. This was the abnormal development of court musical art coming to the common people,

6.8.1  Stone carving in relief showing a grand suite performance (section) in a Southern Song Tomb, Guangyuan, Sichuan

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from the aristocrats to the civilians. As a result, the extensive number of courtesans at the time could be regarded as an additional force in urban music art. In Wu Yunxhen’s Copies of Song Poetry (Songshi chao 宋诗抄), it is written that: »[When] Chao Chongzhi became a palace graduate […] [he] clutched imperial courtesan Li Shishi, throwing countless brocade headbands [at her], with wine all over the boat amidst songs and clappers. Her spectators were a jumbled mass, and the sound was wonderful.« This is a record of xiaochang singer and imperial courtesan Li Shishi. In Wu Zimu’s Dream Sorghum Records (mengliang lu 梦粱 录), it is stated that: Many rich families from mansion houses went to malicious streets, choosing courtesans who could sing, who respectfully served them after being hired. […] Since the time of the Jingding era [1260–1264] […] from among the many imperial courtesans and famous personal courtesans, the ones of highest and upper qualities were chosen. These beautiful women possessed elegant charm and figures, peach faces and cherry lips, with slim fingers of jade, and amorous, evasive glances. Their mellow voices produced a truly beautiful sound, producing clear words and euphonious tunes, of which no one could tire of listening.

This is another example of courtesans appearing in urban performances. Urban music activities combined with festival celebrations to form rich and vibrant scenes. In Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (Dongjing menghua lu 东京梦华录), it is written that musical activities were held during several festivals in Bianjing. These included New Years’ Day, when in places such as Mahang Street, Panlou Street, Song Gate, Liang Gate, and Fengqiu Gate would be »adorned canopies,« with »dance halls and singing buildings arranged between them«; on Lichun Day, in front of the governor’s office of Kaifeng Prefecture, »stood characters for variety performances«; during the Lantern Festival, the Kaifeng office »arranged music canopies, making

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the entertainers in front of the office to perform music and acrobatics.« Items such as zaju, puppetry, jiqin, xiaoguan, and drum and flute were featured; on January 16, »in all tents, courtesans competed to play music with a new sound, joining the music racketing up and down stages and canopies«; on Tomb Sweeping Day, »the singing and dancing girls of the capital filled pavilions, coming and going in the evening«; on July 15, the Ghost Festival, there were »musicians in the theaters, with the Double Seven Festival barely passed, dressed up [to play] the zaju piece ›Mulian Rescues His Mother‹«; for the Autumn festival, »singers« were hired to perform; for the Mid-Autumn Festival, there was the »racket of shenghuang [a free reed wind instrument with vertical bamboo pipes]«, and »in the depths of the night, one could hear the distant sound of sheng and yu [a free reed wind instrument similar to the sheng], as if in a wonderland«; during the Tianning festival on October 10, »academies gathered all courtesans to review music [performances]«; on October 12, »academy music departments stood in lines in the colorful canopy under the tall festival tower  […]. Clappers were at the very front, with ten in one row, followed by 50 identical textured stone pipa, then two konghou [Chinese harps] […] then two overhead bass drums […] followed in the end by two jiegu [double-ended skin drum with a narrow wais]) […]« As we can see, folk music festival activities were bustling affairs. In addition, there were often Buddhist music activities in the cities. Buddhist religious ceremonies consisted of worship songs in which Buddhist prayers were chanted. For instance, when Buddhist activities took place in music canopies outside of Bianliang, new music was played. In Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital (Dongjing menghua lu 东京梦华录), it is recorded that: In places such as the Kaiyuan, Jingde, and the Great Buddha Temples, there were music canopies, with music playing and lamps burning […] there was a music canopy opposite the right-hand side

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door of the palace, letting the families of this Imperial Guards enter the Imperial City to watch […] There were rich and powerful young men from the capital, and people sang as they walked on the streets, which were packed with people. The sound of sheng and huang was endless from thousands of households […] [Street vendors] hit the drums in time to the beat as they walked round in circles, which is the so-called »playing the spinning top.«

There it is also written that: Music was played to welcome [the god] into the temple. With a music canopy set up on the outdoor stage in front of the palace hall, The academy’s Junrongzhi [marching band] was playing music, and there was a zaju dance circle […] variety performances were arranged from early on […] clappers and xiaochang […]« Since there was a music canopy set up in the Buddhist temple, the sound of sheng was not penetrating, and drums were struck in time to the beat in a »revolving dream.«

Temples not only set up music canopies, with endless sheng and huang music, and knocking drums »playing the spinning top,« but also had Junrongzhi perform military music, accompanied by a zaju circle dance. All of these Buddhist activities borrowed folk music to attract crowds. This is also an example of folk music aiding the development of Buddhism itself.

2. Folk Songs and Folk Music 1. The Five Dynasties Although the Five Dynasties was a brief period with much unrest, the singing activities of its people are reflected in a limited number of documents. Reportedly, in the first year of Kaiping (907) Emperor Taizu of the later Liang ascended the throne and granted money to the King of Wuyue. This money went back to his family »making manifest his battle-ax enthusiasm, shaking the brilliant valley.« He provided wine for the village, and one of his village’s woman was once rescued in this hour of entertainment. During the banquet,

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Qian Liu stood up to pour the wine and amuse the guests by singing the »Returning Home Song.« Its lyrics are: The head of three commissions returned home, hanging bright clothing. The jade-green day, ah, loves the shining sun. Banners arranged on the path of success. Elders come together from near and far. Time to meet up with friends at the home mountain area has become rare, and today the banquet is set up where drinking cups are passed on fast. The Dou and Niu stars always shine in the sky, ah, do not deceive. [Just like] the king of Wuyue, [whose words cannot be withdrawn] with four horses.

Upon hearing the song, many elders urged each other to drink. They did not know what it meant, nor did they concern themselves with wealth. They were satisfied simply with pouring more wine. The towering Wu Hou sang folk songs with expressive meaning. The song included the lyrics: »You folks see me, so very happy. It is a special kind of feeling, always inside of my heart.« Everyone joined in, and a joyous atmosphere filled the village as they shouted and laughed during this high-spirited banquet. Here, the unique charm of folk songs in the Wu region is evident, as is the local long-term popularity. There were also many other songs and lyrics that were disseminated. Southern Tang Lord Li died of an illness. It was said that several years before he died, a fisherman in a woven rush raincoat and bamboo rain hat, holding a fishing rod, had been hitting the short barrel stave on a street in Jinling, singing »Proud Fisherman.« Its lyrics were: »Amid the February Jiangnan scenery, plum blossoms [homophonous with Li] wither and fall in the spring, without a master. Not a single fish can be found anywhere. In the wind and rain, the dragon born of the earth ascends back to the heaven.« The fisherman sang this for half a year, the sound of his voice clear and mournful, like mist covering water. Listeners were not opposed to it, as they did not have to pay. This song came to be sung in

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6.8.2 Stone carving in relief showing Mount Baoding (section) in Dazu, Sichuan

every village lane. After Li died, these verses were thought to contain an omen that had come true. Emperor Zhuangzong of the later Tang (personal name Li Xunxu) was fond of performing. In Old History of the Five Dynasties (Jiu Wudai shi 旧五 代史), it is recorded that he made optimal use of music during battle with the later Liang. Having loved music since childhood, Zhuanzong understood tuning, and could compose. Consequently, every time that he led an army into battle, he would teach the soldiers a song that he had composed himself, to boost morale during the advance. Singing was compulsory whilst marching, and the soldiers sang loudly as they charged, united in action. This largely increased their courage, and

they often came out victorious. These songs were known as »Imperial Compositions.« While lyrical music was generally performed at banquets by female musicians, Zhuangzong used it for morale-boosting, illustrating the versatility of lyrics at the time. Lyric styles also broke beyond the limits of songs performed by female musicians. These musical compositions continued to circulate long after the fall of the later Tang. History of the Five Dynasties (Wudai shi 五代史), compiled by Ouyang Xiu, mentioned locations such as Fenyang and Jinyang in the Northern Song, where people sang songs composed by Zhuangzong. Songs were frequently sung in the Qi army. In Later History of the Five Dynasties (Xin Wudaishi

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新五代史) it is recorded that in the 15th year of the Baoda period (957), when Emperor Shizong of the later Zhou (personal name Chai Rong) ordered a second punitive expedition to the area surrounding Haozhou, the Haozhou provincial governor Guo Tingjiang and the Zhou »soldiers sang the ›Song of Tanlai‹.« As they marched and rode, many thousands sang majestic army songs, advancing together through the water and land, and »the sound could be heard in dozens of miles.« It can therefore be inferred that the Zhou army sung loudly, advancing with bold spirit. 2. Song Dynasty Folk Songs and Folk Music Folk songs were an important mode of artistic expression of the masses’ thoughts and feelings. Originating amongst the people during their civil service, they were interwoven with their real lives, faithfully conveying the main four human emotions—happiness, anger, sorrow and joy. Folk songs therefore embodied strong vitality and ingenuity, and were deeply influential, reflecting the development of music in each period. Individual single-movement pieces, known as quzi, were rather sophisticated song forms used by many people in the composition of their own folk songs. Quzi had a bigger impact than ordinary folk songs. Not only did it spread further, from villages into towns and cities, but it also gained the attention and favor of professional artists and literati scholar-official societies. Gradually, scholars improved on or wrote new quzi lyrics, also using their musical ability to develop the pitch and accompaniment forms of quzi, turning it into the most representative type of Song Dynasty folk song. By using folk songs as the basis upon which to compose quzi lyrics, scholars developed the most important, unique style of Song Dynasty music literature. Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter (Biji manzhi 碧鸡漫志) summarizes this in an accurate and concise manner:

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Since the establishment of the Sui and Tang dynasties, current so-called quzi songs have gradually flourished. Until the Tang they were somewhat successful, but now their complicated sound is excessively played, its occurrences probably uncountable. Ancient songs turned into ancient yuefu, and ancient yuefu has turned into current quzi songs. Their origin is the same.

Despite the people’s quzi lyrics being considered »rustic and coarse« by the literati, who refused to acknowledge their value, the feelings of love and hate expressed through these songs are clear from the few documented original folk quzi songs. For example, between 1241–1252, in the Chunyou period of Emperor Li Zongchun’s reign during the Southern Song, he carried out an »land re-measurement« plan that was a waste of manpower and resources. The popular folk quzi piece »A Cut Blossom« powerfully satirized and exposed this. In the Xuanhe period at the beginning of the Southern Song (1119–1120), the »Zhen peng-peng song« (named after the sound of the drum), also known as »Peng-peng Flower,« was produced in the Yanshan (now Beijing) region. For this, the local people used the »new foreign piaochang« folk song created by the Jurchen clan. This was accompanied by drums. Each of the songs was wrapped up at the end with, »peng-peng-peng [sound made by striking the center of the drum], zha-zha-zha [sound made by striking the side of the drum]-peng, this is peng, zha.« This was known as a drum coda. The song cursed death upon the Khitan ruler, and wished that the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun would soon be recaptured. After the song’s creation, it spread not only to the capital, but all over the country. In the Southern Song Period, after the king of Jun had died, a dispute broke out amongst the Jin Dynasty ruling class over kingship. To ridicule this, the people wrote the quzi piece »Thorny Branch Extends.« The lyrics were: »The monkey [Husun, homophonous with ›Barbarian bastard‹] has died, and there is noisy wailing. I must be owed 100 pre-

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fectures.« This expressed the people’s confidence in the recovery of lost territory. »The crescent moon shines over the Nine Provinces. How many households are joyous and how many are troubled? Several reunite, whilst several drift in their provinces.« This is an ancient folk song that spread amongst people in several regions. The lyrics were recorded in Ming Dynasty Feng Menglong’s Folk Songs Five (Shange wu 山 歌五) collection, and first appeared in Song Yuan’s Galloping Jade Plum Reunion (Feng yumei tuanyuan 冯玉梅团圆). It is thought to have begun as a mountain song from the Wu district of Jiangnan, with its lyrics being created upon the emergence of the Southern Song (1127–1230). When Southern Song poet Yang Wanli (1127–1206) went on evening boat rides, he listened to boatmen’s work chant as they pulled the tow ropes: »Brother Zhang, Brother Li, everyone tries hard to pull together. One, rest, two, rest, the crescent moon shines over the Nine Provinces.« Their singing voices were mournful and meandering, with one person leading the song and everyone else chiming in. In the Song Dynasty, there were several widespread forms of folk quzi, which continued to develop and transform in later periods. For example, in Miscellaneous Records of Solitary Awakenings (Duxing zazhi 独醒杂志), Zeng Minxing claims that his father visited the capital during the Xuanhe period (1119–1125). He heard that »many foreign songs were sung by rustic people in streets and alleyways. These songs had names such as ›Foreign Countries Paying Respect‹, ›Four Countries Paying Respect‹, ›Six Countries Paying Respect‹, ›Barbarian Preface‹, and ›Pengpeng Flowers‹. Their lyrics were extremely unrefined. Scholar officials also sang for a while.« In addition, at Xiangguo Temple, »everything that was slightly different was all given a ›foreign‹ name. For example, there was a set of two knives joined side by side in a sheath, referred to as a ›foreign knife‹; there were pretty normal flutes,

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only slightly shorter and smaller, called ›foreign flutes‹.« However, only three or four years after leaving the capital, he returned and found that the atmosphere had changed. He believed that this transformation was due to the hiring of recruits to serve in the capital, and Jurchen envoy dealings at the time. In Old Learning Hut Notes (Laoxue’an biji 老学 庵笔记), Lu You claims that in a temple, during the autumn feast in the seventh year (1084) of the ­Yuanfeng period, Emperor Shenzong of Song raised his imperial goblet to an official under the Counsellor-in-Chief Wang Qigong. In a sudden frenzy, he accidentally tipped his goblet to the side, spilling wine on his gown. Consequently, »Leaning Gold Cup« became the most frequently sung song in the capital. Imperial City department officials found this troubling, often »having singers promptly apprehended, to wipe it out.« The act of capturing people who sang a popular song on the sole grounds of superstitious interpretation demonstrates the lack of confidence and ruthless self-indulgence of the feudal ruler. The same work also tells of Song Renzhong in the Tiansheng and Mingdao periods (1023–1033), when the popular song in the capital was »The High Gates of Cao.« Before long, Empress Dowager Cisheng received the Cezhong Palace, which was thought to have been predicted by the song. Although this interpretation was unfounded, these situations demonstrate the influence of popular songs in society. Literati-composed quzi lyrics were also embraced and passed on for a long time amongst the people. According to Wen Ying’s Unofficial records from Mount Xiangshan (Xiangshan yelu 湘山野录), Fan Zhongyan was banished to Mu prefecture. Upon visiting a Yanling shrine, he came across the traditional annual Wu sacrifice. The crowd inside sang »A River of Blossoms« to welcome the deities. One of the lines goes: »Tong River is splendid, with the water densely covered by mists. The waves look as though they had been dyed, and the mountains as

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6.8.3  Stone carving showing zaju accompaniment in a Southern Song Tomb at Guangyuan, Sichuan

if they have been pared. [It] meanders around the shoals and banks under Yanling Temple [made in honor of the Eastern-Han hermit who refused to serve the emperor], with herons flying and fish jumping.« Fan Zhongyan claimed that he was not strong in tuning, and made a short poem to the deities, reading: »The Han held the world heroically and grandly, [but] there was a high-flying goose [metaphor for hermit] who cherished his feathers. There were 36 outstanding ministers of Emperor Shizu, serving in the Cloud Pavilion [council cabinet of the Eastern Han] striving to be as high as the Fishing Platform [where Yanling led his hermitage].« While the Song and Jin opposed one another during the Southern Song, Northern and Southern song-and-dance music remained in contact. In Continuation to the Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Xu zizhi tongjian 续资治通鉴), it is written that in the fourth year (1168) of the Qiandao Period of Emperor Xiaozong of Song, the

court official said that Lin’an social customs over the past ten years had involved »disorder in apparel, [with people] often dressing up in frontier clothing, and disruption of the elegant sounds, [with people] liking to perform music of the North.« In the calm of night, people would often be »in groups of dozens and hundreds, playing Partridge and plucking yangqin. An individual dances in dark clotees, and everyone claps along. Offending public morals cannot go unpunished.« The Emperor thereupon passed an imperial edict to prohibit it. Nevertheless, it is clear that Jurchen song-and-dance was widespread in Lin’an. 3. Folk Art Songs In the prosperous period of Song Dynasty folk music, art songs also quietly took shape. The few folk art songs of jiaosheng, piaochang, xiaochang, changzhuan and zhuan possessed a strong folk music style with specialized musical structure. As a sign of the popularization of musical art, their

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formation and dissemination are worth mentioning in art history, concluding with the development of folk art songs. As chapter five of this book has already laid out the specialized writings on this, they will not be discussed here.

Section 2  Court Music During the 54th year of the Five Dynasties, in each short-lived kingdom and small court state, »rules for rites and ceremonies were usually newly established and cursory, and could therefore serve as the full standard of the dynasty.« The court music organization structure was not at all complete. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, court music continued the Ten Kingdoms-southern Tang system of Jiangnan music, most of which was taken from the remnant systems of Sui and Tang yanyue. At the founding of the Song Dynasty, effort was made to construct the court’s liyue (rites music) system, and complete, rigid deployment and rituals were quickly established. Following the progressive rise of Confucian ideology, and the increasing infiltration of yayue, Song scholars such as Zhu Xi »took the words of as many Han, Jin and Tang scholars as possible, checking to ensure their correctness, treating them like the law of the present age.« As a result, the Song Dynasty court liyue system became filled with Confucian orthodoxy, to the extent that much of it was based on superstition.

1. Yayue Yayue made use of zhengyue (proper music) in suburban temples and court halls. As the liyue had long been used in mourning, Song music repeatedly changed. During the 147 years between the end of the Emperor Taizu of Song’s Jianlong period (960–963) and the Emperor Huizong of Song’s Chongzhu (1102–1106) period, yayue underwent six complete transformations. The main

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alterations were pitch and tuning, followed by its terminology. After the southern migration, almost everything used had been taken from previous dynasties, never changing. These were used until the end of the southern Tang. 1. Content of Yayue Song Dynasty rites were divided into five forms: jili (auspicious rites), jiali (congratulatory rites), binli (hosting rites), junli (military rites) and xiongli (inauspicious rites). The music used in jili and jiali had its origins in the Song Dynasty yayue of suburban temples. Sacrifices in suburban temples were many and varied. These included sacrifices to heaven and earth, the emperors of the country’s five regions, the gansheng emperor, the green, red, yellow, black, and white emperors, the high deity, the emperor’s earth, the divine land’s earth, the morning sun, the evening moon, and the spirits of the Nine Palaces. The earth would receive feng (sealing) for its merit at the summit of Mount Tai, and shan (clearing away) at the mountain’s foot. This was known as the Feng and Shan Sacrifice. This involved reverence to imperial edicts, and sacrifices to the Nine Tripod Cauldrons, the unwavering troupes of Jianghai, the great fire, reverence to the great altar and the great millet, the gods of wind, rain and thunder, the deity of agriculture, the Goddess of Silkworms, the candle sacrifice for relatives tilling and ploughing, the sacrifice to the controller of the center and the controller of life, and the shi dian (laying out of offerings) for the Wide-Reaching King (Confucius) and the Wu and Cheng kings. Sacrificial offerings to ancestors included the Highest Court Frequent Benefit (a large sacrifice at the Son of Heaven Feudal Vassals temple) and the Benefit for the Temple in Front of the Suburbs. The music used in Song Dynasty binli and junli originated from Song Dynasty imperial court yayue. In imperial court, feudal vassals and officials would have audiences with the monarch. In the spring, they had yuechao audiences with him. In the summer, they had

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yuezong audiences. In autumn, they had yueyu audiences, and in winter, they had yuehui audiences, which were the most frequent. These also involved several rituals, such as the bestowal of an honorific title on an emperor or empress dowager, the conferring of a title on an empress, or the conferring of a title on a crown prince, in addition to district symposiums, wedding banquets, and »deer cry banquets.« The lyrical content of yayue can be divided into four types. The first involved sacrifices to the heaven and earth, and prayers for the nation’s peace and prosperity, and bumper grain harvests. Second, there were sacrifices to ancestors, and songs of merit and admirable virtue. Not only did Song Dynasty sacrifices incorporate yayue, but it also made use of comedy variety plays and music of Wei and Zheng. In History of Song (Songshi 宋 史), it is recorded that during the Daguan reign, »in the third year [1109] in March, there was an imperial order: [The occasions when] current schools used it [yayue], are but spring and autumn sacrifices; when a banquet is conferred at the imperial college, then music of Wei and Zheng is used, mixed with variety performance plays.« This demonstrates the diversified scope and form of music used in Song Dynasty sacrifices. Not only was yayue employed, but music of Wei and Zheng was also used, mixed with comedy variety shows. Furthermore, it demonstrates the attitude of the Song Dynasty towards music of Wei and Zheng, which had changed from the rejection of the preQin Confucian school to its incorporation. Third, imperial meetings involved taking longevity, bestowing honorific titles upon the emperor and empress dowager, conferring a title on the empress, conferring a title on the crown prince, the prince’s coronation, and other such ceremonies, as well as songs praising the emperor’s benevolence. With their silk-like imperial addresses, songs of the ruling dynasty’s merit in dictatorial feudal society had to be complementary to the highest degree. As a result, yayue became mannered, repetitive,

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mediocre, and lacking in spirit, and filled with guiding feudal principles and ideologies. Fourth, »Deer Cry,« »Southern Ridge,« »Fine Fish,« and »High Mound« in the »Minor Odes« division of the Classic of Poetry (Shijing 诗经), and »Guanju,« »Magpie Nest« in »Airs of the States« were borrowed. Their titles and structural forms were compiled in Thirty-three Chapters of Chunhua-reign District Symposiums (Chunhua xiangyinjiu sanshisan zhang 淳化乡饮酒三十三章). The Classic of Poetry, along with the poems borrowed from it, are referred to as »poem-music« in History of the Song Dynasty. District Symposiums, borrowed from the Classic of Poetry, was written during the Chunhua era (990–994) of Emperor Taizong of Song (personal name Zhao Guangyi). In ancient times, it was used during farewell banquets when worthy and competent village students who had completed their 3rd year of study got tested by their teacher and selected to be sent to the monarch. This is also what Zhu Xi describes as »Indoor Music,« that is, music for district banquets and ceremonial archery contests. The content and style of District Symposiums was similar to their corresponding chapters in the Classic of Poetry. For instance, »Deer Cry« was »a song for esteemed banquet guests,« while »Fine Fish« was used for an »esteemed guest song and dance.« »Guanju« was written for romance, and »Magpie Nest« featured the marriage scene of »magpies finishing a nest.« The corresponding chapters of the two were identical in sentence pattern and structure, with District Symposium’s »Deer Crying« having ten sections (the corresponding title in Classic of Poetry has five sections), »Fine Fish« having eight sections (the corresponding title in Classic of Poetry has four sections), »Guanju« having ten sections (the corresponding title in Classic of Poetry has five sections), and »Magpie Nest« having sixe sections (the corresponding title in Classic of Poetry has three sections), all of which are in fact two poems combined under the same title, differing only in their rhyme schemes.

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Generally speaking, yayue was a means of strengthening feudal liyue systems, and disseminating ideologies of feudal rule. In the fourth year (1105) of the Chongzhu Period of Emperor Huizong, he demanded that the newly formed »Dasheng Music« be spread throughout the entire country, stating: »I will offer sacrifices to suburban temple deities, and all nations under heaven will rise as one.« In February 1117, during the Zhenghe period, »imperially permitted« court music institutions to follow the music officer Pei Zongyuan’s proposal that the poems of »Book of Yu,« »Continued Record Song,« and »Songs of the Five Sons« of Xia, »That« of Shang, »Guanju« of Zhou, and »Unicorn Toe,« »Zouyu,« »Magpie Nest,« »Deer Cry,« »King Wen,« and »Quiet Temple« poems be studied. Emperor Huizong of Song ordered students to learn to sing Classic of Poetry songs from the Yu Shun, Xia Yu, Yinshang and Zhou periods. The aim of this was to spread traditional ideology to the later dynasties. For example, Continued Record of Songs (Gengzai zhi ge 赓载之 歌) states: »The wise head of state! The trusted aid is good! Many things are healthy!« The song also said: »The head of state is weighed down by trivial details! The trusted aide is lazy! Everything is falling!« This was the antiphon used by Shundi and his officials in court to encourage each other. If officials sang of his brilliance, then they would be able and virtuous, and all would be well; however, if they sang that the king was trifling without high aims, the officials would be lazy and slack, and all things would be abolished. Finally, Shundi sang: »Good, we are conscientious shields«. One of these was the »Song of the Five Sons«. The narrative of this claims that Xia Yu’s grandson Tai Kang indulged in recreation and abandoned government affairs, refusing to acknowledge the circumstances of the people. When Taikang, his mother, and five younger brothers went hunting in Luonan country, they were cut off on the northern bank of Yellow River by the monarch, who was left with a poor country and did not permit them

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6.8.4 Brick carving of a Fangxiang player (rubbing) in a Song Dynasty Tomb in Wen County, Henan

to return home. Taikang therefore lost the imperial throne. His five younger brothers waited with his mother to the north of the Luo River for 100 days and, not seeing Taikang, they composed »Song of the Five Sons.« The first two songs outline Xia Yu’s warning, and the later three establish the narrative of a destroyed nation, the disappearance of ancestral sacrifice, and the remorseful lament of falling short. Characterized by an active sense of suspicion, these were used for nipping situations in the bud.

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2. Form and Instruments of Yayue While yayue was used for sacrifices to the gods of earth and grain at temples, dynastic rulers also used it to assert the ideology of feudal rule. Yayue had become the embodiment of feudal music, and as a result its form was tedious, its structure was enormous, and its musicians were numerous. Work was divided extremely particularly, and a great number of musical instruments were used. Moreover, the apparel, formation, position, pace, and props that it used had all been strictly regulated, ruled by the strict standards of feudal etiquette. It was solemn and opaque, stiff and oppressive, and promoted suppression of emotions. It had been both a deterrence tool of feudal rule and a display of feudal aesthetics. Song Dynasty yayue was no different. Song Dynasty yayue groups were divided into those at the front of hall, and those at the back. Those at the front were focused on voice music, with gezhong (bells) on the left, and geqing (chime stones) on the right. This music resounded excellently in the hall, and was known as the »rising song« or »scale song.« The back of the hall was dedicated to dance music, featuring percussion and wind instruments. Song Dynasty yayue groups used the traditional bianzhong (set of bells) that had been used in yayue since the Zhou Dynasty, as well as instruments such as the bianqing (chime stones suspended from a beam), xun (ocarina), chi (bamboo flute), and the standing harp. There were no new instruments incorporated, which demonstrated the strict organizational structure inherited from Zhou Dynasty tradition. 3. Singing Yayue All ancient poems could be sung. Yayue was performed in rituals and events at suburban temples and imperial halls, and especially during »district symposia.« At the beginning of the Jingyou period, which lasted from 1034–1038, Emperor Renzong of Song laid out an imperial order for experienced schol-

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ars, asserting that the Classic of Poetry »ancient sound died out long ago,« and that consequently »[the scholars] selected ten pieces from the two ›Nan‹ chapters [›Zhounan‹ and ›Zhaonan‹] and the ›Minor Odes‹ chapter of the Classic of Poetry and set them to xun and yue music, making the students sing all day and night. From then on Confucians knew a little more in what to look for in the learning of shengshi [vocal poetry].« Of these songs, »Deer Cry,« »Four Hills,« »Magnificent Flowers,« »The Fish Enter the Trap,« and »Fine Fish in the South« were the six pieces chosen from the »Minor Odes.« They were accompanied by the sheng. The six pieces chosen from the two »Nan« chapters for district music were »Deer Cry,« »Deep Hemp,« »Field Chickweed,« »Magpie Nest,« »White Southernwood,« and »Pluck.« Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi completely approved of these six pieces, and was of the opinion that they were »the principle for the husband and the wife, the source of the livelihood of the people, and the origin of the beneficial influence of the sovereign.« They were »the source of teaching,« so they could be »used to teach the country people as well as the vassal states.« Of course, with the rise of new music and the abandonment of the old, ancient music from the period between the Han and Jin dynasties gradually became extinct after being phased out. For instance, the four ancient yayue songs passed on by Du Kui (»Deer Cry,« »Zouyu,« »Felled Sandalwood« and »King Wen«) completely died out. By the Kaiyuan period (713–741) of the Tang Dynasty, only the »District Symposium Rites« 12-chapter program survived. However, none of these had lyrics. Yayue singing had its own characteristics. Zhu Xi wrote: »Ancient music featured both singing and repetition. Singers established the verses, and others joined in.« Three principals were also established. The first was »reduplicative words and scattered sound.« Zhu Xi said: »In addition to the verse proper, there should be more reduplicative words and scattered sound, in order to

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add to its charm through recitation.« This kind of »reduplicative words and scattered sound« was simply a method, which transforms a regulated verse with little musicality into a verse with long and short lines that can be easily sung, with the long lines producing the euphonious sound and the short ones the rapid rhythms, demonstrating natural musicality. The second was »one sound to one character,« resulting in the possibility to sing any old verses. The third was »tuning with a clear sound.« Zhu Xi said that this kind of method, although not ancient, could offer some insights into how the songs sounded, and to prepare for their preservation for those who are well-versed in music—as the actual ancient music had already been lost. 4. Creation and Structure of Yayue Rulers of past dynasties valued yayue for its use and position in feudal ideological indoctrination, even taking it upon themselves to compose yayue changci (song-stories). History of the Song Dynasty states that in 1012, during the Dazhong Xiangfu period of Emperor Zhenzong’s reign, »the office in charge suggested: ›It is known that all music of the Taiqing Palace of the Tang Dynasty was made directly by Emperor Ming [Xuanzong]. For the music [of our dynasty] to be offered to the Jade Emperor, Emperor Shengzu [Zhao Xuanlang], and imperial ancestors, [we] hope they can all be imperially made.‹ This was approved by imperial edict.« As a result, Zhenzong »offered his imperial creations to Shengzu, with the civil dance named ›Dance of the Establishment and Spread of Glory‹, and the martial dance ›Dance of the Arrival of the True Deity to Examine the Virtue‹.« After this, »Emperor Renzong revered Emperor Zhenzong with the ›Song of Brightness and Clarity‹, Emperor Yingzong revered Emperor Renzong with the ›Song of Great Kindness‹, and Emperor Shenzong revered Emperor Yinzong with the ›Song of Great Outstanding‹.« By September in the second year (1035) of the Jingyou period, Renzong again

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»personally composed music […] composed ›Song of Bright Peace‹ […] composed ›Great Peace‹ […] composed ›Flourishing Peace‹  […] composed ›Song of Divine-protected Peace‹ […] composed ›Song of Tranquility and Peace‹ […] music scores [for] all were written for the offices in charge.« Other emperors had also personally composed yayue scores. This indicates two things. First, that Song Dynasty Emperors had much musical and literary ability; second, that the Song Dynasty imperial household was adept in using yayue to spread feudal consciousness, »personally composing music« to serve their government. The structure of yayue, whether in a tomb or in a suburban temple, or for the gods of earth and grain (the state), or imperial court music, was always comprised of four characters to a phrase, four phrases to a section, or eight phrases to two sections, ten phrases to three sections, eight phrases to one section, or 16 phrases to two sections. This was the same as the structure in the feng (airs), ya (odes) and song (hymns) divisions of the Classic of Poetry, which contained four characters per phrase, four phrases per section or eight phrases per two sections, or twelve phrases per three sections. This is clear evidence that Song Dynasty yayue was derived from the Classic of ­Poetry. The Song Dynasty’s method of composing yayue somewhat differed to those of previous dynasties. In History of the Song Dynasty, it is written that: »From past dynasties up to the present, yayue lyrics have always been first composed and then turned into scores. After the Chongning reign, the score was composed first, followed by lyrics. The rhythmic scheme was therefore inharmonious, and in no way different from common music.« »Modern musical compositions are inharmonic, and the songs do not differentiate between people. The scores are composed first and the lyrics are composed later.« Only music of which the words were composed first and the score later, known as »music derived from poetry,« took

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herent form, structure, and emotion. The verses were written according to the sound, resulting in »inharmonious verse regulation, no different from that of common music.« Song Dynasty civerses were no different from this.

6.8.5 Brick carving of a pipa player (rubbing) in a Song-Dynasty Tomb in Wen County, Henan

verses as its standard. This method of composition tends to make a score according to the content and feelings of the poem or lyric, the four tones and rhymes, and even the style, skills and characteristics of the singer, so that the music and lyrics formed an integral whole, with the music perfectly expressing the lyrical meaning. On the other hand, first composing the score followed by the lyrics, also known as »poetry derived from music,« was written according to the music’s in-

5. The Tuning System of Yayue Since »the sound of yayue was high and close to mourning, it was unsuited to middle harmony.« From the Long (960) Period in the reign of Taizu to the Chongzhu period in the reign of Huizong (1102–1106), eight Emperors altered the tuning system of yayue six times. During the approximately 170 years between the more fixed verse regulation during the Chongzhu period and the fall of the Southern Song, the tuning system remained unchanged. There were four principal methods for determining pitch in Song Dynasty yayue. The first of these was the millet-accumulation method. The method of using millet to measure chi (a Chinese foot) began in the Western Han Dynasty. This involved lining up grains of millet, with one grain being equal to one fen, ten fen being equal to one cun, ten cun being equal to one chi, and ninety fen constituting the length of the pitch pipe for the huangzhong (yellow bell). In terms of volume, the pitch pipe also had to be able to hold 1200 grains of millet. Although Li Zhao, Hu Yuan, and Fan Zhen all used this millet-accumulation method, they all had their own methods of doing this. Li Zhao vertically arranged the millet into chi, Hu Yuan vertically arrange the millet into chi, and Fan Zhen put the length at 90 grains and diameter at three. The second method was textual research into the ancient cun measurements and huangzhong pitch pipe tuning. As stated in History of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu decreed that He Xian’s use of Wang Pu’s tuning standard was a newer established method than the grain measurement technique used in Luoyang. The third method was tuning via vocals. History of the Song Dynasty states: »As for the high-two tun-

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ing and the low-one tuning, even worthy individuals might not know it, [but if we] directly compare the pitch of the music to that of the vocals, then this is clear even to a child; [as for] the theory that the eight different kinds of musical instruments can sound harmonious together, even the wise men have not been all taught about this, [but if we] directly match the sound of the xiao to the vocals, and use the sound of the xiao to establish 16 sounds and level eight instruments, even an idiot can be taught.« This is to say that high-two and low-one tunings might be unclear to a person of virtue, but even a child could hear whether the music pitch was higher or lower than the vocals. Wise men might not understand the harmonic theory of the eight kinds of instruments. However, an idiot could use this method of using vocals to tune the xiao, using the xiao to tune the 16 sounds, and using these 16 sounds to tune the eight kinds of instruments. This indicates the method of using vocals to establish pitches. Yang Jie, who contributed to the tuning system during the Yuanfeng era, said: »[If] songs are not prolonged utterances, [then] singing does not follow the prolongation, and the tuning does not suit the sound.« This was because »the sound of metal is full of vigor, but its disadvantage is its heaviness; the sound of stone is gentle, but its disadvantage is its lightness; the sound of earth is heavy and muffled, but its disadvantage is its lowness; the sound of bamboo is clear and melodious, but its advantage is its highness; the sound of string is light and delicate, but its disadvantage is its thinness; the sound of leather is grand, but its disadvantage is its loudness; the sound of gourd is clustered, but its disadvantage is its length; the sound of wood is not lingering, but its disadvantage is its brevity.« Only »people endowed with the vital energy of middle harmony« could »produce the middle harmony sound.« Therefore »the eight sounds were tuned according to vocals.« Yang Jie thought that that only »The five voices follow the song, which is called chanting; the tunings are in

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accordance, which is called harmony.« He therefore pointed out that »early scholars believed in tuning music according to vocals, and using musical instruments to perform the music. This is [the fact that] music follows the people, not the other way around.« There is no doubt that this kind of thought in philosophy and musialc aesthetics was profoundly meaningful. However, from a physiological point of view, as different people have different vocal chords, the method of using voices to set pitch did not work in practice, despite the theory. The fourth method was finger measurement. In the court of Emperor Huizong of Song, Wei Hanjin offered his erroneous theory of determining musical pitch to the Emperor. In History of the Song Dynasty, it is written that: »The theory of Cai Jingzhu and Wei Hanjin, abandoning the errors of the previous scholars’ use of millet and following the example of Yu the Great using his own body as measurement, took the finger of the emperor as a tuning measure, and made the diding [the emperor’s metal cauldron] and the jingzhong [bright bell]. The completed composition was known as Dasheng. This was classified as yayue and sent out over the land, spreading to royal academies.« This was in fact fabricated during the Northern Song, just before the end of the Chongzhu period, in the first month of 1104, by the former Shu area tattoo-faced soldier Wei Hanjin, who said: »I have learnt that the Yellow Emperor took the instrument of three cun long to be known as the ›xianchi,‹ and its music as Dajuan.« Thereupon he put forward: »The emperor used three phalanges of his finger and three cun as the measurement, thus establishing the tuning of the huangzhong; whereas the diameter of the middle finger is where the standard length and weight are based.« During the fourth year (1105) of the Chongzhu period of Emperor Huizong, »taking the body as measurement, the metal cauldron was built to start the tunning system, and musical instruments are made based on this tuning  …« This

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method of taking the measurements of the emperor’s finger (three phalanges and three cun, with the three multiplying three to reach the number nine), later became reprimanded as absurd even in the ancient times. 6. Using the Different Modes of Yayue In History of the Song Dynasty it is written that: »Wang Piao and Dou Yan established the music of Zhou. Emperor Taizu, suffering due to their high pitches, ordered He Xian to tune the music down by one key. [During the reign of the] Emperor Zhenzong the practice of ›changing tunes monthly‹ was first proposed. This determined that each month would have its own tune, which could not be misapplied.« It is also written that: »In the style of the Five Elements dominating the universe, there was life and restraint,« and the use of the musical modes was combined with these five phases. This continues: »There is virtue in wood, then the sound of jue is made; yu gives life, and zhi is used to assist; but if shang is used, there is punishment, and gong brings battle, and therefore gong and shang are prohibited in the spring […]« Outside of superstition, the ruler also put forward this method to make people ignorant, simply serving to strengthen his rule.

2.  Yanyue In different historical periods, yanyue had different implementations. One of these was banquet music. In the »Bell Master« (»Zhongshi« 钟师) entry under the »Spring Offices« (»Chunguan« 春 官) chapter of the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli 周礼), it is said that: »At sacrificial banquets, yanyue was usually played.« Another was inner palace music. In the »Chime Master« (»Qingshi« 磬师) entry of the same chapter, it is written that: »the bells and chimes of manyue and yanyue were taught.« Tang Dynasty Kong Yingda gives the following annotation: »Some say yanyue is the music of the inner chamber, which refers to Guanju [and other poems alike] of the two ›Nan‹ sections.« A third

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implementation was popular music (for feasts, known as yanyue 宴乐). There were altogether 28 modes used in banquets. In Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays (Mengxi bitan 梦溪笔谈) it is written that: »From the 13th year of the Tianbao reign of the Tang Dynasty begins the imperially ordered performances of faqu [Dharma Music] and the Hu Department […] Those [the musical performances] incorporating the Hu Department are called yanyue.« Because of this, the Seven Music Divisions of the Sui, and the Nine and Ten Music Divisions of the Tang, as well as the standing and seating performing division that later separated from yanyue, »were collectively called yanyue.« In Collection of Yuefu Songs and Ballads (Yuefu shiji 乐府诗集), Guo Maoqian wrote: »All yanyue music normally began during the Wude and Zhenguan reigns flourished in Kaiyuan and Tianbao, with 14 modes and 222 songs recorded. There was also the Pear Garden, with 11 separate academy fa songs, and 20 Yunshao music songs.« In a narrow sense, yanyue specifically refers to the First Division of Tang’s Ten Music Divisions, but the broader definition refers to yanyue of the Song Dynasty, which is music for banquets and feasts that has incorporated music of the Hu Department music, including items such as zaju, singing, dance, instrumental performances, variety shows, as well as »selected sets« of grand suite music. Yanyue’s primary function was to demonstrate dignity. In the chapter on »Royal Regulations« (»Wangzhi 王制) of the Book of Rites (Liji 礼记), it was written that: »the Son of Heaven would eat and have music every day.« The Son of Heaven’s diet necessarily included the five flavors of the four seasons, hence the corresponding music was played. Another function was the maintenance of relationships. In the »Great Minister of Rites« (»Da Zongbo« 大宗伯) entry under the chapter »Spring Offices« of the Rites of Zhou, it was written that: »The rites of food and drink are used to bring relatives closer, the rites of archery are held to bring together old friends, and the rites of banquets

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are held to bring together guests from all over.« This included everyone from relatives to guests from different states and ethnic groups. The third function was to display status. Gong (dukes), hou (marquesses), zi (viscounts), dafu (grand ministers), and shi (servicemen) all enjoyed the rites of food and banquets corresponding to their respective ranks, all of which were subject to strict regulations that could not be broken. As for the Song Dynasty court royal academy institutions for yanyue, whether or not their setup changed with their environment frequently changed. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, it adhered to old systems, established royal academies, and acquired musicians from Jiangnan, Jingnan, Xichuan, and Taiyuan, as well as officials of different ethnic backgrounds. In addition to the workers in Taizong’s feudal residence, this was a total of 360 people. Very successful, it was divided into the grand suite department, the faqu department, the Kucha department, and the gudi department. Each department used different instruments, and had their own individual repertoires. However, by 1127 in the Jinkang period, the Jin army had taken the Bian river, resulting in loss of the academy’s musical instruments, books, and movements. Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song took the first step towards saving the Royal Academy. In 1144, during the Shaoxing period, it was restored and divided into 13 departments: the li, dagu (large drum), zhanggu (stick drum), paiban (clappers), flutes, pipa, guzheng, fangxiang, sheng, circle dance, song clappers, zaju, and army soldier departments. These groups contained 460 musicians in total. In 1161, the Royal Academy was abolished again, with etiquette now being taught to former musicians, variety performance troupes, the Mellifluous Sounds of Spring Birds, the Group of Young Boys, the Group of Young Girls, as well as zhuqiu team members, stand-up pedestrians, flag drummers, and wrestlers. The Royal Academy declined along with the turmoil of the political situation.

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The Song Dynasty rulers who had produced yayue also composed yanyue. Emperor Taizong of Song and Emperor Renzong of Song both had clear knowledge of music. In History of the Song Dynasty, it is stated that: Emperor Taizong had clear knowledge of music. He personally composed grand suites and individual pieces, using old melodies to create new sounds, composing 390 songs in total. He composed 18 grand suites […] 29 qupo [lit. »broken suite,« standing-alone sections following the grand suite format] […] 15 qupo for pipa solo […] 270 individual single-movement pieces […] 58 new singing parts created from old songs […] The music composed by Emperor Taizong was constantly played during the Qianxiang period, with its 17 new modes [used in] a total of 48 pieces […] There were several thousands of pieces, both fast and slow. In addition, [there were also works] in the faqu, Kucha, and drum and flute departments, with 34 pieces in total.

Emperor Taizong of Song was an extremely enthusiastic composer, with a great number of works. It is also written in History of the Song Dynasty that: »Renzong has clear knowledge of music. [He] always composed works to give to the Imperial Music Academy, or ordered the Commissioner of the Academy to compose [works] and present [them]. There were altogether 54 pieces, which were often used in the court.« From a subjective point of view, the monarch composed yanyue for his own amusement, asserting governance ideology while also showcasing his own talents. However, from an objective point of view, he largely increased the prosperity of yanyue production in the Song Dynasty. As yanyue was banquet music, its primarily function was amusement. In History of the Song Dynasty, it was written that during the Spring and Autumn Period there were three large banquets each year with yanyue performances to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday. This led to yanyue being performed on other occasions. The aforementioned work states that, firstly, the emperor would

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rise and sit, the prime minister would pour wine, and li would be performed in the main hall. This was followed by many musical compositions. The prime minister performed »Goblet Tipping Music«, and the ministers performed »Three Stages.« Second, the emperor made another toast, the group of state officials stood behind their seats, and the lyrics of the music began. Third, the emperor made a toast, and began to eat. Fourth, there was a variety performance. Fifth, the emperor made a toast. Sixth, the musicians made an address before performing poetry, uttering the slogan, and singing songs that made clear the sentiments of virtue and of trampling on outsiders at home and abroad. Seventh, daqu was performed. Eighth, the emperor made a toast, and the pipa was played in the palace hall. Ninth, there was a children’s’ group dance. Tenth, there was zaju. Eleventh, the emperor made another toast, and a sheng solo was played in the palace hall. Twelfth, there was cuju (ancient Chinese soccer). Thirteenth, the emperor made a toast, and a guzheng solo was played in the palace hall. Fourteenth, there was a women’s’ group dance. Fifteenth, there was zaju. Sixteenth, the emperor made a toast. Seventeenth, there was

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a wind and percussion, faqu, or Kucha song. Eighteenth, the emperor made a toast. Nineteenth, there was wrestling, and the banquet would be complete. This featured the sheng, the pipa, the li, and a solo guzheng performance, as well as zaju, wind and percussion songs, and faqu performances. There was also a children’s group, a women’s group, and a Kucha dance. »Goblet Tipping Music« and »Three Stages« were sung, and there was a partial zaju performance. Throughout the whole of the emperor’s birthday banquet, 11 musical items were performed.

3. Drum and Pipe Music Drum and Pipe Music (that is, military music), originated with northern ethnic groups, the earliest being »Sound of the chi and Blowing of the yu«. This was not xiao and drum music. The function of Drum and Pipe Music could be divided into performance at the Yellow Gate during the Son of Heaven’s bestowal banquets with his officials, and the short xiao and large cymbals song to be performed during the Son of Heaven’s bestowal of merit onto his feudal vassals. Although these were both referred to as »Drum and Pipe Music,« they

6.8.6  The Night Revels of Han Xizai (section) showing Five Dynasties performing artists, Five Dynasties, Gu Hongzhong, Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

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had different purposes. Horseback wind music was the Drum and Pipe Music played when the imperial chariot was approaching. However, the musical instruments used were divided into guchui and hengchui. Guichui musical instruments included xiao and jia, and were used in court banquets. Hengchui instruments included the drum and the jiao, used in the army and played on horseback. Hengchui incorporated the hujiao (Hu pipe) and was therefore Hu music. One of guchui’s uses was in victory songs. Building might and promoting virtue, allowing soldiers to mock the enemy, and encouraging fighting spirit were the key purposes of army music. Guichui was secondly used with regard to the troupes’ merit, narrating their achievements and virtue, and outlining outstanding preparation work, so that they would not neglect to prepare for battle. A third use was description, as narration of expeditions and attacks served as a record. The fourth was imperial guchui meetings outside of the palace, to incite affection and amusement. A fifth was when the dajia (grand coach) would set out, raising the night guard and the morning guard, with the night guard drum and the morning guard bell. The sixth use was when the monarch was being escorted out by the honor guard, or in the monarch’s carriage. Guchui music was played from the gate, fulfilling the insignia rite, inciting the crowd to listen. It was used to raise the alert (carriages could be the dajia, fajia [coach used by the emperor when going to sacrifices or temples], and xiaojia [small coach]. The insignia rite ceremony was also used for imperial consorts, crown princes, and firstto-third rate princes, dukes, and ministers). The seventh use was the processional drum and pipe parades when an emperor passed away. Early Song Dynasty guchui music followed old Tang patterns, using its own musical instruments as well as those inherited from the Tang, including the jinzheng, beat-drum, drum, large drum, small drum, large-cymbal drum, feather-covered drum, zhongming, large transverse flute, small

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transverse flute, li, taopi li, xiao, jia, and flute. In History of the Song Dynasty there is an account of Northern Song Dasheng Office guchui music in the Xuanhe period (1119–1125). In the front section, there were 17 kinds of instruments and 986 instrumental performers, and in the back section there were 10 kinds of instruments and 432 instrumental performers. There were 1418 instrumental performers in total. Guchui was accompanied by vocal army music. Not only was it accompanied by the military xiaojia and gujiao instruments, but it also had song lyrics written for it. History of the Song Dynasty documents the creation of lyrics for guchui music, and there are three notable points: First of all, the lyrics were often »written and recorded« by scholar-officials upon imperial edicts to »name the event.« They had to »harmonize according to pitch tuning,« »paying attention to harmony and pitch tuning.« »The pitch of the music needs to vary.« Then, the composed music would be »given to masters [musicians] to study,« thus »disseminating it through guchui.« In this way, it achieved its purpose of »inciting the crowd to listen.« Second, most of the lyrics were taken from samples of existing compositions. For example, in July 1100, during the Yuanfu period, when Emperor Zhezong embarked upon his »great journey« (passed away), the »Minister of Ceremonies Guchui Office should follow the music and lyrics [used for] the deceased emperor’s [journey to his] mountain mausoleum, [including those accompanying] the guard of honor, guchui, ceremonial weaponry, as well as night watches, and field-clearing, following existing examples …« Third, the content and function of guchui music during the reign of Emperor Huizong were »only for alerting and guarding,]« while the traditional functions of »commemorating achievements« as well as »making manifest great virtues, and praising great acts« were missing. Therefore, during March in the seventh year (1177) of the Zhenghe period, the Office for Ritual Deliberation pointed out that: »The

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large-cymbal songs and guchui music of the past all had different names to commemorate [different] achievements. Current guchui only prepares for warning, and there are no large-cymbal songs, and therefore there is no way to make manifest great virtues or praising great acts.«

4. The Grand Suite The Tang Dynasty grand suite combined singing and dancing music into one. Its structure was enormous, and its skill level was extremely high, forming the apex of the dynasty’s song-and-dance art. After the beginning of the Song Dynasty, there was a total of 40 pieces that could be performed by academies, such as »Liangzhou,« »Shizhou,« »Green Waist,« »Bo Mei,« »Qingyun Music,« and »Encounter Music.« Along with the development of the period, the structural form of the Tang Dynasty grand suite underwent a significant transformation. Its content also changed, and this manifested itself in the following four ways: First was the »selected set« (zhaibian 摘遍) of the grand suite. As the structure of the grand suite was enormous, performing it from the beginning to the end was rather time consuming. Performers in the Song Dynasty would therefore select one section to perform. The whole performance was known as the »big set« (dabian 大遍), and the section performed as the »selected set.« In Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays it is written that: »The so-called ›big set,‹ consisted of a few dozens of movements including xu, yin, ge, sa, sui, shao, cui, dian, gun, po, xing, zhongqiang, and tage, and each movement was consisted of several layers. Those that were cut out and used were called ›selected sets.‹ All modern grand suites are cut out for use, and are never played as ›big sets‹.« This reflected the change that had taken place since the beginning of grand suite performances in the Song Dynasty. In Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter he also mentions this situation regarding the grand suite’s simplification, saying: »all grand suites have sanxu, sa,

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paibian, dian, zhengdian, rupo, xucui, shicui, xiepai, and shagun. Beginning to end this constitutes one piece, which is called the grand suite […] in later generations, lyricists for grand suites simplified [their work] following this [the simplification of the music]. Meanwhile, woodwind and string players were unwilling to play the grand suite from the beginning to the end, or even unable to learn this.« After »selected sets« and »simplification« became common occurrences, performers gradually lost the ability to perform the »big set,« and the grand suite gradually underwent a transformation. To what extent was the Song Dynasty Grand Suite »cut« and »simplified«? We will look at several records. Zeng Zao’s Elegantly Worded Yuefu (Yuefu yaci 乐府雅词) eliminated the first to the seventh paibian through »simplification,« starting only from the eighth paibian. Ten sections were included, in order of the eighth paibian, the nineth paibian, the tenth paibian, the dian, rupo the first, xucui the second, gunbian the third, cuipai the fourth, shabian the fifth, xiepai the sixth, and shagun the seventh. Compared to the Tang Dynasty Faqu of the Rainbow Skirt and Coat of Feathers (Faqu niching yuyi qu 法曲霓裳羽衣曲), consisting of a total of 36 sections, 18 of which were singing parts, the structure of Elegantly Worded Yuefu was »simplified« greatly. Another example is Shi Hao’s Unconstrained Records of the True Hermit of Mt. Mao (Maofeng zhenyin manlu 鄮峰真隐漫录), in which he wrote an account of a full »Mulberry Branch Dance« set, including the »song beginning« (getou 歌头) and »broken suite« (qupo 曲 破) music. In the whole song-and-dance grand suite, only eight quzi were performed. »Mulberry Branch Order« was performed twice, and songs such as »Introduction,« »Three Stages,« »Shooting Birds of Prey,« »Song Beginning,« »Mixed Shoulder,« »Pouncing on a Butterfly« and »Huamei« were performed once each. These were much more »simplified« than they had been in the Tang Dynasty.

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Second, the song lyric format was changed from poetic into lyrical form. While the sung verses of Tang Dynasty grand suites had all featured five or seven-word poetic forms, the verse form of sung lyrics in Song Dynasty grand suites contained lines of irregular lengths. The transformation of the lyrical structure inevitably spread to the musical structure, changing its rhythm and tempo. If the »cutting« and »selecting« of Song Dynasty grand suites constituted a simplification of the external structure, then the change in the verse format constituted an inner emotional transformation. Third, there was the separation of qupo from grand suites. In the Northern Song, qupo was disconnected, turning into a kind of independent stylistic form. For example, in History of the Song Dynasty there is an account of a juxtaposition of the grand suite and the qupo: In the second year of the Jiayou reign (1057), »Junrongzhi and Royal Academy performed together, but the sound was not harmonious. An imperial order was put out to end the former sixteen modes of the Junrongzhi, and to adopt the seventeen modes of the Royal Academy. Whilst there were advantages and disadvantages to this, the Junrongzhi’s grand suite, qupo, and all fast and slow songs became rather similar to those of the Royal Academy.« Another example is that: »Emperor Taizong had clear knowledge of music. He personally composed grand suites and individual pieces, […] in total he created eighteen grand suites […] 29 qupo.« Fourth, plot elements were incorporated into the performances of grand suites, turning simple emotionally expressive songs into narrative song-and-dance. For example, Unconstrained Records of the True Hermit of Mt. Mao records a grand suite, Sword (Jianqi 剑器), used to perform the stories of the Banquet at Hongmen as well as Du Fu and Zhang Xu watching Lady Gongsun’s sword dance. Meanwhile, the Elegant and Charming Music of Mr. Zheng’s Encounter with the Dragon Woman (Zhengsheng yu longnü baomei 郑生遇

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龙女薄媚) grand suite portrayed the story of an encounter between a young man named Zheng with a celestial dragon woman. The Song Dynasty grand suite was also combined with zaju performances, with the several musical sections of the grand suite gradually turning into the melody of the zaju. According to Zhou Mi’s Memoirs of Wulin, there were 105 items labelled with names of grand suites. A total of 28 grand suite names were mentioned, and 26 among them can be seen under »Forty Grand Suites of the Royal Academy« (»Jiaofang sishi daqu« 教坊四十大曲) in »Music Record Seventeen« (»Yuezhi shiqi« 乐志十七) of History of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty grand suite gradually transformed from an entire melodic structure into a single section. In performances, it also slowly mingled with popular melodies, gradually becoming interspersed with verse music, opera, shuochang, instrumental music and other musical forms. No longer an independent, and complete musical composition, the form of the grand suite withered away entirely.

Section 3  Song Lyrics and Literati Music In the late Tang Period, song lyrics began to permeate the compositions of literati. These so-called song lyrics were lyrics written for songs that were popular amongst the people. Its verse format incorporated lines of irregular lengths, which was different to the regular structure verse form of the Tang Dynasty. If only referring to the literary meaning, they will be referred to here as lyrics, and those written by Song people will be referred to as Song Dynasty lyrics. Song lyrics were first passed on amongst the people, not belonging to the literati music category. However, after the literati intervened in lyrical creation, they began to change its language and even its musical style, bending it more towards their own tastes and

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standards. Song lyrics therefore came to contain a strong literati flavor. When a number of musically-able literati began using this form to compose new songs, lyrics became representative of literati music.

1. Basis for the Development of Song Lyrics Song lyrics circulated extremely widely during the Song Dynasty. In pleasure precinct theatres, singing performers in tea shops would sing freely, entertaining the ruler and his ministers. The literati scholars, who enjoyed a life of visiting prostitutes, found every occasion to celebrate by singing song lyrics. There were several theoretical methods of writing these. In summary, there were two main ideas: one stemmed from yuefu and the other from Tang Dynasty regulated verse. Lyrics came from yuefu speech, mainly according to that written in Old and New Music Records (Gujin yuelu 古今 乐录): Lyrics from the seven pieces entitled »Jiangnan Alley,« »Longdi Song,« »Song of Picking Lotuses,« »Song of the Phoenix Flute,« »Song of Picking Water Caltrops,« and »Song of the Roaming Woman« were composed according to score’s mode and written by Emperor Wu of Liang (personal name Xiaoyan) of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Their character count and syntax meant that they were not completely classified as regular poetry, as they had a fixed changduan ju (lines of irregular lengths) format. As a result, later people took this as the origin of lyrics. Lyrics of the Tang Dynasty regulated verse variant are said to have been more widely accepted. For example, Fang Chengpei in Elk-tail Whisk of Ci-lyrics in the Studio of the Fragrant Research (Xiangyanju cizhu 香研居词麈) wrote: In Tang Dynasty lyrics, there are many five to seven-word quatrains, which should be mixed with scattered voices so that they can be used on wind and strings. Like the ›Yangguan‹ verse, it must [be added with] a thrice repeated refrain to complete the music. This is naturally logical. Later

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the scattered sound is composed into music, filled with words and lines, and hence verses with lines of irregular lengths flourished. Therefore, ci-lyrics made up for the exhaustion of the regulated verse and continued the earlier transformation of yuefu poetry.

In Qing Dynasty Song Xiangfeng’s Remaining Analects of Yuefu (Yuefu yulun 乐府馀论) it is also written that: [The reason why it is] called shiyu [the residue of poetry] is because ci-lyrics started with Tang Dynasty quatrains, such as in Tai Bai’s Pure and Peaceful Tune, which is used for yuefu music. Tai Bai’s Recollection of Qin Beauty and Bodhisattva Barbarian both [demonstrated] the change of quatrain style and marked the beginning of xiaoling. [The poems mentioned in] the Bet on Singers by Drawing on the Wall in the Restaurant [a story where three famous Tang poets made a bet to see whose work was performed more often] were all seven words cut-verses [quatrains, referring to the style being abbreviated from longer forms of poetry]. Later, in the time of the Ten Kingdoms, it gradually became lines of irregular lengths. [The lengths of these lines range] from one or two characters to up to seven, in order to create high and low pitches and rhythms, and the form of yuefu also changed. Thus ci-lyrics were truly the residue of poetry, and were thereupon called shiyu.

Emperor Kangxi of Qing’s Preface to List of Lyrics Compiled by Imperial Demand (Qinding cipu xu 钦定词谱序) also explicitly expresses that: »the origin of ci-lyrics lies in poetry […] in the mid-Tang, lyric writing began, and modes were established according to the sound [of the lyrics]. After the Five Dynasties, it greatly prospered in the Northern Song. In the Chongning period, the Great Splendor Music Bureau [Dasheng Yuefu]’s collection included 12 tunings, 60 authors, and 84 modes.« As all ancient verse began as song lyrics, all poems could be sung. »The Three Hundred Poems« contained lyrics from both folk and court music, »The Nine Songs« contained shamanic song lyrics, and

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»The 19 Old Poems« used Han Dynasty yuefu folk song lyrics. More folk song lyrics were recorded in Southern Song court folk songs. To maintain a mellow tune, folk songs increasingly incorporated song lyrics with an irregular number of syllables per line. Especially in the Sui and Tang dynasties, a great amount of music from the Western Regions was absorbed. The Central Plains music style changed because of this. Since the spread of common songs during the Sui and Tang, such as that of Dunhuang song lyrics, among them there were several with irregular numbers of syllables per line. By the Five Dynasties, the spread of the Song was more expansive. Therefore, in Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter, it is written that: Since the establishment of the Sui and Tang dynasties, current so-called quzi are gradually flourishing. Until the Tang they were somewhat blossoming, and now their various sound is excessively played, its occurrences probably uncountable. Ancient songs turned into ancient yuefu, and ancient yuefu has turned into current songs. Their origin is the same.

The origin of song lyrics was threefold. One was traditional music, the second was popular music, and the third was external clan and external region music. Examples of traditional music in Han and Tang yuefu included folk music such as the fishing song style in »Fishing Songs« of the Tang and Five Dynasties, the boating song »Song of Sighs,« and forms of popular love songs such as »Bamboo Branch Songs« and »Willow Tree Branch Songs.« Xiaochang, changzhuan, and all other modes of ancient Chinese music circulated in Song Dynasty pleasure precincts. With regards to foreign music, in Zeng Minxing’s Solitary Awakening Miscellaneous Records (Duxing zazhi 独醒杂 志), it is written that: »At the end of the Xuanhe period when [I] visited the capital, many foreign songs were sung by rustic people in streets and alleyways. [These songs] had names such as ›Foreign Dynasty,‹ ›Four Dynasties,‹ ›Six Dynasties,‹

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›Barbarian Sequence‹, and ›Luxuriant Flowers.‹ Their lyrics were unrefined. Scholar-officials also sang them for a while.«

2. Musical Forms of Song Lyrics Song-lyric music originated from grand suites. Their structure included the five forms of yin, jin, ling, man, and fan. Yin: This form emerged after the Tang Dynasty. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the first shuochang, chanling, chanda songs, as well as all other ancient forms of Chinese music, were generally termed as »yin,« meaning the »overture.« While yin was divided into single-mode and double-mode, the majority were double-mode, with single-mode only being seen in three pieces. The character count was usually between 49 and 100, and the line count between 3 and 12. A meter was not used in yin. Jin: This form featured a double-mode, with no meter. Its character count was between 73 and 79, and its line count was between 8 and 17. Ling, that is xiaoling, was normally rather short. Divided into single and double modes, it most often contained double modes, with single modes only being seen in four pieces. The character count was usually between 33 and 70, although there was one piece with 104 characters. The number of lines was usually between 8 and 16. Ling used a meter. Man, that is mance, was named after the ease of its melody. A Tang Dynasty pipa score was discovered in Dunhuang with the name »Man [slow] Song«. Liu Yong wrote a great number of mance for musicians, which successfully circulated in urban centers at the time. The character count of mance was between 84 and 160, with its line count between 16 and 35. It always had a double mode, and its structure was large. Fan: fan pitch and fan tone indicated the shifts between gong and shang in song-lyric music. »Fan« had a double-layered meaning. The first level indicated gong and shang intruding one another,

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with gong intruding shang, orshang intruding gong. The purpose of this was to change the key and mode. With increased transformation of musical compositions, there were pieces known as Fan Three, Fan Four, and Fan Eight. In Chapter 5 of Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays, entitled »Tuning One« (»Yuelü yi« 乐律一), it is written that: »[…] qijun [the seven-tone scale], with different combinations engender into 84 modes, with the high and low pitches blurred together, numerous, disorderly, and ununited, all contending as the new sound. Thereafter there was also the fan sound, ce sound, and the zhengsha, jisha, pianzi, bangzi, shuangzi, and banzi methods.« The second meaning of »fan« indicated the borrowing and compiling of musical phrase sections from different songs to form a mode. This was the Southern Song »jiqu« (gathered song). This method enormously enriched the content of song lyrics. In the Qing List of Lyrics Compiled by Imperial Demand (Qinding cipu 钦定词谱), there were eight songs in six styles, all of which contained double modes and character counts between 50 and 102. The beats of yin, jin, ling, man, and fan could be slow or urgent, with a rhythm of one character per note, and an undetermined character count. Ling songs were short, yin and jin were classified as »middle modes,« and mance was quite long. The difference between these lay not only in their character counts, but also in the rhythm, speed, and emotion expressed in the music. In the development process of song lyrics, their structural form underwent a gradual transformation as a result of content requirements. For example, the gradual emergence of forms such as tousheng, jianzi, tanpo, cupai, and fan led to the transformation of the music structure. Taking »Magnolia« as an example, »Magnolia Ling« by Wei Zhuang of Former Shu, during the Five Dynasties, contained 55 characters and a double mode. The first part contained five lines and three zeyun, and the later part contained four lines and three zeyun. In Feng Yansi’s »Tousheng Magno-

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lia,« two characters were taken from the third line, and three characters were taken from the seventh line, leaving 50 characters. From start to finish, each zeyun line was transformed into a two-line pingjun. In Ouyang Xiu’s »Jianzi Magnolia«, three characters were subtracted from the first, fifth, and seventh lines. In the third line, two characters were subtracted, leaving 44 characters. From top to bottom, each two-line zejun changed into a two-line pingyun. Because of this, »Tousheng Magnolia« and »Jianzi Magnolia« formed an integral whole. Against their constant melody, the number of characters in the lines decreased, resulting in a form with less characters and more sound. This caused the rhythm to become long, slow, and thinly distributed. Thereby, the musical format and emotional expression in the main section of »Magnolia« underwent a change. As the character counts of »tousheng« and »jianzi« modes were reduced, those of »cupai« and »tanpo« were increased. Cupai was a complex sound with a hurried rhythm. This kind of musical composition with urgent rhythm in its song lyrics was known as an »urgent song.« Its character count was larger than that of the original mode. For example, the original mode of »Picking Mulberries« was in the xiaoling format, with a double mode. Both modes had four lines, with eight lines in total, and 44 characters. This had a level tone rhyme, also ending with a rhyme. On the other hand, »Cuipai Picking Mulberries« was not in the xiaoling form. This contained a double mode with 50 characters or 56 to 62 characters at most. The first part contained five lines and three pingjun, and its later part five lines and two pingzhun. There was also a rhyme at the end, completing its set form. »Tanpo,« also known as »tansheng,« indicated the rhythmic fluctuation of musical compositions and established the character count of song lyrics, and level and oblique tones. With variations of rhyme, it was transformed into a whole. For instance, »Tanpo Picking Mulberries« contained a middle mode and a double

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mode. Each mode contained six lines, forming a total of 12 lines, as well as 60 characters. The first mode contained four pingyun, and the later mode contained three pingyun, with one rhyme at the end.

3. Writers and Works of Song Lyrics Composition of song lyrics was prevalent during the Five Dynasties. Although the majority of monarchs at this time were muddle-headed and licentious in governance, several made outstanding achievements in culture. Fond of musical songand-dance dramas, they were also adept in writing song lyrics. The rulers of the nations formed two imperial lyrical circles centred around West Shu and southern Tang, creating a magnificent antiphon style. They attached the most importance to the eight-line regulated verse poetry of the later Tang literati. Although they occasionally wrote plays, they later came to focus primarily on composition. At first favoring the Late Tang xiaoling lyrical format, they later used more lyrical modes (for example the 39 lyrical modes in Feng Yansi’s Yangchun Collected Works (Yangchun ji 阳 春集). They also created the long mode, demonstrating the complex and exquisite development of musical melody in song lyrics. Xi Shu formed a literati lyric group known as the »Huajian Faction,« the representative writers of which included Wei Zhuang, Xue Zhaoyun, Niu Jiao, Niu Xiji, Ou Yangjiong, He Ning, and Sun Guangxian. They were endorsed by southern Tang Dynasty Zhu Li and Li Yu, as well as Prime Minister Feng Yansi. Li Yu in particular established his own unique style, establishing the great form of his generation. He was skilled in using a simple and straightforward style to illustrate abstract feelings that were difficult to pin down, such as the sorrow of parting. Giving these a concrete form, he made people feel touched. Examples of this include: »To ask how many troubles you can have? Just like a river flowing eastwards in the spring« (from The Beautiful Lady Yu), and »the sorrow of parting is just like

6.8.7 Listening to the Qin, Northern Song, Zhao Ji, ­collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing

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the spring grass; the further you go, the more it grows« (from Serenade of Peaceful Joy). These portrayed lively images which opened up new boundaries, implicitly expressing deep emotions. This had not been achieved in previous dynasties, and greatly influenced later generations. Literati lyrics and folk lyrics had thus begun to part ways with the methods of Five Dynasties lyricists. Before Liu Yong, Yan Shu and Ouyang Xiu focused on the xiaoling form in quzi song lyrics in the Song Dynasty. As they illustrated the leisurely and relaxed lifestyle of the upper classes and the changing winds of daily melancholy, their content was rather narrow. When Northern Song economic development reached its golden age, Liu Yong’s long mode changed the lyrical style of the Song Dynasty. Liu Yong’s written lyrics were emotionally sincere, and his tuning was mild and harmonious, resulting in satisfactory lyrics. In Xie Mengde’s Away for the Summer Vacation (Bishuluhua避 暑录话) it is written that Liu Yong was »strong in lyrics. Whenever Royal Academy musicians obtained new tunes, [they] would beseech Yong to write lyrics. [Only after that] would the music go into the world, and this sound would therefore be spread [in popularity] for a while.« Liu Yong’s main contribution to verse form was his great amount long mode manci lyrics. For a time, people imitated and competed with this, bringing about a revolution in Song verse organization and expressiveness. In Song Xiangfeng’s Remaining Analects of Yuefu (Yuefu yulun 乐府馀论), it was written that: Manci likely began during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song. The Central Plains rested its soldiers and Bianjing was populated and prosperous. [At all] song stages and dance pavilions, [performers] competed to bring new sounds. [Liu] Yong, disappointed [as he failed at obtaining an official career] and bored, lingered in entertainment quarters, using as much rustic and popular speech as possible, including it in his lyrics for artists to study and impart. For a time, it became a sensation, and spread in all directions. After this,

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artists such as Su Shi, Qin Guan, and Huang Tianjing continued it one after the other, and manci continued to flourish.

Liu Yong’s long mode manci made five key contributions to verse form: First, the xiaoling structure was changed into the long mode structure, providing wordsmiths with a new form that could accommodate more content. Second, the style was changed from the soft and extravagant powerlessness of the »Huajian Faction« to a pulsating and vigorous resilience. Third, he liked to use the technique of complete narration. This can be equated to opening a large door and roaming all around. With winding variation, he used external means to express his inner feelings, as well as hidden meanings. Fourth, his content included more subject matter concerning city life, as well as the lives and thoughts of city residents, literati, songstresses, and travelers, which he portrayed exquisitely. Fifth, he used rustic urban language in his lyrics. Filled with commonality and vitality, these immensely inspired common civilians. As a result, in Xie Mengde’s Away for the Summer Vacation (Bishu luhua 避暑录话) it is stated that: »Wherever there is a drinking well, there is someone singing Liu’s lyrics.« This is a testament to the wide dissemination of his lyrics. The long mode of Liu Yong underwent enormous development. This new social content was brought about by complex urban life in the Song Dynasty, which required increased expression. As for music, the long mode had upper and lower sections, and the rhythmic structure was even more complex. The Song Dynasty lyrical style was changed again by Su Shi. With opened boundaries, heroic spirit overflowed as traditional restraints were broken and words were sung from the heart. Ci happened to be compatible with verse. Followers would gather in crowds to form the bold and unconstrained Southern Song lyrical factions of Xin and Zhang. In Wang Zhuo’s Random Jottings from the Green Rooster Quarter, it is written that: »Master

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Dongpo is not someone infatuated with music. He occasionally composes verse, pointing out a way to go upwards, and refreshing the world, which causes writers to realize [it’s important] to raise their own spirits.« Su Shi wrote lyrics about advancing and victory, especially in times of anger. On the contrary, his lyrics, due to their mellow, complex, and sonorous rhythm, were likely to reflect the uninhibited ups and downs of emotions, with rhythmical undulation and high and low modulation. However, a lyrical tradition had already been formed by the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty. As people were starting to become familiar with this, Li Qingzhao in Notes on Lyrics (Cilun 词 论) put forward the well-known conclusion of »[Ci] being a different genre [from poetry],« indicating that the authentic ci-lyrics is defined by narrow artistic mood and a graceful and subdued style, and that what Su Shi wrote was not ci. Thereupon, the saying that Su Shi »used poetry as ci-lyrics« was all the rage. A Song person in Idle Reading at the Escape Studio (Dunzhai xianlan 遁斋闲览) criticized Su Shi, saying: »although Zizhan [Su Shi’s courtesy name]’s lyrics are refined, many do not become tunes.« The lyrics of Su Shi, Xin Qiji, and Liu Guo all had this flaw. This led to the text-based trend, which involved the separation of lyrics from singing ability, and »relying on sound to compose lyrics« turned into »relying on verse forms to write lyrics«. The ci-lyrics became simply a poetic style. Su’s lyrics were ridiculed as being suitable for »a big fellow from Guanxi [the frontier region] holding a copper pipa and iron clappers singing ›the Great River runs east‹ [a famous line from Su Shi’s lyrics].« This meant that it was an object of extreme ridicule. Peoples’ understanding of this at the time was that lyrics were sung by slender songstresses clasping red ivory paiban, with easy opening vermillion lips, and unrestrained singing voices. Valiant Guanxi natives with their rhythmic music were naturally unsuited to song lyrics. For this reason, while the influence of the bold and

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unconstrained lyrical school initiated by Su Shi was rather large, his lyrics were not ultimately considered orthodox. While Su-School lyricists placed most importance on Qin Guan, his style was similar to that of Liu Yong. Later, Zhou Bangyan’s verse form lyrical school emerged, pursuing the correct structure of lyrical phrases, embellishing them along the way. This school emphasized accurate, harmonious tuning, and as much adherence to this as possible. They paid attention to tuning and pitch, refinement, and form, seeking the delicacy and victory within it. This lyrical style differed from that of the bold and unconstrained school. After migrating south, the verse form school was more meticulous in pursuing the form of its lyrics, paying particular attention paid to word formation and inflection, ornate rhetoric and overly elaborate prose. A gradual transformation thus took place, from the accomplished elegance and reason of Zhou Bangyan to the obscurity and abstruseness of Wu Wenying. Of the latter school, the most wellknown verse lyricists were Jiang Kui and Zhang Yan, both of whom paid attention to pitch and tuning. They were the most important composers of the verse form school. Jiang Kui’s poetic music was excellent, with outstanding lyrics. For a long time, Jiang Kui studied poetry and practiced verse, using color to gauge pitch modulation and writing lyrics with »lingering flavor« and »lingering ideas.« In many of his lyrics he made use of classical stories, making their meaning difficult to decipher. Jiang Kui was a versatile musician. He could play the guqin, was well-versed in ancient music, and was adept at tuning. His White Stone Taoist Devotee Poetry Anthology (Baishi shiren shiji 白石道人诗集) contains 180 of his surviving songs, with over 80 lyrics. In it, one section features a sheet of music melodies, along with the guqin song »Ancient Blame,« with its score containing embellished and reduced characters. There are also ten melodies from »Over Than Nine Songs,« accompanied

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by a tuning score, and 17 melodies with tonal patterns and rhyme schemes of lyrical poetry, accompanied by a Song Dynasty popular form character score. This amounted to 28 melodies in total. To his country, he left behind extremely precious music. Hearteningly, in all of Jiang Baishi’s self-composed melodies, he wrote the lyrics before the scores, with the score written beside the lyrics. These song scores are preserved in the only extant Song Dynasty musical score, thus constituting a large contribution. Jiang Kui’s composition of melodies was unique in the following

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ways: First, he paid attention to pitch and tuned harmoniously. Secondly, his vocal range was not broad. Out of 14 of his songs, the ninth measure of the eighth, and the tenth measure of the sixth, could be sung leisurely and with ease, with the beauty of the sound being adequately expressed. Third, his works made more use of the heptatonic scale. Fourth, regarding use of new sounds, in nine of his songs he used the same rhythm types and pitches, or shifted the sound of model pitch composition. Fifth, his structure was rigorous.

CHAPTER IX  THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES Section 1  Music of the Liao Dynasty 1. Folk Music 1. Khitan Music The Liao Dynasty was formed by the Khitan ethnicity, who had their own original music. After the Liao Dynasty was founded, the music of the Khitan’s was called »national music.« Khitan national music was first expressed in the form of popular sayings. It is said that Empress Dowager Shulü, wife of Emperor Taizu of Liao, saw a woman on a cart pulled by a black ox at the confluence of the Liao and Tu rivers. The woman hurriedly retreated to the roadside in respect and suddenly disappeared. The event inspired a nursery rhyme: »The old woman on the black ox once retreated to the roadside,« with the old woman representing the spirit of the earth. According to The Rites of Zhou: Offices of Spring (Zhouli chunguan 周礼 春官), »The Minister of Religious Affairs is entrusted with the institution within the empire of rites attributed to the spirits of heaven, humans and the earth, in order to support the king in establishing and consolidating the empire and regional states.« The fact that Khitan children could recite nursery rhymes by heart is an indication of the popularity of Khitan folk songs. In addition, the novella Xuanqulu (‌轩渠录) by Song poet Lü Benzhong contains the Khitan folk song, A Poem Sent to My Husband (Qifu shi 寄夫 诗), that goes: »Chui Yang sent word to Shan Dan, saying ›It is difficult for you to reach the South of

the Yangtze River. You take a Southern wife and I will marry a Khitan here‹.« The background to this song is that the second Liao emperor, Taizong, destroyed the later Jin Dynasty and drove its population to the southern bank of the Yellow River, causing countless families to break up and spouses to remarry. The poem was written using simple and flowing everyday language and is very melancholic when sung. Satirical political verse was very popular in the Liao Dynasty. For example, Emperor Daozong of Liao bestowed the title of King of Wei upon Yelü Yingbi, who monopolized power and reigned with an iron fist, prompting the popular saying: »Better to violate imperial edicts than the King of Wei’s written orders.« It satirized that Emperor Daozong’s edicts could be defied, but that no one dared disobey the King of Wei’s orders. In addition, the last Liao emperor, Tianzuo, after being defeated by conquering Jurchen forces in August of the fifth year of the Tianqing Period (1115), promoted veteran ministers Yelu Dabeinu, Xiao Chala, Wu Yong, Ma Renwang and Chai Yi to deliberate on major military and state affairs, prompting the popular saying that ridiculed them as: »Five old men four hundred years old, northern and southern officials dozing off to sleep. Unable to control their own minds, what state of mind can they be in to kill the Jurchen?« The joke circulated far and wide, and it is said that when Emperor Tianzuo got word of it he also laughed, saying nothing. These satirical sayings criticized the political situation of the time and their witty, humorous style exemplifies the character of the Khitan people. Khitan popular verse was the bedrock of Khitan ethnic music and therefore merits particular attention.

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For the most part, Khitan national music consisted of various forms of popular song and dance. According to Chen Yang’s Book of Music (Yueshu 乐书), Khitan folk song-and-dance performances were fast-paced and performed by a singer with an accompanying chorus of two, complete with accompanying instruments including a small transverse flute, clapper board, and drum. Today it is known that Khitan folk song and dance included guozhang 聒帐, raozhang 绕帐 and zhenpengpeng 臻蓬蓬 songs, and tachui 踏锤 and nabo music. According to Records of the Khitan Empire, vol. 23, (Qitan guozhi 契丹国志), the Khitan Comic Opera Department was comprised of 100 people, of whom 50 worked the night shift; when the four drums fell silent, songs were sung in front of the tents, hence the name »guozhang« (»noisy tents«). Whenever people visited Mount Muye to worship, they would shoot arrows at the willow branches, tell jokes and sing ethnic songs as they guided the procession, playing the foreign zither (huqin 胡琴) in accompaniment. Mount Muye is the birthplace of the Liao. Raozhangge was a kind of seasonal ritual of the Khitan people. History of Liao: The Sixth Book of Rites (Liaoshi lizhi liu 辽史 礼志六) records that: Spring Festival was celebrated with cakes made of glutinous rice and goat marrow rolled into fistsized balls, of which 49 were given to each tent. Just before dawn, the balls were thrown out of windows in the tent. If the number was even, there was music and feasting. If the number was odd, two people rang bells and held arrows as they circled the tent singing, heating salt in the stove until it exploded and letting off fireworks, which was said to scare off ghosts. They lived in the tent for seven days before emerging.

The lyrics to those songs have been lost. Zhenpengpeng song, also known as »luxuriant flowers« (»pengpeng hua« 蓬蓬花), was rhythmical dance music to the sound of accompanying drums, transliterated as »zhen-peng-peng« (made in the center of the drum) and »zha-zha-zha«

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(made at the edge of the drum)—hence the name. A »zhenpengpeng« was a canopied carriage. The lyrics included: »Zhenpengpeng, flowers outside and empty inside. But in February next year, there will be no masters anywhere in the city.« This folk song belongs to the Khitan people but became a harbinger of disaster for Northern Song emperors Huizong and Qinzong, who were held captive in the northern states during the Jingkang Period. Regarding tachui, historian Li Tao wrote in volume 80 of his Extended Continuation to Zizhi Tongjian (‌ 续资治通鉴长编), that Wang Zeng traveled to Liao as a state messenger in the 5th year of the Dazhong Xiangfu Period, during the reign of Northern Song emperor Zhenzong (1012), to convey birthday congratulations to Emperor Shengzong, the 6th emperor of the Liao Dynasty. After returning, he said: »In Bohai the custom is to come together each season to make music, first ordering several groups of fine singers and dancers to perform, then singing with court ladies, replying to each other with the same rhyme sequences in sweet, agreeable cycles, which is called ›tachui‹.« As for nabo 捺钵 music, »nabo« is a Khitan word meaning the field headquarters of Liao emperors. There were four types: spring, summer, autumn and winter. History of Liao: Camp Guards, Part Two (Yingwei zhi zhong 辽史 营卫志中) states: Spring nabo […] at the Duck River camp […] eagles and falcons were released to catch geese, the party set out in the morning to hunt and returned in the evening […] The emperor received goose heads and offered sacrifices in the temple, the ministers each offered wine and fruit, and music was played.

In the evening, musicians played small instruments while people sang and danced. The Khitan were a race of nomadic hunters, and their customs, music, songs and dances were all linked to this kind of lifestyle, as described in detail in the Khitan Song (Qitan Ge 契丹歌) written by Jiang Kui in the Southern Song Dynasty. Under

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its title is an original note that reads: »In the capital it is rumored that Governor Xiao himself said their social customs are like this.« Jiang Kui gathered this information from the office of Governor Xiao of Liao State in Lin’an, so his description has considerable authenticity and historical value. The first four sentences of his song describe the natural scenery of the Liao Region, while the next two describe scenes of Khitan folk singing and dancing, with »adults pulling carts while children danced and musicians played the pipa to delight the womenfolk.« The custom of encirclement hunting (dawei 打围) is later recounted, including descriptions of powerful gyrfalcons, scenes of goose shooting, and so on. 2. Sanyue History of Liao: Court Music: Sanyue (Liaoshi Lezhi 辽史 乐志 散乐) states: »Today sanyue is a mix of paiyou [‌俳优, comedy acts], and singing and dancing—in many cases a legacy of the Music Bureau of Han.« Sanyue in the Liao Dynasty originated from the Music Bureau of Han in the Central Plains and was introduced from the Central Plains in the 3rd year of Tianfu during the later Jin Dynasty (938). Its forms include baixi 百戏 and juedi 角抵 variety shows, xima, bili 觱篥 pipe solo, pipa solo, sheng pipe solo, zheng solo, drum, transverse flute, kong harp performance, singing, qupo 曲破 performance and so on. 16 types of instruments were used, specifically the li double-reed pipe, xiao flute, transverse flute, sheng pipe, pipa, fivestringed pipa, konghou harp, zheng, fangxiang stone chime, zhanggu drum, second drum, third drum, waist drum, large drum, kong drum, and clapper-board. Kong 鞚 means »rein,« and was a kind of production tool. The Khitan people used tools as musical instruments, which shows that human production of musical instruments is inextricably linked to production tools and everyday utensils.

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3. Guchui and Hengchui Music Guchui percussion music was also known as Duanxiao and Nao song (‌短箫铙歌) music, or military music. According to volume 21 of Poetry Collection of the Music Bureau (Yuefu shiji 乐府诗集) by Song-period scholar Guo Maoqian: Hengchui was originally not differentiated from guchui. It was played on horses as military music. All the northern minority tribes make music on horseback, so the music of northern minorities has been under the administration of the Drums and Pipes Bureau since the Han Dynasty. Later, it was developed into two types, guchui and hengchui. The former was played with instruments such as the xiao and jia flutes in ceremonies such as the morning assembly or travelling processions […] Guchui was played with drums and horns on horseback in military situations.

As stated above, guchui was played during imperial processions, but at morning assemblies the musicians were only deployed for display purposes and did not play. Guchui music was also played during processions involving officials of all ranks. The number of guchui and hengchui musicians by officials of fourth rank and above fluctuated. Guchui and hengchui music are characteristic of the the Western Xiao, Liao and Jin dynasties. 4. Religious Music Buddhism spread throughout the Liao Dynasty, the main schools being Shingon Buddhism, followed by Zen Buddhism. Shingon Buddhism was the largest Buddhist sect in the Central Plains, an indication that Buddhism in the Liao originated from that region. The Khitan aristocracy embraced Buddhism, and numerous Buddhist temples were constructed in the »Supreme Capital« of Linhuang, including Tianxiong Temple, Chongxiao Temple, Jieyi Temple, Anguo Temple and Shengni Temple. At one time during Taizong’s reign there were 50,000 monks. A total of 360,000 monks were served food at a sangha feeding ritual

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(fanseng 饭僧) held when Emperor Daozong was one year old. Emperor Jingzong of Liao instituted the post of Chief Area Commander in the imperial court to manage Buddhist affairs throughout Liaoning, prompting Mongol leader Kublai Khan to declare that »Buddhism spelled the end of the Liao.« Buddhism flourished under the Liao Dynasty, and Buddhist music thrived with it. There are many surviving Buddhist verses dating from the Liao Dynasty, which witnessed a kind of textual transformation. For example, the 10th volume of the Explanation of the Meanings of the Vairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra (‌大日经义释演密抄) records Emperor Daozong’s Admonishments and Encouragements on the Buddhist Propagation of Verse (Jiexu shi liu ji 戒勖释流偈), in which he

CHAPTER IX THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

states: »If you desire to learn Zen Buddhism, you must first grasp the fundamentals of the complete teaching, rather than adhere to extremes of existence, separation, and emptiness. Now that characteristic features are destroyed and religious practice is abandoned, the Three Tortures will soon be before our very eyes.« Jie (‌偈, or gā in Sanskrit) is a eulogy in Buddhist scripture and an abbreviation of the Sanskrit term gāthā, meaning »verse.« Eulogising jie adopted a three-character, four-character, five-character, six-character, seven-character or multi-character format and were religious vocal works that could be recited or sung. According to historical records, most practicing preachers in the Liao empire were Buddhists from the Central Plains, and most surviving verses are five-or-seven-character quatrains typi-

6.9.1 Grand Suite Mural on the west wall of the antechamber of Liao Tomb no. 6 in Xiabali Village, Xiahua, Hebei

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cal of that region. Hence, it can be inferred that Buddhist music under the Liao Dynasty spread predominantly from the Central Plains.

2. Court Music Liao court music included ethnic music, known as »foreign« music (»fanyue« 蕃乐) and »Han music« (»Hanyue« 汉乐). According to History of Liao: Treatise on Rites, Part Six (Liaoshi lizhi liu 辽史 礼志六): On the night of July 13th, the emperor stayed in a tent erected 30 leagues to the west of the palace. Food and wine were prepared in the early evening. The next day, all the tribesmen and soldiers played foreign music, drank and feasted until dusk, before returning to the imperial travelling palace: this was known as the ›welcome festival‹. During Ghost Festival, on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, there were performances of Han music and a feast.

Fanyue was used for the welcome festival on the 14th, whereas Hanyue was used for the Ghost Festival on the 15th, the former being local ethnic music whereas the latter was music from the Central Plains. In History of Liao: Treatise on Court Music it is recorded that on the first day of Lunar New Year, »the emperor spent the night dining in company while listening to national music.« The term »national music« (‌国乐) here refers to native music. The following is a brief analysis of Poetic Music (shiyue 诗乐), Elegant Music (yayue 雅乐), Grand Music (dayue 大乐), and music institutions. 1. Shiyue Monarchs and ministers in the Liao Dynasty all had a highly developed knowledge of Han culture and a refined appreciation of its literature and music. The 5th Liao emperor, Jingzong, whose personal name was Yelü Xian, had an appreciation for the rules of music, while the 6th emperor, Shengzong, born Yelü Longxu, loved writing and penned poems at the age of ten; as an adult, he

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was an adept archer, understood the rules of music and was fond of painting. According to the 7th volume of Records of the Khitan Empire (Qidan guo zhi 契丹国志), Shengzong »had perfect tone and a fine singing voice.« He would »hold banquets with foreign and Han ministers all day and night, his turban removed in summer, seated side by side in close contact.« He was also a very open-hearted monarch, who would »either sing and dance himself, or order the empress, consorts and concubines to play the pipa and serve wine« during dinner. »Ministers ranked below the prime minister composed poems, which were presented at the imperial court and read out one by one. The best ones were rewarded with gold ribbons and the emperor himself wrote more than 500 songs.« This suggests that Shengzhong was a very literary and musically gifted monarch. Shengzong »stopped recruiting state officials based on poetry-and-rhapsody and law examinations, establishing poetry-and-rhapsody as a regular examination, and law as a miscellaneous discipline.« The 7th emperor of the Liao, Xingzong, born Yelü Zongzhen, was described in History of Liao: Biography of Xingzong (Xingzong ji 辽史 兴宗纪) as »an intelligent child who grew into a burly man« as well as »open-minded and generous,« with »a keen interest in Confucianism and a good understanding of the rules of music.« During April in the 5th year of the Chongxi era (1036), Shengzong »visited the mansion of his wife’s younger brother Xiao Wuqu, participated in qushui fanshang [‌曲 水泛觞, a drinking game played on a winding waterway] and composed poetry.« In October he visited Yuanhe Hall in Nanjing, where he personally wrote the palace examination for recruiting scholars into the imperial court, composing the pieces Sunlight on the Thirty-six Bears and »Poem on Visiting Yan.« During June in the 6th year of the Chongxi era (1037), he wrote »Ode to Carousing.« »He issued an imperial mandate to the Great Prince of the South Palace, Yelü Hudugun, personally

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drafting the proclamation and bestowing poems in his honor«; in July, he gifted poetry to the son of the emperor’s younger brother Yelü Zhongyuan, to celebrate the birth of his son; in February of the 24th year (1055), he visited Huntong River (now called Songhua River) for a banquet and fishing, which is described as follows: »On the first day of the lunar month, he summoned the Song envoy to join him on a fishing trip, where he composed poetry.« Whenever the envoy caught a fish, Xingzong personally poured him wine and played the pipa to persuade him to drink. The 8th Liao emperor, Daozong, born Yelü Hongji, understood the rules of music and composed poetry, according to History of Liao: Biography of Daozong (Liaoshi daozong ji 辽史道宗纪). During February of the 2nd year of the Qingning era (1056), to mark the birthday of his father Xingzong, Daozong »held a banquet with his officials, during which he ordered each of them to write poetry.« In March, »he personally wrote ›Rhapsody on Falconry‹ and gifted it to his ministers«; during August in the third year of his reign (1057), »he presented the empress dowager with the poem »Ruler and Ministers United in Will, Chinese and Barbarians United in Customs«; during May in the 6th year of the Qingning era (1060) »the Supervisor and Writer of State History, Yelü Bai, was commissioned to compile a book of the emperor’s poems. It was entitled The Qingning Anthology and the emperor ordered Yelü Bai to write its preface.« Daozong was extremely well-educated in music and literature, and his edicts and laments were very beautiful in terms of rhetoric and sentiment, with an elegiac style reminiscent of Qu Yuan’s poem »Encountering Sorrow.« The queen of Daozong, Xiao Guanyin, known as the Yide Empress, was exceedingly beautiful, well-versed in poetry, and an accomplished orator. She wrote songs and was a pipa virtuoso, unrivalled in her time. She could also sing Yuefu poetry and play the zither. In the tenth year of the Xianyong era (1074), she wrote the ci poem »Gar-

CHAPTER IX THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

den of Changing Minds,« which she put to music. The poem used metaphor to depict her longing for the emperor while he was away on inspection tours, and was very highly rated by poets of later generations. In Ci Yuan Cong Tan (‌词苑丛谈), Qing Dynasty ci poet Xu Qiu commented that: »The words are reproachful but not angry, and have the implicit meaning employed by ci lyric writers. At that time the modes used by Liu Yong were not yet prevalent in the North, so Xiao’s ci poetry was also heavily influenced by the Tang poets.« In Liao, Jin and Yuan Literature (Liao jin yuan wenxue 辽金元 文学), writer Wu Mei comments: »The meaning of the lyrics is rich and powerful, even more so than those of Song poets. It cannot be said that it is unlike the delicately beautiful spirit of the mountains and rivers, which is uniquely different from later works.« Xiao Sese, concubine to the last Liao emperor, Tianzuo, was adept at writing and singing Yuefu poetry. When the Jin army invaded the Liao empire, Tianzuo continued to hunt and tour without a care, and many of his loyal ministers were alienated and removed from office. Concubine Xiao wrote lyrics that indirectly admonished his conduct: Do not sigh about the borders, nor fear worldly affairs; do not be distressed by so much calamity, nor fear barbarians. It would be better to block the road of treason and evil by choosing virtuous ministers, and to incite warriors to lay down their lives. You can clear the area north of the Gobi Desert in the morning and sleep in Yanyun in the evening.

Among the Khitan aristocracy there were many talented people who understood the rules of music, could write orthodox poetry and compose songs, but they will not be enumerated here. 2. Yayue Yayue had been passed down in the form of ancient hymns and ancient major odes (daya 大雅) since the Han Dynasty. The Liao state lacked tem-

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ple rituals, hence it was »music without hymns« (»wusongyue« 无颂乐). According to the History of the Five Dynasties (Wudaishi 五代史), during the reign of founding Liao emperor Taizu, the Khitan people had »a thousand official professional musicians,« and »a thousand domestic entertainers among the tribes,« suggesting that yayue was already practiced on a fairly considerable scale, although it was still influenced by the royal courts of the Central Plains. From the first year of the Datong era (947), yayue in the Liao empire included gongxuan 宫悬乐 bell-and-chime music, advocated by the Office of Imperial Sacrifices of the later Jin Dynasty. Henceforth, the Liao vigorously absorbed the culture of the Han-led Tang dynasty, recruiting state officials through examinations based on poetry and rhythmic prose, and for a time elegant speech was revered. In the early years of the Liao Dynasty, yayue followed the music of the later Liang of the Five Dynasties, before subsequently adopting the 12 forms of »harmony music« of the Tang Dynasty: Yu harmony music (Yuheyue 豫和乐), Shun harmony music (Shunheyue 顺和乐), Yong harmony music (Yongheyue 永和乐), Su harmony music (Suheyue 肃和乐), Yong harmony music (Yongheyue 雍和乐), Shou harmony music (Shouheyue 寿和乐), Tai harmony music (Taiheyue 太和乐), Shu harmony music (Shuheyue 舒和乐), Zhao harmony music (Zhaoheyue 昭和乐), Xiu harmony music (Xiuheyue 休和乐), Zheng harmony music (Zhengheyue 正和乐), and Cheng harmony music (Chengheyue 承和乐). Yuheyue was played when making sacrifices to the spirits of heaven, Shunheyue when venerating the earth, Yongheyue (‌永 和乐) when paying tributes in the ancestral temple, Suheyue was performed together with odes (dengge 登歌) when offering libations of jades and silks, Yongheyue was used when placing food on the sacrificial altar to welcome the spirits of the dead, Shouheyue when pouring and offering sacrificial wine, Taiheyue to regulate rising and falling, Shuheyue to regulate emergence and withdrawal,

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Zhaoheyue when making toasts, Xiuheyue when eating, Zhengheyue when the empress received a royal command, and Chengheyue when the crown prince was setting out on a long journey. There are no records of the song lyrics. Besides the aforementioned types of yayue used for sacrifice, there were 12 forms of »peace music« (anyue 安乐). The only documented forms are longanyue 隆安乐, which was played whenever the emperor went on a journey, and zhenanyue 贞安 乐, which was played on the return of the crown prince. The names of the other ten forms are unknown. Yayue orchestras in the Liao empire were of considerable size, with the seated section alone consisting of two wings each numbering 102 musicians, or 204 in total. The number of eight-timbre instruments (‌八音器, referring to the construction material, specifically metal, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, gourd, and bamboo) used in yayue orchestras was generally based on Tang tradition, although the variety was not as comprehensive. There were large metal bo 镈钟bells, stone ball chimes (‌球磬), silk-stringed qin and se zithers, bamboo yue 龠, xiao 箫 and chi 竾 flutes, gourdbased yu 竽 and sheng 笙 pipes, earthen xun 埙 ocarinas, leather-skinned gu 鼓 and tao 鼗 drums, and wooden yu 敔 and zhu 柷 percussion instruments. The 12-pitch scale of yayue in the Liao empire was based on Zhou Dynasty pitchpipes of length up to 9 cun (‌寸) and diameter of 3 fen (‌分). They were dimensioned using a ruler with a length of 1 chi (‌尺), which was equal to 10 cun and 100 fen. One fen corresponded to the width of one millet grain. It was not until the Taikang era under Daozong (1075–1084) that an imperial edict was issued to determine pitch using sheng 升 and dou 斗 measurement units based on black millet grains, which was closer to the ancient scale standard. We can also infer the style of Liao Dynasty yayue from literature and records. According to History of Liao: Treatise on Music (Liaoshi yue zhi 辽史 乐志):

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At the height of the Han-led Tang Dynasty, western Chinese music was predominantly used for cultural affairs, in the form of dayue and sanyue; whereas in military affairs, northern Chinese music was always used, in the form of guchui and hengchui drum and pipe music. When yayue was played, elegant instruments were used and the sound was western.

In other words, in the Liao empire, yayue was similar to dayue, which used »the sound of the seven musical scales developed by Su Zhipo of the Western Regions to create harmony with seven notes and 84 tones,« as well as sanyue, which »adopted the sound of Western Liang music.« Yayue in the Liao state was likewise derived from western Chinese music and in some respects reflected its style. 3. Dayue History of Liao: Treatise on Music documents that: »Dayue music of the Liao empire was passed down from the Jin Dynasty.« The »Jin Dynasty« referred to here is the Later Jin of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. The book further records that: When envoys Feng Dao and Liu Xu of later Jin emperor Gaozu were sent to congratulate Empress Dowager Yingtian and Emperor Taizong on their accessions, their music, instruments, musicians, officials and imperial carriages returned together to the Liao Dynasty.

Dayue music troupes in the Liao empire comprised 20 dancers and musicians divided into four musical dance sections: eight in the jingyun 景云 section, four in the qingyun 庆云 section, four in the pozhen 破阵 section, and four in the chengtian 承天 section. They used 23 types of instrument, namely jade chimes (‌玉磬), fangxiang 方响 stone chimes, zheng 筝 and zhu 筑 zithers, horizontal konghou 卧箜篌, large konghou 大箜篌 and small konghou 小箜篌 harps, small pipa 小琵琶, small and large five-stringed pipa 五弦, chuiye 吹叶 reed pipe, large and small sheng 大笙, 小笙 pipes, bili

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pipes, xiao 箫 flute, cymbals (‌铜钹), long flute (‌长 笛), chiba 尺八 flute, piccolo (‌短笛), maoyuan 毛 员 waist-drum, liantao (‌连鼗) drum, and shells. Dayue under the Liao empire adopted the four musical scales and 28 tones used by the Music Bureau since the Sui Dynasty, and used pipa strings for tuning, instead of pitchpipes dimensioned based on the millet-grain measurement system. When composing songs in the dayue style, pitch was denoted using ten Chinese characters, specifically: »wu [‌五], fan [‌凡], gong [‌工], chi [‌尺], shang [‌上], yi [‌一], si [‌四], liu [‌六], gou [‌勾] and he [‌合].« This system was similar to gongche 工尺 musical notation that originated in the Tang Dynasty and was fully developed under the Song Period, and which also consisted of ten characters: »he [‌合], si [‌四], yi [‌一], shang [‌上], chi [‌尺], gong [‌工], fan [‌凡], liu [‌六], wu [‌五], yi [‌乙].« Dayue in the Liao empire was used for celebrating birthdays, drinking, and toasts between emperor and officials, similar to yanyue in the Tang and Song dynasties of the Central Plains. 4. Music Institutions The royal court of the Liao Dynasty established a Royal Academy of Music (Jiaofang 教坊), which was of considerable scale, employing over a thousand people. According to the Old History of the Five Dynasties: Biography on Foreign Countries and Peoples, Part One (Wudai shi liezhuan diyi 旧五代史 外国列传第一), the Liao empire’s first ruler, Yelü Abaoji, said: »I also have a thousand domestic entertainers among the tribes, whom I do not readily use except for official banquets.«  History of Liao documents that »Royal Academy Music Performance« events took place almost every year. However, the Royal Academy’s organizational format, event content, institutional structure, performance format, repertoire, orchestra setup, usage of musical instruments and other details are not recorded. In the Western Xia, the Royal Academy School of Tribal and Han Entertainers was ranked last (5th grade) in that empire’s

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administrative organization. By contrast, the status and grade of the Liao empire’s Royal Academy within its administrative organization requires further investigation. 5. Musical Instruments The most commonly used instrument in the Liao Dynasty was the pipa, which was often played by concubines, as documented in the Records of the Khitan Empire: Biography of Shengzong (Qidanguo zhi shengzong ji 契丹国志 圣宗纪): »Shengzong occasionally ordered the queen or concubines to play the pipa and serve wine.« The pipa can be regarded as a traditional instrument of the Khitan people. Another traditional musical instrument is likely to have been the huqin 胡琴 spike fiddle, which was used in yangzhang 聒帐 folk song and dance, as stated in Records of the Khitan Empire, volume 23: »The huqin was played during yangzhang.« Was the huqin identical to the xiqin (also called the jiqin 嵇琴)? And why was the huqin plucked, rather than played with a bow, like other spike fiddles? What is certain is that the xiqin was integral to huyue, the music of the peoples in northern and western China, and was originally played using a bamboo pick. In the chapter »Theory of Music— On the Central Asian Barbarians—Eight-Timbre Instruments« in volume 128 of Book of Music (Yueshu 乐书), written by Chen Yang of Song in 1101 during the reign of the last Liao emperor, Tianzuo, it is recorded that »the xiqin is the basis of huyue. It stems from and resembles the xiantao [‌弦鼗] lute, and its music is favored by the Xi tribes. It has two strings which are plucked with a bamboo pick, and is still a popular instrument to this day.« Volume 5 of Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays (Mengqi Bitan 梦溪笔谈), written during the reign of Emperor Daozong of Liao, contains a four-line poem entitled »The Horsetail Huqin Follows the Han Carriages,« which suggests that the jiqin had horsetail hairs for strings. The xiqin spike fiddle was a musical instrument of the Xi

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tribe who lived in the Xilamulun River Basin (now modern Inner Mongolia), part of the Liao empire. Ju 具 instruments used in the dayue music of the Liao imperial court were made of shells and jade. It is not known whether they were percussion instruments, or whether their purpose was merely to increase the colorful effect of the music. That was the likely purpose of the le 勒, used in sanyue music, which was made from a horse’s bridle and was probably a percussion instrument.

Section 2  Music of the Western Xia The Western Xia was predominantly populated by the Tangut (also known as the Qiang 羌) ethnic group, who were skilled in singing and dancing. The Tangut-Chinese dictionary Fan-Han heshi zhangzhong zhu 番漢合時掌中珠 (meaning »Simultaneous Tangut-Chinese Pearls-in-the-Hand«), compiled by Gule Maocai, contains entries such as »Make merry and drink wine,« »Teach to play music,« and »Performers jesting«, while the Tangut script educational reader Miscellaneous Words (Zazi 杂字) contains entries such as »Performers singing and dancing« and »Playing the flute and drumming«; all of this is evidence that the people of Western Xia were accomplished in music, singing and dancing. The Western Xia absorbed Tubo 吐蕃 (Tibet) in the south, acquired Uyghur territories to the west, controlled the Liao and Jin territories in the north, and connected with Tang and Song music culture in the Central Plains to the east, forming its own unique style. In October of the fourth year of the Song Yuanfeng era (1081), the Song army attacked a Western Xia outpost in Mizhi Village. The defending general Ling Jieyu surrendered to the Song attackers and sent Han general Zhong E to Bianliang to make an offering of military music (rongle 戎乐). According to the History of the Song: Treatise on Music,

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Part Seventeen (Songshi lezhi shiqi 宋史 乐志十 七): »In May of the 6th year of the Yuanfeng era, 42 surrendering military musicians from the Mizhi outpost were summoned to play music in Chongzheng Hall […] All of the music they played was ethnic music [yiyue 夷乐].« This shows that music in the Western Xia army was characteristic of the Western Regions. From the extremely limited historical records and documents available, it can be seen that music was integrated into many aspects of Tangut military, civilian, and religious life, and was an important means for the Tangut people to develop a sense of national unity and express their feelings and ideas.

1. Folk Music Tangut music was full of the grand, majestic style of guchui drum and pipe music. According to History of the Jin: Biography of Foreign Countries, Part One (Jinshi waiguo shang 金史 外国上): »Vocal music of Xia State was characterized by clear and sharp cadences, as if a legacy of guchui music.« History of the Song: Biography of Xia State, Part One (Songshi xiaguo shang 宋史 夏国上) records that Western Xia’s first emperor Li Yuanhao »often carried a copy of Songs of Battle in the Fields (Yezhange 野战歌).« Although the form and content of Songs of Battle in the Fields are unknown, the music it contained must have been sufficiently rousing and inspirational to make an impression on Li Yuanhao, who consistently advocated a musical aesthetic based on the idea that »fighting is paramount.« This was the music and dance used by the Xia state for fighting wars. But music and dance were also used for rituals and ceremonies. Chahan was the son of Western Xia court official Quye Qielü. In his youth, he could use folk song and dance to perform rituals. According to History of the Yuan: Biography of Chahan (Yuanshi chahan zhuan 元史 察罕传), »As a child he shepherded sheep in the fields. He planted his stick in the ground, took off his hat,

CHAPTER IX THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

and placed it on the end of the stick. He knelt to worship, sang and danced.« When the Yuan Emperor Taizu, who had gone out hunting, saw Chahan and asked him what he was doing, he said he was »practicing ritual.« Music and dance were also used for celebrating birthdays. Song author Yu Que documents the folk customs of the Tanguts in his Collected Works of Teacher Qingyang (Qingyang xiansheng wenji 青 阳先生文集): »They presented birthday kowtows and dances, and those of both high and low rank were in joyful spirits.« Although records of music and dance being used in folk customs of this type are rare, they do provide a glimpse into popular culture in the Western Xia Dynasty. Music and dance were also used for offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors. According to History of the Song: Biography of Xia State, Part One (Songshi xiaguo shang 宋史 夏国上), in the fourth year of the Jingde era (1007), following the death of his mother, the Tangut leader Li Deming »was welcomed before the casket with music.« No details are recorded regarding the type of music, the instruments, or the specific content of the ceremony. When Tangut people died, their bodies were cremated. The Travels of Marco Polo describes in detail the cremation rituals of the Tanggute (‌唐古 忒) people of Shazhou (now Dunhuang), stating that before a cremation, »all musical instruments sounded during the funeral procession.« Tanggute was the Mongol name for the Tanguts in that period, so this passage clearly describes the funerary customs of the Tangut people. The reference to »all musical instruments« suggests a considerable ensemble of various musical instruments. Music and dance for entertainment were more common. Both the New History of the Five Dynasties (Xinwudai shi 新五代史) and the Institutional History of the Five Dynasties (Wudai huiyao 五 代会要) state that during the reign of later Tang Emperor Mingzong, Tangut people competed to travel to the capital city in the Central Plains to sell horses. Mingzong expressed his appreciation

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6.9.2  Buddhist wall painting of flying celestial apsaras from the Western Xia Period on the roof of Cave no. 327 in the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, Gansu Province

with food and wine, »treating them to food in the imperial court,« and the Tangut merchants drank heartily: »Once drunk, they joined sleeves and sang, saying that they thought the local customs were enjoyable.« The phrase »joined sleeves and sang« refers to singing and dancing while holding onto someone’s hand or sleeve, which brings to mind the dancing figures depicted on Neolithic pottery unearthed in Shangsunjiazhai, Datong County, Qinghai Province. It shows five people standing hand-in-hand in a dancing pose. On the left side of each dancer’s head is a braid or band of hair that all bob in the same direction, and the legs are slightly bent, as if following the beat of the music. An ornament on the left side of each dancer’s lower body bobs in the opposite direction to the hair, further reinforcing the dynamic sense of harmony and beauty of the dance. The

dancing figures have a certain roughness and rhythmic beauty about them, while their bearing and poses are markedly childish. Could it be that the dancing of the Tangut ethnic group living in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and other places share some kind of cultural relationship with the dancing depicted on this ancient earthenware bowl? Religious music was also prevalent in Western Xia. Its rulers believed in religion; some members of the Tangut nobility believed in Buddhism and Daoism, while others were held traditional polytheist believes. Therefore, various types of religious music were very popular. Buddhism spread throughout the Tangut population before the Western Xia Dynasty was founded. It mainly originated from the Central Plains, but was also closely related to the esoteric Buddhism of Tubo (Tibet). Both sources had an impact on the Bud-

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6.9.3  Mural depicting Western Xia musical dance performance, under the west niche of Cave no. 327 in the Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, Gansu

dhist music of Western Xia. Cultural exchanges between the Western Xia territory of Liang Province and Tianzhu (India) were initiated relatively early. The Book of Sui: Treatise on Music (Suishu yinyue zhi 隋书 音乐志) describes how the work Tianzhu Music (Tianlan yue 天竺乐) was introduced to Liang Province: »[Former Liang ruler] Zhang Chonghua, who occupied Liang Province, presented a copy that had been translated four times to the male performers.« During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Jingshu, the military commissioner of Xiliang prefecture, gave a copy of the Tianzhu work Brahmin Songs (Poluomen qu 婆罗门曲) to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. In the 4th year of Song Emperor Taizu’s reign (966), a cultural mission of more than 170 people headed by monk Xing Qin was sent to Tianzhu along the Lingwu Road (‌ 灵武道) on the northern route of the Silk Road’s central section, which passes through Liang Province. Although there are no existing historical records documenting the Bud-

dhist music of Western Xia, the work Music of Western Liang (Xiliang yue 西凉乐) contains the Buddhist song Yongshiyue 永世乐, the closing piece Wanshiyue 万世乐 and the dance song Khotan Buddhist music (Yutian foqu 于阗佛曲), all of which probably spread throughout Western Xia. There would also have been elements of Daoist music in the Western Xia empire, as Taoism was practised there. In the 7th year of Western Xia emperor Huizong’s reign (1081), the Song army attacked Western Xia and discovered that hundreds of monks and Daoists were living in the city of Lingzhou. Among the documents unearthed in Kara-Khoto (Chinese: Heicheng) are fragments of the Book of Changes, the Zhuangzi, and works including Lü Guanwen’s Entry into the Outer Chapters of the Zhuangzi, by Song author Lü Huiqing, which explain the dissemination of Daoist classics throughout the population. A Department of Morality (‌道德司) was established to manage Daoism in the Western Xia empire.

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People in Western Xia believed in shamans and ghosts, according to History of Liao: Treatises on Foreign States: Western Xia (Liaoshi waiji xixia 辽史 外纪 西夏), which states: »The sick did not need medicine, as shamans were summoned to send off the ghosts after offering sacrifices.« History of Song: Xia State, Part Two (Songshi xiaguo xia 宋史 夏国下) states that the Tanguts »held fulminators [zuzhu 诅祝, a type of shaman] in high esteem.« Western Xia documents unearthed from Kara-Khoto reveal that the position of »shaman« was included among Western Xia officials. The status of this post was very high, ranking only behind that of queen mother, queen, vassal prince, national preceptor, grand minister, and army commander. The blessing and cursing voices of shamans and mediums mentioned in the texts were songs recited by the shamans in praise of spirits. After the Tangut people migrated northwest, they lived together with the local Han people, whose music, etiquette, thoughts and feelings, customs, rituals, pronunciation and grammar influenced the Tanguts in subtle and imperceptible ways, with stronger edifying effects than could be exerted by top-down institutions. Consequently, Western Xia also embraced the pervasive influence of Han music. In the 5th stanza of his Song of Victory (Kaige 凯歌), the Song scholar Shen Kuo intoned: »Lingwu and Western Liang do not need to be surrounded. The people there are waiting to welcome the Song army, because over half of the city are descended from Han people west of the pass, and still speak haltingly with a Western accent.« These Western Chinese people with their halting accents represented a bridge and a medium for cultural and musical exchange. In the second stanza of his Song of Victory, Shen Kuo sang: »The emperor’s majesty sweeps the earth, crossing the Yellow River, and thousands of miles along the border, the Qiang people sing Han songs.« From this it is clear that the Tangut people also learned to sing the folk songs of the Han people.

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Quzici 曲子词 (lit. song lyrics) were popular in the Song Dynasty. At that time, poet Liu Yong’s works were the most widely disseminated, even as far as the territories of Western Xia. Evidence of his influence on the Tangut people can be found in the 3rd volume of Song scholar Ye Mengde’s Records of Conversations While Escaping the Summer Heat (Bishu luhua 避暑录话), which states: »A person from Dantu once saw an official returning to the Western Xia imperial court, who said: ›In every marketplace you can hear people singing Liu Yong’s ci poems.‹ This shows that Liu Yong’s words had spread far and wide.« Liu Yong’s lifetime coincided with the reigns of founding Western Xia rulers Li Jiqian, Li Deming, and Li Yuanhao, whereas Ye Mengde’s lifetime coincided with the reigns of the third, fourth and fifth Western Xia emperors, respectively Li Bingchang, Li Qianshun and Li Renxiao. This latter period witnessed the stable development of the Western Xia, during which the aristocratic rulers advocated Han Confucian ritual and music, promoted Han culture, established elementary schools, founded the Imperial Academy, and instituted imperial examinations. This is why Liu Yong’s poetry was able to spread so widely and pervasively among the Western Xia population, undoubtedly exerting a profound impact on the production of poetry and ci lyrics and the development of song in Western Xia.

2. Court Music Before the Western Xia Period, ethnic Tangut music had been unsophisticated, rustic, and raw. But the Tangut people were skilled at singing and dancing, and their music had made great strides by the time Li Yuanhao became the dynasty’s first emperor. Western Xia began to establish organized court music and dance, including bayi 八佾 eight-row musical dance, mulberry branch dance, grand suite breakdown tunes (daqu qupo 大曲曲 破), non-court related music performances and singing (sanchang 散唱), gongdiao musical mode

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theory, proficiency in 66 musical instruments, and band arrangement and organization. Thus, it can be seen that music in Western Xia became quite sophisticated and reached a considerably high standard. Part Eighteen of the Official Departments section of the Western Xia Han educational text Miscellaneous Words (Zazi 杂字) contains the term »‌教坊«(jiaofang, Royal Academy), which indicates that there was an organization specifically in charge of music under the Western Xia regime. In addition, according to volume 13 of Qing scholar Dai Xizhang’s Records of Western Xia (Xixia ji 西夏纪), during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Western Xia, central government organizations were classified into five grades. The lowest grade was assigned to the »Academy of Foreign and Han Performers« (»Fan-Han yueren yuan« 蕃汉乐 人院), which presumably was a music and dance organization that governed performers of both ethnic and Central Plains music. The Academy of Foreign and Han Performers had a very low status, on a par with the handicraft departments in charge of carving, jewelry making, metalworking, silk weaving, grooming, ironwork, carpentry, papermaking, masonry, and handcarts. It was probably a specialized institution that oversaw music, dancing, singing, zaju, games, puppetry and other artistic pursuits, and which was dedicated to serving the hedonistic interests of Western Xia’s aristocratic rulers. The ritual music system of the Tang Dynasty had been reduced to ashes by the Five Dynasties Period, but the guchui percussion and wind music of Tang military commissioners was still preserved in Western Xia. Consequently, Western Xia music was deeply influenced by the guchui music of the Tang empire. According to volume 13 of Documented Affairs of Western Xia (Xixia shushi 西夏 书事), after the nation was founded by Li Yuanhao, the imperial court of Western Xia »used a mixture of Tang and Song ceremonial rites during the New Year ceremony before the emperor.« Spe-

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cifically, »Tang and Song ceremonial rites« refers to rituals held during imperial court assemblies on New Year’s Day, May 1st, and the winter solstice, as recorded in History of the Song: Treatise on Rites, Part Nineteen: »Assemblies at the imperial court. The Song Dynasty inherited the system of the previous generations, including imperial court assemblies on New Year’s Day, the first day of May, and the winter solstice […] When the officials congratulated the emperor on his birthday, Royal Academy music was used […] Yayue was initially used to perform songs as well as civil and military dances.« From this we know that commencing with the reign of Li Yuanhao, Western Xia imitated the Central Plains system of seasonal celebrations, using »Royal Academy music« and »the performance of civil and military dances to yayue music« in ceremonial celebrations to mark New Year’s Day, May 1st, and the winter solstice. Royal Academy performances in the Western Xia empire included a type of musical dance with eight rows of dancers (bayi, 八佾), judging by the appearance of this term in Miscellaneous Words under »Department of Music, Part Nine.« Bayi was a musical dance dedicated to emperors in ancient times. According to the Old Book of Tang: Treatise on Music, Part One (Jiutangshu yinyuezhi yi 旧唐书 音乐志一), in the sixth year of Tang emperor Taizong’s reign (632), on one occasion »children were ordered to get into eight rows, all wearing caps of advanced virtue, purple coat and trousers, and perform the Dance of Nine Merits.« History of the Song: Treatise on Music, Part Two also states that bayi dance was used for sacrificial rituals in the Song Dynasty. Bayi musical dance in the courts of the Tang and Song dynasties was most likely absorbed by and introduced to Western Xia. The music played by the Royal Academy of Western Xia included qupo, as evidenced by the fact that this word also appears in the literacy reader Miscellaneous Words under »Music Department, Part Nine.« Volume 28 of Notes from a Southern Village while Resting from the Plow (Nancun shuo-

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geng lu 南村辍耕录), written by Yuan Dynasty scholar Tao Zongyi, contains an entry on »Musical Composition« that mentions 31 »Tatar compositions,« including one entitled »Yegetangwu« (»‌也葛倘兀«). »Ye« 也 means »great« in Mongolian, while »tangwu« 倘兀 means »Western Xia.« Together, they denote »Great Western Xia,« hence Yegetangwu was a grand suite (daqu) aria of Western Xia. According to History of the Yuan: Treatise on Music, Part Two, the Yuan Dynasty »in the early years of founding emperor Genghis Khan’s reign, adopted the suggestion by Gao Zhiyao of Hexi to expropriate old music of Western Xia.« Yuan scholar Tao Zongyi also documented that the grand suite aria Yegetangwu was expropriated by the Yuan Dynasty. Yegetangwu is mentioned with the alternate spelling of 也可唐兀 in the Collected Rituals of the Ming (Mingjili 明集礼), part of the Imperially Endorsed Complete Library of the Four Treasuries (Qinding siku quanshu 钦定四库全书). No lyrics are recorded, only the names of the pitchpipes, with the score in gongche notation, which nevertheless provides the pitch and gives us priceless 700-year-old information about the grand suite music of Western Xia. Sanyue performances were given in the imperial court of Western Xia. The term »sanchang« (‌散唱, scattered singing) is mentioned in Miscellaneous Words under »Music Department, Part Nine.« There are no other written records of sanchang, which was presumably a form of sanyue. Variety art music and dance performances in the Qin and Han dynasties were generally called sanyue. Sui and Tang sanyue consisted of three parts: music, opera, and variety show. The Book of Tang: Treatise on Music states: »Sanyue performers did not perform military-style music, but rather a fusion of drama, song and dance.« History of Liao: Treatise on Music also states: »Today’s sanyue fuses drama, song and dance and, in many cases, is a legacy of the Music Bureau of Han.« Sanyue in the Song Dynasty encompassed music, song, dance,

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and zaju. According to the Old Book of Tang: Treatise on Music and Volume 146 of Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian 通典) by Tang historian Du You, sanyue music was played with one transverse flute, one clapper and three waist-drums. Tang scholar Duan Anjie’s Miscellaneous notes on Songs from the Music Bureau (‌乐Yuefu zalu 府 杂录) states that sanyue variety shows were accompanied by the flute, clapper, waist-drum and two-stick drum. With the exception of the waist drum, these accompaniment instruments are also mentioned in the »Music Department« section of the Western Xia Han literacy reader Miscellaneous Words. Sanyue was further developed in the Southern Song Dynasty and was closely related to zaban and zaju variety performance. Therefore, sanchang probably refers to singing performances as part of sanyue of the Song Dynasty, which subsequently spread to Western Xia. This type of singing performance may have included various elements such as zaban and zaju. Some 66 types of musical instrument were used by the music department of Western Xia imperial court, according to historical records such as Documented Affairs of Western Xia, Fan-Han heshi zhangzhong zhu, Miscellaneous Words, and the Tangut-Chinese rhyme dictionary Sea of Characters (Wenhai 文海). Some of the instruments are also illustrated on the Western Xia murals of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes. In caves no. 3 and 10 of the Yulin Grottoes there are depictions of the jiqin 嵇琴, which is the only stringed instrument to appear in the Mogao Grottoes and Yulin Grottoes, and was probably the predecessor of the modern-day erhu. The jiqin was also called the xiqin 奚琴 and the jiqin. As explained in the Book of Music by Chen Yang, it was a musical instrument of the Kumo Xi ethnic group who existed as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties Period, and whose territory was part of the Liao kingdom during the Song Dynasty. The 3rd stanza of Song statesman Shen Kuo’s short poem »Song of Victory« states that

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the jiqin was strung with horsetail. Korean politician Ryu Jagwang referred to it as the xiqin in his Guidelines for Music Study (written in 1493), stating that: »the xiqin […] is strung with horsetail rolled with pine resin.« The jiqin depicted in the Yulin Grottoes has a horsetail bow. It is not much different to the depiction in Chen Yang’s Book of Music, although the head, neck, bridge, nut and bow are more sophisticated by comparison. The bowed string instruments of the Xi nationality inhabiting Liao spread into Western Xia along the Silk Road. They were probably widely used and greatly promoted the development and improvement of bowed string instruments in the Central Plains.

Section 3  Music of the Jin The Jin Dynasty was founded by the Jurchens, originally a nomadic people living in what is now northeast China, who had their own ethnic music. After entering the Central Plains, successive Jurchen sovereigns strongly advocated respect for Confucianism, which became the ruling ideology. Therefore, music and art in the Jin Dynasty was influenced and bound by Confucian philosophy and musical aesthetics.

1. Folk Music Jurchen folk songs were popular and were sung at weddings, banquets and religious ceremonies. History of the Jin: Biography of Xielihu (Jinshi xielihu zhuan 金史谢里忽传) describes a Jurchen folk custom: National custom: if someone is murdered, a shaman must be sent to fulminate the murderer, by tying a knife to the end of a stick, leading a crowd to his family home and cursing him with the following song: ›I will take one of your oxen with one horn pointing to the sky and the other pointing to the ground, and I will take one of your

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horses with no name, which has an effulgent face when viewed from the front, a white tail when viewed from behind, and wings on its flanks when viewed from the sides.‹ The sound of the song is sorrowful and melancholic, similar to the sound of In the Wormwood.

According to this example, shamans would sing a curse when administering punishment. It not only illustrates the folk customs of the Jurchen people, but also indicates a primitive religious consciousness. The structure of the curse song is very untidy, with the six lines variously divided into syllables of six, six, four, five, five, and nine characters respectively. The lyrics are also disorganized and vulgar, and the rhymes unrefined. The Jurchen people loved music and dancing, and folk song and dance flourished in the Jin Dynasty. In volume 39 of his Annals of the Great Jin State (Dajinguo zhi 大金国志), under the entry for »early social customs,« Jin scholar Yu Wenzhao states that »the only music instruments used were drums and flutes, and the only song sung was Partridge [zhegu 鹧鸪], wherein the high and low pitches and short and long notes merely emulated the call of a partridge.« Partridge was an age-old Jurchen folk song-and-dance song. It was popular in the Jin Dynasty and once spread as far as Lin’an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. According to the Extended Continuation to Zizhi Tongjian, in the 4th year of Song emperor Xiaozong’s reign (1168), he was informed by court officials that: »Regarding the customs of Lin’an Prefecture for more than a decade, their clothing and adornments are strange, they are accustomed to hems on their clothing, their voices are inelegant, and they like the sounds of the north  […] Nowadays, the people of the capital form thousand-strong groups in the dead of night and play Partridge, plucking the trapeziform dulcimer [‌洋琴], with one person made to dance in black clothes while everyone claps their hands in unison. It is an offence against public decency and cannot go unpunished. It must be banned.« As the

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text describes, the Jurchen Partridge dance was performed solo by a dancer clad in black, accompanied by a trapeziform dulcimer while onlookers clapped in time to the rhythm. The Partridge dance and song were later absorbed into Yuan Dynasty zaju performances and became a popular show finale. It can be described as being representative of ethnic Jurchen song and dance. In 1991, scholars discovered the long-lost Manchu folk song Kegudiao 克古调 (or Jinshandiao 进山 调, »Into-the-Mountains Tune«), preserved by an elderly man from Mudanjiang, whose name was Fu Yingren. His Manchu ancestors used it to keep in contact with each other when they went into the mountains to hunt, so as to avoid losing their way or becoming separated. It had no lyrics and merely imitated a bird’s call, with the melody repeated in a minor third or major second. Could Kegudiao be a vestige of the Partridge tune? In addition to Partridge, other known Jurchen dancing songs include Alluring Body (Fengliu ti 風流體), Anahu 阿纳忽, Gudubai 古都白 and Tangwudai 唐兀歹, all of which were preserved in beiqu northern opera of the Yuan Dynasty, part of the double mode (shuangdiao 双调) form. In his rhyme dictionary Zhongyuan Yinyun (‌中原音 韵), Yuan scholar Zhou Deqing states: »Musical compositions such as the Jurchens’ Alluring Body are all sung with the human voice of the Jurchen. Although the characters are corrupted, there is no harm in this, provided that they do not break the rhythm.« The three songs Ahuna, Hudubai and Tangwudai are performed in the zaju opera The Golden Boy and the Jade Maiden (Jintong yunü 金 童玉女) written by playwright Jia Zhongming of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, who specified that they were of Jurchen origin. Even after the Jin people entered the Central Plains and extensively assimilated Han culture, Jin rulers still advocated native Jurchen song and dance among the aristocracy. History of the Jin: Treatise on Music, Part One documents that during April of the 25th year of the Dading era (1185), Emperor

SECTION 3 MUSIC OF THE JIN

Shizong went to Beijing and hosted a banquet for members of the royal clan in the Hall of Imperial Warriors. There he said: »In former times, Emperor Gaozu of Han passed through his place of birth and stopped there to feast and drink with the local elders […] Since I am visiting here on an inspection tour, why not do the same?« Whereupon the women of the royal clan and the senior officials got up to dance. Shizong said: »I have been in my hometown for a few months, and it is nearly time for me to return. I have not heard anyone sing this song, so all of you gather round and I will sing for you.« Whereupon Shizong sang Jurchen songs with such deep feeling that his voice became choked with sadness and he could no longer sing, before he continued the verse in between sobs. At this point, all the old people also joined in singing Jurchen songs, everyone was in high spirits and parted on extremely happy terms.

2. Court Music By the fifth year of Jin emperor Taizu’s reign (1121), the Jin Dynasty acquired the Song empire’s ceremonial music and imperial regalia and began to have musical instruments made of metal and stone, but the variety was somewhat limited. Court music was not fully developed until the reign of 5th Jin emperor, Shizong, when the Institution of Imperial Sacrifices (taichang guanshu 太常官署) was established to oversee ceremonial music, ancestral temples, and state altars. It was responsible for shrines, temples and sacrificial offerings, banquets, imperial court assemblies, gongxuan chime-bell music, and civil and military dance. A Royal Academy institution was also set up to teach popular music and manage seasonal feasts, which was responsible for Nao songs, guchui, sanyue, Bohai music and local ethnic music. Yayue was introduced into the Jin Dynasty after the second Jin emperor Taizong (whose birth name was Wanyan Sheng) captured Bianliang (now Kaifeng), the eastern capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and acquired a full set of Song im-

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perial hanging instruments. The music’s appellation changed through the dynasties and the name yayue was not used until the fifth year of sixth Jin emperor Zhangzong’s reign (1194). In the Jin Dynasty, yayue was used for all great sacrificial offerings, middle-level offerings, the emperor’s receipt of the Mandate of Heaven, general amnesties, and the receipt of congratulatory gifts from foreign envoys. Jin Dynasty yayue also included a collection of bayi musical dances. History of the Jin: Treatise on Rituals, Part One states that: The Director of Music […] set the gongxuan imperial chime-bell instruments outside of the outer gate, and civil and military bayi dances would be performed in front of the orchestra […] The Director of Music commanded the workers to be placed among the gongxuan. The eight rows of dancers for the civil dance stood in front of the instruments and behind the memorial to the emperor, while the eight rows of dancers for the military dance stood on either side of the instruments. The dance guides holding banners would wait at the front, and lead the performers up from Mao Hall to their respective positions. Singers, percussionists and stringed instrument players were all seated, whereas the wind section stood.

According to this passage, bayi eight-row dancing was divided into cultural dance and military dance. Cultural dances were performed in front of the gongxuan instruments, whereas military dances were performed on either side, and performances involved song, percussion, string and wind instruments. Sanyue was used for New Year’s Day, the emperor’s birthday, congratulatory ceremonies, and banquets held for foreign envoys. It was played by musicians of the Royal Academy, although nothing is known about their instruments or musical compositions. During the early years of the reign of Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (1201–1208), it was prescribed that if the number of performers was

CHAPTER IX THE DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC OF DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES

insufficient, musicians from Bohai, the Han Royal Academy and Daxingfu would practice together as reserves. Guchui percussion and wind music in the Jin Dynasty followed the Liao Dynasty system and later intermingled Song Dynasty music. By the eleventh year of the reign of Emperor Shizong (1171), after the Prince of Hailing Wanyan Liang had moved the Jin capital to Yanjing, guchui music used for imperial processions was divided into four sections. History of the Jin: Treatise on Music, states that yuege 乐歌)song was divided into suburban offerings (jiaosi 郊祀), ancestral temples (fangqiu 方丘), court yuege songs (‌殿庭乐歌) and guchui guiding and leading arias (‌鼓吹导引曲), and caici arias (‌采茨曲). The Jin Dynasty imitated the Northern Song system and established a Royal Academy. History of the Jin: Treatise on Music, Part One documents that the repertoire of the Royal Academy of the Jin Dynasty included »Nao songs, guchui, guiding and leading music for the imperial processions during the emperor’s inspection tours, as well as sanyue, Bohai music and traditional national music.« This was clearly quite a varied repertoire. At that time, the Jin Royal Academy »employed 256 musicians, whereas the old establishment only employed a hundred people.« Evidently, the Jin Royal Academy was larger than its Liao equivalent, insofar as it employed an additional 156 staff. »If its numbers were consistently low, musicians from Han Royal Academy and Daxingfu Musicians were sent to train there at an early stage, and could be used as reserves.« Royal Academy musicians were of lowly status, according to History of the Jin: Treatise on Music, Part One: »All Royal Academy staff should only wait to be called up, and must not follow the daily routine of officials.« Furthermore, actors were not allowed to »attend early-morning visits to the temple.«

CHAPTER X  THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON THE FINE ARTS In the history of ancient Chinese art, the fine arts of the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods were characterized by clear ideals, pure language and comprehensive development, and outstanding achievements were made that contributed to shaping the cultural spirit of China. It was a time in which calligraphy and painting reached the peak of artistic achievement, and the complementarity between the distinguished and opulent character of the imperial household and the noble literary tendencies of the literati represents the most prominent characteristic of the era. Strong imperial character is evident in the formal establishment of court painting academies and the formation of the »academic style« (yuanti 院体) of painting; the restrained ci and »golden inlaid dagger« (jincuodao 金错刀) calligraphy style of the Southern Tang state’s last ruler, Li Yu; the graceful bird-and-flower brushwork and unique »slender gold« (shoujinti 瘦金体) calligraphy of Zhao Ji, better known as Emperor Huizong of Song; and the official kilns, royal gardens and imperial tomb carvings of the Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the painting and calligraphy art of literati such as Wen Tong, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Li Gonglin, Mi Fu and Wang Xu has a prominent place in the history of ancient Chinese art, as do the painting theories they advocated. Literati allusions such as »Dongpo Playing with Ink Stone« and »Mi Fu Worshipping the Stone« also added overarching literati tendencies to the refinement of the »Four Treasures of the Study« (the basic tools of calligraphy: brush, ink, paper and inkstone), the creation of private garden and park habitats, and the popularization and deepening of Zen. At the same time, temple carvings and murals, the

custom of New Year paintings, woodcuts, knickknack peddler paintings, people’s kiln porcelains and other popular fine arts gave this reserved era a richly interwoven and diverse artistic tableau with a distinctly human touch, a background of secular life in the cities and countryside, and distinct highbrow and lowbrow appeal.

Section 1  The Divide between Ancient and Modern From a historical perspective, the definition of »ancient« and »modern« has undoubtedly changed as the world has evolved. In the history of ancient Chinese feudal dynasties, the period between the Tang and Song is generally regarded as the cut-off point between ancient and modern. In terms of the fine arts, unlike the Tang Dynasty, which assembled great collections full of immensely powerful classical spirit, the art of the Song Dynasty played a greater role in finalizing, purifying and refining ancient art—and opening the way forward to later generations of art. The maturity of scroll painting, the transition from color (se 色) to ink (mo 墨), the change from zhi (‌制, making) to xie (‌写, sketching, drawing), and the equal emphasis between restoring ancient ways and innovating new ways are all examples of the important changes that took place in the evolution from ancient to modern. Before the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, religious and political painting accounted for a large proportion of artistic production, so mural painting was one of the main

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forms of painting. From the Five Dynasties period, however, the secularization of painting gradually caused this art form to become more closely associated with daily cultural life. Artistic works were more widely traded and frequently collected, and it became fashionable to decorate halls and rooms with scrolls of calligraphy and painting. Compared with mural paintings, scroll paintings were easy to replace, convenient to store, and adaptable to diverse decorative requirements. Formats included vertical, horizontal, square, round and long scrolls, which could all be directly affixed to indoor walls or furniture. Therefore, after the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, silk and paper became the main materials for paintings, and scrolls become the main method of mounting them. The heavy-color fine brushwork (jinggong zhongcai 精工重彩) painting technique, used in the silk paintings at Mawangdui as early as the time of Emperor Wen of Han, had reached an initial level of maturity and was favored by the upper class. It remained the orthodox form of Chinese painting until the Tang and Song dynasties. However, careful analysis reveals that there were considerable differences between the heavy-color fine brushwork painting methods of the Tang and Song dynasties. In the Tang Dynasty, colors were bright, dense, heavy, and often built up in layers; whereas, in the Song Dynasty, colors tended to be light and thin, faintly permeating the undyed white silk canvas, and often seem to be shrouded and immersed in a layer of ink. In his Record of Brushwork (Bifa ji 笔法记), painter and theorist Jing Hao of the Five Dynasties said: »The skill of mixing water with ink to achieve various effects on paper flourished in the Tang Dynasty.« The ink wash painting method pioneered by Tang Dynasty painters such as Wang Wei and Zhang Zao was further developed during the Five Dynasties. Judging from the existing remains of early ink wash paintings by Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, landscape painting began

CHAPTER X THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON THE FINE ARTS

to take shape in the Five Dynasties period. The »six essentials« in Jing Hao’s Record on Brushwork were spirit (qi 气), charm (yun 韵), thought (si 思), scenery (jing 景), brushwork (bi 笔), and ink (mo 墨). Compared with Xie He’s »six methods,« it is apparent that the method of »applying colors according to the characteristics« was no longer discussed separately, but rather covered under inkwork. This shows that the focus of Chinese painting underwent a shift from color to ink during the Tang and Song dynasties. By the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the use of ink wash had entered a new realm, as exemplified by Wen Tong’s ink bamboo paintings, Su Shi’s Wood and Rock, Li Gonglin’s Horse and Groom, and Mi Fu’s Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu. The ink wash painting techniques pioneered by Wang Wei, Zhang Zao and others in the Tang Dynasty, as well as a number of other associated painting concepts, were elucidated and improved by Su Shi, Mi Fu and others, and established as the bedrock of literati painting. As a result, the cultural content of brushwork became the main criterion for judging the character of literati painting after the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, ink wash painting technique gradually replaced heavy-color fine brushwork to become the most vibrant and important form of Chinese painting. It also became more common for artists in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods to sign their paintings. The signature format included the characters 制 (»made by«), 笔 (»penned by«) or 画 (»painted by«). Furthermore, painting was also called 写 (xie, meaning to compose, draw or sketch). This character is used in Comments on the Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty (Shengchao minghua ping 圣朝名画评), which records that when editorial assistant Zhao Gaoyi of the Northern Song Dynasty Painting Academy was recommending Yan Wengui to Emperor Taizong, he said: »I have received an imperial command to sketch on the walls of Xiangguo

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Temple, and the trees and stones between them. It cannot be done by anyone but Wengui.« It also appears in Su Shi’s »Poem On the Wall of Guo Xiangzheng« (Ziti guoxiangzhengbi 自题郭祥正壁), which contains the sentence: »The effect of wine has caused my empty stomach to develop a cutting edge and my chest to spout bamboo branches and stones. I cannot hold back the awe-inspiring passion to create, so here I am sketching on the snow-colored wall of your house.« Clearly, Su Shi’s use of the character 写 (translated above as »sketching«) refers to xieyi 写意, meaning freehand brushwork, marking the beginning of a new era in Chinese painting. In contrast to fine arts in the Wei, Jin, the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty, which were influenced by Central Asian style (hufeng 胡风) and other foreign cultural factors, the Song Dynasty was an era that was less influenced by foreign cultures. Song Dynasty art mainly developed and formed by inheriting local traditions and creating new styles from them, and essentially tended to further purify Chinese artistic language. It can be said that the entire Song Dynasty was an era in which development and innovation were sought by restoring ancient ways. Compared with the strong Central Asian style of fine arts in the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese style of fine arts in the Song Dynasty seems purer and closer to the literati and citizens, as well as more simple and subtly elegant compared with the resplendent magnificence of the Tang period; even works produced using the heavy-color fine brushwork technique always seem to be shrouded in a charmingly expressive layer of ink that gives them an air of finesse. Wang Guowei said: »Out of the Southern Song Dynasty came ancient artefacts, and henceforth there was the study of ancient artefacts and ancient texts following the Song Dynasty.« Before the Song Dynasty, the Chinese did not pay much attention to ancient institutions and cultural relics. The Song people revered the Han and Tang

SECTION 2 POEMS AND PAINTINGS

dynasties when it came to politics, and the Six Dynasties when it came to art. However, in the Song Dynasty there was a drive to eliminate the old and usher in the new. In the painting, calligraphy and art theory of Northern Song scholars there was a fairly clear bias towards Song values over Tang values. Starting from the Five Dynasties, the development of Chinese art progressed in a repetitive process of restoring ancient ways and innovating new ways, a pattern that continued essentially unchanged even in later generations.

Section 2  Poems and Paintings In commenting on Tang poet Wang Wei, Su Shi said: »The poems of Wang Wei are pictures within poems; his paintings are poems within pictures.« These words reflect the attention paid to the fusion of poetry and painting during Su Shi’s lifetime. Literature continued to develop during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, with Tang poetry being replaced by Song ci poetry. The rise of literati painting also followed the same pattern. Ci poetry, which epitomized the literature of the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song dynasties, emerged in the late Tang period as the successor to Tang-style poetry. There is much evidence of interconnections between late Tang painting and late Tang poetry. As for the Western Shu and Southern Tang states and even the Song Dynasty, there was a more extensive and in-depth relationship between poetry and painting. During the Five Dynasties, the founding emperor of the former Shu, Wang Jian, and later Shu ruler Meng Chang, were both good artists. Wang Jian established an inner court picture library to collect calligraphy and paintings, while Meng Chang founded the Hanlin Painting Academy. Among the representative works of the period, the school of exquisitely gorgeous bird-and-flower painting

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led by Huang Quan and his sons had a profound influence on the Song Dynasty and later generations. Clearly, this ornate style of bird-and-flower painting indicates the cultural and artistic tastes of the small court of Western Shu state. Correspondingly, it is also reflected in literature. Following the appearance and development of ci poetry since the Tang Dynasty, some stylistic experimentation began and the literati became more involved in the creation of ci poetry. Most of the 18 authors whose works appear in Collection from Among the Flowers (Huajianji 花间集) were literati living in Western Shu. Their poetic styles were largely similar and the themes were mostly romantic and mawkish, which undoubtedly conformed to the extravagant and debauched lifestyles of the Shu rulers. At this time, the Southern Tang empire, which was centered around the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, had good economic foundations based on mulberry production, and a culture and education system developed over six dynasties. In the capital of Jinling, Yangzhou, and other cities, scholars gathered to form the Wanli Southern Tang literary school of ci poetry. The empire’s third and last ruler, Li Yu, carried on the tradition of the Southern Dynasty’s palace (gongti 宫 体) and among-the-flowers (huajian 花间) styles of ci, and his profound sadness at the demise of his country inspired him to great achievements in poetry composition. In addition, Li Yu was also an accomplished calligrapher and painter. Just like the Western Shu, Southern Tang’s second ruler, Li Jing, had established a painting academy similar to the later Shu, which developed significantly during Li Yu’s reign. The influence of the Tang was strong, whereas the Song style was frail and weak, and there were huge differences between the two eras. In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Daozi’s paintings became famous and in the empire’s two capitals he created around 300 wall paintings that were so exciting that crowds gathered to watch him

CHAPTER X THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON THE FINE ARTS

work. Dong Yu, editorial assistant for the Hanlin Academy of Southern Tang, was also good at painting dragons in water, and ocean fish. He was described as »the most outstanding brush among the dynasty’s current artists« and was commissioned by Emperor Taizong to paint water dragons on the walls of Duangong Pavilion. After the picture was completed, Taizong went up the tower of the pavilion with an imperial concubine. At that time the emperor was still young, so when he saw the painted walls he was frightened and cried out. Thereupon, Taizong ordered the mural to be destroyed, and Dong Yu never again received the emperor’s appreciation. The differing fortunes of Wu Daozi and Dong Yu give an indication of the changes in literary and artistic trends over the space of some two hundred years, from the heyday of the Tang Dynasty to the beginning of the Song Dynasty. Generally speaking, a delicate and even dainty style was particularly common in the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Period. Ci poetry styles followed a similar evolution. For example, the beginning of the Song Dynasty was still dominated by the »among-the-flowers« style, which captured the mood of the times. Then Su Shi emerged, singing: »The Great River rushes east, its rolling waves sweeping the heroes of yore into oblivion,« and two coexisting styles began to appear in Song ci poetry, namely wanyue (‌婉 约, graceful and restrained) and haofang (‌豪放, bold and unconstrained). A comparable situation can also be seen in Southern Song painting. Examples include the emotive historical long scrolls Duke Wen of Jin Reviving the Kingdom (Jinwengong fuguo tu 晋文公复国图) and Wenji’s Return to Han (Wenji guihan tu 文姬归汉图), dramatic vertical scrolls such as Quietly Sitting (Quezuo tu 却 坐图) and Folding Threshold (Zhekan tu 折槛图), as well as gorgeously tranquil fan paintings with sentimental themes, such as Lotus Out of Water (Chushui furong 出水芙蓉) and Riverside Mooring in Autumn Darkness (Qiujiang mingbo 秋江暝泊).

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Other examples are the works of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui, whose landscape paintings include huge long scrolls of the Yangtze River awash with ink and rocks textured with axe-cut strokes, as well as beautiful and elegant painting albums depicting Qiantang River and West Lake, in which the focus of the painting is pushed into a corner or to one side.

Section 3  The Rise of Literati Painting Ancient Chinese literati painting (scholar painting) emerged in the Northern Song Dynasty, expressing in pure language the ideal that »the painter is the ultimate embodiment of literary cultivation« and exerting a profound influence on later Chinese painting. This was a milestone in the historical development of Chinese painting. From a macroscopic point of view, this fact has profound cultural origins that are directly related to the nature of Northern Song culture. More specifically, it is closely related to the development of a purely Han culture in the Northern Song Dynasty, the maturity of the civil service examination system, and a boom in the creation and theory of poetry, calligraphy and painting. In terms of the history of Song Dynasty painting development, Su Shi played a vital role in the formation of literati painting. He was highly accomplished in all aspects of essay writing, poetry, ci, calligraphy and painting, and had extremely advanced experience and a thorough understanding of the history and highest ideals of Chinese culture. He was also knowledgeable and passionate about ancient history, as well as erudite and thoughtful, such that he was able to integrate his in-depth experience and profound theories into poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting, forming a comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture and art, and putting forward a series of extremely insightful observations. In various poems, post-

SECTION 3 THE RISE OF LITERATI PAINTING

scripts, letters and notes, he commented on ancient and modern, not only on the essence of literati painting, but also on the essence of character, appraisal and conception, as well as on painting’s relationship with poetry and calligraphy. He spared no effort in explaining and emphasizing many aspects, and spoke highly of the emerging movement of scholar-official, or literati, painting. At the same time, he highly respected the noble character of former and contemporary generations of scholar-officials and was always keen to appreciate their subtle interest and charm, capture unique creations in typical works, and offer point-by-point analyses. He also lavished deep compassion and vivid and sincere praise on the authors. The step-by-step analyses in his poems and essays consistently adhere to the same principles and collectively form the most important commentary on the scholar-official paintings which he advocated. The term »scholar painting« (shiren hua 士人画) also began to emerge from these writings, becoming a very important category in the history of Chinese painting development after the Song Dynasty (it was later called »literati painting«, or wenren hua 文人画). During more than a thousand years of development, Chinese culture and art progressed from the pre-Qin era of expressing aspirations through poetry, to an era in which aspirations were consciously expressed through painting, as symbolized by the formation of the scholar painting movement in the Song Dynasty. During that period, Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty was an important link. Su Shi very keenly spotted this link and summed it up with the expression »pictures within poems, poems within pictures.« The brilliant achievements of Tang poetry, the establishment of regular script calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, the specialization of Tang painters in different subdisciplines, and the continuous development of the civil service examination system begun in the Sui and Tang dynasties all contributed to providing a fertile ground for scholar-official and

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literati painting to thrive and prosper in the Song Dynasty. During the reigns of emperors Shenzong, Zhezong and even Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, a pure and elegant Han culture, which was dominated by literati and officials, reached an unprecedented scale and heights. The arts of poetry, calligraphy, and painting in particular flourished and a succession of exceptional talents emerged, among them Wen Tong, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Li Gonglin, Wang Xu and Mi Fu, all of one mind and communicating with each other through poetry. Thanks to them and other artists, including Song Dao, Song Di, Song Zifang, and later Chao Buzhi, Mi Youren, Zhao Mengjian, and Wang Tingyun, the style and character of scholar-official painting in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties began to take shape.

Section 4  The Establishment of the Royal Academy and the Academic Style of Painting During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, China established painting academies with clear systems, which reached their peak of development during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. The aesthetic style and creative requirements of imperial court painting academies had a great influence on the development of painting, and ultimately contributed to the formation of the »academic style.« Since the Tang Dynasty, groups of painters assembled in the Shu state laid the foundations for the establishment of painting academies. The Hanlin Painting Academies founded by the later Shu kingdom and the Southern Tang empire became the earliest imperial court painting academies in Chinese history. Later, Northern Song and Southern Song painting academies continued to develop and expand in terms of their function,

CHAPTER X THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON THE FINE ARTS

organization and creations. In particular, during the reign of Northern Song emperor Huizong, a »painting school« (huaxue 画学) was opened outside of the painting academy, becoming the first painting school in Chinese history. The painting academies of the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty prospered, with basically the same artistic preferences in painting, and an »academic style« painting movement was formed under the special painting academy system. The academic style of the Northern Song Dynasty mostly refers to the bird-and-flower painting exemplified by the works of Huang Quan and his sons, and consisted of drawing outlines and filling them in with richly nuanced colors. During the reign of Emperor Huizong, the painting academy more or less followed Huizong’s style, which favored an exquisite and vivid approach to painting that was ingenious, ornate and refined, and which became known by later generations as »Xuanhe style,« after one of the emperor’s era names. Subsequently, the style adopted by the Southern Song Dynasty painting academy changed again to landscape painting as typified by the lofty magnificence of Li Tang, the exquisite sophistication of Liu Songnian, the sheer vigor of Ma Yuan, and the leisurely simplicity of Xia Gui. However, both the academic style and Xuanhe style of Northern Song, as well as the academic-style landscape painting of Southern Song, inextricably shared the central ideas of elegance and refinement, which reflected imperial cultural requirements and tastes. At that time, the painting academies of Northern and Southern Song were already influencing the surrounding areas. The royal courts of Liao and Jin both imitated the Song system successively by establishing painting academies, which were predominantly staffed with migrant Han painters. The prosperity of painting academies in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods and the formation and development of the academic style were directly related to the emergence of successive generations of state rulers

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and emperors who valued art, calligraphy and painting, as well as the support and intervention that they provided. This phenomenon was actually the result of an era in which culture and art were highly purified. From the efforts made by Emperor Huizong of Song to learn from the concept of literati painting to improve the academic style, we can observe mainstream trends in cultural and artistic development during the period. In the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, based on the imperial civil service examination system, at the high end of culture there were apparent differences in the ideals of the imperial court and of the literati, but not necessarily conflicts in understanding. In this sense, the complementarity between imperial character and literati tendencies in the fine arts of the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods was an important and valuable source of cultural and historical enlightenment. Clearly, the prosperity of painting academies and the formation and development of the academic style in this period did not have a clear aim to »build social culture and aid human relations.« The root cause is summarized in More on Painting (Hua xu 画继) by Southern Song scholar-official Deng Chun, who affirmed that: »The painter is the ultimate embodiment of literary cultivation.«

Section 5  Trends and Achievements in the Various Disciplines of Fine Arts Landscape painting, bird-and-flower painting, running script in calligraphy, celadon, and kesi silk tapestry became the most distinctive art forms of the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods. They represent the highest achievements in the artistic development of the entire era. Painting was the most important art form in the Song Dynasty. Scroll painting in particular flour-

SECTION 5 TRENDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE VARIOUS DISCIPLINES OF FINE ARTS

ished and became the mainstream art form of the Northern and Southern Song. Within this category, landscape painters proliferated, and great achievements were made in both large and smallscale painting; bird-and-flower painting was vibrant and prospered at an unprecedented level; figure painting continued the achievements of the Tang Dynasty and expanded further in terms of themes, techniques and sophistication. At the same time, Daoist and Buddhist mural painting, which had been popular since the Han and Tang dynasties, was still practiced on a considerable scale and to an improved artistic standard, but was no longer favored by mainstream painters, and there was a clear trend towards secularization in terms of subject matter and language. In addition, the development of civil society and culture in the Song Dynasty, and advancements in engraving and printing technology and craftsmanship promoted the prosperity of illustrated engraving, monotyping and atlases, leading to the first boom in the history of ancient Chinese engraving. Sculptures and murals inherited the vestiges of the Tang Dynasty, although without the magnificence and glory of that great empire, largely attaining a moderate and natural state of development. However, in the context of an era in which highbrow and lowbrow tastes diverged, sculpture and mural painting became a series of secularized plastic arts by artisans, in the process of which great achievements were made in terms of the expansion of thematic schemes and the diversification of artistic techniques. After the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, the supremacy of calligraphy in art became stronger through its combination with literati painting. Regarding calligraphy, there is a saying that »Tang people revered rules, whereas Song people revered meaning,« which supports the assertion that calligraphy in the Song Dynasty had begun to emphasize individuality. Building on the foundations laid in the Tang Dynasty, calligraphy in the

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Song Period liberated this art form from rigorous rules by emphasizing meaning, which enabled great strides to be made in the development of the running script style. The most representative calligraphers were Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang, who were known as the »Four Schools of the Song Dynasty.« In addition, printed copybooks of calligraphy flourished in the Song Dynasty, as exemplified by the Chunhuage tie (‌淳 化阁帖), Jiang tie (‌绛帖), Daguan tie (‌大观帖), Qunyutang tie (‌群玉堂帖) and other model calligraphic albums, playing a positive role in the promotion and popularization of calligraphy and the preservation of ancient texts. Arts and crafts were in a transitional stage during the Five Dynasties period, but became highly developed and brilliantly colorful in the Song Dynasty. The prosperity of the urban economy in the Song Period, the advancement of science and technology, the rise of the citizen class, and the expanded exchange of commodities all provided sufficient material conditions and a broad consumer market for the production and development of arts and crafts, and brought about a series of changes in terms of variety, shapes, patterns, designs and decorative techniques. The fabrication and refinement of the »Four Treasures of the Study,« as art and craft items with unique significance, also had an impact on the production of calligraphy and painting. The achievements of Song porcelain are upheld as a benchmark of Chinese porcelain at its peak. There were numerous famous ceramic kilns in the Song Dynasty, especially the Five Famous Kilns which respectively produced Guan (‌官), Ge (‌哥), Jun (‌钧), Ru (‌汝) and Ding (‌定) wares. The continuous introduction of model porcelain had a profound

CHAPTER X THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURE ON THE FINE ARTS

influence on porcelain development in later generations. On the whole, a fundamental characteristic of arts and crafts in the Song Dynasty was the emphasis on improving taste and enriching cultural meaning, which made them appear refreshingly refined and elegant compared with the magnificence and opulence of the Tang period. Many utensils were adapted to improve their practicality, and attention was also paid to their shape, materials and workmanship, embodying the extremely fresh and new characteristics of the times. Architecture in the Five Dynasties, Song, Liao and Jin periods directly inherited the architectural achievements of the Tang Dynasty, with breakthroughs being made in many aspects, and represents a step-by-step summary of architectural art history since the Han and Tang dynasties. The urban layout began to break out of the Li-Fang system (‌里坊制) imposed during the Tang Dynasty, and noisy commercial streets began to replace monotonous and strictly regimented streets. Cities in general gradually changed in nature from political and military centers to commercial centers. The urban landscape became more varied and the environment became more art- and garden-oriented. Interior and exterior spaces and the styling of buildings, both individually and collectively, were largely perfected and enriched. The work Construction Methods (Yingzao fashi 营造法 式), published in the middle of the Northern Song Period, is the earliest architectural monograph in the history of China. It describes in detail the achievements in many aspects of Northern Song architecture and has become an important symbol of the development of architectural art and technology in the Song Dynasty.

CHAPTER XI  LANDSCAPE PAINTING AT ITS PEAK Section 1  Overview Landscape paintings originated in the Wei and Jin dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty, their »rich and colorful blue-green« and »water halo ink seal« were separated and were developed. They began to grow rapidly in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, entering their initial period of prosperity. This landscape paintings of the time did not only form the aesthetic criterion of »observing the object and taking its truth« at its core, focusing on ink styles and resulting in a north-south division and the emergence of various stylistic schools inside and outside of art academies (each of which had their own merits). It also further matured and refined the texturing method, promoting its role as a fundamental feature of physical painting techniques.

1. »Observe the Object and Take its Truth« The theme of landscape paintings was scenery. First appearing in the Wei, the Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties periods, they were intended to »free the spirit.« In portraying landscape objects, the technique of »using appearances to paint appearances, and using its color to manifest color« was used achieve this »skill.« The pursuit of landscape »quality« ultimately resulted in the »interesting spirit,« allowing observers to »feel the spirit, which transmits reason.« Following the progress of the period, development of academic thought, advancement of landscape painting techniques, and establishment of stylistic systems, the aesthetic requirements of landscape painting underwent a significant transfor-

mation from the Five Dynasties onwards. This was first reflected in the pursuit of the »truth« of natural landscapes. Notes on Brushwork (Bifa ji 笔法记) by Jing Hao features a dialogue between himself and an old man from Shigu, regarding the »truth« of painting: [Jing Hao] said: ›Painters are magnificent, but value is like obtaining truth, which can be thwarted.‹ The old man replied: ›Not so. Painters and paintings observe the object and take its truth. They take the object’s magnificence, and its reality. Magnificence cannot be held up as reality. If one lacks knowledge of techniques, if resemblance will do, then the picture will not be true.‹ [Jing Hao] asked: ›Why take resemblance? Why take truth?‹ The old man replied: ›A resembled object must leave behind the atmosphere of its appearance. A true object possesses superior atmosphere and quality.‹

In this extract, Jing Hao borrows the old man from Shigu’s words to elaborate on his understanding of the essence of painting, which lies in »observing the object and taking its truth.« The so-called »truth« and »resemblance« are different. »Truth« is achieved through the channel and method of »taking the object’s magnificence and reality. Magnificence cannot be held up as reality.« In this way, the object is described as possessing a »superior atmosphere and quality.« As for landscape paintings, the so-called »atmosphere« and »quality« are similar to the so-called »interest« and »quality« of Zong Bing of the Southern Song, as in »quality possessing interest and spirit.« However, in Zong Bing’s time, »quality« was more indicative of the »category« of accomplished »skill,« realized by the technique of »using form to draw form, and

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using color to manifest color.« This meant that classified descriptions of landscape »shape and color« ultimately had to use »spiritual assemblies« to obtain an »unimpeded spirit.« However, Jing Hao’s so-called »quality« had already surpassed the »category« level of landscape »shape and color,« not only including the external »magnificence« of landscape »shape and color,« as most important was not »grasping magnificence as reality,« but seeking the »reality« of the landscape’s shape and color. Only landscapes with external »magnificence« and internal »reality« can embody a complete sense of »quality.« Moreover, the »truth« taken from landscapes more completely and sufficiently demonstrates the »superior atmosphere and quality« of landscapes in paintings. Jing Hao’s fundamental »observing the object and taking its truth« elaboration on landscape painting reflects their development over the several centuries of the Sui and Tang periods. Furthermore, after the separation of the »rich and colorful« and »ink« styles, peoples’ capacity to appreciate landscape paintings, as well as its laws, changed and received new requirements. This kind of requirement began to develop during the Five Dynasties, and ultimately developed to become the most important principle adhered to in paintings during the Five Dynasties and the approximately three hundred years of the Song Dynasty. Although this principle was reflected in practically every kind of painting, it was most remarkable in and representative of landscape paintings. One reason for this was the »observe the object and take its truth« theory, earliest proposed to landscape painter Jing Hao. As Jing Hao was an expert during the Five Dynasties in following the past and heralding the future, his own established northern landscape painting style not only influenced Guan Tong, Li Cheng, and Fan Kuan during the Five Dynasties and Early Northern Song, but also became a mainstream painting technique throughout the entirety of the Song Dynasty; on the other hand, the so-called »truth« was not at

CHAPTER XI LANDSCAPE PAINTING AT ITS PEAK

all a realistic depiction of the external object’s shape and color. Surpassing the shape and color concepts, it required a »superior atmosphere and quality.« While »reality« was rooted in »quality,« »falseness« was key to »atmosphere.« Therefore »superior atmosphere and quality« in fact also required »the real and the false to engender one another,« as they had to portray a true »state of matter,« whilst simultaneously requiring a true »artistic mood« produced by a concrete state of matter. During the Northern and Southern Song periods of the Five Dynasties, the domain of birdand-flower paintings traditionally pursued lifelike depictions, which was mainly advocated by the »imperial riches« painting technique. It also reflected the creation requirements of Song Dynasty court painting academies. For instance, the bird paintings of academy painter Cui Bai were incredibly realistic. Emperor Huizong of Song (personal name Zhao Ji) also once praised a young man’s new painting of a tilting branch and Chinese rose at noon in the springtime, the stamen and leaves of which were without the slightest flaw. He also used a lacquer finish on his painted feathers, a hidden bean permitted, coming out of the paper, as if it was moving. It is clear that the bird-and-flower painting of this time sought »truth.« The object’s »lifelike image« and »vivid lust for life« starkly contrasted the »truth« sought by landscape paintings. However, Jing Hao’s socalled »observe the object and take its truth« was both born in and focused on landscape paintings, where the majority of his influence lay. In realizing this concept, the painters of the time devoted their undivided attention to sketching. Jing Hao once took up his brush to sketch the scenery of Taihang Mountains, with their »many thousands of roots, honest like their truth.« In addition, Dong Yuan sketched the landscape of Jiangnan. Amongst the mountains and trees, Fan Kuan would often »sit all day long, looking around as far as the eye could see, seeking their interest.« Every time Guo Xi set off on a journey, he

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would bring a writing brush in his leather pouch. Upon seeing fine scenery and wonderous trees, he would immediately depict them. In »Landscape Teachings« (»Shanshui xun« 山水训) in The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams (Linquan gaozhi 林泉高致) Guo Xi also gives an account of »gazing afar and taking its power, and looking near and taking its quality.« Observation methods and channels such as facing a landscape and looking down on it from a height, or taking a branch and observing it, were already the most basic for artists of landscape paintings at this time. The refinement and use of landscape painting texturing and ink methods perfectly suited the »truth« requirement sought in the painting of landscapes.

2. Ink Styles After landscape painter Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty created the ink-wash, the two separate bluegreen and ink systems were established. In Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty (Lidai minghua ji 历代名画记), Zhang Yanyuan proposed »using ink as a five-colored tool,« marking the formation of the »ink divided into five colors« concept. Henceforth, this became the guideline and prestigious style of the ink painting method. During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, ink painting methods underwent significant development. Aside from the unauthorized green-blue painting methods of artists such as Wang Ximeng and Zhao Boju, an overwhelming majority of landscape painters used unauthorized ink painting methods, or Zhu Shan’s double ink painting method. As a result, ink styles in this period became mainstream in landscape painting. This also indicates the establishment of the ink form of landscape painting. As ink landscape paintings mainly used different colors of ink in dry and wet shades to illustrate objects, Zhang Yanyuan asserted that »ink encompasses all five colors.« This meant that ink appeared in the five colors of blue, red, yellow, white, and black. Consequently, the use of

SECTION 1 OVERVIEW

ink techniques in this period received unprecedented appreciation, and became a key aspect of ink landscape techniques. From the emergence of ink-wash paintings until the formation of ink concepts, and the establishment of the ink-wash landscape form, the development of ink techniques was gradually promoted. At this time, many painters accumulated rich experience in ink techniques through observing and painting nature from a distance, in addition to summarizing and popularizing it. For example, in »Mantra on Paintings« (»Huajue« 画诀) in The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams, Guo Xi stated: When using ink, sometimes light ink is used, sometimes strong ink is used, sometimes scorched ink is used, sometimes kept ink is used, sometimes receded ink is used, sometimes ink made with ash taken from the stove is used, and sometimes ink mixed with blue dye is used. Using six or seven layers of light ink creates depth, causing the ink’s color to be moist and sleek, and not dry and dull. Using strong and scorched ink will emphasize outlines prominently. If strong and scorched ink are not used, then the edges of pines and corners of stones be unclear. Once they are clear, they should be superimposed with ink diluted with blue to bring out the tones of the ink, as if emerging from mist. Superimposition of light ink in circles is called »circling with the light.« Using a sharp brush held almost horizontally to emphasize heavy strokes is called texture stroke scrubbing. Applying three layers of ink is called a wash. Using a well-mixed wash to moisten is called »cleansing.« Painting with the brush head directly away from you is called »pulling.« Painting with the brush head pointed down is called »striking.« Using the end of the brush to paint is called »dotting.« »Dotting« can be used for figures and also for tree leaves. To draw a line with the brush is called »delineating.« »Delineating« can be used for buildings and pine needles. Light and dark ink can be used to make the shade of snow, but with the ink’s color varying. For the color of mist, take the original color of plain silk and brush it around with a light wash to tint it, so that brushstrokes and ink can no longer be seen. The color of wind is obtained with yellow earth and ink made with

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ash taken from the stove. The color of earth can be obtained by mixing blue and black ink in light and dark shades. Indigo and ink is used to achieve depth in the color of rocks. For waterfalls use the original color of plain silk, but use scorched ink to outline its sides.

This passage contains four layers of meaning: The first is that ink shades can be divided into seven kinds. These include light ink, strong ink, scorched ink, kept ink, receded ink, made with ash taken from the stove ink, and ink mixed with blue dye. The second is the use and properties of light ink, strong ink, scorched ink, ink mixed with blue and so on. These include the fact that repeatedly layering light ink can result in depth that is moist and not dry; use of strong and scorched ink can make the forms of trees and rocks clearer; after painting form and structure, »superimposing« ink mixed with blue can make the scenery appear as if it is in mist. The third is the eight ink painting techniques of circling pale ink, texture stroke scrubbing, adding washes, cleansing, pulling, striking, dotting, and delineating. This is a rather comprehensive summary of all of the ink brush techniques used in landscape painting. Among them, the two techniques of dotting and delineating were also used for figures, tree leaves, buildings, and pine needles. Ink methods of painting the five mentioned objects of snow, wind, earth, rocks, and waterfalls, all commonly seen in landscape paintings, had to be used by painters when sketching natural scenes. From Guo Xi’s extremely specific summary of painting techniques, it is clear that people in the Song Dynasty had already accumulated rich experience in ink painting methods. Ink painting techniques were revered in historical records such as Guo Ruoxu’s Record of Witnessed Paintings (Tuhua jianwen zhi 图画见闻志), Han Zhuo’s Genuine and Complete Landscape Painting Works (Shanshui chunquan ji 山水纯全集), Zhao Xigu’s Pure Records of the Cave Heaven (Dongtian qinglu 洞天清录), Deng Chun’s Continued Paintings (Huaji 画继), and Huang

CHAPTER XI LANDSCAPE PAINTING AT ITS PEAK

Gongwang’s Mantra on Sketching Landscapes (Xie shanshui jue 写山水诀). It is therefore clear that well-known northern painters who used unauthorized ink landscape painting methods, including Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, as well as artists south of the Yangtze such as Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, had all grasped exquisite methods of ink painting. In particular, the »Master Mi Landscape« ink technique of changing mist in scenery established by father and son duo Mi Fi and Mi Youren invoked more creativity in ink styles and painting techniques. Moreover, their achievement became crucial in establishing mainstream use of ink in the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song periods. It is clear that Guo Xi’s summarization of ink painting methods was focused on ink landscapes. Furthermore, all of his mentioned ink painting methods had the requirement of taking the »truth« of the landscape. As a result, many took appropriateness and suitability as their principles, forming a fixed law. In reality, ink wash painting methods during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods were also separated due to differences between the northern and southern regions, and their styles of painting landscapes (all of which had their own unique landforms), forming two independent systems. Although the painting techniques of these two systems varied in different eras, their commonly formed ink style nevertheless became mainstream during this period. Moreover, in later generations, especially in the influence on literati painters, their effect was far-reaching.

3. The North-South Divide and a Diversity of Styles Due to the difference in the North and South, and their different origins and development, diverse landscape painting styles took shape during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, against the background of the separation of these areas.

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As for the northern and southern landscape painting schools of period preceding the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song, schools of painting were established in the north by Jing Hao and his student Guan Tong. Mainly depicted were northern regions or scenes, portraying distinctive northern landscapes. The landscapes in these paintings featured multiple lofty mountains and great ridges, their scenes wide and expansive. Although in-between there were different scenes such as fishermen on boats, nest stones and bending banks, there were also several showcasing panoramic views. The northern school of painting was widely continued into the early Song Dynasty, with Li Cheng and Fan Kuan as its most successful artists. These two men, together with Guan Tong, were considered the three competing rivals of this period, as well as the three great masters of landscape painting. Although the scenes they portrayed were different, such as Li Cheng’s paintings of Pingyuan County, in Yingqiu District, Shandong, and Fan Kuan’s paintings of high mountains and wonderful summits in Guanshan District, this difference merely lay in the appearance of landscapes, as well as the rules that they used. Meanwhile, adherence to the principle of »observing the object and taking its truth« was a fundamental similarity. Li Cheng and Fan Kian each had successors. In Guo Xi’s Lofty Message of Forests and Streams, he claimed: »Scholars in Shandong only imitate those in Yingqiu.« While Li Cheng clearly held great local influence, Xu Daoning, Zhai Yuanshen, Li Zongcheng, Yan Su, Song Di, all of whom learned from him, were even more successful. Fan Kuan’s influence was centered in Guanshan district. Although not everyone was of his school of painting, it remained widespread. Until the middle and later periods of the Northern Song, the northern painting school had a great impact on the landscape paintings of the Imperial Painting Academy. Respectively Guo Xi and Li Tang became the representative individuals of these two

SECTION 1 OVERVIEW

periods. The landscapes of the southern painting school, along with its counterpart, the northern painting school, »featured several real mountains south of the Yangtze.« It was founded by Dong Yuan, the techniques of whom Ju Ran went on to spread. Dong Yuan’s name thereby became synonymous with success. As the southern schools of painting depicted southern landscapes scenes, these differed significantly from the high mountains and great rocks of the north. The crucial difference was the use of hemp-fiber texturing to depict mountains and rocks, which achieved an elegant and sleek quality. From the perspectives of region, distinctive subject matter, and painting techniques, the southern painting schools used different painting techniques and styles from the northern painting school. It is worth clarifying that the southern landscape painting school represented by Dong and Ju, because it portrayed the luxurious and abundant vegetation of the landscape south of the Yangtze, lacked the quality of northern landscapes, which demonstrated the quality of mountains and rocks with ease. During this period, which prioritized seeking the »truth« of landscapes, this style was not continued. In addition, when the Song Dynasty unified, the majority of southern painters migrated north to the Song, and began to learn from the northern school. This resulted in the painting techniques of Dong and Ju not being carried on into the two Song periods, a situation which persisted into the end of the Song and the beginning of the Yuan. The painting techniques of Dong and Ju were therefore developed only over one generation. During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, changes in landscape painting styles in the two great northern and southern regions reflected the three distinct periods of the Five Dynasties, the Northern Song, and the Southern Song. During the Five Dynasties Period, the northern painting school established by Jing Hao and Guan Tong, and the southern painting school developed by Dong Yuan and Ju

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Ran, had different and distinctive landscape terrains, painting technique compositions, and artistic moods. Individually, they each represented the characteristics and achievements of northern landscape paintings developed in parallel with the Central Plains and its central Guanshan district, and the south and its central Jianghuai district. These features and achievements also demonstrated that Chinese landscape painting styles had formed the peak north-south structure. The significance of this structure lay not only in its reflection of the academic relation of landscape natural landscape paintings and natural forms during this period, but also in its differences with landscape painting styles in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, all of which had far-reaching impact. During the Northern Song, the northern painting school was continued by Li Cheng and Fan Kian. Together with Guan Tong, they formed a group of three, and were symbols of a generation. Li and Fan were also succeeded, notably by Guo Xi and Li Tang, who carried the great achievements of the northern painting school into the Song Dynasty. However, the southern painting school was not brought into the Northern Song. Although it was similar to Hui Chong’s »small scene« paintings of southern scenery, it was very different from the interesting scenery and painting techniques of Dong and Ju. As a result, it could be said that the landscape paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty were beginning to truly flourish in the north. Meanwhile, most painters in the Southern Song followed the Song court south. Northern and southern painting techniques thus combined once more, paving the way for landscape paintings to flourish in the south. Represented by Li Tang, Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan and Fu Gui, these painters were historically referred to as the »Four Masters of the Southern Song.« Northern and southern landscape paintings formed a style with the »academic« at its core, and axe-cut texturing became the quintessential

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brush and ink method of academic landscape paintings, as well as an extremely important exemplar the historical development of landscape painting texturing. Although this simultaneously encompassed northern landscape paintings from the Jin and Liao dynasties, it did not come close to the flourishing in the south. In the overall development of landscape paintings during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, the alternating prosperity and decline of the north and south regions are clear, as are their inherited styles and fickleness. The natural formats of the period were historically scaled back from the secluded gazing-upwards style of the Taihang and Zhongnan mountains, to the roaming-around-and-observing style of the expansive Central Plains and vast Jiangshan, and the quiet-observation style of the West Lake in Qiangtang; there was also the changing historical development of composition, from scenery deep in the mountains, to scenery outside of the mountains, and sides and corners scenes; there was also the historical development of forms, from long hanging scrolls to level-distance long scrolls, before being scaled back to albums and silk fans; there were also historical development of changes in aesthetic style, from lofty to expansive, and again to elaborate and meticulous. In this process, while the inheritance of painting styles was admittedly important, shifts in natural environments during this period also greatly influenced the development of landscape painting styles. This was because painting styles could adapt to their era and surroundings.

4. Maturation of the Texturing Method and »Academic« Landscape Painting In Genuine and Complete Landscape Painting Works (Shanshui chunquan ji 山水纯全集), Han Zhuo states that: »The brush is used to establish its form, and the ink is used to differentiate its yin and yang. Landscapes are always created using brush and ink.« In painting, when a technique

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used regulation and endurance methods to depict different forms and structures of an object, and developing a painting style, this technique would have to use the importance of the law to symbolize peoples’ cultural understanding of the object. As for issues regarding mountain rock depictions brought about by the establishment of landscape paintings, from the beginning of the later Tang to the Five Dynasties, and all the way through to the Northern Song, these were experimentally and successfully solved with countless painting methods. In particular, during the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song periods, the two landscape painting styles of the north and south not only portrayed the distinctive mountain forms of the different regions, and their fundamental painting techniques, but also reflected their individual outstanding characteristics. As the standard method of depicting mountain rock forms in landscape paintings, the boundaries of the early texturing method had already been established and received preliminary development during the Tang Dynasty. During the Northern and Southern Song periods, with »observing the object and taking its truth« as the leading function of landscape paintings, and promotion of the »magnificence« and »reality« of mountain rocks, depiction of forms in landscape paintings underwent significant development. As a result, the texturing method was already the key maturing landscape painting concept. At the time, artists such as Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, Guo Xi all portrayed lofty northern mountains and great ridges, using differently shaped short yet dull fine texturing brushes, depicting the strong and concentrated textures of northern mountain rocks. At the same time, artists such as Dong Yuan and Ju Ran used centered-brushes and long-short crisscrossing techniques to paint the elegant and sleek forms of the landscape south of the Yangtze, the »hemp-fiber texture,« as it was known during the Song Dynasty. Although these were generally the only dis-

SECTION 1 OVERVIEW

tinctive painting techniques of the Northern Song, they were all distinctive. In this period, techniques of painting mountain rocks in many ways abided by the »truth«-seeking requirements of taking power from afar, and taking quality from nearby. As a result, constantly changing nature was assigned to different painters for different portrayals of objects and painting methods. These different ways of painting began to be known as »texture scrubbing.« However, as regulative painting style, it only appeared after »axe-cut texturing.« Only then could was this »texturing method« be used with the sweeping oblique-attack brush technique. It summarized almost every depiction of mountain rock in one concept. Detached from depictions of landscape forms and structure, it implemented an unconfined and frequent form that continued to use conventional mountain rock styles. Only then was axe-cut texturing and its use in landscape painting able to genuinely embody the meanings of laws and styles. They key landscape painters enacting this historic change in the Southern Song Dynasty were Li Tang, Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui. However, these four representatives of landscape painting also used put their stylistic texturing methods to use in a system, known as the »academic.« The so-called »academic« style of landscape paintings specifically refers to the landscape painting style established in the Southern Song by painters from the Hanlin Painting Academy. Although »academic« was a stylistic concept, it was also a historical term. This had two deciding factors: First, »academic« was a form of academy painting, which is likely to have been established by academy painters; Second, this creation belonged only to the Southern Song. Compared with landscape paintings of the Northern Song and earlier, the fundamental »academic« characteristic of landscape paintings mainly reflected use of composition and axe-cut texturing in edges and corners of scenes. The creation of this style and painting method, after drifting around Northern

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Song painting academies and being picked up by Li Tang of the Southern Song Painting Academy, underwent a transformative process. As this style had progressively distinguished itself in the past, forming a relatively mature vocabulary system and mode of expression, it had already gradually gained the approval and acceptance of several painters. At the same time, through their individual creations and improvements, it to become not only part of its creator, but also part of its era. Indeed, after Li Tang, Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gui improved and promoted this landscape painting style. They ultimately caused its range of influence to spread beyond the Academy, having a significant impact on painting schools such as that of the Ming Dynasty. These four artists were also known as the »four seminal painters of the Southern Song.« Southern Song »academic« landscape paintings were the first in the development of landscape paintings to use the landscape painting stylistic system formed by the »physical state« mode. Using Xian Ming’s axe-cut texturing, this »physical state« surpassed the ordinary meaning of the concept of »style.« This indicated that landscape paintings expressed the genuine maturation of thinking styles, creating a new painting logic. This logic also provided important revelations for painting methods and physical forms of landscape painting methods in the time of Yuan Dynasty »literati painters.«

Section 2  Northern and Southern Landscape Painting in the Five Dynasties The development of Five Dynasties landscape painting was unimpeded by the separation of the northern and southern regions. On the contrary, with different regions and environments, it was able to make use of the entirely different landscape painting brushwork styles and spiri-

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tual temperaments of the northern and southern painting schools. In this sense, this establishment of separate entities was beneficial in the formation of diverse landscape painting styles. Jing Hao and Guan Tong, known collectively as »Jing Guan,« founded the northern painting school of the Five Dynasties. Jing Hao liked to paint panoramic landscapes, which were imposing and majestic; meanwhile, the vigor of Guan Tong’s brush strokes was strong, sharp, bold and severe. On the other hand, Southern Tang painter Dong Yuan used light ink to tinge entire landscape paintings, including thin trees and distant caves, level distances with serene and hidden depths, and gentle scenes south of the Yangtze. His student Ju Ran inherited and developed the grace of his landscapes. To the dull and artless, he added some countryside interest. The landscape painting style of this master-disciple duo established the fundamental style of the Five Dynasties southern school of painting.

1. The Northern Painting School and Jing Hao and Guan Tong The landscape paintings of the Five Dynasties northern landscape painting school confirmed its reclusively. Jing Hao and his landscape works were representative of this. His landscape paintings not only featured the distinctive landform of Hongdu in the secluded Taihang Mountains, but also displayed the qualities of northern landscapes. These exact landforms and qualities achieved the distinctive style of Five Dynasties northern landscape paintings. Jing Hao, courtesy name Haoran, was a resident of Qinshui (currently located in Shanxi). Due to his reclusive lifestyle in Honggu in the Taihang mountains, he was known as »Son of Honggu.« Although Jing Hao’s dates are uncertain, he was born approximately during the later Tang Period, and referred to himself as a »native of Tang.« He worked composing poetry and literature, as well as compiling history. Later, due to the frequent wars in the Central Plains Region in the later Tang

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Period of the Five Dynasties, his official career was cut short, causing him to live in seclusion at Honggu in the Taihang Mountains. His Notes on Brushwork (Bifa ji 笔法记) was a rather insightful treatise on the principles and laws of landscape painting. Many of Jing Hao’s landscape paintings depicted scenes of lofty mountains and great rivers, mainly using long-distance perspectives to display the complete composition of landscapes. This was known as »panoramic style composition.« He was an expert in painting summits amid clouds, with tall and thick mountain faces, and was often able to penetrate the surface-level »appearance« of the landscape, directly encapsulating the inner spirit. This was his understanding of emphasizing the »truth« of painted landscapes, the supreme realm that he pursued in his works. With vigorous propagation, Jing Hao emphasized the true boundaries of his scenes, pursuing the ideology of the work and the superior quality of the landscape painting. This became the ruling characteristic of landscape development in this period. Simultaneously, Jing Hao strongly valued brushwork and ink techniques in his landscape paintings. His treatises in Notes on Brushwork not only included the »four forces« of the brush, these being the brushwork requirements of muscle, flesh, bone, and spirit, but also, following the example of Wang Wei, propelled ink landscape painting techniques into a maturation phase, causing them to become the quintessential stylistic methods after the Northern Song. As well as being reflected in Jing Hao’s work, the ink landscape was also established as a generational style. As he put it: »Wu Daozi’s landscape paintings have strokes but no ink, and those of Xian Rong use ink but no strokes. I take the best of both, combining them into one.« In Jing Hao’s own landscape paintings, he not only realized his own life goal, but also applied his brush and ink laws in his work. Mount Lu (Fig. 6.11.1) is the representative surviving work of Jing Hao, and encapsulates the funda-

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mental appearance and features of his landscape paintings. This painting depicts a landscape scene of the Honggu Region in the Taihang Mountains. Towering, steep peaks float into view amid winding mist, tall and imposing. Lush green forests lie at the summit and foot of the mountain. Farmers ascend mountain paths on their way back from pasture as streams rush by. The mountains in this painting are of different heights, and appear one after the other. The mountains’ tops, waists, sides, and foot emerge in order, with near and far scenery and clear gradation. Its overall composition exemplified the panoramic style characteristic. As well as careful outlining of forms and meticulous texturing methods, light and dark ink shading are also used. This is the »combining into one« of Jing Hao, taking the best of Wu Daozi’s brush technique and Xing Rong’s use of ink. Following on from Li Si and his son during the Tang Dynasty, Jing Hao also become a master of landscape painting. At the beginning of the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song, he brought preliminary ideas to the development of landscape painting. Jing Hao’s success both signified the end of focus on shape and color in landscape paintings during and before the Tang Dynasty, and the arrival of a new »superior form.« In brief, as the initiator and main representative of Five Dynasties and early Song northern landscape painting, Jing Hao put his innovation and theoretical knowledge to work in his paintings, preliminarily establishing the fundamental type and style of northern landscape paintings during the Northern Song Period of the Five Dynasties. Another representative of landscape painting during the Five Dynasties was Guan Tong. Inheriting and somewhat developing the landscape paintings of Jing Hao, his works were called »Master Guan landscapes.« Guan Tong was a native of Chang’an (now located in Xi’an in Shaanxi), and lived during the Five Dynasties Period. Although his dates are uncertain, they are slightly later than those of Jing Hao, by whom he was taught

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6.11.1  Mount Lu, Jing Hao, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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landscape painting as an adolescent. He would study meticulously, almost to the point of skipping sleep and meals, with the intention of surpassing Jing Hao. In middle age, he learned the ink painting method of Wang Wei and the tree method of Bi Hong, improving his painting skill. Skilled in landscape painting, he was especially fond of autumn mountains and cold trees, village houses and boat crossings, reclusive residents and relaxed scholars, and fishers’ markets and mountain horses. This kind of subject matter reflected the fact that although Guan Tong was not a secluded scholar, but that he mentally sought this leisurely lifestyle. He produced several scenes of the Qinling and Zhongnan mountains, rather skillfully depicting the imposing power of mountains and rivers in the Guanshan District. Guan Tong’s main surviving paintings include Travelers on Guanshan Mountain, Waiting to Cross a Mountain Stream, and Late Greenery in Autumn Mountains. Among them, Travelers on Guanshan Mountain and Late Greenery in Autumn Mountains both depict an artistic mood of a secluded and desolate winter, deep in the northern mountains. Under the lofty peaks depicted in Travelers on Guanshan Mountain, a group of travelling merchants on a riverside mountain track stop for a rest in a cottage at the foot of the mountain. In the painting, the brushwork of the mountain rock is concise, its silhouette outlined with repeated strokes and strong ink, with light ink texturing and wash. Meanwhile, trees are painted with the »branches and no trunks« style. Late Greenery in Autumn Mountains (Fig. 6.11.2) somewhat differs from Travelers on Guanshan Mountain. The scenery is flatter and more upright, and the texturing technique used to delineate mountain rocks if more comprehensive and refined. The tree branches are also dense with leaves. These are all examples of the distinctive features of Guan Tong’s landscape paintings. Overall, the landscape painting styles of Jing Hao and Guan Tong reflect the fundamental styes and

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painting techniques of the northern landscape painting school during the Five Dynasties. Their landscape painting methods did not merely inherit those of and before the Tang Dynasty. More importantly, with the composition styles and ink painting methods established in their landscape paintings, they not only became a paragons, but also established the cornerstone of landscape painting development during the Northern Song.

2. The Southern Painting School and Dong Yuan and Ju Ran The so-called southern painting school of the Five Dynasties developed in parallel with the Guanshan District northern painting school represented by Jing and Guan. This landscape painting style was mainly carried out in the Suwan Region and represented by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran, who were collectively known as »Dong and Ju.« Dong Yuan, courtesy name Shuda, was a native of Zhongling (modern Jinxian in Jiangxi, Northwest China). Although his dates are uncertain, he lived primarily during the Zhongzhu Period (934–961) of the Southern Tang. As he held the post of Beiyuan commissioner during this period, old friends called him »Dong Beiyuan.« He was adept at painting landscapes, using both the ink and color styles. Having inherited the color painting methods of Li Sixun as well as Wang Wei’s ink wash landscape painting method, he was a generational paragon. Many of Dong Yuan’s painted landscapes featured beautiful scenes of the Jinling District. Here there were foothills surrounded by trees and islets, endlessly increasing each other’s beauty through mutual reflection, interspersed with mountain village fishing houses. Therefore, the techniques used to depict this scenery were remarkably different from those used the north. Dong Yuan’s landscape paintings featured several real mountains in Jiangnan. Not using a brush for wonderous precipices, he often using the hemp-fiber texture, and was skilled at using light ink and the

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6.11.2  Late Greenery in Autumn Mountains, Guan Tong, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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6.11.3 The Xiao and Xiang Rivers (section), Dong Yuan, Palace Museum

moss-dotting method to portray the mist and lush greenery of the Jiangnan scenery. His landscape paintings featured several alum head rocks, with undulating mountains and slopes. As these were not uneven and sinister in form, they contrasted with those of the northern landscape painting school. A relatively large number of Dong Yuan’s paintings remain. These include The Xiao and Xiang Rivers, Awaiting the Ferry at the Foot of the Mountains in Summer, Summer Mountains, and Residents on the Outskirts of Dragon Abode. The Xiao and Xiang Rivers (Fig. 6.11.3) depicts an expansive and tranquil river, an unbroken chain of undulating mountains, lush vegetation, scattered islets, clouds and mist in alternating shades, and a serene sky. This work also features several clusters

of dots in blue dye and ink. The painter alternates between the true and the false, resulting in moist effect. Hemp-fiber texturing is used the bottom of the slopes, complementing the several details of earth and meadows on the river banks below the Jiangnan mountains. Figures are adorned using strong colors such as white powder and vermillion, resulting in an ancient appeal. Awaiting the Ferry at the Foot of the Mountains in Summer is a large level-distance landscape scroll, which depicting a people waiting to cross a Jiang’an river in the height of summer. Ridges and mountain edges are clear and sleek, and forests are refined and dense. Fishermen and travelers roam around with contented expressions. Summer Mountains depicts range upon range of mountains and islets amid mist. Here much use is made of clus-

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tered dots, magnifying the figure and composition of mountain rocks. Residents on the Outskirts of Dragon Abode portrays the beautiful scene of a mountain village decorated with lanterns and colored banners. Boats dance upon the water, and drum music is performed on the shore, creating a warm and joyful atmosphere. Differing to some extent from the flat and distant artistic mood of some earlier long scroll works, as a vertical scroll, this painting portrays large mountains at closerange. However, ink shading is used for all mountain rocks. The physical forms are gentle, differing from the precipitous and steep terrain depicted by the northern landscape painting school. Ju Ran was native of Jiangning (modern Nanjing in Jiangsu). Although his dates are uncertain, they were slightly after those of Dong Yuan. At a young age, he left home to become a monk. After the last ruler fell to the Song, Ju Ran followed him to Kaifeng. Residing in Kaibao Temple, he became renowned for his talent in panting landscapes. With Dong Yuan as his landscape painting teacher, he painted ridges and peaks, and hilltops with many alum head rocks. In later years, his painting style changed slightly, becoming level and light with high interest. The most important of Ju Ran’s surviving paintings include Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, Storied Mountains and Dense Forests, Seeking the Dao in Autumn Mountains, Mountain Residence, and Buddhist Monastery by Streams and Mountains. Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines (Fig. 6.11.4) is a high-distance scene, featuring storied mountains and a waterside pavilion. The distant temple and long bridge are hidden from sight by a pine ravine with mountain paths winding through it, as mountain streams and waterfalls rush freely. On the summit are several alum head rocks, and the hemp-fiber texturing technique is used for mountain rock. The artistic mood is lucid and elegant, with a profound delicacy, which suits the maturity of the painter’s work. The brushwork of Storied Mountains and Dense Forests is precise, creating

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6.11.4 Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, Ju Ran, Shanghai Museum

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an idle and distant atmosphere. Level-distance scenery is combined with depth-distance and the standard of height-distance, thus combining the three distances into one, and submerging the form in the frankness of nature. Buddhist Monastery by Streams and Mountains features towering peaks and precipitous ridges interspersed with winding paths, thatched cottages and noblemen, creating a sense of exuberance. The hemp-fiber texturing method creates unrestricted delicacy. Although they were both representatives of the southern landscape painting school during the Five Dynasties, »Dong and Ju« differed in their painting styles. While level-distance was used in many of Dong Yuan’s scenes, Ju Ran used height-distance in several of his; while Dong Yuan used both color and ink in his landscapes, Ju Ran used ink alone; although painters depicted scenes of Jiangnan, Ju Ran painted with the technique necessary for wonderous precipices featuring lofty mountains and great ridges, as well as wind in pines among myriad ravines. The fact that Ju Ran was able to capture the essence of northern landscapes in this way could be due to the fact that he spent the latter half of his life in the north, in Kaifeng. The new form of ink landscapes created by Dong Yuan and Ju Ran had a great impact in later generations, and on landscape paintings after the Yuan Dynasty in particular. The celebrated »Four Painters of Yuan,« the Ming Dynasty Wumen painting school, and the Qing Dynasty »Four Wangs« all took inspiration from the landscapes of »Dong and Ju.« Both the North and the South in the late Ming revered the pioneer that was Dong Qichang, and took Dong Yuan’s works as representative of model southern paintings. Although Dong Qichang revered Wang Wei as the forefather of southern painting, Wang Wei’s works had already been lost by this point. From then until present day, the works of »Dong and Ju« have remained a mean of experiencing the earliest model southern paintings. As stated by Qing Dynasty resident Wang Jian in Dyeing Xiang Temple Painting

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Postscript (Ran xiang’an bahua 染香庵跋画): »In paintings, there are Dong and Ju, similarly to how in books there is Zhong Wang. But this is moving towards another path.« The work of »Dong and Ju« stood the test of time, obtaining the deep favor and pursuit of literati in later generations and receiving much praise. This was essential in the history of Chinese landscape painting.

Section 3  Landscape Painting in the Northern Song Dynasty After unifying China, the Song Dynasty brought with it a cultural structure of literature and art. Whilst southern culture was spreading rapidly to the north, northern culture maintained its leading cultural habits held since ancient times. In the early Northern Song, landscape painting circles were led by the northern painting school. Famous artists also emerged in large numbers, with Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi among the most successful and influential. Meanwhile, the southern painting school was in decline.

1. Northern Landscape Painting Represented by Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi If Jing Hao initiated the high-distance style of towering mountains and precipitous ridges in landscape painting, then Li Cheng pioneered the flat level-distance technique. Li Cheng (919–967), courtesy name Xianxi, was born in Chang’an into the Tang Dynasty imperial family, his ancestors having moved to Yingqiu (modern Changle in Shandong) to escape the war-torn late Tang. Li Cheng was born here, and therefore was also referred to as »Li Yingqiu« after his death. Since childhood, Li Cheng had been fascinated by historical classics. Naturally idle and aloof, he despised influential officials, and was fond of drinking and travelling. As every location he vis-

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ited was within the Huang-Huai Plain, his paintings did not resemble the towering and precipitous landscapes of Jing Hao and Guan Tong, consisting instead of multiple level-distance scenes of the Lu-Yu Plain. Li Cheng exchanged the quiet solitude of Jing and Guan for roaming around. He also preferred the distant view to the upward-facing one, and level-distance to height-distance. Finally, he preferred outer-painting travelling to inner-painting observation. His works often created a distant, desolate, cold, and somber atmosphere. For rich gradation, Li Cheng used ink simply, neatly, and elegantly, cherishing it like gold. His brushwork was delicate, neat and refined, and the ink coloring was rich yet subtle. His scenes of vast open plains gave the impression gently-moving mist, and as if the observer were facing a long distance; his painted images of wintry forests and tall ancient trees were full of vitality. In his own time, his landscape paintings were renowned. However, due to his outstanding ambition and moral principle that were uninfluenced by power, his paintings are extremely difficult to find. The main extant works of Li Cheng include Reading the Stele, Wintry Forest, Luxurious Forest Among Distant Peaks, and Buddhist Temple in Mountains. Reading the Stele (Fig. 6.11.5) depicts a single ancient stele in the wilderness. An official, accompanied by a houseboy, sits astride a donkey, gazing up to read the stele. The withered branches in the wintry woods resemble crab claws, and the artistic mood created by the ancient stele is bleak and mournful. This reflects the typical character of Li Cheng’s landscape paintings. According to the inscription on the painting, while the trees and rocks were painted by Li Cheng, the figures were the work of portrait painter Wang Xiao. The level-distance landscapes of Li Cheng with desolate artistic moods had been greatly influential in the Northern Song. At this time, he, Guan Tong, and Fan Kuan were collectively referred to as the three masters of early Song landscape painting. Guo Xi, Xu Daoning, Song Di, Wang

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Shen would all later be affected by their considerable influence. Fan Kuan (c.  967–1027), also known as Zhongzheng, courtesy name Hua Yuan, was a native of Huayuan (modern Yazhou in Tongchuan, Shaanxi). Fond of drinking, he was not constrained by social norms. Began painting landscapes by studying Li Cheng, he later emphasized the natural technique of the latter. A frequently traveler, he resided in the Taihua district of the Zhongnan mountains. There, he may well have sat all day long, observing as far as the eye could see, seeking the delight of nature. Fan Kuan’s mountain rock brushstrokes were short, dense, and rigid. These were known as »rushed strokes.« He painted several large scrolls, with deep and resounding ridges and peaks and imposing, powerful forms. This created a contrast with the »desolate atmosphere, peaceful and spacious mist and trees« of Li Cheng’s landscapes. Fan Kuan’s surviving landscape paintings include Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams, Wintry Groves in A Snowy Landscape, and Sitting Alone by a Stream. Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams (Fig. 6.11.6) is the most well-known representative work of Fan Kuan, and one of the most important classic works of ancient Chinese landscape painting. In this work, huge peaks stand tall and majestic, and a waterfall flows directly into a stream. The foot of the mountain is shrouded in mist, and large rocks stand upright and motionless. There are ancient, robust trees, a babbling creek, and a mountain path on which travelers can be seen driving a mule train forwards. The overall scene is strong and imposing, with stunning grandeur. Wintry Groves in A Snowy Landscape is a picture scroll of the moving and impressive sight of a mountain and river after a snowfall. This chilly scene features undulating mountain ridges and a deep valley, accompanied by a cluster of lush trees and a vast, flat layer of ice. Fan Kuan inherited and developed the techniques and style of Jing Hao in his northern landscape

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6.11.5 Reading the Stele, Li Cheng, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts

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6.11.6 Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams, Fan Kuan, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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paintings. He also demonstrated originality, developing ink brush techniques and creating his own unique characteristics. During the Song, people juxtaposed him with Guan Tong and Li Cheng, and called them the »tripartite balance of three masters, and the symbols of a generation.« Due to the emphasis of the Huang family father and son on rare birds and plants, painting academies at the beginning of the Northern Song catered to the interests of the imperial household. As a result, the Painting Academy prioritized birdand-flower paintings, almost causing landscapes to become an afterthought. It was only after the emergence of Guo Xi in the mid-Northern Song that Painting Academy landscape paintings entered a period of prosperity. Guo Xi’s landscape paintings also became the apex of landscape works in the Northern Song Painting Academy. Guo Xi (c. 1023–1085, sometimes stated to be c. 1020–1109), courtesy name Chunfu, was a native of Heyang (modern Wenxian in Henan). He was also known as Guo Heyang. Coming from a common background, he enjoyed studying Daoism and travelling. At first learning to paint without a teacher, he later modeled his work upon that of Li Cheng. He also greatly admired Emperor Shenzong, and eventually became the Painter-in-Attendance at the Imperial Painting Academy. Many important locations in the palace were decorated with his landscape paintings. He also frequently examined paintings, took charge of appraisals, and evaluated painting work in the imperial household. At first, Guo Xi specialized in exquisitely delicate landscape paintings. However, combining the techniques of Li Cheng with his own inner feelings, his brushwork later became vigorous. Skilled in painting large scrolls, he focused on grand portrayals of real locations. Adapt at deep observation of life, he realistically illustrated the differing seasons and climates of the natural world. He also devoted much attention to research, carrying out comprehensive summaries of

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past landscape paintings from the views of both theory and practice. His understanding of landscape painting techniques and appreciation for their creation were collected and arranged by his son Guo Si in The Lofty Message of Forests and Streams. This became an important document for landscape painting research in later generations. In his elaboration on the »three distance« method of depth-distance, height-distance, and level-distance, he described the alternating characteristics of the four seasons, morning and night, height and distance, and time and place in landscape paintings. This established a firm theoretical basis for landscape painting in the Song Dynasty as well as for later generations. Guo Xi’s main surviving landscape paintings include Early Spring, Guanshan Spring Snow, Nest Rock Plain, Deep Valley, Old Trees and Distant Mountains, Mountain Village, and Visiting a Friend Among Creeks and Mountains. Early Spring, painted during the 5th year of the Xining Period (1072), is the most representative work of Guo Xi. This painting depicts a misty mountain stream at dawn in the early spring, a scene of spring returning to the earth, with all living things recovering. In this painting, trees resemble crab claws. This style was unique to Guo Xi, and became a classic example of tree-painting in later generations. Mountain rocks were first outlined, with alternating strokes to add texture for depth and darkness, before light ink was used to add a wash to them. These techniques were known as »devil’s face rock,« and »random cloud texture.« The composition combines the powers of height, depth, and level-distance, with clear gradation. Guanshan Spring Snow, also painted in the 5th year of Xining, is a mountainous scene of winter giving way to the spring, with snow swirling in the air. The painting features range upon range of mountains and snowy peaks on the horizon, a sheet of silver adorned with white. The water inside the garret halfway up the mountain flows slowly, hinting that spring is stealthily approaching. This adds a

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somewhat lively atmosphere to this solemn and tranquil painting. Nest Rock Plain (Fig. 6.11.7) depicts peaceful and spacious smooth fields in late autumn. This is a desolate scene featuring a level, open area, a stretch of running water, an array of distant mountains, and a sky full of rosetinted clouds. Nearby, wonderous rocks sit atop sandy earth, and old trees are worn and withered. The scenery in this painting is clear and concise, using ink to demonstrate countless far-reaching creative concepts. The curling cloud texturing and crab-claw tree delineation of this painting are also characteristic of Guo Xi’s ink painting techniques. Guo Xi’s landscape paintings were extensively taught both inside and outside painting academies of his time. Most unique was that his influence did not only spread amongst professional painting teachers and descendants of feudal aristocrats. He was also completely revered by literati scholar officials such as Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, Wen Yanbo, Chen Shida, Chao Buzhi, and Zhang Lei, all of whom constantly praised him. Meanwhile, Guo Xi’s success lay not only in creation of landscape paintings, but even more in the style of his landscape paintings that was established in painting academies. This constituted both a starting point and a peak in the history of Northern Song academies. On the other hand, as for the overall development of Song Dynasty painting academies, a foundation for Southern Song academic style landscape paintings was established. Due to the extremely high success and widespread influence of artists such as Li Cheng and Fan Kuan, many landscape painters in the Mid Northern Song were limited to their landscape painting methods, which constituted a barrier of which they could not break free. As Guo Xi put it: »Qilu scholars only imitate Yingqiu; Guanshan scholars only imitate Fan Kuan.« However, there was no lack of success nor brilliance amongst these individuals, who included Xu Daoning, Di

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6.11.7 Nest Rock Plain, Guo Xi, Palace Museum

Yuanshen, Li Zongcheng, Yan Su, Huang Huaiyu, Ji Zhen, Shang Xun, and Ning Tao. Among them, Xu Daoning imitated Li Cheng. In painting forest trees, level-distance, open spaces and water, he made use of the latter’s techniques. His surviving works include Guanshan Heavy Snow, Desolate Temple amid Autumn Mountains, and Fishermen on a Mountain Stream. The works of Di Yuanshen, who was from the same village as Li Cheng, also bore a striking resemblance to those of the latter. In addition, the landscapes of Yan Shu were greatly shaped by Wang Wei, and closely imitated those of Li Cheng. Of his uncolored ink landscapes of wintry forests, only Spring Mountains survives.

2. The Group of Noble Painters and Academic Paintings of Blue and Green Landscapes after the Middle Northern Song In mid- to late Northern Song landscape painting circles, a unique group of landscape painters was active. This uniqueness lay primarily in their status as relatives of the emperor. Their fondness for landscape paintings, combined with the loss of their official career aspirations, resulted in their skill in expressing emotion through a brush. Among these individuals, Wang Shen and Zhao Lingrang were the most successful, although their painting styles somewhat differed. Wang Shen (1048–1104) courtesy name Jinqing, was originally from Taiyuan, later settling in Kai-

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feng. The most outstanding founding minister of the Song Dynasty after Wang Quanbin, he married Princess Shuguo, the second daughter of Yingzong and younger sister of Shen Zong. Awarded the Emperor’s Son-in-Law General Military Rank of the Left Guard, he defended Renli Prefecture, and was awarded the titles Relative of the King, Bureaucrat, and Literatus. Fond of poetry, literature, and art, he maintained close relations with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Li Gonglin, and Mi Fu. He often compared notes on poetry, literature, and paintings with famous scholars in the West Garden of the official residence, which became a distinguished assembly point of literati during the Northern Song. When Wang Shen began to paint landscapes, he learned from the serene, elegant, clear and sleek style of Li Cheng. Later he would go on to combine the blue-green painting methods of Li Sixun and his son with the painting techniques of Li Cheng, creating a new form of landscape painting based on ink outlining and texturing, with a blue-green hue. Many of Wang Shen’s painted landscapes featured misty rivers and distant ravines, willow creeks and fishing banks, mist on clear days and mountain streams, and wintry forests and deep valleys, as well as Wei Village in Taoyuan. He was also skilled at painting small scene landscapes and imitating the ink bamboo paintings of Wen Tong. His principal surviving works include Light Snow Over a Fishing Village, Misty River and Layered Peaks, and Xishan Autumn Skies. Among these, his early work Light Snow Over a Fishing Village is a lively scene of a mountain range and creek shore after an early winter snowfall. White powder is used to depict snow on high mountain ranges and slopes, and ink shading is used for the dark valley trees. Light gold power is dotted on cliff summits and treetops, creating an illusion of a sky beginning to clear after light snow, with rays of sunlight penetrating the haze. This is a beautiful yet aloof scene, which is very distinctive. The crab-claw branches, cirrus rocks, and clear, sleek, straight and refined brushwork in the painting

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demonstrate the influence of Li Cheng’s painting techniques. As the scene features much shading, there is little dry texture. Saturated with ink, the gold and the white are radiant, creating another kind of hidden, deep, refined and sleek comfort. Misty River and Layered Peaks was painted after Light Snow Over a Fishing Village. This scroll opens to reveal a vast mist-covered river, in the center of which fishing boats are floating. Above the river are green hills, forests which alternate between being hidden and visible, glowing rosetinted evening clouds, and a flowing spring waterfall. Surrounding the green hills is a vast scene of river and sky. Wang Shen was a key figure in promoting the transformation of the Northern Song landscape painting style. As propagators of the Li Cheng school of painting during this period, Wang Shen and Guo Xi were equally famous. However, while Guo Xi’s decorative court paintings included a substantial number of vertical scrolls, Wang Shen intended to live a simple life, diligently expressing the hills and valleys in his mind through several horizontal long scrolls and small scenes. This format of Wang Shen’s, inadvertently hung in the palace hall, was more suited to the admiration of the literati. From this, it is clear that Wang Shen’s landscape painting style had already begun to cross over into the world of literati and scholar officials. Zhao Lingrang (courtesy name Danian) was the fifth son of Emperor Taizu of Song (personal name Zhao Kuangyin). Of the same generation as Tong Bei, his dates are uncertain, although he manly lived during the Shenzong and Zhezong periods. A defense commissioner of Guangzhou, he was an official in the Chongxin army. Having loved classical history, calligraphy, and painting since childhood, Zhao Lingrang maintained close contact with literati painters. This resulted in extremely rich accomplishments in literature and the arts. As he was born into the riches and honor of the imperial garden, he was able focus on classical history, making fun of brush-and-

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ink painting, which was very rare. He did not take inspiration in his landscape paintings from Li Cheng or Fan Kuan, instead directly invoking the Tang. In his youth, he learned of the surviving exquisite paintings of artists such as Bi Hong and Wei Yan from Du Fu’s poems. This led him to seek out their model paintings, which he imitated earnestly, causing his painting technique to rapidly improve. For a long time, he painted many scenes of the islets and water between Kaifeng and Luoyang, illustrating waterbirds, reeds and wild geese, and lakes and misty rain. In snowscapes, he imitated Wang Wei. In his Dongpo bamboo forests, the spirit of the brush, wonder of the ink, and lucid and elegant painting style were acclaimed amongst scholar officials. The key extant Zhao Lingran work, Whiling Away the Summer by a Lakeside Retreat, portrays a countryside scene of dark drooping clouds in the summer. Willows and green grass, along with lotus leaves linked to one another, create a graceful artistic mood. The style of the Autumn Pond album, which is also attributed to Zhao Lingrang, is similar to Whiling Away the Summer by a Lakeside Retreat. In addition to Chu Wangshen and Zhao Lingrang, imperial painters also included Zhao Shilei, Zhaoshi, Zhao Shiyan, and Zhao Shizun. According to painting history, the majority of their landscapes favored a refined style. Among these, Zhao Shilei’s Xiangxiang Small Scene remains. From the Five Dynasties until the Northern Song Period, landscape painting circles were almost unanimously ruled by ink landscapes. After the Northern Song Period, exquisite blue-green landscapes rose once more. At this time, the imposing ancient Chinese blue-green A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains long scroll was born. The creator of A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was court painter Wang Ximeng. His historical footprint contained more than prefaces and postscripts of picture scrolls. History states that he was born in 1095, and entered the Northern Song Xuanhe Painting Academy at 18 years old,

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later being hired as the official palace librarian. He gained the recognition of Emperor Huizong of Song, by whom he was personally taught to paint. After half a year, he had created this rare historical blue-green landscape long scroll, which became his only extant work. A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (Fig. 6.11.8) was created in the third year of Zhenghe (1113). Close to 12 cm in length, it is known today as the longest picture scroll from the Northern and Southern Song. This painting features undulating mountains and vast mist-colored rivers and lakes. Arranged amongst the water-facing mountains are fishing villages and rustic markets, waterside pavilions and terraces, and thatched cottages, interspersed with figures performing activities such as fishing, sailing, travelling, and sightseeing. This scene was painted to continue the Tang Dynasty blue-green painting technique of Li Sixun and his son. Variation is sought within the unified blue-green hue. Against an ocher background, are the dazzlingly bright colors of azure blue and malachite green. This long scroll portrays natural landscape in such a way that it appears embroidered, resulting in an exceptionally beautiful scene. The overall work is forceful and majestic, with boundless grandeur and a strong imperial flavor. Other notable remaining blue-green paintings from this period include Autumn Colors on Mountains and Rivers and Boat Returning on the Snowy River, as well as Liang Shimin’s Thick Snow on Reedy Shores. Together, these paintings represent the final achievements in blue-green landscape paintings during the Northern Song, which stimulated the gradual development of Southern Song blue-green landscape painting.

3. Other Northern Song Landscape Painters The Northern Song continued the progressive prosperity of landscape paintings after the Five Dynasties. This was largely reflected in the joint development of different styles during the North-

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6.11.8 A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, Wang Ximeng, Palace Museum

ern and Southern Song. In addition to the aforementioned landscape painters, there were also those who were not classified as Imperial Academy painters due to the fact that they could not be placed within the two major landscape painting systems of the North and South. However, their achievements were outstanding nonetheless. The most remarkable of these painters included Guo Zhongshu, Yan Wengui, and Hui Chong. Guo Zhongshu (?–977), courtesy name Shuxian, lived from the end of the Five Dynasties to the beginning of the Song Dynasty. A native of Luoyang in Henan, he successively held the posts of erudite in the Later Zhou »School for the Sons of the State,« and recorder in the Northern Song Directorate of Education. Later, due to his unruly political opinions, he was exiled to Dengzhou,

but died on the way. Guo Zhongshu was multi-talented, working with the seal script and the large seal script. In landscapes, he imitated Guan Tong. He excelled in buildings, boats, and carts, and was well-known for depicting architectural forms in the jiehua style (with use of a ruler). He painted balconies with such accurate and meticulous architecture that they could be referred to in construction. Moreover, with their natural brushwork and timelessly elegant coloring, his paintings were not lacking in artistic quality. There are two extant versions of his representative work, Towing Boats under Clearing Skies After Snow. One of these is held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the other is held by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the USA. Among these, the version in Taipei is partial. While the version held in the USA

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is more complete, it appears to be an imitation carried out in a later generation. The two paintings are largely identical, both scenes of bustling boatmen floating down snowy rivers, with a rich and lively atmosphere. The painter depicts two large ships sailing down a river, accompanied by a sampan. The composition, accuracy, and details of the boats are specific. A captain appears to be agitated whilst mariners propel the boats forwards in lively stances. Snow can be seen on the sail and the cargo of the ships, and the scene of a clearing sky following snowfall on a river is thus formed. In the court of Emperor Shenzong, Guo Xi instigated the peak of Northern Song academic landscape painting. Meanwhile, Yan Wengui brought his own distinctive »Master Yan landscape« scene to the Painting Academy, making use of both northern and southern landscape painting methods. Yan Wengui (967–1044) was a native of Wuxing (modern Huzhou in Zhejiang). Originally a folk painter, he ventured to the capital to peddle his paintings during the reign of Emperor Taizong. He also painted temple murals. These were noticed by Gaoyi, who recommended him to Emperor Taizong. He was then made Painter-in-Waiting at the Imperial Painting Academy, later becoming Painter-in-Attendance. In landscape paintings, Yan Wengui did not simply imitate his predecessors. Incorporating his own methods, he combined his expertise in landscape paintings, jiehua, and figures. Lofty, magnificent buildings and waterside pavilions were interwoven with streams and mountains and adorned with the figures performing actions. His scenes were varied, giving spectators the sense of a perfect realm, known as the »Master Yan scene.« Yan Wengui’s key extant works include Buddhist Jade Amid Autumn Mountains, Pavilions Among Mountains and Streams, Pavilions Among Mountains and Rivers, and Rivers and Wind. In Pavilions Among Mountains and Streams, range upon range of mountains, extensive and far-reaching buildings, beautiful mountains, and

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trees in multiple positions are depicted with a thin brush. The resulting scene is artful, with refined and tight composition, and short, dense texturing stokes that appear to be agile. Pavilions Among Mountains and Streams is thought to be one of this painter’s later works. This landscape scene is developed in succession, with clustered mountain ranges gradually giving way to carefree lighter ones in the distance. Coarse strokes are used to strongly delineate the mountains, together with short, dense texture stokes and a light wash. With its neat, careful, and orderly technique, this painting was displayed all over the palace. The overall composition of the scene is comprehensive and varied. Buddhist Jade Amid Autumn Mountains depicts clarity after a rainfall, with light clouds curling around wondrous and elegant peaks, rapidly flowing mountain springs, and evergreen pines and cypresses standing atop the mountain. The mountaintop towers, adorned with red walls and white steps, are particularly clean, and tourists in high spirits climb the mountains. At a glance, there are three fall scenic spots. Although the painting also features wonderous summits, huge rocks, wintry forests, and waterfalls, its appeal is different to that of scenes painted by Guan Tong and Fan Kuan. While Guang and Fan concentrated on portraying magnificent mountains and rivers, Yan Wengui achieved in his landscapes an elegant atmosphere that was clear, sleek, and attractive. Of the southern school landscape painters during the Northern Song, Huichong was the most representative. Initiating the new trend of small scene landscape paintings, his work set the precedent for the »Song Small Work.« Monk Huichong, active between the reigns of Emperors Taizong and Zhenzong during the Northern Song, was skilled in poetry, as well as painting geese, ducks, wild geese, and herons. He was particularly gifted in small scenes, depicting several wintery sandbanks, distant islets, and soaring waterbirds. Despite the many panoramic-style compositions of landscape painters during the Five Dynasties, and

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their preference for large scrolls with huge rollers, Huichong was able to combine landscapes with birds and flowers. In this unique style, he created a small scene landscape brimming with poetic flavor, so much so that it gained the praise of Kou Zhun, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Chao Bu. He also influenced the paintings of Wang Shen, Zhao Lingran, and Liang Shimin to differing extents. Spring Morning in the Mountains and Streams is attributed to Huichong. This long scroll is a springtime scene of the patchwork of waterways south of the Yangtze river. It is filled with soft yellow and fresh green, with trees budding, and ripening peaches and apricots. Mountains stand in front and buildings at the back, creating a luminous and tender scene. Murmuring streams flow into the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, whilst farmers chase off herds of ducks, startling birds perched upon the water. With the sense of all living things recovering, this is a joyous, auspicious and peaceful work, full of vitality and picturesque charm. It therefore pioneered poetic small works in the Southern Song. In addition, Gao Keming, Imperial Painting Academy Painter-in-Attendance to Emperor Renzong, was adept in painting figures, and birds and flowers, and was especially renowned for his building landscapes. In painting landscapes, Imperial Painting Academy Painter-in-Waiting to Emperor Renzong, Qu Dinggong, studied Yan Wengui and was taught by Xu Daoning. The metamorphosis of the mountains, forests, and scenery that he painted, as well as hazy bleakness, and springs and rocks approaching the form of stone tablets, were rather thoughtful.

Section 4  The Four Masters of the Southern Song After the fall of the Southern Song, large numbers of northern painters migrated south of the

SECTION 4 THE FOUR MASTERS OF THE SOUTHERN SONG

Yangtze River. Their arrival not only propelled the development of painting in the Qiantang district, but also promoted a significant blending of northern and southern styles. Song Dynasty landscape paintings thereby experienced another large transformation. In this merging process, Li Tang played an important role. Three other Southern Song painters who were active slightly later than him, Liu Songnian, Ma Yuan, and Xia Gu, continued and developed his painting techniques, causing them to become mainstream in Southern Song painting academies. In painting history, these four painters are referred to as the »Four Masters of the Southern Song.«

1. Li Tang, Pioneer in the Wind Among the Four Masters of the Southern Song, Li Tang (c. 1050–1130) was not only a senior member of his family, but was also said to be the head of the Four Masters in historical painting achievements. His courtesy name was Xi Gu, and he was a native of Henan (modern Mengzhou in Henan), at the southern foot of the Taihang Mountains. Beginning by selling paintings for a living, he later entered the Hanlin Painting Academy at the end of the Northern Song, becoming Painter-in-Attendance at the Painting Academy soon after. During the Jingkang Incident, Li Tang followed Emperors Huizong and Qinzong in being captured in the north. After escaping, he made his way southwards, resisting Lian’an with Xiao Zhaotong. Receiving the special treatment of Emperor Gaozong, he re-joined the Painting Academy. After being made Painter-in-Attendance, and awarded the Golden Belt, he was already close to eighty. As a senior figure of two court painting academies, Li Tang’s landscapes were for a time unbounded, which earned him the high regard of Emperor Gaozong. Li Tang was skilled in painting landscapes, figures, birds, and animals. He could also depict architectural forms in the jiehua style. As for landscape paintings, he was able to paint in both the blue-green and ink styles, having particular suc-

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cess with landscape paintings in the latter. His period of activity spanned both the Northern and Southern Song, and his subject matter included Central Plains landscapes as well as scenes south of the Yangtze River. His influence reached the Song Dynasty Painting Academy before the common painters, and he was even revered by literati scholar officials. His landscape paintings originated from the north. Moreover, in the historical transformations of both the Northern and Southern Song, he held the essential function of »following the past and heralding the future.« Li Tang’s early landscape paintings emphasized the precipitousness and vigor of the Taihang Region landscape. In paintings, he simultaneously merged the harsh and profound atmosphere of Jing Hao and the subdued ink paintings of Fan Kuan. The texturing method was strong, and the brushwork bold and meticulous. Each painted mountain rock face was tall and robust, and mountaintop forests dense. Although many of his paintings still invoked memories of landscapes with their verdant hills and limpid water, rising, rose-tinted clouds, dazzling green hills, and bright blue water in the Qiantang Region, after migrating south, he began to seek new compatible modes of expression, gradually adapting opaque clouds and permeating mist to demonstrate the vast and unlimited depth of landscapes. With use of side strokes with coarse placement and clamping, he freely painted mountain faces. This created a strong three-dimensional effect, which would later become known as axe-cut texturing. His stroke vigor was powerful, and his use of ink became increasingly saturated, with rejuvenating and concise texturing and washes replacing the former accumulated dry ink stroke layers. In composition, he exchanged the common panoramic style for a single-angle landscape scene. From then on, the strict layout of Northern Song academic landscape paintings had been surpassed, and the bold, unconstrained, and concise new style of the Southern Song ink landscape paint-

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ing initiated. Prior to this, although Huichong had attempted small scene landscapes, these were classed only as a dramatic style outside of the court. Therefore, Li Tang was the first to truly bring this style into the Painting Academy. It could be said that the transformation of Li Tang’s painting style represented the entire transition process of the Northern Song landscape painting style into the Southern Song academic landscape painting style. On this basis, Southern Song academic style landscape paintings later took »axecut texturing« as a model method and an iconic symbol. Li Tang’s principle existing works are Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, Temple by the Changxia River, Small Landscape Scene, A Fishing Life on the Riverside, Autumn Landscape and Winter Landscape. Among these, Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, painted in the Xuanhe Period of the Northern Song, and A Fishing Life on the Riverside, painted in the Shaoxing Period of the Southern Song, demonstrate outstanding differences in composition, texturing, and depth. This reflects the different features of Li Tang’s landscape painting style in different periods. Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines (Fig. 6.11.9) is the representative work of Li Tang from the Xuanhe Painting Academy period of landscape painting. In this painting, mountain rocks, springs and waterfalls, tree forks, roots and leaves, and the rise and fall of the terrain are all clearly depicted. Strong ink and light colors are used to delineate the high Goulou mountains. The technique used to paint the pine trees is known as »appropriate distance.« Despite clear gradation, pine needles remain luxuriant with tree trunks and branches, remaining distinguishable amid twisted roots and intertwined joints. This scroll painting is rather large, and its scenery and size emphasize its grandeur and magnificence. It is similar to Fan Kuan’s Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams. This panoramic layout and emphasis on imposing majesty reflects Li Tang’s continuation of the northern landscape

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6.11.9 Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, Li Tang, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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painting style of the Northern Song. Moreover, since the small axe-cut stroke method used in the landscape painting was created by Li Tang, it also formed and developed typical Southern Song academic style landscape painting brush techniques. The A Fishing Life on the Riverside long scroll was painted during the Shaoxing Period of the Southern Song. Portraying scenery south of the Yangtze River, it demonstrates variation in painting methods. In this scroll, clever composition methods and saturated coarse ink broad strokes and axe-cut texturing are employed to portray a scene of shady riverside trees after rainfall, along with babbling creeks, bright and clean mountain rock, and fishermen angling in the shallows. Compared with Wind in Pines Among Myriad Ravines, this is a side-angle river-and-mountain scene. It could be said that A Fishing Life on the Riverside not only indicates the completion of Li Tang’s transformation of landscape paintings, but also symbolizes the fundamental stylistic form of Southern Song academic style landscape painting.

2. Liu Songnian Liu Songnian was a native of Qiantang (modern Hangzhou in Zhejiang). Although his dates are uncertain, he lived approximately during the Xiaozong, Guangzong, and Ningzong periods. He once stayed in the Qingbomen District, near the »Orioles Singing in the Willows« scenic spot by West Lake. Because Qingbomen was also referred to as »Anmen,« he also gained the nickname of »Anmen Liu.« During the Xiaozong and Chunxi periods (1174–1189) he was a student at the Painting Academy, before becoming Painter-in-Attendance during the Guangzong and Shaoxi periods (1190–1194). In the Ningzong Period (1195–1124), he was awarded the Golden Belt for his work entitled Tilling Fields and Weaving. All throughout his life, Liu Songnian held positions in the Painting Academy. Skilled in painting figures and landscapes, he was praised as »peerless within the Academy.« His figure paintings were inspired

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by several historical tales, the subject matter of which focused on scholarly and aristocratic life, as well as Buddhism. His delineation was slender, elegant, and strong, and his coloring was luminous and elegant. His ability to vividly demonstrate the appearance and temperament of objects provoked several poetic inscriptions by literati. However, his position in painting history is based largely upon his successful establishment of landscape paintings. Liu Songnian’s blue-green landscapes were dexterous and elegant, resembling those of Zhao Boju. Although he imitated Li Tang in ink landscapes, he was more inclined toward the neat and elegant. For mountain rocks he used small axe-cut texturing, and for trees he made much used of the pressed-leaf technique. His balconies, although neat and orderly, were not stiff. He possessed his own unique style. The format of his work also gradually transitioned from long scrolls with high rollers to short, small, and delicate albums. There were many depictions of West Lake carried out by painters during the Southern Song. Indeed, Liu Songnian’s surviving landscape work entitled Landscape of the Four Seasons (Fig. 6.11.10) depicts four seasonal scenes of West Lake, with which he was familiar. These embody his fundamental style. The first painting is a beautiful scene of a willow embankment by the lake in spring, with a bridge outside of a courtyard. Peaches and plums are ripe with beauty, and a master returns from a stroll in the greenery with his servant. The second painting is of this lakeside courtyard in the summer, with waterside pavilions and fragrant lotuses. The master sits out on the pavilion, enjoying the cool air. The third painting, set during the fall season, shows the master having closed his book and relaxing on his couch bed in the hall. Outside are Chinese parasol, maple, and oak trees. The heavy frost is strongly colored, and a tower stands in the distance. The fourth painting is a winter scene, featuring three pines side by side and snow enveloping the empty moun-

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6.11.10 Landscape of the Four Seasons (one and two), Liu Songnian, Palace Museum

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tains. The entrance to the main hall is obstinately closed, and a figure holding a long parasol rides a donkey, crossing the bridge to go out in the snow. Through his lively depictions of the four seasons, the painter provokes different artistic moods and appeals. The boundless twilight of spring, with a quiet manor, and intertwined trees and rocks, as well as faint and distant mountains, are completely saturated with spring light. With the lotus embankment and vast space of dark green ripples, trees strongly concealing the sun, and distant floating mountain range of the summer scene the observer’s impression is not one of oppressive summer heat, but instead one of a cool and gentle breeze. While autumn scenes were often described by poets as excessively sorrowful and melancholic, this painter depicts the fall season with admiration. The study and the distant hills form multiple smooth horizons, which add to the peaceful quality of the scene, whilst glimmering red and yellow leaves break this tranquility. This clever simultaneous peace and movement increases the vitality and depth of the scene. In the winter scene, the black pines and white snow form a satisfying contrast, with a quiet lake, dull, drooping sky, and silent snowy mountains that are completely without sorrow. This reflects the painter’s unique ingenuity. As for painting methods, as well as embodying the ink painting technique of using light ink for pale mist, the painting also demonstrates neat, high quality jiehua; the leaves on many trees are doubly outlined, and mountain rocks are painted with the axe-cut texture. Above all, the painter gives precedence to the technique of contrast. For instance, while the nearby mountain rocks are on all sides firm, dark, and dense, the distant mountains are shaped in light ink, with several round curves. Overall, this painting album represents the individuality and style typical of Liu Songnian’s landscape paintings, as well as the fundamental stylistic features of Southern Song painting academies.

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3. The Corner Compositions of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui The majority of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui’s landscape paintings imitated those of Li Tang. While their brush techniques were bold and compendious, they increasingly used ink saturation. Their composition was more inclined towards side and corner scenes, historically referred to as »Ma’s Corner and Xia’s Side.« If Li Tang was the most creative of the four Southern Song masters, then Ma Yuan had the most prominent individual characteristics. Ma Yuan, courtesy name Yaofu, also known as Qinshan, was a native of Hezhong (modern Yongju in Shanxi). Born in Lin’an, his dates are uncertain. He was Painter-in-Waiting, and then Painter-in-Attendance, in the Imperial Painting Academy during the Guangzong, Ningzong, and Lizong periods. As he maintained close relations with the emperor’s relatives, many of his works feature prefaces and postscripts written by imperial family members. Ma Yuan was born into an aristocratic family of painters, and several of his ancestors were praised as »Buddhist Image Master Yan.« His great-grandfather Ma Ben was adept at painting small scenes of flowers and bamboo. His grandfather Ma Xingzu produced mixed bird-and-flower paintings. His uncle Ma Gong and his father Ma Shirong had both served as Painter-in-Attendance during the Shaoxing Period. His elder brother Ma Kui was good at painting landscapes, figures and, in particular, birds and flowers, serving as Painter-in-Attendance during the Ningzong Period. His son Ma Lin was also good at painting, his landscapes carrying on the style of his father’s. He could also paint figures, birds and flowers, and was Painter-in-Waiting during the Ningzong and Lizong periods. It is clear that Ma Yuan’s painting success was not unrelated to his paternal education. However, his special position in Southern Song painting circles relied more upon his own unique creativity.

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The subject matter of Ma Yuan’s paintings spanned a wide range. Although he was proficient in birds and flowers, and figures, it was landscape painting that established his position in art history. While carrying on his paternal education, he mainly imitated Li Tang in his landscape paintings, developing his strong, powerful, and vigorous strokes, and dull and sturdy character. He used several scenes of mountains and rivers in the Jiangsu Region, especially views of Qiantang and the West Lake. The style was simple, elegant, and lucid. In several of his works, mountainous features stood tall on wonderous peaks. Trees and mixed plants were outlined with ink, and large axe-cut texturing was used for several mountain rocks. As for the partial painting, he was able to transform the heavy use of the panoramic style in Five Dynasties and Northern Song landscape paintings, instead painting only one corner of a natural landscape, known as »Ma’s Corner.« Ma Yuan’s surviving landscape paintings include Dancing and Singing—Peasants Returning from Work, Fishing on a Snowy River, Snow, and Properties of Water. Dancing and Singing—Peasants Returning from Work (Fig. 6.11.11) is Ma Yuan’s most renowned painting, and the work which contains the most features of Southern Song »academic style.« Grape trees stand upright and motionless, and the tree line is uneven as four somewhat intoxicated old men sing and dance whilst walking along the winding ridges of Qiangtang village. This painting successfully combines landscapes and figures, while also acting as a »social custom« painting. The energetic brush technique used demonstrates Ma Yuan’s ability. The ink color is rich, and boundaries are deep despite this being a corner scene. Mature use of axe-cut texturing and delicately handled mist form the backdrop of the painting’s thematic ambiance. The sense of happiness and prosperity is combined with the appropriateness of the landscape artistic mood, causing this to become one of the most outstanding representative works of Southern Song paint-

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ing academies. Fishing on a Snowy River is based on a poem by Liu Zongyuan: »A thousand mountains yet no birds fly, ten thousand footpaths with no passers-by. In a lone boat a man wears a straw coat and bamboo hat, fishing alone in the cold river snow.« A small boat sits upon the vast surface of the river, while a lone fisherman casts his rod, fishing. Beside the boat, a few undulating strokes form light and delicate waves. The painter uses the large blank space to demonstrate the merging of the water and sky into a single color. The careful depiction of the fisherman grasping his rod and angling with rapt attention serves as foil to the vast and boundless surface of the river. Skilled in using large areas of blank space, this was a significant characteristic of Ma Yuan’s landscape paintings, as well as an important feature of Chinese painting more generally. Properties of Water contains 12 paintings in total, divided to portray water in different states. These include Light Breeze at Dongting Lake, Range upon Range of Ripples and Waves, Clear and Shallow Water in the Cold Pond, The Vastness of the Yangtze River, Counter Currents in the Yellow River, Rhythmic Ripples of Autumn Water, Clouds Rising from the Limitless Sea, Luminous Lake with Ripples, Clouds Unfurling and Waves Rolling Up, Morning Sun Shines upon the Mountain, and Small Waves Drift Away. The painter uses different tracing methods and washes to demonstrate various forms of water in different environments and climates. In ancient times, this was an important water-focused work. Xia Gui (‌夏圭, also written as 夏珪), is as wellknown as Ma Yuan in painting history. Together, they were known as »Ma and Xia.« Xia Gui’s courtesy name was Yuyu, and he was a native of Qiantang (modern Hangzhou in Zhejiang). Although his dates are uncertain, they were slightly later than those of Ma Yuan. He served as Painter-in-Attendance at the Imperial Academy for Emperors Ningzong and Lizong. Xia Gui excelled in painting landscapes, as well as figures in his early years. In

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6.11.11  Dancing and Singing— Peasants Returning from Work, Ma Yuan, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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landscape paintings, he mainly imitated Li Tang, but also drew on the strengths of Fan Kuan, Mi Fu, and Mi Fa. As he liked to use worn-out brushes, his strokes were rather heavy, with a vigorous and powerful appearance. When using ink, he skillfully regulated the water content, thereby achieving a saturated and moist result. In the texturing of mountain rocks, he would often first use a light ink wash, before taking advantage of the moisture to use strong ink texture, creating a mixed ink result. This was also known as »wading in mud and water« texturing. The figures adorning his paintings were compendious and vivid. He did not need a ruler for buildings such as pavilions and kiosks, painting them in freehand. He tailored scenes to be precise and appropriate. He also liked to paint in one corner or one side, earning him the historical nickname of »One-Side Xia.« Many of Xia Gui’s landscape paintings were based on the patchwork of waterways near Qiantang. In particular, he focused on West Lake scenes, and was adept at depicting misty and drizzly Jiang’an lake front scenes of this area. He was also skilled in painting snowy scenes. Xia Gui’s key surviving works include Pure and Remote View of Streams and Mountains, Twelve Views of Landscape, Graceful Rivers and Mountains, Willows and Boats on West Lake, Observing the Waterfall, Hut Facing Parasol Trees, Bamboos, and Rivers, Misty Peaks and Forest Hut, and Talking with a Guest by a Pine Cliff. Pure and Remote View of Streams and Mountains is representative of Xia Gui’s long scroll format. Opening the scroll reveals ancient pines and huge rocks, mist and hills. Moving on to the next scene, one can see clusters of trees framing one another, strolling peasants, distant mountains shrouded in mist, and many tiny sailing boats. Imposing cliffs project from the opposite bank, along with dense forests. Below the cliffs, the banks are connected by a wooden bridge on which idlers chat softly, and under which cargo ships are loaded and unloaded. Next to the bridge is a hut with a bamboo

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fence, with people wandering out of the village. In addition, mist-covered water can be seen extending into the distance, along with thick green overlapping forests, and lofty and towering peaks, under which these are large boulders and shallow rivers, a small inn and an incline. Beyond this is the mountain village Maopeng, where the scroll ends. In this work, the painter depicts protruding cliffs and level rivers, high ridges and shallow creeks, dense forests and neglected rocks, and horizontal mountains and dotted boats according to their dimensions. This results in the intricate distance of close rocks and far-off mountains, layered forests and the spring sky, and anchored vessels and sailing boats, forming a rhythmic sense of undulation. Simultaneously, the horizontal bridge, level shores, clouds and mist, and distant mountains connect the different scenes, creating a continuous and unbroken grandeur. The inkwash painting technique is used on the entire scroll, and the axe-cut texturing technique is used for mountains and rocks. The brush technique is forceful, embodying a quiet, simple, peaceful, cold, and desolate atmosphere. Graceful Rivers and Mountains depicts a fishing village on a distant shore. This is a Yangtze River scene with bridges, streams, and range upon range of wonderous peaks. This scenic spot south of the river is skillfully composed in light ink. Willows and Boats on West Lake and Twelve Views of Landscape both depict scenes of the Qiantang River. Xia Gui’s small works are also very refined, featuring several »one-sided« landscapes. Albums such as Talking with a Guest by a Snowy Hut, Hut Facing Parasol Trees, Bamboos, and Rivers and Talking with a Guest by a Pine Cliff, and silk fans such as Misty Peaks and Forest Hut, Distant Hills Shrouded in Mist and Fog, Pines, and Rivers and the Floating Moon. Ma Yuan and Xia Gui developed the partial scene composition and vigorous simple painting style started by Li Tang to its limit. They took the complexity of landscape painting texturing strokes to

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the other extreme of simplicity and broadness, resulting in people falling over one another to follow this example. During Ma Yuan’s son Ma Lin’s time as Painter-in-Waiting to Emperor Ningzong at the Painting Academy, he carried his paternal education on through his paintings. His surviving landscape paintings are Layers of Melting Ice, Quietly Listening to the Wind in the Pines, and Sunset Landscape. Xia Gui’s son Xia Sen, who was adept at painting landscapes, also carried on his family’s techniques. Many painters in Southern Song painting academies painted West Lake, resulting in the later formation of the »Ten Scenes of West Lake« subject matter. Ten Scenes of West Lake by Xie Xiaoyan, Painter-in-Waiting at the Painting Academy during the Baoyou Period, was considered to be a masterpiece of the Ma Yuan school of landscape painting. While there are several existing Southern Song anonymous works, and forgeries of Ma Yuan and Xia Gui’s landscape paintings, many are also works in the style of the Ma and Xia schools. In addition, as representatives of the Southern Song academic painting style, Ma and Xia directly facilitated the development of the Ming Dynasty Zhe school, the influence of which was so great that it reached painting circles in Japan.

Section 5  Other Landscape Paintings in the Southern Song, Liao, and Jin Dynasties While Southern Song landscape paintings were led by the »academic style,« this was manifold. In addition to the outstanding development of the blue-green landscape, splashed ink and simple stroke landscape paintings represented by painters such as Liang Kai appeared. At the same time, all households that migrated south, not including the Four Masters of the Southern Song, created achievements in Southern Song landscape paint-

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ing together with Qiangtang local painters. Five Dynasties and Northern Song northern painting school landscape painting techniques were also continued into the Northern Liao and Jin dynasties, with some achievements.

1. »The Two Zhaos« and Their Blue and Green Landscapes The Two Zhaos, that is, the brothers Zhao Boju and Zhao Boxiao, were 7th generation descendants of Emperor Taizong. Zhang Boju (c.  1120–1170), courtesy name Qianli, was a native of Bianjing (modern Kaifeng in Henan). After the Song court migrated south to Qiantang, Emperor Gaozong appreciated his work, awarding him with an imperial position. Zhao Boju was an expert in landscapes, flowers and fruits, plumage, towers, and jiehua. He was also renowned for his blue-green landscapes, which had a definite impact on both his own and later generations. Zhao Boxiao (1124–1182), courtesy name Xiyuan, successively held official positions during the Southern Song, his official career unhindered. His paintings were as well-known as those of his brother, and their styles were similar. In painting history, the brothers were referred to as the »Two Zhaos.« The contribution of the Two Zhaos to painting history is mainly reflected in the significance of their greenblue landscape paintings in the court. Although neither of the brothers were court painters, they received special treatment from Emperor Gaozong (personal name Zhao Gou) in the early years of the Southern Song. At this time, Zhao Gou was collecting talent to revive the Imperial Academy. Consequently, the Zhao brothers, as descendants of the imperial household with official careers, inevitably became involved with the aesthetic taste of the Imperial Painting Academy. The success of Two Zhaos blue-green landscape paintings manifested itself in the following ways: First, they developed the blue-green landscape form of imperial charm. As polar opposite of the ink style, the blue-green painting technique

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acted as the dividing line between the paper-thin painting in Tang Dynasty coloring and ink wash techniques, improving the products of traditional color painting methods. The technique of using strong colors to apply a wash had been used since ancient times, spreading in folk artisan painting techniques such as murals. However, only after the time of Tang Dynasty father and son Li Sixun and Li Zhaodao did the blue-green style use more concentrated and beautiful colors. This began to manifest in notions of landscape painting coloration, forming a unique painting technique pattern and coloring method. As members of the imperial clan, the »Two Li’s« of the Tang Dynasty adhered to the tastes of the imperial household and the aristocracy in their blue-green landscapes. The »riches and honor« quality was created with rich, verdant green, and glorious gold and jade. This was the central reflection of imperial household aesthetic tastes. In the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods, although blue-green landscapes had by no means become the main orientation of Imperial Painting Academy creation, they acted as a standard of the imperial family riches and honor painting style created by the Painting Academy. However, the temperament of blue-green landscape paintings stayed the same. Nevertheless, in the court of Huizong, Wang Ximeng’s A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was a direct and typical embodiment of the aesthetic charm of landscape paintings created in the Northern Song Painting Academy. Therefore, the blue-green format ad-

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opted in the landscapes of Song court descendants the Two Zhaos was in fact complementary to that of the Imperial Painting Academy school of painting. This was a continuation of the aesthetic charm of the Song Dynasty Imperial Painting Academy. Second, while the blue-green landscape paintings of the Two Zhaos of the Tang Dynasty, and notably those of Wang Ximeng of the Northern Song, were rich and beautiful in style, an elegant quality, full of morale, permeated the richness and beauty of the blue-green landscape paintings of the Two Zhaos. This »elegance« and »morale« was related to the environmental influence of the Two Zhaos paternal education. For instance, many of their ancestors had maintained friendly relationships with elegant literati scholars such as Su Shi, Wang Shen, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fi, and Li Gonglin. When the Song court migrated south, their family’s financial circumstances deteriorated. This inevitably caused the Two Zhaos to yearn for the scholar-official life. This mood may be embodied in the morale of their blue-green landscape paintings. Surviving works of the Two Zhaos are currently difficult to find, with Zhao Boju’s works being especially rare. The current existing works attributed to him are Ah Pavilion and Han Palace. Han Palace is a silk fan, on which is a landscape and buildings painted in the jiehua style, combined with figures. This embodies the charm of recollecting and admiring an ancient style. Zhao Boxiao’s Golden Halls in Pine Forest (Fig. 6.11.12)

6.11.12 Golden Halls in Pine Forest, Zhao Boxiao, National Palace Museum in Taipei

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has always been evaluated as authentic. Painted on this scroll is an everyday monotone scene, with vast mist-covered water, dark and glossy mountains, graceful spiraling pines, and a distant sunrise. The brush technique used is delicate and pretty. Although this is a blue-green landscape, its coloring is refined, creating the atmosphere of the scroll. This encapsulates the fundamental features of the Two Zhaos blue-green landscapes.

2. Landscape Paintings with Abbreviated Brush and Splashed Ink In addition to the academic landscape painting style heavy relied upon by Southern Song landscape painting circles (with the exception of the »Four Masters«), there were the so-called »abbreviated brush« landscapes of Liang Kai as well as the splashed ink landscape paintings of Muxi and Yu Jian. Although these techniques were not mainstream in painting circles, they developed the creativity of landscape painting techniques, and held undeniable significance. Liang Kai, the Academy Painter-in-Attendance to Southern Song Emperor Ningzong during the Jiatai Period (1201–1204), was a distinguished disciple of Jia Shigu. A native of Dongping (located in modern Shandong), he was fond of drinking. With the poetic name Madman Liang, he was an uninhibited individual. He painted figures, images of the Buddha, spirits, and was also skilled at landscape and bird-and-flower paintings. His works were divided into two styles, the first being known as »delicate brush,« from the specialized exquisite and rigorous paintings from the Tang Dynasty lineage system of Wu Daozi and Li Gonglin, the second known as »abbreviated brush,« inherited from Shi Ke of the Five Dynasties, which was free-spirited, agile, and indulgent, with very few strokes. Liang Kai’s abbreviated brush figure paintings were remarkably accomplished, and initiated the Yuan, Ming and Qing tradition of xieyi (freehand with vivid expression and bold outline) paintings of figures,

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establishing its position in art history. However, his landscape paintings possessed a unique style. Although he had once been the Painter-in-Attendance, his landscape paintings differed from those in the academic style. In addition, their subject matter was not the beautiful scenery south of the Yangtze River, but the harsh northern winter. The extant paining entitled Riding on Horseback by a Snowy Inn features dark clouds enveloping desolate snowy mountains beyond the Great Wall, with two bearded men riding on horseback. Near the front of the scene are ancient trees with withered branches. The delicate texture of the mountain rock and dotting of chrysanthemums appear to be inspired by Fan Kuan. However, the scenery in the painting does not feature the high-distance feel of northern landscape paintings, appearing gentler, and more natural. Furthermore, the landscape background of Sakyamuni Descending the Mountain after Asceticism’s also reflects the appearance of the northern landscape. In Southern Song painting circles, the splashed ink landscapes of Yujian and Muxi were also extremely rich in characteristics. Yujian, the Dharma name of whom was Ruofen, courtesy name Zhongshi, and first name Cao, took the tonsure at nine years old. A native of Wuzhou (modern Jinhua in Zhejiang), his are dates uncertain, although he was active from the end of the Southern Song until the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. In his later years, he lived reclusively in his place of birth, passing away at the age of 80. Yujian was fond of roaming the countryside, depicting nature, and often inscribed poems on his own paintings. Of his representative work entitled Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, it appears that only Temple in the Mountain, Moon in Autumn on Dongting Lake, and Sailing Ship Returning Home remain. The splashed ink technique is used on the entire Temple in the Mountain scroll, a scene of a mountain village gradually disappearing into the mist. The foreground features steep mountains and a wooden bridge, surrounded by a blanket of

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fog. Through the haze, one can vaguely make out travelers leaning on walking poles. The distance is filled with cloudy mountains shrouded in mist. Ink is splashed all over the painting. The swift and capricious ink marks appear to be painted with a soft, long brush. The wooden bridge and cliff rocks in the foreground are outlined with strong ink and exposed with light ink. This expressive brushwork is full of variations and contrasts which are extremely harmoniously integrated. Muxi was renowned for his skill in painting figures, as well as landscapes. Of his surviving work entitled Eight Views of Xiaoxiang, it currently appears that the three Fishing Village in the Evening Glow, Evening Gong at Qingliang Temple, and Sailing Ship Returning Hone works remain. The subtle properties of ink are amply used in each painting, remarkably portraying the atmosphere and light of sunset. However, there are no records of either Muxi or Yujian visiting Xiaoxiang. Therefore, although the subject of the scroll was »Eight Scenes of Xiaoxiang,« this topic was in reality the artists’ own idea. All of their paintings all were morning and night scenes of West Lake in Qiantang.

3. Masters Who Migrated from the North to the South and the Group of Painters in the Qiantang Area Numerous Northern Song painters migrated south. Those skilled in landscape painting, excluding painters such as Li Tang, included Xiao Zhao, Zhu Rui, and Jia Shigu. Together, they laid the foundation for the initial development of Southern Song landscape painting. Xiao Zhao was a native of Huoze (modern Yangcheng in Shanxi). His dates are uncertain. As his early years were occupied by writing, he was wellread and artistic. In the years of Jingkang, the Jin army invaded the south, and the Central Plains was caught in the chaos of war. He joined the volunteer army in the Taihang Mountains, meeting Li Tang, who he respected as a mentor, and who he followed south to Lin’an. After this, he received

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as much teaching as possible from Li Tang, and his painting skill significantly improved. During the Shaoxing Period (1131–1162), he entered the Painting Academy, and was granted the position of Painter-in-Attendance. He was also awarded the Golden Belt and received the esteem of Emperor Gaozong. Xiao Zhao was adept at painting landscapes and figures, his landscapes resembling those of Li Tang. With unusual pines and odd rocks, their artistic mood was original. At this time, murals in several temples and palace gardens were his handiwork. While Xiao Zhao’s murals have long been extinct, his scroll painting entitled Buildings on a Mountainside survives. In this work are riverbanks and tall, steep cliffs, as well as dark, dense forests. On the opposite bank is a level islet, amid light and winding mist. Between the cliffs are winding footpaths, and a thin waterfall. Travelers appreciate the scenery upon the steep cliff, and a ferry sits on the shore. Large and small axe-cut texturing techniques are also used on the mountain rocks in this painting. This bold brushwork is clearly inspired by Li Tang. In his early years, Zhu Rui served as Painter-in-Attendance at the Xuanhe Painting Academy, and resumed this post after migrating south. Skilled at landscapes and figures, he was especially fond of wagon cart paintings. At this time, wagon carts were used as transportation vehicles. Wagon Cart is a painting that combines scenery and figures, and features the landscape Song Dynasty »social custom« subject matter. Zhu Rui’s surviving works entitled Travelers in Spring Scenery and Travelers in Winter Scenery are both wagon cart paintings. Among these, Travelers in Spring Scenery depicts an early springtime scene. Alternating between warmth and the cold, trees turn green, and mountains are shrouded in layered mist. Huge rocks extend horizontally across the foot of the mountain, and in front of the mountain are smooth banks. One ox wagon is pulled along the mountain path, while another ox wades through the river with difficulty. The techniques of paint-

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ing trees and rocks in this work stem from Guo Xi. Huge rocks are painted with devil’s face texturing, and treetops are adorned with crab claws. Travelers in Winter Scenery depicts the midwinter season, with a pack of ox-wagons being pulled across a wooden arch bridge. This painting technique is also based upon that of Guo Xi, but is stiffer, and more square. Jia Shigu, native of Bianjing (modern Kaifeng in Henan), was stranded in Lian’an after the Jingkang incident, and entered the Painting Academy during the Shaoxing Period. Mainly painting figures, he studied Li Gonglin’s line-drawing technique. He was also skilled in landscape painting, and his technique was similar to that of Li Tang— bold, shrewd, and ruthless. The extant Ancient Temple on a Mountain Pass album is attributed to him. During the Xiaozong Period of the Southern Song, painters in the Qiantang Region (including the second generation of painters who had migrated south) began to mature, gradually catching up to those who had migrated south. Among them, the first local painters to appear still studied and imitated the Northern Song painting style, although painters such as Jiang Can and Ma Hezhi used this to depict southern scenery. Although artists such as Li Song were descended from painters who had migrated south, as a result of being born in the Southern Song, their selection of subject matter and painting techniques was unlikely to be very »northern,« instead depicting scenery liked that of West Lake. In many respects, these painters somewhat differed from the Four Masters of the Southern Song. Together, they formed a different style within Southern Song painting circles. Jiang Can, courtesy name Guandao, was a native of Sanqu in Zhejiang. He was born during the Northern Song and died during the Shaoxing Period of the Southern Song. He was active in the Wuxing district south of the Yangtze River. His painting technique was like the of Dong Yuan, but bolder, and more unconstrained. He was one

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of the few local painters of the Southern Song not to be involved with the Painting Academy. He mainly took painting subject matter from the Lake Tai Region of the Yangtze River. Many of his works were grand and imposing. His surviving A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains is representative of the south of Yangtze River painting style at the beginning of the Southern Song. This picture scroll depicts an idyllic natural scene, with tranquil temples situated amid mountain forests and ravines, brisk, undulating fishing boats in a branching streams, sandy banks by the waterside, free flowing mountain streams, glimpses of mountain tracks, and ridges and peaks. While this picture scroll depicts sights south of Yangtze River, the composition of its scenery is influenced by the northern landscape paintings of the Northern Song. The ancient mountain ranges are high and profound, and the undulating hills stretch long and unbroken. The brushwork also combines the northern and the southern, incorporating shortstroke texture dots, water halo ink sealing, and long-brush texturing. Another work, Jade Forests and Mountains, also demonstrates these distinctive painting techniques. Ma Hezhi was born in Qiantang. Although his dates are unknown, he was mainly active during the Shaoxing Period. With regard to his specific status, there are two differing historical accounts. One maintains that he was a Painting Academy artist residing in the palace; the other claims that he studied to become an imperial official, passed the exam during the Shaoxing Period and went on to become Minister of War. Ma Hezhi painted figures, images of the Buddha, and landscapes. His painting style was distinctive in that it differed from both the Xuanhe style of the Northern Song, and academic style of the Southern Song. His graceful brushwork was said to embody the enlightened »Wu style.« His painted figures were influenced by Wu Daozi and Li Songlin. He developed a variation upon Wu Daozi’s portrayal of orchid leaves, known as »horse locusts« by later

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generations, and becoming one of 18 clothing pattens painted on traditional Chinese figures. Many of his works were ink paintings. Even when he did apply color, he used rather light ink. In his time, he was known as »the little Wu.« While several of Ma Hezhi’s surviving paintings are of landscapes, many are based on the descriptive poetic compositions of his predecessors. These include Odes Beginning with Deer Call and Ancient Trees and Flowing Springs. Odes Beginning with Deer Call contains ten paintings, depicting music being performed at a court banquet with people merrily lifting their goblets, as per the scene depicted in »Lesser Court Hymns: Deer Call« (»Xiaoya: Luming« 小雅- 鹿鸣) in the Classic of Poetry. This painting’s delicate beauty, mellow fullness, refined elegance, smooth and dignified composition, vivacious wit, simple and elegant ink coloring, and graceful painting technique demonstrate leisurely, clear, elegant, and glossy features, resulting in a scene filled with harmony and happiness, with a cultured and refined atmosphere. Another work, entitled Later Red Cliff Rhapsody, took its material from Su Shi’s »Later Red Cliff Rhapsody« (Hou chibi fu 后赤壁赋). In this, the painter intentionally selects an action scene of a crane that »flew across the river from the east, skimming over boats toward the west.« This gentle and relaxed painting technique creates a distant, peaceful, and mournful atmosphere. Li Song (approx. 1170–1255) was a native of Qiantang. A carpenter in his youth, he later became the adopted son of Li Congxun, an academy painter who had migrated south. In painting he received his father’s instruction, later becoming the Painter-in-Attendance in the courts of Xiaozong, Guangzong, and Ningzong. Li Song mastered Daoism and Buddhism, figures, landscapes, flowers, and plants, and especially jiehua paintings. It can also be seen from his surviving landscape paintings that he was one of the earlier painters to incorporate West Lake and Qiantang River into his work. In his West Lake scroll, he used a realist

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painting technique to depict a panoramic scene of West Lake, with evaporating mist and clouds, and rippling waves. Under a moist and saturated mist, on the shore sits Leifang Pagoda, the Broken Bridge, a small boat, and a pavilion. There is also a mountain range encircling the lake, creating a gradual outline, resulting in a familiar and pleasant West Lake scene. Watching the Tide in the Moonlight and Observing the Qiantang Tide are also attributed to Li Song, and both depict the tidal bore of Qiantang River. Among them, Watching the Tide in the Moonlight is an observation scene of a bright moon on a late-autumn night, shining through the flying eaves of a tall building and the tips of tree branches. This corner scene is different from the panoramic view of West Lake, in that it only captures the palace garden, river water, a small boat, and distant mountains. Through the depiction of the graceful and refined pavilion, the turbulent and surging power of the Qiantang tide, as well as the vast emptiness of the river and sky, is emphasized.

4. Landscape Paintings in the Liao and Jin During the Northern and Southern Song, as ethnic minority regime areas such as the northern Liao, which coexisted with the Central Plains Han regime, the Western Xia, and the Jin, bordered on or overlapped with the Northern Song, their cultures received much Han cultural influence. Their landscape paintings also commonly followed the Five Dynasties and Northern Song, integrating scenery north of the Great Wall. As for the painters of this region, many were Central Plains Han or their descendants. The number of Khitan and Jurchen people studying to become painters was very small. While Early Liao Dynasty landscape paintings were influenced by the Tang, the later Liao painting style directly carried on that of the Five Dynasties. Only a small number of scroll paintings remain from this period, including Herd of Deer in a Maple Grove, Herd of Deer in an Autumnal Grove,

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6.11.13 Red Cliff, Jiang Can, National Palace Museum in Taipei

and Playing Go and Awaiting a Friend. The simple, sincere ancient style of this work constituted a different kind of painting technique, the characteristic and meaning of which could not be replaced by Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song landscape paintings. Although the painter of Herd of Deer in a Maple Grove is anonymous, it has been verified as a Liao work. The style of this painting is completely different from that Central Plains landscape paintings, which also existed at this time. Depicted is a scene north of the Great Wall, without a single blank space in the entire scroll. This work features impenetrable frosty woods and red leaves, and in the grassy woods a herd of deer either forages or rests. As for the painting method, it does not incorporate line drawing, but different colors of dye are used to illustrate the layers of the trees. The painter does not at all emphasize the distance and space between of these trees, instead paying particular attention to decorative techniques, creating an artistic feel. While the silhouettes of the animals are not prominently outlined, the shading method is primarily used. Beginning from the edges, the ink is gradually watered down, making the animals’ bodies appear rather bulky. In composition, coloring, and other such respects, Herd of Deer in an Autumnal Grove is similar to the previous painting. Playing Go and

Awaiting a Friend was excavated in May 1974 in Faku, Liaoning, in Yemaotai Liao Tomb no. 7. It is therefore thought to be a reasonably reliable Liao Dynasty work. At the top of the painting are high ridges and peaks. In the middle are pines and firs lined up close together, and a deep and locked up ancient ancestral temple. Two men play go on the cliff plain, and outside the monastery is a connecting curved corridor. At the bottom is a tranquil river, with pedestrians ambling along the shore. While the composition style of this work is similar to that of Jing Hao, its level of art appreciation is low. The Northern Song homeland was part of Jin Dynasty territory. As this had once been the Central Plains Region with the most developed culture, the landscape paintings of this district still adhered to the Northern Song, gaining unusual success. Well-known painters such as Wu Yuanzhi and Li Shan were descended from natives of the Central Plains during the Northern Song. Wu Yuanzhi, courtesy name Shanfu, dates unknown, was a distinguished scholar during the Mingchang Period (1190–1196) of the Jin Dynasty who specialized in landscape paintings. At one point, he had collected Peach Garden, Peach Creek, Boat Returning Amid Wind and Rain, Stopping to Fish on the Autumn River, Snowy Sky Clearing on a Morn-

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ing Walk and Nest Clouds in the Snowy Dawn, all of which he cherished and would not give away. His extant work Red Cliff (Fig. 6.11.13) is inspired by Su Shi’s »Red Cliff Rhapsody« (Chibi fu 赤壁赋) and is distinctive in both composition and painting technique. This scene centers on the steep crags of the Red Cliff, surrounded by undulating waves on the river surface, upon which sails a light boat. Cliff rocks and clustered trees are painted on the left and right near the front of the scene. Axe-cut texturing is used to display the ruggedness and sturdiness of mountain rock precipices, and the trees are vigorous. As a whole, the scene has its origins in the Northern Song Dynasty, embodying the greatest achievements of Jin Dynasty landscape paintings. Another Jin Dynasty painter was Li Shan, the dates of whom are also uncertain. It is only known that he served as Fen Prefecture provincial governor during the Dading Period (1161–1189) and became a secretary during the Taihe Period (1201–1208), at the age of 80. Li Shan was always in close contact

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with Wang Tingyun and his son. In old age, he still liked to paint large scrolls of trees and rocks. His surviving works include Wind and Snow in the Fir Pines and Travelers Among the Fir Pines, both of which are masterpieces filled with northern characteristics. Wind and Snow in the Fir Pines features icy peaks standing in great numbers, with over ten lofty fir pine trees proudly sticking out of the ice and snow. Under the trees is a quiet courtyard. This painting differs from typical winter landscapes. Whilst people in the Song Dynasty used layer upon layer of snow on mountain ridges to demonstrate winter scenes, Li Shan in this work focuses on the fir pines standing proud amongst the ice and snow, using the snowy peaks to contrast them. Other renowned Jin Dynasty landscape painters included Ren Xun and Yang Bangji. Wang Tingyun and his son were also adept at painting ink bamboo landscapes, Taking the painting character of Northern Song literati, this had some influence on Yuan Dynasty painting.

CHAPTER XII  NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN BIRD-AND-FLOWER PAINTING AND FIGURE PAINTING Section 1  The Formation of the Bird-andFlower Painting Genre: The Differing Styles of Xu and Huang In the history of painting, what is called the »differing styles of Xu and Huang,« that is, the »luxuriance of the Huang School and tranquility of Xu Xi« (»Huangjia fugui, xuxi yeyi« 黄家富贵， 徐熙野逸), refers to two widely differing painting styles in the field of bird-and-flower painting from the Western Shu and Southern Tang to the early Northern Song Dynasty. Of these, the »luxuriant Huang School« painting style was founded by Huang Quan in Western Shu and inherited by his sons Huang Jubao and Huang Jucai. Featuring fine workmanship and splendor, it influenced bird-and-flower painting of the school of art during the early Song Dynasty. The »Tranquility of Xu Xi« bird-and-flower painting was a tranquility (yeyi 野逸) school represented by Xu Xi of the Tang Dynasty. His grandson Xu Chongsi and others inherited the family techniques and created a trend for the time. The style existed at the same time as that of the Huang School.

1. »The Luxuriance of the Huang School« The »luxuriant Huang School« painting style was founded by Huang Quan, who was the highest-ranking painter in the painting division of the Western Shu Hanlin Academy. With his exquisite and rich depiction of rare birds in the palace, he established the guidelines and aesthetic style for bird-and-flower painting of the palace painting academy. This model he provided had far-reach-

ing influence. Not only did it provide a model for bird-and-flower painting for the painting division of Western Shu Hanlin Academy, but also as a result of the inheritance and development of the profession by Huang Jucai, its influence continued uninterrupted long after the start of the Song Dynasty, lasting until the end of the dynasty. Huang Quan (?–965 CE; professional name Yaoshu) was born in Chengdu and served as an imperial attendant in the Hanlin Academy when the department of painting was established. He also served as the director of the division of painting, and later moved to the capital as deputy envoy, also serving in the Department of State Affairs and as a censor. When he was young, he learned to draw stones, flowers, and sparrows from Diao Guangyin. He also studied Sun Wei’s paintings of human figures, dragons, and water, and Li Sheng’s paintings of landscapes, and subsequently took from the best of each style to create his own style. In Huang Quan’s paintings, birds are depicted in an extremely lifelike manner. According to the Record of Famous Paintings in Yizhou (Yizhou minghua lv 益州名画录), the wild pheasant he painted in Bagua Hall was seen by a white eagle, who mistakenly thought the pheasant to be alive, and repeatedly flapped its wings and attempted to catch it. Huang Quan’s paintings of cranes were also admired by people at the time, who regarded them as more luxuriant than those of Xue Ji, a famous painter of cranes during the Tang Dynasty. The paintings of human figures by Huang Quan were regarded as following the techniques of Gu Kaizhi. In the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings (Xuanhe huapu 宣和画谱), it is recorded that Wang Yan, the emperor of the

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former Shu Dynasty (also known as the »Later Lord« [Houzhu 后主]), once summoned Huang Quan to view Wu Daoxuan’s painting of Zhong Kui hanging in the palace hall, and requested him to change the painting so that the middle finger of the right hand of Zhong Kui shown to be digging out the eye of a ghost would instead be depicted to show the thumb digging out the eye. Huang Quan did not change the painting, but rather painted another painting depicting Zhou Kui using his thumb to dig out the eye of the ghost. When the Later Lord reprimanded him, Huang Quan replied, »Wu Daoxuan’s Zhong Kui focuses his eyes on his middle finger instead of on his thumb, so I dared not change it. In the one I painted, he focuses all his strength on the thumb.« Thus, it can be seen that Huang Quan was highly skilled in figure painting. The painting method of Huang Quan was inherited by his sons Jubao and Jucai. Huang Jubao (professional name, Ciyu), Huang Quan’s second son, served as an imperial attendant for the Hanlin Academy of Painting during the later Shu Dynasty, painted flowers, birds, bamboo, and stones, and excelled at clerical script calligraphy. His brushwork depicting Tai Lake rocks (Taihushi 太湖石) was particularly unique, but he tragically died before the age of 40. Huang Jucai (933–993 CE or later; professional name, Boluan), was the youngest son of Huang Quan and also served as an imperial attendant of the painting division of the Hanlin Academy. The flowers, bamboo, and feathers he painted are particularly plain and feature emotional vitality and forcefulness, closely resembling the style of his father. Huang Quan and his son Huang Jucai served in the Western Shu Painting Academy for decades, and they both enjoyed the patronage of the rulers of the former and later Shu dynasties. In the third year of the Qiande era of the Northern Song Dynasty (965), after the later Shu Dynasty fell to the Song Dynasty, Huang Quan, Huang Jucai and others came to Bianjing, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, and

both Huang Quan and Huang Jucai received the patronage of Emperor Taizu. Following the death of Huang Quan, Huang Jucai continued to be held in high regard. The Huang School’s painting style created as father and son continued to be the creative standard of the painting academy, and competing artists all regarded Huang’s system of painting as the standard for judging the quality of paintings. The »luxuriant Huang School« style of painting is characterized by splendid craftsmanship, and the use of color is particularly exquisite; new and thin brushes were used to produce light colors, leaving almost no observable ink stains. Regarding the method of painting that was passed down, the bird-and-flower paintings of Huang Quan and his sons mainly followed the styles of Bian Luan, Xue Ji, Diao Guangyin and Teng Chang after the Tang Dynasty. The brushwork is light and quick and the coloring is light. At the same time, they inherited the Tang Dynasty tradition of adeptness in learning from nature and being keen to observe and depict it. Huang Quan and his sons served in the palace Painting Academy for many years. Observing the appearance of rare and auspicious birds, exotic flowers and fantastically-shaped rocks in the forbidden garden each day, they could deeply understand their habits and characteristics, thereby using a brush to create natural and vivid depictions. According to the Record of Famous Paintings in Yizhou, the Lord of Shu once ordered Huang Quan to paint cranes on a palace wall. The cranes he painted were depicted to be in a surprised state, pecking moss, grooming, preening, crying to heaven, standing on a foot, etc. All of the cranes were extremely detailed and lifelike, often attracting real cranes to come near the painting. The lord of Shu admired this so much that he called this hall Six Cranes Palace. Sketches of Rare Birds (Xiesheng zhenqin tu) (Fig. 6.12.1) is the only surviving painting of Huang Quan, which created a model for his son Jubao

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6.12.1 Sketches of Rare Birds, Huang Quan, Palace Museum, Beijing

to copy. In this painting, more than ten kinds of birds and insects (e.  g., sparrow, tit, dove, grosbeak, grasshopper, cicada, honeybee, longhorn beetle) and two turtles are painted with exquisite brushwork and show a strengthened role for shading. The various birds and insects feature distinctive morphological characteristics and vivid and lovely expressions. The transparency of cicada wings, the hardness of the turtle shells, and the joyous mood are all vividly depicted. In expressing the accuracy and vividness of natural forms such as feathers and insects, Huang Quan indeed succeeded in recreating nature and depicting both form and spirit. The characteristics of Huang Quan’s keen observation, skill in painting from life, and attention to detail in his paintings are fully embodied. At the same time, Huang Quan’s long-term immersion in the court as an artist and his profound understanding of the aesthetic customs of the court allowed him to reveal his luxuriant disposition with regard to the depiction of these birds and insects in this work as a collection

of illustrations. It was this sort of disposition that was deeply appreciated by the court and the »luxuriant Huang School« style of painting gradually was promoted as the standard style of the court painting school, demonstrating influence during the Northern Song Dynasty. Sketches of Rare Birds demonstrates the teacher-pupil relationship regarding painting that existed between Huang Quan and his son. The most important painting of Huang Jucai is Blue Magpies and Thorny Shrubs (Shazhe jique tu). This painting depicts scenery in late autumn, showing a flock of blue magpies flying among a spring, rocks, and thorny shrubs. In the painting, fallen leaves, jagged rocks, withered thorns, and the birds that roost and sing in them can be observed on the bank of the stream, creating an even more cold and lonely image. A double-hook (shuang gou 双勾) technique was utilized, the colors are deep and gorgeous, the partridges are painted finely, and the spring stones mostly have a wrinkled painted appearance. Comparing this paint-

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ing with Sketches of Rare Birds, it can be clearly observed that Huang Juchi inherited his father’s painting techniques with regard to use of brush and color. While Huang Jubao’s paintings are no long extant, according to historical records, his painting style was largely similar to that of Huang Jucai.

Apart from that, it is said that paintings attributed to Xu Xi include the Treasures of the Jade Hall (Yutang fugui tu) in the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Bamboo and Snow (Xue zhu tu) in the Shanghai Museum. In Bamboo and Snow, the bamboo stems are drawn using a thick brush whilst the bamboo leaves are both broad and narrow. The ink color is richly shaded. Several twigs and bamboo leaves are stained with ink to contrast with the snow and those parts are slightly pastel-colored. From these paintings, you can gain a rough understanding of Xu Xi’s painting style. The grandsons of Xu Xi, his chroniclers Xu Chongju, Xu Chongsi, and Xu Chongxun, were all accomplished artists—but Xu Chongsi had the greatest achievements and showed the ancestral style. Following the establishment of the Song Dynasty, under the great influence of the Huang School painting style, Xu Chongsi gradually moved away from the Xu family’s style of painting, which is mainly based on ink and brush, and started using more color to paint. He painted peonies, begonias, peaches, bamboo, cicadas, butterflies, and peonies, all of which are noticeably in the Huang style. The Song Dynasty’s Red Knotweed (Prince’s Feather) with Waterfowl (Hongliao shuiqin tu) and Bunches of Loquats (Pipa shoudai tu) were painted by Xu Chongsi. Furthermore, Xu Chongsi boldly explored the painting method of using color as ink to conceal the ink outline, thereby creating a »boneless« (meigu 没骨) painting method. This method had an enormous influence on later generations of artists. The painting styles of Variations between Xu Xi and Huang Quan (Xu Huang Yiti) were widely studied during the Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Guo Ruoxu’s Pictures and Insights (Tuhua jianwen zhi) has a monograph on this. In the early Song Dynasty, after Huang Quan died, the »luxuriant Huang School« style was represented by Huang Jucai, and relying on the dom-

2. The Tranquility of Xu Xi The so-called »Tranquility of Xuxi« refers to a different style of flower and bird painting and was one of the two major schools of the Five Dynasties and the early Song Period. It was represented by Xu Xi and flourished at the same time as the Huang School. Xu Xi (c. 894–975) was a native of Jinling (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) and was a member of the Jiangnan Xian clan. He died at home before the Southern Tang Dynasty gave way to the Song Dynasty. Xu Xi painted flowers, plants, fish and insects with light brushwork and pale colors. He loved nature, often walking among the fields and the banks of streams, looking at the plants and seedlings in the garden. Whenever he came across a good scene, he regarded it carefully so as to fully comprehend it, often sketching flowers on the banks, bamboo, water birds and fish, vegetables, fruit, grasses and insects. His style was wild and carefree, with the birds depicted with delicate bone structure. His depiction of flowers and trees had changed from earlier artists’ fine brushwork, coloring and smudging methods. The main characteristics of this painting method are: first draw the rough shape with ink and brush, paying little attention to details, and then add light colors. It is different from the Huang School’s highly stylized painting method, reflecting an elegant, carefree and vivid style. Very few paintings which can be credibly attributed to Xu Xi still exist today. The more important ones that do, such as Young Pigeons with Seedlings (Chuge yaomiao tu), are painted on silk with a square frame, using ink to color the ground and the plants.

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inant position of the Hanlin Academy of Painting, became a flourishing movement. Xu Chongsi inherited his ancestral method and only created variations later. He painted many paintings of peonies and begonias but, because of his impoverished family background, Xu Chongsi never worked at the Painting Academy. The »luxuriant Huang School« painting style dominated the Hanlin Academy of Painting in the early Song Dynasty. It was exquisitely appreciated of the court, but it has no connection with Xishu, where Huang Yun came from, or the Southern Tang, where the Xu family was based. Xu’s so-called »tranquility,« in addition to its original meaning, also suggests »austerity, distance and solitude,« so it contrasts with »luxuriant Huang School« style. During the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, under the advocacy of Su Shi, Mi Fu and others in the depiction of aristocrats, the painting style of Xu Xi began to receive attention.

Section 2  The New Style of Flower-andBird Painting in the Middle and Late Northern Song Dynasty After the middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the creation of flower-and-bird paintings based on the »luxuriant Huang School« painting style gradually changed. Represented by Zhao Chang, Cui Bai et al, the movement actively explored and changed the field of flower and bird painting, producing a new creative atmosphere. Also, the creation of »Xuanhe Style« (Xuanheti 宣 和体)in the Huizong period also injected vitality into the creation of flower-and-bird paintings at the Northern Song Dynasty Painting Academy.

1. »Sketcher Zhao Chang« As far as the Huang School painting style is concerned, which was dominant at the Northern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, the transforma-

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tion of flower and bird painting first came from outside the academy. Along with the Huangs, Zhao Chang, who was born in Xishu, started with sketching and created a vibrant flower and bird sketching style, which paved the way for the changes in the painting academy. Yi Yuanji, a native of Changsha, followed suit and created a new style of animal painting. Zhao Chang (professional name Changzhi) was born in Jiannan (now Sichuan). The dates of his birth and death are not known, but he was mainly active in the early Northern Song Dynasty, slightly later than Huang Jucai and Xu Chongsi. He worked with flowers and was expert on grass and insects. In his early years, he learned from Teng Chang and Xu Chongsi, but the formation of his style of painting is more due to his emphasis on sketching. He often liked to observe the beauty of flowers in the early morning, while painting on the spot in color, and therefore called himself »Sketcher Zhao Chang« (Xiesheng zhaochang 写生赵昌). Zhao Chang’s flower-and-bird paintings encompass a wide range of subjects, such as peach blossom, begonia, rose, peony, pomegranate, daylily, hibiscus and chrysanthemum and so on. Although he cherished his work and did not give it away to others easily, they were nevertheless quite widespread at the time. Zhao Chang’s works are now exceedingly rare, but important works include Sketch of Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Xiesheng jiadie tu) and Apricot Blossom (Xinghua tu). Sketch of Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Fig. 6.12.2) depicts natural scenery in the autumn. The artist deliberately left a large blank space at the top of the painting. The long and narrow river bank is covered with wild chrysanthemums, frosty leaves, thorns and fallen reeds, and the composition is layered. There are three beautiful butterflies flying in the clear sky. The whole picture shows the bright, fresh and pleasant scenery of an autumnal landscape vivid and vibrant manner. The colors of the painting are sophisticated and elegant, and the style is graceful. Apricot Blossom shows an apricot branch in

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6.12.2 Sketch of Tortoiseshell Butterfly (detail), Palace Museum, Beijing

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full bloom. The painter used extremely realistic techniques to make the apricot pollen appear white and beautiful, and the frost and snow drifting. The whole composition is lifelike, showing frost glinting on a snow drift, crystal clear in its icy elegance. The delineation is fine and the petals are dyed pink and white and richly layered. Zhao Chang paid great attention to his method of sketching from life and he created a new style, which had a great influence at that time. The painter Yi Yuanji, who came slightly after Zhao Chang, took »Sketching from Life« (xiesheng 写生) to a new level and more modern and wider audience. Yi Yuanji, (professional name Qingzhi), was born in Changsha. He was active mainly during the Renzong and Yingzong periods. He started out as a folk painter, concentrating on birds together with flowers (gonghuaniao 工花鸟) and lifelike butterflies (youshan fengdie 尤善蜂 蝶). Later on, after seeing Zhao Chang’s flowerand-bird painting, he realized that it would be difficult to surpass, so he switched to painting monkeys and apes. In order to really come to grips with the essential nature and character of wild animals, he did not avoid hardships and dangers, but went deep into the wild mountains and dense forests, carefully observing monkeys and roe deer in their own environment and landscape, and painted with the knowledge of what he had seen in real life. In the garden behind his residence, he sculpted ponds and piled rocks into small mountains. He planted flowers and bamboo and strewed stones n chaotic fashion. There were plum trees, chrysanthemums, and reeds, and he kept water birds and mountain beasts and watched and studied their ecological habits, their movement and their habitation. Because of this, his paintings of flowers, birds, apes, and deer are all vivid and lifelike, far beyond the scope of ordinary painters. In addition to being expert at flowers, birds, deer and monkeys, Yi Yuanji was also an accomplished painter of cats, dogs, tigers, wolves, vegetables and other

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animals and plants. He also changed the way faces were depicted. Therefore, this achievement was not only the result of his ability to learn from nature, but also because he could draw inspiration from much earlier artists, thereby enriching himself and his technique. Yi Yuanji’s paintings of roe deer were highly appreciated by people of his time and later generations. Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Shen Kuo all spoke highly of him. There are not many of Yi Yuanji’s works extant, but they include the important work Monkey and Cat (Hou mao tu), amongst others. His paintings of monkeys certainly influenced Mu Xi and Mao Song in the late Southern Song Dynasty, as well as the Japanese painter Sen Lixian (Mori Sosen).

2. Cui Bai and the New Style of Flowerand-Bird Painting at the Academy The »luxuriant Huang School« painting style had been preeminent at the Northern Song Dynasty Academy of Painting for more than a hundred years. It was not until Cui Bai came on the scene that this situation gradually changed. Cui Bai, (professional name Zi Xi), was born in Haoliang (now Fengyang, Anhui Province). The dates of his birth and death are not known. He was born to common folk and started by sketching. He was good at painting flowers, bamboo, and feathers, and also worked on Buddhist and Daoist murals. He was already well-known during the Renzong period and he was later inducted into the Hanlin Academy of Painting, and then promoted to the rank of Artist-in-Waiting to the emperor. Cui Bai’s main accomplishment is shown in his flower-andbird paintings, in which he was very good at portraying the different aspects of flowers and birds in detail through the changing seasons, thereby achieving realistic and vivid effects. His paintings are fresh and show ingenuity and the painting method is not pedestrian. He was particularly good at painting fall and winter themes such as geese and decaying lotuses. He was also adept at painting geese and dragons.

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According to contemporary records, he painted most of his paintings directly from life and could draw freehand »curves, straight lines, squares and circles, all with perfect perspective« (quzhi fangyuan, jiezhong fadu 曲直方圆，皆中法度) without using a straightedge, thus showing his proficiency. Most of his paintings show scenes of decaying lotuses with withered leaves, autumn ponds with a pair of herons, knotweed with sand bars and a group of mallards, black bamboo with wild birds, reeds and geese in the snow, a falcon and a rabbit in the dense snow and frozen bamboo with seagulls. This kind of desolate, icy scene in flower-and-bird paintings was rarely explored by his predecessors, so its subject matter is in sharp contrast with the »luxuriant Huang School« painting style. The biggest feature of Cui Bai’s flower and bird painting is that he was good at giving flowers and birds a specific look which matches a specific environment. His Double Happiness Painting (Shuangxi tu) (Fig. 6.12.3) was made long before his admission to the Painting Academy. The painting depicts the strong fall wind blowing, shaking the trees, and two magpies flying and crying out and causing the hare to look back. The juxtaposition between the wind and the bamboo and between the magpies and the hare vividly highlight the desolate atmosphere. The painter was able to combine the natural scenery with the specific feelings of birds and magpies to create a vivid and striking artistic image. The painting style is also quite distinctive. The brush strokes are flexible, the depiction of the two magpies and the hare is extremely meticulous, while the ancient trees, decayed grasses and hillsides are added using a combination of techniques to contrast and highlight the main body of the painting. Sparrows in Winter (Han que tu) is another important work handed down by Cui Bai and shows the different aspects of flocks of sparrows huddling together on a dry tree in winter. The painting depicts nine chirping sparrows in a dormant tree, ei-

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ther leaping and jumping, or sitting and chirping, or scratching and relaxing, or closing their eyes and resting, or spreading their wings, or hanging upside down on the branches. It really is masterful. His ingenuity can also be seen in the layout with the nine sparrows naturally divided into three groups. Some groups have more, some less. There are birds which are scattered and there are birds in a group together. There is movement and stillness. There is movement to the left and the right and up and down. From every aspect, there is continuity. In change there is unity, in unity there is change. Apart from this, there is a wonderful masterpiece by a Song Dynasty artist whose name has been forgotten called Birds Gathered with Plum and Bamboo (Meizhu juqin tu), which is very close to Cui Bai in concept and style. The painting is of two plum trees, one old and one young, and there are thorn bushes, weeds and dead branches dotted around. The plum trees and thorn bushes are also home to various birds such as turtledoves. The layout of the picture is well-arranged and proportioned. It makes the most of vertical and horizontal changes. In the main body of the picture, two plum trees gradually spread upwards from their roots and then entwine again, forming a movement which permeates the entire scene. The green bamboo and the thornbushes also intersect, which adds to the sense of movement and change. In the entire painting, the painter has carefully arranged the scene. At the extreme left of the painting, a thorn branch, curving inward, is specially drawn to correspond to the plum shoots above, while the thorn bushes and bamboo are spread across the right. The whole draws everything inward towards the middle. In the upper right of the picture, the artist has deliberately allowed the branches and leaves of a bamboo reach beyond of the margins of the painting. Next to the old plum root below, a twig of withered bamboo sticking out is added, which breaks the focus of the scene on the right. The brush

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6.12.3  Double Happiness ­Painting, National Palace Museum, Taipei

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strokes detailing things like the plum branches, bamboo canes and thornbushes are also very delicate. The double hooks of the ink brush are used from root to tip. In terms of coloring, except for the bamboo leaves with their darker, fuller green coloring, the other parts are light in color, the style is not rigid but alive, beautiful but not vulgar. It is a rare masterpiece of Northern Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting. Cui Bai’s flower-and-bird paintings had an impact on his contemporaries. Cui Bai’s younger brother Cui Que, (professional name Zi Zhong), was also flower-and-bird painter at the court, who was promoted to become either an official eunuch or a chamberlain of the left. His painting style is similar to that of Cui Bai, and he especially loved painting rabbits, making him part of the family. Cui Shunzhi, the grandson of Cui Bai, painted flowers and birds in the style of his ancestors. There was also Wu Yuanyu from Kaifeng, a novice in flower-and-bird painting, but who later came to be regarded as similar to Cui Bai. The emergence of Cui and Wu greatly changed the atmosphere in the flower-and-bird painting circles that advocated the Huang School style. Works by Wu Yuanyu are very few but an important painting is Litchis (Lizhi tu), among others.

3. Flower and Bird Painting of Emperor Huizong and the Xuanhe Style Song emperor Huizong (1082–1135 CE, personal name Zhao Ji) had learnt about painting and calligraphy when he was sixteen or seventeen. At the age of 20, he succeeded to the throne and amassed a collection of calligraphy and art. He promoted organizational reform of the Academy of Painting and made a significant contribution to the development of the Academy. He attached great importance to rules in painting and he emphasized indepth observation of life, whilst at the same time emphasizing composition and artistic creativity in painting. He could paint flowers and birds, figures, landscapes, and with his meticulous power of portrayal, was especially good at flower and

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bird paintings. In this he was taught by Wu Yuanyu and was influenced by the style of Cui Bai. His flower-and-bird paintings usually portrayed auspicious subjects, such as golden pheasants, lucky cranes, and auspicious dragons, always in a rich and elegant style. At the same time, the portrayal is exquisite, the shapes are vivid, the colors are clean, and the composition is both. He draws the birds in an unconventional way, using raw lacquer to make them bright and black and to highlight the surface of the paper. The brilliance of his painting greatly influenced painting styles at that time resulting in a school of art known as »Xuanhe Style.« There are many flower-and-bird paintings attributed to him, such as Hibiscus with Golden Pheasant (Furong jinji tu), Lucky Cranes (Ruihe tu), Mynah Birds (Yu tu), Red Smartweed with White Goose (Hongliao bai’e tu), Wintersweet with Two Birds (Lamei shuangqin tu), Crows with Wild Geese (Liuya luyan tu), A Pond on a Fall Evening (Chitang qiuwan tu), Auspicious Dragon-Shaped Rock (Xianglongshi tu), Five-Hued Parrot (Wuse yingwu tu), Turtledove (Taojiu tu), Narcissus with Quail (Shuixian chun tu), Crows in the Willow Tree (Liuya tu), Bamboo with Birds (zhuqin tu), Loquats and Thrush (Pipa shanniao tu), and so on. However, some of them may have been painted by »ghost« artists in his style. Hibiscus with Golden Pheasant (Fig. 6.12.4) is a masterpiece of the Huizong school of flower-andbird painting. In the painting, a gorgeous golden pheasant has landed on a branch of the hibiscus, causing it to sway turbulently. The golden pheasant’s concentrated gaze and the charming and soft appearance of the hibiscus flower are depicted vividly and movingly. This painting shows superb skill in realism: the gorgeous golden pheasant feathers; the delicate and realistic markings: the luster on the tail feathers. It can be regarded as a masterpiece of both form and spirit. Crows with Wild Geese (Liuya luyan tu) is a masterpiece of brush and ink depictions of flowers and birds.

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6.12.4  Hibiscus with Golden Pheasant, Palace Museum, Beijing

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In the painting, the crows and the wild geese are painted in ink whilst the bamboo is rendered with the »double hook method.« The drawing, colors and composition are refined. The thick willow roots, the delicate branches and the plump roosting crows are all painted finely and neatly, and the entire composition is comfortable and serene. The finishing touches using raw lacquer make it even more vibrant. The whole work is supremely successful with the contrasting in black and white colors and the varying density. Lucky Cranes has the nature of a framed or palace painting. At the bottom of the picture is the solemnly towering Suande-Mon gate (Xuandemen 宣德门) in Tokyo. Wheeling in the blue sky and colorful clouds above the gate are 18 red-crowned cranes, each with a different look and there are also two standing on the ridge of the roof. The sky seems to reverberate with the joyous cries of the cranes calling out to each other, filling the painting with the magical atmosphere of the royal palace. Auspicious Dragon-Shaped Rock is a strange stone in the imperial family garden which was described by Huizong. He did not use the usual outline and rubbing method, instead it is smudged with layers of water and ink to make the stone appear thick, damp and absolutely exquisite. Turtledove was painted when Huizong was 26 years old. It depicts a green dove sitting on a peach branch that stretches in an arc and the peach branch trembles slightly. This exquisite sketch set the precedent for the Southern Song Dynasty flower and bird sketching style. Furthermore, A Pond on a Fall Evening is different. Rather than using full, heavy colors, Huizong uses light dye and inkwork. The leaves, bullrushes, mandarin ducks and herons are slightly smudged and lightly colored, which shows a different style of his. When one looks at Huizong’s flower and bird paintings, the most prominent feature is its »realism.« He observes nature down to the minutest detail and depicts it in a subtle but vivid manner. And this very detailed style of painting reached its

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peak in the Huizong and Xuanhe painting schools and became very influential. As an emperor of the late Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji’s passion for painting was extraordinary. It was through his efforts that the status of artist reached its apogee in history. He made painting part of the imperial examination and he paid great attention to the poetry of art which also greatly promoted the development of artistic concepts in Chinese painting. It was he who commanded the compilation of the Xuanhe Literary Register (Xuanhe shupu 宣和书谱), the Xuanhe Art Register (Xuanhe huapu 宣和画谱) and the Xuanhe General Record (Xuanhe bogulu 宣和博古录) etc., which contributed considerably to the study of art history. Xuanhe style, as represented by Huizong of the Song Dynasty laid the foundation for the development of the style of flower-and-bird painting in the Southern Song Dynasty The richness of wealth and the elegance was indispensable to the development of the history of flower-and-bird painting.

Section 3  Exquisite Academic-Style Flower-and-Bird Paintings of the Southern Song At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Huizong created the »Xuanhe Style,« through the creation of Academy paintings, and established a style of painting based on standards of royal aesthetics. After the Jingkang Incident (1127), this style of painting that tried to combine the realms of poetry and realistic portrayal did not change course despite the great changes taking place in the country. During the Song Dynasty, the national power had long been based on both cultural policies and an emphasis on economic development. This allowed the dynasty, which had lost half of the country’s territory, to quickly stabilize after moving the capital to Lin’an, and restore the so-

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cial activities of singing and dancing. In this way, the Southern Song Painting Academy also fully developed the »Xuanhe Style,« especially in the field of flower and bird painting.

1. Academic-style Flower-andBird Paintings in the Early Southern Song Dynasty Compared with the Northern Song Dynasty Xuanhe style, the flower and bird paintings from the court of the Southern Song Dynasty in its early years are not as rich or as gorgeous as the paintings of the Northern Song Dynasty, as they too are delicate and meticulously drawn. Although the Southern Song Painting Academy is in the same vein as the Xuanhe Painting Academy, the Xuanhe Painting Academy created more large-scale paintings, and the artist Li Di hadn’t changed during the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. The Southern Song Painting Academy mostly made small squares and diamonds, and the previous long scrolls were mostly replaced by fans and albums. In terms of artistic conception, the former is more brilliant and imposing, while the latter is more fresh and graceful. The flower-and-bird paintings Li Di and Li Anzhong, two immigrant painters who moved to the south with the court, are outstanding creations in the continuation and development of the Xuanhe-style painting style in the early Southern Song Dynasty. Li Di, a native of Heyang (now Mengzhou City in Henan Province), whose dates of birth and death are not known, was originally a painter of Xuanhe Painting Academy and he returned to the Academy during the Shaoxing period. He was active in painting circles during the Xiaozong, Guangzong, and Ningzong periods. He was good at painting feathers, animals, flowers and bamboo, as well as small landscapes. His personal style was combinations and eye for detail with expansiveness. Animals such as birds, chickens, cats and dogs are painted accurately and vividly, and the feathers are delicately portrayed and well-textured. For

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Bonsai-style pines and rocks, his use of the ink brush is strong and bold and it is rendered with ink and wash. His style of painting lies somewhere between Cui Bai and Li Tang. Li Demao, the son of Li Di, was also an accomplished artist good at painting and was a painter at the Painting Academy during the reign of Li Zongchun (1241– 1252). Li Di’s flower-and-bird paintings include Maple Tree and Eagle (Fengying tu), Chickens Waiting for Food (Jichu dai si tu), Red and White Hibiscus (Hongbai furong tu, a double painting), Tree under Snow and Ice with Birds (Xueshu hanqin tu), Kitten and Dragonfly (Linu qingting tu), etc. Of these, Maple Tree and Eagle, also known as Maple Tree, Eagle and Pheasant and Eagle Eyeing a Pheasant, depicts an eagle standing on a dead branch of a maple tree, looking sideways at the bottom of a pheasant fleeing into the grass in panic. The atmosphere is tense. In the painting, the brushwork is bold and powerful, the eagle’s feathers are finely drawn, and its expression is vivid. The painting Chickens Waiting for Food was made in the third year of Ning Zongqing of the Yuan Dynasty (1197). It was painted in the third year of the reign of Emperor Ning Zong (1197). The picture shows two chicks, one lying down and the other standing, with soft down, bright eyes with young and delicate features and meticulously portrayed. Tree under Snow and Ice with Birds shows bamboo leaves and thorn bushes covered with snow, and a shrike perched in the thorn bushes. The hillside is drawn with a thick brush whilst the bamboo and tree trunks are drawn with double hooks, and rendered in color. The birds are drawn with a combination of boneless and outline, which is realistic and vivid and is symptomatic of Li Di’s delicate work in his later years. Red and White Hibiscus is also one of the painter’s later works. The hibiscus flowers in the picture are expressed in heavy colors and without outlines, one red and one white, mirroring and setting each other off. Li Di was also good at painting cows, and his paintings of

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herding cattle are rich in life. These works include Herding Cattle in the Wind and Rain (Fengyu gui mu tu) and Herding Cattle in the in the Snow (Xue zhong gui mu tu). Li Anzhong, a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province), entered the Xuanhe Painting Academy in his early years, and resumed his position during the Shaoxing era and was awarded the Gold Ribbon. His expertise was in depicting poultry, birds and animals but always in an austere fashion. Several smaller works by Li Anzhong have survived to today, such as Wild Chrysanthemum and Quail in the Fall (Yeju qiuchun tu) and Butterflies Fluttering in Spring (Qing chun die xi tu). The artistic conception is clear and beautiful, reflecting a more typical »Xuanhe Style« style. Li Gongmao and Li Ying, sons of Li Anzhong, also waited to be called by the emperor to the Southern Song Painting Academy. They were painters of bamboo and animals, but were not as successful as their father. Butterflies Fluttering in Spring (Qing chun die xi tu) was handed down by Li Anzhong. On a small fan, more than a dozen butterflies of different species and various poses dance in the bright spring sky, seeming to fly out of the painting. The portrayal is subtle and very detailed and you can see the wonderful realism and superb craftsmanship of the Song Dynasty Painting Academy. It is believed that Quail (Chun tu) was also painted by Li Anzhong. The feathers were painted in an extremely delicate and vivid way.

2. Academic-Style Flowerand-Bird Paintings in the Late Southern Song Dynasty After its early development, Southern Song Dynasty academic-style flower-and-bird painting established its own distinctive characteristics and the genre passed down from the Xuanhe painting school, gradually transforming into the style of the Qiantang Imperial Court, and was finely drawn and had a natural beauty. At this time, many painters born in the Qiantang area after

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the imperial court moved to the south added to the Southern Song painting school. For example, Lin Chun, the Mao family’s father and son, Song Ruzhi, and Ma Lin were all painters born in Qiantang, and they were representative of the rise and fall of Southern Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting. Lin Chun, a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province), was active at the Academy during the time of the Southern Song Dynasty Xiaozong Chunxi reign (1174–1189), and received a Gold Ribbon. He painted flowers and birds and was good at applying color. His surviving works are all small albums where the brushwork is meticulous, the colors are light and the feel is graceful, all of which convey a sense of wonder. A surviving work of his, Ripening Fruit with Bird (Guoshu laiqin tu), depicts a branch of a crabapple tree with ripe fruit which shows that the golden autumn is coming. The many crabapples are ripe and attract birds to visit. In the painting, the crabapples are depicted as plump and round, with the branches and leaves facing down and birds standing upright. The rendering is vivid with the withered and damaged branches and leaves, and the spots on the fruit left by insects, all carefully depicted. The coloring is particularly wonderful, with reddish fruits, green leaves and dark yellow birds. The brushstrokes are delicate and the tones are contrasting and soft. Another work of his, Winter Plum and Bamboo with Bird (Meizhu hanqin tu) (Fig. 6.12.5), depicts a white-cheeked, red-beaked hibiscus bird standing on a branch, with eyes closed, well-fed, with a satisfied look and holding his head to one side. With frost-touched plums and bamboo, it is all the more extraordinary. Unlike the previous painting, this picture pays more attention to the use of the ink brush. Although the use color is quite generous, it does not cover over the ink marks. The plum blossom branches and knotted bamboo leaves are strong and straight, and the brushwork is similar to that of Li Di.

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6.12.5  Winter Plum and Bamboo with Bird by Lin Chun, Shanghai Museum

During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong (1165–1173), Mao Song (father) and Mao Yi (son) were both waiting for an appointment to the Painting Academy. Both father and son were good at flowers and birds and were especially famous for painting charming and docile cats and dogs. In a collection held in Nara, Japan, there are Hollyhocks with a Group of Cats (Shukui youmao tu) and Daylilies with a Group of Dogs (Xuancao yougou tu) painted by Mao Yi. In Hollyhocks with a Group of Cats, the strange stones and hollyhock commonly found in court gardens are arranged in the upper right of the frame. Beneath that, a female Persian cat plays with her four kittens. The tan kitten in the lower middle is looking up at a pair of butterflies flying in the sky. Daylilies with a Group of Dogs is also of a similar composition with daylilies replacing the hollyhock and the female pug and four puppies

replacing the cats. The animal depictions in the two pictures are extremely vivid and vibrant. Song Ruzhi, (professional name Biyun), was born in Qiantang and was active in the late Song and early Yuan Dynasties. During the Southern Song Dynasty Lizong Jingding reign (1260–1264), he was appointed to the Painting Academy. After the Yuan Dynasty was established, he became a Daoist priest at Kaiyuan Palace. He could paint figures and landscapes, and was particularly good at flowers and birds. His Birds in a Cage (Long que tu) shows a scene of birds in a cage squabbling over food. There are already two birds in the cage that have taken the lead, and they are united in their efforts to keep their partners out of the cage. The birds are eager to fight, which shows that the painter is extremely familiar with the habits of birds. The painter deliberately tilted the bamboo

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cage to the left, creating a sense of instability and strengthening the atmosphere of intense competition among the birds. The brush strokes are light, the rendering is sparse, and it has the charm of Cui Bai’s flowing style. Ma Lin was the son of Ma Yuan. His dates of birth and death are unknown. He painted figures, flowers and birds, landscapes, and heirloom objects. Critics believe that Ma Lin’s brushwork is rounder and smoother than his father’s. The Cascading Ice painting (Cengdie bingxiao tu) is representative of his flower-and-bird painting. The painting depicts two branches of sparse green calyx and white plum. The painting style is stylish and delicate. The calyx and the plum petals are first outlined with a fine brush. He uses light green to dye the sepals and the bottom of the petals, and then uses white powder to blur the outlines of the overlapping petals, vividly showcasing the icy charm of the white plum’s delicateness like silk, glistening with moisture. The branches, which look like iron, offset the plum blossoms even more vividly. The style of this painting is in the same style as the White Roses picture (Baiqiangwei tu) by Ma Yuan, but the brushwork is more refreshing and beautiful. Other surviving paintings by Ma Lin include Oranges with Green Leaves (Ju lu tu) and Fragrant Shadows (Anxiang shuying tu). In the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, there were also other painters who focused on figures and landscapes but who could also draw flowers and birds, such as Li Song, Chen Juzhong and Liang Kai. Of these, Li Song (1166–1243) was the adopted son of Li Congxun of the Painting Academy, and he followed in his father’s footsteps to study painting. His signature work, Flower Basket, can be described as a masterpiece in the use of the brush. It is different from ordinary flowerand-bird paintings in terms of the details. There is a delicate rattan basket with various flowers in it such as camellia, hollyhock, daylilies, all of which are fresh and delicate. The brushwork is rigorous and thorough, but not fussy.

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Chen Juzhong worked at the Painting Academy during the reign of Ningzong Jiatai (1201–1204). He specialized in workmen and horses, and was adept at describing animals grazing and hunting scenes. He was attentive to realism and observing the subtlety of his subjects and his style is handsome and bright, full of vitality. His signature work, Four Goats (Si yang tu), is unique among the flower and bird art of the Southern Song Dynasty because of its strong, true-to-life detail. The four goats depicted by the artist are fighting under a dead tree. They appear to form an intimate and warm family group, giving the goats and almost human look. The composition is simple and unpretentious, with contrasts shown in soft tones. In addition to painting figures, Liang Kai was also good at landscapes, flowers and birds. His flowerand-bird painting techniques and composition all stem from the environment in his courtyard. But under his brush, not only has ink replaced color, but the boneless style has been replaced by the use of minimalistic brushwork. The richness of the courtyard flowers and birds in the early morning and in the evening are all swept up evenly in his portrayal. He is good at drawing jackdaws and other small objects. The few pictures that we can see all show reduced use of the brush and splashing ink, with minimal use of color. They are elegant and simple. Among these, Bare Willow with Jackdaw (Shuliu hanya tu) is the representative work showing reduced brushwork. In this picture, there is a section of broken, withered willow. Two or three branches are blowing in the wind and there are two jackdaws flapping around the tree. The cold and deserted setting is redolent of winter. There is a faint, round moon and the whole picture is clear and sparse, portrayed with few brushstrokes. The deserted, cold and autumnal environment is vividly depicted—which is the epitome of the artist’s high skill and depth of expression using brush and ink. Water and Crow is by Liang Kaipo. The representative works of ink flowers and birds, the picture

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uses the »ink splash method« to draw boulders, withered reeds, and water crows. The water crows are drawn first with a stroke of water-rich light ink to draw the torso, and then light ink is used to mark the top of the head and short tail. Use a fine brush to write the long mouth and thin legs, sketchily drawn, vivid and energetic. Another version of Willow Tree Jackdaw (Liushu hanya tu) draws withered willows in ink. The sparse branches, the crows flying around, and a few ruined willows cleverly set off the bleak atmosphere of winter. The brushwork is concise and profound. Although these works adopt the common forms of courtyard style, the style of painting is quite different from previous courtyard style flowers and birds. It can be said that the development of Cui Bai’s wild and cold mood flower and bird painting has opened the first freehand flower and bird painting in the Ming Dynasty. In addition, there were some painters in the Southern Song Painting Academy, such as the Buddhist monk Fachang, Chen Rongshan, Xu Yugong, etc., who made extraordinary achievements in the creation of flower-and-bird paintings. Among them, Fachang painted dragons, tigers, apes, cranes, birds, landscapes, trees and stone figures, mostly without color, inherited the painting methods of Shi Ke and Liang Kai and developed. Representative works include Crane (He tu) and Pine Tree with Mynah (Songshu bage tu). Chen Rongshan painted dragons, and the ink dragons in his paintings are extremely varied. Xu Yugong was good at painting ink and wash plums and bamboos, and he learned from Yang Wugui. Plums and Bamboo in Snow is the only work of Xu Yugong that survives. Nowadays, most of the surviving works of the Southern Song dynasty flower-and-bird paintings were created by unknown painters in the Painting Academy. The workmanship is subtle and vivid, and the standard does not please everyone. Works include Peach Blossom (Bitao tu), Loquat with Thrush (Pipa xiu yu tu), Two Mandarin Ducks

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(Shuang yuanyang tu), Red Polygonum (Prince’s Feather) with Waterfowl (Hongliao shuiqin tu), A Group of Fish Playing with Pondweed (Qunyu xizao tu), Crabapple Flower (Linqin hua tu), Jasmine (Molihua tu), Magnolia (Yehehua tu), Hollyhocks (Shukui tu). Hibiscus by the Water, painted by Wu Bing, who was artist in waiting at the Academy of Painting in Shaoxing during the Shaoxing period, was painted in color using the »boneless« style, exquisite and gorgeous, without outline. It is typical of the Southern Song Dynasty flower-and-bird painting style. In the picture, a beautiful red lotus in full bloom occupies almost the entire picture, with green leaves at the back, fresh and full. The red and green contrast with each other into a playful way and it is very enchanting. The lotus leaves are dyed with a heavy, dark green color, the leaf stems are light green, and the petals are first applied with a pink background, and then dyed with a slightly thicker red to show the veins and outlines. It really does show the lotus growing out of the mud, clean, bright and beautiful.

Section 4  The Great Achievements of Court Figure Painting in the Southern Tang The Southern Tang Dynasty inherited the pleasant lingering effects of the court figure paintings of the Tang Dynasty, especially paintings of ladies which became popular after the mid-Tang Dynasty. The three artists-in-waiting at the Painting Academy of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Gu Hongzhong, Zhou Wenju, and Wang Qihan, used their representative figure paintings The Night Revels of Han Xizai (Hanxizai yeyan tu), Playing Go (zhongping huiqi tu), and Collating Books (Kan shu tu), to create another classic genre in the history of figure painting. Wei Xian’s The Scholar (Gao shi tu) and other works also added to the achievements of Southern Tang figure painting. The great

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achievements made by the figure painting of Nantang Palace mean it occupies an important position in the development of figure painting during the Five Kingdoms and two Song periods.

1. Gu Hongzhong and The Night Revels of Han Xizai Gu Hongzhong’s dates of birth and death cannot be verified and his birthplace is unknown. However, it is generally believed he was from south of the Yangtze River. He was adept at drawing character narratives, and The Night Revels of Han Xizai is representative of this. The Night Revels of Han Xizai (Fig. 6.12.6) was painted by Gu Hongzhong by command of Lord Li Yu, the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Han Xizai was a very politically savvy bureaucrat in the Southern Tang regime. Li Yu wanted to appoint him as a prime minister. However, Han Xizai believed that the country was destined to perish. Therefore, he used alcohol to entertain himself in order to escape the fate of becoming prime minister. He often held evening banquets at home and mixed with the guests so Li Yu ordered Gu Hongzhong to spy on him in secret. Gu Hongzhong was ordered to go to the Han house at night, and secretly observe what was going on. He remembered what he had seen and, upon his return, created this immortal masterpiece. The Night Revels of Han Xizai shows five vignettes: listening to music, watching dances, resting, play-

SECTION 4 THE GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OF COURT FIGURE PAINTING IN THE SOUTHERN TANG

ing flutes, and farewells. They are all interconnected but at the same time relatively independent scenes of the evening banquet to show off the splendor of the banquet. There are more than ten characters in the picture who appear repeatedly in all five vignettes, for a total of 46 appearances in total. Most of them characters were real people, such as Han Xizai, Minister and Academician Chen Zhiyong, his acolyte Shu Ya, Courtier Zhu Xian, Scholar Lang Can, the Buddhist monk Deming, Master of Ceremonies and Deputy Envoy Li Jiaming and his younger sister, female performer Wang Wushan, and so on. The artist successfully portrays Han Xizai, not only by painting his appearance, but also by revealing the particular, deeper psychological state of this character. In the picture, Han Xizai’s reluctant look and depressed mood are juxtaposed against the joyous atmosphere of the evening banquet. The other characters in the painting are mainly involved in the five different activities and display different mental states through their expressions, actions, and interactions. The disparate vignettes, the arrangement of each scene, the posture of the characters, the structure of the picture and the way in which the characters gather together and disperse all reflect the author’s superb creative ability. The Night Revels of Han Xizai achieves a very high level in both brushwork and color. The characters’ clothing is concise but natural; the outlines are

6.12.6 The Night Revels of Han Xizai by Gu Hongzhong, Palace Museum, Beijing

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6.12.7 Playing Go by Zhou Wenju, Palace Museum, Beijing

well-defined but graceful, soft but firmly drawn. The colors are rich and go well together, harmonious one could say, and the clothing patterns are as fine as a hair. Other objects, such as various musical instruments, furnishings and utensils in the interior, are also very finely portrayed. The costumes and objects portrayed have also become an important historical pictorial record of the history of ancient Chinese music, dance, clothing, crafts, and customs.

2. Paintings of Court Figures by Zhou Wenju and Wang Qihan Zhou Wenju was born in Jurong, Jiankang (now Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province). His dates of birth and death are not known, but he was active during the middle and late years of the Southern Tang Dynasty. During the time of the last rulers, he was an Imperial Secretary. He was good at painting Buddhist icons, figures, carriages, houses and trees, landscapes, and as especially good at female figures. Judging by his painting activities, he was favored by the middle and last

rulers, and was the chief artist of the Southern Tang Dynasty. His paintings of beautiful women are mainly in the tradition of Zhou Fang from the late Tang Dynasty, only more delicate. From the grace and voluptuousness of the female figures in the Tang Dynasty to the delicate beauty of the female figures in the Southern Tang, this evolution not only reflects the changing times from the Tang Dynasty to the Southern Tang Dynasty, but also reflects cultural differences between the Guanzhong and Jiangnan styles. He painted Buddhist and Daoist figures alike and his rendition of clothes and patterns imitated the calligraphy of later ruler Li, with fine, firm but delicate penmanship. He was very good at depicting scenes from the lives of prosperous and aristocratic people. He often painted themes of upper-class ladies and ladies of the court and was also an accomplished portraitist. He painted Playing Go and Five Kings Drinking (Wuwang mingyin tu), to show the life of Li and the kings, and Scholars of the Hall of Colored Glass (Liulitang renwu tu) is also an important representative work.

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The double screen Playing Go (Fig. 6.12.7) shows a scene of the Southern Tang Scholar Li Zhengzhong and his three younger brothers Jinwang Jingsui, Qiwang Jingda and Jiangwang Jingyi, playing Go. The elegant setting reveals an atmosphere of brotherhood and friendship. Li Zhengzhong sits, distinguished from his three younger brothers by facing the artist and his high hat. The portrait is life-like; their clothing is delicately drawn showing folds with fine, firm but delicate penmanship, giving a sense of ancient naivety or lack of sophistication. In the painting itself, there is another picture which has been drawn on the screen to the rear of the figures. This picture is based on the poetry of Bai Juyi’s »Drunken Slumber« (Ou mian). At the same time, Zhou Wenju’s portrayal of Li Zhengzhong can be considered a true to life portrait, so this painting can be regarded as a historical record as well as fine art. Scholars of the Hall of Colored Glass depicts the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Changling’s meeting with poets in the Hall of Colored Glass where he was an official. It deserves to be regarded as a seminal work for later generations. There are six people in the painting: a monk, three men, and two attendants. The black-bearded should be the main character, probably Wang Changling. He is pointing with his left hand and is talking about something. His expression shows concentration and his mien is handsome and aristocratic. The monk sitting opposite him, with a beard and wide-spaced eyebrows, has his eyes fixed on the man in black, and he is stretching out his hands as if to speak. The red-robed scribe to the left of the monk is holding a book at his side and looks as if he is listening as he reads. He looks as though his spirit is soaring. The two young attendants in the back stand upright. The group of figures is arranged next to a big cabinet and they are talking quietly with gentleness and elegance, showing a celebrity demeanor. The Scholar’s Courtyard (Wenyuan tu) looks exactly the same as the second part of the Scholars of the

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Hall of Colored Glass. According to scholarly research, it should be part of Zhou Wenju’s Scholars of the Hall of Colored Glass, which meticulously depicts the vivid mood of several literati having a scholarly discussion. The figure at the far right stands leaning on the stone, holding an inkbrush to his cheek with his right hand and holding silken paper in his left hand, as if he had thought of something and is lost in thought. In front of the stone, a boy bows his head to look at the ink. In the middle of the picture is a curved pine tree and another scholar has put his hands in his sleeves and is leaning on the pine in meditation. The two people on the left are sitting side by side. One person is reads attentively, while the other suddenly looks back, if he has heard something. The artist’s ability to portray characters and convey mood is fully expressed in this work. It is said that Zhou Wenju’s line drawing of At the Palace (Gongzhong tu 宫中图) may be a Song version, which is a long scroll depicting the life of women in the palace. There are four fragments of the scroll which still exist showing different aspects of the lives of women at the palace, including playing music, adjusting their hair ornaments, chasing butterflies, and playing with infants, training their dogs, portraits and other such activities. The whole picture is divided into twelve parts, with a total of more than 80 people. The depiction of the look of the characters and the way they are interacting with each other is natural and well laid out. One of the portraits is the very accurate rendering or facsimile of an ancient Chinese person, which is especially rare. The women are painted in various ways: Some are dressing in the mirror, some are playing music, some are sitting quietly, some are amusing children, and some are watching fish. Except for the children who appear innocent and lively, the characters in the painting are all sedate and quiet, especially those of older age and higher status. This picture scroll is done in light color apart from one or two places. Around the edge, you can see an outline drawn, so it may

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be an unfinished work-in-progress. The line drawing and the sense of composition is skillful and richly done. The characters’ expressions are very subtle but the entire image is powerful and very representative of the Tang style. Wang Qihan was a native of Jiankang (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). His dates of birth and death are unknown. During the period of Li Yu (961–975), he served in the Academy of Painting and was good at painting Buddhist and Daoist figures, as well as landscapes. His figure painting built on and developed the styles of the late Tang Dynasty, eventually forming his own style. He is good at placing characters in the environment of hills, forests and remote, secluded areas, but without being banal. The Sixteen Scrolls of Luohan which were painted after the establishment of the Song Dynasty were regarded as a »painted by a magical brush« by the emperor Taizong. The themes of his paintings mainly include Daoist deities, Buddhist stories, hermit scholars, myths and legends and so on. It can be said that he painted all sorts of figures. His paintings have a style of their own and Liu Daochun, in his Record of Sheng Dynasty Famous Paintings (Shengchao minghua pu), rated him as the best painter of fine works of art. The only authentic work that still exists by Wang Qihan is the painting Collating Books. The setting in the painting is the study room and the interior display is equipped with screens, several book cases and some books. The painter makes a threepart folding screen the centerpiece of the painting. The screens are painted with green and blue landscapes which lack any outline. The screen paintings are delicate and ethereal and are in harmony with the figures. Although the setting is a study, the painter did not show the characters sitting at the desk to corroborate the statement, but portrayed the researcher as picking his ears in deep concentration, hence its other name Cleaning the Ears (Tiao er tu). In the painting, the figure closes his left eye slightly and reveals his chest and abdomen. He is barefoot with his toes in the

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air, wearing plain clothes. His head is tilted to the right, left eye slightly closed, one arm supported by a chair and one hand cleaning ears, showing the lively but comfortable expression of someone at ease. Ever since the Wei and Jin dynasties, many scholars had been influenced by metaphysics, seeking to return to pure and true behavior and mood, and advocating indulgence and permissiveness. The form and spirit of the painting’s collator really shows off this kind of deep-seated feeling of desolate nothingness characteristic of Wei and Jin. It could even be said to be a combination of the physical and the spiritual.

3. Wei Xian and Other Painters of Court Figures and Their Works Wei Xian was originally from Jingzhao (present-day Xi’an, Shaanxi Province), and moved to the south of the Yangtze River during the reign of Li Yui, third and last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty, whom he venerated. He first studied under Yin Jizhao, an artist during the late Tang Dynasty and later under Wu Daozi. He was good at painting pagodas, ox carts, water mills, distinguished people, and old men fishing—which were very well regarded in art circles at the time. According to the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings (Xuanhe Huapu), only Wei Xian was recorded in the annals of the Painting Academy. It is also known that he painted high cliffs and boulders, which are vigorously and attractively drawn and the paintings have not aged. His renditions of forests and trees are vigorous, showing branches and shoots they are not original; they could be said to represent the landscapes of the early Five Dynasties. Although he is a Southern Tang painter, he is a native of the north and he learned from the painters of the Tang Dynasty, so his painting style was more from the Northern School. From the title of Wei Xian’s extant work, Senior Ministers, you would think it would be a figure painting; however the landscape occupies a large proportion, so it can also be attributed to land-

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scape painting. The painting portrays the story of the Eastern Han Dynasty couple Liang Hong and Meng Guang greeting each other as they would a guest as well as showing respect for each other as a married couple. The picture is a vertical composition, with high cliffs and boulders occupying most of the space in the picture and tiled pavilions houses in the center. The pavilion is drawn with the technique of outline painting. It is rigorously crafted and not rigid, which shows the depth of his skill. The color wash of the trees and rocks is nicely colored and the lichen has been applied with a dry brush. It gives the impression of being much older and is painted a deep grey. This style of painting would have been innovative at that time. According to the records, Senior Ministers was originally part of a set of six scrolls, and there is still a flavor of The Madman Jie Yu of the State of Chu (Fengkuang jieyu). Of the six scrolls, only the scroll depicting Liang Hong and Meng Guang remains. Another work by Wei Xian, Carts Entering the Gate (Zhakou panche tu), is technically similar to Senior Ministers, but it is very likely that modern research is based on Wei Xian’s later studies. The calligraphy is the original artist’s. In addition, Du Xiao is also good at drawing swings and ladies chasing butterflies.

dent art form and became popular for a time. The creation of this genre of painting spread widely both inside and outside the Painting Academy and the portrayals also extended from the town to the countryside and from grand scenes to small vignettes. The flourishing of paintings depicting customs shows that, in the Song Dynasty, people paid attention to life in all its forms, both rich and real urban and rural society. At the same time, the emphasis on historical themes also complements and flourishes together with the painting of customs.

Section 5  The Flourishing of Genre Painting and History Painting Song Dynasty society emphasized the role of culture but also paid great attention to the economy. Changes in business concepts and progress in material life also changed people’s way of life accordingly. The prosperous urban landscape reflects the wealth and prosperity of society. More and more painters of the Song Dynasty portrayed this kind of scene, creating a painting tradition that has lasted from antiquity until now. Depicting customs as a subject gradually became indepen-

1. Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival Zhang Zeduan, a native of Dongwu (now Zhucheng, Shandong Province), had studied in the capital since childhood, and later studied painting. He was a painter at the Academy during the Huizong dynasty and painted houses and industrial scenes such as bridges, boats and carts. One of his extant works Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Qingming shanghe tu) was completed during the Northern Song Dynasty Huizong period. Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Fig.  6.12.8) depicts a prosperous tableau of Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan Province), combining figures, landscapes, and scenes around the edges, and is important pictorial material for understanding urban life during the Northern Song Dynasty. This picture is taken from the suburbs of Kaifeng: There are sparse forests and mist, farmhouses and fields, the spring is both warm and cold, and charcoal-carrying donkeys are heading into the city. Bit by bit the willow trees are shown in clusters, the greenery is vibrant but the pedestrians are faint. Among them are the queues of sedan chairs returning from the tomb sweeping or longer journeys. The huge watercrafts in the central part of the painting are either tying up at the docks or shuttling up and down in the middle of the river, forming a busy scene. An arch bridge

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6.12.8 Along the River During the Qingming Festival (section) by Zhang Zeduan, Palace Museum, Beijing

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made of huge wooden struts spans the Bianhe River. It is shown large-scale and the structure is exquisite, just like a flying rainbow. The two ends of the bridge are closely connected to marketplaces and there are carts, horses and pedestrians traveling from north to south. A huge canal boat is lowering its mast, preparing to pass through the gap in the bridge. The boatmen are yelling loudly, navigating carefully. The lively crowd which is attracted to the scene forms the climax of the whole painting. At the rear are shown urban streets, with tall and majestic towers at their center. At the heart, the streets on both sides are vertical and horizontal, lined with buildings. There are tea shops, wine shops, butcher shops, temples, public houses, brothels, tile houses, etc. Various shops offer bolts of brocade cloth, heavy hardwoods, spices, paper horses with candles. In another alley there are clinics, cart repairs, fortune-telling, and pedicures. Pedestrians in the street are standing cheek by jowl and people from all walks of life are everywhere. The layout of the entire long scroll is like a song with a soft start but a strong finish. The layers unfold, rising to a climax, and then stopping abruptly with a vigorous atmosphere. This is the theme that runs through all the various scenes and it is a testament to the heyday of Kaifeng. Along the River During the Qingming Festival is a long scroll with a strong sense of realism. The scenery is not only typical, but also has a strong flavor of the times. The details of the picture are true to life, like the structure of the bridge, the style of the carts, the clothing of the figures. The activities of all walks of life are detailed and vivid. It reflects the breadth and diversity of social life and material civilization. For the study of Song Dynasty’s history, economy, transportation, customs, clothing, architecture, etc., it has the value of precious historical images that cannot be replaced by words. It is a true depiction of Song Dynasty life and an extremely important image of Chinese city life.

In terms of expressive techniques, Along the River During the Qingming Festival adopts the traditional hand-rolled form, which is conducive to displaying the panorama. The whole picture uses the »scattered perspective method« to capture the vast panorama, ranging from vast fields, distant rivers, and towering castles, to rivets on boats and carts, small commodities on market stalls, and even the text on market advertisements. The entire work harmoniously forms a whole, complicated but not chaotic, extensive but not disordered, with clear delineation and rigorous structure. There are more than 500 figures in the painting. Not only do they have different clothing and looks, but also various activities are juxtaposed with each other. The drama is full of conflicting activities which are endlessly memorable. The brush and ink work is both delicate and effective, as lines are sharp and show vigor, all of which is very different from run of the mill paintings of the time. Following the disaster of the Jingkang Incident and the destruction of Bianjing, Along the River During the Qingming Festival was endowed with heavy, tragic significance. After the Jianyan reign, in the hearts of the northern immigrants to the south who pined for their homeland, this long scroll naturally had a special meaning, so it was reproduced in large number. Even in the grocery stores of Lin’an in the Southern Song Dynasty there were copies for sale, and there was an endless stream of reproductions in later dynasties. These reproductions are still on display in many museums and personal collections at home and abroad, and at least 20 copies survive to this day. And Zhang Zeduan’s original work became the emperor’s prize possession, fought over by palace grandees—which made it a dangerous possession to have. In a word, Along the River During the Qingming Festival became a classic model for expressing urban customs, being the first of the Southern Song Dynasty rural customs paintings.

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2. Other Genre Paintings and History Paintings of the Northern Song The creation of custom and historical figure paintings in the Northern Song Dynasty was not yet common. Except for the highly accomplished work Along the River During the Qingming Festival, Qiao Zhongchang’s Second Ode to the Red Cliffs (Hou chibi fu tu) and the Painting Academy’s Competing on Gold Moon Lake (Jinmingchi zhengbiao tu) and Listening to the Guqin (Tingqin tu) are also masterpieces of historical or genre figure painting. Qiao Zhongchang was a native of Hezhong (now Yongji, Shanxi Province). His dates of birth and death are not known but he was active in the late Northern Song Dynasty. His landscape painting style was relatively firm and solid, and he was generally quite skilled. He was especially good at painting Daoist figures and he was also good at grass, insects, birds and animals. His brushwork is in the style of Li Gonglin, paying great attention to composition, and there are often unexpected surprises in his art. Although he is not well-known, his landscape painting Second Ode to the Red Cliffs (Hou chibi fu tu), because of the placing of the figures, is a well-known masterpiece. Second Ode to the Red Cliffs is based on Su Shi’s (also known as Su Dongpo 1037–1101) poetic essay »Second Ode to the Red Cliffs« (Hou chibi fu). In the fifth year of Emperor Shenzong Yuanfeng of the Song Dynasty (1082), Su Shi retired to Huangzhou. During autumn and winter, he visited the Red Cliffs twice and wrote »Ode to the Red Cliffs« (Chibi fu) and »Second Ode to the Red Cliffs« (Hou chibi fu). Both of these essays go to very great detail to describe the scenery, which is very picturesque. Later generations vied with each other to produce painting with this title, and Qiao Zhongchang was the first painter to paint a long scroll with this theme. When he created this Second Ode to the Red Cliffs (Hou chibi fu tu), he did not show the most exciting passages in the

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original poetic essay, but broke down the scenes described in the essay into several fragments, and painted them as a long scroll in the order of appearance in the essay. Therefore, the impression it gives is not one of separation of moments or scenes, but of a logical progression. Since the selected environment and backgrounds in the painting are in the area of ​​Lin Gao Pavilion Hall of Snow and the Red Cliffs, and the main figure of Su Shi appears in each scene, when you open the book to enjoy it, you can read the essay whilst looking at the pictures. The mountains and rivers are continuous, and the scenes unfold layer by layer, all the while maintaining your interest. The first section of the scrolls shows Su Dongpo and his friends strolling across a hillside of yellow earth. The bare branches and shadows on the ground indicate that the time is a moonlit night in early winter. In order to highlight Su Shi’s description of »shadows on the ground,« the artist used light ink to paint human shadows, which is extremely rare in ancient Chinese painting. In the second part of the painting, Su Dongpo is leaving home with wine and fish. His wife and child servant are seeing him off in the courtyard. The Snow Hall, the courtyard, the corridor, and the child servant are all vividly drawn. The third section of the painting Su Dongpo is walking under the cliffs and the focal point comes from the description in the essay: »The river is full of sound, its banks are broken by a thousand inlets, the mountain is high and the moon is small and clear.« The fourth section depicts the scene of Su Dongpo climbing the cliffs alone. It shows a night scene in the mountains where people are »awestruck by the view.« In the fifth part, Su Dongpo and his friends are boating on the river. In the middle of the night, a lone crane flies over, showing a sense of space in the river and sky. In the sixth part of the painting, Su Dongpo is resting on a high bed at home, the wooden door is closed tightly, and his wife and child servant are nowhere to be seen. In his

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dream, Su Dongpo is sitting in front of a Daoist in front of the couch and talking. This scene of Su Dongpo appears in both real life and dreams, giving people a sense of reverie. At the end of the scroll, Su Dongpo is standing in front of the Snow Hall gate, feeling disappointed and frustrated, as if he has lost something. The original Competing on Gold Moon Lake (Jinmingchi zhengbiao tu) is attributed to Zhang Zeduan, but it is probably the work of other painters in the painting academy at that time. This work shows scenes of a festival in the capital city at that time, displaying a royal ambience that is very different from the scenes of civilian life in Along the River During the Qingming Festival. According to the customs of Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty, every year on March 1st (which happens to be around the Qingming Festival), a water sports tournament was held at Gold Moon Lake in the west of the city. At that time, there would be dragon boat racing and the emperor himself would visit the Water Pavilion by the lake in person and would allow scholars to watch with him, to show the emperor and the people having enjoyment together. Competition winners could win prizes such as brocades and silverware and be invited to a banquet from the emperor. The Competing on Gold Moon Lake portrays these activities. The picture depicts the water sports activities and the environment and architecture of Gold Moon Lake in detail, showing the bustling scenes, and vividly portraying the grand events of the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. There are thousands of figures in the picture. Although they are as small as mosquitoes, they are vivid and harmonious and have different postures. The outlines of the pavilions, bridges, dragon boats, doors and walls shows a meticulous and neat technique and the perspective of structure ratio is accurate and in proportion. Listening to the Guqin is attributed to Zhao Ji of the Huizong era, but it may actually be the work of master painters of the Xuanhe Painting Acad-

emy. This picture also belongs to the style of the courtyard painting. It shows musical activities in a quiet palace garden. A black-clad man burns incense and plays the guqin under a pine tree. A man in vermillion and a man in blue listen intently. The pine and bamboo seem to be swaying with the rhythm of the music. The gorgeous colors, the delicate brushwork, and the subtle expressions of the figures make this exquisite style of painting absolutely breathtaking.

3. Genre Painting of the Southern Song When the Northern Song Dynasty collapsed, the royal family moved south. After a period of recovery and development, the Southern Song Dynasty economy stabilized. Due to the easing of the contradictions between Song and Jin, the social situation also gradually stabilized. The creation of genre paintings that flourished after the creation of Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival continued to flourish. The main themes of genre paintings in the Southern Song Dynasty were children at play and rural life, such as cattle grazing, ox carts, traveling, spinning wheels, shopkeepers, farming scenes, etc. They were called Tian Family Customs, which reflected the importance of court painting academy painters attached to the life of the people and the feelings of home and work embodied in the depiction of folk life. Representative painters mainly include Su Hanchen, Li Song, and Yan Ciping. Su Hanchen was born in Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan Province). His dates of birth and death are unknown. He traveled around during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties while he was waiting to be appointed to the Northern Song Dynasty’s Xuanhe Academy of Painting. Artist Liu Zonggu was adept at painting Daoist priests and ladies and was especially well known for images of children which display their innocence and lively mood when playing games. Children Playing in the Courtyard in Autumn (Qiuting yingxi

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6.12.9 Children Playing in the Courtyard in Autumn by Su Hanchen, National Palace Museum, Taipei

tu) (Fig. 6.12.9) is one of his masterpieces. The rocks standing in the courtyard and the blooming hibiscus and chrysanthemums tell us that the picture shows a refreshing autumn day. Two neatly dressed, round-faced young children are playing games enthusiastically around a squat, wooden table inlaid with shells. The work vividly portrays the children’s concentrated expressions and innocent but and clever way, which reflects

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the artist’s love for children. The artwork is concise and sharp, with bright and elegant colors, typical of the Southern Song Painting Academy style. In addition, the genre paintings attributed to Su Hanchen include Five Young Boys (Wurui tu), showing children singing and dancing, Percussion Music (Jiyue tu), depicting children enjoying the percussion music of a drummer, and Children at Play (Yingxi tu), portraying children chasing butterflies. His style of painting beautiful women was inherited by Zhang Xuan and Zhou Fang in the Tang Dynasty and Five Kingdoms, a fine tradition which, from the time of Zhou Wenju, had focused on showing the demeanor of the boudoir characters, rather than deliberately showing powdered rouge and Jin Peiyu. If Su Hanchen’s genre paintings maintain a strong sense of the palace and boudoir, then, in comparison, Li Song’s genre paintings have a more rustic flavor. His paintings of merchants are the most famous. He was good at painting landscapes, figures, and Daoists, and was particularly good at accurate depictions of architectural forms using jiehua, a Chinese painting technique using a straight edge. He was a resident artist at the Painting Academy during the Guangzong and Ningzong periods. Works of the artist that have survived include A Wave at Night (Yechao tu), West Lake (Xihu tu), and Precious Wave on Immortals Mountain (Xianshan yao tao tu). From his figure paintings, Skeletons (Kulou tu), Evening Lamps (Guandeng tu) and Portraits of Song Jiang and Thirty-Six Others (Songjiang deng sanshiliu renxiang); from his flower and bird paintings, Flock of Birds with Willow Tree and Pond (Liutang juqin tu) and Orchid (Hualan tu), all of which show his considerable drawing skills. He was very innovative in his painting. His Watching the Tide (Guan chao tu) did not depict a grand scene of people of that time in the palace watching the tide, but used subtle techniques to depict a lifeless scene of »bare walls, unoccupied pavilions, and misty trees.« This shows the depth of his ingenuity. Skeletons is a work with a rare

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subject and leaves behind a mysterious image for art historians. Li Song created many genre paintings showing the life of the lower classes, such as Buffalo Crossing a Stream in Spring (Chunxi duniu tu), Spring Gathering (Chunshe tu), the group painting Working in the Fields (Futian tu), and others. He created many works on the theme of shopkeepers, including horizontal scrolls and small paintings. Among them is Tradesmen (Huolang tu), which depicts the scene of a peasant woman carrying a young child enthusiastically watching the trader. As soon as the trader enters the village, he is surrounded by a group of innocent and lively children. Infants impatiently start to handle the toys by themselves. The slightly better-behaved children pester their mothers to buy them. Infants who are still suckling are also curiously fingering the toys. Their mothers are patiently trying to persuade the salesman to sell the goods at a good price, but still fear loss or damage. The figures are positioned closely together, vividly showing the moment when the trader arrives in the country village thereby arousing people’s interest, himself with a keen interest in everything that’s going on. The artist’s way of drawing traditional circles is naturally ingenious in the way it depicts the dazzling array of merchandise. You can discern the threads in the character’s clothing pattern which shows the texture of the cloth. The color of the screen is simple, and you can see that the painter feels close to ordinary working people. Li Song was good at expressing his feelings and attitudes towards life through his painting. According to documentary records, he painted Four Secrets (Simi tu), which exposed and criticized alcoholism, prostitution, gambling, and fighting—the depravity of Southern Song society. Yan Ciping was the son of Yan Zhong, a painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, who belonged to the second generation of south-moving immigrant painters during the Longxing period of Xiaozong (1163–1164). He was an official painter at the

Academy of Painting by official decree, served as a minister and received the Golden Ribbon. He was born in Qiantang and from his childhood the village scenery fascinated him. He loved to paint Qiantang landscapes and was outstanding at showing herds of cattle grazing. His Herding Cattle (Muniu tu) work is divided into four scenes: spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each depicting two buffaloes. The atmosphere of life is strong and it shows the tranquil scenery of the Qiantang countryside. In Spring Herding (Chunmu tu), the willows are green and sunlit. Two buffaloes graze with their heads down under the willows. A boy cowherd sits on the back of the buffalo, holding a whip in one hand and a rein in the other, looking down at the buffalo under him. In Summer Herding (Xiamu tu), the buffaloes are soaking in the pond under the thick shade all day long, while two shepherd boys sit on the backs of the buffaloes and talk. Autumn Herding (Qiumu tu) shows the river swollen with autumn water, the fallen leaves filling the dike. Two buffaloes are lying side by side whilst their calves are timidly eying this strange world as the boy cowherd teases a frog. Winter Herding (Dongmu tu) shows a frosty day with snow-covered ground. The cold wind is bitter, the dead branches are swaying and the two buffaloes huddle tightly together as they return home with the boy cowherd curled up on the cow’s back. The painter is familiar with farm life and vividly portrays the posture of the cow and the boy cowherd’s sorrows and joys. His brushwork is reminiscent of Li Tang’s, but he uses it more plainly, gracefully, and casually. Also, there were Zhu Rui and Li Di who were good custom painters during the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhu Rui, a native of Hebei, served as an official painter at the Xuanhe Painting Academy and was reinstated at the Shaoxing Painting Academy. He received an award for meritorious service and the Golden Ribbon. He was good at painting wagons, travelers, hunting in the snow and etc. A surviving work of his, the Covered Wagon (Panche tu)

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shows a scene of an ox cart crossing a river. The style of depicting travelers and landscapes was different from that of the Tang and Northern Song dynasties. As a genre painting, this work mainly depicts the activities of the characters as a way to express the hardships of life on the road. Li Di was famous for painting flowers and birds, and he was also good at painting cattle. He was especially fond of drawing pictures of herding cattle and he had a strong sense of life. His surviving genre paintings include the albums Cattle Returning Home in the Wind and Rain (Fengyu guimu tu) and Cattle Returning Home in the Snow (Xuezhong guimu tu). As far as themes are concerned, there are also works from the Southern Song Dynasty custom painters with themes such as Plowing and Weaving (Gengzhi 耕织), Silk Spinning (Silun 丝纶, Silkworm Cocoon Weaving (Canzhi 蚕织and Musical Comedy (Zaju 杂剧). Plowing and Weaving was first seen during the Gaozong period and was painted by Lou Shou. His creation was related to the emphasis placed on agriculture during the Southern Song Dynasty and later became a traditional theme. The renowned artist Liu Songnian also painted Plowing and Weaving pictures and there are many more plowing and weaving pictures by unknown artists. The area of ​​Jiangsu and Zhejiang is the cradle of Chinese silk. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it had already become the center of China’s silk trade and during the Southern Song Dynasty, the silk industry was further developed. The still extant painting Silk Spinning shows peasants spinning silk in the area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, depicting life around several farmhouses in a bamboo forest by a stream. The Silkworm Cocoon Weaving, in the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum, describes the entire process of silkworm farming from sericulture to silk weaving in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The whole series of vignettes is composed of 24 sections, which are arranged as a long corridor-style building with connecting rooms.

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Each scene is described by small regular script. There are more than 70 people in the picture, their expressions are vivid and lively. The mulberry branches, partition walls, a few benches, silkworm and weaving tools are all extremely realistic. The lines are clean and concise, the circles are neatly painted, and the colors are elegant. It is a masterpiece of realism with a strong atmosphere of working life. In short, the genre paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty not only opened up new perspectives in Chinese art, but also left an unsurpassed and ubiquitous picture of the lives of the common people for later generations and this had a huge impact on painting, crafts, sculpture and other fine arts.

4. History Painting of the Southern Song Changes to the landscapes of the Southern Song Dynasty, from the perspective of history, reveal a collective will to rejuvenate the country, so history painting, with historical stories or historical figures as themes, also flourished. At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, a large number of history painting with the themes of Han and Tang emerged. However, compared with the historical figure paintings of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the history painting of the Southern Song Dynasty were not good at eulogizing saints and extoling virtues, and rather were more tragic and heavy. Later on, there appeared a horizontal scroll style painting Scenes from Aristocratic Life (Zhongxing ruiying), as well as a large number of realistic works showing patriotic generals, reflecting the people’s longing and desire for the revival of the Song Dynasty. It can be seen that the political significance of the historical story paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty is more obvious and more exigent than in previous generations, and can be roughly divided into three categories: promoting integrity, national reconciliation, and warnings to the world. Among the works promoting integrity, Li Tang’s Gathering Ferns (Caiwei tu) is representative. As

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6.12.10 Gathering Ferns, by Li Tang, Palace Museum, Beijing

one of the »Big Four« artists of Southern Song Dynasty, Li Tang was not only an outstanding landscape painter, but also a great portraitist. At a critical moment when half of the country’s land was lost and the survival of the nation was uncertain, Li Tang became a refugee from the Central Plains who had personally experienced the shame of the Jingkang Incident. He deeply missed the scenic atmosphere of his motherland and in his the desire to expunge this humiliation, through the depiction of historical figures, he embodied deep patriotism. In addition to the Gathering Ferns, surviving works handed down also include Promoting Culture to Restore the Country (Jinwen gongfu guo tu). Gathering Ferns (Fig. 6.12.10) tells the story of when King Zhou Wu destroyed the Yin Dynasty in Yin Xu (now Henan Province). The old Yin Shang minister Chen Boyi and Chen Shuqi are eating cheap millet and ferns gathered on Shouyang Mountain, preferring to starve to death rather than cooperate with the Zhou Dynasty. It gave the story a whole new positive meaning. On the right is a large pine tree entwined with ancient vines, and on the left is an iron-like maple tree that is reaching out and prominent. The two trees are growing in different directions, aloof perhaps, which strongly contrasts with the two brothers Boyi and Shuqi, who are sitting on the rocky slope between the cliffs and talking with each other. Boyi has his hands

clasped around his knees. His eyes are focused, his beard and hair are unkempt but his expression is steady. Shuqi is leaning forward and this shows the figures’ differing personalities. The lines of the clothes are drawn with square folds and creases like reeds, highlighting the character’s unbending mental outlook. The damp, desolate, and depressing environment further reflects the character’s resolute spirit. The trees outlined with thick lines, the jagged mountain rocks, as if cracked by a big axe, and the damp ink and wash all add to the melancholic atmosphere of the painting. The awe-inspiring anger and grief expressed in the work seem to be a metaphor for the painter’s dissatisfaction with the Southern Song Dynasty ruling clique’s compromise with the people of the state of Jin (1115–1234). The whole volume of Promoting Culture to Restore the Country takes the form of a horizontal scroll, divided into 6 sections, depicting the story of Zhong Er, a Prince of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period. Zhong Er lived in exile for 19 years, and after all his hardships, he finally returned to Chinese territory to assume the throne. The intention of this painting is undoubtedly to hope that the Song Dynasty will follow the example of Zhong Er and regain lost ground. The figures in the whole picture are vivid, the houses are tidy and the horses are lively. The style is similar to that of Li Gonglin.

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In terms of works on themes such as praying for national reconciliation, the widely circulated The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State (Wenji guihan tu) is a prime example. This theme was extremely popular in the Southern Song and Jin Dynasties. The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State is also known as the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute (Hujia shiba pai). The Story of Lady Wenji is actually the central theme of the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute. It was depicted by many painters in the Southern Song Dynasty. Chen Juzhong was the most prominent of these. Chen Juzhong, dates of birth and death unknown, was active roughly during the early Southern Song Dynasty. During the Jiatai years (1201–1204), he was assigned to the Painting Academy. He specialized in working people, horses and beasts, and was especially good at depicting the life of the peoples in the north. His works are delicate and lively, and the style is handsome and bright. His character story paintings mainly include The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State, Su and Li’s Tearful Farewell (Su Li qibie tu), Huntress (Nu lie tu) and so on. The content mostly shows the relationship between the Han and the Khitan Huns, but actually reflects the relationship between the peoples of the Song and the Jin. Among them, The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State depicts Cai Yan (also known as Cai Wenji), who was exiled by the Khitans in the late Han Dynasty, bidding farewell to her husband and children when she returned to Han. Cai Wenji sits opposite her Khitan husband, and her two children hold her tightly, reluctant to release her. In the background the camels and horses and her entourage are ready to depart. The picture shows the special moment between wanting to return yet not having returned. The atmosphere of parting is strong and truly moving, and really portrays Cai Wenji’s agonizing farewell. There are more than 30 figures and over a dozen pommel horses in the painting, all with distinctive features, vivid imagery, exquisite brushwork, and colorful colors. He was a greatly

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skilled portraitist. Su and Li’s Tearful Farewell tells the story of Su Wu’s mission to the Khitan, and his years of tending to sheep in Beihai without degrading the dignity of the Han. Apart from the steadfastness of Su Wu and the shame of Li Ling, who was defeated in battle, the picture also shows the mutual understanding and respect of both parties. The images of Su Wu and Li Ling also had strong practical significance in the Southern Song Dynasty. The works on admonishing the world are represented by Sitting on the Throne (Quezuo tu) and Breaking the Threshold (Zhekan tu). The painters of Sitting on the Throne and Breaking the Threshold are unknown but the stories they describe happened in the Western Han Dynasty. The story behind Sitting on the Throne is Emperor Han Wen doted on his concubine Shen, making her sit on an equal status with himself and the queen in the palace. However Senior Minister Yan Ang once bluntly remonstrated with him when making seating arrangements and finally made Emperor Han Wen see sense. Sitting on the Throne details this story. The painting shows lush vegetation with birds and the Emperor Wen is in the center with the Empress sitting on an embroidered bench. Concubine Shen is at the side of the emperor, looking somewhat unhappy. Yan Ang is bowing to him calmly and unhurriedly, without any sign of fear, but resolute and solemn. The story of Breaking the Threshold is that during the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, Prime Minister Zhang Zhihu was autocratic and did wrong by the country, but he was deeply trusted by Emperor Cheng. Zhu Yun, a faithful official, risked his own death by asking for the execution of Prime Minister Zhang. Emperor Cheng was furious and wanted to execute Zhu Yun, but Zhu Yun pulled the railing so tightly that the railing broke. A group of officials tried to protect him. Emperor Cheng woke up to reality and Zhu Yun’s life was spared. The emperor told the palace not to repair the railings in recognition of Zhu Yun’s

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loyalty which shows the value of honest advice. Breaking the Threshold shows the courtyard of the palace with mountains, rocks and pine trees. Prime Minister Zhang stands to the side, leaning over the emperor and holding a ceremonial tablet. Zhu Yun is standing to the emperor’s left and two guards are holding him back. The artist accurately depicts the different personalities and emotional characteristics of the several characters who are in sharp contrast with each other as well as their relationship. The painting method is neat and bold, and it is the work of one of the painters at the Academy of Painting. In addition to the above-mentioned thematic works, figure paintings based on general literary works were also popular in the Southern Song Dynasty artists’ circles. Among them, Ma Hezhi’s works are the most representative. The painter Ma Hezhi of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy painted figures, landscapes, flowers and birds, and often combined various themes. In particular, the series of drawings based on literary works such as the Classic of Poetry established his reputation as a painter of character stories. His figure painting was influenced by Wu Daozi and Li Gonglin but he created his own style. He changed the development of Wu Daozi’s »orchid leaf drawing« style (Lanye miao 兰叶描) into the »horse and locust drawing« style (Mahuang miao 马蝗描), stylized but more realistic than »orchid leaf drawing style,« which is elegant, fluent, and full of rhythm. It became one of the most typical ways of portraying traditional Chinese clothing. His figures are mostly painted with ink. Even if they are colored, they are lighter, a style known as »xiao wusheng« (‌小吴生 after the spirit of Wu Daozi, a Tang dynasty painter). His style of painting is therefore distinctive and unique in the flourishing Southern Song painting circles. He painted more than two hundred scenes from the Classic of Poetry, and there are more than 20 other extant volumes such as The Bark of the Deer (Luming zhishen tu), Views of Nan-

shan (Jie nanshan zhishen tu), Views of the Qing Temple (Qingmiao zhishen tu), Views of Bin County (Binfeng tu) and Views of the Tang (Tangfeng tu). There was also Second Ode to the Red Cliffs (Hou chibi fu tu). The setting is sparse and the use of ink is simple and the brushwork is especially casual and flowing, reflecting the difference between his painting style and that of his predecessors. The rise of historical themes during the Southern Song Dynasty certainly reflects the dismal history of the Chinese people caused by the pain of the country’s subjugation, but it also reflects the desire and the sentiment of rejuvenating the country. Li Tang’s student Xiao Zhao’s Scenes from Aristocratic Life depicts the story of Gaozong’s restoration in a larger scene and was probably painted following an imperial decree. Apart from these, there was Emperor Guangwu Crossing the River (Guangwu duhe tu), and other historical stories such as Tang Suzong’s Forging Ahead (Wangxian yingjia tu)—and contemporary historical themes such as Cao Xun Welcoming the Phoenix (Caoxun yingluan tu) and The Four Generals of Zhongxing (Zhongxing sijiang tu).

5. Activities of the Painting Academies of the Liao, Western Xia, Jin, and Dali, Paintings of Horses and Figures, and History Paintings In the Southern Tang period, the art academies of the Western Shu and the two Song Dynasties developed in tandem, while northern minority regimes such as the Liao, Western Xia and Jin also made progress in establishing painting academies and court painting. Although the Liao did not have a formal academy, it had established the Imperial Academy, which recruited many talents who were good at painting and many of the royal family and aristocrats could paint. Those, such as Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Emperor Xingzong of Liao and the aristocrats Ye’lv Bei and Ye’lv Tizi. After the Jin destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, there followed the establishment of an imitation Song dy-

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nasty. Under the supervision of a secretary of the inner court, the Office of Painting and Calligraphy was set up, with a member of the imperial household exclusively in charge of the royal painting and calligraphy papers, and one or two members of the court as supervisors. Under the supervision of the court treasurer there was a painting department and also goldsmithing. There were also cutting and engraving departments. Especially during the Mingchang period of Emperor Zhangzong (1190–1196), after the palace painting academy was set up, the output was almost comparable to the Xuanhe Painting Academy of Song Huizong. It is known that the painters Wang Kui and Zhang Yu of the court painting academy painted temple murals and other similar works commanded by the emperor. The surviving murals of Yanshang Temple in Shanxi province were painted by Wang Kui, and Zhang Yu created the The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State. Although the Western Xia Kingdom did not have a court painting academy, most of the Western Xia kings believed in Buddhism, so there were great achievements in Buddhist iconography, which was vigorously promoted under the auspices of the court. Importantly, the Western Xia Kingdom straddled the Hexi Corridor to the west, and a large number of painters left over from the Cao Painting Academy from the Five Dynasties period also probably had an impact on Western Xia painting. In addition, due to the belief in Buddhism in the southern Dali Kingdom, Buddhist painting under the auspices of the imperial court made considerable achievements. Liao Dynasty horse and figure paintings with the nomadic Khitans as the main theme were developed. The painting styles were mainly derived from the Tang style and combined with the Central Plains style. The two most important horse and figure painters were Li Zanhua and Hu Gui. Li migrated from the Liao Kingdom to the Central Plains and Hu Gui from the Central Plains to the Liao Kingdom. Among them, Li Zanhua (899–936)

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was a Khitan whose real name was Ye’lv Bei, and was an accomplished calligrapher. He was the eldest son of the Liao Dynasty Founder Taizu Yelu Abao, and he later fled to the Later Tang Dynasty because of his brother’s jealousy. He was knowledgeable and talented, and understood the balance between yin and yang. He knew about the musical rhythms, understood medicine, was familiar with essays of the Liao and Han, and was good at painting the horse figures of his own country. His surviving works include Archery on Horseback (Sheqi tu) and Shooting Deer (Shelu tu), both of which depict the life of the Khitan aristocrat. Contrary to Li Zanhua, who migrated from the Liao state to the Han state, Hu Gui migrated to the Liao state from the Han state. Hu Gui, whose dates of birth and death are unknown, was born in Fan Yang (now Zhuozhou, Hebei Province) and later moved to the Liao state to become a member of the Wusuogu tribe in the Khitan Shen Prefecture. He specialized in painting the peoples of the north and riding and hunting themes. His depiction of the hunting subordinates, yurts and everyday objects are detailed and realistic. The horses and camels have added color washes applied by a dry weasel bristle brush (Langhao xuanran 狼毫渲染), and are full of life. His surviving work, Pause for Rest and Refreshment (Zhuoxie tu), shows scenes of the chiefs of the Khitan tribe hunting and resting, where people and horses are intermingled. The setting is both orderly and lively. The background of the entire picture is a grassy slope, stained using a dry brush and light ink. The clothes of the characters, the saddles and blankets, hunting paraphernalia and the prey are all finely detailed. The painting style is simple and honest, and it truly reflects the nomadic life of the Khitan people. It can be described as one of the masterpieces of the northern steppes style of painting. Other paintings Going Hunting (Chulie tu) and Returning from the Hunt (Huilie tu) have been preserved and describe the life of the Khitan upper classes and the scenery of the Liao region.

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The paintings from the Jin Dynasty were more influenced by Han culture in the Central Plains than those of the Liao Dynasty. Therefore, most of the historical story paintings from the Jin Dynasty still belong to the historical stories of the Han culture from the Central Plains. Their painting styles are essentially not different from those of the Song Dynasty. The main surviving works include Zhao Lin’s Six Horses at the Imperial Tombs (Zhaoling liujun tu), Yang Shichang’s Asking the Way in Kongtong (Kongtong wendao tu), Gong Suran’s Concubine Ming in the Mountain Pass and Zhang Yu’s The Return of Lady Wenji to the Han State. In terms of history painting, the historical scrolls Scenes of Nanzhao (Nanzhao tu juan) and Scenes of Dali (Dali huajuan) from the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan, in southwest China, have a certain representative significance. Of these, Scenes of Nanzhao is actually two scrolls: painting and text. The text scroll is a description of the picture scroll, somewhat akin to today’s comic strips. The picture scroll has three themes: The first theme is The Cause of Weishan (Weishan qiyin 巍山起因), which depicts the story of an ancestor of Nanzhao who underwent Guanyin Goddess of Mercy education in Weishan, trying to prove that the foundation of the Nanzhao Kingdom was »the divine power granted by the gods«; the second theme is Sacrifice at the Temple of the Iron Columns (Zhaitiezhu tu), which depicts Zhang Le surrendering the throne and Xi Nuluo becoming the founding monarch of the Nanzhao Kingdom; the third theme is The Annals of Xi Er He (Xierhe dengji 西耳河等记), which may depict the destruction of the Nanzhao Kingdom. Scenes of Dali is also known as Song Dynasty Dali State Painter Zhang Shengwen’s Brahman and Sanskrit Paintings, but the artist may have been a court painter of Dali State. The whole volume is divided into three parts, with more than 600 figures drawn. The first part is the Emperor Lizhen Praying to the Buddha (Lizhen huangdi lifo tu). The background is the 19 peaks of Cangshan, which shows geographical location of the Buddha

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(Cangshan County in Linyi, Shandong Province); the second part is the Venerable Bodhisattva, the Heavenly Dragon, Babu Dharma Protector and Others (Tianlong babu hufa pusa zunzhe deng 天龙八 部护法菩萨尊者等), which is the main body of the whole volume and shows various figures from the Buddhist pantheon; the third part is the (Sixteen Lords and Masters (Shiliu dakou zhuzhong), depicting 16 kings visiting the Dali Kingdom to pay their respects.

Section 6  Buddhist and Daoist Paintings and Mural Figures During the period of the Five Kingdoms and two Song Dynasties artists developed and established various different styles of Daoist painting based on an inherited tradition. From the Western Shu to the Northern Song Dynasty, Daoist painting matched the increasing prosperity of the Tang period and this style of painting was influenced by Wu Daozi and Sun Wei. At the same time there was a secular trend which was represented by Gao Wenjin and Wu Zongyuan. Guan Xiu and Shi Ke were experts at painting bearded Buddhist figures. Whilst their appearance is ugly and weird, the execution is refined. The popularity of Zen Buddhism in the Southern Song Dynasty is also reflected in painting, such as the Zen Buddhist figure paintings by Liu Songnian, Liang Kai, and Fachang. Among them, the minimalist brushwork style (Jianbi 减笔) figure paintings of Liang Kai are the most outstanding.

1. Buddhist and Daoist Paintings of the Shu Kingdom and the Northern Song Dynasty During the Five Kingdoms and the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of famous Daoist and Buddhist figure painters were ordered to create murals in various temples, and at the same time

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they created a large number of scroll paintings with Daoist and Buddhist figures as themes. Their explorations of and achievements in various aspects of Taoism and Daoist art collectively embody the level reached in the development of Taoism and Daoist art during this period. Many figure painters during the Tang Dynasty, such as Wu Daozi, Lulingjia, Zhang Nanben, Sun Wei, and Guan Xiu, all migrated to the Shu State one after the other. They brought famous paintings from earlier dynasties with them and taught their apprentices, which had a great influence on the figure painting of the Western Shu using the inherited Daoist traditions of the Tang Dynasty. Later, local painters emerged, and famous artists such as Shi Ke appeared, painting Buddhist and Daoist spiritual beings and Luohan statues (Luohan is from the Sanskrit Arhat: a Buddhist who has achieved Nirvana). In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, many painters from the Western Shu entered the Song State, such as Sun Zhiwei and Gao Wenjin. At the same time, taking Wu Zongyuan as representative, numerous figure painters in the table were influenced by the style of Wu Daozi and their elegant and traditional styles promoted the development of Daoist painting in the Central Plains. Sun Wei was a painter at the end of the Tang Dynasty who later changed his named to Yu. He was from Mount Kuaiji (now known Xianglu Peak near Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province). He had a wild and unrestrained temperament, noble and impressive and a good drinker. He often spent time with Zen monks and Daoist priests and traveled to the Shu State in the late Tang Dynasty Period. After arriving in the Shu State, Sun Wei remained famous for his painting skills and most of the Shu State’s painters of landscapes and figures were taught by Sun Wei. Sun Wei painted a large number of murals in temples around the Shu State Temple View, especially in Yingtian Temple and Zhaojue Temple in Chengdu, where he painted mountains and rocks, black ink bamboo, and the immortals of the Water

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Dragon Emperor’s realm. Humans and immortals are mixed, with spears and halberds, rushing hither and thither, as if they want to cry out. Eagles and dogs are all drawn with three to five strokes, in different poses and with different expressions, and the whole effect is one of flying. However, the only work of Sun Wei’s that has survived to this day is Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (Gaoti tu), which only depicts four sages sitting on the ground in the garden. The torsos of the figures are resolute and convey an aristocratic demeanor. Sun Zhiwei, also known as Tai Gu, was born in Pengshan, Meizhou (now Pengzhou, Sichuan Province) and was active in the territory of Shu state during the late Shu and early Song Dynasties. He was inscrutable and intelligent, abstemious and ascetic, and almost ethereal. He once studied painting under the monk Lingzong and, influenced by his grandson, he was adept at painting Buddhist themes. He painted painstakingly and pensively, taking a long time to complete a work. His works are mainly murals. His scrolls are also done in a carefree and casual way. They are plain and lively and not following in the footsteps of his predecessors. It can be seen that his Daoist figures are quite different from ordinary craftsmen and artisans, and they are close in style to Li Gonglin of the late Northern Song Dynasty. Guan Xiu (832–912), also known as Jiang Deyin, was a Zen Master and a native of Lanxi (now in Zhejiang Province). He became a monk at a young age and migrated to the Shu state in his later years. Founding Emperor Wang Jian bestowed on him the title of Master of the Purple Cloth. In his early years, he was renowned as a poet and he was named Jiang Ti, in cursive script. He was an accomplished painter of Buddhist, especially Luohan, statues. While remaining faithful to tradition, Guan Xiu was more interested in uncovering the expressions and inner emotions of the characters, thereby forming his own unique style. Nowadays no authentic works by Guan Xiu’s exist: a variety of copies have been circulated, such as

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Sixteen Buddhas, which is a copy dating from the early Song Dynasty. The image of the Buddha is ancient and unusual, and the use of the brush is simple and unadorned, with a relatively obvious Tang Dynasty style. Guan Xiu’s style of painting had certain influence on Liang Kai and Yan Hui of the Southern Song Dynasty and even on Chen Hongshou of the Ming Dynasty. Shi Ke, also known as Zi Zhuan, was a painter from Chengdu and was active during the Western Shu and early Song. He wrote songs and poems using co-phonic rhythms, extensively drawing on Confucianism. But he was better at painting, having once studied under the Daoist and Buddhist painter Zhang Nanben, in the late Tang Dynasty. He didn’t follow the rules of brush work: he allowed his brush work to flow freely and be more dramatic, rather than stick to straight lines. His works are diverse, including Buddhist and Daoist themes, myths and legends, historical stories and secular life. Shi Ke painted Daoist and Buddhist figures very well. In his early years, he was

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engaged in painting murals in various temples around the Western Shu state. At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, he moved to Kaifeng and was engaged to paint the murals of the Xiangguo Temple. Later, the Imperial court wanted to grant him a position at the Painting Academy post, but he resigned and instead returned to his hometown— but died on the way. Shi Ke had a sense of humor and was free-spirited. He despised worldly convention, and many of his paintings are grotesque but oddly intriguing. A surviving work by Shi Ke, the Second Zen Master in Introspection (Erzu tiaoxin tu) (Fig. 6.12.11), is done with a sparse and thin brush, which is extremely striking. Shi Ke’s painting method had an influence on Liang Kai and Fachang of the Southern Song Dynasty. Gao Yi, a native of Zhuozhou (now Hebei Province), lived during the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Dynasty Period. He moved from Qidan to Bianjing to sell medicine during the Taizu period. He also displayed paintings of dogs, gods and horses alongside the medicine to attract

6.12.11 Second Zen Master in Introspection by Shi Ke, Tokyo National Museum, Japan

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customers. He was then appointed to the Painting Academy as Senior Court Artist. He also painted a mural at the Xiangguo Temple by command of the emperor. None of his paintings survive. Gao Wenjin was a native of Shu. His dates of birth and death are unknown, but he was active during the early Northern Song Dynasty. He came from a family of artists. His grandfather Gao Daoxing and father Gao Congyu were both official artists at the Western Shu Painting Academy. His son Gao Huaijie was an official artist at the Northern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, and his son Gao Huaibao was court artist at the academy. After the fall of the Western Shu Dynasty and the rise of the Song Dynasty, Gao Wenjin followed his father to Bianjing. During the Taizong period, he was an official artist at the academy. Later he was promoted to court artist in waiting. In later years, Gao Yi and Gao Wenjin were collectively referred to as »Gao Old and Young, Artists-in-Waiting« (Daxiao gaodaizhao 大小高待诏). Gao Wenjin was good at narrative pictures, using both Cao and Wu styles. His use of the brush is quick and vigorous, and his color is fresh and glossy. While he was at the academy, he painted murals at the Xiangguo Temple, and he was known for his integrity. He also painted scrolls, which have long since been lost. Wu Zongyuan (?–1050), originally named Zongdao, later changed to Zongyuan was a native of Baibo (now Mengjin, Henan Province). He was good at painting Buddhist and Daoist figures. He was born into a scholarly family. When he was a boy, because he loved painting, he was nicknamed »Yucao Wailang« (yucao 虞曹and wailang 外郎 are both official positions in the royal household, similar to equerry or chamberlain). He painted murals in the Zhaoying Palace in Yuqing and Guangfu Palace in Luoyang, Longxing Temple in Xuchang, and Tianfeng Temple in Songshan. The still-extant powder-based color example, Immortals Gathering for Battle, was painted by Wu Zongyuan, depicting the ranks of Daoist emperors and the highest immortals.

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This painting is arranged from left to right and is centered on the two emperors of East and South China. At the ends, left and right, are the guards of the gods and the generals. Among the ranks are boys in gold and girls in jade, various gods and immortals holding ceremonial objects like fragrant flowers, incense burners, banners, and flags. The emperors are solemn and of full figure, the male immortals are solemn and dignified, the female immortals are beautiful and colorful, and the gods are mighty and brave. The marching ranks are lined up together and the figures have varied features, costumes, postures, height and physical shapes. The whole painting is drawn in outline, without color, and the shapes change and flow. Among the Daoist and Buddhist painters in the Song Dynasty, were many adherents of Wu Daozi. This painting was also a popular religious mural style dating back to the Tang Dynasty and it is continued through temple murals of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. There is also the Eighty-Seven Immortals scroll (Bashiqi shenxian juan). The characters are basically the same as those in Immortals Gathering for Battle, but the lines overlap and are complicated and the style is elegant.

2. Zen Painting of the Southern Song Dynasty During the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, in tandem with the popularity of Zen (chan 禅) thought, Zen figure painting developed. As an offshoot of Daoist painting, the Zen paintings of the Southern Song Dynasty were simple and straightforward, seeking the essence of enlightenment without using words. Liu Songnian in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Liang Kai in the middle years, and Fachang in the later years were all well-known Zen painters. Among them, Liang Kai’s figure painting, using ink-splash and minimalist brushwork, created the precedent for freehand painting by artists in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

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As one of the »Four Masters of the Southern Song Dynasty,« Liu Songnian was good at landscapes and figures. His figure paintings include Drunken Monk (Zui seng tu) and Apes Offering Fruit (Yuanhou xianguo tu). Drunken Monk is a story written by Huai Su. In the painting, a vigorous old pine twists upward and occupies most of the picture. Under the pine stand three people, a drunken monk and two boys. The drunken monk is partly undressed and showing his chest, his right hand waving a brush at a piece of silk fabric which is held by one of the boys, while the other boy holds the inkstone and is bowing slightly towards the drunken monk. The nearby rocky outcrops are strangely shaped and lofty, whilst the distant mountains and peaks are beautiful. In order to highlight Huai Su’s wild temperament, the painter placed him in the mountains of Linquan instead of among Buddhist temples. Zen Buddhism had become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people since the rise of the Tang and Song dynasties and many literati and even officials and princes hoped thereby to obtain spiritual relief. The story depicted by Liu Songnian is the embodiment of this Zen ideal. The figures in the paintings are neatly drawn, and you can see the changes in the brushwork, where the outlines blend with the light ink, and the curves are loose and lively. The mountains, rocks and the pine tree are drawn with coarse, broad and black lines to frame the silhouette whilst the thick layer of ink is smudged to contrast with the depiction of clothes. The composition of the picture is out of the ordinary. The pine needles on the extended branches divide the picture into two with the upper and lower parts echoing and complementing each other, thus highlighting the figures in the painting. Many painters of the same period also painted such themes. Monkeys Offering Fruit (Yuanhou xianguo tu) (Fig. 6.12.12) is one of the 16 Buddhas by the artist, of which only three remain. In the picture, the Buddha’s chest and shoulders are bare. He is slightly frowning in thought. The child monk is delicate

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and appealing, looking eagerly upwards with an innocent smile, sleeves folded, to catch the fruit dropped by the monkey. These dramatic details downplay the solemn religious atmosphere and reveal a kind of secular joy. The brushwork of this picture is also neat and painstaking. The figures and the animals are all drawn with heavy outlines. The brush is used with syncopated cadences and moves freely. The ancient trees are ungainly and simple, but the leaves are neatly outlined. The composition is sparse and dense, but not chaotic. The dates of Liang Kai’s birth and death are unknown. He was born in Dongping (now in Shandong Province), and he was artist-in-waiting at the Academy of Painting during the Jiatai period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1201–1204). He was bold and unruly, liked to associate with Daoist monks, was addicted to alcohol and pleasure and had a wild nature. At the time, he was known as »Madman Liang.« Liang Kaishan painted figures, Buddhist and Daoist scenes, ghosts and gods, landscapes, and flowers and birds. His painting styles were diverse. During the early part of his time at the academy, his painting method was neat. During his later period, the figures have finely-drawn eyebrows and simple but graceful clothing. However, after leaving the academy, the minimalist brush stroke style and the energetic splashing ink style using a big brush that he created were unique for the Southern Song Dynasty. There are more than 30 of Liang Kai’s works which survive. Most of these are Daoist and Buddhist figure paintings, such as Eight Senior Monks (Ba gaoseng tu), Sakyamuni Buddha Leaving the Mountains (Shijia chushan tu), Six Patriarchs Chopping Bamboo (Liu zu zhuozhu tu), Six Patriarchs Tearing up Scriptures (Liu zu sijing tu), Li Bai Reciting Poetry (Li Bai xingyin tu), Ink Splash Immortal, (Pomo xianren tu) Laughing Buddha (Budai tu), Hanshan and Shide (Hanshan shide tu), and so forth. Eight Senior Monks depicts the stories of

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6.12.12  Monkeys Offering Fruit by Liu ­Songnian, Palace Museum, Beijing

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eminent monks: Bodhidharma meditating; »Hong Ren Leaning on His Staff«; »Bai Juyi Paying Respects to Zen Master Niaowan«; »Zhi Xian Sweeping the Bamboo Forest«; »Yuan Ze Meeting a Girl Drawing Water«; »Guan Xi Asking for Water«; Lou Zi praying; »Gu Peng in a Boat«; »A Monk Leaning on a Fish Cart,« and so on. The figures painted are vibrantly and vividly, the composition is inventive and rigorously executed. The outlines are drawn adeptly and are flowing. It belongs to the style of his early his early years. Sakyamuni Buddha Leaving the Mountains and Six Patriarchs Chopping Bamboo are works of the same period, and the style of painting is somewhat similar to Eight Senior Monks. Taibai Reciting Poetry is a masterpiece of Liang Kai’s brush style and is also the painter’s most renowned work. There are few strokes on the painting but they are full of meaning and make the natural and graceful image of the »immortal of poetry« Li Bai float vividly on the paper. The brushwork is unrestrained, simple and uninhibited, which fully reflects the charm and individuality of Chinese brush painting. Ink Splash Immortal (Fig. 6.12.13) is Liang Kai’s iconic work using ink splash (pomo 泼墨). In this picture, painted with a large brush, the immortal is drawn in a robe with an unrestrained use of ink, and then the facial features are delicately outlined with a thin brush. The immortal’s staggering and drunken state emerges from the paper. There is no great detail in the portrayal of the immortal, but through the swaying behavior and the changes of ink color, his immortal’s nobility and spirituality and personality characteristics are highlighted. According to historical records, Wang Qia, Zhang Zao, and others in the Tang Dynasty used this method of ink splash, but these paintings were not widely circulated, and Liang Kai’s method of ink splash was used independently during the hundreds of years of the Song Dynasty—although its legacy has not been passed down. Fachang was an important but controversial painter in the late Song and early Yuan. A native

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of Shu, he was originally called Li Muxi. After he became a monk, he lived at Wannian Temple on Tiantai Mountain. Fachang liked to paint exceptional people, apes and cranes, birds, reeds and wild geese, landscapes, trees and rocks, and figures. They are mainly ink and wash without coloring. They are mostly painted with bagasse (sugar cane waste) and grass, and the themes are simple and unpretentious. There are more than 60 pieces of his work still in existence today, most of which are in Japan where they had a great influence on Japanese artists. Representative works include Guanyin with Monkey and Crane (Guanyin yuanhe tu), and Buddha (Luohan tu). Guanyin with Monkey and Crane is the collective name for the series Guanyin (Guanyin tu), Monkey (Yuan) and Crane (He). Among them, Guanyin is a picture of Guanyin Bodhisattva dressed in white sitting on the rocky side of the stream, with a calm and kind face. Most of Muxi’s works use casual and simple brushwork, but this one is precise and meticulous. Buddha depicts a Buddha with his eyes and lips closed, sitting quietly and calmly. He is not fazed by the giant python that is entwined with him beside him and doesn’t show any panic. In addition, the Fachang Zen paintings circulating in Japan include Monk Fishing for Clams (Xianzi heshang tu), Sunlight and Moonlight (Zhaoyang duiyue tu), Hanshan and Shide, Feng Gan (Fenggan), Five Ancestors (Wuzu tu) and Monk in Meditation (Damo tu). Portraits of Zen monks were also popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. Called »head portraits,« they were actually usually full-length portraits. The Portrait of Master Wu Zhun (Wuzhun shifan xiang) is Fachang’s masterpiece.

3. Mural Figures Although the frescoes in the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties were not as developed as in the previous dynasties, there were still many excellent works, among which the subject matter of figures display certain characteristics of the times. A group of court painters were engaged in the pro-

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6.12.13 Ink Splash Immortal by Liang Kai, National Palace Museum, Taipei

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duction of temple murals. With the prosperity of Daoism in the Song Dynasty, the style of portrayal of Daoist murals and immortals was established in this period. In addition, there were also excellent murals in grottoes and tombs, but these were not as successful. During the Five Dynasties, although many temples were destroyed due to the Buddhism-elimination policy of the later Zhou, the production of temple murals did not stop. The Song Dynasty imperial court adopted a protection policy for Buddhism and Daoism, paying particular attention to Daoism, and the production of temple murals rose again. At that time, Zhu Yao and Zhang Tu painted murals of Buddhas and immortals in the Guang Ai Temple in Luoyang, Wang Renshou was painting Guanyin murals in the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng, in Chengdu Zhao Deqi was painting the Heavenly Kings at the Dashengci Temple. At the Shengshou Temple, Li Sheng was painting landscapes and at the Qingliang Temple in Jinling, Dong Yu was painting waves. All of these are now very famous. The Daxiangguo Temple in Bianjing became a royal Buddhist temple during the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was expanded to encompass more than 60 courtyards. The mural restorations and drawings were all famous at the time. Wang Renshou, Monk De Fu, Gao Yi, Sun Mengqing, Yan Wengui, Gao Wenjin, Wang Dao Zhen, Shi Ke, and Cui Bai participated. The Song Dynasty emphasized Daoism, and largescale mural creation gradually established the system of immortals and their forms and styles in Daoist mural paintings. Famous Daoist temples, such as Taiyi Temple, Shangqing Temple, Zhaoying Temple in Yuqing, Jingling Temple and Wuyue Temple received the support of the royal family to build and decorate magnificently. Of these, ­Zhaoying Temple in Yuqing is particularly large. The paintings in it are by famous masters such as Wu Zongyuan and Wang Zhuo. The painting Immortals Gathering for Battle is exceptionally glo-

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rious. It is the largest Daoist mural created in the Northern Song Dynasty. In terms of the themes and style, the early Northern Song Dynasty (including the Liao Dynasty) basically continued the style of the late Tang and Five Dynasties. They would create single statues of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, powerful beings, Daoist heavenly monarchs, fairy maidens and so forth—or they would make large-scale Buddhist scriptures, and Daoist pantheons with numerous magnificent scenes, uninhibited and stylish. From the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty (including the Jin Dynasty), the Pure Land School of Buddhism prospered. Buddhist murals highlighting their teachings became popular. There were fewer large statues, and large screens were mostly composed of small vignettes. The portrayal techniques tended towards the fine and delicate. The main remains of temple mural paintings from this period are the murals of the Northern Song Dynasty pagodas in Dingzhou, Hebei, depicting the tribes of the heavenly kings and the elightenment of Sakyamuni. Although not very detailed, the characters and line drawing styles can be seen as having the characteristics of Wu Daozi and Wu Zongyuan. In the Hall of Great Strength in the Kaihua Temple, Gaoping, Shanxi Province, there is a mural dating from the third year of the Shaosheng era (1096) of the Northern Song Dynasty, which is Repaying a Debt of Gratitude (Bao’en jingbian). There are scenes such as sailing, fishing, weaving, farming, and execution grounds, reflecting the social life of the Song. It is reminiscent of Wu Daozi’s style. In addition, the production of temple mural paintings during the Liao and Jin dynasties inherited the traditions of the Central Plains dating from the Tang Dynasty. They are on a grand scale and reached a pinnacle of development. Some representative works remain, such as at Chongfu Temple and Fanzhi Yanshan Temple, both in Shuozhou, Shanxi Province, the Pagoda

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of Fogong Temple in Yingxian County, Shanxi, the Hall of Great Strength in Fengguo Temple in Yixian County, Liaoning Province—and also at the Shenyang Wugou Jingguang Pagoda for Buddhist Ashes there are still some murals from this period around the base. The cave temples dating from the period also left many relics of frescoes with characteristics of the times, mainly found in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes and the Anxi Yulin Grottoes. These murals generally follow the style of the Tang Dynasty, but they also have their own characteristics and gradually highlight the images of the sponsors. The main frescoes which remain are in Mogao Cave no. 98, The Spiritual Transformation of Lao Du Cha Dou (Laodu chadou shengbian); Cave no. 100, Cao Yijin Setting Off on a Journey (Caoyijin chuxing tu) and Uighur Princess Madam Cao Setting Off on a Journey (Cao furen huihu gongzhu chuxing tu); Cave no. 61, Mount Wutai (Wutaishan tu); Cave no.  409 The Uighur Prince’s Prayer to Buddha (Huihu wangzi lifo tu) and so on. Among them, Cao Yijin Setting Off on a Journey and Uighur Princess Madam Cao Setting Off on a Journey, meticulously portray numerous characters and thrilling scenes in large-scale compositions. The portraits of the female support staff on the east wall of Cave no. 61 occupy a prominent position in the picture due to the noble family. In addition to the gorgeous costumes, the faces are carefully decorated with powder and decals. It is a vivid portrayal of aristocratic women’s heavy makeup in this period. Mount Wutai in Cave no. 61 is the largest panoramic picture of the Mogao Grottoes. There are many castle walls, temples, towers, cottages, and various figures such as messengers, merchants, porters, and monks. The scene is magnificent and majestic, with everything in its place. There are 41 caves in Yulin Grottoes, most of which were painted during the Song and Jin dynasties, and are well preserved. Among them, the Western Xia murals are the most important part.

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For example, the Water Moon Guanyin in the 2nd cave of the Yulin Grottoes dates from the Western Xia Dynasty. She is wearing a jeweled crown and the hair on both shoulders is rippling gracefully in the breeze. Her left hand caresses her knee and her right hand is stretched out. She has crossed both feet and sits on the rock as on a throne, facing the clear spring in front with withered bamboo at her back. A fairy boy is using the clouds to soar into the sky, praying to her. On a small piece of ground in the lower right corner of the picture, Xuan Zang and Sun Wukong, the master and his apprentice, are on horseback looking up. This counts as one of the earliest paintings of the story of Xuan Zang. The painter has used a decorative technique to paint, the shape of the mountain is exquisitely depicted, the floating clouds seem to be detached, and the water is calm, with no ripples. Stone green is often used for coloring, as it is fresh but not gaudy, and soft and elegant. Tomb murals underwent major changes and alterations during the Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, and Jin periods. Due to the development of the civic class and the incursions of nomads during the Liao and Jin, tomb specifications within the Han territory became more and more indistinct, and the structure and shape of the tombs also greatly changed. The murals also reduced in size due to the complexity of the structures of the tombs. Their execution also tended to be weaker, rougher, and sloppier, and the artistic level was not high. But precisely because of this hasty use of brush and the vividness of coloring, they retain a strong atmosphere of life. As far as themes are concerned, myths and historical stories were rarer than during the Tang Dynasty, but stories of filial piety appeared in large numbers. In addition to traditional banquets, travel, and etiquette, landscapes, and flowers and birds, increased—especially flower and bird themes, such as bamboo, cranes, pine trees and eagles, waterfowl, bees and butterflies, peonies, lotus, plum branches, and lakes and stones—these are seen more frequently,

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reflecting the development of flower-and-bird painting during the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty. The main remaining frescoes in the tombs of the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty include the murals in the tomb of Wang Chuzhi in Quyang, Hebei Province; the murals in the Baisha Song tomb in Yuzhou, Henan Province; and the mural in the Northern Song Dynasty Tomb no. 6 in Jingxing County in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, Practicing Drawing. Among them, the frescoes of the Yuzhou, Baisha Song Dynasty tombs, Feasting and Drinking (Yan yin tu) and Dressing and Grooming (Shuzhuang tu), are simple in brushwork, rich in color, and portray the true character of the figures. They are amongst the better murals of the Song tombs. The murals of the Liao tombs are currently being unearthed in abundance, such as

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the murals in the Baoshan Liao tomb in Chifeng, Inner Mongolial the Qingling Mural, in the 1st Liao Tomb of Kulun Banner, Inner Mongolia; and the murals of the Zhang Shiqing Tomb in Xuanhua, Hebei Province. The huge mural Setting off on a Journey (Chuxing tu) is a masterpiece amongst the murals in the Liao tombs. The frescoes of the Jin Tombs are scattered only in the areas where the Jin people went to the south, namely Liaoning, Shanxi, and Henan. The subjects are mostly stories of filial piety. The degree of Sinicization is far deeper than that of the Liao tombs, and better reflects Song Dynasty figure painting style. Examples are the Jin Tomb murals in Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province; the no. 1 Jin tomb murals in Wenxi Xiayang Village; the Jin tomb murals in Shizhe Village, Changzi County; and the Feng Ruji tomb murals in Jiaozuo, Henan.

CHAPTER XIII  LITERATI PAINTING AND CALLIGRAPHY IN THE AGE OF SHANGYI Section 1  The Rise of Literati Painting Literati painting, which rose to prominence in the middle and later years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), is an important field in the history of Chinese art after the Song. Within, important pioneers Su Shi (also known as Su Dongpo) and Mi Fu (1051–1107) put forward literati painting’s core concepts, putting in motion transcendent creations in painting technique and, through the mastery of and outstanding achievements in many facets of poetry, lyrics, painting and calligraphy, created a model for Chinese literati painting.

1. The Ideas and Theories of Literati Painting: Sources The core concepts underpinning literati painting (wenrenhua 文人畫) can be traced back to the idea of »taking in the spirit« and scholar’s painting (shirenhua 士人畫), which were first raised by the Song poet, calligrapher, painter, and politician Su Shi (1037–1101). This has had profound roots in China. From the pre-Qin philosophy of the »distinction between speech and meaning« (yanyi zhibian 言意之辯) to the Han-era »material and spiritual form and internal spirit« (xingshenshuo 形神説), and the Wei-Jin period’s metaphysics of taking only the essence and disregarding the form (deyi wangxiang 得意忘象), there courses a continuous philosophical vein. Among these, the Han Dynasty’s teaching of the spiritual and material, developed in the time of the Wei-Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties then put into practice in the arts, forming Gu Kaizhi’s »theory of vividity« (chuanshenlun 傳神論) and Xie He’s

idea of »spirit-resonance life-movement/rhythmic vitality« (qiyun shengdong 氣韻生動), attained important achievements in painting. These ideological and theoretical sources all form the ideological basis for literati painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. In the middle and later years of the Northern Song, Su Shi and other members of the literati clearly put forward the term »scholar’s painting« covering a wide-ranging set of cultural activities covering poetry, painting, and calligraphy. They established the notion of literati painting and issued a series of theoretical treatises that formed the basic theory of literati painting and had profound and far-reaching influence. In the early stages of the rise of literati painting, the most influential theories referred to the essays, verse, and commentaries of Su Shi and Mi Fu. At the same time, the histories of Guo Ruoxu and others reflected upon works exploring the theory of painting. Su Shi was the first to make the distinction between literati painting and the work of craftsmen and court-hired artists. In »A Brief Comment on Song Hanjie’s Painting of Mountains,« Su Shi writes: »Looking at scholars’ painting is like judging the best horses of the empire: one sees how spirit has been brought out; but when it comes to artisan-painters, one usually gets just whip and skin, stable and fodder, without a trace of superior achievement. After looking at just a few feet, one feels tired.« Su’s »Account of the Paintings in the Jingyin Temple« and »Eight Views of Fengxiang« expound upon the »form« and »principle« of painting, and his appraisals of the work of the Tang Dynasty painters Wu Daozi (680–760) and Wang Wei (699–759) embody his thinking around

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literati painting. In Su’s eyes, the work of the Tangera artist Wang Wei and his contemporaries Wen Tong and Song Hanjie were all true examples of literati painting. Although Wu Daozi’s art was captivating, it was, after all, still the work of a commercial artisan-painter. Literati painting »brings out the spirit,« whereas the work of professionals »gets just whip and skin.« The difference between the two lies in »obtaining the essence« and »bringing out the details,« and whether or not the work achieves a deeper level of meaning beyond the mere representation of its subject. Evidently, the starting point for Su Shi’s notion of literati painting is derived from the same origin as Gu Kaizhi’s assertion that »the beautiful and the ugly in the four scripts of calligraphy has nothing to do with subtlety,« and Xie He’s axiom that although paintings are measured by their appearance, the spirit is also integral. The crux of the problem boils down to the fact that, although it is within the scope of the distinction between body, spirit, and ideation, it possesses its own quintessence. In his »Two Poems Written for Registrar Wang of Yanling County From His Painting of Broken Branches,« Su Shi writes: »Those who judge paintings in terms of likeness are like children in their understanding.« The question isn’t whether or not likeness should be one of the basic standards of criticizing and discussing art, but it should not be the only standard. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yanyuan wrote in The Notes of Famous Paintings in Past Dynasties: »painting for something other than likeness, this is difficult for the philistine to understand.« This links up with Su Shi’s praise for Wang Wei, emphasizing not whether likeness should serve as a criterion nor whether or not one should strive for it, but rather that it ought not to be haggled over in minute detail. »Discussing art based on likeness« is to dispute its likeness and be sneered at by Su as »children and yokels.« However, it cannot be concluded on this basis that likeness is the differentiating mark between the work of artisan-painters and scholar-officials.

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Similarly, the »seek meaning beyond the forms,« »obtaining beyond form« and »not pursuing likeness« pursued by the literati did not amount to the belief that likeness was undesirable or frowned upon. The key point put forward by literati painters refers to the question of using likeness as the goal of painters and the yardstick for assessing their work. After Su Shi, Mi Fu described his style as that of shanshui landscape painting, drawing freely and not paying attention to concrete details when it came to his trees and rocks, saying that »expression is enough« (yisibianji 意似便已), echoing precisely the same sentiment as Su Shi. In »Assessing the Ink Bamboo Screen Painted by Wen Yuke,« Su Shi wrote: »Yuke’s writings are but the dregs of his virtue; his poetry, only the tip of the hair of his writing. Unexhausted by poetry, expression surges forth as calligraphy and morphs into painting.« Moral character, literary talent, poetry, calligraphy and painting ran through the literati painter’s overall cultivation and a significant component of the theory of literati painting. At the same time, literati painting posits that quality of painting was an expression of one’s quality of character. As when Su Shi writes of Wen Yuke that »his whole body transforms along with the bamboo,« achieving a state of oneness that enables the bamboo to be depicted in all its boundless demeanor. Su Shi’s contemporary Guo Ruoxu (mainly active 1068–1077, during the reign of the Shenzong Emperor), in his Overview of Painting, proposed that the quality of one’s character is a decisive factor in the style of one’s painting, and expounded on other connections between character and style. He believed that one’s quality of character had to be high in order for one’s artistic style to be high, and only with superior style could a painting be truly vivid. He also believed that paintings had to attach the most importance to style, otherwise it is no more than the labor of a craftsman. Since the Wei-Jin Period, noble figures, distinguished personages and aspiring

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6.13.1  Ink Bamboo, Wen Tong, National Palace Museum in Taipei

scholar-officials have mingled in artistic circles, with an emphasis on moral character. Literati would prize poetry and lyrics, paintings and calligraphy, that invariably transcendent bearing, are elegant and simple in aspiration and interest take personal command, put an end to triteness in artistic work, advocate study and knowledge of the rules of propriety (to have systematic learning and thorough understanding of logic/reason), and that uphold, advocate, and revere the wisdom of the sages. The creative style esteemed by the Song, stressing vigor of writing and scholarliness, not only carried through to painting but also calligraphy. »Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand li« was a keystone in the self-cultivation of the literati painter.

During the Song Dynasty the theory underpinning intimate relationship between literati painting and works combining poetry and pictorial art and painting and calligraphy also began to take shape. Among these, regarding poetry and painting, Su Shi’s claim that »poems and paintings are originally the same, natural and pure,« is the simplest and clearest. The »spirit« that separates literati painting from commercial painting, characterized by ancient style and taste, the emotional impact of the writing and scholarliness, at a time when the imperial civil-service examinations attached great importance to poetry and verse, manifested and often attributed to poetic sentiment or what would later be referred to as poetic and picturesque charm (shiqing huayi 詩情畫意),

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thusly forming the theory that poetry and painting were one. Su’s evaluation of Wang Wei’s »painting within poetry and poetry within painting« was closely tied to his outstanding achievements in poetry. This was key to the reason why Wang Wei would be credited by later generations as the father of literati painting. Su Shi wrote that Wen Yuke, »unexhausted by poetry, expression surging forth as calligraphy morphs into painting«— emphasizing the guiding position of poetic sentiment, and recognizing the unfettered connection between calligraphy and painting. Su Shi and Mi Fu, the two most important figures of Northern Song literati painting, together with Cai Xiang and Huang Tingjian, are referred to as the »Four Song Masters« for their high achievements in calligraphy and art. It is believable that their experience in calligraphy and art, as well as recognizing and valuing the relationship between calligraphy and painting, was representative among the men of letters of their time.

2. Wen Tong and the Huzhou Bamboo School The first school of painting to emerge from the Northern Song during the early days of literati painting was the Huzhou Bamboo School. The school’s founder, Wen Tong (1018–1079, courtesy name Yuke), was a contemporary and close contact of Su Shi. Wen, also known as the Master of the Stone Studio, the Priest of Jinjiang and the Laughing Scholar, was a native of Zitong in present-day Sichuan Province. In 1049, under the reign of Emperor Renzong, he qualified as a jinshi imperial scholar after passing the highest-level examination for the civil service. During his career he served as an official in the imperial secretariat and as prefectural chief for Lingzhou and Yangzhou. The Shenzong Emperor issued an edict appointing Wen prefect of Huzhou, but Wen died before he could assume office, earning him the posthumous sobriquet Wen Huzhou. He excelled at ink paintings

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of bamboo and withered trees, and is credited as the founder and master of the mozhu (‌墨竹, »ink bamboo«) genre. Wen Tong was a close friend and distant cousin of Su Shi, and the two had a powerful influence on each other. Su was full of praise for Wen’s poetry, prose, calligraphy, and painting, and Wen perfectly embodied Su’s ideal of the literati painter. The close artistic activities, the stream of comments they shared on each other’s works, energized the deepening of the theory and thinking of literati painting during its beginnings in the Northern Song. Regarding Wen Tong’s painting, according to written records, the forms of ink bamboo were plentiful: sparse bamboo, bent and twisted bamboo, broken and withered bamboo, bamboo thickets, colored bamboo, and so forth. Several of Wen Tong’s paintings have survived to the present day, the most famous of which is Ink Bamboo in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei (Fig. 6.13.1). This silk scroll depicts an overhanging bamboo culm with twisted branches, mingling with an empty sky that mingles light and shadow. The leaves are not many but they are densely packed. The composition of the piece is extremely particular and teeming with momentum, with different shading and the branches and leaves drawn in sharp, vigorous strokes. The new shoots appear, uniquely, in light ink, while the leaves are in thick, dark ink, the brush dragging onto white to form their tails to show how they peel back. The curving leaves are long and sharp, in a profound technique that is forceful yet contained, not revealing his true talent. In his History of Painting, Mi Fu said that Wen Tong’s paintings of bamboo created a new painting technique that was dark ink on the surface and light ink at the back, ripening the concept of »using ink alone to allude to the five basic colors« that had been around since the Tang Dynasty. The position occupied by the strange leaves of Wen Tong’s ink bamboo in the history of Chinese painting, and particularly literati painting, is rooted

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here. Wen Tong’s ink bamboo had a profound and far-reaching influence on later generations of literati painters. Among the scholar-officials of the Song and Yuan to the Ming and Qing, literati painters excelled at drawing bamboo. Those directly or indirectly influenced by the Huzhou Bamboo School include Wen’s contemporary Su Shi; Wang Tingyun of the Jin Dynasty; Zhao Mengjian and Mu Xi of the Southern Song; Li Kan, Ke Jiusi, Wu Zhen, Zhao Meng, and Guan Daosheng of the Yuan; the Ming’s Song Ke, Wang Fu, and Xia Chang; and Qing-era Zheng Banqiao. Among these, the Jin Dynasty literati painter Wang Tingyun (1151–1202), a native of present-day Yongji in Shanxi Province, was born after the fall of the Northern Song and was thus a subject of the Jin. He became a court historiographer in the Jin’s Hanlin Imperial Academy and studied the calligraphy of Mi Fu and the painting of Su Shi, becoming the most prominent artist of the Jin Period (1115–1234). Wang’s »Dense Bamboo, Withered Tree« employs brushwork to depict several sections of bamboo and wood, chapped, ancient trees, tangled vines and foliage spread all out in all directions. All are drawn with a dynamic and powerful brush and in a simple and free style, becoming the representative work of Jin Dynasty literati painting.

3. Su Shi and His »Withered Tree and Strange Rock« Su Shi (1037–1101), one of the most revered scholars of antiquity, played an extremely important role in the development of the arts during the Song Dynasty, particularly in the formation of literati painting. Also known as Su Dongpo, Su Shi was born in Meishan in what is now Sichuan Province. In 1057, under the reign of Emperor Renzong, he passed the highest-level imperial civil-service examinations to attain the degree of jinshi, a prerequisite for high government office. Thereafter, he held a variety of government positions including assistant prefectural magistrate of Hangzhou and

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prefectural chief of Mizhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou, Hangzhou, Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Dingzhou, and elsewhere, ruling charitably and benevolently. In between these appointments he was also recalled to the capital to serve as a scholar in the Hanlin Academy and a draftsman in the Imperial Secretariat, as well as the official transcriber of imperial decrees and Minister of Rites. Su was also exiled several times over this period, to Huangzhou, Yingzhou, Huizhou, and even faraway Danzhou in subtropical Hainan Island. When Emperor Huizong ascended to the throne in 1100, Su was finally pardoned and posted to Chengdu, but died en route the following year in Changzhou. Under Emperor Xiaozong (1162–1189) of the Southern Song, he was awarded the posthumous title Wenzhong 文忠. Su Shi traversed the empire in pursuit of an official position, repeatedly facing banishment and each time bearing it with equanimity and untrammeled breadth of mind. His father Su Xun and brother Su Zhe also achieved literary fame, and were collectively known as the »Three Su.« Su Shi’s many-faceted brilliance and talents in the field of literature and art left its mark on essays, poetry and verse. His writing was like floating clouds and flowing water, following what the heart desires and not transgressing the bounds of correctness. His poetry was pure and refreshing, his verse bold and unconstrained, inaugurating a whole new era and cementing his place in the history of Chinese literature. Su Shi’s calligraphy draws on the talent of many people, forming a lively and flourishing style. Along with Cai Xiang, Mi Fu and Huang Tingjian, he was one of the »Four Masters of the Northern Song.« Su Shi’s painting arose from a long tradition of family learning and was modelled after the bamboo, withered trees and strange stones of Wen Tong that lay the groundwork for literati painting. In short, Su Shi’s remarkable talents and upstanding character won accolades within his own time and became a rare exemplar for the ideal literatus in Chinese history, exerting a deep and enduring cultural influence.

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Compared to his essays and poems, Su Shi’s paintings are relatively few, and are not as notable as his literary writings and calligraphy. His paintings possessed ink’s quality to directly express feelings in a few strokes, like he wrote to Guo Xiangzheng (1035–1113): »Drinking on an empty stomach sharpens the mind, liver and lungs on guard like bamboo and stone; cannot restrain inspirations dense and thick, my energies directed to your home’s snow-colored wall.« This artistic expression is the precise implementation of literati painting’s vivid and incisive creative thinking. In his History of Painting, Mi Fu wrote: »When Su Shi paints bamboo he frequently draws a straight line up from the ground to the top of the picture, so I asked him, ›Why don’t you draw it joint by joint?‹ Su Shi replied: ›How can it be that living bamboo grows joint by joint?‹« It is also recorded to the withered tree trunks and branches painted by Su coiled and bent without reason, and his technique for drawing stones rendered them grotesque in appearance. Su Shi’s favorite subjects were dead trees, rocks, and ink bamboo, for which he perfected and even surpassed the techniques pioneered by Wen Yuke. Su Shi’s paintings were often done on a whim, impulsively putting brush to paper. These improvised works did not strive for a particular appearance. In his »Account of Wen Yuke’s Painting of the Dipping Bamboo of Yundang Valley,« Su Shi wrote: »When painting bamboo, one must have bamboo formed deep in one’s heart. At the time of painting, one focuses and sees what one wants to paint. Instantly, one follows this idea, wielding one’s brush to pursue the image just seen, as a hawk swoops down on a rabbit. A moment of hesitation and it is gone.« During the process of imitating Wen Tong’s bamboo painting, Su Shi admitted that his own rusty style did not measure up. The dead trees, bamboo, and rocks he painted were all a portrait of his »inner thoughts on edge,« »ink within the heart,« »having a landscape in mind« and needing to get something off of his chest. His feelings

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were sincere, the interest and charms of his work were elegant and simple, and were permeated with a literary air. With brushwork and modelling unconstrained by the established methods, he forged a path of his own, exceeding all expectations within the exquisite world of the Song Dynasty with a style that was outstanding and refreshing, lively and bright. He was the model man of letters. Su Shi’s extant work Withered Tree and Strange Rock (Fig. 6.13.2) amply represents the artist’s characteristic style. The scroll depicts a desolate scene composed of a single stone and the trunk of a withered tree fringed by fragments of broken bamboo leaves and weeds. The stone on the left is painted with forceful, arcing brush strokes to depict the uneven surface. The dead tree on a slope to the right has a distorted, stubborn trunk with harsh, stiff branches. The technique used for the outlines of the stone and tree are composed with a strong calligraphic flavor, the strokes strong and stocky yet easy and smooth; there is no stagnation, no childish tenderness. The whole expanse of the painting is full of energy, in a style that is incisive and penetrating. Its artistic conception is unrivalled in this world. Besides dead trees, bamboo, and rocks, Su Shi also painted winter forests. His son Su Guo had a talent for painting strange stones, bamboo forests, and shanshui landscapes with burnt ink.

4. »Cloudy Mountains of the Mi Clan« Following Wen Tong and Su Shi, the father-andson pairing of Mi Fu and Mi Youren used nothing but black ink to paint mist and clouds that mingled light and shadow, developing a new technique that became known as the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« and was a major step forward for literati painting in the genre of shanshui landscape painting. The creative work of the Mi family, from the moxi 墨戲 clouds painted in just a few strokes, enriched the brush-and-ink language of literati painting in artistic expression; conceptu-

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6.13.2 Withered Tree and Strange Rock, Su Shi, from a private collection in Japan

ally, it also deepened the essence of literati painting’s »humanisation.« Mi Fu (1051–1107), originally named Fu, courtesy name Yuanzhang, originally came from Taiyuan, later moved to Xiangyang, then in middle age settled in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province) where his family built the Haiyue Studio, earning him the posthumous sobriquet Mi Haiyue. From a young age, Mi Fu was brought up within the royal palaces and mixed freely with the imperial family, and was later posted to Guilin, Changsha, and Hangzhou. In the 3rd year of the Chongning era (1104) under Emperor Huizong (1100–1126) he founded a school of painting outside the Hanlin Imperial Art Academy and began recruiting students. After he was recalled to the capital, he left the school in the hands of a court academician, and was promoted to a counselor in the Ministry of Rights, where he also became known as Southern Palace Mi. Mi Fu authored the History of Painting, History of Calligraphy and the Record of Visits with Precious Writings, among other works. Early on, Mi Fu earned a reputation

for being bright, having an encyclopedic knowledge and a literary flair, composing beautiful poems and not slavishly following his predecessors. He had a noble and unsullied disposition and an independent bearing, a man of wide learning who excelled at appraising and collecting, with a family collection rich in ancient paintings from the Tang and Jin dynasties. Mi Fu’s outstanding achievements mainly occurred in the arts of calligraphy and painting. In the History of Song, it is recorded that Mi Fu was especially skilled with brush and ink. In youth he studied the work of Tang Dynasty calligraphers such as Yan Zhenqing (708–784), Liu Gongquan (778–865), Ouyang Xun (557–641), and Chu Suiliang (596–685), and later Wei-Jin masters Wang Xizhi (321–379), and Wang Xianzhi (344–386). He also went back even further to the Warring States (475–221 BCE) stele inscriptions »Imprecations against Chu« and the inscriptions on the Stone Drums of Qin to become an experienced and knowledgeable expert, becoming one of the »Four Song Masters« together with Su Shi, Cai Xiang,

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and Huang Tingjian. Mi Fu’s technique for using only ink to depict mist and clouds with contrasting light and shadow became known as the »Mi cloudy mountains,« »Mi-dots landscape,« or »Mi family mountains.« After Mi Fu passed away, his son Mi Youren (1074–1151), courtesy name Yuanhui, passed on this method. When the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze and established its capital at Lin’an (now Hangzhou), Mi Youren drifted for a time, staying in Liyang and Pingjiang (now Suzhou), in present-day Jiangsu Province. Afterwards, he was appointed Tea and Salt Supervisor of the Liang-Zhe West Circuitm headquartered in Suzhou, Vice-Director of the Directorate for the Palace Buildings, Vice-Director of the State Farms Bureau in the Department of State Affairs, and Vice-Minister of the Ministry of War. He learnt calligraphy and painting since childhood from his father, and further developed the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan.« Mi Youren and Mi Fu became known as the »Big and Small Mi,« or the »Two Mi.« Mi Youren painted his cloudy mountains with ink on paper scrolls, often rendering the rainy, misty landscapes of his adopted home region south of the Yangtze. Dim and hazy, these scenes blend together into an integral whole, in an unconventional style that spoke to his approach to painting and pursuit of spiritual freedom. In the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song Dynasty, Jing Hao, Guan Tong, Dong Yuan, Ju Ran, Li Cheng, Fan Kuan and others deeply explored and created styles of ink brush landscape painting, making comprehensive achievements. From the later years of the Northern Song to the Southern Song, court landscape painting expanded at scale, with the style tending toward the firm and robust. Against this background, Mi Fu reported especially gifted leaders of men. Based on a solid foundation of classical scholarly training, he helped to mature the thinking behind literati painting, putting forward a series of incisive positions regarding literati painting, and in

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painting and calligraphy activities he escaped from the cage of the meticulous depiction of shanshui landscapes, replacing the complicated with the simple, avoiding realism, casting off complex techniques for meticulously representing irregular surfaces, using a language of pure ink and brush to create mountains and water, giving shanshui painting techniques a new lease on life and developing a school of his own: the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan.« The creation of the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« is connected to Mi Fu’s understanding of Dong Yuan’s shanshui painting. He recounts how he didn’t do big paintings and didn’t study Li Cheng or Guan Tong, as he considered them in poor taste. But Dong Yuan’s work he praised as matchless modern masterpieces. The formation of the Mi school is also closely tied to the experience of serving for years far from home after the Song Dynasty’s retreat southward to the humid, rainy, misty environment of the Jiangnan Region. However, this interpretation cannot substitute the guiding role played by Mi Fu’s pursuit of the elegant and simple in literati painting. »Elegant and simple« (gaogu 高古) succinctly embodies Mi Fu’s ideal for literati painting, and his barometer for measuring any work of art. Mi Fu’s appraisal of previous generations always maintained his own independent viewpoint, and was not influenced by the size of their reputations. In portraiture, for example, Mi Fu took after the elegance and simplicity of Gu Kaizhi, and not Wu Daozi. Both Gu Kaizhi and Wu Daozi, as well as Dong Yuan, Li Cheng and Guan Tong, were all great masters in the history of art; but in Mi Fu’s eyes, they were all open to praise and admonishment. The dividing line, for him, was that between the »elegant and simple« and »vulgar« (suqi 俗氣). This pursuit of the »elegant and simple« reflected Mi Fu’s lucid grasp of the essence of literati painting. Clearly, this way of thinking runs in a single line from Su Shi’s theory of literati painting, although Mi Fu did not especially

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6.13.3 Rare Views of Xiao Xiang, Mi Youren, held by the Palace Museum, Beijing

stress poetic charm, emotional impact, personal feelings or romantic sentiment, simply preferring the two words elegance and simplicity, done in a forceful and alert style that became the essence for literati painting during the time of the Northern Song Dynasty. Few of Mi Fu’s works are with us today. The only one whose authenticity is undisputed is his »Coral Tie,« also known as the »Coral Tree.« Although it is merely a sketch and not even a painting, one can appreciate the dexterity of his technique, just like his calligraphy. Consequently, the true features of the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« are mainly evidenced through the works of Mi Youren that have been passed on. Mi Youren’s extant works include Rare Views of Xiao Xiang, Cloudy Hills Along a River, Cloudy

Mountains, and Misty Landscape, all of which used ink to create mists and clouds that played with contrasting light and shadow. Rare Views of Xiao Xiang (Fig. 6.13.3) was composed when Mi Youren was 50-year-old, and is the representative work of the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan.« A paper scroll ink painting with towering peaks rippling water, trees, and other features not depicted in great detail. The mountain chain and forest appear perfectly rounded, composed of the Mi family’s signature dots and light ink outlines, before adding washes of ink for the hazy horizon atop the mountain scenery. »Cloudy Hills Along a River« and »Cloudy Mountains« are very similar. »Misty Landscape« is also an ink brush painting on paper, depicting distant mountains and nearby trees, a vale with floating clouds. The brush work

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is free and natural, even naive, and is a representative work of the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« in its mature stages. The Precious Mirror of Painting says that Mi Youren painted mainly on paper in his later years. The Mi family’s landscape painting techniques were more suitable for painting on paper, the points strewn in a horizontal brush showing uneven surfaces, used in both dry or wet conditions before adding washes of ink to vividly present the haziness of clouds and rain. These dots became the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan,« the principle part of the lexicon of brush and ink and a unique style that exquisitely resembled nature itself. The »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« founded by Mi Fu and Mi Youren opened a new way forward for the world of shanshui landscape painting as it rapidly developed during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods. It came like a fresh breeze among the lofty peaks of Song court painting. Besides the withered trees, bamboo and rocks of Su Shi, the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« broke new ground in the history of literati painting, building off the work of Wen Tong and Su Shi to establish a foundation for the genre. From the Yuan Dynasty, the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« were held in high esteem by scholar-officials, who all dipped their toes in landscape painting. In the lexicon of brush and ink, especially in the field of literati painting, this technique had a tremendous influence on the art of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

5. Li Gonglin and His Line Drawings of Horses and Figures Li Gonglin was a contemporary of Su Shi and Mi Fu who in various ways made great achievements in the field of painting and occupied a high position in history. The first reason is that he was the model of a man of letters, who succeeded in the highest imperial examination, achieved great learning and had dealing with other distinguished scholars such as Su Shi, Wang Anshi, Huang Ting-

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jian, and Wang Shen. The second is Li’s thinking was a combination of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. In old age he lived in seclusion at Sleeping Dragon Mountain, with a strong Confucian flavor. His artistic concepts had not only the literati appeal of »singing sentiment« but also the moral content of »instructing the world by decree.« He was diligent and conscientious in his painting, depicting ordinary people and horses, natural landscapes, flowers and birds, all of them exquisite to the very last detail. However, there are some key differences between Li and his contemporaries. The first of these is reflected in Mi Fu’s criticism of Li. Li’s art mixed the ideas behind Northern Song literati painting with Tang Dynasty artists such as Xue Ji (649–713), Wei Yan, Zhou Fang (730–800), and Han Huang (723–787), carrying forth the process of Tang craftmanship. Although Li was not the most representative artist of Northern Song literati painting and he did not explore the relevant theory in depth, in a wider range of meaning he embodies the rich history of literati painting in ancient China. Li Gonglin (1049–1106), courtesy name Boshi, also known as »Retired Scholar of Sleeping Dragon,« was born into a scholarly home near what is modern day Lu’an City in Anhui Province. He passed the highest-level jinshi imperial examination in 1070, going on to serve as a military officer in Nankang and Changyuan before being summoned to the capital for an appointment to the central secretariat and imperial censorate, rising to the rank of Official Scholar. In 1100, illness forced him back to his hometown, living a life of seclusion in the mountain village of Longmian. Li Gonglin had a passion for the ancients and a talent for poetry, and was skilled at examining ceremonial vessels and imperial jade seals. Li’s father liked to collect calligraphy and famous paintings, and from a young age he was influenced by his surroundings, attuned to the calligraphy of past generations and how to imitate them. He could paint horses, people, Daoist and Buddhist subjects, pal-

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aces, landscapes, flowers and birds all with equal aplomb. Simple and succinct painting technique, plain and natural, mostly uncolored, sketched in traditional ink and brush style, developing into an independent and highly generalized and expressive art form, which has become a painting style with meticulous ink and brushwork, becoming an artistic style walking shoulder to shoulder with painting with exact delineation and enriched colors, and ink wash painting, while strongly promoting the development of Chinese painting. Li Gonglin’s achievements in painting horses were most outstanding. Li began by learning from Gu Kaizhi, Lu Tanwei (?–485), Zhang Sengzhou (479–?), and Wu Daozi, going on to extensively study the work of various Jin and Tang dynasty masters. However, he did not slavishly follow these models, and was a sensitive observer adept in taking from others’ strengths to build up his own technique. He often spent all day at the stables observing the horses in order to better depict them. The persons he painted came mainly from the Confucian classics and history, and Daoist and Buddhist subjects. He also created a new image of the bodhisattva Guanyin with a long belt that was graceful and refined and had the pure scholarly temperament of the Northern Song, injecting a scholarly quality to traditional Buddhist and Daoist subjects, enriching the history of the secularization of such subjects during the Northern Song. Li’s extant works are all in the fields of portraiture and horse painting, namely Five Horses, Pasturing Horses, The Classic of Filial Piety, and Receiving the Homage from Barbarian General, as well as reproductions such as Vimalakirti Proclaiming the Doctrine, Nine Songs, The Vimalakirti, White Lotus Society, and Pictures of the Sage and Worthies. Among these, Five Horses and Pasturing Horses are the most significant. Five Horses, ink on paper, is Li Gonglin’s surviving masterpiece. The scroll is divided into five parts, with each section depicting one rare tributary horse that had been brought from the

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Western Regions (today’s Xinjiang and Central Asia) as tributes to the Chinese imperial court., and each horse was led by a horseman. Each section includes the name of the horse, its age, height, place of origin, and the date they entered the imperial stables in the hand of Huang Tingjian, as well as an annotation by Huang. Both the horses and horsemen are outlined with a writing brush in a natural and smooth style, rigidity and softness in harmony, the movements proper and natural, the ink wash conveying particular grace. The grooms are depicted relatively simply, with a lively appearance and unique expression. The brushwork is highly concise and subtle, the style elegant and graceful. Pasturing Horses is a large, four-meter-long, colored silk scroll in imitation of the Tang master of equestrian painting Wei Yan. The History of Painting records that Wei Yan painted horses galloping, leaping, startled or at rest with various changes and profound techniques. Li Gonglin’s imitation of this scroll draws outlines in a thoughtful and meticulous way. Altogether, it depicts over 1,200 horses and more than 100 equerries. The trees, hills, and flowing water bestow a vast composition, the various elements meeting and parting with a distinct rhythm. The outlining is tight and the coloring relatively heavy on the people, horses, and trees, then relatively loose and light on the hills and rocks. The scroll Receiving the Homage from Barbarian General depicts the campaign waged by Tang Dynasty general Guo Ziyi to vanquish the Uyghurs and conquer Turpan, in what is now Xinjiang. It shows Guo, unarmored and un-helmeted, flanked by horses as he receives the Uyghur leader, his retinue dismounting to pay their respects. To the left are Guo Ziyi and the men and horses under his command, looking still and composed. On the right are Uyghur cavalry responsible for infringing upon the central Shaanxi plains, portrayed as physically large but cowering and anxious. The Uyghur chieftain is wearing battle garb, dis-

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mounted with his deputies and kneeling on the ground before Guo Ziyi, dressed in his informal wear. Politely stooping down to take his adversary’s hand, Guo appears cordial and sincere, the personification of the magnanimous, unflappable air of a great general. The techniques employed in this scroll do not match up to those of the »Five Horses,« but when it comes to comprehensive artistic language, particularly as regards the outlook of the Chinese nation, it is a great success. Vimalakirti Proclaiming the Doctrine, a paper scroll ink painting, was initially believed to have been originally painted by Li Gonglin, but most people today believe it is in fact a facsimile by Li of an earlier work by the Jin Dynasty painter Ma Yunqing. In this image, Vimalakirti, a contemporary and wealthy patron of the Buddha extolled as the ideal lay practitioner, sits on a floor of tatami as if lost in thought. Opposite him is the Bodhisattva Manjushri while an apsara celestial maidens display ceremonial flowers to his side, in the company of Buddhist monks and a heavenly general. Vimalakirti appears reserved, self-cultivated: the very picture of the ideal Song Dynasty literatus. Manjusri, meanwhile, is portrayed as a solemn and dignified noblewoman wearing a sedate, tranquil expression. The apsara are slight and delicate, with a joyful bearing; one strews flowers as an offering toward the audience of monks who seem hard-pressed and poor, with extremely lively expressions. Li’s painting technique is neat, elegant, and beautifully stylized, reflecting his wide-ranging influences and the great achievements of Northern Song portraiture in traditional ink and brush style. The Precious Mirror of Painting lauds Li Gonglin as »the foremost Song painter.« His work profoundly influenced the work of later artists including Qiao Zhongchang of the Northern Song; Gu Shigu, Ma Hezhi, and Liang Kai of the Southern Song; Zhao Mengfu and Zhang Wo of the Yuan Dynasty; Ding Yunpeng and Chen Hongshou of the Ming Dynasty; and Ren Bonian of the Qing Dynasty. His

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line-drawing method for traditional ink paintings alone have a high artistic value, and have inspired generations.

6. The Achievements of Other Literati Painters Song Dao, Song Di, and Song Zifang were all important Northern Song painters of shanshui landscapes. Song Dao and Song Di were brothers, and Song Zifang was their nephew. Among the three, Song Dao and Song Di were active somewhat earlier than Su Shi, while Song Zifang was contemporaneous with Su Shi. As far as accomplishments in shanshui painting is concerned, Song Di ranks first; however, Song Zifang was the one most admired by Su Shi. Song Dao (1014–1083), courtesy name Gongda, was a successful jinshi candidate who enjoyed painting shanshui landscapes and winter forests that are tranquil, timeless, and refined. He often painted in the spur of the moment, embodying the aloof character of early literati painting. Song Di, courtesy name Fugu, was also a successful jinshi candidate who served as director of the imperial Honors Bureau. Painting was his hobby, particularly landscapes inspired by Li Cheng, with withered pine and cypress trees. His artistic achievements outpaced those of his brother. He summed up previous painters’ pictures of the Xiaoxiang Region named for the Xiao and Xiang Rivers in modern day Hunan Province, and selected from them the eight most classic scenes. These would later become known as the »Eight Views of Xiaoxiang«: »The wild geese coming home« in Yongzhou; »The sailing ship returning home« in Xiangyin; »The temple in the mountain« in Xiangtan; »The snow in the evening« on the Xiang River in Changsha; »The moon in autumn on Dongting Lake«; »The rain at night on the Xiaoxiang«; »The evening gong at Qingliang Temple« in Hengyang; and »The fishing village in the evening glow« in Taoyuan County. These stood the test of time and remained key subjects for painters in the future.

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Unfortunately, however, Song Di’s »Eight Views of Xiaoxiang« did not survive the rigors of time and has been lost. Song Zifang, courtesy name Hanjie, rose to the role of Overseer of the Observatory and Court Academician for Painting and Calligraphy under the Huizong Emperor. His shanshui paintings were highly commended by Su Shi, who repeatedly wrote comments and postscripts for his work. In »A Brief Comment on Song Hanjie’s Painting of Mountains,« for example, Su Shi wrote: »Looking at scholars’ painting is like judging the best horses of the empire: one sees how spirit has been brought out; but when it comes to artisan-painters, one usually gets just whip and skin, stable and fodder, without a trace of superior achievement. After looking at just a few feet, one feels tired. Hanjie’s painting is truly scholars’ painting.« This became one of Su Shi’s most famous treatises on literati painting, and was the earliest occurrence of the idea of »scholar’s painting.« Song Zifang died sadly young. On the whole, Emperor Huizong of the late Northern Song and Commandant-Escort Wang Shen were incredibly cultivated and can be classified as outstanding literati painters. However, their prominent special status as the emperor and high-ranking commandant-escort means they have an intimate relationship to the early rise of literati painting in the Northern Song Dynasty. Take Huizong’s »Auspicious Cranes,« »Auspicious Dragon Rock,« and »Lotus Pond and Water Fowl,« as well as Wang Shen’s »Misty River and Layered Peaks« and »Light Snow Over a Fishing Village.« They have a sumptuous atmosphere that edges close to court painting. Consequently, in this tale, Huizong and Wang Shen are respectively placed in the relevant chapters of flowers and birds and shanshui landscapes, and are thus omitted. The literati paintings that emerged in the Northern Song Dynasty were mainly based on the theories and artistic work of Su Shi and Mi Fu, and present distinctive features characterized by the

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typical qualities of the scholar-official. Following the Jingkang Incident of 1127 with the forces of the Jin Dynasty conquered the Northern Song capital at Bianjing and captured both the Qinzong Emperor and his father Huizong, Song culture suffered a fatal blow. Scholar-officials were seriously affected, and early literati painters in the Southern Song faced a deteriorating situation. Many were inspired by Zen Buddhist thought to paint noble, unsullied, and solitary subjects such as plum blossoms, orchids, pines, and narcissus flowers, that conveyed the hermetic mindset that typified the stage of literati painting between the Northern Song and Yuan dynasties. The coldness and remoteness of »Three Friends of Winter« featuring depicting bamboo, pine, and plum« evolved into the »Four Gentlemen« consisting of the plum blossom, the orchid, the bamboo, and the chrysanthemum, thought to embody the ideals of the scholar gentleman, and had an extensive influence on future generations of literati painters. From the fall of the Northern Song to the Southern Song, the plum blossom paintings of the Zen Buddhist monk Zhongren and the orchids and daffodils of Zhao Mengjian, a courtly painter with royal blood, opened new pathways for flower-and-bird painting. Zhongren, better known by his cognomen Monk Huaguang, came from present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province. He first began practicing Zen Buddhism at Fuyan Temple on Mount Heng, later becoming abbot at the Huaguang Monastery in the same area in 1102, where he became known as Monk Huaguang, and eventually passing away in 1123. Throughout his life he had an abiding love for plums, and would place his bed among the plum blossoms every time they bloomed. Seeing the shadows of plum blossoms play across his window on a moonlit night, he was inspired to pick up his brush and paint the scene, in so doing creating a new technique that used faint ink hues to produce plum blossoms adorned with sparse, elegant branches.

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6.13.4 Four Branches of Plum Blossoms, Yang Wujiu, Palace Museum, Beijing

Yang Wujiu (1097–1169), courtesy name Buzhi, was a man of integrity and high morals from what is now Jiangxi Province. He studied the style of the Tang calligrapher Ouyang Xun (557–641) and specialized in ink paintings of plum blossoms, bamboo, pine trees, rocks, and narcissus flowers. Celebrated as the »grandmaster of ink plum blossoms,« Yang pioneered the outline technique that used the white of the unpainted paper to represent the blossoms. His sparse, understated depictions of plum blossoms in the mountainous wilds differentiated his style from that of the »court plums« in which palace painters used bright color washes to depict the flowers. Yang’s pared-down style, christened the »rustic plum« by Song Emperor Huizong, led to new developments in literati ink painting and powerfully influenced future generations of plum painters, for instance Zheng Mengjian, Yang Jiheng, Tang Shuya, Tang Shuzhou, Ding Yetang, and even plum painters of the Yuan and Ming eras such as Wu Taisu and Wang Mian.

Yang’s surviving representative works include Four Branches of Plum Blossoms and Snow Plum. Four Branches of Plum Blossoms (Fig. 6.13.4) is divided into four segments that each depict a different stage in the plant’s growth process: budding, coming into flower, full bloom, and withering. The fruits are solid and heavy, suspended from lithe, slender branches painted in the »flying white« style characterized by hollow strokes while the flowers appear in his elegant outlines. »Snow Plum,« composed of ink on a paper scroll, employs a simple and leisurely style. Snow-covered plums descend from the top of the frame, interspersed with slanting bamboo to create an elegant pattern. The branches are painted in thick, dark ink thrown into sharp relief by the pure white snow, evincing the pale, pure beauty of »flesh of ice and bones of jade.« Zhao Mengjian (1199–c. 1267), courtesy name Zigu, art name Yizhai, was from Haiyan, Zhejiang Province. As a member of the House of Zhao, the Song imperial clan, he attained high postings in official

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life as Grand Master for Closing Court and Prefect of Yanzhou. Zhao was refined and erudite, proficient in poetry and calligraphy, and became more celebrated as a literati painter of the Southern Song than did Mi Fu. He studied the plum painting styles of Yang Wujiu and Tang Shuya, and used a calligraphic painting technique that was brisk and neat with a light ink wash, a beautiful and elegant style that would be highly esteemed by later literati painters. Zhao also painted daffodils and orchids in the traditional ink and brush style, and his surviving works include pictures of plum blossoms, pine trees, narcissus flowers, bamboo, and rocks. Held in the National Palace Museum of Taipei, his »Three Friends of Winter,« featuring branches of pine, bamboo, and plum, is considered his most representative work. From the Huzhou Bamboo School and Wen Tong’s »ink bamboo« through to Su Shi’s dead trees, bamboo, and rocks, and Monk Huaguang and Yang Wujiu’s plum blossoms, Zhao Mengjian combined these subjects into a single image that emphasized their humanistic connotations. The »Three Friends of Winter« were the purest of flowers and plants, refusing to whither even in the deep of winter. They were thus imbued with a high personal character and morals, and later developed into the more well-known »Four Gentlemen« of later literati painting. Zhao Mengjian was also noted for ink paintings of narcissi that elevated the subject to new heights, and his »Narcissus« depicting the fragrant blossoms also survived to the modern era. With gentle and delicate brushwork and a light ink wash to delineate light and shadow as the plants sway in the breeze, revealing their subtle grace and bringing to life the flower’s Chinese name: »fairies walking over ripples.« Although the identities of Zen monk painters and literati painters are not the same, they do share a similar temperament. Muqi, also known as Fachang, representative of Southern Song Zen painters, complement one another well, making up the diverse aspects of Song-era ink painting.

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Muqi’s portrait painting is introduced in the section on Daoist and Buddhist subjects, and thus will not be repeated here. His flower-and-bird painting, »Fruit and Vegetables Painted from Life,« and images of fruit and flowers and fish all depict everyday items with simplicity and intimacy. The brushwork is clear and natural, the black ink color calm and composed. His »Birds, Flowers, and Fruit« employs a similar technique but with ink on a silk, rather than paper, scroll. Generally speaking, the late Northern Song and Southern Song periods saw a good deal of literati and Zen monk painters operating outside of the imperial art academy. In terms of subject matter, conception, painting technique, brushwork, and many other facets, each had their own achievements and created many vivid and unique works that produced their own set of classic themes and methods, for example plum blossoms, orchids, pines, bamboo, and so forth, bestowing a legacy for future generations to further develop. The artwork of Monk Huaguang, Yang Wujiu, Zhao Mengjian and others represents the lofty cultural accomplishments of Zen Buddhist monks and retired scholars as well the understanding of literati painting among local nobles, gentry, and bureaucrats. Their social background, identity, outlook, artistic methods, and theoretical and ideological levels are more akin to most painters of the Yuan Dynasty and later periods than to Su Shi or Mi Fu. Consequently, their art had an effect on the development of literati painting beyond the Song and Yuan that cannot be ignored.

Section 2  Changes in Calligraphic Practice and the Characteristics of the Times The Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods were a time of change for Chinese calligraphy. If calligraphy from the Tang Dynasty and earlier is to be classified as classical calligra-

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phy, the Five Dynasties and the Song signify an end to this classical period and the dawn of a new era that revered individual expression.

1. Changes in Calligraphic Style »The Jin esteemed charm; the Tang esteemed technique; the Song esteemed expression«—scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties thus summarized the changing attitudes toward calligraphic style. Early to touch upon this were Dong Qichang and Fang Xiaoru of the Ming, before it was elaborated upon by a host of Qing scholars. Although »esteeming rhyme« (shangyun 尚韻), »esteeming technique« (shangfa 尚法), and »esteeming expression« (shangyi 尚意) are not comprehensive summaries of these dynasties’ style, they undoubtedly represent truths. If the »rhyme« of the Jin is the same as Dong Qichang’s »refined and tasteful,« or what Fang Xiaoru called the »person of refined taste who holds elegance aloft,« the »technique« of the Tang stressed the establishment of rules and methods for brushwork, form, and structure, thereby creating a »pathway« for the study of calligraphy. Most Tang-era theorists discussed technique, for example Emperor Taizong in »Tricks of Writing Technique,« Zhang Huai in his »Discourse on the Ten Techniques of Brushwork« and »Forbidden Classics of the Jade Hall,« Yan Zhenqing’s »Twelve Senses of Zhang Changshi’s Brushwork,« and others. All these illustrate the importance attached to »technique« in Tang calligraphy, which can also be seen in how regular script (zhengshu 正書) flourished under the Tang. This being the case, how did this era that valued regular script and revered technique give way to the Song era and it’s reverence for expression? This inevitably includes the decisive role played by calligraphy development of patterns and rules, as well as the influence of the cultural preferences and social morality of the Song Period. For thousands of years, Chinese calligraphy experienced the creation and gradual regulation of characters and the evolution of writing styles.

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From the Jin and Sui dynasties onward, not only had calligraphy’s artistic identity emerged but various styles of script and writing techniques had already been firmly established, guiding calligraphy into its mature period. To this end, Tang Dynasty calligraphy underwent a process of strict regulation regarding spelling, which was in turn held in high regard by contemporaries. Using kaishu (‌楷書 »model script«) as its paragon, the pursuit of calligraphic style and the structure of characters had already reached its pinnacle; the established rules were nearly perfect. This established a standard base that could be built upon by the Song and other subsequent dynasties, and other inspired another developmental path that sought expression above technique. On top of the standards developed during the Tang, Song-era calligraphy also inherited the Jin preference for yun—creating a new style that championed artistic intent. At the same time, the field of painting was influenced by its appraisal of calligraphy, spurring the creation of the »four criteria« on which to judge calligraphy. Li Sizhen (?–696), who lived during the period of full literary grandeur in the Tang Dynasty corresponding to most of the 8th century, did his utmost to eulogize the »transcendent masterworks« of the calligraphers Zhong Zhou, Zhang Zhi, Wang Xizhi, and Wang Xianzhi, whose work he placed above all others. This also reflects the fact that even as they revered technique, the people of the Tang did not overlook the power of freehand brushwork. On the same grounds, Song era calligraphy did not blindly or exclusively pursue »expression« but built upon the standards set during the Tang to instead concentrate on expression, thus arriving at the alternative state of »expression trumping technique.« The distinctive features of the Tang Dynasty’s reverence for technique are inseparable from its social and political situation and how these affected aesthetic customs. The importance attached to ability by a great, unified, and prosperous empire

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is in step with the universal application of kaishu script at that time and the emphasis on writing methods. As the division of the Five Dynasties led to the chaos of war, the foundation of the Song empire unified the whole country, promoting culture and implementing a series of measures in the national system conducive to enterprising scholars, for example reforming local administration, the adjustment of the official selection system, and a strict imperial civil-service examination system, which provided a large number of scholars with a stepping stone to higher status. Emperor Taizu vowed not to kill scholars and commanded the same of his descendants, amply illustrating the importance attached to scholars and laying stress on the strategy of governing the country by culture. It is precisely under this type of system that scholars won high social status, allowing them to fully bring their talents to bear and benefit the world, and put their individuality to good use. As a result, in terms of calligraphy, it became one of the intrinsic fundamental reasons that the general mood of shangyi took shape.

2. Characteristics of the Era Shangyi is the most striking characteristic of the calligraphic style of the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song. If one were to compare Tang and Song calligraphy, one would find many differences in the styles, written forms, the cultivation of calligraphers, and other factors. These differences constitute an important part of what makes the calligraphy of the Song Dynasty distinct. The main difference between Tang and Song calligraphy is kaishu regular script; the leading example of Five Dynasties and Song calligraphy was instead semi-cursive xingshu 行書 running script. Running script stemmed from regular script near the end of the Han Dynasty, and became popularized during the Jin and Sui and into the Tang Dynasty. Running script only became more popular

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under the Song, surpassing every other style. Like regular script, the form of running script characters is orderly, neat, and easy to identify, making them practical. At the same time, it differs from regular script in that regular script demands the independence of every brush stroke, with uniformity of character forms and regularity of the spaces between characters. Running script, on the other hand, with swirling brush strokes that could be read like a spider’s web, has numerous variations. In this way could it express the writer’s state of mind, imparting enthusiasm and also increasing writing speed. This style of writing was widely adopted in an era when scholars had their consciousness awakened and demanded to express their individuality. Although there was no lack of excellent works in regular script and »fully« cursive Cursive Script (caoshu 草書), their achievements do not match up to those of running script. Additionally, running script emerges from regular script but is close to Cursive Script, and therefore easily follows the calligrapher’s feelings during the writing process, changing along with changes in mood, at time resembling regular script more and at other times cleaving more to Cursive Script, producing designations such as »running-regular« script and »running-grass« script. In this regard, Song Dynasty running script underwent numerous phenomena of the fusion and transformation of styles due to differences amongst calligraphers and their works. Many literary and poetical works, paintings, and pieces of calligraphy and correspondence surviving from the Song Dynasty clearly differ from the stele inscriptions and memorial tablets of the Tang. The latter are mostly composed in regular script, known as »stele script« (beishu 碑書) while the former appeared in so-called »note script« (tieshu 帖書). As the two morphological categories of Chinese calligraphy, stele script and note script were officially divided starting in the Song Dynasty. The reason why stele script predominated in the Tang Dynasty is because they stressed the need

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to chronicle the great achievements of the age. This need, however, diminished during the Song, with the rise of a different calligraphic form, note script, reflecting the emergence of scholars’ personal expression. At the same time, Song scholars of calligraphy learnt from the Jin. Due to the scarcity of authentic works of calligraphy to act as models, collections of rubbings taken from stone engravings such as the Calligraphic Manuscript of Chunhua Pavilion (992) became the primary resource for later generations of calligraphers. In terms of the cultivation of calligraphers, many calligraphers during the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty were talented in both poetry and painting, such as Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and others. This was a rare sight during the Tang Dynasty. On the one hand, the Song Dynasty stressed civil administration, and the social status of scholars and literati continually ascended, which was conducive to the full development of all aspects of culture and the arts; on the other hand, stele inscriptions require a certain level or craftsmanship and as such calligraphers under the Tang tended to be artisans, while note script (‌帖書) was relatively free, and more suited to give free reign to scholars’ individuality. Moreover, the Song Dynasty began to see the rise of the practice of writing short commentaries on painting scrolls. In this way literary works and painting and calligraphy often coalesced into one, giving rise to a body of people who excelled at all three. Of course, this emphasis on literary prowess does not imply that calligraphers undervalued the rules and craftsmanship behind calligraphy; but it can at least be said that they attached great important to literary skills as well, to the cultivation of poetry and painting deemed the foundational duty and attainment of the man of letters. In short, the calligraphy of the Five Dynasties and the Song inherited the accomplishments of calligraphers from the Tang Dynasty and before, notably the Jin Dynasty, and so created the more individualized style of the time. This was shangyi

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(»esteeming meaning«), a style that had technique but was not limited to it. In this sense, we can say that this epoch was not only one of burgeoning transformation in the history of calligraphy but also one that created a model for other eras, exerting a decisive influence on the calligraphy of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

3. Yang Ningshi, Fulcrum of the Study of Calligraphy Yang Ningshi (873–954) was the most creative and famous calligrapher of the Five Dynasties and played a pivotal role in the stylistic transition from the Tang to the Song. Also known by the names Jingdu, Xubai, the Scholar of Xiwei, and the Old Farmer of Guanxi, Yang was originally from Tong Prefecture in modern Weinan, Shaanxi Province. He qualified as a jinshi scholar under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and lived for a long time in Luoyang, the »Eastern Capital« (Dongdu 東都) of the Tang. Yang was born into a family of high-ranking officials, and his father Yang She was Grand Counsellor of the Tang court. Before the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Yang served as a secretary at the Palace Library and the Institute of History, among other appointments. After the dynasty fell in 907, he took up positions in the later Liang (907–923), the later Tang (923–937), the later Jin (937–947), the later Han (947–951), and the later Zhou (951–960) as an examination official, vice minister of war, tutor to the crown prince and eventually Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince. His role in the Tang and the Five Dynasties that succeeded it earned him a reputation as the »Senior Statesman of Six Dynasties.« Amidst the frequent rise and fall of these imperial houses and the constant social upheaval it caused, he feigned madness and often behaved erratically, also earning him the nickname »Madman Yang.« Yang was endowed with great literary talent and a gift for poetry, but found greatest fame due to his calligraphy. He studied the work of Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gonquan, and the masters of

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the Wei-Jin Period, and was praised for his exquisite techniques of standard handwriting. He also studied the Tang calligrapher and poet Zhang Xu, known for his explosive style and great skill in the Cursive Script. He travelled to many Buddhist and Daoist temples, stopping to pen poems to the beautiful landscapes he saw. As far as calligraphy is concerned, Yang was pivotal in the transition from the Tang’s shangfa to the Song’s shangyi. In the final days of the Qing Dynasty, the artist, calligrapher and pioneering educator Li Ruiqing (1867–1920) dubbed him the »great fulcrum from the Tang to the Song.« In this respect, Yang Ningshi’s calligraphy had the significance of drawing the curtain on a new era. Indeed, the rigorous standards for standard handwriting in the atmosphere of the Tang tendency to »esteeming technique« began to be broken by Yang. Later generations commented that Yang’s work »broke the square into a circle and cut down the complicated to the simple,« changing Tang people’s views of calligraphic style and brushwork. Because of this, Yang Ningshi not only became known as a key figure in changing the style of writing, but his achievements also became the pinnacle of that era. Today, three of Yang’s works can still be appreciated: Scallion Flowers, Methods of the Immortals for Daily Life, and Summer Heat. Among these, Scallion Flowers is broadly considered his most representative work. Scallion Flowers (Fig. 6.13.5) features a total of 63 characters over seven lines, written in kaishu script with ink on a paper scroll. The writing is done in a relatively free hand with a natural, uninhibited, and carefree flourish. One can clearly see the influence of Ouyang Xun in the technique of standard handwriting, and traces of poetic charm lifted from Wang Xizhi’s brushwork the Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion. From the perspective of layout, Scallion Flowers accentuates the distances between lines and between individual characters, bucking the Tang era trend of bunching these closely together in neat forma-

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6.13.5 Scalion Flowers (section), Yang Ningshi

tion to make them loosely and thinly scattered instead. This type of arrangement was later adopted by many calligraphers of the Northern Song and later periods. Methods of the Immortals for Daily Life is one of two of Yang Ningshi’s surviving works in the Cursive Script. The contents record and narrate Daoist practices for keeping in good health in a mixture of Cursive Script and running script, written freely and aimlessly according to natural principles. His brushwork is free-flowing, bold, and unrestrained, varying according to whim. The characters are packed close together in a kind of carefree, unbridled, easy-going mood. Summer Heat

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is Yang’s other remaining Cursive Script work. Compared with Methods of the Immortals for Daily Life, its brush strokes are more vigorous and energetic, recklessly scattered about yet retaining an imposing strength and indivisibility and an ambiance that is out of this world. Because Yang was equipped with the technique of Tang calligraphy, he was able to rise above and beyond it and stake out his own course. Yang Ningshi’s stand-alone style had a profound influence on later generations. This influence was not only in the varying sparsity and density of his layouts, but also in the compatibility of a variety of calligraphic styles and his ability to integrate regular, running, and Cursive Script writing styles. More importantly, Yang broke with the established rules of the Tang Dynasty to create a new way forward. Many accomplished calligraphers, including the »Four Masters« of the Song Dynasty, were powerfully influenced by his work, and it is thanks to these people that the hallmark of Song calligraphy, »esteeming meaning,« came into being.

Section 3  »The Four Song Masters« in Calligraphy Talented calligraphers were many during the Song Dynasty, but the greatest achievements of the era were mainly brought about by the »Four Masters«: Cai Xiang, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu. Their calligraphy not only set the trends for a new era but also set a standard that few would ever match. Traditionally, art history has relegated Cai Xiang as the last of the four, but here we list him as the first. This is not only because he was the oldest of the group, but also because the author believes that each of the Four Masters had their own individual strengths and it is difficult to distinguish between them; therefore, introducing the most senior last does not seem fair.

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1. Cai Xiang, »First of His Time« Cai Xiang (1012–1067), courtesy name Junmo, was born in Xianyou County in Fujian Province. He obtained the degree of jinshi in the 8th year of the Tiansheng era (1030). He was named Officer of Transportation for Fujian, Prefect of Fuzhou and Quanzhou, a scholar of the imperial Hanlin Academy, and Secretariat Drafter of the Duanming Court, in charge of the imperial government’s written communications. Because of this he would also be known to later generations as Cai Duanming or by his posthumous name, Cai Zhonghui. Cai’s writing was forceful and graceful. For calligraphy, he learned from a variety of masters, mainly studying Yan Zhenqing, Yu Shinan, Zhang Zhi, Zhong Zhou, Zhang Xun, and Huai Su. He was skilled in many different styles of calligraphy, including regular, running, and Cursive Scripts. His technique for regular script was upright yet smooth; his running script both energetic and exquisite and yet light and simple; and his Cursive Script was elegant but lacked vigor in its strokes. For this reason, he would be praised highly for his small regular and running scripts but criticized for his Cursive Script. Cai Xiang’s calligraphy enjoyed great fame during the Northern Song Dynasty, lauded by the likes of Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Ouyang Xiu, and held up as the »first of the time.« Around 20 of Cai’s works survive to the present day, mostly correspondence but also poetry, records, and other scrolls. He wrote mainly in running script, running-hand script, and running-cursive script, with some regular script and Cursive Script. Bamboo Strip Poems and Self-Written Poems are considered his most notable. Bamboo Strip Poems, originally known as the TenStrip Scroll before being bound together as a book, incorporates eight surviving works including the »Poem of Mountain Hall,« as well as seven letters. »Poem of Mountain Hall« consists of two fourline poems with seven characters per line, composed in 1066 and considered the representative

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6.13.6  Athlete’s Foot, Cai Xiang, Palace Museum, Beijing

of Cai’s later works. It is written in running script but with a hint of regular script as well, with calm and mellow brushwork and a charming, graceful demeanor. Cai Xiang’s calligraphy was heavily influenced by that of Yan Zhenqing; in his later years, Cai was able to seamlessly integrate Yan’s simple and unadorned style into his own, which is perfectly illustrated in this poem. »Yu Wen Tie,« also known as »Zhong Jian Tie,« is written in both running and Cursive Script. The strokes are sumptuous yet smooth, which reflects Cai Xiang’s style during his transition period in middle age. »Coming Spring« was penned around the same time, in a carefully written Cursive Script that is elegant but cramped. »Eleventh Month,« written after »Coming Spring,« is also written in Cursive Script, comprising a total of eleven lines. »Capital Residence« is nine lines long, with characters that change from running to Cursive Script, brushwork that goes from square to round, and a style that starts lucid and elegant then grows gentle

and charming. »Screen Door« is four lines and 17 characters written in precise regular script. »Meng Hui« and »Retainers« were written around the same time. The former is in running-hand script and the latter in running-cursive hand. Although the styles of the two are difficult, the brushwork is similar, with strokes that twist and turn and pauses and transitions. The structure of the characters is meticulous, written in a firm and steady hand, and both pieces are considered two of his finest works. Other correspondence by Cai Xiang includes Leaving the Capital, Hot Summer, Athlete’s Foot (Fig. 6.13.6), Chengxin Hall, and Da Yan, all of which can also be considered fine works. Self-Written Poems was produced in Cai Xiang’s prime. Written in running script in ink on a paper scroll, it includes eleven five- and seven-character poems, composed when Cai was around 40 years old. At this point, Cai’s calligraphy was tending toward maturity, forming the characteristics of a calm, graceful, dynamic, and elegant style.

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The first four characters in the scroll are written cautiously in a running script that includes elements of regular script; from the fifth character, these transform to running-cursive hand, with the influence of Cursive Script becoming heavier as they go on. On the whole, from the beginning to the end of the scroll, the brushwork gradually became smoother and moves from running to Cursive Script. Some stele inscriptions by Cai Xiang in regular script also remain today, most notably the »Wan’an Bridge Report« inscribed on a stone tablet when Cai was prefect of Quanzhou and oversaw the construction of the large stone bridge. This appears in large regular script, which was rare during the Song. The characters are well-proportioned, vigorous and forceful, and yet with an uninhibited spirit redolent of Jin Dynasty calligraphy. There is also his »Record of Tea« and »Record of Zhoujin Hall,« both in block-printed regular script. As a frontrunner in the world of early Song calligraphy, Cai Xiang’s time was not long after the Tang, and as such the bad habits of Tang calligraphy had not yet subsided and the prevailing fashion of Song Dynasty calligraphy had not yet taken form. He opened up a new path that met the demands of both shangfa and shangyi, and was truly a linchpin in the metamorphosis from the Tang to Song styles. Cai Xiang’s achievements provided an extremely valuable experience for the formation of shangyi calligraphy. After Cai, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu approached the standards of the Tang from a new height, establishing the new idea and the new age of shangyi.

2. Su Shi, Founder of the Shangyi Style As an incredibly talented writer, thinker, and politician in Chinese history, Su Shi not only became the pioneer of Chinese literati painting with his painting ideas and creative practices, but also ushered in a new era with his calligraphic achievements. If modes of writing were perfected during the Tang Dynasty through the processes of

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character formation and the evolution and standardization of writing styles, then from the Song Dynasty Su Shi first and most perfectly elevated calligraphy to an emotional and philosophical level, making it not only practical and pleasing to the eyes but something that could soothe one’s mind, resonate with one’s life experience, and project one’s thoughts and feelings, transcending again what the art form could do. This attainment requires the fermentation of time, as well as individuality, natural endowment, education, nourishment, and most of all the support and development of Su Shi himself. It is precisely because of this that the shangyi style, imbued with contemporary resonance and manifest in Su Shi’s distinctive features, was brought about. Su Shi’s calligraphy is mainly in running script, with regular script and Cursive Script in-between. His calligraphy style also changed with the vicissitudes of his own life experience, and can be roughly divided into his pre-Huangzhou Period, Huangzhou Period, post-Huangzhou Period, Huizhou Period, and post-Danzhou Period. Before Su Shi was banished from the imperial court and sent down to Huangzhou in Hubei Province, he studied Jin and Tang calligraphy. He was mainly a disciple of Wang Xizhi, Shi Zhiyong, Yan Zhenqing, and Yang Ningshi. He studied calligraphers of both the Jin and the Tang, and from this he could perceive the relationship linking Wang Xizhi to Yan Zhenqing. He absorbed the carefree charms of Jin verse and the rigorous standards of Tang calligraphy, and by integrating the two achieved the basic look of his calligraphy from this period. His works from this time are mainly in regular script in small size and running script, with some larger characters. Representative works of this period include »The Period of Zhiping« and »Black Clouds over the Horizon.« »The Period of Zhiping« is a letter written by Su Shi to Master Xu, head of the academy of history, mainly about entrusting the village monks in his hometown to take care of the tombs of his ancestors. Its penmanship

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6.13.7 Cold Food Observance, Su Shi, National Palace Museum, Taipei

is deeply thought out, the characters tightly structured yet conveying a free spirit, revealing a transcendental indifference between the lines, taking a different approach from his »Preface of the Orchid Pavilion« but achieving an equally satisfactory outcome—a classic of Su Shi’s early style. According to textual research, »Black Clouds over the Horizon« was written by Su Shi during his tenure as a magistrate in Mizhou, which is located in modern day Zhucheng County of Shandong Province. At this time, Su Shi’s calligraphy featured many fine strokes, with a fresh and refined character that suited the amalgamation of the Jin and Tang, but with a calligraphic style that did not exceed the ancients. The strokes in this piece are relatively coarse and the writing technique is eclectic, not sticking to any one pattern; it can be

regarded as a harbinger of the sudden change in Su Shi’s style during his Huangzhou Period. The Huangzhou Period was a time when the temperament of Su Shi’s calligraphy suddenly changed. This change was due to the melancholy Su Shi felt after having been banished in the aftermath of the Crow Terrace Poetry Case. Through this sudden change, Su Shi’s calligraphy became more unrestrained, sweeping away the cool indifference that permeated his earlier work and becoming more eclectic and willful. His poem »Plum Blossoms« represents the beginning of this abrupt change, and his »Huangzhou Cold Food« became a milestone in the evolution of his style. Cold Food Observance (Fig. 6.13.7) was written in Su Shi’s third year in banishment. That year, the scene in Huangzhou during the Cold Food Festival, a tradi-

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tional Chinese midwinter holiday when the lighting of any kind of fire was forbidden, was particularly bleak, making Su Shi forlorn and leading him to produce this masterpiece in the history of literature and calligraphy. It is written fully in the running-cursive hand, with brush strokes that are relatively coarse often at a slanting angle. The characters and structural pattern are free-spirited and forceful; from the beginning to the end, the characters get progressively bigger, surging with a passion that cannot be restrained. By entrusting his feelings to his calligraphy, Cold Food Observance can be said to have created a shining new model that was honored as one of the three greatest works in running script. »Plum Blossoms« and Cold Food Observance can be read as companion pieces, different tunes played with equal skill, although sadly only rubbings taken from the stone inscriptions are with us today. Besides these two, notable epistolary pieces from this period include »Capital Wine,« »Sipping Tea,« »New Year’s Celebration and Condolence,« »One Night,« »Brambles,« »Sweeping,« and »Official Duties,« while »Ode on the Red Cliffs« is considered a representative work of this period. In 1082, while Su Shi was in Huangzhou, he went boating with friends on the Yangtze Rivers, passing by the nearby Red Cliffs that were the site of a decisive naval battle in the winter of 208–209 CE at the end of the Han Dynasty. A combination of fine wine, the bright moon, and Su Shi’s melancholy as he surveyed the scene led him to produce this immortal masterpiece in the history of literature. »Ode on the Red Cliffs« was written in regular script, with a touch of running script; the brush strokes are heavy and forceful, with a clear and neat composition. »Ode on the Red Cliffs« and Cold Food Observance are considered sister pieces in terms of his literary and calligraphic work; although they have different charms, they occupy fixed positions in his artistic development. Between the Huangzhou Period and Huizhou Period was the beginning of the mature period for

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Su Shi’s calligraphy. After the sudden change of the Huangzhou Period, Su Shi’s calligraphy gradually moved away from the Jin Dynasty style, and the ups and downs of his official career caused him to bring a sad passion between the lines of his work. This kind of passion sometimes appears as an irrepressible anger; sometimes as a state of profound calm; and sometimes as a deeply concealed indifference. Running script comprises the majority of the texts, although there are also some great works in regular script. »Eulogy for Huang Jidao,« »Pray for Rain,« »Li Bai’s Poem,« »The Spring of Dongting Lake,« and »Homeward Bound« are Su Shi’s most representative masterpieces from this time in running-hand script, running script, running-cursive hand. Written in 1087, »Eulogy for Huang Jidao« is a great work of running-hand script like »Ode on the Red Cliffs.« Throughout his life, Su Shi wrote many eulogies, and his calligraphy embodies different emotional characteristics of respect and solemnity. »Eulogy for Huang Jidao« is brimming with the calligrapher’s grief, with a profound and deliberate style and dense ink. Unlike this, »Pray for Rain,« written four years later, records Su Shi’s prayer for rain during a long drought in Yingzhou, where he was serving as prefect. Praying for rain is a solemn matter that should be written in a reverent manner; however, the author begins indulgently with small characters and fine brush strokes in a relatively standard running script, demonstrating his control over his emotions. But very quickly, a kind of passion bounds forward like a horse free of its reins; the characters become bigger, the strokes coarser, becoming running-cursive hand, then Cursive Script, then finally Large Cursive Script. His unrestrained manner gives expression to the author’s feelings about the changes brought by the passage of time. »Li Bai’s Poem« is divided into two parts, and was written in admiration of the famed Tang poet. The initial strokes are relatively small and thin, but, guided by the poetic sentiment, they become

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coarser, bigger, and more cursive, revealing a feeling of detachment. »The Spring of Dongting Lake« and »Homeward Bound« were completed during Su Shi’s exile in Huizhou. The former is full of running script, with strong brushwork, an elegant and dignified demeanor, a compact structure, and exudes an ineffably imposing energy. The latter does not possess the same dignified and solemn spirit of the previous piece, but presents a calm and peaceful state of mind from which it is not difficult to see how Su Shi yearned to return to the graceful bearing of Jin-era calligraphy. At this stage, Su Shi also made great achievements in regular script, such as his »Stele Inscription for Sima Guang,« »Chen Kui Pavilion Stele,« »Listening to the Qin in Yingzhou,« »Drunkard’s Pavillion Stele,« »Fengle Pavillion Stele,« and »Luochi Pavilion Stele.« All are the quintessence of Tang regular script, and most clearly show influences from Yan Zhenqing. After Danzhou, Su Shi’s calligraphy resounded brilliantly. He experienced the deepest sadness in his life, but in his last moments his calligraphy was raised to a higher level as his thinking matured, realizing the full extent of his skills. »Crossing the Sea,« »On the River,« and »A Response to Xie Minshi on Prose Writing« were the last three important works left behind by Su Shi. »Crossing the Sea« is a letter written by Su Shi to a friend as he returned north from his exile in Danzhou, on the subtropical island of Hainan. In the letter, Su Shi’s eagerness to see his friend in person, now a rare occurrence, is clearly revealed in his words, die-cast in the strokes and dots of his brushwork. Alternating running and Cursive Script characters and an unrestrained technique bring Su Shi’s feelings of despair to a climax. The expression of this sentiment becomes one with the calligraphy, making no distinction between the two. Written half a year later, »A Response to Xie Minshi on Prose Writing« is another letter written by Su Shi on his way back north, setting forth and summarizing his long-held beliefs about literature. The scroll is

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incomplete, with most of the latter half now missing. It is written entirely in running script, seemingly completed in a single breath, with a conclusive meaning unique among his long-form pieces of running script. At the same time, he once again practiced his artistic pursuit of »natural unity and coherence in writing.« »On the River« is a letter from Su Shi to his old friend Du Mengjian. Written three months before Su Shi’s death, it is his last surviving work. Written as he made his way north from Danzhou, stopping at present-day Nanjing, it describes his feelings at meeting his old friend again after eight years apart. The brush strokes are vigorous and slanted, overflowing with spirit, emotions, thoughts, and calligraphy achieving perfect unity.

3. Huang Tingjian, a Milestone in the Evolution of Cursive Script Huang Tingjian (1045–1105) is another great figure in the world of calligraphy to emerge after Su Shi. His courtesy name was Luzhi and he was also known as the Daoist Priest of the Mountain Valley, following his retreat to the Mountain Valley Daoist monastery in Anhui Province. He was born in Xiushui County, Jiangxi Province, and qualified as a jinshi imperial scholar in 1067. He taught as a professor in the Imperial Academy and earned the praise of Su Shi. He was later promoted to sub-editor of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies and examining editor for the official records of the former Emperor Shenzong’s reign. He was later banished from the capital due to factional political struggles, taking up remote posts in Fuzhou in Sichuan Province, Qianzhou in Guizhou, Rongzhou, and Yizhou, where he died. In 1086, Huang and Su Shi were able to see each other again, after the death of Emperor Shenzong and the beginning of the regency of the Empress Dowager Gao, who favored Su and Huang’s conservative faction and welcomed them back from exile. Huang, together with Qin Guan (1049–1100), Zhang Lei, and Chao Bu, became known as the »Four Disciples« of Su

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Shi. Like Su Shi, Huang is not only remembered for his calligraphy but also for his poetry and prose; in the history of Song literature, he is known as the pioneer of the Jiangxi School of poetry, and referred to alongside Su Shi as »Su-Huang.« Huang Tingjian was most skilled at running script and Cursive Script calligraphy. Like his poetry, his calligraphy creates a new and novel state, with an elegant style and brushwork that is light and concise. His calligraphy borrows widely from the masters of the Jin and Tang dynasties to create a single look. He advocated learning from the ancients, to understand them thoroughly but not to simply copy them. He despised calligraphy that was tacky, and believed that this tackiness was a product of being mired in ancient ways. Although Huang Tingjian was best at running and Cursive Script, he still believed that regular script was a very important foundation. Only by achieving proficiency in regular script could one learn how to write back and forth, and master the use of Cursive Script. Huang also had his own unique insights into the rules of different writing styles. He believed that »regular script is like a fast horse while Cursive Script jostles from left to right,« and said that »fat characters must have bones, and lean characters must have flesh.« It was because of this unconventional nature, his courage to strive for change, and his pursuit of the spirit of nature that make »uniqueness« the most distinctive feature of his work. His calligraphy was not limited to running and Cursive Script, and both his large and small characters had their own distinguishing qualities. The composition of his calligraphy was obviously influenced by Huai Su, but the winding rhythms of his running script differed from that of Huai Su. Before Huang Tingjian, the technique for writing in Cursive Script favored easy and smooth brush strokes that were rounded and vigorous, but Huang Tingjian’s Cursive Script not only tended toward precipitously structured characters, but also often used the dislocation of radicals or strokes as

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a means to break the normal procedure and obtain changes in form and rhythm. This was not only a breakthrough in calligraphic style and the forms of characters but, more importantly, this natural metamorphosis away from the ancients was also an expression of the calligrapher’s feelings and reflected the pursuit of contemporary calligraphy with »expression« as the highest aim. More than 30 pieces of Huang Tingjian’s calligraphy remain today, most of them in running and running-cursive script. In running script there are both small and large characters; small characters appear more often in Huang’s letters, and also his poems and inscriptions. Important works include his »Letter to Vice Prefect Ming Shu,« »Letter to Yun Fuqi,« »Ode to Bitter Bamboo Shoots,« »To the Seventeen Civil Governors of Jingdao,« »Jingzhou,« »Letter to the Blameless Scholars Passing Judgement,« »Mountain Yams,« »Wei Qing Dao Ren Observance,« »Cheng Hui,« »Heaven and the People Know Their Destiny,« »Draft Epitaph Inscription for Wang Wenshu,« »Annotation on Li Gonglin’s Five Horses,« and others. Huang Tingjian’s small running script generally has a compact structure and the characters are steeply inclined, mostly to the bottom on the left and high on the right. The layout is relatively neat, the brush strokes and dots are subtle, the structure is tight and the lines are wide, revealing a scholarly air that is tasteful and refreshing. Among these works, »To the Seventeen Civil Governors of Jingdao« is in small running-hand script, with even and clear brushwork. »Letter to Vice Prefect Ming Shu,« »Letter to Yun Fuqi,« »Jingzhou,« and »Letter to the Blameless Scholars Passing Judgement« are all letters in a delicate and pretty calligraphy of running script and a noble, simple style. »Ode to Bitter Bamboo Shoots« and »Mountain Yams« are informal personal compositions; compared to his correspondence, the brushwork is more subtle and varied and the strokes are vertical and open, but it does not lack elegance or scholarly airs. His letters »Wei Qing Dao Ren Observance,« »Cheng

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Hui,« and »Heaven and the People Know Their Destiny« have a style bordering on running-cursive. »Draft Epitaph Inscription for Wang Wenshu« serves as a model to showcase a form that is natural, unpolished, and unconstrained. Compared with his small-print running script, Huang Tingjian’s large-print running script has a cursive-like composition, with energetic openings, tightly packed lines and wide, spacious characters. The brush strokes are more solid and straightforward; in their tight formation, one can perceive an erudite energy that embodies another interesting characteristic. Important representative works include »Annotation on Su Shi’s Huangzhou Cold Food Observance,« »Poetry of Hanshan and Recluse Pang,« and »Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind.« »Annotation on Su Shi’s Huangzhou Cold Food Observance« is nine lines in total. It does not adhere to tried methods and has a natural state of mind, with an unusually structured opening, free-flowing variations in character structure, an overall arrangement that is sprawling and intense, a grand and lush character, and a prevailing erudite spirit. »Poetry of Hanshan and Recluse Pang« is split in two parts: one of poetry and one of self-knowledge, both with contrasting styles. It maneuvers artfully, opening vigorously with brushwork and composition that do not stick to one pattern and naturally unveils a touch of refinement within its powerful character. »Poem on the Hall of Pines and Wind« is a work of poetry from Huang’s later years. The characters are neater than in the previous two volumes; the brushwork is strong and neat, the structure is tight, the movement is even, the momentum is stable, the influence of the Liu Gongquan is plain to see. »Hua-Yan Sutra,« written in large-character running-cursive script in Huang’s middle age, features gentler brushwork, in spite of its vigorous style. Sthavira Elders features characters that are sprawling and tightly knit and flow boldly. Other words of running hand calligraphy include »Scroll for Zhang Datong,« »Passing the

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Shrine of the God Calming the Waves,« »Poems Sent to Forty-Nine Nephews,« and »Sayings of the Monk Lan Can.« »Niukouzhuang Scroll« is a rare example of a regular script work of calligraphy by Huang Tingjian, showing influences from Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. Huang Tingjian was most diligent about his cursive script, not only spending decades studying various masters but attaining the secrets of Cursive Script through practice. He valued the foundation for Cursive Script provided by regular script, and believed cursive writing had to attach even more importance to standards and norms. It was this effort to learn from the ancients but not rely too heavily on them, as well as the natural understanding of Daoism, that formed Huang Tingjian’s distinctive Cursive Script style. His brush strokes sweep transversely across the surface like coiling vines. He could break through the limits of ordinary character forms, deconstructing them and then piecing them back together again, merging them into the overall composition of the piece. Representative pieces include Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, Sthavira Elders, and Flowers’ Fragrance. Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru (Fig. 6.13.8) is Huang Tingjian’s longest work, comprising 111 lines and over 1,700 characters in total. It was written during his first stint in exile, after he became aware of the secrets of Cursive Script during his travels to Yellow Dragon Mountain. The brush strokes are smooth and round, seeming to float and seamlessly transition in the course of events, presenting a classic example of »absorbing the ancient and bringing forth the new.« Sthavira Elders was most likely written during Huang’s exile to Rongzhou. It features flying brush strokes, character forms that are strong and magnificent, a fluttering dynamism, and an expansive bearing. The strokes and dots are sometimes reduced to just dots, and sometimes stretched out continuously, the movements bowing and making room for each other, in order with standard methods. The running script and Cursive Script portions

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6.13.8 Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, Huang Tingjian, from the collection of John Crawford in New York, USA

complement each other well, and it can be said to be the best of the best of Huang’s cursive writing. »Flowers’ Fragrance« is a four-line poem composed by Huang in middle age. Compared with the previous two scrolls, its characters are somewhere between running and Cursive Script, structured at will with few connections. The brush work is sturdy, the style of characters is strong and vigorous, and the layout is open and clear, giving people an outstanding reverie. »Li Bai Recalling Past Poetry,« »To He Lanxian By Du Fu,« and »Liu Yuxi’s Bamboo Branch Song« were all penne during Huang’s exile in Rongzhou, imbued with the calligraphers’ sonorous feelings. Their brushwork is outstanding, with influences from Huai Su. »Li Bai Recalling Past Poetry« is particularly unrestrained and sweeping. »Sketch of Huanhua Creek,« on the other hand, has a thinly scattered arrangement with brush strokes that are mostly thin and dry, reflecting the characteristics of Huang’s cursive script in his later years. Huang

Tingjian’s Cursive Script staked out his own course in the Song Dynasty, principally patterned after Huai Su but also weeding through the old to bring forth the new, with expansiveness and calm amidst soaring movement and elegance and leisure within strength. Not only did he become a representative of the evolution of Cursive Script in the Song Dynasty with his unique style, he also embodies the highest achievement of cursive writing at the time—and with his great achievements he became another milestone in the development of Cursive Script in the history of calligraphy.

4. Mi Fu, the Pinnacle of Shangyi Calligraphy Mi Fu was a great Song-era master of calligraphy who followed Su Shi and Huang Tingjian. As one of the important representatives of early literati painting, Mi Fu and his son Mi Youren created the »cloudy mountains of the Mi clan« that established a model for landscape painting. Although

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no original works by Mi Fu survive today, a large number of calligraphic models and rubbings from stone inscriptions have been passed on. Mi Fu studied calligraphy extensively, covering the Jin, the Tang, and contemporary masters as well as reaching back to Qin and Han dynasties and pre-Qin writing. From childhood he studied the work of Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Ouyang Xun, and Chu Suiliang, with whom he studied the longest. Thereafter, he traced this back to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering of 353, when 42 literati including Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi met at the pavilion in Zhejiang during the Double Third Festival to drink yellow wine and compose poetry. For his training in metal and stone, he also traced back to Qin, Han, and pre-Qin books and volumes, inscriptions on ancient bronze vessels and stone-drum inscriptions. Song Dynasty calligraphy, with its pursuit of shangyi, entered a new era after Su Shi and Huang Tingjian. With his own distinctive personality, Mi Fu pushed the shangyi ethos to its peak. Mi Fu excelled at running-cursive script and the zhuanli style that combined characteristics of both lishu and zhuanshu, but stood above his peers with his running script. Mi Fu’s technique had the basic skill training of Tang calligraphy but did not necessarily toe the line. The structure and composition of his style emphasized rules, but they were not rigid—and have a carefree manner that steadily shows his most outstanding traits. Although his calligraphy was learned foremost from the Tang, he most admired Jin Dynasty calligraphy. He venerated the Wei-Jin period’s sophistication, most particularly the two Wangs and Wang Xianzhi most of all. However, he did not slavishly follow his predecessors, but used his own individual character and training to take inspiration from Jin verse to a completely unreserved level. Around 70 of Mi Fu’s works have been passed down to the present day, the earliest of which is »Imperial Sedan.« If one were to divide Mi Fu’s career into three sections, these would be the early

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period before he turned 40 years old, his middle period aged 40 to 50, and his late period after he turned 50. Mi Fu’s early calligraphy took mainly after the Tang style, in particular that of Ouyang Xun and Liu Gongquan, for example »Three Wu« completed in 1081. In the refined and mellow »Record of Fangyuan Convent,« the influence of Jin calligraphy is clear. Although other works, such as »Lotus Sutra,« »Daolin,« »Sha Bu,« »Small Boat,« »Autumn Mountain in Light Ink,« and others feature traits of Ouyang Xun, they also gradually begin to reveal Mi Fu’s more uninhibited forms. The most representative works of Mi Fu’s from this early period are »Tiao River Poem,« »On Sichuan Silk,« and »Poem Written in a Boat on the Wu River,« all from 1088. »Tiao River Poem,« composed in running hand, was written by Mi Fu for his friends after he was invited to take up the prefectureship of Huzhou and travelled along the Tiao River. A classic example of early Mi Fu, it features beautiful and vigorous calligraphy, abundant, smooth brush strokes, an even momentum, and compact characters. »On Sichuan Silk« (Fig.  6.13.9) is so named because it was written on silk from Sichuan Province. Mi Fu used a dry brush technique and a spry, unrestrained, and sedate style. »Poem Written in a Boat on the Wu River,« written in large running-cursive script, generally follows the form of poetry with five characters to a line, although the number of characters per line is inconsistent, lending it a pleasing asymmetry. Written in 1087, »On Cursive Script« is Mi Fu’s earliest work in cursive. The first six lines of it are sleek and thick, while the last three lines are light and thin, visibly styled after Yang Ningshi’s later Han style of cursive writing. Calligraphy from Mi Fu’s middle period already had its own unique look, having reached its mature stage. »Coral« was written when Mi Fu was 40. It has a distinguished writing style with sweeping curves and extreme variations. The sketch of a pen holder following the text is the only reliable paint-

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6.13.9  On Sichuan Silk (section), Mi Fu, National Palace Museum in Taipei

ing of Mi Fu’s that has survived to this day. »In Case,« »Poems Before Bamboo and After Pagoda Tree,« »Cold Light,« and »Sheng Zhi« have powerful and creative brushwork, smooth and agreeable lines, and a refined style rich in poetic charm that is close to »Coral« and thick with now-rare Tang Dynasty methods. »In Case« in particular boasts eclectic brushwork and a random layout, with the last two lines ending in large, cursive characters that imply the author had to pour out what was on his mind. »Letters to Bo Chong« and »Country Stones« have stout but spirited brush strokes. »A Letter to Zhong Yue Ming« employs an imperturbable style and a layout that seems scattered but is connected by a common energy. »River Matters,« »Escaping the Summer Heat,« »Abundant

Harvest,« »Singing with Wei Tai,« »Vice-Commissioner,« and »Growing Old« all have their own distinguishing features. After Mi Fu turned 50 years old, his calligraphy reached its mature later period. Not only are surviving works from this time relatively abundant, but they were of a relatively higher standard, being passed down as immortal classics. The most representative pieces are »Poem on Hong County,« »Poem Concerning the Pavilion with Various Views,« »Mount Yan Inscription,« »Letter to Zhong Yueming,« »Nine Pages of Calligraphy in Cursive Script,« and »Elegy to the Empress Dowager.« Not many of Mi Fu’s large-character works survive, but they are all masterpieces. Besides »Poem Written in a Boat on the Wu River« from

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Mi Fu’s early period, from his later period there is also »Poem on Hong County,« »Poem Concerning the Pavilion with Various Views,« and »Mount Yan Inscription.« »Poem on Hong County,« written in running script with fist-sized characters is a poem with seven characters per line. The writing goes from rich to dry and withered, and the brushwork does not adhere to any set of rules. The structure of the characters is erratic, but on the whole it has a calm, steady momentum, and is broad and spacious. »Poem Concerning the Pavilion with Various Views« has characters three or four inches big, and comprises 42 lines and 96 characters in total. These are grandly drawn in spirited movements, robustly built but with a lithe, graceful, and beautiful bearing, as befits another of Mi Fu’s large-character masterpieces. »Mount Yan Inscription« is another of his best works. Compared with the previous two scrolls, the brushwork is relatively full and round, the shade of the ink is full, but the vigor of the strokes is not as cool headed or full of energy. Besides these, other works from this time include »Institute of Grain,« »Xin En,« »Winter Solstice,« »Letter to Yan He,« »Emissary Lin Yi,« and »Qing He« also have richer ink shades. After two lines of running script, »Emissary Lin Yi« transitions to two lines of Cursive Script, the vigor of his style linking both together, showing the similarity in his state of mind. »Encountering Rain« uses a relatively dull brush, with character forms and an overall arrangement that are both arbitrary, in a style that resembles both running script and Cursive Script. »Zhang Du« and »Han Ma« feature finer strokes that transition into richer ones. »Public Discussion,« »Xin En,« »Dao Wei,« »Rong Xue,« »Han Ma,« and »Purple-Gold Inkstone« are all fine works of this period as well. Additionally, »Elegy to the Empress Dowager« is a work of regular script in small characters, which is not commonly seen in Mi Fu’s surviving works. It contains some elements of the running script style, with a tall and elegant writing technique, tightly bound forms, but absolutely unlike the

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strict rules of Tang regular script. Although extremely few of Mi Fu’s surviving works are in regular script, all his life he boasted he could write in regular script with careful strokes as small as a fly’s head. This scroll is the embodiment of his braggadocious skills at small regular script. »Preface to the Orchid Pavilion« is Mi Fu’s finest piece of small running-hand script, beguiling with delicate strokes and dots. »Po Qiang Postscript« is in small running script with vigorous brushwork and especially meticulous, spirited composition. Besides running script and Cursive Script, Mi Fu was also good as the zhuanli style, as shown in »Shaoxing Rice,« in which seal characters are permeated with the Cursive Script style, displaying a talent rarely encountered in seal-character calligraphy during the Song Dynasty. Mi Fu’s calligraphy had a great influence both on his contemporaries and on later generations. Because of his extremely strong and distinctive individual character and his uncommon literary and artistic talent, many later scholars were unable to catch up with him, but it is precisely these characteristics that made him so broadly and highly admired.

Section 4  Other Song Calligraphers and Liao and Jin Dynasty Calligraphy Circles Yang Ningshi from the Five Dynasties and the »Four Song Masters« not only created the age of shangyi calligraphy but also established a new high mark in the history of ancient calligraphy. Their style of calligraphy and lofty achievements had a powerful impact on calligraphy circles during the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties. With the exceptions of Zhao Ji, Cai Jing, Zhang Ji, and others who opened a new path with their achievements, many calligraphers could not depart from the set patterns created by the system of clan rules.

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1. Zhao Ji’s »Skinny Golden Style« Besides his skill at painting, Zhao Ji, the Song Emperor Huizong, also cultivated a talent for calligraphy in neat regular script (gongkaishu 工楷書) and Cursive Script. He studied the regular script of Chu Suiliang, Xue Ji, and Xue Yao, and the Cursive Script of Huai Su and Huang Tingjian, ultimately creating his own form of regular script known as »skinny golden style« (shoujinti 瘦金體). This refers to his brush strokes that were thin but firm, slim yet sturdy, earning the epithet »skinny gold.« Xue Ji and Xue Yao used very slender brushes to paint their calligraphy, which heavily influenced the creation of this style. Because of the distinct and original nature of this new style, it too would strongly influence later calligraphers. Surviving works by Zhao Ji are relatively numerous. Examples of his regular script include the Thousand Character Classic in Regular Script, Leap Mid-Autumn Moon, Summer Sun, and Perfume. The Thousand Character Classic in Regular Script is considered the emperor’s most significant representative work in regular script, composed in 1104 when he was 22-years-old. The strokes of its characters are thin and vigorous with a heavy lower nib and many twists and turns. It is a conscious display of the writer’s abilities, with clear pauses between transverse and perpendicular lines and sharp curving and falling strokes. The structure is steady and upright, loose within and tight outside, providing the fundamental basis of the »skinny golden style.« »Leap Mid-Autumn Moon« (Fig. 6.13.10) was completed in 1110 when Zhao Ji was 28, using a technique that is fine and forceful; the structure of the characters is reserved, with a delicate personality that shows the maturing features of »skinny golden style.« Compared with the above works, »Summer Sun« has thinner and smaller strokes but robust, to the point of having an air of mutual hostility, their forms tightly assembled, pretty but less elegant. »Perfume« is written in large regular script char-

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acters that stand tall and straight, with a clear and fresh personality, the daggers-drawn appearance of the »skinny golden style« implying rich urbanity and elegant seclusion. In addition, Zhao Ji’s other masterpieces in regular script include »Two Poems on the Hardships of Life,« »Peony Poems,« »Strange Stones,« »Two Poems on Kerria Flowers and Bamboo Shoots,« and »Ouyang Xun and Zhang Han,« as well as self-painted works such as »Lotus and Golden Pheasant« and »Wintersweet and Mountain Birds« in »skinny golden style.« Surviving Cursive Script works by Zhao Ji include the »Thousand Character Classic in Cursive Script« and »Seven Line Poem on the Silk Fan.« »Thousand Character Classic in Cursive Script« is Zhao Ji’s finest and most important work in Cursive Script, traced in gold on »precious cloud dragon« writing paper in 1122 when Zhao Ji was 40-years-old. The scroll is wildly scribbled in an excessively free fashion, with supple brushwork and strokes that are both coarse and fine, and large and small. The overall momentum is soaring and free, fluent and uninhibited, with a sense of change in all things and a high value to the study of calligraphy. Zhao Ji also wrote works of running script, for example the »Edict for Cai Xing« and »Square Altar Edict.«

2. Other Calligraphers in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song As an era of change in the style of calligraphy, there were many calligraphers in both the Five Dynasties and the early Song Dynasty, and each took on their own role in the history of calligraphy. Some of the more accomplished include Xu Xuan and Li Yu of the Five Dynasties, Li Jianzhong and Ouyang Xiu of the early Northern Song, and Xue Shaopeng and Cai Jing of the middle and later Northern Song. Xu Xuan (916–991), courtesy name Dingchen, came from Yangzhou in modern-day Jiangsu Province. During the Southern Tang (937–976) he

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6.13.10 Leap Mid-Autumn Moon, Zhao Ji, Palace Museum, Beijing

served as the minister of personnel. After the state was taken over the Song, Xu became a scholar. He excelled at the lesser seal (xiaozhuan 小篆) script style standardized by prime minister Li Si of the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE) and official script (lishu 隸書), the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220) style of calligraphy. He wielded the brush by centralizing the brush tip, known as the zhongfeng technique, with a firm and steady hand. He also had a talent for running script that took after that of Yan Zhenqing. The »Si Cheng Tie« is the only work of Xu’s that survives today in its original form. Written in running script, its brush strokes are rich but its characters are long. There is a clearness and

crispness in the full, round characters, which were visibly influenced by those of Yan Zhenqing. Li Yu (937–978), courtesy name Chongguang, was the last ruler of the Southern Tang state. He was well-versed in poetry, prose, and the rules governing the rhythm of words. He ardently loved painting and calligraphy and was most proficient at writing running script in a distinctive tremulous that became known as the »golden inlaid knife« (jincuodao 金錯刀). None of his individual works survive today; all we have is an inscription by the emperor that graces the work »Early Snow on the River by Student Zhao Gan of the Southern Tang.« Li Yu highly admired the works of the Six Dynas-

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ties (222–589) Period, in particular holding up the work of Wang Xizhi as the gold standard for calligraphy in his state. This had a deep influence on the esthetics of calligraphy under the Song, spurring on the admiration of Jin Dynasty calligraphy rather than that of the Tang. Moreover, Meng Chang (919–965), the last reigning monarch of the later Shu Dynasty, also had an aptitude for calligraphy, formulating the yinglian 楹聯 couplet on a pillar or wall, that was a major contribution to Chinese culture. Calligrapher Li Jianzhong (945–1013), courtesy name Dezhong, was originally from the ancient capital Kaifeng in Henan Province, but later settled in Sichuan Province, seeking shelter from political chaos. He had a simple and quiet nature and loved calligraphy and reciting poetry. His three greatest influences were Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, and Yang Ningshi, and his work acted as an intermediary in the transition from the Tang to the Song styles of calligraphy. He patterned himself after Yan Zhenqing, but his characters were both thick and elegant, concealing his skillfulness in clumsiness, learning from Ouyang Xun to avoid cold, frail characters and made them hefty and imposing instead. He also took in the poetic charm of the Wei-Jin Period, which was characterized by writing that was fleshy with fine, delicate features and a bright and airy allure. His main surviving works are »Year-Mates,« »Noble House,« and »Earth Mother.« All three are epistolary pieces in running script and have a similar style that features compact character forms with calm, temperate dots and strokes and hides the full extent of the artist’s skills, from which one can see the transformation of the honest and sincere style of Tang calligraphy to the pure energy of the Song. Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, also known as the Old Drunkard and later Retiree Six-One, was a native of present-day Ji’an in Jiangxi Province who rose to high official office and served as the crown prince’s tutor, becom-

SECTION 4 OTHER SONG CALLIGRAPHERS AND LIAO AND JIN DYNASTY CALLIGRAPHY CIRCLES

ing to many famous statesmen, historians, and writers of the Northern Song one of the »Eight Great Men of Letters of the Tang and Song.« In terms of calligraphy, Ouyang admired the rigorous style of the Tang and opposed the prevailing contemporary attitude that prized expression over technique. In line with this understanding, he was chiefly a disciple of Yu Shinan, Li Yong, Liu Gongquan, Ouyang Xun, and Yan Zhenqing, and ultimately founded his own school. His main surviving works are »Moxibuston,« »Manuscripts of Self-Written Poetry,« »Ouyang Surname Genealogical Diagram,« and »Postscript to Notes on Collected Antiquities.« »Moxibustion« is a letter in running script, tightly written with broad characters that show influences from Ouyang Xun and Yan Zhenqing. In addition, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Yanbo, Su Xun, and Zhou Yue also had certain accomplishments. Xue Shaopeng, courtesy name Daozu, also known as the Retiree of the Hillside Retreat, was a calligrapher of the middle to late Northern Song who hailed from Chang’an in modern Shaanxi Province who served as a court historiographer. His birth and death are unknown, although he was around the same age as Mi Fu, and the two were sometimes referred to by their contemporaries collectively as »Mi-Xue.« He was good at running and Cursive Script, which he patterned after Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, and also did fine regular script patterned after Zhong Zhou. Major extant works of his are »Miscellaneous Poems,« »Bumper Year,« and »Three Poems.« »Miscellaneous Poems« is a scroll that includes the four poems »Cloud-Topped Mountain,« »Zuo Mian,« »Shang Qing Lian Nian,« and »Tong Quan.« »Cloud-Topped Mountain« is in running-hand script with thick and heavy brushwork; »Shang Qing Lian Nian« is in Cursive Script with an uninhibited style; »Zuo Mian« and »Tong Quan« are both in running-cursive hand with Jin-like poise and charm. »Bumper Year« is ten lines of Cursive

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Script with spirited, rounded brushwork using the center-tip technique, with characters close together with a bright, crisp air, and principles inherited from Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. The eponymous »Three Poems« go from rigorous to relaxed and have a rounded, well-developed, and exquisite beauty. Other works, like »Treading a Dangerous Road,« »Two Portraits,« »Yesterday,« and »Yuanzhang Zhaofan,« are all considered masterpieces as well. In Song calligraphy, Xue Shaopeng was relatively conservative in both his brushwork and composition. Because of this, his calligraphy has always lacked the cheerfully uninhibited style so admired by people of the time. Cai Jing (1047–1126), courtesy name Yuanchang, was born in Xianyou in modern Fujian Province. He served as a civil official in Qiantang before moving on to work in the Grand Secretary’s office and eventually rising to Minister for Revenue under Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. After Emperor Qinzong ascended to the throne, however, he was stripped of his official post and banished to Lingnan in present-day Guangdong Province, and he died in exile. Cai Jing’s calligraphy was very influential in his time. Like Mi Fu, he was a disciple of both the Jin and Tang styles, studying first Xu Hao then Ouyang Xun and finally Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, before establishing his own school. Works of his handed down to the present day include »Dwelling« and »Letter to Jiefu,« as well as some annotations to paintings and other works of calligraphy. »Dwelling« is composed with a vigorous and powerful brush, in unrestrained merriment; »Letter to Jiefu« is heavier, with precipitous character forms. »Postscript to an Elegy« has brushstrokes that are composed yet full of energy, with expansive characters and an uninhibited manner. »Listening to a Zither« is a poem with seven characters per line; the vigor of the strokes are thick and broad, with slanted writing and few connections. Cai Jing’s younger brother Cai Bian was also a calligrapher, although his writing style was more unrestrained

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and forceful, and he made few changes to the style taught to them by their father. Other notable calligraphers at the time were Wang Anshi, Shen Liao, Fu Yaoyu, Jiang Zhiqi, Qian Xie, Zhang, and Wang Shen.

3. The Calligraphic World of the Southern Song After the Song court’s retreat southwards, the development of calligraphy did not slacken due to the empire’s changing fortunes. Like in the Northern Song, the importance attached to culture throughout Southern Song society caused the fashion for calligraphy to flourish as before. The shangyi paradigm initiated by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu was passed on and continued to exert longstanding influence over the Southern Song. Many calligraphers slavishly imitated the examples set by the three, while some blended them together harmoniously with other styles, but none quite managed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these giants. However, the early Southern Song did have Zhao Gou and Lu You, and the later years of the dynasty had Zhang Jizhi and Zhao Mengjian, who took directly from the Jin and Tang periods, or could master each style through comprehensive study, or open up their own path and create a new look of their own. Zhao Gou (1107–1187) reigned as Emperor Gaozong for 36 years (1127–1162), during the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. Whilst politically weak and disinterested, he was deeply concerned with writing, calligraphy, and painting, and authored the authoritative Record on Calligraphy (Hanmozhi 翰墨志). Zhao wrote in the seal, running, and Cursive Scripts, benefitting mainly from Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu, as well as following the work of Chu Suiliang, Zhi Yong, and most of all Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. His technique was adept, with subtle stippling and a gentle, refined character that had a great influence on the future monarchs and ministers of the Southern Song, for example his successors Lizong, Guangzong, and

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Ningzong. Surviving works by Zhao Gou include »Poetry of Bai Juyi,« »Mid-Autumn Edict,« »Decree of Long-Cherished Ambition,« and the »Collection of Writings by the Huizong Emperor« in running-hand script, and »Latter Ode on the Red Cliffs,« »Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River,« and the »One Thousand Characters in Cursive Script« in cursive. Among these, »Latter Ode on the Red Cliffs« and »Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River« are Zhao Gou’s most representative works. »Latter Ode on the Red Cliffs,« modelled on the painted handscroll of the same name by Ma Hezhi, has an orderly layout with relatively thin brushwork, an extremely skillful technique, and character forms that adhere the standards of cursive writing, exhibiting the influence of Wang Xizhi. »Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River« dates from Zhao’s later years. It has richer brush strokes and a more unrestrained air, adhering to strict standards and more readily displaying both its vital spirit and the level of skill attained by the author. Lu You (1125–1210), courtesy name Wuguan, came from present-day Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. He was a famous patriotic poet in the Southern Song literary world, whose style of poetry was majestic and yet easy to understand. Lu You studied the work of Zhang Zhi to become adept at cursive script, and learnt from Yang Ningshi for his running script, as well as taking in notable influences from Huang Tingjian and Su Shi. His calligraphy evolved greatly from his early to later years; before middle age, his brushwork was stern and straightforward, then, as he grew older, his technique became more delicate, natural, and mature. Not many of his works survive to this day; from his earlier years we have the »Honorable Note« and »Poem Cherishing Memories of Chengdu«; from his later years there is »River Tong« and »Self-Composed Poetry Scroll.« The »Honorable Note« is a letter in running script with vigorous brushwork, wide and precise strokes, sharp transitions and an overall style that is bold and steady.

SECTION 4 OTHER SONG CALLIGRAPHERS AND LIAO AND JIN DYNASTY CALLIGRAPHY CIRCLES

Although it looks distinctive it borrows perceptibly from the calligraphy of Huang Tingjian and Su Shi, and represents a transitional moment in the maturity of his work. »Poem Cherishing Memories of Chengdu« is skillfully written in a running script that is full of energy and has a martial bearing and grandiose posture. The overall arrangement of the scroll goes from rapid and intense to leisurely; from small characters to large ones; and from standard script to cursive, becoming especially free and unrestrained in the final part as it reaches its climax, conveying a sense of heartiness and strength. »River Tong« is a letter written by Lu You in 1186, his 62nd year; it is written in running-cursive hand with willowy brush strokes but strong muscles and bones, embodying the free and natural style that typified his latter works. »Self-Composed Poetry Scroll« comprises eight poems evocatively depicting the idyllic rural lifestyle enjoyed by Lu You in his old age. A masterpiece of its time, it is written in running-cursive hand with a natural, calm, and detached temperament. Zhang Jizhi (1186–1263), courtesy name Wenfu, came from He County in modern Anhui Province. He received senior appointments to the ministry of revenue and the imperial palace depository for confidential files. He first studied the calligraphy of Mi Fu and then the pantheon of Tang Dynasty masters including Chu Suiliang, Ouyang Xun, and Yan Zhenqing, as well as receiving instruction from Zhang Xiaoxiang and his father Zhang Xiaobo. But he did not follow the fashions of his time, striking out on his own to create a distinct personal style. He excelled at regular script that bordered on running script, and was powerfully structured and well-tuned. Both his small and large characters were broad and dignified like those of Yan Zhenqing; his large characters in particular were outstanding, using brushwork that was resolute and decisive, simple and unadorned. Zhang Jizhi’s contemporaries criticized his brushwork for being too rigid and forced, to the point of

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6.13.11 Twin Pines, Zhang Jizhi, Palace Museum, Beijing

lacking refinement. His main surviving works are the Diamond Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, Twin Pines, and »Two Poems by Du Fu.« The Diamond Sutra is in small regular script with elegant, beautiful brushwork featuring thin horizontal strokes and broader vertical ones, exuding a deliberateness and precision that make manifest the craftsmanship of the calligrapher. Twin Pines (Fig. 6.13.11) is a later work, composed in 1257 when Zhang was 72-year-old. The scroll features regular script in large characters with vigorous brushwork and precipitous characters that are clearly delineated. The horizontal strokes on these are thin while the vertical strokes are coarse. The thin strokes are as though lightly skimmed over, yet do not lack composition; the long, downward strokes are sharply inclined, sometimes revealing »flying white« style characterized by hollow strokes, giving off a strong and bold demeanor. Although the strokes veer between thick and thin, Zhang attains an energy and appearance rarely seen in Southern Song calligraphic circles. Zhao Mengjian, courtesy name Zigu, was better known as a painter but also achieved renown as a calligrapher as well, taking after Huang Tingjian

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and Mi Fu. His surviving handscroll »Self-Written Poems« was written in his later years. It is written mainly in running script with some cursive mixed in, with both the size of characters and their degree of thickness varying wildly in a carefree, momentous manner. The running calligraphy is simple and vigorous, and the cursive script is mostly thin, round and continuous. Because the style of calligraphy, the size of the characters, and the thickness of the strokes all change so much throughout the scroll, it lacks natural charm and betrays bad habits. His »Poems on Painting Plum Blossoms and Bamboo,« with smooth, uninhibited brushwork that does not lose its vigor, and »Five Self-Written Poems,« both in small running script, are his more powerful works. Other relatively accomplished calligraphers of the Southern Song include Wang, Wu Shuo, Wu Ju, Fan Chengda, and Zhu Xi. Wang (courtesy name Yilao) was markedly influenced by Mi Fu and his works »First Summer« and »Goose Wine« remain today. Wu Shuo (courtesy name Fupeng) wrote in standard, running, and Cursive Script with delicate brushwork that was known as »gossamer script«; his works »Indoor Stars« and »Yesterday Evening« survive today. Wu Ju (courtesy name Jufu) was a devotee of Zhong Zhou, Wang Xizhi, and Wang Xianzhi, but bore more resemblance to Mi Fu; his works »Shou Fu« and »Miscellaneous Poems« have been handed down. Fan Chengda (courtesy name Zhineng) took after Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu; his extant works are mainly in small running-cursive script, most notably »Midstream Pot.« Zhu Xi (courtesy name Yuanhui) studied Zhong Zhou and Yan Lugong and was skilled at running-cursive hand, particular in small characters; his brushwork was composed and elegant, which one can see in his surviving works »Poems of the South of the City« and »Diplomatic Mission.«

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4. Calligraphy Circles of the Jin Dynasty After the fall of the Northern Song, many calligraphers followed the imperial court south to the Southern Song territories, but northern culture still continued under the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234). At the same time, the Jin people tried their best to absorb the culture of China’s Central Plains, and several Jin emperors, such as Xizong, Shizong, and Zhangzong, were fond of calligraphy. Zhangzong in particular admired the Song Emperor Huizong and was also renowned for his calligraphy at the time. These factors all contributed to the development of calligraphy under the Jin. However, as a government run by the minority Jurchen people, they devoted less attention to Han Chinese culture than the Song. Calligraphy at this time continued the fashion for shangyi started by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu, and produced a new generation of what can be called masters in calligraphy. Wang Tingyun and Zhao Bingwen and two notables to emerge from this challenging period. Wang Tingyun was an outstanding calligrapher as well as painter, whose work in both mediums was highly appraised by Zhang Rufang, the secretary of the Hanlin imperial academy. He specialized in running script, studying the style of Mi Fu but infusing it with a gentler character, as opposed to Mi’s swift and fierce approach. His main surviving works are »On Li Shan’s Wind and Snow in the Fir Pines« and »Secluded Bamboo and Withered Tree.« »On Li Shan’s Wind and Snow in the Fir Pines« was written when Wang lived in seclusion in the mountains; it features many oblique, slanting brush strokes, using a dexterous and forthright technique that draws heavily from Mi Fu. The technique behind »Secluded Bamboo and Withered Tree« is even more obviously derived from Mi Fu, as well as the spirit of the earlier Jin Dynasty; the brushwork is highly distinguished and also displays properties of its own, without falling short of any of the standards set by Mi Fu. In addition, there remain two stele inscriptions

SECTION 4 OTHER SONG CALLIGRAPHERS AND LIAO AND JIN DYNASTY CALLIGRAPHY CIRCLES

by Wang Tingyun: »Memorial Tablet for the Rebuilding of Shu Xianzhu Temple« and »Record of the Building of Bozhou Temple,« both written in running-hand script. Wang Tingyun’s son, Wang Manqing, also wrote calligraphy. Zhao Bingwen (1159–1232), courtesy name Zhouchen, came from modern-day Ci County in Hebei Province. After passing the imperial examinations, he was made a scribe at Hongwen Pavilion then promoted to treasurer at Luhun County due to his excellent writing skills. He was soon recalled to the capital, where he served as an imperial scholar and rose eventually to positions as an imperial attendant and then chancellor. He excelled at painting plum blossoms, bamboo, and rocks, but achieved pre-eminence due to his calligraphy. Zhao Bingwen’s calligraphy initially took after Wang Tingyun then later Su Shi and Mi Fu, combining the tight structure and compositional force of Mi Fu’s characters with Su Shi’s shapely and well-developed brush strokes. Zhao Bingwen’s »Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum« and »Wu Yuanzhi Passing the Red Cliff at Night« have been passed down to today, as well as a block-print of his »Su Shi’s Ode to the Red Cliff.« »Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum« includes images of six steeds, each accompanied by an annotation in sharp, vigorous running script that combines stylistic elements from Su Shi and Mi Fu, particularly the latter. Other famous calligraphers of the era include Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (1168–1208), who loved calligraphy and emulated Emperor Huizong’s »skinny golden style,« but whose personal approach, illustrated in his extant work »Inscription on Gu Kaizhi’s Admonitions Scroll,« lacked the same vigor; Cai Songnian, a student of Su Shi’s calligraphy who was known for his rich, luxuriant brush strokes and balanced composition; Cai Songnian’s son Cai Gui, whose brushwork was more casual than his father’s; and Ren Xun, a jinshi scholar whose poetry, essays, paintings, and calligraphy were all acclaimed in his time. Ren studied the calligraphy of Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan,

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and developed a style marked by strokes that were majestic, forceful, and wondrous. His postscript to Guo Xi’s »Scroll of Landscapes« has been handed down, as well as his engravings »Ancient Cypress« and »Han Yu’s Autumn Thoughts,« and his stele inscriptions »Temple Stele of the Great Heavenly Palace,« »Spirit Way Stele of Wanyan Xiyin,« and »Tomb Stele of Lu Zhi.«

Section 5  Song Dynasty Engravings »Engravings« (ketie 刻帖) refers to carvings in wood or stone tracing the ink of calligraphic writing, and the copies of that image created by placing ink and paper over the hard surface. In the history of the calligraphy of the Song Dynasty, the mass production and widespread application of calligraphic engravings had an impact on the development of calligraphy at the time and beyond that should not be underestimated. In this regard, the »Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall« is an important beginning.

1. The Flourishing and Influence of Calligraphy Engravings As early as the pre-Qin, Qin, and Han periods, people wrote Chinese characters on silk, known as silk manuscripts (boshu 帛書), and on bamboo and wood, known as bamboo strips and wooden slips (jiandu 簡牘). After the invention of paper in the Han Dynasty, both paper and silk were used for written messages, collectively referred to as tie 帖, while pieces of writing inscribed on stones are known as stele inscriptions (beike 碑刻). Ancient people studied calligraphy by copying rubbings from these stone inscriptions, and these served as models for calligraphy since their numbers were limited. As the age of the early masters became more and more remote, the number of people studying calligraphy continued to grow, and using authentic works as models for calligraphy

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became impossible—and because of the cost and labor involved in making rubbings these could not meet the demand either. In the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, the art of printing was further developed. People compiled the works of historical calligraphers, turning rubbings of the engravings into manuscripts that could be used as models for students and thereby meet this demand. As yet, there is no consensus on when the first engravings were born. According to written records, it was in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317–420) when Wang Xizhi produced the engraving »Le Yi Lun,« of which there were rubbings circulated in the Tang Dynasty, while at the beginning of the Sui Dynasty there were block-printed editions of Wang Xizhi’s »Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion.« However, there are no physical copies of either remaining today. During the Southern Tang, Li Yu ordered Xu Xuan to have the calligraphic treasures held in the imperial library of rare books compiled into four scrolls called the Sheng Yuan Tie to ensure that they were handed down. Whether or not engraved prints were invented before the Song Dynasty, their golden age truly began in the Northern Song with the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall, which has continued to be produced and circulated all the way to the present day. Emperor Taizong of Song had a keen eye for writing, calligraphy, and painting, and widely collected calligraphic models in the collection of the royal palace. In 992, he ordered reproductions and rubbings to be made and bound into a volume that was called the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall. The collection included the works of distinguished calligraphers of three generations up to the Sui and Tang dynasties. Only a limited number of volumes were produced, which the emperor gifted to the privy council and high ministers. Although exceedingly precious, however, it slowly passed through many hands and reproductions proliferated, with many different block-printed editions. These produced reprints, additions, and

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revisions that enabled engraved printings to flourish in the Northern Song. After the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall, Emperor Huizong published all the works of calligraphy in the treasury of the imperial palace. Building upon the foundations of the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall, he ordered Cai Jing to produce a series of revisions and additions that became known as the Da Guan Model Calligraphy. In the time of the Southern Song, Emperor Xiaozong compiled the works in the imperial collection after the court’s retreat southward into ten volumes, known as the Imperial Archives in the Chunxi Era. At that time, besides the calligraphy models in the imperial collection, officials of local governments also kept their own materials: not only printed compendiums such as the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall and the Fengshu Calligraphy Models but also carved reproductions of the work of historical calligraphers, for example Xue Sheopeng’s engraved reproduction of Sun Guoting’s »A Narrative on Calligraphy« and Wang Yingchen’s engravings of the collected works of Su Shi and Yan Zhenqing’s »Letters from Hall of Loyalty and Propriety.« Nobody was without a copy of Wang Xizhi’s Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion, various blockprinted editions of which numbered in the hundreds. Some of these were made from reproduced carving in personal collections, such as Mi Fu’s Studio of Precious Jin Treasures, the Song court’s Model Calligraphy of the Jade Hall, and Yuezhou Shi’s Model Calligraphy of the Hall of Antiquities. Song people had the habit of forsaking the distant in favor of the near at hand, and studied the work of contemporary calligraphers in addition to the ancient masters. Collections of reproduction prints, therefore, also included models from living calligraphers such as Cai Xiang and Ouyang Xiu, which were rapidly passed on and presented to the emperor, and reproductions from Su Shi also made it into Model Calligraphy of the Jade Hall. The prevalence of calligraphy in the Song Dynasty had a profound and far-reaching impact on the

SECTION 5 SONG DYNASTY ENGRAVINGS

development styles of calligraphy and the study of the form. On the one hand, the prevalence of models from engravings led to the mainstream popularity of running script and the split between those who venerated stele inscriptions and those who venerated the printed word, and the clear differentiation between these two schools; on the other hand, their prevalence also spurred on the certification of models, the need to distinguish between authentic and inauthentic works that persisted thereafter. The earliest and most influential collection of engraving in the Song Dynasty, Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall was, since its inception, was the basis of most of the engravings of later generations. The models included the calligraphy of royalty and high ministers as well as ancient masters, the works of whom were all selected on the basis of the reigning emperor’s aesthetic standards. Consequently, beginning with the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall, Song Dynasty engravings virtually all employed the running and cursive scripts in use since the Six Dynasties, especially in the style of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, while works in regular script became extremely few. On the one hand, this reflects the degree to which the running script style of the Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi suited the aesthetic demands of the imperial house and their ministers; on the other hand, the dissemination of this style of calligraphy further enhanced the popularity of Song-era running script. Stele inscriptions, however, an important part of calligraphy models since ancient times, were largely left out in the cold and declined rapidly. Although some outstanding stele inscriptions did emerge from the Song Period, compared to the Qin, Han, Jin, and Tang dynasties, their status went from bad to worse, and inscriptions from previous dynasties were largely overlooked even by scholars of calligraphy. Due to the changing fortunes of engravings and political instability, many calligraphic models from previous eras were scattered and lost in the

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chaos and then later recovered, resulting in a chaotic situation regarding the authenticity of such pieces. Not only were forgeries circulated but one work would have multiple names, and multiple different works would share the same name. In the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall’s introductory scroll, »Calligraphy of the Monarchs of Past Dynasties,« for example, the first piece, the Thousand-Character Classic by Emperor Zhang of Han, is a forgery, and the fifth scroll, supposedly by the Qin Dynasty prime minister Li Si, is in fact by the high-ranking Tang Dynasty official Li Yangbing. Afterwards there is more confusion around the mis-ordering and mis-labelling of engravings. Mi Fu, Huang Bosi and others levied many criticisms against errors in the compilation and revision of engraving models. Huang Bosi in particular used the historical stele inscriptions he had personally seen to author a volume entitled the Corrected Errors of Calligraphy Models, which is commonly published together with his Commentary from the Eastern Observatory. In addition, other works from the Song Dynasty researching, examining, and correcting past dynasties’ models for calligraphy include Liu Cizhuang’s Annotations on Calligraphy Models, Cao Shimian’s Pedigree of Calligraphy Models, Jiang Tie Ping by Jiang Xie, Study of the Orchid Pavilion by Sang Shichang, and Yu Song’s Study of the Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion. These works marked the conception of calligraphic research as a field of study.

2. Noteable Extant Engravings Song Dynasty engraving models were taken from inscriptions made by the imperial household, local authorities, and private individuals, as well as single pieces, collections, and anthologies. At the time, many engravings were lost or destroyed over the years, and although reproductions were produced the style of the original was often lost. Around 30 engravings from the Song Dynasty survive today, most notably Model Calligraphy of

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Chunhua Hall, the Calligraphic Models of Jiang, Calligraphic Models of Tan, Calligraphic Models of Ru, Models of the Daguan Period, Model-Letters of the Jin Dynasty, Model Calligraphy of the Jade Hall, and Calligraphic Models of the Hall of ­Antiquities. Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall is an official collection compiled by the Northern Song imperial house. Emperor Taizong cherished the time-honored works of calligraphy collected by previous dynasties, and since many of these were lost in the political chaos of the Five Dynasties Period, he elected to use his power to collect these widely. He ordered the Hanlin Imperial Academy to produce wood-block reproductions of these inscriptions and compile the prints into a single volume for presentation to royal clansmen and high officials, which was printed during the Chunhua era of Emperor Taizong, and was thus named. The calligraphic models included therein range all the way from the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties up to the Tang. It includes more than 400 pieces by 100 different calligraphers, divided into ten handscrolls. As soon as it emerged, Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall had an immense impact, and thereafter saw an endless stream of reproductions and imitations, setting off the Song fashion for engraving models. Due to the fact that there are so many copies and forgeries of ancient calligraphy models, the editors’ learning and skills were limited, and consequently there are a number of errors in the verification of various documents within the collection. However, because it preserved and disseminated so many important written works of history it remains of inestimable value to the study of calligraphy. Calligraphic Models of Jiang is a privately produced collection of engraving models from the Northern Song Dynasty compiled by Pan Shidan. It comprises 20 scrolls and was based on the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall but with certain additions, revisions, and amendments, so named because it was produced in Jiang Prefec-

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ture in present-day Xinjiang, Shanxi Province. Because the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall was an official edition owned by the imperial family, the Calligraphic Models of Jiang was esteemed as the best collection of engravings available at the time. According to tradition, after the death of Pan Shidan his two sons kept ten scrolls each. Because the eldest son was in debt, his scrolls were confiscated by the local government, and after some revisions this was later known as the »Official Edition« or the Jiang Official Treasury Models. Pan Shidan’s second son supplemented the latter ten scrolls into what became known as the »Private Edition.« In the Jin Dynasty, Gao Ruli re-engraved the scrolls in the Official Edition and called it the »New Jiang Edition.« Original rubbings from the Calligraphic Models of Jiang are exceedingly few; copies in the Palace Museum collection today date from the Ming Dynasty, while the Tianjin Museum has two scrolls from the New Jiang Edition. Calligraphic Models of Tan, also known as the Changsha Models, was compiled during the Qingli reign Period (1041–1048) of Emperor Renzong by Liu Hanshuai, produced in and named after Tan Prefecture, which is now part of the Hunan Provincial capital Changsha. It too, is based on the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall but with the addition of more works by Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing, and its excellent quality earned it fame equal to that of the Calligraphic Models of Jiang at the time. Models of the Daguan Period is another official compilation ordered by the Northern Song court. It was compiled and revised by Cai Jing and others in the third year of Emperor Huizong’s Daguan reign Period (1109). Because the original wood-blocks used for the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall had already been lost, Huizong ordered Cai Jing to produce new ones from amongst the works held in the treasury of the imperial palace. Since the economy of the Northern Song Dynasty was booming at the time, skilled craftsmen were many, and the emperor himself was a

SECTION 5 SONG DYNASTY ENGRAVINGS

talented and knowledgeable calligrapher, so the standards applied in producing the scrolls were extremely stringent. Cai Jing compiled the works into ten scrolls, on which he wrote the titles and captions in his own hand. Not only did Models of the Daguan Period correct the numerous ordering errors in the Model Calligraphy of Chunhua Hall, it also features reproductions that were of a superior quality. Not long after Models of the Daguan Period was produced, the Northern Song capital Bianjing fell into the hands of their Jin rivals, and the scrolls were lost. The original rubbings from the stone inscriptions were incredibly few, and none survive to the present day. At the same time, because Models of the Daguan Period, Further Models of the Imperial Depository, Books of Sun Guoting, and the Seventeen Models of the Zhenguan Period were all produced in the Taiqing Tower of the imperial palace, they are collectively referred to as the Taiqing Tower Models. Models from the Precious Jin Studio originates with the »Three Modelbooks of Mi,« a private collection. Mi Fu esteemed the calligraphy of the Jin Dynasty, and during a military posting to modern-day Hefei, Anhui Province, he compiled the works of calligraphers from that period such as Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Xie An, and others, collecting them in his studio, which he named the Precious Jin Studio. In the third year of Emperor Huizong’s Chongning era (1104), Mi Fu carved stone-block reproductions of his pieces by the Jin masters, calling it the Models from the Precious Jin Studio, or the Three Modelbooks of Mi, which was unfortunately lost in a fire. Whilst at the same posting, Ge Youzhi later recreated this collection according to the book of rubbings from before the fire, producing a second edition of the Models from the Precious Jin Studio, although this too was later destroyed. When Cao Zhige served as assistant prefectural magistrate in the same jurisdiction in 1268, he too endeavored to gather the old stone blocks together and to add both some pieces of Jin-era calligraphy in his own collection as well

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as works by Mi Fu and Mi Youren, producing a third edition of the volume. Today, only rubbings from this edition remain, held in the collection of the Shanghai Museum. Shaoxing Mi Models is an official calligraphy book published in the Southern Song Dynasty, under orders from the Gaozong Emperor in 1141. It binds together reproductions of Mi Fu’s calligraphy from print blocks in the imperial collection, forming a total of ten scrolls. It includes examples of Mi Fu’s calligraphy in the running, seal, and official script styles, and nine of the original ten scrolls survive to this day in the Shanghai Museum. Extended Calligraphy Models of the Palace Depository in the Chunxi Period is another official collection produced by the Southern Song imperial house. Compiled in the 12th year of the Xiaozong Emperor’s Chunxi era (1185), it puts together across ten scrolls the works of Jin and Tang calligraphers that survived the Song court’s retreat southward, featuring work by Zhong Zhou, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Ouyang Xun, Zhang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Bai, Hu Ying, Li Yong, Bai Juyi, Zhang Jiuling, Li Yangbing, Huai Su, Zhang Xu, Gao Xian, and Yang Ningshi, all with the seal of the imperial palace. Model Calligraphy of the Jade Hall, originally titled Model Calligraphy of Reviewing the Ancients Hall, is a private collection compiled during the Southern Song by Xiang Ruoshi for Grand Chancellor Han Tuozhou. As well as calligraphy by the Song emperors, it includes the work of Wang Xizhi, Su Shi, Mi Fu, and others, over ten scrolls. Xiang Ruoshui appreciated and excelled at engraving models, so the reproductions used were of the best quality.

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Han Tuozhou was assassinated on official orders during the Kaixi reign Period of the Southern Song (1205–1207), and the stone prints used were confiscated into the imperial treasury, where they were renamed the Model Calligraphy of the Jade Hall. The printing blocks were lost with the fall of Song Dynasty, and rubbings handed down are very few, with only fragments left in the collections of the Palace Museum and Jilin Provincial Museum. Model Calligraphy of the Hall of Antiquities is a privately produced collection dating from the Shaoxing era (1131–1162) of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was the work of Shi Bangzhe in modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and included 27 pieces of calligraphy from King Mu of Zhou up to Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty. It was later recorded by Chen Si in his anthology of stone slab inscriptions, the Catalogue of Precious Incisions. Because of its high quality, it was regarded by later generations as the standard for regular script in small size dating the Jin and Tang dynasties. In addition, there are also some fragments that have been handed down from the Song Dynasty, such as the Further Models of the Orchid Pavilion from the Chunxi Period; Nie Zishu’s Calligraphy Models of Yugu Terrace from 1228; Yue Ke’s collection of Mi Fu’s calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of Glorious Honor; Zeng Hongfu’s Fengshu Calligraphy Models; the ten-scroll collection of Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy Letters from the Hall of Loyalty and Propriety compiled by Liu Yuangang in Emperor Ningzong’s Jiading era (1208–1224); and Wang Yingchen’s three-scroll Compendium of Su Shi’s Writing in the West Tower.

CHAPTER XIV  PRINTMAKING, SCULPTURE, AND THE ­A RCHITECTURAL ARTS Section 1  The First Boom of Printmaking During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, a great deal of factors such as the development of the feudal economy, the prosperity of cities, the improvement of handicrafts, and the thriving of culture all propelled the development of woodblock printing and printmaking.

1. Prints of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms After the later period of the Tang Dynasty, printed books gradually replaced transcribed books. By the Five Dynasties, woodblock printing had begun to attract the attention of the upper classes, and use of printing technology became increasingly more widespread. Woodblock printing was used to different extents in regions such as the Central Plains, Western Shu, Southern Tang, and Wuyue. In the third year (932) of the Changxing period during the later Tang, Grand Chancellor Feng Dao, who served during the later Tang, later Han, later Jin, and later Zhou Dynasties, ordered the Directorate of Education to print and distribute the nine classics using movable wood blocks. This was completed in the third year (953) of the Yanshun period of the later Zhou, constituting the beginning of woodblock printing’s official use. As the customs of the Southern Tang region were prosperous, the imperial household’s library collection contained prints of All About Historiography (Shitong 史通) and New Songs from the Jade Terrace (Yutai xinyong 玉台新咏). Becoming the center of printing during the Tang Dynasty, Chengdu went on to became the capital of West-

ern Shu in the Five Dynasties. This resulted in the further development of printed books. In the Early Shu, Zhixuan printed Du Guangting’s Book of Dao Extensive and Sacred Righteousness in Thirty Chapters (Dao de jing guang sheng yi sanshi juan 道德经广圣义三十卷). As printing became more popular, 460 copies of this were printed within a five year period. During the two-year Mingde period of later Shu, Grand Chancellor Zhao Yi ordered his students, including Sun Fengji, to write books such as Selected Literature (Wenxuan 文选) and Beginners’ Notes (Chuxue ji 初学记). Hiring people to print these, he opened a school for the printing of the Nine Classics and historiography. This prompted the cultural boom of the Shu region. As for printed works in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, due to the antiquity of the period, not much remains. However, the essential development of printed Buddhist texts and images in such locations as the Library Cave in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, and Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, constitute valuable resources from which the standard and appearance of prints from this period can be gauged. Of the Ten Kingdoms, Wuyue was relatively affluent and stable, and was the most developed printing region of its time. The king of Wuyue, Qian Hongchu, was a pious Buddhist who had the 84,000 scrolls of the Casket Seal Dharani Sutra (Yiqie rulai xin mimi quanshen sheli bao qie yin tuoluoni jing 一切如来心秘密全身舍利宝箧印陀 罗尼经) printed. In modern times, these printed scriptures were successively discovered in the ancient stela of Tianning Temple in Huzhou, the ruins of Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou, and the

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excavated Jintu Pagoda in Shaoxing. At the front of all scriptures are prints of Buddhist images, with carved slogans such as »Marshal of the land under heaven Wuyue King Qian Hongchu printed the eighty-four thousand scrolls of the Casket Seal Sutra.« On the front cover of the seal Sutra in Leifeng Pagoda is a depiction of the Buddha standing on a lotus throne, flanked by two servants. In front of an incense burner table, a woman, most likely the Huang princess of Wuyue, kowtows to him. The picture also features a hall and an imperial canopy. The style is simple and unadorned, its engravings thin and distinct. There were several seal sutras of this kind, the seals of which took many years to finish. As they were printed many times, there were differences in the standard of the carvings. During the Five Dynasties, Buddhist images unexpectedly flourished in the Dunhuang region. The painting and carved printing block technology of the Buddhist image woodblock prints from the Cao political regime, discovered in the Library Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, is considerably refined. Currently, this is the group of Five Dynasties print works of which most have survived, and it is therefore of great value to the research and study of printed art from this period. Among these, the main scene of Great Sage Deity Pishamen (Dasheng Pishamen tianwang tu 大 圣毗沙门天王图) (Fig. 6.14.1) is a front-facing standing image carving of guardian of the north, Pishamen (Vaiśravaṇa). The deity wears a crown and armor, wielding a halberd in his right hand and propping up a pagoda in the other. With his abundant expression of his, bright gaze, and his winged beard, the solemn and formidable disposition and temperament of this deity is portrayed. Above his duanzhao robe is an imperial canopy, and underneath it an earth deity emerges from the ground, supporting his feet. To the deity’s right, a goddess holding flowers and fruit stands in attendance, and to his left a boy wears a tiger helmet, and a demon raises up an infant in his hand. On

CHAPTER XIV PRINTMAKING, SCULPTURE, AND THE ­A RCHITECTURAL ARTS

the ground are sand dunes, symbolizing the distinctive landform of Dunhuang. Figure of Guanyin (Guan shi yin shengxiang 观世 音圣像), also discovered in the Library Cave in Dunhuang, is a carved standing image of Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara). With a crown atop her head, her facial features are well-developed, neat, and graceful, and a halo emanates from her head. In one hand she holds a glass jar, and in the other she holds a willow branch. While her upper body is half naked, on her lower body she wears a long skirt. With a graceful pibo draped over her shoulders, she stands on a lotus throne. The carved lines are thin, clear, and smooth. With the signature »Craftsman Lei Yanmei« underneath it, this is the first ancient print to feature an inscription of the carver’s name. Other Five Dynasties prints discovered in the Library Cave include images such as Thousand-Armed Thousand-Eyed Guanyin (Qianshou qinayan Guanyin 千手千眼观音), Guanyin in Water Moon Form (Shuiyue Guanyin 水月观 音), Wenshu the Bodhisattva of Wisdom (Wenshu shili Pusa 文殊师利菩萨), and Bodhisattva Pixian (Pixian Pusa 普贤菩萨). Some also feature manual color on their surfaces. As none of these Buddhist image prints are large, they largely relying on black and white lines for expression. The effort to achieve precision in the images’ portrayal and compositions in carving results in features that are different from those of other painting forms.

2. Religious Prints of the Song Dynasty Following a cultural boom, woodblock printing in the Song Dynasty underwent significant development. With remarkable improvements in block printing technology, printing regions could be found almost all throughout the country. Kaifeng in Henan, Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Jianyang in Fujian, and Meishan in Sichuan became important centers of block printing. As printing types dramatically increased, a great deal of religious prints, including Buddhist texts and Daoist scriptures, were printed and distributed.

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6.14.1  Great Sage Deity Pishamen, remnant from Library Cave in Dunhuang, held by the British Museum in London

SECTION 1 THE FIRST BOOM OF PRINTMAKING

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In the fourth year (971) of the Kaifeng era, at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Song promptly sent personnel to Sichuan to supervise printing of the Great Chinese Tripitaka (Dazangjing 大藏经). Throughout the twelve-year duration of this, 130,000 blocks were printed. Also known as the Shu Collection or the Kaibo Collection, some of these Buddhist texts included prints. After this, large-scale block printing of Buddhist texts continued. Six sections of the Great Chinese Tripitaka were printed, including 351,181 scrolls, 319 of which were in public use. Song Dynasty emperors repeatedly revised Daoist books printed on movable wooden blocks. These also included Daoist paintings. In the Song Dynasty, woodblock printing was used for large single-sheet Buddhist images, and countless printed religious products were distributed among the people. In China and abroad, many collections of these remain. In 1954, during a renovation of a statue of Siddhartha Gautama in the Seiryō-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, five Northern Song Yuezhou Buddhist image prints were discovered. The painting and printing quality of these were excellent. These single prints were valuable in the observation and study of Early Song Buddhist prints and paintings. Among these, in Image of Bodhisattva Mile (Mile Pusa xiang 弥勒菩萨像), Mile (Maitreya) sits in the lotus position on a lotus throne on Mount Meru. Behind him is a beautiful light, and servant bodhisattvas stand ahead of him on both sides. The Eternal Wheel of Life sits on a stone in the center, emanating light. An imperial canopy envelops the Bodhisattva, and two flying apsaras soar around him. The four sides are decorated with a double-lined frame in Buddhist gold and other patterns. The left and right upper sections and both sides feature printed slogans of the time: »Expert painting of high cultural value,« and »Knowledgeable and wise carving of a Yue monk.« From this, the painting’s author, and the place and time of printing can be authenticated. The work is consequently of extreme historical

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value. Others include Image of Bodhisattva Wenshu Riding a Lion (Wen shu Pu sa qi shi xiang 文殊 菩萨骑狮像), Image of Puxian Riding an Elephant (Puxian Pusa ji xiangxiang 普贤菩萨骑象像), Covert Lingshan (Lingshan bianxiang tu 灵山变相 图), and the Diamond Sutra (Jingang boluomi jing 金刚波罗蜜经). The sizes of these are more or less identical. As a set of carved printing blocks, the standard of their painted manuscripts was on a par with high art. In both Dunhuang in the northwest and Suzhou in the southeast, engraved prints of incantation sutras were discovered, portraying the same content with different artistic styles. Discovered in Dunhuang Library Cave, Dasuiqiu Wheel of Dharma Mandala (Dasuiqiu tuoluoni lun manchaluo 大随求陀罗尼轮曼茶罗) is a block printed book containing sutras and images. The engraving is extremely delicate, refined and careful, with flowing patterns. The knifework is accurate, demonstrating careful and robust work. This suggests the rather high standard of carved printing blocks and prints in the northwest during the Early Song. In 1978, a batch of Song Dynasty religious artistic objects were discovered in Ruiguang Temple Pagoda, in Suzhou. Among these were two incantation sutras, in the center of which was an image of Siddhartha Gautama. The religious paraphernalia of a god riding a cloud was carved in each corner, behind which were dynamic flames, as well as halos. This sutra was most likely carved in the Hangzhou region. The carving is exquisite, with distance and closeness following one another. The carving style is similar to that of the Buddha statue in the Seiryō-ji temple in Japan, and it displays characteristics of prints made in the south. The collection of the Fogg Museum of Harvard University includes four Buddhist prints from the final years of the Northern Song, entitled Annotations on the Imperial Collection (Yuzhi micang quan 御制秘藏诠). Of different lengths, these also include partial scriptures. These Buddhist

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prints do not resemble common Bodhisattva images, paintings expounding Buddhist teachings, or scripture story paintings. They rather feature landscape scenes, with monks amid mountains, rivers, and shores, receiving worshippers under the trees, the latter being greeted or having the Buddha’s teachings explained to them. While several mountain rocks are depicted with lines of river bends, ripples are portrayed with horizontal lines. With towering mountains and relaxed mist, far and near objects are gradated in a careful order. Different painting techniques used in carvings also exhibit personal strengths in knifework, reflecting the new level attained by Song Dynasty prints in in the final years of the Northern Song. Buddha World Monk Manjushri Guiding Pictorial (Foguo chanshi wenshu zhinan tuzan 佛国禅师 文殊指南图赞), printed at the »Lin’an Merchant Scripture Shop,« is a masterpiece of Southern Song Buddhist prints. This pictorial features 53 different pictures of a wealth-cherishing boy. Beside each of the 53 pictures is a written explanation, and under each picture is an appraisal poem consisting of eight seven-word phrases. Together, these pictures and words are full of appeal. In portraying the plot, great halls, a courtyard, lakeside rocks, and flowers and plants are drawn in the pictures, making a lively impression. With its vivacious painting and, energetic, lucid, and animated print-carving style, this is a masterpiece of square scripture prints. During the Qingyuan period (1195–1200) of Emperor Ningzong of Southern Song, the blockprinted Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法莲华经) was bound in folding form. Its introductory fascicle featured a picture from a carved printing block engraved in Jianyang. Zheng Zhenduo’s Catalogue of Historical Prints (Banhua shi tulu 版画史图录) contained three of its pictures: »Introduction« (»Xupin« 序品), »Parable of Medicinal Herbs Number Five« (»Yaocao yupin diwu« 药草喻品第五), and »Prophecy of Enlightenment for 500 Disciples Number Eight«

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(»Wubai dizi shou ji« 五百弟子受记品第八). The Lotus Sutra (Lianhua jing 莲华经) contains a total of 28 works, all illustrations of which attach great importance to pictures expounding Buddhist teaching. Characters are arranged in order of large to small. Behind the Buddha are floating magical clouds and multicolored sunlight, and he is surrounded by heavenly disciples of the Vajra clan. There are also pictures stories with different content, which are exceptionally rich. Currently, Song Dynasty square block prints of Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law (Miaofa Lianhua 妙法莲华经) still remain. The carvings are extremely rich in popular characteristics, like the outstanding works of Song Dynasty religious prints.

3. Book Illustrations and Folk Prints of the Song Dynasty The success of Song Dynasty woodblock printing was further reflected in the outstanding progress of book illustrations and the popularization of pictures. Some Confucian texts, as well as a great deal of official and popular reading material, was printed. From the north to the south, printing houses and religious text shops were located all over. These became the driving force behind woodblock printing. Text in Song printed books was composed according to a pattern. The format of these books was artistic, and their paper and ink were of high quality. These could be taken as model ancient engraved books, with many of them featuring pictures. In the Song Dynasty, collections of classics, and science and technology books printed were rather numerous. These often adopted the format of »compiling illustrations and annotations,« with the image on top and the text below it, the image on the left and the text on the right, or the image and text interwoven with each other. Moreover, many plate print images were extremely refined. Those which remain today include Mao’s Classic of Poetry (Maoshi 毛诗), the Book of Rites (Liji 礼 记), the Rites of Zhou (Zhouli 周礼), the Book of

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Documents (Shangshu 尚书), Master Xun (Xunzi 荀 子), and the Analects of Confucius (Lunyu 论语). Illustrations of the Book of Documents (Shangshu tu 尚书图), block printed in Jianyang during the Southern Song, includes 77 pictures, with pictures and text placed side by side. The 29th Youyu Harmonious Musical Instruments (Youyushi shao yueqi zhi tu 有虞氏韶乐器之图), took the format of illustrations above and text below, and a striking calligraphic style was used for titles. In the upper box are various musical instruments such as zhu zithers, se zithers, chu percussion, and xiao flutes. The lower box contains mainly the text, which is lucid, lively, and striking. The format of Illustrations of the Six Classics (Liujing tu 六经图), printed during the Qiandao period of Emperor Xiaozong of Southern Song, is dynamic and changeable. With whole images, images covering two pages, and upper and lower side-by-side comparisons, it is not confined to a fixed style. Within this work is a section on Rites of Zhou Complete Cultural Relics (Zhouli wenwu daquan tu 周礼文物大全图), featuring carvings of various articles’ forms, dances with musical accompaniments, characters, and vehicles and horses. These are all meticulous and specific. The entire book, containing 309 illustrations in total, can be considered spectacular. In illustrations of the classics, the most refined was Biographies of Outstanding Women (Liènǚzhuàn 列女传), printed during the eighth year (1063) of the Jiayou period in the Qinyou Studio of Yu Zhi’an in Fujian. This contains 123 illustrations in total, all with the paintings above and the text below. Although its illustrations feature few figures, its spirit is bright and lively, with a high level of artistry. In the Song Dynasty, illustrations in books on applied science, architecture, medicine, annuals of local history and epigraphy were also extremely common. Among these was the Reprint of the Zhenghe Version of Ready-to-Use Pharmacopoeia, Classified as Collected from the Classics and Historiographical Books (Chongke zhengzhe jingshi zhenglei baiji bencao 重刻政和经史证类

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备急本草), block printed in south Central China during the Southern Song. The illustrations in this occupy an even more important position, with single lines being used to portray the forms of plants in some of them, and every effort being made to illustrate Chinese herbal medicine in detail. The carving is clear, lively, and lucid, and images are simple and elegant. Some image also depict scenes of the production and gathering of pharmaceuticals. This work holds definite artistic value. The Manual of Plum Blossom Painting (Meihua xishen pu 梅花喜神谱) (Fig. 6.14.2), block printed during the Southern Song, is a specialized picture print album of plum blossom forms compiled by Song Boren. In one hundred pictures, he illustrates plum blossoms in various different moods, accompanying each of these with a five-character phrase. Of published block-printed works, this was the first specialized painting work on plum blossoms. The branches, stalks and flowers in the pictures are illustrated with different brush styles. In addition, the charm of the brush and ink is effectively conveyed with huntuo knife carving. The carved printing of the Manual of Plum Blossom Painting also reflects the situation regarding the popularity of the ink plum blossom theme at the time. In the Song Dynasty, paintings of folk customs that connected the climate and other natural phenomena of the season were exceptionally popular. As door gods were used to ward off evil spirits, a great number of Zhong Kui portraits were block printed. During the five-year Guoning period of Emperor Shenzong of Song, the Emperor imperially ordered the portrait of Zhong Kui by Wu Daozi in the palace collection to be copied via block printing. At the end of the year, this copy was granted to the Grand Minister. Moreover, the printing style used by sellers of folk custom paper dolls for ritual use became even more abundant and numerous. For instance, the manufacturing and sales of solar calendars, door gods, peach wood charms, Zhong

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6.14.2 Manual of Plum Blossom Painting, block printed during the Southern Song

Kui, lions, tiger heads, money flowers, and Spring Festival scrolls and banners thrived. There was also the »paper painting« industry, which offered common city dwellers the opportunity to decorate their homes and participate in popular custom activities. The surviving print excavated in Julu, Hebei, of a standing image of a court lady, and an image of the Silkworm Maid, could be placed into this category. The surviving print is 59  cm long. The standing image of the court lady is now broken and incomplete. The image features three goddesses sitting together underneath a drape, in response to the image of the Silkworm Maid. According to written documents, single block prints of figure portraits appeared during the Song Dynasty. Woodblock printing was also used to paint fans. This included themes such as land-

scapes, plum blossoms and bamboo. There was also woodblock-printed ripple wallpaper, known as »printing plate water paper.« The distribution of commodities caused the need for money to increase, resulting in the appearance of the paper Jiaozi and Huizi notes. Metal copper plates were also used in printing. There surfaces featured printed pictures and decorative designs, and paper money was stamped. In order to increase sales, some companies also printed advertisements. The National Museum of China collection contains the Song Dynasty »Jinan Liu’s Kung-Fu Needle Shop« advertisement that »uses a rabbit as a sign.« This features a design of a white rabbit printed on a surface. This is the earliest discovered printed advertisement for commercial goods to date.

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4. Prints from Liao, Western Xia, and Jin Due to many factors, including war and communication between ethnic groups, traditional Han cultural handicrafts became rather developed in the Liao, Western Xia, and Jin regions. Of these, painting and block-printing work was the driving force behind the development of block-printed books in these regions. Yanjing (modern Beijing) and Pingyang (modern Linfen in Shanxi) became centers of woodblock printing in the north. In this dynasty, Liao and Jin-period printed Buddhist scriptures, single-roll Buddhist image prints, book illustrations, and prints of popular customs were continuously developed. This demonstrated the progress of block-printing projects and printmaking in these regions. In 1974, Liao Dynasty engravings of Buddhist texts and prints of Buddhist images were discovered in the Sakyamuni Pagoda in Fogong Temple, Ying, Shanxi. The Buddhist texts among these included 50 surviving sections of the Great Chinese Tripitaka printed in Yanjing. Many of the introductory facsimiles of its volumes feature prints. For instance, chapter  13 of Dhāraṇī of the Lamp of Knowledge (Dafa ju tuo luo ni 大法炬陀罗尼) features a print of »Bodhisattva Mile Expounds Buddhist Teachings« (Mile pusa shuofa tu 弥勒菩 萨说法图). According to the engraved signatures, its carvers included Mu Xianning, Zhao Shoujin, Li Cunrang, and Fan Zun; the introductory facsimile of chapter 47 of Garland Sutra of the Great Universal Buddha (Dafangguang fo huayan jing 大 方广佛华严经) features Image of a Heavenly King (Hufa tianwang xiang 护法天王像). Moreover, the introductory facsimile of all works such as the Lotus Sutra feature images. Among these, Lotus Sutra Bodhisattva Maoyin Chapter Twenty-Four (Miao fa lianhua jing miao di ershi si 妙法莲华经 妙音菩萨品第二十四) combines sections 24 to 28 together in one scroll, constituting ten documents in total. The painting in the center depicts Siddhartha Gautama expounding Buddhist teach-

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ings on Vulture Peak. On either side, the meanings of scriptures in each section are displayed. Along with the picture, there are also 13 characters written across the arch of the palace gate; the third introductory facsimile features prints of the »Parable of the Poor Son« (»Qiongzi yupin« 穷子 喻品), »Parable of the Medicinal Herbs« (»Yaocao yuepin« 药草喻品), and the moral scripture image of Jiaye (Kassapa Buddha) receiving his record and gaining the name of Sunlight Tathagata; the fourth introductory facsimile features a print of a moral scripture image of the 16 princes and 500 disciples expounding Buddhist teachings and scriptures; on the eighth introductory facsimile Buddhist teachings and moral story, illustrations are printed. In addition, a single woodcut Buddhist image print of The Nine Heavenly Bodies of Prosperous Light (Chisheng guang jiuyao tu 炽盛光九曜图) and Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light Expounding Buddhist Teachings (Yaoshi liuli guang shuofa tu 药师琉璃光说法图) has been discovered in the Sakyamuni Pagoda. The image is large, and its engraving is of a high standard. The print is finished with manual coloration. This holds important value for research on Buddhist paintings and prints during the Song and Liao dynasties. The Western Xia region also contained a considerable number of Buddhist image woodblock prints. The National Library of China holds a selection of Western Xia character engravings of Buddhist texts, some of the introductory facsimiles of which feature prints. Among these, the Golden Light Sutra (Jin guangming zuisheng wangjing 金 光明最胜王经) contains a total of six albums. The introductory facsimile of each chapter includes a print of Buddhist text content. Account of the Repentance Rituals of Compassion Altar (Cibei daochang chanhuifa 慈悲道場忏悔法) consists of ten chapters in total, with the introductory facsimile of each chapter featuring the same print of Emperor Liang Repentance (Lianghuang chan tu 梁皇 忏图). This depicts court figures, the carving of all

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of which is outstanding. Especially noteworthy is the Translators (Yijing tu 译经图) image carving on the paper backing of The Thousand Names of the Present Buddha Sutra (Xianzai xianjie qianfo mingjing 现在贤劫千佛名经), block-printed in the Yuan Dynasty. This is a grand carved scene of the translation of scriptures supported by the imperial household in Western Xia. In the center sits the head translator of Buddhist scriptures, a senior monk, on either side of whom are eight monks assisting with translation. There are also eight secular figures with their palms pressed together to pay respects. On every front scripture-translating table is a writing brush and inkstone, and offerings for the emperor listening to the lecture are laid out on the middle table. The Western Xia empress dowager and emperor sit on opposite sides, and at one side an attendant clasps a hand fan. The names of principal figures are clearly indicated on the horizontal inscribed board. The composition of this symmetrical and balanced scene is full of distinctive figures. Its clearly and vigorously carved lines, along with the detailed engraving of background items such as draperies, railings, and posts, demonstrate its exquisite standard of carving. The Jin Dynasty mostly inherited Northern Song culture. While Zhongdu (Yanjing) and Nanjing (Kaifeng) were originally regions with developing Song culture and flourishing woodblock printing, after the Northern Song fell to the Jin, some Kaifeng block carvers moved to Pingyang (modern Linfen in Shanxi), causing it to become a northern hub of block carving. Some extant Jin Dynasty woodblock printed books and images originated in the southern Jin region. The funds for Zaocheng Jin Tripitaka (Zhaocheng jin zang 赵城金藏), which had the greatest scope of Jin Dynasty private carving scriptures, were raised by a woman named Cui Fazhen from Shanxi, Luzhou. Cutting off her arm for the cause, many of her Buddhist disciples contributed funds to finish the carving. The introductory facsimile

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of this features Buddha Expounding Teachings (Fo shuofa tu 佛说法图), which depicts Siddhartha Gautama sitting cross-legged on Mount Meru on a lotus throne, expounding his teachings to several disciples. Ten disciples to his left and right wait upon him on, listening piously, while the Kongōrikishi  stand guard. Coral and precious stones emerge from the ground, and the background contains several magic clouds. The stature of the Siddhartha Gautama is tall and imposing, and the numerous disciples have varied postures and appearances. The whole print is imposing, expansive, clear, and bright. The carving is refined and natural, constituting a rare and fine ancient Buddhist print. During the Jin Dynasty, several printing houses were located in Pingyang in the north. With numerous book-carving workshops, they produced woodblock prints of Buddhist scriptures, Confucian classics, pharmaceutical science and technology books, and common reading material. In Pingyang woodblock printing, apart from the illustrations in Reprint of the Zhenghe Version of Ready-to-Use Pharmacopoeia, Classified as Collected from the Classics and Historiographical Books and Additional Annotations on Copper Figure Acupuncture Points and Moxibustion Illustrations (Buzhu tongren shuxuezhenjiu tujing 补注铜 人腧穴针灸图经), the most praiseworthy are the two singular prints from the early 20th century discovered in the ruins of Heishui Town in Western Xia, Inner Mongolia. One of these is Four Beauties (Si meiren tu 四美人图) which depicts four peerless beauties from the Han and Jin dynasties. The four women (Zhao Feiyan, Wang Zhaojun, Ban Ji, and Lu Zhu) walk together in a garden. The figures’ faces are well developed, and their clothes are beautiful. They wear floral markings on their foreheads and floral headdresses. Lu Zhu holds a flower in her right hand and looks back, while the other three women look forward towards her. The background features a decorative carved railing in a Lake Tai rock garden, as well as tree peonies.

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A decorative design is carved on all four sides of the double line border, with the top and bottom of the print both featuring complex decorative designs. The composition of the entire scene is full, its figures graceful, and its appearance unobstructed. The patterns on clothing are fluid, and the carved lines temper force with grace, resulting in a top-quality carving technique. Portrait of Guan Yu (Guan Yu xiang 关羽像) features Guan Yu sitting upright in a chair beneath the pines, his expression solemn and dignified. Behind him is a swaying banner with the character »Guan« (‌关) on it. Serving him are general soldiers, some wearing bows and quivers, some holding shields, and some wielding order flags. At the front, a servant bows as if informing him of matters. The print is carved with the phrase »Printed by Master Xu in Pingyang,« thus explaining its origin. In addition, Dongfang Shuo Stealing Peaches (Dongfang Shuo dao tao tu 东方朔盗桃 图), a layered color print, was discovered in 1973 in Beilin, Shanxi. This double-color layered printing method, using light ink and light green, testifies to the emergence of layered color printing techniques.

Section 2  Sculpture with Secular Tendencies Looking at the development of sculpture in China, by the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods it was already in decline after its initial prosperity. However, there had been progress in works reflecting reality, and expressing the breadth and depth of ideas and emotions. The secular tendency of sculpture enriched the themes of works. In this period, religious sculptures, tomb stone inscriptions, and industrial art folk sculpture all had their own achievements, quite effectively embodying the distinctive characteristics and art level of this period. These also had important pioneering significance for later

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generations focusing on realistic thought regarding the depiction of life and human interest, and down-to-earth, accessible esthetical taste.

1. Sculpture in Temples, Ancestral Halls, and Sutra Pillars During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, sculpture focused mainly upon Buddhist figures, and well as a small amount of Daoist and other folk ancestral temple figures. The evolution of social ideologies was reflected in sculpture. With the divinity of temple statues as idols, and the weakening of idealism, secularism increased. At this time, the scope of temple sculptures was large, and quantities of them were high. Although they lacked the imposing scale, and bold, unconstrained vigor of statues in the Sui and Tang periods, techniques of their realistic depiction developed somewhat, unlocking a rather high standard of artistic creation in this simple and elegant style. Currently, a considerable number of sculptures from the Northern and Southern Song periods survive in various regions. The most well-known among them include the statues in Zhengguo Temple, the painted clay figures in Huayan Temple, the bronze statue of Puxian in Wannian Temple, and the painted clay figures in the Jin, Baosheng, and Zijin temples. In addition, Buddhist stone pillars embodied the specific form of Buddhist stone carvings, with many outstanding works created during the Northern and Southern Song periods. As a style of Buddhist sculpture, luohan (arhat) statues originated at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the beginning of the Five Dynasties. Following rapid development, these were rather common by the Song Dynasty. Relatively well-known extant luohan statues from the Northern and Southern Song include the 40 statues of luohan in Lingyan Temple in Changqing, Shandong, the 18 statues of luohan in Baosheng Temple in Suzhou, Jiangsu, the 16 statues of luohan in Chaizi Temple at Lake Tai in Dongshan, and the 500 wooden

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6.14.3  Statues of luohan, ­Northern Song painted sculpture in Lingyan Temple in ­Changqing, Shandong

carvings of luohan in Hua Temple in Jiangnan, Guandong. Among these, the 40 clay statues of luohan (Fig. 6.14.3) in Lingyan Temple in Changqing are depicted in a sitting position on the lower platform of the wall, distributed on all sides of the hall. These are around 160 cm tall, each with their own spirit. Many of these statues exhibit clear composition and succinct sculpting techniques, with a rather high standard of artistry. In Baosheng Temple in Suzhou, the luohan statues are individually modelled amongst steep cliffs, clouds and rivers, and cave walls, with their surroundings being used as a backdrop to demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of different figures. On the west side, positioned between a cross-legged, cloth-wearing Bodhidharma, his eyes closed in a meditative state, is a serene-looking and plump-bellied luohan. There is also a chest-retracted, stooped, and aged luohan, his face full of exquisite quietude, in conversation with an up-

right and full-bodied young luohan. These statues are known respectively as »Luohan Explaining Scripture« and »Luohan Listening to Scripture.« These figures of luohan are plump, and the patterns on their clothes are dexterous and compact. Decorative techniques are also used to demonstrate the smooth and round quality of some arcs. Through these succinct techniques, the rich spirit realm of these figures’ forms is expressed. Other styles of temple and ancestral hall figures during the Song Dynasty were also very advanced. From those remaining in locations such as Longxing Temple in Zhengding, Hebei, and Chongfu Temple in Shuozhou, Shanxi, one can gauge the scope of temple statues at the time. Shanxi is one of the regions with the most preserved Buddhist temples with Song Dynasty sculptures. These include Qinglian Temple in Jincheng, Zhenguo Temple in Pingyao, Faxing Temple and Chongqing Temple in Zhangzi, and Huiji Temple in Yuanping. Each

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of these contains several surviving Song Dynasty clay sculptures, the distinctive features of the style of the period on which are remarkable. For instance, at Qinglian Temple, the Wenshu and Puxian buddhas sit at the foot of the Sumeru Throne, in half-coaxing, half leaning poses. Only the head of a lion-riding statue appears in the middle of the Sumeru Throne, a common style in the Song Dynasty. Hebei is another region with many preserved Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song temples and sculptures. Longxing Temple in Zhending contains the bronze statue of the thousand-handed, thousand-eyed, sorrowful Guanyin Buddha. As the largest extant bronze statue in China, this is over 20 meters high, and was cast in seven sections. The appearance of this Buddha statue is stately, imposing, and magnificent. Below this large, revered, bronze Buddha statue, there is a large limestone arch with a serrated edge at the foot of the Sumeru Base. There is also a standing pillar in a sectioned-off room, and Shanghang relief sculptures of a dance heaven, a strong man carrying a heavy load, and intertwined dragons. These are also precious Song Dynasty works. The statue of Puxian in Wannian Temple at Mount Emei, Sichuan, depicts the Puxian Buddha riding a six-tusked elephant, the feet of which stamp on a thousand lotus flowers as it carries his gilded lotus throne; this statue of the seated Puxian Buddha is 265  cm high. Wearing a crown on his head, a kasaya robe is draped over his shoulders, and his right hand is placed in front of his knee. His entire body is gilded. The proportions of this tall cast sculpture are moderate, composed, and dignified. In addition, the painted statue in Lingyan Temple in Changqing, Shandong, was largely modelled in the early Song. This is a dignified seated sculpture of a goddess. The expressions of servant statues all around her are lively and natural, embodying the Song Dynasty sculpture characteristics of emphasizing detail, and vivid depiction. Outside of Buddhist temples, there are also many outstanding Daoist temple sculptures. These in-

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clude the statues of two female immortals and four statues waiting upon them in Erxian Temple in Jincheng, Shanxi, the statues of the Three Pure Ones in Xuanmiao Temple in Suzhou, Jiangsu, Jiangyou, and the wooden carvings of Daozi in the Hall of the Flying Aspara in Yunyan Temple, Sichuan. Of these, the painted clay figures of a goddess and her 42 servants in the Goddess Hall of Jinci Temple in Taiyuan is most representative. This goddess statue wears a phoenix crown, her face serene and benevolent. With legs crossed and hands hidden inside cuffs, her mangpao robe hangs down over her knees and seat as she sits in a dignified pose. On either side of the main goddess figure, a group of life-sized servant figures are symmetrically arranged. Among these there are five statues of court eunuchs, four statues of female officials wearing male clothes, and 33 statues of female servants (Fig. 6.14.4). They wear beautiful later Tang and Five Dynasties long gowns, or short jackets and long skirts; their hair is styled in two spiral coils or in cloud buns, and adorned with colored cloth. The maids’ proportions are more or less to scale, and the female statues are changeably ample or elegant, with smooth and round, or delicate and pretty faces, full of variation. All of the women hold objects in their hands, with some grooming, and some offering food and drink, providing the services of everyday life, while others performing music, sing, dance, and so on. Although the figures are arranged in equal distances away from one another, they do not appear static. From the different aspects of age, appearance, posture, manner, and apparel, the sculptor displays various emotions, activities, and demeanors. The figures are lively, natural, and lifelike. This reflects the excellent skill of Song Dynasty engravers in sculpting groups of statues, leaving a precious legacy in the history of ancient Chinese sculpture. Several Liao and Jin temple statues, the styles of which are similar to that of the Song Dynasty, remain in various regions of Hebei, Shanxi and northeast China. In Shanxi, these locations in-

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6.14.4 Statue of female servant, Northern Song painted clay figure in the Goddess Hall of Jinci Temple in Taiyuan, Shanxi

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clude the Huayan Temple and Shanhua Temple in Datong, the Chongfu Temple in Shuozhou, the Baitai Temple in Xinyi, the Manjushri Hall of the Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai, the Yanshan Temple in Fanshi, and the Cixiang Temple in Pingyao. In Tianjin, they include in the Dule Temple in Ji, and in Liaoning they include in the Fengguo Temple in Yi. Among these, the Song Dynasty clay figures in the Huayan and Shanhua Temples in Datong are the most outstanding. Huatong Temple is divided into upper and lower temples. The Lower Huayan Temple contains 29 Liao Dynasty statues divided into Buddhas of the Past, Present, and Future, the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, and various sages such as shengwen and luohan. The face shapes of the Buddha and bodhisattvas are neat and full. Their bodies are adorned with color, and their faces and headgear are gilded. The ring patterns on their halos resemble running water, in this common decorative Liao Dynasty style. The expressions and postures of each bodhisattva is completely different. Whether sitting cross-legged or standing, they are graceful, elegant, and representative of Liao Dynasty carving. The Hall of Great Strength in the Shanhua Temple in Datong contains surviving Jin Dynasty statues of the Five Great Buddhas and their four servants, as well as statues of the 24 Heavenly Guardians. These may have undergone renovations during the Ming Dynasty. These statues represent the apex of largescale group carvings in the Liao and Jin periods. There were also several sutra pillar masterpieces produced during the Northern and Southern Song. These sutra pillars were thicker and more solid than those of the Tang Dynasty, with more simple decoration. Although sutra pillars developed to become slender and graceful after the Five Dynasties, by the Northern and Southern Song they were most exquisite. Representative works include the Dharani Sutra Pillar and the Dali Sutra Pillar in Zhaozhou. Located in Zhao County in modern Hebei, the Dharani Sutra Pillar is commonly referred to as the »stone tower.« Built in 5th

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6.14.5 Statues of Guardians on the Dali Sutra Pillar, Dali Kingdom Period, held by Kunming City Museum, Yunan

year (1038) of the Jingyou period of the Northern Song, it is 16.44 meters high, and divided into the two sections of the foundation and the Buddhist banner, with seven layers in total. A large proportion of the sutra pillar’s surface is occupied by decorative engravings. Its three-layered bottom section is covered by an engraved »Sumeru Throne« base. The waist of each layer is engraved with guardians, female entertainers, buildings and so on. Above the Sumeru Throne base is a huge dragon coiled around the »Sumeru,« which supports a six-layered Buddhist banner. The layers become progressively smaller, ending with a »flame and precious pearl decorative knob« on the top. The sections between the lower three levels of Buddhist banners are divided with chuiman and upward ­lotuses, and lion and elephant heads carved on the waist. On the chuiman there are carved pennants, string patterns, and depictions of Bajiao city and the Four Sights. The carvings on these sutra pillars are delicate, and completely integrated with one another. Full of variation, their style is beautiful yet dignified, r­epresenting the

greatest ­success in sutra ­pillar carving art. The Dali Sutra Pillar (Fig.  6.14.5), that is, the D ­ izang Temple Sutra Pillar, was carved during the Dali Kingdom period (937–1235). Standing at 8.3  meters, it was carved section by section out of fine sandstone. From the bottom upward, there are ­ eavenly individual coiled dragons, the Four H Kings, and the Buddha flanked by servants, Bodhisattvas, and several hundred other figures. To demonstrate the themes of expelling evil and protecting Buddhist law, the carvings of gods and guardians are very large. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are placed on the upper layers of the banner, becoming smaller the as the pillar becomes higher, contrasting with the Zhuangyan Hall and the rolling clouds, thus illustrating the supremacy of the Buddha. Meanwhile, each boundary stone layer of the sutra pillar features carved text, small ­Buddhas, or money lotus flowers. With carvings as far as the eye can see, these serve as »glittering jewels to delight the eye,« resulting in this sutra pillar’s status as a valuable surviving object from the Dali Kingdom. (Fig. 6.14.5)

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2. Grotto Sculptures The prosperity of grotto sculptures from the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song does not compare that of earlier dynasties. Although important northern grottoes such as Mogao, Mount Maiji, and Longmen still contain several decorative carvings, their scale is unable to compare that of their predecessors. As a result, several more representative Song Dynasty grotto sculptures are concentrated in the south, such as the Dazu and Anyue Grottoes in Sichuan, the Jianchuan Grottoes in Yunnan, and the Ciyunling Ziyan Temple statues and Yanxia Cave statues in Hangzhou. Meanwhile, Daoist statues developed rapidly in the Song Dynasty. Buddhist and Daoist statues in large-scale cave systems such as those of Anyue and Dazu in Sichuan were often sculpted by the same artists. This amply reflects the blended categories and relaxation of rules in Song Dynasty grotto sculptures, as well as reflecting the union of the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist religions. The Dazu Rock Carvings were mostly carried out during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, with their most rich extant grotto sculptures scattered throughout the southwest, northwest and northeast mountain areas of Dazu in modern Chongqing. Extant rock reliefs are located in forty separate locations, numbering approximately five thousand. Especially important among these are Beishan, Baodingshan, Nanshan, Shizhuanshan, Shimenshan, Miaogaoshan, and over ten other locations, with the cliff statues on Beishan and Baodingshan as the most representative. Although they began to be created during the later Tang, the prosperous period and majority of carved works belonged to the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song. This rather comprehensively reflects the development of grotto art during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song. Among them, the Beishan Fowan sculptures are the earliest group of grotto cliff statue in Dazu.

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Beginning in the later Tang and Five Dynasties until the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song constituted the flourishing age of excavation, apart from Buddhist sculpture grotto shrines, there are also sutra pillars, pagoda shrines, monuments, and line carving works. The Fowan stone carvings are renowned for their elaborate and delicate style. The layout of each shrine is both orderly and varied. The most representative of this is the group of statues in no. 136, Cave of the Wheel-Turning Sutra Repository (also known as Cave of the Vehicle of Heart and Spirit), which contains 125 statues of Guanyin holding prayer beads. These prayer-bead holding statues of Guanyin, although weathered, by no means lack artistic charm. Guanyin’s hands are placed over her stomach, her upper body tilting slightly backwards and her head slightly forwards. With a smiling expression on her face, her clothes appear to fly up in the wind, and she exhibits an elegant countenance (Fig. 6.14.6). Centering around Dafowan and Xiaofowan, Baodingshan’s stone-carved cave statues were scattered over a total of 18 locations. Many of these caves were excavated in the Southern Song Period, under the supervision of notable monk Zhao Zhifeng. The key themes depicted by Baodingshan’s cliff cave carvings include the Buddha reaching Nirvana, the Buddha’s birth history, the Buddha’s thankfulness and filial piety, the Western Paradise, hell, and the Buddhist cattle-herding analogy for »mental regulation.« The plots of these scenes are complicated and unusual, creating a strong sense of narrative and dramatization. The largest stone carving in this area is no. 11, a statue of Siddhartha Gautama reaching nirvana. At 31 meters long, the Buddha in this statue lies on his right side, his feet ending at the southern wall rock. His expression is tranquil, and his eyes are closed. In front of his reclining head and body are14 statues, including an emperor, several disciples, and Zhao Zhifeng. These are all half-statues. Many of their facial expressions are pious and

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6.14.6 Statue of Guanyin holding prayer beads, on Beishan, Dazu Grottoes, Song Dynasty Carving

serene, contrasting the Buddha’s transcendence of worldliness in nirvana. The no. 20 Niche Scene of Diyu, in addition to the Earth Treasury Boddhisatva and Ten Kings of Hell, the 18 individual layers of hell are also depicted. These include Hell of the Mountain of Knives, Hell of Cauldrons, Hell of Ice, Hell of Darkness, Hell of Knee Cutting, Hell of the Hungry Ghost, and Hell of Boiling Faces. Many of the damned are portrayed in an extremely vivid manner. Most notable is the Poultry Farmer Girl (Yangji nǚ 养鸡女). This poultry farmer wears two buns on top of her head, smiling as she uses both hands to open a bird cage. In front of the cage are two birds searching for food. This is an accurate depiction of the life of a rural woman (Fig. 6.14.7).

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Grotto sculptures are scattered throughout ancient temples and cliffs in Anyue, Sichuan. With cliff statue carvings in 105 locations, there are approximately 100,000 statues, with the heights of over 100 ranging from from a few meters to upwards of 20. Originating in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Anyue sculptures continued in every dynasty up until the Ming and Qing. The majority of these are classified as Tang and Song Period works, with Song Dynasty works being the most representative. While most focus is placed on Buddhist themes, there are also a few Daoist sculptures. Of Anyue’s Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song grotto sculptures, the Reclining Buddha Courtyard, Perfect Englightenment Cave, Thousand Buddha Camp, Pilu Cave, Huayan Cave, Mingshan Temple, Jingshan Rock, Intelligent Buddha Cave, and Bodhisattva Rock are among the most concentrated. There are also a significant number of masterpieces. These include the Statue of Siddhartha Gautama Entering Nirvana (Shijiamouni niepan xiang 佛慧洞) in the Reclining Buddha Courtyard. 25  meter in total, this Buddha lies on his left side atop the cliff. Behind him is a carved scene of expounding of Buddhist teachings, featuring over 20 disciples, Boddhisattvas, and guardians, all with different expressions. The Statues of the Western Trinity ­(Xifang sansheng xiang 西方三圣像) on the northern rock of the Perfect Enlightenment Cave, up to 7 meters in height, are most magnificent. With Buddha positioned in the center, the Guanyin and the Daishizhi bodhisattvas stand on his left and right, each with their own deportment. In addition, the Guanyin Sutra Teaching the Twenty-Fourth Universal (Guanyin jing bianxiang ershisi pumen pin 观音经变相二十四普门品) relief sculpture in the Thousand Buddha Camp, the approximately three-meter tall Purple Bamboo Guanyin Bodhisattva (Zizhu Guanyin 紫竹观音) in the Pilu Cave Guanyin Hall, and the Statues of the Huayan Trinity (Huayan sansheng xiang 华严三圣 像) standing over five meters tall in the Huayan

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6.14.7  Statue of a poultry farmer girl, Baodingshan Cave no. 20, Dazu, Song Dynasty carving of Hell of the Mountain of Knives

Cave, are all eye-catching works. Overall, typified by clear, bright, gentle, and attractive deportments, the dignified, benevolent expressions of the Buddha and Guanyin bodhisattvas, Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song sculptures in the Anyue Grottoes appear natural and unrestrained. These magnificent sculpting works shines alongside the Beishan Dazu statues. The Jianchuan Grottoes are located on the 25-kilometer wide Baodingshan in Jianchuan, modern Yunnan, with 16 caves in total, containing 139 sculptures. Excavated in the later Tang, these grottos lasted throughout the Five Dynasties until the Northern Song, going on to survive from the later period of Nanzhao up until the Dali period. In addition to the majority of Buddhist sculptures, there are also some statues of the Nanzhao Kings and Ayingbai. Through its preservation of traditional links with grotto sculptures in mainland China, especially Sichuan, it also incorporates strong

southwest ethnic group characteristics. Cave no. 37 in the Shizhong Temple area is full of Buddha statues. The careful modelling and meticulous portrayal demonstrated in these is typical of Sichuanese grottos. The Guanyin statue in Cave no. 5 is backed by sheer cliffs and precipitous rocks. The space in between is adorned with statues of secular figures such as woodcutters, old men, string players, and boys. Guanyin’s body leans forward, gaze directed downwards, with both eyebrows slightly wrinkled. This is commonly known as ­»secret face Guanyin.« The Immortal Guanyin in Cave no.  7 appears dignified and beautiful. His face is fully rounded, and his body and hand gestures suggest a state of tranquility. As Buddhism during the Nanzhao and Dali periods was tantric, several tantric Buddhist sculptures were carved. These include the eight Wisdom Kings in Cave no. 6 of the Shizhong temple area, and the Heavenly King statue in Cave no. 4 of Jiazi

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Temple in Shadeng Village. These figures wear crowns, and have flat faces, wide noses and closed mouths, their glaring eyes like small bells. From this, the influence of Tibetan Buddhism is clear. Other Nanzhao King sculptures can be found in three locations. Among them, Pavillion Patrol Phoenix Flies Out (Geluo feng chuxing tu 阁逻凤出 行图) in Cave no. 2 of the Shizhong Temple area is most representative, while Jianchuan Grottoes boasts the largest number of engraved figures. In the Jianchuan Grottoes, the technique of combining circular carvings with relief sculptures was adopted, backgrounds usually featured carved patterns. These skillful techniques amply reflect the relatively high artistic level of southwest ethnic groups. In addition to Jianchuan Grottoes, in Sichuan, Luofu Cave in Fushun, Thousand Buddha Cliff in Guangyuan, Great Buddha Cliff in Ziyang, and the Stone Buddhas in Rongxian and Mingyang are all typical of this, demonstrating carving of a high artistic standard. There are also several time-honored grotto sculptures in various regions in Shanbei, centered around Qingliangshan in Yan’an, and Wanfo Cave in Huangling. There is also Shizi River, Longyan Temple, Zhao’an, and Heiquanyi in Ansai, Luchuan, Santaishan, and Baishchuan in Zhidan, Beizhongshan in Zichang, and Shihong Temple and Gezitou Temple in Fuxian—almost 20 locations. Due to the geographical locations of these, the scale of Shanbei’s grottoes is by no means large, so the realism of its statues is rather strong. Stone carved figures in various eastern and southeastern regions such as Fuhuishan in Licheng, Shandong, Ziyan Temple, Yanxia Cave, and Feileifeng in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shifo Rock in Jinjiang, Fujian, and Ruixiang Rock and Qingyuanshan in Quanzhou all contain Buddhist and Daoist sculptures. While their scale is by no means large, their modelling style nevertheless demonstrates distinctive characteristics. There are also a few outstanding extant Liao and Western Xia grotto sculptures. Liao Dynasty grot-

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toes are mainly scattered around the Bairin Left Banner region of Inner Mongolia. The Sanshan and Qianhouzhaomiao Grottoes, although small, have important historical value for research into the development of Buddhist grotto sculptures in former Khitan territory. In the Jin Dynasty, sculptures were constantly carved, such as those in Shi Temple in Fu County, Cave no.  4, on Qingliangshan, Yan’an, Guajiashan Grottoes in Ji, Shanxi, and Laozi Temple Cliff Mausoleum Grottoes in Ganquan. As the form and style of these were inherited from various Northern Song grottoes, they indeed propagated the culture of Han Buddhist statues.

3. Mausoleum Sculpture Due to the long-term chaos of war, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms mausoleums were built on a large scale. Most surviving carvings with artistic value are from the Western Shu and Southern Tang periods. For the unified Central Plains court, Northern Song mausoleums began to pursue increased grandeur and concentration. With Luo River to the south of Henan, and Mount Song to the north, a complete Northern Song mausoleum area was built. Extant stone carvings from this mausoleum area remain fairly intact, and represent the construction standards of mausoleum sculpture in this period. After the Southern Song had been forced to relinquish the middle ground, its court mausoleums were created on a smaller scale, as were its carvings. The Western Xia mausoleum located at the eastern foot of the Helan Mountains was sizable, with some unique stone carvings and decorative components. Meanwhile, the walls of some folk mausoleums featured sanyue and zaju figure brick carvings. This amply reflected the new transformations in mausoleum brick carvings in the Song and Jin dynasties, while also reflecting lively new aspects of post-Song folk cultural life. The tomb of Emperor Wang Jian of Former Shu of the Five Dynasties is located in Sandongqiao Lunan. Of the stone carvings in the mausoleum,

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the most brilliant is that of Wang Jian, and the high-relief carving of 24 dancers around a Sumeru Throne, with deities lifting the stone throne. These are representative of Five Dynasties stone carvings. The sculpture of Wang Jian features large eyebrows and a wide forehead, with the eyes of a dragon and the gaze of the tiger. His appearance is grand, vividly embodying the traits of Wang Jian as recorded in history books. Apart from two dancers performing lightly and gracefully, the other 24 musicians sit cross-legged, performing on several musical instruments including the pipa, xiao, konghou, and sheng. The carving is realistic and exquisite, with great liveliness, and a succinct carving technique that renders the figures lifelike. In the west of Yanchuan Village in Quyang, Hebei, in the rear room of Wang Chuzi’s Five Dynasties mausoleum, are two white marble painted relief carvings. These statues are rare works of art from the Central Plain region during the Five Dynasties. One of these is Women’s Orchestra (Yuenǚ tu 乐 女图), a carving of 15 people all standing on the right-hand side. At the front is a leader dressed in men’s clothes, under the feet of who are two children in dancing postures. The other figures are female musicians. All wearing long skirts, their facial features are round and smooth, and their stances lively. With the memorable stylishness of the Tang Dynasty court lady appearance, this became the precursor to Northern Song painted brick carved figures, and the Liao and Jin mausoleum mural sanyue (sanyue tu 散乐图). Northern Song mausoleums in Gongyi, Henan are located south of the Luo River, and north of regions such as Songshan, Zhitian, and Huiguo, in a concentrated layout. Despite the fall of the Jin and Yuan dynasties, their stone statues remained fundamentally intact, becoming typical of Northern Song stone carving. A total of 1000 imperial tomb and accompanying mausoleum stone carvings were carried out over a period of around 136 years. The dimensions, carving techniques and decorative patterns of each mausoleum stone

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carving has its own distinguishing features. The earlier four mausoleum stone carvings of Yong’an, Yongchang, Yongxi, and Yongding received Tang and Five Dynasties influence. Grand and magnificent, their carving techniques were concise and agile, and their figures exaggerated. The mausoleum stone carvings of Yongzhao and Yonghou tended to be more specific and delicate. Figures went from thick and fat to well-rounded and moderate. In the mausoleums of Yongyu and Yongtai, however, more attention was paid to posture and detail. While this style was refined and cautious, its charm and elegance were somewhat lacking. Due to their different statuses, each mausoleum stone figure had its own characteristics. For instance, there are 61 extant military official stone statues, generally referred to as »Eight Great Bureaucrats.« Wearing three-beam or five-beam crowns and long-sleeved dapao, on their waists are various decorative jade belts, and they wear jade ornaments. Officials hold ceremonial tablets, and generals wield upright double-edged swords. The carving technique is deft, and the succinct court dresses demonstrate the motion and change in direction of their bodies. The realism of silk clothing is also depicted. By the Song Dynasty, sculpting of burial figurines had begun to decline. In both quantity and quality, it could not compare to the Han and Tang periods. Many mausoleums were excavated in regions such as Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian. A noteworthy example is a mausoleum from the final years of the Northern Song in Fangcheng in Henan, in which over 30 stone carved burial figurines of the Buddha were found. Throughout the ages, this has been rarely seen in tomb figurines. The glazed porcelain burial figurines excavated in regions such as Chengdu and Guanghan in Sichuan lacked distinguishing features. On the wooden burial figures excavated in Laoheshan in Hangzhou and Tai County in Jiangsu, lines are carved nimbly and precisely, with organic combination of mate-

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rial quality with carving techniques. The molded white porcelain excavated in locations such as Jiangdezhen, Jiangxi, feature manifold adornments and rich expressions, possibly using Southern opera or folk variety show techniques. Moreover, in Southern Tang Li Sheng’s Qin Mausoleum and Li Jing’s Shun Mausoleum at the southern foot of Zutangshan in Jiangning, Nanjing, 190 pottery burial figurines were unearthed. These were molded from a mixture of fine grass and fine sand clay, on which details such as clothing patterns, mouths and noses were added. After being baked, they would be adorned with bright powder, and some also had metal head ornaments. For the various statuses of the figures, clothes, adornments, and movement would be different, recreating the scenes of Southern Tang singing and dancing in imperial life in a livelier manner. Although the two Southern Tang mausoleum pottery figurines lack the majestic grandeur of Tang Dynasty wooden burial figurines, their designs strive for peace, serenity and elegance, with charming natural grace. This prompted the Song portrait model style. Although mausoleums declined during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, music and dance zaju carved reliefs became rather prominent as mausoleum adornments. In excavated Song mausoleums in locations such as Jiuliugou in Yanshi, Henan, Baisha in Yu County, Poyang in Jiangxi, and Jingyuan in Ningxia, this kind of zaju relief carving already had a fixed style. The many Jin Dynasty zaju carved mausoleums discovered in the Jinnan region of Shandxi formed a scale which amply reflected the new transformation of Song and Jin mausoleum carved relief styles. This also reflected the new content of folk cultural life after the Song Dynasty. In addition, stone carvings of guardians excavated from the base of a Western Xia mausoleum were modelled unusually, their style simple and unadorned. This reflects the clear-cut characteristics of ethnic groups and regions.

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4. Folk Sculpture With the rapid development of urban economies during the Song Dynasty, the necessary expansion of cultural life for the city dweller social class promoted the development of secular art. As manufacturing of various forms of folk sculpture gradually flourished, ornamental painted clay figures and clay toys, which had strong folk characteristics, were extremely widespread. Acting as commodities, these sculptures were distributed, valued, and used by people in various regions. In the Song Dynasty, there were several forms of small secular carved works. These included bamboo, wood, and jade carvings, as well as objects such as useful wax containers carved with fine, delicate figures and fauna. The excellent quality of manufacturing, and rich diversity of themes reflected the different lives of different social classes, adapting to the cultures and necessities of life in various social groups. Northern Song female sculptor Yanshi, who could carve auspicious lotus mountains out of sandalwood, carved 500 niche statues of luohans and disciples. Thereupon, Emperor Zhenzong of Song granted her the title of »skilled lady.« Zhan Cheng of the Early Southern Song could carve monasteries and palaces, landscapes, figures and fauna into bamboo planks. On all four sides of the decorative border of his carved birdcage, he engraved landscapes, birds and flowers, which were elaborate and matchless. Another sculptor of small works was Wang Liujie, who could carve figures such as Mile, Guanyin, the God of Longevity, and luohan out of various small rocks, giving them a natural appearance. Using a wax container, he carved a seated figure of Guanyin, the hair and clothing patterns of which resembled gossamer. In the Northern Song, there was a Jade Academy which produced several copies of Qin and Han jade artifacts. The Southern Song Jade Academy manufactured »attractive and colorful jade,« skillfully using origi-

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nal color mixes of jade to create, thus harnessing the power of nature. In the Song Dynasty, the skill of lacquer carving was similar to that of jade carving. With gold and silver as the body of carved lacquerware, the body could be visible at the bottom on the carving, and different colors of lacquer could be applied on it. The individual colors of carved flowers and plants, such as green leaves of safflowers, yellow stamens and brown rocks, as well as other insects and fauna, could be seen. Porcelain carving was also founded in the Song Dynasty, with the two techniques of body carving and glaze carving. The decorate designs of body carvings were concealed by the glaze, which was known as a »hidden pattern.« While the decorative designs of glaze carvings were visible, they were more problematic. This was because this process had to be carried out before the glaze had dried, requiring strong technical skills of the part of the carver. Like figure paintings, several Buddhist sculptures in the Northern and Southern Song took social customs and figures as their subject matter. According to written documents, in the Northern Song, folk sculptor Tian Pi from Shaozhou (modern Fu County in Shanxi), and Yuan Yuchang from Wu County, were both well-known for making clay models of children, the postures of which were myriad, vivid, and lively. Suzhou wood reading Master Jia was known far and wide for his clay models of infants. In areas such as Jingshi, clay dolls were becoming more widespread. These were of different sizes, many upright and exquisite, possibly dressed in either male or female clothing. In the language of the Jin ethnic group, these were known as »moheluo,« indicating a clay doll that was modelled after a child. After the Southern Song capital moved to Lin’an (modern Hangzhou in Zhejiang), due to people’s longing for a country with an ancient history, this practice of modelling idols became more popular. It is said that »Child Lane« in modern Hangzhou is named after the selling of clay figures of children at this time.

SECTION 3 SYSTEMATIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN ARCHITECTURAL ARTS

Section 3  Systematic Achievements in Architectural Arts Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, Western Xia, and Jin architecture inherited the successes of the Tang Dynasty, while somewhat developing and making breakthroughs in it. This period of China’s architectural history thus concluded the first phase of architectural arts since the Han and Tang dynasties.

1. The Impact of Urban Transformation and Technological Progress on Architecture The Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song constituted the turning point in the development of the Chinese ancient city. Following changes in their nature, the composition of cities went from being sealed off to open. Great transformations in social life, and the rise of the city dweller class in the Tang Dynasty led to the fall of the Lifang System and the collapse of its centralized governance. To replace these, the jiexiang (streets and alleys) system, and distributed trade networks appeared. The function of cities, apart from acting as traditional political centers and military defenses, was equally as important with regard to the businesses and residences that they contained. The image of the city also corresponded to the important changes that were taking place. Following socio-economic development, particularly in demand for goods and an enormous increase in exchange, the sealed-off li (enclosed area for a certain community) fang (ward) system used since the Tang Dynasty had become a clear restraint on urban economic development. Along with the rapid development of handicrafts in cities, and the ever-increasing prosperity of the commercial economy, urban transformation was imminent. Indeed, from the mid- to later Tang,

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the destruction of the ward system and the market system was already underway, as the number of guesthouses established in wards increased by the day. By the Five Dynasties, the classical market system had essentially crumbled, and street-facing guesthouses had become legal. Although the classical ward system appeared to remain, guesthouses set up in workshops and street-facing doors had become common. The classical urban planning method of urban separation by means of wards had therefore become difficult to maintain. In the early years of the Northern Song, for the benefit of the ruling class, the imperial household temporarily reinstated the old system. This meant using the Sui and Tang li fang system to rebuild traditional urban and social order. However, this ultimately failed. By the time of Emperor Renzong of Song, there had been a move away from the rule of only guesthouses being permitted inside wards in the later Tang period, and the walls were moved. Street-facing doors only appeared in twos and threes in desolate scenes. Ward walls were demolished, with residences, and all kinds of stores facing the street, allowing shops to flourish throughout the entire city. During the Qingli period of Emperor Renzong (1041–1048) the closed, gated ward system that had been in use since the Tang was abandoned. In short, in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song periods, from the capital to every major regional city, the classical ward and market systems were withdrawn from the historical arena one after the other. They were thereby replaced by the new jiexiang (streets and alleys) method, and its corresponding effects on the urban environment and landscape. On the surface, although the layout of cities still appeared to be double or triple set, after the collapse of the classical ward and market systems, a thorough transformation of their inner structure had developed. Regulations developed in the cities themselves, resulting in the gradually amendment of their layouts. The lattice-type layout that adjusted to uniformity in Tang Dynasty

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had already been gradually eliminated, and organization of urban life was no longer a strict operation requiring advance preparation. Instead, urban planning and layout required constant regulation of the development of city life itself. From the layout of the city roads, it is clear that during the Northern and Southern Song, a style that was relatively natural but rigidly adherent to form was largely adopted for the city road system. For instance, in Bianliang, apart from centered or symmetrically arranged important main roads such as imperial streets, the overwhelming majority of roads were built pragmatically according to the city’s development, whether bent, straight, wide, or narrow. This was so much the case that even slanted streets began to appear. As Lin’an, the road also contained several bends. Even though its main road was an imperial street, it was difficult to straighten. Some roads even intersected one another in places. The distances between main roads also tended to be different, complex and fickle. Southern Song Pingjiang even further reflects the layout features of planning according to city development regulations and the actual circumstances of the time. Its land routes and waterway networks resembled the roots of plants, stretching with the freedom of human blood vessels. As the concept of strict division of districts according to their status had been discarded, aristocrats and civilians, city stores and residences, and public and private buildings began to spring up in cities and interact with one another. This placement of influential officials and imperial examination candidates in city centers market environments had previously been inconceivable. This illustrates the fact that the social foundation of city districts had not only become hierarchical, but also that practical requirements had to be even more deeply considered. In actuality, this was a sign of social progress. Due to this form of town planning thought, structural composition naturally became more balanced and fair.

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The replacement of traditional li fang with the new jiexiang resulted in cities looking completely different from before. Thousands of wards, alleys, and courtyards intersected one another, to an unimaginable extent. All around were doors, with teahouses, wine shops, art houses and restaurants. Interweaving commercial streets transformed the rigid, cold and detached ward walls of the past, filling the entire city with life. Street-facing shops were of different sizes, in alternating convex and concave positions, in a variety of shapes. Mostly due to dense human habitation, buildings became crowded, causing many buildings on street edges, such as restaurants and teahouses, to have multiple levels. This resulted in an extremely rich streetscape. Scenes such as these can be glimpsed in the Song Dynasty painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Qingming shanghe tu 清明上河图). Compared to previous dynasties, urban parks were a more important feature of Northern and Southern Song cities. This was due to the quantity of parks inside and outside of cities far surpassing those of previous dynasties. For instance, written records show that Northern Song Bianliang boasted almost 100 well-known parks. Almost all nobility, high officials, tycoons, major merchants, rich landlords, country gentlemen, government offices, temples, ancestral halls, and even larger restaurants and teahouses had their own gardens. The success of garden plots in Lin’an, Luoyang, Wuxing, and Pingjiang were also praised at this time. In addition, all areas in front of plazas, streets, and public buildings were decorated with flowers and trees, causing streets and alleys to become shaded by green trees and surrounded by bright flowers. The Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song were periods of maturation, refinement, and summarization for ancient Chinese wood construction. At this time, the traditional classical wooden architecture system was characterized by systemization and finalization, which were

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concentrated and demonstrated throughout its entire modular system. In addition, various technical methods and operations underwent significant development and improvement, such as the methods of flat column arrangement and column reduction, as well as the moving of columns, to increase indoor space; principles of unequal heights and diameters were adopted for indoor and outdoor columns, causing loads to become more rational; raising corner columns and sides increased the stability and cohesion of the architecture; while the scale of dougong (interlocking wooden brackets) was reduced, their quantity was increased, and dougong between pillars became generally identical, somewhat strengthening structure and composition in transmitting loads and absorbing horizontal vibrations, casing its force-sustaining composition to become more rational; various inner components including beam pillars and dougong were greatly simplified compared to those of previous dynasties, and reduced wood used increased indoor space, giving the impression of expansiveness and luminosity; various wood processing techniques, such as the commonly used entasis method, became more developed; at around the same time as high-rise wooden buildings appeared an architectural form still used in modern high-rise buildings, consisting of a cylindric form combined with an outer frame, which improved the sturdiness of highrise buildings. Moreover, along with the high degree of development and maturation of wood construction techniques, some other architectural types and forms saw remarkable development. For instance, the construction of some stone bridges and brick pagodas at this time reflected the success of brick and stone architecture. There were also several stone bridges constructed in this period. Among these was the Marco Polo Bridge, built in the twentieth year (1189) of the Dading ­period of the Jin Dynasty. Composed of 11 segmental arches, it is 266.5 meters long. During the Song Dynasty, a number of large stone beam bridges

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were built on the southeast coast. These bridges were often located above expansive water surfaces where rivers entered the sea. These include the Wan’an Bridge in Quanzhou, constructed in the first year (1078) of the Yuanfeng period of the Northern Song. Composed of 41 segmental arches, this bridge is 540 meters long, allowing for views of both the sea and the sky.

2. The Art of Spatial Arrangement in Architecture Construction in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, whether of palaces and mausoleums, or ancestral halls and official institutions, the pursuit of organization, contrast, and variation in courtyards was higher. This reveals the artfulness of traditionally constructed Chinese courtyard spaces. Whether through a deepened cluster of vertical extensions, a desire to create order and suspense in courtyard spaces, or many additional spaces to offset the main one, imposing and orderly integral spaces were assembled. Not only did spaces become richer and more complete, but spatial design and techniques also became more meticulous, devoting more attention to craftsmanship. Bianjing Palace and Lin’an Palace are representative of Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song palace architecture. As the Northern Song Bianjing Palace was the renovated Later Zhou palace, its arrangement was more flexible. From an overall perspective, the entire imperial city could be divided into two northern and southern sections by a horizontal road that ran from east to west. In the middle of the southern section was a palace courtyard with Daqing Hall at its center, and to the south of this was the Xuande Gate entrance to the palace city. The palace courtyard itself was enclosed by corridors on all sides, and horizontally divided into three routes. The first of these led to the Daqing Gate, and the Rijing Gates on either side of it. In the center was the great Daoqing Hall, with the Taihe Gates installed in the

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cloisters on either side of it. Behind Daqing Hall was another building, its corridors linked to those of Daqing Hall. Viewed from above, this resembled the Chinese character gong (‌工). Behind this building was a back gate, leading to a road. To the west of Daqing Hall was Wende Hall. Inside this, the East and West Drum Towers, together with the gong shape of the Daqing Hall, formed the Wende Hall. In the north of the palace city was a courtyard with Zichen Hall at the center, its scale somewhat modest compared to the large court building complex. Behind and to the west of the Zichen Hall courtyard was the court audience Chuigong Hall and the Rear Garden. There were also some subordinate courtyards scattered throughout the palace city. These variably served as imperial sleeping palaces, and locations for banquets, lectures, and libraries. From the view of its overall composition, the scale of Bianjing Palace was inferior to that of the great Sui and Tang palaces. It was also not completely rigorously built, with its composition and form reflecting greater flexibility. As the Southern Song Lin’an Palace was smaller than that of Northern Song palaces, in the 28th year of the Shaoxing period, there was no option but to carry out a large-scale extension on it. As the expanded palace city was located at the foothills of Fenghuang, its terrain variably undulated. Arrangement of the imperial district therefore required improvisation and adaption to circumstances, with no more rigid adherence to former tedious and strict palace layouts. Its interesting artistic style was therefore very different to that of previous stiff and rigid palace cities. There were three gates on the southern side of the palace city, with the main Reli Gate in the center. After passing through it, one would reach the imperial district, and be met with the main Wende Hall courtyard. At odds with past single-use halls, the Wende Hall (»Literary Virtue Hall«) was an aptly-named, multi-purpose building, and was granted different hall names for different activities. Past the Wende Hall was the court audience

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Gongdian Hall courtyard. The style of this courtyard was simple, in that it was the entire imperial area of the palace city. Behind the imperial area was the living quarters. This contained slightly more halls, and its arrangement was also more flexible. It contained the Yanhe Hall for assuming office, the Fugu Hall for the Yanxian archery contest, and the Funing Hall as the imperial sleeping quarters. As for female sleeping quarters, there were the Cining, Ciyuan, and Ciming halls inhabited by the Empress Dowager, Mihua Hall and Kunning Hall for the Empress, and Donghua Hall and the Furen Pavillon for imperial concubines. There was also an eastern side of the imperial sleeping quarters, which contained the Rongguan, Ninghua, Yuyuan, Yiji, Xinyi, and Danlu halls. Its buildings also included a lecture hall, an archery garden, a learning house, and a palace for the Crown Prince. At the furthest north section of the imperial city was the rear garden of the imperial household. As for the distribution of each area of the palace city, the flexibly-arranged imperial sleeping quarters and gardens occupied the most area. The spatial arrangement and artistic style of these influenced the temperament of the entire palace building complex. Regarding spatial arrangement, the arrangement of Southern Song palace building complexes did not merely involve watering down designs. More importantly, it did not scrupulously abide by inflexible grid partitioning, thereby requiring improvisation to create rich and varied spatial compositions. This combination of undulating, fickle terrain with the implementation of flexible, varied, and three-dimensional spatial arrangement on originally solemn and orderly palace building complexes was a distinguishing feature of Southern Song palace architectural design. Another form of design that was related to palace construction, and rather pioneering, was that of palace-front plazas. Before the Song Dynasty, the space and style of plazas was rarely engaged with or and dealt with, until it received attention

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in Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty. The plaza in front of the palace assumed the shape of Chinese character ding (‌丁), and Xuande Gate, its point of intersection, resembled the character ao (‌凹) from an aerial perspective. The central building had a single-eave roof, on the left and right of which were slanted corridors linking to adjoining a pair of square douluo (a pair of buildings flanking the city gate) on the east and west sides. To the south of the douluo were side corridors linked to que watchtowers. Beside these watchtowers were two »son« que towers. While the singular dimensions of each building were by no means large, the overall image composed was spectacular nonetheless. From the civil and military buildings and Zhou Bridge to Xuande Gate, the whole spatial environment was clearly considered as whole, with displays, climaxes, variation, and contrasts used to display the diversity of techniques. The design concepts and techniques used for the plaza in front of Bianjing Palace had a great influence in both its own time and in later dynasties. For instance, before Zhongdu was rebuilt during the Jin Dynasty, a school of artists visited Bianjing to copy the designs of official buildings so that they could be recreated. The composition of this palace and the plaza space in front of it were built as an almost exact reproduction of the palace city in Bianjing. Differently from the scattered mausoleum locations of the Han and Tang, the Northern Song brought about an integrated mausoleum district plan. Beginning with the mausoleum of Emperor Taizu of Song’s father in Yong’an, and ending with the Emperor Zhezong of Song’s mausoleum in Yongtai, there were eight mausoleums in total. All concentrated in Gongyi, Henan, these are located on the tableland of the south terraces of Luo River, and are no further than approximately three kilometers away from each other. This method of forming an enormous mausoleum district was later inherited by the Ming and Qing dynasties. Another distinctive feature of Northern Song

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mausoleums was the selection of their terrain according to the principles of feng shui. As a result, the saying of »the five notes and the family name« was prevalent at this time. As the surname Zhao was affiliated with the jiao sound, only by selecting »winding southeast land, or low northwestern land« could the terrain be in keeping with the mausoleum system. This resulted in the terrain of every mausoleum to be high in the southwest and low in the northwest. This contrasted the low-to-high building complexes of previous dynasties, which generally used the method of the most celebrated position. In addition, while many mausoleums moved towards the south, a small number deviated from this. With Mount Song and Shaoshi Mountain acting as barriers, their two peaks formed an entrance to the mausoleum district, with these two peaks acting as a gate. This clever borrowing of nature resulted in an extraordinary presence. However, after the Song Dynasty moved south, various emperors constructed temporary mausoleums in the Shaoxing period, waiting and wishing to one day be able to return the interred to the Central Plains. Compared with the mausoleums of Northern Song emperors, the planning of these mausoleums tended to be more succinct, which also influenced the design of emperors’ mausoleums in the Ming and Qing. Overall, whether through mausoleum districts with overall tentative plans, or systematically arranged mausoleums, the Northern and Southern Song undoubtedly constituted a turning point in ancient Chinese mausoleum systems. As many early Chinese temples were born of »temple bouses,« their systems were not very strict. Only in the Tang and Song periods were efforts made regarding maturation and refinement of temple regulations. In the arrangement of monasteries, flat layouts centered around pagodas had been rare in previous dynasties. Actual examples of this only include the Liao Dynasty Fogong Temple in western Ying County, the Liao and Jin Dynasty Shanshou Temple in Zhuozhou, Hebei, and

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the Liao Dynasty Qingzhoufo Temple in the Bairin Left Banner region of Inner Mongolia. More common, however, were Buddhist temples with Buddha Halls at the center. Differing from the towering stylistic effect of central pagodas, Buddhist temples with Buddha Halls at the center created a mood more akin to that of a courtyard space. As for Daoist temples and ancestral halls, the distinctive features and techniques of their spatial arrangement were generally similar to those used in Buddhist temples. Longxing Temple in Zhending, Hebei, is an important extant example of the overall architectural design of Song Dynasty Buddhist. The entire temple is divided into three front, center, and rear courtyards that unfold vertically. Inside the main gate is a rectangular courtyard and bell tower, with drum towers on the left and right. In the center is the Dajueliushi Hall (destroyed), and to the north is Moni Hall, in front of which there is an adjoining hall on either side. Further to the north is a second courtyard in front of a precept platform (destroyed), enclosed within a cloister. Passing through this cloister, the lofty Foxiang Pavilion, and the two layered Zhuanlunzang Hall (Fig. 6.14.8) and Cishi Pavilion in the east and west, as well as other symmetrically arranged buildings, halls, and pavilions, can be vaguely distinguished. After passing through the cloister, the aforementioned buildings are revealed to the eye. This building complex, with its different sizes and successive positioning, demonstrates elegant spatial composition, forming the apex of integral Buddhist temple building complexes. Behind this, Mituo Hall is located at the northern extremity of the cloister, constituting the ending point. This causes the layout to appear entirely complete, extremely rich and with a beautiful character. This building complex was created according to a longitudinal layout along its central axis. The courtyard gradually progresses from the outside to the inside, with overlapping halls; the uneven form and height, along with the spaces

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6.14.8 Zhuanlunzang Hall, located in Zhending, Hebei

permeating one other, illustrates refined artistic craftsmanship. In addition, this method of using tall buildings as the center of an entire temple is undoubtedly a variation of from the Mid Tang method of making offerings to largescale Buddha statues. Simultaneously, the development of key architecture to become multi-layered causes the secondary buildings to increase in heigh, resulting in their style and structure appearing taller. This also reflects the strong pursuit of development in early Song Dynasty Buddhist temple architecture. In addition to the Longxing Temple, there are some other examples of relatively important extant temple complex layouts from this period. For instance, the Shanhua and Huayan temples

in Datong, Shanxi, and Dule Temple in Ji County, Tianjin, hold quite important value for research into spatial aspects of building complex styles. The art of inner space in Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song architecture also had specific features. Due to the limits of material and technique, the internal space of singular buildings usually could not be very tall or spacious. To make up for this flaw, particular effort was put into the development of combined spaces, which created possibilities such as variation and contrast in the design of indoor spaces. The design of combined indoor spaces in this period mainly reflected the two features of centralization and circulation. The former spatial form

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is exemplified by Tewang Tower, Yellow Crane Tower, and the Song paintings View of Cold Forest Tower (Hanlin louguan tu 寒林楼观图), Multistoried Tower Amid Pines and Ravines (Songhe cenglou tu 松壑层楼), and Pavilions in Immortal Mountain (Xianshan louge tu 仙山楼阁图). In the centralized style of composition, as entire buildings were composed of different breadths, depths, column networks, and floor heights, their inner spaces were very varied. Circulation-style spaces were usually linked up with buildings of similar dimensions, thereby creating internal spaces with winding circulation, which brought different scenery with every step. Halls, pavilions, and corridors could be connected to one another, and many were linked to courtyards. This winding and uneven quality was typical of the circulating space. Labyrinth-type buildings, popular in gardens, could also be considered as circulating spaces. Following changes in functional requirements, indoor spaces of singular buildings became more thoroughly dealt with. This was most typically demonstrated in Buddhist halls. Because of the Buddha and bodhisattva statues generally held in temple buildings for worship, how these buildings could accommodate the statues, and satisfy the practical requirements of viewing and worshiping, and the corresponding spiritual requirements of the people, became prominent issues regarding indoor space in Buddha halls. In the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties, Buddha halls generally had the following features: First, the space in which the Buddha statue was placed was particularly tall, as this spatial contrast was used to stress the importance of the Buddha statue; Next, the statue was located in a relatively independent, intact space; Finally, the foreground of the statue was open, reducing its shelter so that it could be viewed, while also allowing sufficient space for worship. Specific techniques can be arranged into three types. The first was the extensive use of Buddhist altars. As these were used to raise the statues, they also raised the angle from which a Buddha

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statue could be worshipped, thereby increasing its stateliness. Meanwhile, the Buddhist altar was restricted to a particular space opposite the area for ordinary peoples’ activities. This space was slightly towards the center of the building’s depth, and was the tallest section with the widest foreground in the indoor space. Behind the Buddhist altar was often a horizontal partition wall, both sides of which were often enclosed towards the front. This caused the space occupied by the Buddha statue to appear more complete. Second was conformation to functional requirements, with the rational arrangement of column grids, and the appropriate reduction of front columns, in order to create a more open space for worship. In addition, related to the reduction of columns was the column-moving technique. For instance, in the Hall of Great Strength in Huayan Temple, the horizontal poles on either side of the middle are both staggered inward by half an opening, breaking the strict square grid layout, so that the front, central, and back spaces are all built on a somewhat appropriate scale. The front entrance space does not cause people to feel cramped, while the depth of the back section provides sufficient distance to admire the statue at the back of the niche. The central space is lofty, spacious and bright, a design that was undoubtedly more advanced than that of the Tang Dynasty Foguang Temple on Mount Tai. Moreover, as the dimensions of the Buddha statues for Buddhist temple offerings constantly became larger, pavilions with Buddhist statues arranged at the center were built. An example of this is the Guanyin Pavilion of Dule Temple in Tianjin, Ji County, built in the second year (984) of the Tonghe period of the Liao Dynasty. This pavilion is five rooms wide and four rooms deep, with a 16-meter-high Guanyin sculpture at the back, in the center. To accommodate this sculpture, three stories are linked together in the indoor central space. Revolving around the central space, the second and third stories pick up the balustrade from the inside, so that more peo-

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ple can pay tribute to Guanyin. For the bottom-totop spatial style and compositional appearance, architects adopted a series of techniques, such as the rather large balustrade of the second floor, the rectangular entrance, the flat and reduced entrance to the third floor, in a long hexagon. Above the Buddhist statue is a smaller octagonal caisson. The progressive decrease in the variation and dimensions of this geometrical shape emphasize and exaggerate its centripetal force and feeling of majesty. Looking up from the bottom, the spatial composition, full of variation and rhythm, produces a powerful optical illusion. A ray of light from a third-floor window can stream inside, shining upon the bodhisattva’s face. This raises the artistic design of the inner space to a higher level, creating a more mysterious and heavier spiritual atmosphere (Fig. 6.14.9).

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3. The Evolution of Architectural Form Compatible with the development of combined space, the combination form of the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song became richer by the day. Taking Tengwang Pavilion as an example, this mainly adopted the form of a »T« shaped double-eave multi-floor building, and was surrounded with corresponding double floor single-eave buildings and single-floor single-eave baosha (a small structure protruding from the main building) and cloisters, forming a centralized and well prioritized, complete and multifarious layout. In particular, its crisscrossed, rising and falling hip-andgable roofs further embellished and exaggerated the stylistic result of combination buildings. In singular designs, Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, as well as Liao and Jin ar-

6.14.9 Guanyin Pavilion of Dule Temple, located in Ji County, Tianjin

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chitecture, gradually developed from the plain, honest, and majestic style of the Tang Dynasty towards a more refined, elaborate, gentle and magnificent direction. While Liao Dynasty architecture was rather similar to the Tang Dynasty style, Northern and Southern Song architecture had clear differences with that of the Tang. As Jin Dynasty architecture was the successor to that of the Liao and Song, characteristics of Liao and Jin architecture were therefore combined from the perspective of artistic architectural arrangement. As for the body of the building, the miankuo (space in between adjacent buildings) of Northern and Southern Song buildings tended to progressively decrease from the middle outer room towards the left and right, thereby forming the prioritized and clear exterior appearance of the building. Meanwhile, column shafts were larger than the facade, and the openings were in the shapes of vertical rectangles. This was different from the horizontal and flat proportions of openings in the Tang Dynasty. While the latter resulted in a reserved and steady style, the former was more graceful in its erectness. As for the column shafts, the column entasis and rising structure architectural methods that appeared in Tang Dynasty were extensively used in the Northern and Southern Song periods. The Song Dynasty Standards and Models for Architecture (Yingzao fashi 营造法式) set out clear regulations for the entasis and the raising of columns. In addition to the entasis and raising, stylistic decoration of columns on Song Dynasty wooden buildings became more abundant. Not only did spindle-shaped lines became softer and more fluid, but in addition to round, square and octagonal shaped-columns, the melon-shaped column also appeared. Moreover, at this time a large amount of stone columns began to be used, and various gorgeous decorative designs were gradually carved onto column shafts. Examples of this can be seen in places such as the Chuzu Temple in Shaolin Temple, Fengfeng, and the Luohan courtyard hall in Suzhou.

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In addition, the roofs of Northern and Southern Song buildings had remarkable distinguishing features of the era. »Sloping and folding« with the raised roof’s curved design, and the roof’s »mountain pushing« and »mountain receiving« technique, caused the roofs of buildings in the Song, Liao and Jin to be higher than those of the Tang Dynasty, with more gentle curved surfaces. Roof corners were upturned very high in the Tang, appearing unrestrained and elevated, with an extremely rich quality. Another important aspect of roof structure was the dougong, which was increasingly used for decorative purposes. Its stylistic significance was thus no longer inferior to its structural significance. As pagodas were the most important architectural form of the Song and Liao dynasties, those that remain are not only numerous, but were also built in many forms as their styles became increasingly tall, graceful, and beautiful. Among these are several specific examples of unique and peerless masterpieces in ancient Chinese architectural history. These include the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Ying County, Shanxi, which is the tallest wooden building in the world, and the Liaodi Pagoda of Kaiyuan Pagoda in Dingzhou, Hebei, which is the highest extant brick pagoda in China. In addition, a new style of pagoda named the »flower pagoda« appeared during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, demonstrating the customs of this period. Pavilion-style pagodas are the most distinctive form of ancient Chinese pagodas. This style of pagoda features large dimensions and exquisite detail, and embodies the vertical development of traditional wooden architecture. While early pavilion-style pagodas were entirely wooden, after the Tang, stone was gradually used to imitate wooden pagodas. This imitation wood-style brick and stone pagoda reached its technical maturation in the Northern and Southern Song periods. While its outer appearance was comparable to that of a wooden pagoda, due to inability to cre-

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ate an artistic form in keeping with the pagoda’s structural logic and material properties, its artistic quality was far inferior to that of its predecessor. The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in Ying County, Shanxi, is the only remaining pavilion-style pagoda from the Song and Liao period. Also known as Yingxian Pagoda (Fig. 6.14.10), this pagoda is octagonal. With a ground floor ­diameter of 30.27 meters, it has the largest diameter of all ancient pagodas. While the pagoda appears to have five stories from the outside, since the ground level features an additional loop known as a fujie, it has six eaves. Inside the pagoda, there is a concealed compartment between each floor, causing the inside to contain nine layers, with a total height of 67.3 meters. The Yingxian Pagoda’s design amply demonstrates the exquisite style of its time. First, the wooden pagoda conforms to a scale with appropriate proportions for its wooden features. The total height of the pagoda (from the ground to the finial) is exactly equal to the inner circumference of the middle (third) story. Second, the body of the pagoda becomes increasingly smaller from the bottom to the top. The eaves and columns of each level retract half of the column’s diameter towards the pagoda’s center more than the layer below it. At the same time, the incline towards the center forms an entasis, creating an overall silhouette with a gradual upward momentum. Accordingly, the number of dougong under each level of eaves from the bottom to the top progressively decreases, with the form transforming from complex to more simple. Meanwhile, according to required length and gradient of the overall outline, each level of eaves adjusts to the hua arch and singular descending cantilever. This not only creates a graceful overall silhouette, but also ensures that the components under the eaves are full of variation. Finally, the segmentation of the wooden pagoda brimming with craftsmanship. The six layers of eaves, and four layers of flat railings dividing the pagoda’s body into ten horizontal lines, causes extremely

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rich gradation when one looks up at it. At the same time, the flat base and the eaves create a certain give-and-take, producing a strong rhythm that enriches the outer silhouette. The eaves of the ground level jiehua stretch out further than those of the levels above it. Therefore, visually, the lofty pagoda transitions into the two-layered horizontal flat-roofed building and, through this, transitions into the ground, resulting in the entire wooden pagoda’s rich stability and strength. Although the eaves on each level of the pagoda are far-reaching, they are not entirely remarkable. This fits in very well with the pagoda’s overall proportions and geographical environment, as if continuing the traditional earnestness and simplicity of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, the style of the finial on top of the pagoda is solid and powerful. As its height is compatible with the pagoda’s proportions, the finial increases its grandeur and magnificence. In addition, Longhua Pagoda in Shanghai, established in the second year (977) of the Taping Xingguo period of the Northern Song, and Kaiyuan Temple Pagoda in Dingzhou, Hebei, established in the fourth year (1001) of the Xianping period of the Northern Song are respectively typical of hybrid-structure pavilion-style pagodas and brickand-stone pavilion-style pagodas. Each with particular characteristics, they both embody the pavilion-style pagoda architecture and high achievements of this period in different ways. Multi-eave pagodas also underwent significant development in the Song, Liao, and Jin periods, in which their specific artistic style was formed. Like pavilion-style pagodas, many multi-eave pagodas in this period exchanged the square shape prevalent in the Tang Dynasty for an octagonal shape. Comparatively, while Five Dynasties, Northern and Southern Song multi-eave pagodas adopted more of the Tang style, Liao and Jin multi-eave pagodas were more beautiful, forming a style of their own. The general characteristics of Liao and Jin multi-eave pagodas were as follows: on the sty-

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6.14.10 Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple, Liao Dynasty, Ying County, Shanxi

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lobate was a Sumeru Throne, on top of which was a brick-and-stone dougong and a flat base. This lotus base supported the tall body of the pagoda, the carvings of which included doors, windows, and deities. Each layer of eaves on the upper section of the pagoda was supported with dougong, and there was a finial at the top. This style of pagoda was solid, and could not be ascended. This is said to have been a relatively typical artistic style of ancient pagodas. For instance, the Sheli Pagoda of Xixia Temple in Nanjing constructed during the Southern Tang (937–975), and the Liao Dynasty Dangshan Temple Pagoda in Lingqiu, Shanxi, constructed in the fifth year (1089) of the Da’an period, are both typical examples of this form. Appearing and becoming widespread during the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, flower pagodas were a unique form of ancient pagoda. The typical characteristic of these pagodas was the decoration of their lower half with various floral patterns, causing them to resemble brightly colored ornaments. It was for this reason that they were known as »flower pagodas.« The emergence and popularity of flower pagodas was caused by two factors. The first was the transition of ancient pagodas from functionality towards decoration, and from simplicity towards beauty. The second was the gradually increasing influence of Indian and Southeast Asian decoratively carved temple pagodas. This caused flower pagodas to slowly become pure visual art forms, and carved pieces of art. Of the ten surviving flower pagodas, most are single story, many are composed of brick, and one is an earthen pagoda. Renowned flower temples among these are Yanhui Temple Flower Pagoda in Zhengding, Hebei, the Flower Pagoda in Fangshan, Beijing, the Flower Pagoda in Chezhoushan, Fengrun, the Flower Pagoda in Chengziwan, Dunhuang, the Flower Pagoda in Jingxing, Hebei, and the Riguang Yueguang Temple Pagoda in Taiyuan. Among these, the Yanhui Temple Flower Pagoda in Zhengding, Hebei, constructed in the Jin Dynasty, is a three-layered octagonal pa-

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vilion-style pagoda. With an extremely rich and varied appearance, this pagoda is a representative extant work of flower pagodas.

4. The Art of Garden Design After the Five Dynasties, Chinese garden design received unprecedented vitality. Particularly in Northern and Southern Song periods, garden matters were extremely relevant. From the royalty at the top, down to the literati and merchants, construction flourished, and garden plots were built regularly for a period of over 300 years. The great quantities and expansive scope of these brought about historical records of gardens. This attitude towards garden design provided the necessary conditions for its development in the Northern Song. One aspect of this was the perfection of garden design techniques. Another was the maturation of the freehand style. From these, the important position of Song Dynasty gardens in the history of classical Chinese garden art was established. By the Northern and Southern Song, imperial gardens can be said to have received unprecedented development. The pursuit of grand, majestic, natural beauty during the Han and Tang, transformed into the pursuit of exquisite, deep, serene, man-made, naturally beautiful gardens. Design techniques also changed from simple imitation towards high refinement. Renowned imperial gardens in the Northern Song Period included Jinglin Garden, Jinming Pond, Yujin Garden, Yichun Park, Ruisheng Garden, Yangfu Palace and Gen Peak. In the Southern Song, there was Tanei’s Xiaoxi Lake, and Deshou Palace’s Feilai Peak, Yu Ford, Fujing Garden, Yingtao Garden, Jujing Garden, Pingshan Garden, Yanxiang Garden, Yuhu Garden, and Shengjing Garden. In the Jin Dynasty, there was Qionglin Park, Xichun Garden, Fang Garden, Bei Park, South Garden, and Daning Palace. Of these imperial gardens, Gen Peak, built in the seventh year (1117) of the Zhenghe period of the Northern Song, is typical. Located in the northeast of Bianjing city at this time, this park was

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positioned according to the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes, in the direction of gen. As the main part of the garden featured Wansui Mountain as part of the landscape, it was named Gen Mountain, also known as Huayang Palace. Gen Peak was constructed according to a unified overall design, which can be seen from documentary descriptions. The park was divided up into specific scenic areas. Each landscape had its own artistic mood, and each scenic area had its own theme. The entire Wanshui Mountain garden scenic area covered over ten li. While its scale and boldness were great, its design was meticulous. As for the division of large scenic areas, mountain, river, forest, rock, building, and mixed scenic areas formed a comprehensive selection. These scenic areas also contrasted one another. Each large scenic area contained different smaller scenic areas, with different scenic landscapes. Although the emergence of literati gardens can be traced from the Tang Dynasty and even the Southern Dynasties, this stylistic form truly took shape in the Southern Song. This was due to three factors. First, the social position of literati largely improved in the Song Dynasty. Second, Song Dynasty garden owners generally did not resemble those of previous dynasties. While garden ownership had previously been limited to a small number of rich and powerful aristocrats, there was now a rather sizable common landlord class. Possibly entering the court through imperial examinations, or moving from the village to the city following changes in their position or environment, many among them were likely adept at poetry, literature, or painting. They therefore added a cultural implication to garden landscapes and scenery. Moreover, large quantities of poets and painters were directly involved in garden design, causing this literati style to obtain depth and improvement. This established a basis for later literati gardens in the Ming and Qing. According to historical records, in the Northern Song, the Muguiqulai Garden of poet and painter Chao Wujiu,

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and the Yingdule Garden of Sima Guang may both have been examples of deep cultural connotations in landscape themes and artistic moods. The artistic style of Northern and Southern Song gardens strongly relied on its xieyi (freehanded) nature. This style can be specifically demonstrated its the two major characteristics of ya (elegance) and qiao (skill). First, ya embodied the creative concept of elegance, which was very much reflected in the thematic titles of landscapes. For instance, in his Panzhou Garden, Hong Shi’s thematic titles for his scenery included »Cleansed Heart,« »Whistling Wind,« »Walking Willow,« »Provoking Laughter,« »Balloon Flower Friend,« »News of Flowers Blooming,« »Sufficient Sleep,« »Forest Treasures,« »Generous Reward,« »Green Field,« »Nest Cloud,« »On a Trench,« »Beautiful Edible« and »Rising Cloud.« These thematic titles not only served as reminders, but also deepened the connotations of the landscapes. This so-called »pouring of feelings into the descriptions of scenery« and blending of scenes, was sufficiently embodied in the thematic names used in gardens. Pursuit of sophisticated subject matter was another characteristic of Northern Song garden scenery. In the Song Dynasty, the spiritual function of gardens was not only to express emotion, express will though poetry, and enjoy the sights. They also earned a kind of »cultural status« for their owners. For this reason, the subject matter of garden scenery became gradually more sophisticated. Popular subject matter included fluency, bamboo offering, stone goods, and flower-viewing. After the Xuanhe period, the Song Dynasty garden style became more delicate, with diligent care and novelty. To this end, many private garden owners competed to put out new ideas. This resulted in several unique designs and creations. Song Dynasty garden styles were composed of earth and stones, flowers and trees, and buildings and landscapes. Northern and Southern Song garden scenery was often constructed using artificial mountains, water features, plants, and buildings.

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This reflected their various functions, creating spaces in which people could reside, travel, sightsee, raise animals, or dance. Typical Song Dynasty mountain forms were mainly composed of earth, accompanied by rocks. Their forms could be divided into a covered earth slope, a hard rock hill, and a gathered stone peak. Slopes gently undulated, with gentle silhouettes, spreading out horizontally and occupying rather large spaces. The hill was composed of earth and rock. This combined method did not simply involve surrounding with rocks and filling with earth, or covering earth with rocks, but rather focused on rocks being spread over the summit, foot, and undulations of hills. The rocks were often half-hidden and half-visible, and the entire hill stretched out vertically, with upright contours and a simple style. Of the ridges, peaks and ravines of the mountain form, the external appearance was formed from gathered rocks, in the so-called »stone-built image mountain« or the »stones gathered into a mountain.« These three mountain forms generally took earth as their fundamental framework and body. Gathered mountain rocks were also a major additional design method. This resulted in two corresponding Song Dynasty garden characteristics—the simple extended silhouette, and the appearances of verdant trees. In Song Dynasty gardens, water was the most essential scenic factor, and villas and thatched cottages went without saying. Even city residence gardens generally had to contain rather large ponds, as well as a certain number of flowing rivers and rushing springs. As for the forms of waterscapes, bodies of water in Song Dynasty gardens mainly took the two forms of still lakes, ponds, pools, and deep pools, and moving rivers, streams, mountain streams, springs, and waterfalls. These both gradually combined to form a complete garden drainage system, forming the bulk of the waterscape. In the stillness there was movement, and in the movement was stillness. Moreover, the water was often adorned with various features such as is-

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lets, shores, breakwaters, islands, and platforms, which could be used to create rich layers and depth. In addition, the raising of fish and turtles, and growing of lotuses and reeds, increased the rustic flavor of these gardens. Many Song Dynasty gardens featured beautiful flower and tree-filled landscapes, which were comparable to mountain and river landscapes. Landscapes and buildings could also be combined. Meanwhile, the forests, flowers, and plants in certain areas could increase the rural and homely atmosphere by adjusting microclimates and hiding windblown dust. While common features included plum blossoms, pines, bamboo, peaches, plums, and mandarins, there were too many flowers and plants to mention individually. The characteristics of forest landscapes firstly lay in their tendency to reveal changes in the natural world by means of their plants. Another characteristic was the forest’s essential role in forming a deep and serene yet unique scenic environment. Lin Garden, Fubanggong Garden, and Luoyang’s Lishirenfeng Park all are model cases of this. Buildings were a key constituent of Chinese classical gardens. In general, Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song garden buildings were not set up in vain, nor were their landscape environments created using building and landscape themes or important scene completion methods. In the Song Dynasty process of garden design, natural landscapes were often first arranged, before buildings were constructed according to the scene’s characteristics. This was mostly the case in old gardens or naturally formed conditions. As buildings that subordinated to their natural landscapes, they may have been mountains residences with distant views, facing ponds and looking down on the scenery, flowers and trees on the surface, or wonderous rocks. In addition, in Northern and Southern Song gardens, everyday activities such as playing the zither, playing »go,« reading, conducting light intellectual conversation, and reciting poetry were often carried

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out outdoors. As a result, screens, chuangta beds, and tables and chairs were often set up in courtyards, with flexible arrangement. As for building styles and names, these were chosen according to their individual environmental locations. These could be halls, or pavilions or kiosks. The forms themselves were not strictly divided.

5. Architectural Decoration In the process of Chinese ancient architectural art’s long-term development, structural and architectural art forms were constantly and skillfully merged, reaching perfection by the Northern and Southern Song periods. Beautiful structure, composition, and decoration were organically combined to form a set of mature, widely adopted working methods. The early structural components, the contours of which were rigid and stiff, gradually transformed into richly decorated elements. What may have originally been a dreary structure or composition dimension now overflowed with long-accumulated aesthetic experience. As for wooden decorations, first there was the unique craftsmanship embodied by »large-scale wood« decorations. Large-scale wood in the Northern and Southern Song periods was centered on building frame components such as pillars, beams, and dougong. During the Tang Dynasty, only the upper section of pillars had a slight entasis. While there was a clear full-length entasis after the Five Dynasties, the entases of columns in the Northern Song tended to be systemized. According to regulations, columns at this time were generally divided into three equal parts according to their height, and accurate geometrical methods were used to produce a clear entasis on the upper section. Looking at extant examples and diagrams, the positions, arc types and width of column entases are all fairly exact, with full appearances, and flowing, curved lines. This not only prevented the column from appearing rigid and stiff, but also improved their feeling of power, creating the illusion of increased flexibility.

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In large-scale wood, beams were among the most important components. Due to their immense size, and illustrious positions, they also were also built with entases. This method involved creating a carved surface with a protruding upper section and concave lower section on either end of the beam, causing its upper portion to slightly resemble a crescent moon, which was known as a »moon beam.« The side of the moon beam was turned into an outward-protruding arc, a simple style which held power and charm. Since this form corresponded to structural logic, it produced a clear decorative result. This allowed the multiple layers of overlapping indoor beams to avoid a sense of oppression and monotony, on the contrary, creating a feeling of spry strength. As for dougong in the Northern and Southern Song, their scale and quantity changed from large to small, and decorative forms such as skew arches emerged. Simultaneously, their art style became more refined. The divided entases of arch heads became clearer than those of previous dynasties, with the outward-extending main head and raised mouth becoming increasingly elaborate, and an important decoration. At this time, the »raised lute face« was commonly adopted, with the side elevation and cross section of its raised mouth incorporated into the arc’s design. »Small-scale wood« decorations mainly included non-structural decorative wooden features such as windows and doors, railings, indoor caissons ceilings, and niches. Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song windows and doors, with their rich forms and delicate decorative patterns, far surpassed those of previous dynasties. In contrast to the simple plank doors and mullioned windows largely used in the Tang Dynasty, at this time emerged a great amount of lattice doors, floor-length windows, and railed windows. Simultaneously, the lattice decorative design on windows and doors transformed from the singular forms of straight lattice or checked patterns into several patterns includ-

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ing straight-line, wicker, diagonal, triangular, and ancient. For instance, the Dong family mausoleum in Houma, Shanxi, contains an imitation wood relief carving. The carved patterns on each of its pairs of doors are different. Accordingly, the widely-used railings in this period originated from Tang Dynasty balustrades, which featured various complex geometrical patterns. Furthermore, there are some extant examples of small-scale wood decoration. These include the indoor caisson in Jingtu Temple’s Hall of Great Strength in Ying County, Shanxi, the wall collection in Bojiajiaozang Hall of Datonghuayan Temple (lower temple) in Datong, the Buddha Road Veil of Ershan Temple in Jincheng, and the Flying Aspara Library of Yunyang Temple in Jiangyou, Sichuan. These all contain imitation wood-constructed forms, and delicate ornamental masterpieces. This reflects the high level of small-scale wood decorative art in this period. In smallscale wood, apart from the decoration of structural components, simple additional decorative wooden engravings, and the implementation of woodcutting, also constituted features of decorative art in this period. For instance, many skirting boards of door and window opening panels were flat in the Tang Dynasty. However, in the Northern and Southern Song, many were carved with flowers, plants, or figures. This became an important feature of panel decoration as a whole. It is clear that architecture at this time was regarded as a complete organism. Each component of this organism had its own functional significance, while also containing aesthetic importance. Not only was its design entirely aimed towards beauty, but the composition process of its form was indeed a factor in this beauty. This reflected ancient Chinese people’s awareness of aesthetic experience. Overall, ample use was made of structural components. Moreover, through appropriate artistic application, decorative results were displayed. This was a characteristic of ancient Chinese large-scale wood structures. The Five

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Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song were periods of refinement and near-perfection for this precise characteristic. As a result, the aesthetic thought and design principles of decorative beauty’s merging with structural and compositional beauty caused a transformation from an unconstrained decorative form to a self-aware period of artistic pursuit. As for masonry decoration in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, not only were various techniques completely mastered, but the common interests of decorative carvings and main bodies of buildings were also successfully grasped. The driving technique however was not absorbed in method, and the different types and forms of carving were selected according to a building’s character, and the position of its carvings, as well as inner logical requirements of attached structural components. This caused decorative carvings and architecture to blend into one another. People also divided decorative carvings into the four forms and methods of high relief, low relief, engraving, and plain surface, according to their level of difficulty and artistic properties. Regarding the mastery and application of decorative carvings, on the basis of long-established creative experience and various artistic features of engraving types, people of the Song carried out rational planning regarding use of these forms, particularly in suitable architectural positions and construction components for various carving styles. For instance, high-relief was suitable for carved images with compositions at their center, and clear themes. Meanwhile, the carving surface could not be too large, and the carving had to be positioned in an eye-catching location, or in a central line of vision. Low-relief was characterized by its maintenance of a flat surface on the building and the premise of the silhouette of the molding. With this, a rather shallow three-dimensional pattern could be carved. As a result, it was used on components such as the corsets of foundations, and the bases of pillars. This technique

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was frequently used during the Song Dynasty to decorate the upturned basins of foundations of pillars in buildings. Due to the subtle engraving effects and the plain surface, the overall impression of the stone surface was not harmed, and this method could therefore be used for large areas. As a result, they were often used for columns, bonded surfaces, and wall paneling, as seen in the engraved stela in the Luohan Courtyard Main Hall in Suzhou. Meanwhile, a plain surface was used for the outer wall panelling in Chuzu Temple of Shalin Temple in Dengfeng. Nevertheless, both of these decorative results are satisfactory. Regarding the coloration of buildings, painting of buildings after the Five Dynasties was not only widespread, but also became more magnificent by the day. The rather harsh color decoration of previous dynasties was gradually replaced by gentle and exquisite decorative coloring. At the same time, still-life subject matter in artistic compositions had also decreased, tending more towards decoration and patterning, corresponding with the buildings’ feeling of integrity. This was also suitable for large-scale use, improving design and construction speed requirements. Color painting in the Northern and Southern Song could be divided into three categories according to the different statuses and workmanship of buildings: »five-colored full decoration,« »blueand-green painting,« and »red earth decoration.« »Five-colored full decoration« was the most beautiful of these styles. This was evident in its bluegreen layered halos on the outer edges, red on the base, and multicolored decorative designs on the top. There may also have been outlines of vermillion-colored layered halos, with green inner bases. The patterns selected and used for this style were also extremely varied, including flowers and plants, birds, and animals. This kind of gorgeous decorative pattern was frequently used in important buildings such as palaces and temples. Extant examples include the Main Hall of Xianfeng Temple in Yixian, Liaoning, Southern Tang

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Mausoleum no.  2 in Jiangning, Jiangsu, and the interior painting of the Song Mausoleum in Baisha, Henan. Types of »blue-and-green painting« included »grinded jade decoration« and »bluegreen layered halo« designs, which were painted mainly using blue and green in spaces in between beams. This kind of color painting was frequently used in secondary buildings such as residences, gardens, and palace temples. The »red earth decoration« painting style incorporated the warm color of earth red, mostly originating from the old system of red and white color painting. Generally used in secondary buildings, this was classified as the lowest level of color painting. In addition, there was also a method of combining two styles of color painting, known as »mixed decoration,« such as grinded jade between five colors, or between three halos. Color painting was mainly used on features such as beams, square wooden pillars, columns, dougong, and oak heads. Dougong color painting was often full of decorative designs, blue-green layered halos, or »earth red decoration.« Color painting of columns either featured earth vermillion, or on column heads and pillars were painted bundles of lotuses and grass. End components such as roof beams and pillar-top tie beams all used the zaotou formed from all kinds of tou. Known as the seven-cornered leaf, this transformed the structure of similar decorative designs used in the past with components, replacing these with the gutou and zaotou new forms of the central portion of beams. In addition, as for roof tile decorations in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, »front head« and »back tail« ceramic ornaments were commonly used, with many of these taking dragons as subject matter. One example of this is the Jin Dynasty ceramic ornament of Mituo Hall of Chongfu Temple in Shuozhou, which is shaped like a tail, and inside of which is an entire coiled dragon. In the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties, animals on roof ridges began to appear on a grand scale, causing them to become a fixed style.

CHAPTER XV  SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS Section 1  Elegant Song Porcelain Due to the expansive use of porcelain in the Song Dynasty, people had increasingly close contact with it in their everyday lives. Porcelain kilns flourished in the Central Plains and Jiangnan, like spring bamboo after the rain. At the same time, important achievements in science and technology pushed the advancement of porcelain kilns; the development of manual work such as coal mining and metal smelting provided porcelain production with better fuel and raw materials; the development of sea shipping and foreign trade also increased the commercial scale of porcelain exports. Song porcelain kilns gathered together, their quality unsurpassed. Located in the peak historical period of Chinese porcelain kiln development, these would become an outstanding example of culture in this era. The purity and elegance of Song porcelain most directly reflected the nature of culture and the arts in the Song Dynasty.

1. The System of Song Porcelain In the Tang Dynasty, high quality Xing ware white porcelain and Yue ware celadon were fired. This strengthened the »southern green, northern white« system of porcelain formed since the Wu, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, and established a foundation for the emergence of several other famous wares of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. Following war in the Central Plains during the Five Dynasties, the center of the porcelain industry moved southeast, and Yue ware celadon became rarer. In the Tang Dynasty, Yue ware, which had become Gong ware,

now became Wuyue Guan ware. Acting as a tribute, this celadon was made even more elaborate, and was known as »secret color« celadon. This represented the form and refinement of the Wuyue Guan ware system, the highest level of Five Dynasties celadon, and the ceramic craft as a whole. This had a decisive impact on the development of Song Dynasty porcelain’s refinement and character. By the Northern Song, the center of the porcelain industry had moved north. Henan, Hebei, and Shaanxi formed the Central Plains system, with Jun ware, Ru ware, Ding ware, Cizhou ware, and Yaozhou ware as representatives. After the Song Dynasty migrated south, the center of the porcelain industry moved once again towards Jiangnan. New systems were mainly formed in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fijian, with Southern Song Guan ware, Ge ware, Longquan ware, Jizhou ware, Jingdezhen ware, and Jian as representative of these. In the aspects of design and color varieties, and decorative designs, as well as clay materials and firing methods, Song porcelain underwent significant improvement and innovation, forming a multifaceted, innovative style of the period. However, Northern and Southern Song imperial households generally favored celadon. In the Early Northern Song, Yue ware was Guan ware, in the Middle Period Yazhou ware was Gong ware, and in the Later Period Ru ware was Guan ware. In the Southern Song, Guan ware was separately established, as were firing tools for Ge ware. As these famous wares were all made with celadon, this material became especially prominent in the Northern Song. In archeological discoveries of ancient porcelain kiln ruins since the 20th century, three artifacts

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found were fired in the Song Dynasty. Scattered over an expansive area, there are several wellknown wares among them. The renowned Yue, Chai, Ding, Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, Yue, and Cizhou, Yaozhou, Jizhou, Longquan, Jian, and Jingdezhen wares, constituted the colorful history of Song porcelain. Meanwhile, due to political change and repeated shifting of economic centers in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song periods, under the influence of factors such as commercial competition and trade demands, these famous Song porcelain wares may have risen, fallen, and replaced one another, whilst interweaving, coexisting, and driving the ups and downs of numerous other small-scale porcelain kilns in nearby regions. As for their distribution, northern porcelain kilns were concentrated in the Central Plains Region, prospering in the Northern Song. Along with many white porcelain wares, they also produced celadon wares such as Ru ware, Yaozhou ware, and Jinyao ware. Southern porcelain kilns were concentrated in the Jiangnan Region, in the lower reaches of the Yangtze, centered around the once-familiar Wuyue. Apart from the outstanding Yue ware in the Five Dynasties, the prosperous period of porcelain wares in the south mainly took place during the Southern Song, with much celadon being produced in this era. In general, »southern green and northern white,« and celadon, constituted the mainstream system of Song porcelain wares. It was this basis upon which Tang Dynasty northern Xing ware and the southern Yue celadon ware system were inherited and developed. Celadon particularly developed and prospered during the Song Dynasty. Not only did this demonstrate the establishment of wellknown celadon wares in the north, but also illustrated the richness and diversity of Song Dynasty celadon. The carved patterns and engravings of Yaozhou ware celadon, the opalescent and fire red glazes of Yue ware, the azure glaze of Ru ware, the light blue cracked glaze of Ge ware, the shadowy blue of Jingdezhen wares, and the greenish-blue

CHAPTER XV SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS

glaze and plum celadon of Longquan ware constituted the variety of Song Dynasty celadons that competed for supremacy. With their extraordinary splendor, and brilliant and varied content, these reflected the high success of Song Dynasty celadon. Of the many Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song porcelain wares, the overwhelming majority were Min ware. Min wares, as well as being fired for civilian use, were also used to a certain extent in imperial tributes. These included Ding ware, Jun ware, Yaozhou ware, Jingdezhen ware, and Longquan ware. Meanwhile, Guan ware stemmed from official operations. Porcelain intended for imperial use included Yue ware, Chai ware, Ru ware, Ge ware, and Southern Song Guan ware. Although the early Song, for a time, continued Wuyue’s use of Yue ware as Guan ware, this was soon abolished. The Liao, Jin, and Western Xia porcelain industries were influenced by Song porcelain. Despite being located on the fringes, they were able to create and develop to some extent. Liao porcelain mainly relied on Northern Song firing, and had also drawn on fired imitation Ding ware porcelain and tricolored artifacts. Articles with Khitan characteristics, such as the »chicken head pot,« »chicken leg bottle,« »pankou pot,« and »phoenix head pot,« were created in the Liao Dynasty. Continuing the development of Liao and Song porcelain, the Jin Dynasty popularized the printing of Yaozhou ware, and vigorously produced »white glaze black flower« porcelain. The white glaze footed vessel of the Western Xia, however, was quite different from the products of the Song, Liao, and Jin dynasties.

2. Characteristics of Song Porcelain The characteristics of Song porcelain were centrally reflected in the perfect combination of glazes and decorative motifs with the forms of vessels, and their pure, refined, unified nature. While this characteristic was directly linked with

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the advancement and outstanding achievements of the Song porcelain art of firing, it also reflected the importance of celadon in the mainstream fashion, and its cultural pursuit by the court, literati, and common urban levels of society. In the Five Dynasties, Yue »secret color ware,« promoted the green porcelain colored glaze, with its ice-like jade, to the realm of the decorative reflection of a moon on the river, setting high standards for the pursuit of color in Song Dynasty celadon. Moreover, inhabitants of the court, the literati class, and the city could all comprehend and appreciate different aspects. Chai ware porcelain, which was blue like the sky and bright like a mirror, Ru ware porcelain, which was remote and quiet like »the blue sky after the rain,« Jun ware porcelain, like the »purple and blueish-green sunset suddenly turning to mist,« Longquan ware, the porcelain jade of which was a light plum green, Yaozhou ware porcelain, which also featured green and mild yellow, and Jingdezhen ware porcelain, with its white suffused with green, white flesh, and jade bone, formed the subtle, rich, yet united prominent features of Song Dynasty celadon. Meanwhile, most discussion surrounding Song porcelain industrial art centered on the emergence and use of colored glazes. For instance, looking at the particulars of this industrial art, techniques of body clay color, quality, thick bodies, and thinness, as well as techniques of carving and printing patterns, all resulted in colored glazes. The thin bases of Chai ware, Ru ware, and Jingdezhen ware, the thick base of Yaozhou ware, and the thin base and thick glaze of Longquan ware were closely related to the different celadon colored glazes. While green and white Jingzhezhen porcelain contained a »shadowy green,« the colored glaze of Longquan ware was the richest. For the engraved patterns on Yaozhou ware, a depth method was used with visible glaze layers, and brisk changes between depth and lightness. These were all typical examples. While Jun ware,

SECTION 1 ELEGANT SONG PORCELAIN

Ge ware, Jian ware, and Jizhou ware featured opaque glazes and crystalline glazes, these were not transparent and thin glass glazes. Although Ru ware, Southern Song Guan ware, and Longquan ware incorporated glass glazes, the weak lime glaze was substituted with a thick one, creating a dignified texture. In addition to celadon, Song porcelain also included black glaze porcelain, but the quality of this glaze selected for it was rich, with a deep and reserved texture. This reflected the unanimous pursuit of beauty in Song porcelain color glazes. The designs of Song porcelain were also perfectly integrated with their porcelain glazes. For example, as the glaze layers of Longquan ware, Ge ware, Southern Song Guan ware, and Jun ware celadon were all rather thick, in all porcelain design, ample use was made of the thick glaze sagging process to form variable thickness. This effectively created »outer tendons,« which caused the variation of the colored glaze in the model and structure of an artefact to appear more distinct. A single glaze color itself also produced rich yet reserved tone variation. As for the decoration of artifacts, the simple and elegant adornment of Ru ware and Guan ware, the natural cracked glaze of Ge ware, the lightless colored glaze of Diao ware, and the monochrome glazed carvings and printed patterns of Ding ware, Yaozhou ware, Longquan ware, and Jindezhen ware, with or without decorative motifs, whether official or common artifacts, all embodied a decorative style that was unified, simple in color, and elegant. The only ware not to attach most importance to colored glazes, instead emphasizing contrasting monochrome decorative designs, was Cizhou ware. With decorative subject matter such as flowers and twigs, infant games, and birds and fish, it formed a fresh flavor that remained linked to the spirit of other Song porcelain forms. From the perspective of porcelain designs, Five Dynasties porcelain exchanged the graceful and full-bodied style of the Tang Dynasty for a light and brisk style. As the Song Dynasty urban econ-

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omy developed, and its social life prospered, porcelain was used on a large scale. The variety and styles of porcelain far surpassed those of previous dynasties, as they were required to satisfy the cultures and lifestyles of each social class. Bowls, plates, pots, and bottles constituted everyday household food and drink utensils, and stoves, lamps, pillows, and boxes were everyday living articles. Brush washers and water droppers were study tools, and wine vessels, cooking tripods, goblets, and cooking cauldrons were pseudo-classical elegant porcelain artifacts for display. Although these Song porcelains items all had different functions, they were united by their elegant, well-proportioned, refined, and graceful design features. In addition to attractive plum vases and jade pot spring bottles, flat porcelain pillows and porcelain boxes featured gentle variation in their curves, resulting in a skillful and refined artistic design. From this, the high refinement and integration of Song porcelain design is clear. The subject matter of Song Dynasty porcelain decorative patterns was extremely rich. In these, clean, graceful, free-form decorative patterns of sprigs became basic and widely applicable source material. This flower and plant pattern often featured tree peonies and lotus flowers. Other patterns included dragons, phoenixes, cranes, Chinese unicorns, deer, rabbits, fish, mandarin ducks, ducks, birds, infant games, and landscapes. Frets, curled twigs, curled leaves, bending belts, clouds, lotus petals, and qian patterns were also frequently used to decorate in between and on the sides of implements. In this way, the style of the artefact was skillfully integrated into a perfect, harmonious whole. The comprehensiveness and integration of Song porcelain artistic language was a basic reflection of Song porcelain characteristics. This also reflected the maturation and purity of Song Dynasty culture. In addition, there were some Song porcelain household utensils such as bottles, pots, stove, boxes,

CHAPTER XV SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS

and pillows that embodied the most characteristic. In the Song Dynasty, porcelain bottles came in several styles. These included jade pot spring bottles, plum vases, flat belly bottles, straight neck bottles, ridged melon vases, multi-tube bottles, olive bottles, gallbladder bottles, double-gourd bottles, dragon tiger bottles, and kalashas. Variations in implement styles were mainly demonstrated in their mouths, necks, and bellies. Containers used as wine vessels in Song Dynasty life, included the ridged melon pot, animal flow plot, hoop-handled pot, and the double-gourd pot. Furnaces were used as incense-burning appliances, and northern and southern kilns both used them in firing. Design styles and features included cooking tripods, fish handles, drum nails, lotus petals, three-legged, five-legged, string pattern furnaces, and smoke furnaces. While smoke furnaces had appeared prior to the Han Dynasty, Song Dynasty smoke furnaces were more versatile, and included covers with holes. Incense could be burned inside the furnace, which would allow its scent to emanate for long periods of time. The green-glazed lotus petal furnace excavated in Susong, Anhui Province, is a relief sculpture furnace with a lotus flower-style body. On the top is a finial cover featuring a lion facing upwards with open mouth, crouched on a ball. The uses of boxes were also wide-ranging. There were incense cases, boxes for copper mirrors, medicine boxes, and makeup cases for liquid makeup, powder makeup, and eyebrow rouge. Porcelain pillows first appeared in mass production after the Sui and Tang dynasties. Of a high standard by the Five Dynasties, they were most common in the Song Dynasty, and also popular during the Jin, and the various kilns of Ding, Jun, Jingdezhen, Lin’an, Yaozhou, Cizhou, and Jizhou all fired them. While northern Min kiln ware was most abundant, Ding and Cizhou kiln ware were the richest. Porcelain pillows came in rectangular, round, cloud, petal, chicken heart, octagonal, oval, and silver ingot styles. There were also clay

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models of infants, court ladies, lions, tigers, and dragons. While infant pillows were most commonly Ding wares, the Yaozhou and Jingdezhen kilns also produced them. The content of the simple artistic creations painted on porcelain pillows painting was very wide-ranging. Infant subject matter was especially lively and interesting.

Section 2  The Five Great Kilns The »Five Great Kilns« denotes the Ru, Guan, Ge, Jun, and Ding kilns. These were the Song Dynasty porcelain kilns with distinct and outstanding firing techniques and characteristics. The »Five Great Kilns« were either linked to the court, were official kilns (directly operated by the court), or tribute kilns (not directly operated by the court, but selected and sent over quality goods as tributes).

1. Ru Ware with Lustrous Blue-Green Glaze The Ru Kiln was situated in Qingliang temple, Baofeng city, in modern Henan. In the Song Period, this kiln was named after its location in Ruzhou. The Ru kiln was dedicated to the court.

6.15.1  »Linru porcelain« bowl, Northern Song, Shanghai Museum

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Much praise was given to this kiln’s conduct in the Song, hence the saying »Ru kiln as chief.« The Ru kiln was said to used precious cornelian for glazing. Deeply hidden, and made in very few quantities, this was extremely valuable. The Ru kiln went underwent a process of transformation from a Min kiln into a Guan kiln. Originally a folk brick kiln for celadon printing and carving, its decorative style was similar to that of a Yaozhou kiln. Currently, its products are generally referred to as »Linru porcelain« (Fig. 6.15.1). In the later period of the Northern Song, because Dingzhou white porcelain implements were not fit for use, the court ordered Ruzhou to produce green kiln implements. The Ru kiln thereupon transformed into a Guan kiln, producing what is known as »Guan kiln Ru porcelain.« After the Song Dynasty migrated South, Ru kiln production was promptly ceased. Due to the extremely short firing period of the Ru kiln, its surviving articles are in short supply. According to statistics, extant Ru kiln porcelain objects total no more than one hundred. The majority of these are held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Palace Museum in Beijing. Ru kiln extant pieces only include pseudo-classical plates, bowls, bottles,

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dishes, washbasins, caskets, wine vessels, and small cups. These are all rather small, no longer than a Chinese foot. The bottoms of some objects are carved with fenghua (‌奉华), cai (‌蔡), shen (‌甲), yi (‌乙), bing (‌丙), or Emperor Qianlong’s poems on paintings. »Fenghua« was Emperor Gaozong of Song’s name for a palace hall before he was emperor. »Cai« may have stood for the clan of influential Northern Song official Cai Jingjia. This could be used as evidence that these implements were indeed used by the imperial household. Shen, yi, and bing were marks that divided the status of implements during the Qing. While Linru did not attach most importance to decoration, its colored glaze acted as an important embellishment technique. The widely praised Ru kiln used a cornelian glaze, which was gentle, sparkling, translucent, and extremely precious. In a discussion of this colored glaze, it is recorded in the Song Dynasty Xianchun Imperial Diaries (Xianchun qiuju zhu 咸淳起居注) that it was a »sky-blue color«; in Records After My Retirement to the Fields (Guitian ji 归田集) it is stated to be similar to »the sky clearing after the rain«; there were also popular and elegant descriptions such as the »lake reflecting the blue sky,« as well as common ones such as »duck eggshell blue.« This hue contained as many as eight shades. Overall, »blue« was the most important coloration feature of Ru kiln porcelain. Fundamentally grasping the restorative function of iron in the kiln, its glaze was firm with a light sky blue-green hue. This was also said to be »scallion green,« like a pile of resin. Embodying the coldness of blue, and the warmth of green, its hue was somewhere in between, in a completely harmonious position. The surface of the glaze was flat, smooth, and exquisite, with a delicate textured pattern with tiny cracks, in the so-called »crab claw pattern.« Under the glaze there were sparse bubbles which appeared and disappeared under the light, like twinkling morning stars. The sense of freshness and elegance produced by this color was a precise reflection of

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the fashion, hobbies, and aesthetic tastes of the Song Dynasty court. Throughout the ages, documents discussing Ru ware all emphasized and described its colored glazes and realism. However, the nature and color of its body was not mentioned at all. Looking at modern archaeological excavations, the bodies of Ru kiln porcelain were generally rather thin, with a fine and glossy texture. In the light, the body color mostly resembled the gray hue of burned incense. The glaze at the edges and corners of implements was rather thin, and a light pink emerged through the glaze layer. This hue is identical to that pertaining to Northern Song Guan kiln described in the documents.

2. Classical and Elegant Guan Ware What is called the Guan kiln partly indicates the kiln that fired porcelain offerings for the court, and partly indicates the kiln that was directly controlled by the court and focused on imperial production. The Guan kiln did denote one specific kiln location, moving with changes in any given dynasty or political situation, such as the move from the Northern Song Yellow River to the Southern Song Qiantang River. The Northern Song Guan kiln has only been seen in written documents, and specific kiln sites are not clear. One opinion is that the Northern Song Guan kiln was the Ru kiln. In accordance with the old system of the Northern Song, the Southern Song Guan kiln was in the capital city of Lin’an, in the two locations of the old kiln (Xiuneisi kiln) and the new kiln (Jiaotan kiln), the quality of which was far inferior to the latter. The characteristics of the old kiln match those of the surviving Guan kiln, causing some to speculate that the old kiln was indeed the surviving Guan kiln. The colored glazes of this Guan kiln were light blue on the top, a simple, elegant, and reserved hue. Implements also featured purple mouths and iron feet, and crab-claw cracked patterns. Because their bodies contained so much iron, the bases of all porcelain

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implements were dark, slightly brown or purple. In the »purple mouth and iron feet« form, the liquidity of the glaze was taken advantage of, causing the edges of the openings to be covered with only an extremely thin layer of glaze. The thin glaze on the mouth section caused its purple base bone to be visible, and the color of the iron on the feet was also on display due to its lack of glaze. The purple mouth and iron feet, and the celadon layer of the porcelain surface set one another off, creating a contrasting coloration effect. By eliminating the monotony of the celadons’s color, the implement gains a solemn appeal, which resulted in increasing use of celadon in the Guan kiln. The Guan kiln generally made little use of decorative motifs. Only the necks and bellies of bottle-type implements featured a small number of unequal patterns. On the whole, however, implements were simple and undecorated, clear and pure. The majority of Guan kiln objects were pseudo-classical sacrificial vessels, including animal ear furnaces, and pierced ear bottles (Fig. 6.15.2), patterned bottles, wash basins, and plates. Their deigns were concise, elegant, and efficient. Moreover, the cracks on their bodies, and purple mouths and iron feet, doubled the simplicity and elegance of these implements. Between 1984 and 1988, new historical relics from the Southern Song Guan kiln were excavated. A kiln stove, a large-scale workshop, and over 30,000 porcelain pieces and thousands of tools and kiln utensils were discovered. Porcelain items were restored, and these 70 items were arranged into 23 categories. Among these, apart from everyday household utensils such as bowls, plates, bottles, jars, pots, flowerpots, basins, small cups, boxes, and brush washers, there were also various categories of display vessels and sacrificial vessels. Adhering to changes of the times, vessel forms changed from large to small, and from dignified and easy-mannered to dexterous and beautiful; circular feet transformed from tall and outward-extending, to short and squat, developing

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vertical foot walls and slim bottoms; base glazing mainly involved the two forms of thick bases with thin glazes, and thin bases with thick glazes, with bases changing from thick to thin, and their glazes changing from thin to thick. In the early stages, porcelain with thick bases and thin glazes, from the formulation of its base glazes, to the shape of its vessels, resembled that of the Ru kiln’s surviving Guan kiln. However, it was quite different from the traditional celadon of Zhejiang. From this, it is clear that the Southern Song Guan kiln truly was created to carry on the methods

6.15.2 Guan kiln pierced ear bottle, Southern Song, National Museum of China

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of the old capital. Although its decorative motifs were simple, their subject matter was rich, mainly including the three categories of plants, animals, and geometrical lines. The Southern Song Guan kiln, which began firing in the Shaoxing Period, ended along with Southern Song upon its defeat. However, the brick kiln continued to be used as a Min kiln in the Yuan Dynasty. In summary, the Song Dynasty Guan kiln could generally be divided into the following periods: (1) In the narly Northern Song, the Guan kiln was first established with the Yue kiln, before being abolished; (2) In the later period of the Northern Song, the Guan kiln was established with Ru kiln, and integrated with the surviving Ru kiln, which was the Northern Song Guan kiln; (3) In the early Southern Song, the Guan kiln was set up in Xiuneisi, which may be the surviving Guan kiln; (4) Before long, a new Guan kiln was built separately at the site of the Yue kiln under Jiaotan, in the early stages approaching the Ru kiln, which was the Northern Song Guan kiln, the extant Guan kiln in the middle period, and the extant Ge kiln in the later period.

3. Ge Ware with Beige and Cracked Glaze The Ge kiln was slightly different from the Guan kiln in that it did not stress its imperial nature, instead placing more emphasis on one style. Constituting the largest controversy in Song porcelain, the Ge kiln was an extremely debated cultural phenomenon. The earliest documented mention of the Ge kiln can be found in the Ming Dynasty Xuande Record of Cauldrons and Vessels (Xuande dingyi pu 宣德鼎彝谱). In this work, it is claimed that in the Southern Song, two brothers with the surname »Zhang« each opened their own kiln in Longquan, Zhejiang. Management by the elder brother resulted in the Ge (elder brother, 哥) kiln’s name. From surviving Ge kiln porcelain vessels, and analysis of documents, it is clear that the period of operation and style of the surviving Ge kiln was

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close to that of the Southern Song Xiuneisi Guan kiln recorded in documents. Consequently, people believed that the surviving Ge kiln was indeed the Southern Xiuneisi Guan kiln. However, regardless of these written records, from the excavated ruins of the aforementioned Guan kiln under Jiaotan, the surviving Guan kiln is the Xiuneisi Guan kiln. However, the surviving Ge kiln was established in the Guan kiln under Jiaotan, and was later imitated in Longquan by the elder brother with the surname Zhang, which is what is called today the Longquan Ge kiln, that is, the Ge kiln recorded in Ming Dynasty records. However, the Ge kiln mentioned here only refers to the extant Ge kiln. Ge kiln celadon clearly carried on the work of the Ru kiln. Its colored glazes included light blue, beige, gray blue, and white, with light blue being the fundamental color. However, all surviving objects are beige, in contrast with those of the Ru kiln. It is also closely related to the Guan kiln. According to Gao Lian, in Eight Treatises on Following the Principles of Life (Zunsheng Bajian 遵生八笺), the style of Guan kiln objects was essentially identical to those of the Ge kiln. On the basis of their top quality »cracked ice and eel blood« pattern, the Guan kiln also covered entire glazed surfaces with cracks. This was known as »cracked glaze.« This »cracked glaze« on the glaze and body was carried out during the cooling process, with the varying sizes and colors caused by different shrinking rates creating an unusual fragmenting effect. When cracked glazes appeared in Southern Song Dynasty celadon, and people of the time intentionally pursued this particular result, it became a creative industrial art method with aesthetic appeal. The beauty of this defect hereby achieved a high standing of perfection. As a result, cracked glaze became the most outstanding characteristic of the Ge kiln. With its unique, simple, and natural appeal, this became a distinguished creation of Song Dynasty celadon industrial arts. Due to the different line forms and sizes of Ge kiln cracked glaze, it became known by different

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names, such as the »fish egg pattern« and the »crab claw pattern.« While the cracks of the »fish egg pattern« resemble tiny fish eggs, the cracks of the »crab claw pattern« are long and curved. The Ge kiln’s various objects included furnaces, bottles (Fig. 6.15.3), plates, sunflower-mouth bowls, five-footed wash basins, and stationery, their designs quite abundant and varied. In Jiangxi, Zhejiang, in the Yuan and Ming periods, imitation Ge kiln objects were produced. Despite bearing the names of »Older Brother Cave Kiln« and »Older Brother Kiln,« their quality was inferior to that of the surviving Song Ge kiln.

4. Jun Ware with Luminous and Red Glaze The Jun kiln was located within the borders of Yuzhou, Henan, and named after its position in Junzhou during the Song Dynasty. Since the 1900s, over 100 kiln sites have been discovered in this region. Among these, the urban Juntai and Baguadong kilns, and the suburban Shenhouzhen kiln in Yuzhou, are the most representative. The Jun kiln flourished at the end of the Northern Song. Following increased output, kilns were also expanded to the surrounding areas. This influenced kilns in the Henan, Hebei, Shanxi regions, resulting in a massive system of Jun kilns. In the Jin Period, although production continued in the Jun kiln, its standard was far inferior to how it had been previously. Works from this period are known as »Jinjun.« While the Jun kiln continued production in the Yuan Dynasty, it was stopped in the Ming, as its quality steadily deteriorated. Commonly references to the Jun kiln specifically denote the Northern Song Period. Originally belonging to the northern celadon system, the Jun kiln later absorbed Tang Dynasty patterned glaze porcelain techniques, particularly that of the multicolored patterned glaze of neighboring Lushan. This was produced by changes in the kiln during firing, which would result in a matte, yet bright and colorful, glaze. In

6.15.3 Ge kiln bottle, Song Dynasty, Palace Museum

all Song porcelain, coloring was especially vivid. In the time of Emperor Huizong, a Guan kiln was specifically established in Junzhou to supply the Imperial Household with practical porcelain. It therefore embodied aspects of both the Min and Junguan kilns. However, the standards of the Junguan kiln were inferior to those of the Ruguan kiln, whose products were more characteristic of tributary porcelain. Main types of Jun wares included bowls, dishes, furnaces, bottles, flowerpots, bo bowls, jars, washbasins, caskets, and wine vessels. Among these, flowerpots were designed the most elegantly. They were also rich in variation, shaped in circles, or in the form of Chinese flowering crab-apples,

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and their bodies were solid and dense. While their colored glazes usually featured blue interspersed with red, some were alternately blended with skyblue, moon-white, pea-green, rose-purple, cherry-red, or beige. Resembling rose-tinted clouds in the sky, they were extremely beautiful. Surpassing previous single-colored celadon glazes, an art style with warm-and-cold contrasts, and multiple gorgeous variations was formed. This opening up a new scope for Song porcelain, which received widespread favor. The rose-purple, crab-apple style Northern Song Jun ware flowerpot held by the National Museum of China is a surviving masterpiece of the Jun kiln. The blue on its main body contrasts with the rose-purple, creating a beautiful colored glaze resembling a sunrise or sunset, that glitters magnificently. From 1974 to 1975, various ruined objects such as plates, guding washbasins, flanged vessels, and restrained opening vessels were also excavated in the ruins of the Jun kiln. These feature strong imperial colors.

6.15.4 Ding kiln child pillow, Northern Song, Palace Museum

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In the Jun kiln, objects were painted with the assistance of copper oxidization. In the restorative atmosphere, copper red glazes were fired. This had a deep influence on the ceramic industrial art of later generations. The red inner glaze of the Yuan Dynasty, and jewel red, sky red, Lang kiln red, and peach blossom of the Ming and Qing were all developed and created under the influence of Jun ware.

5. Ding Ware with White Glaze and Engraved Patterns Of the Five Great Kilns of the Song Dynasty, the Ding kiln was the only one to fire white porcelain. Preceded by the Quyang kiln, it began production in the Tang. Upon entering the Song Period, the Ding kiln began to use the technique of fushao, that is, turning household utensils such as dishes upside down to fire them. This was less arduous and used less material than the common xiabozhuang firing method, and its output

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was larger. With its own style and techniques of porcelain manufacturing, Ding ware became the standard of white porcelain in the Song Dynasty. Its white glaze and engraved patterns resulted in more fine works of Song Dynasty porcelain. The Ding kiln was located in Jianci Village in Quyang, modern Hebei, and was named after its position in Dingzhou during the Song Dynasty. Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song surviving and excavated Ding ware articles are all very rich. The majority of their bodies are light, and made with excellent quality thin white porcelain clay. Although celadon, sauce glaze, black glaze, green glaze, red glaze, and color glaze porcelain were fired in the Ding kiln, white porcelain was its specialty. Its artifacts included multiple everyday household utensils, such as bowls, plates, cups, boxes, pillows, bottles, and pots. Lively child pillows are another distinctive feature of Ding kiln design (Fig. 6.15.4). As Ding ware implements were thin, they were easily deformed during firing. Many were therefore fired using the fushao technique, resulting in most rims on bowls and plates not to be glazed. This area was known as the »mouth.« Many outer surfaces were covered by thin layer of glazing resembling »tear stains,« which constituted another characteristic of Ding ware. Its base was solid, fine, glossy, and milky white. Within this were flashes of yellow, resulting in a moist, satiny effect. While many implements began as pure white, after the mid-Northern Song, several were decorated with delicate patterns. These were mainly plant patterns, incorporating tree peonies, lotus flowers, and chrysanthemums. There were also animal patterns, featuring mandarin ducks and swimming fish. Decoration of Ding ware implements involved the three techniques of carving, printing, and huahua engraving. As Ding ware implements were rather thin, many patterns were carved lightly, their lines of different thicknesses. This was advantageous both in depicting patterns, and in enriching the hue of the white

SECTION 3 OTHER FAMOUS KILNS OF THE SONG DYNASTY AND THE PORCELAINS OF THE LIAO AND JIN

porcelain. When Ding kilns began to make use of printing, it was already rather mature, with a high artistic standing. As the most typical design of printed porcelain in the Song Dynasty, this had a significant impact on both northern and southern porcelain kilns. The majority of Ding kiln porcelain was engraved with fish and water ripple patterns. Its well-proportioned and natural lines constituted another characteristic of the Ding kiln. The Ding kiln had a great influence on the surrounding porcelain kilns during the Song Dynasty, such as the Ping kiln, Yangcheng kiln, and Jiexiu kiln in Shanxi, all of which could be classified as part of the Ding kiln system. The Pengxian kiln in Sichuan also fired Ding-style white porcelain, so much so that the Jingdezhen kiln also produced imitation Ding kiln objects. The Northern Song was the flourishing age of the Ding kiln. While it continued production in the Jin and Yuan dynasties, its artifacts grew gradually coarser.

Section 3  Other Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty and the Porcelains of the Liao and Jin As for famous Song Dynasties kilns, apart from the Five Great Kilns, there also existed the Cizhou, Yaozhou, Longquan, Jizhou, Jian, and Jingdezhen kilns, all of which were very highly regarded. These famous kilns, with their diverse materials, lively designs, and abundant coloring, enormously enriched and refined Song Dynasty porcelain art. In addition, due to differences in various aspects such as source, material, technique, and aesthetic appeal, Liao, Western Xia, and Jin porcelain implements also had their own ethnic characteristics.

1. Other Famous Kilns of the Song Dynasty The Cizhou kilns were located in Hebei, in Guantai, Cixian, by the Zhang River, and in P ­ engcheng,

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Handan, by the Fuyang River. Because these locations were both part of Cizhou during the Song Dynasty, Cizhou kiln was named after it. The Cizhou kiln’s prosperous period took place during the Northern Song and later Jin. Of Song Dynasty porcelain kiln, this was the one richest in folk characteristics. To the north of the Yellow River, the largest Min kiln system of the time had been formed—the Cizhou kiln system. The kilns of Cizhou system were distributed throughout the three provinces of Hebei, Henan, and Shanxi. The majority of these were located to the south of Hebei and the north of Henan, with most of them located in the hilly regions from which the Zhang and Fuyang rivers flowed from the Taihang Mountains into the North China Plain. This land was rich in natural resources such as porcelain clay, coal, and water. This area still contains numerous place names related to ceramics, reserving a vast range of stacked layers. As the bodies of many Cizhou ware artifacts were gray and coarse, they required a layer of thin white slurry to be applied over them. After firing, this would turn into a glossy white glaze on the porcelain. In addition, black porcelain, floral porcelain, celadon, and low-temperature tri-color glazes were also fired. Cizhou ware white porcelain implements were produced in order to serve the people, mainly focusing on food and drink utensils, drinking vessels, dressing and grooming tools, lamps, bedding, sacrificial vessels, and toys shaped like small animals. There were many different types of artifacts, the forms of which were very rich. In pillows alone, there were circular waist, octagonal, ruyi scepter, silver ingot, rectangular, chicken heart, petal, and trapezoid forms. The designs of all of these categories focused first on practicality, then on thickness, weight, and size. They therefore had a rough, simple beauty. Cizhou kiln glaze colors were relatively rich, including white glaze, black glaze, sauce glaze and green glaze, with white glaze being especially renowned. As for decorative coloring, Cizhou

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kiln mainly adopted the technique of black and white contrast. Four basic methods were huahua engraving, flower picking, zhenzhudi, and black underglaze, resulting in many forms such as the white glaze huahua, white glaze floral, white glaze with green spots, white glaze with brown spots, white glaze with black underglaze, and low-temperature tricolor lead glaze. The white glaze with black flowers, featuring strong black and white contrasts, was the most characteristic. The Cizhou kiln had wide-ranging influence during the in the Northern Song and Jin dynasties, with its richness surpassing that of other Song kilns. Able to adapt to different regions, and the needs of people from different social classes, there was a great amount of imitation Cizhou ware in northern China at this time. Until the Yuan Dynasty, the Cizhou kiln remained an important porcelain manufacturing system in Northern China. Yaozhou kilns were distributed across the Huangbaozhen, Chenlu, Shangdian, Lidibei, and Yuhuagong areas of Tongchuan, modern Shanxi. This was known as the »ten li of kilns,« the scale of which was expansive. Starting in the Tang, this continued throughout the Five Dynasties, flourishing in the Song. Production was continued in the Jing, and stopped in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. This kiln was named after its location in Yaozhao during the Song Dynasty, and produced many mixed glaze implements in the Tang Dynasty. At the end of the Five Dynasties, under the influence of the Yue kiln, it produced celadon carved with flowers. Entering the Song, while the main focus was on firing celadon, sauce glazed implements were also occasionally fired. Celadon carved with flowers, established in the Five Dynasties, was also especially developed and promoted. This became an outstanding characteristic of Yaozhou. The designs of Yaozhou kiln implements were quite numerous. Originally produced from imitation Yue ware, they mostly centered on everyday household utensils, with coarse, thick forms.

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Among these, the bowl design was the most distinctive, and particularly well received by the people. Often formed in a horn shape, the outer rim adopted the shape of a lotus petal. In the blue glaze of Yaozhou kiln celadon were slight dashes of yellow, resulting in an olive-green shade. Patterns were varied, and their subject matter was expansive. For instance, plant designs included tree peonies with winding branches, chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, and lotus flowers. These were also often combined with images of infant games. Decoration techniques included carving, printing, and scratching. As Yaozhou kiln celadon bodies were thicker than those from other kilns, many of their floral carvings were created using deep line

6.15.5  Yaozhou kiln engraved pot, Northern Song, Shanghai Museum

SECTION 3 OTHER FAMOUS KILNS OF THE SONG DYNASTY AND THE PORCELAINS OF THE LIAO AND JIN

methods, known for their sharp and inhibited knife techniques. In general, knives were used to carve patterns on the bodies of artifacts. As the patterns were carved onto inclined surfaces, this technique was known as »slanted knife.« Because of its depth, the decorative motif on the protruding section would feature a thin glaze and weak color. However, the concave section would feature a thick glaze and strong color, thus forming a clear gradation, with the light and dark contrast creating an outstanding bas-relief effect. This was the best of Song porcelain (Fig. 6.15.5). On the inner surface of the body of many Yaozhou kiln printed wide-mouthed utensils, such as bowls, plates, and wash basins, there was a molded pattern.

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This was a new technique that appeared in the Northern Song. Molds of carved patterns were relatively simple, thick, and solid, in a unique Guanzhong rough style. Comprehensive techniques were often adopted for pattern scratching, such as decorating in between carved or printed flowers with a comb pattern. For instance, a comb-shaped tool would be used around carved flowers and fish patterns to scratch water-ripple patterns, creating an incredibly delicate effect. This comprehensive decoration not only gave prominence to the main patterns, but also allowed carved lines to stretch out unobstructed, creating a richer pattern. Meanwhile, possibly somewhat late imitation Yaozhou celadon porcelain kilns were found throughout the Shanxi and Henan regions, forming a different northern celadon system to that of the Yue kiln style. The fact that there were imitation works in Southern China demonstrates the extent of its influence. Situated in Longquan, modern Zhejiang, ­Longquan kiln was named after its location. This area was also home to the Longquan Ge and Di kilns referred to in the Min Dynasty. These belonged to the southern celadon system. During the Five Dynasties, the Longquan kiln was under the influence of its neighboring Yue, Wuzhou, and Ou kilns, having inherited features of the Yue kiln in particular. By the mid-Northern Song, the Yue kiln was in decline, and the Longquan kiln had developed. However, with »rather coarse and thick quality,« it had not yet formed distinguishing features. After the Song Dynasty migrated south, the Longquan kiln’s techniques improved drastically and, as it neighbored capital city Lin’an, its produced objects gradually became tributes. Longquan kiln celadon developed rapidly, not only in its influence on neighboring counties, but also in its effect on modern provinces such as Jiangxi and Fujian. In the south, another celadon system continuing the work of the Yue kiln was formed. In the later Southern Song, accomplishments in Longquan kiln techniques reached their apex, as they

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successfully fired celadon with thin bodies and thick glazes. Ninety percent of these were white biscuits, which was typical of Longquan celadon. These varieties took the form of everyday household utensils. There were also study utensils such as water droppers, water pots, brush pots, and brush holders, as well as pseudo-classical implements. In decoration, Longquan kiln frequently used techniques such as applied design and relief sculpting, as well as brown iron spots. Although the layers of Longquan kiln glazes were slightly cracked, the trend of cracked glazes had died down, and more attention was paid to the color of the glaze. After light blue and plum green were created in the Mid Southern Song, the unique style of the Longquan kiln was formed. As for raw materials, an alkaline lime glaze was used, which constituted a great step in the history of celadon firing methods. Longquan kiln’s most distinctive feature was its pure and upright color and quality of its celadon glazes. The beauty of this coloration and quality constituted the peak of celadon development. The Yue kiln’s pursuit of character that was »clear as ice and clean as jade« was thus perfectly accomplished in the Longquan kiln. In addition, Jizhou kiln (also known as Yonghe kiln), located in Ji’an, modern Jiangxi, mainly fired fine blue and white porcelain in the Northern Song. In the Southern Song, however, it focused on black and white glazes, also firing red and green, and green glazed porcelain. Black glazed porcelain was the most prominent of the Jizhou kiln. This featured various stripes, with tortoiseshell patches as the most remarkable among them. The Jian kiln (also known as Shuiji kiln) located in the Wuyi Region of Jianyang, modern Fujian, was renowned in the Southern Song for its black glazed porcelain. Its implements included several tea set pieces, such as bowls and small cups, and were once used an offering to the Palace Wardrobe. In the firing process, the bubbles of the Jian ware porcelain glaze would bring the metal’s qualities to the surface. In high temperatures, the

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glaze would turn to liquid and the metal within it would flow into stripes. Upon cooling, small crystals of hematite would be visible, forming various brown streaks. The rabbit hair glaze and oil drop glaze were typical forms of this. There were the feather-shaped partridge spots. The Jingdezhen kiln, located in Jingdezhen in modern Jiangxi, is the only Song kiln to remain renowned up until the current millennium. In the Song Period, Jingdezhen kiln incorporated fused casts of blue and white to produced delicate blue-white porcelain. This became a large mixture of and great breakthrough in Chinese porcelain aesthetics and techniques. In the aspects of raw material selection, porcelain manufacturing techniques, and decoration, the Jingdezhen kiln reach a considerably high standard. The fused casts of southern green and northern white most strongly represented the standard of porcelain art in the Song Dynasty. Jingdezhen ware, with its firing of fine tribute porcelain in the Jingde Period of the Northern Song, instantly made a name for itself. After the Song Dynasty migrated south, many artisans of the Northern Song Ding, Yaozhou, Ru, and Cizhou kilns followed the Song court south, bringing with them the advanced techniques of every northern kiln, which in turn merged with the techniques of every southern kiln. This promoted the advancement of Jingdezhen kiln techniques. As a result, the emergence of Jingdezhen is inseparable from the generous resources offered to it by the bright, renowned kilns of the Song Dynasty. After the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Jingdezhen kiln continued to develop, with excellent techniques. As the center of the renowned Shufu wares, blue and white porcelain, and the red underglaze, it was praised as the capital of porcelain.

2. Porcelains of the Liao and Jin Liao porcelain kilns emerged approximately in the Taizong Period (927–947) of the Liao Dynasty. Known porcelain kilns in the north of the modern North China Region were mostly located in

SECTION 3 OTHER FAMOUS KILNS OF THE SONG DYNASTY AND THE PORCELAINS OF THE LIAO AND JIN

its five nearby capitals. For instance, there were the Shanjing, Nanshan, and Baiyingele kilns of Lingdong in Shanjing, the Gangwa kiln of Chifeng in Zhongjing, the Jiangguan kiln of Liaoyang in Dongjing, the Longquanwu kiln of Beijing in Nanjing, and the Datong celadon kiln in Xijing. In the Liao Dynasty, there was also the Guan kiln. In the recently discovered Gangwa and Lingdon kilns, porcelain was fired for the imperial court. Liao people frequently invaded the south, storming the Central Plains kilns before returning north. Imitation Ding ware porcelain was produced in the region, causing the greatest influence of Ding ware on Liao porcelain. While Liao porcelain designs were varied, they could generally be divided into the two categories of Khitan-style and Central Plains-style. The Khitan-style was very much created to imitate traditional Khitan leather and wooden vessels. Easy to carry on horseback, these included flasks, phoenix head bottles, bucket-style bottles, wearable pots, and cockscombs. These designs were full of ethnic characteristics, with some even including the stitch marks of leather vessels. Central Plains-style household utensils, however, mainly imitated Central Plains styles, particularly that of Ding ware. The decoration of Liao Porcelain was influenced by the Central Plains. These decoration methods could be divided into body decoration and colored glaze decoration. Body decoration involved the three techniques of carving, printing, and applied design. These were mostly carried out when the implement was half-finished, and very occasionally after glazing. The lines of engraved patterns were rather broad, with clear traces of knife points. Engraved lines were thinner, gentle and without harshness. These were frequently used on plates, bowls, jars, bottles, and pots with white, green, and yellow-green glazes. In addition to this, there were the three techniques of glaze carving, tifen, and black filling; printing was carried out using porcelain clay to fire an impression

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mould, and embossing it. This was frequently used on white, yellow, and tricolor glazed plates, bowls, and pots; applied design was frequently used on Khitan-style imitation leather sack pots and imitation wooden drum vessels. This prominent form was applied quite universally. In colored glaze decoration, there were the two methods of the multi-colored glaze and the single-colored glaze. In multi-colored glazes, tricolor, double-color, and single-color glazes could be used to add color to vessels. Colored glazes were used as decoration. However, the painted design of some white glaze and black flower vessels was simple. This only became a technique in the later period. All decorative patterns used in Liao porcelain, on carved, engraved, and molded-pattern household utensils, were based mainly on peonies. Three-layered designs on printed plates and dishes also usually featured tree peonies. Decorative applied design patterns included figures, animals, fire-pearls, coiled dragons, flowing clouds, tree peonies, and flower leaves. Tricolor-glaze vessels, according to printing and carving decorative design requirements, featured different flower branches and leaves individually painted with various glazes such as yellow, white, green, and red. When painting with colored glazes, other than the white glaze and black flowers, images on vessel surfaces were brightly outlined with gold. The manufacturing of Jin porcelain is divided into two periods, with the Prince of Hailing, Wangyan Liang, moving to the capital city of Yanjing as the turning point. Looking at these regions, the early stage mainly concerns porcelain from the period in which the Jin was in the northeast, and the later stage mainly concerns porcelain from the period in which the Jin occupied North China. When the Jin Dynasty emerged on the Songhua River basin, its early porcelain featured strong ethnic nomad characteristics, and the overwhelming majority of it was classified as rough porcelain for daily use. Located in modern Liaoning, Daguan kiln in Fushun, and Guan kiln in Yangjiang were

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established on the basis of Liao Dynasty porcelain wares, and can be taken as representative of early Jin porcelain. With coarse raw materials and processing, their bodies were thick and composed of mixed colors, with colored glazes that were subpar and uneven. With irregular vessel designs and simple decoration, their production standard was rather low. In the Northern Song Period, every time the Jin invaded the south, they would bring Central Plains porcelain workers back to the north with them. From the end of the Northern Song until the end of the Southern Song, the Jin Dynasty occupied the Central Plains. Central Plains Song kilns such as Ding, Jun, Cizhou, and Yaozhou continued production under the Jin. As a result, much later period Jin porcelain inherited the square porcelain of the Northern Song. This was especially true of the Ding kiln style, which became rough. The bodies of Jin Dynasty Ding kiln wares were thin and white. Their colored glazes were moist, and many of them were a milky white. Their manufacturing was neat, and their decorations were magnificent and varied. Although body and glaze decorative motifs did not differ much from those of Northern Song Ding ware, their quality was slightly lower. In the firing process, in addition to continuing use of the Northern Song fushao method, the Jin Dynasty also adopted the new shajuandieshao method. While the quality of shajuandieshao was inferior to that of fushao, its output was high and its costs were low, which suited the needs of the people. In the Jin Dynasty, the Cizhou kiln produced white, black, sauce, and yellow-green glazes, and white glazes with black flowers. Its vessels included bowls, plates, dishes, small cups, wine cups, pillows, flower vases, and three-legged furnaces. Compared to Liao porcelain, Jin porcelain’s ethnic characteristics were not at all distinct, and lacked the unique style embodied by the Jurchen people. Excavated and surviving Jin Dynasty porcelain used in everyday life mainly included bowls, plates, pots, bottles, and pots. There were also

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cups, washbasins, furnaces, small cups, porcelain pillows, and toys. The majority of these everyday household utensils inherited the Southern Song style. Their decorative patterns became increasingly simple, and their subject matter mainly consisted of various sprig, winding branch, flower and plant, and daylily patterns. Decoration techniques included engraving, huahua, printing, sgraffito, brush painting, sprig-moulding, and bright, patterned glazes. Among these, carving and incising were most outstanding in Ding porcelain. The brush painting art of Jin porcelain was represented by the Cizhou kiln. This brush technique was more succinct and extensive, filled with a strong and lively appeal. The painting level of some articles even surpassed that of the Northern Song Cizhou kiln. As for the porcelain pillow held by the Shanghai Museum, the top features a tiger head pattern. On the white glaze of the pillow’s surface, two soaring wild geese are painted. Below them are water plants, and a Eurasian magpie is painted to one side of the pond. Although this scene does not depict much, it is nevertheless full of life, constituting a masterpiece of the Jin Dynasty Cizhou kiln system.

Section 4  Textile Weaving, Dyeing, and Embroidery In the Five Dynasties, dyeing and weaving in Jiangnan and the southwest were rather advanced. The Southern Tang court increased the price of woven silk, thus provoking the development and prosperity of silk weaving at the time. The Song Dynasty also placed much value on textile weaving, dyeing, and embroidery, with the Directorate for Imperial Manufactories establishing a series of production, and management institutions such as the Arts and Crafts Office, the Silk Brocade Office, the Dyeing Office, the Clothes-Making Office, and the Embroidery Office. These were responsible for

SECTION 4 TEXTILE WEAVING, DYEING, AND EMBROIDERY

leading textile weaving, dyeing, embroidery production, and clothes-making. State-run weaving workshops were also established in the region. Compared to previous dynasties, the output and quality of Song Dynasty silk weaving was clearly superior, and a variety of designs and colors were gradually developed. The scale of the Silk Brocade Office in Northern Song Bianjing was great, with over 400 looms, and Chengdu’s Brocade Office had over 150 looms. By the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to meet the requirements of military supplies, contributions to the state, everyday life, and exports, silk weaving underwent renewed development, and places such as Lin’an, Jianyang, Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou on the southeast coast became important manufacturing locations. Key varieties of silk weaving in the Song Dynasty included brocade, kesi (cut silk), and hualuo (pattern gauze). The development of silk weaving in turn promoted the development of printing and dyeing, as well as the improvement of printing and dyeing techniques. Printing and dyeing were common in the Song Dynasty, with many cloth and silk textiles featuring patterns of landscapes, buildings, figures, birds and flowers, and animals. Song Dynasty woven silk fabric was used not only for clothes, but also used as packaging for painting, calligraphy, mounted pictures, and precious artifacts. It was also an important export of the time.

1. Song Brocade Song brocade, as in woven silk fabric with a bright, visible weft, specifically denotes the Song Dynasty brocade whose production was presided over by official brocade offices. The texture of Song brocade was smooth and fine, with simple, elegant, and harmonious coloring. Its reputation was excellent to the point that the later Ming and Qing dynasties presided over the production of brocade from the seat of weaving in Suzhou. They continued using the name of »Song brocade,« which could truly be said to have been »worn for a thousand years.«

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In the Song Dynasty, official brocade offices presided over the production of Song brocade, and were most renowned for the Sichuan brocade produced in the seat of Chengdu (modern Chengdu in Sichuan). Named after its location, Sichuan brocade was long-established, and extremely developed in Shu during the Three Kingdoms Period. In the Tang, renowned silk weaving technique master Dou Shilun was appointed as an official in Yizhou, and specially designed a Sichuan brocade pattern. Chengdu was thereupon praised as the »City of the Brocade Official.« In the Song Dynasty, in the fourth year of the Qiande Period (966), Emperor Taizu placed the 200 brocade artisans gained during the pacification of Shu into the Silk Brocade Office in Bianjing, causing them to become the driving force behind the Northern Song court workshop. In the sixth year (1083) of the Yuafeng Period, the court separately established the Yunsi Brocade Office in Chengdu, with 154 looms, and 439 weavers. By the Southern Song, this had become the Chamasi Brocade Office. After this, designs of Sichuan brocade goods became more varied. This became representative of Song brocade, and Chengdu was therefore known as »Brocade City.« In this city, there was a river named Jinjiang (»Brocade River«), which was situated in Jinli. The prosperity of Sichuan brocade at this time is hereby evident. The Yuan Dynasty Notes on Shu Brocade (Shujin pu 蜀锦谱) mainly records the situation regarding Song Dynasty Shu brocade, dividing this into four types: Tugong (earth offering) brocade, for imperial use; Guanzao (official made) brocade, with the historical function of appointing officials; Chenliao aozi (court official coat) brocade, for conferring rewards onto court officials; and Guangxi brocade (thin color brocade), for commercial trade. There were around ten of these styles, including badaxing brocade, panqiu brocade, cuwujin brocade, kuihua brocade, tuanhua brocade, yunyan brocade, yinanbaihua brocade, ruyimudan brocade, and chuanhuafeng brocade.

CHAPTER XV SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS

6.15.6 Purple Luan Bird and Magpie Pattern cut silk ­tapestry, Northern Song, Liaoning Provincial Museum

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These varieties mainly used warp yarn, with rising color stripes or color stripes that added patterns. Combination of geometrical designs and decorative motifs resulted in unique styles. Common patterns included squares, stripes, and drizzle. Brocade colors included blue-green, goose yellow, black-purple, crimson, and true red, the latter being the most typical. Washing silk in the Jin River resulted in an optimal dyed red. There were also around ten more processing methods, including strand print, brush print, color painting, and gold weaving. As for excavated Song brocade, much of it has been purple or cyan, in hundreds of decorative patterns. These include buildings, rivers, hundreds of flowers and many dragons, dragons and phoenixes, Zibao Terrace, large purple flowers, purple and white flowers and dragons, purple patterns and blue buildings, large blue fallen flowers, and blue cherries. Although Song brocade does not resemble the simplicity of Han brocade nor the beauty of Tang brocade, it possesses a dignified and elegant quality nonetheless.

2. Silk Tapestry and Patterned Gauze There were many common terms for silk tapestry, including ke (restrained) silk, ke (cut) silk, kese (cut color), and yunke (cloud cut). A sewing and weaving technique was used to weave patterned silk cloth. This was known as »whole warp and broken weft,« and was a Chinese innovation. The silk tapestry can be said to date from at least the Warring States Period, and earliest extant silk tapestry object was produced in the Tang. In the Northern Song, silk tapestry technology underwent significant development, reaching its peak in the Southern Song. Although Northern Song cut silk was mostly produced in Dingzhou, during the Southern Song, production was optimal in Lin’an. Southern Song cut silk was an outstanding variety of the developed Northern and Southern Song applied art, with many of its images and colors based on famous paintings. Sub-

SECTION 4 TEXTILE WEAVING, DYEING, AND EMBROIDERY

ject matter frequently invoked landscapes, buildings, figures, flowers and plants, and animals, with each of these different tunes being played with equal skill. Many Northern Song silk tapestries were used for Buddhist images, banners, and by aristocrats. The surviving silk tapestry Purple Luan Bird and Magpie Pattern (Ziluanque pu 紫弯 鸽谱) (Fig. 6.15.6) is a fine work of Northern Song cut silk, although its author is anonymous. In the scene, pairs of luan birds, red-crowned cranes, golden pheasants, peacocks, swan geese, silver pheasants, egrets, and orioles freely hold pieces of snake jasmine in their beaks, interweaving as they fly around clusters of flowers. On the purple base is a retreating halo of matching colors incorporating navy blue, light blue, moon white, earth yellow, light yellow, emerald green, light green, and dark green. Light yellow and light green are also used for outlines. The birds are precious breeds, and the plants are auspicious signs. With glorious coloring and strict composition, it was an article of the Northern Song court. In the Southern Song, a section of cut silk broke away from practical decoration function, instead striving to imitate painting and calligraphy. These became standalone handicraft articles with quite high esthetical value, forming a trend of painting and calligraphy becoming aspects of textile weaving, or woven textiles becoming aspects of painting and calligraphy. In this period, a group of renowned silk tapestry artists emerged, represented by Zhu Kerou and Shen Zibo. Specializing in fine imitation stitches of famous paintings and calligraphy, they demonstrated many cut silk techniques that demonstrated the brush delicacy and varied color halos of painting and calligraphy, pushing cut silk techniques towards their apex. Zhu Kerou, also known as Zhuqiang, courtesy name Kerou, was a female cut silk artist. A native of Yunjian (modern Songjiang in Shanghai), she was adept at painting, and renowned for her cut silk feminine work in the period of Emperor Gaozong of Song. In her work, in addition to flowers

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and plants, feathers, and other designs, she often imitated, in cut silk, famous paintings and calligraphy, receiving peoples’ favor in no short measure. When she worked in cut silk, her depicted birds and flowers, figures were all extremely elaborate, as she moved the silk like a brush. The halo colors were light, and their style was elegant, constituting a consummate skill in her time. Her extant cut silk works include Duckling on a Lotus Embankment (Liantang ruya tu 莲塘乳 鸭图), Camelia (Shancha 山茶), and Tree Peonies (Mudan 牡丹). Using a needle as thin as a hair, her coloring was exquisite, radiant, and magnificent, achieving delicate, vivid, and lifelike images. These were fine works of Southern Song cut silk. In cut silk, while Shen Zibo was also skilled in birds and flowers, and figures, he was especially strong in landscapes. For instance, his extant cut silk Blue and Green Landscape (Qinglü shanshui tu 青绿山水图), with a white base, warp density of 20 gen per cm, and weft density of 64–66 gen per cm, contains over ten types of colored thread, including those in shades of blue, moon white, bright green, blue-green, green, light green, yellow, Chinese eaglewood, brown, pale green, white, ancient copper, and black. Using the four techniques of gou cutting, qiang length, qiang wooden comb, and jie knot, she created a cut silk landscape. The cracked trees in the foreground are curled and glossy, and in the distance, mountain mist comes out of a cave. This scene matches the rich elegance of its colors. Song Dynasty gauze was the same substance as Han Dynasty brocade and Tang Dynasty silk. This came in many forms, and could be divided into silk gauze and patterned gauze, with the latter achieving particular success. Patterned gauze was the woven silk fabric of the doup end gauze ground rising pattern weave. This began to be produced in the state of Chu during the Warring States Period, ands was continued throughout the Han and Tang, reaching its peak in the Song Dynasty. Song Dynasty patterned gauze

CHAPTER XV SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS

had the four-shaft weave for bottom and plain weave rising patterned gauze. There was also double shaft lappet weave gauze, and triple shaft twill gauze. In the tomb of Huang Sheng, a double twill lappet weave gauze was excavated. Its bottom weave is a double shaft mutually twisted flat gauze weave. The plain weave from the patterned section’s weft and warp, with the doup end lappet on the surface, became a decorative design. Some weaved lappets far exceed the ten gen weft, and its mixed jewel pattern design is faintly discernible. In the Song Dynasty tomb of Wujin, a double shaft twisted gauze was excavated. When the double shaft rose, this was known as a ground weave, and the doup end not rising was referred to as a flat weave. In the Changzhou and Fuzhou Song Dynasty Mausoleums, triple shaft rising twill weave patterned gauzes were excavated. Their ground patterns were made of triple end twisted gauze weave, and their decorative designs were twill weaves. Their patterns featured tree peonies with branches, flowers, and leaves. In addition, 108 gauzes with a four-shaft weave as the ground weave, and a plain weave rising pattern, were excavated in Western Xia mausoleums, as well as in Wujin, Jinta, and Fuzhou Song Dynasty ­mausoleums.

3. Dyeing and Embroidery In the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, the advancement of printing techniques and the development of silk weaving enormously promoted the development of dyeing techniques. The most reputable of Five Dynasties dyeing techniques was the »light cyan« of the Southern Tang. At this time, each of the many dyeing workshops in Jiankang advertised »light cyan« on their shop signs. By the Song Dynasty, officially established dyeing offices specialized in managing imperially required dyeing production. Folk dyeing workshops were even more common, with Master Yu’s Dye House in Bianjing among the most notable. In the Southern Song, these dyeing workshops

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multiplied. At this time, Lin’an contained both Master Niu’s Colored Silk Shop, and Master Gu’s Colored Silk Shop. In addition, there were also roaming dyeing artisans who pushed dyeing carts around. Types of dyeing in the Song Dynasty included ­jiaoxie (twist knotting), laxie (wax knotting), banyan (board printing), jiangran (starch dyeing), and j­iajin (adding gold). Jiaoxie, also known as sheyun (absorbing halo), was a traditional dyeing technique that produced spots and stripes, known as »deer placenta.« Laxie, now known as modern batik, spread largely throughout the southwestern regions. Some also combined the dyeing methods of batik and clamp-dyeing. Meanwhile, advancements in printing techniques promoted the development of block printing. The elaborate dyeing technique of jiajin was divided into gilding, gold-sprinkling, and gold-printing. Using a yangwen engraved pattern board, this was firstly smeared with adhesive, printed on the textiles, and then spread with gold leaf. It was then pressed, causing the gold leaves to stick. This was known as gilding. Another method was sprinkling gold powder onto the printed design, which was covered with adhesive. This was known as gold-sprinkling. A third technique was directly printing the design with gold clay, known as gold-printing. Frequently used dye colors in the Song Dynasty included the cold hues of azure blue, malachite green, ocher yellow, and purple. In 1975, a great amount of Southern Song jiajin clothing was excavated in the tomb of Huang Sheng in Fuzhou, with a gilded decorative border featuring tree peonies, hibiscus, and camellias, two sprinkled gold phoenixes, and a tree peony skirt surface, as well as various styles of gold-printed unlined garment, jackets, and wide-sleeved gowns. This provided adequate insight into the level of techniques at this time. Five Dynasties embroidery techniques were of a high standard. From the remnants excavated at Huqiu Pagoda in Suzhou in 1978, one aspect of this is clear. By the Northern Song, in the spe-

SECTION 4 TEXTILE WEAVING, DYEING, AND EMBROIDERY

cialized Clothes-Making Office established by the court, there were over 300 people embroidering figures, birds and flowers, and landscapes and pavilions for imperial purposes. Performed with delicate needlework, embroidering techniques were meticulous, and referred to at the time as the »inspired needle.« Outside of the court, Bianjing also contained folk embroiderers, known as »common embroidery people.« As the embroidery work of the Clothes-Making Office was never done, they passed on production to common embroiderers. In the Southern Song, Lin’an also contained embroidery workshop and related shops, such as Master Xu’s Wool Shop, and Master Chai’s Wool Shop. There were also shops selling colored silk, cloth head coverings, and silk shoes. Embroidery was the same as cut silk in that it was mostly used in decorative objects such as clothing, baggage, and cloth pouches to begin with. Following the flourishing of painting and calligraphy scrolls, a section of embroidery turned from practicality towards connoisseurship, striving to imitate the words, coloring, and spirit of famous paintings and calligraphy, taking the form of embroidered paintings, which reflected new aesthetical requirements in society. Although the emergence of embroidered paintings was related to the hobbies and advocations of Emperor Huizong of Song, their subject matter changed from the Buddhist images of the Tang Dynasty into the famous landscapes, birds and flowers, and figures of their era. As embroidered paintings were required to retain the charm of their source works, training became a rather strict requirement of embroidery. As these embroidered works could often only be studied by members of scholarly households with superior circumstances, they were also known as »lady’s chamber embroideries.« As images were illustrated using embroidery stitches, and thread and silk techniques, in addition to the scenery on the surface, the quality and texture of their material resulted in them possessing a beauty that the brush and ink of painting and calligraphy

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lacked. In the extant Song Dynasty embroidery work White Eagle (Baiying tu 白鹰图), kelin (cut scale) stitches were used for the feathers, the edges of which are padded with contour lines. Next, stitches were carried out according to the composition patterns of the features, their relative thickness creating a sense of reality. Next, gunzhen (rolling needle) embroidery was used for the eagle’s eye, zhazhen (running needle) embroidery is used for its talons, and thin silk embroidery for large stones. Cugusidingxian (course thigh silk joining lines) embroidery connects the area surrounding the eagle. Search knot however first is made into a knot shape with coarse silk, and the tassels were arranged into tassel shapes with coarse silk thread, before being firmly joined together with thread. Variations in embroidered picture stitches were like variations in brush techniques, in that depictions of different objects and realism depictions could achieve a doubly physical and spiritual result. Under the impetus of embroidered painting techniques, practical decorative embroidery techniques also rapidly developed. Song Dynasty embroidery stitches were not only largely inherited and developed from the Tang Dynasty, but they also became richer and more expressive through the production of embroidered paintings, with the neat stitch, the display stitch, the winding stitch, the connecting stitch, dazi, and adhesive embroidery. These stitches, used for practical embroidery, enormously increased the expressiveness of art.

4. Weaving and Embroidery of the Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and the Uyghurs Liao Dynasty silk weaving continued the systems of the Tang and the Song, and official weaving institutions were established in its regions. Inheriting and drawing on the advanced technologies of the Tang and Song, Liao Dynasty silk weaving underwent significant development. The woven silk fabric excavated at the Tomb of the Emperor’s

CHAPTER XV SONG PORCELAIN AND OTHER CRAFTS

Son-in-Law and Princess, from the nineth (959) year of the Yingli Period of the Liao Dynasty, is an item of Khitan aristocrat clothing from the early Liao Dynasty. This cut-silk shroud and boots excavated at an Early Liao Dynasty tomb in Yemaotai in Faku, Liaoning, is the earliest discovered Liao Dynasty cut silk object to date. While the main focus is on flat embroidery, chain stitches are also used. The stitches are skillful, and the image is lively, as the cut silk covers the side border with embroidered heart hat wing. Traditional wool spinning was representative of Western Xia weaving and embroidery. Goods produced included pulu fabric, brown wool, felt, rugs, and camel wool. In addition to meeting local needs, these were also produced for export. In the Juan Silk Office established by the Western Xia imperial household, goods were weaved by ethnically Han artisans. In the Western Xia Imperial Offering Mausoleum, luxurious colored brocade was excavated. Its beauty and rich color gradation reflect the development level of Western Xia silk weaving. Jin Dynasty silk weaving was established based on that of the northern Southern Song. Following in the footsteps of Song production, the Jin established a Directorate for Imperial Manufactories, and a Directorate of Embroidery responsible for embroidery of imperial clothing. Also established was the Office of Weaving and Dyeing, responsible for weaving, embroidery, and dyeing. In the Jin Dynasty Yandeyuan Masoleum in Datong, Shanxi, 24 woven silks were excavated. The majority of these were gauzes, split into the two categories of patterned and simple. Hechang clothing made from crane feathers, and tawny gauze material were meticulously embroidered with cranes and clouds. With skillful stitching and elegant styles, these can be classified as fine works of Jin Dynasty embroidery. After the Huihe people settled in Xinjiang and Hexi, they established their own silk-weaving system, with their goods largely being made with

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cut silk, curled gold thread, and gilt brocade. The lingjiuwo (spirit vulture nest) brocade excavated in Aral, Xinjiang, features a visible weft pattern twill weave weft brocade. Its warp and weft are equal and without twirls, thus embodying the characteristics of Huihe woven silk fabric.

Section 5  Metal, Jade, and Glass Work During the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, metal and jade works were developed on the foundation of the Tang Dynasty. However, gradually eliminated from this was the exoticism of the Iranian Sasanian Empire. With more nimble and refined production, its jade and stone works were inclined toward realism. As their subject matter was more secular, its scope their application was more expansive. Although Song Dynasty glass artifacts were influenced by Arabian regions to a certain extent, they carried out more traditional production, causing their works to have limited improvement. At this time, metal, jade, and glass works was pressing closer to the cultural lives of city residents, which was reflected in dexterous, lucid, and elegant brilliance. Meanwhile, in the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia, these kinds of works were more influenced by both their own ethnic groups and foreign cultures, resulting in unique ethnic flavors and foreign styles.

1. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Work In the Five Dynasties, gold and silver work had not yet seen any improvement. Following urban economic prosperity and the restoration of handicrafts, traditional gold and silver works reached considerable heights. Official imperial production and folk-run operations were both extremely developed, and their implementation was widespread. At the time, in addition to everyday household utensils, gold and silver works also included

SECTION 5 METAL, JADE, AND GLASS WORK

clothing, furniture, weapons, decorative weapons, and Buddhist casts. There are several surviving gold and silver works from the Song Dynasty. Many of these are everyday objects such as drinking vessels, tea sets, and ornaments. In 1958, 117 silver items from the Song Dynasty were excavated in Deyang, Sichuan. These included implements such as plum vases, wine vessels, holding pots, cup-stands, pots, and boxes with carved patterns. The fine chuiye (hammered plates) work, harmonious proportions, and simple decorations of these could be said to warm the heart and delight the eye. Among these, there was a silver box with a peacock carved on the top, its outside decorated with winding branches and flowers, resulting in a delicate and appealing work. There was also a silver box with a lotus petal and double phoenix pattern, and a hollow silver box. The beauty and elegance of these reflected the common development trends of gold and silver works in Southern Song cities and towns. In 1980, a large number of gold and silver works were excavated in a Song Dynasty mausoleum in Mufushan, Nanjing. These included chicken-heart shaped ornaments, dragon-and-phoenix golden hairpins, round dragon golden hairpins, silver powder cases, imperial gold and silver boxes, and silver knives. Displaying multiple features such as hollowness, carvings, wire inlays, welding, and line cuts in single works, these were exquisitely crafted, magnificent, and refined. This demonstrates the meticulous manufacturing and excellent techniques of gold and silver works in Northern Song Jiangning (Nanjing). The gold processing techniques of Liao and Western Xia were very advanced. While their artistic style retained Tang Dynasty characteristics, it also reflected the warlike, valiant style of nomadic ethnic groups, which contrasted the refined elegance of the Song people. For nearly half a century, Liao and Western Xia gold processing continued to undergo important development in such provincial areas as Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jinlin, Hebei,

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6.15.7 Gold and silver-plated holding pot, Liao Dynasty, held by Chifeng Cultural Workstation, Inner Mongolia

Ningxia, and Gansu. Among these, as well as being influenced by the Iranian Sassanid Empire of Persia, the Liao Dynasty Khitan ethnic group also continued Tang traditions, resulting in metal works with rich ethnic characteristics. A considerable number of these fine works remains. For instance, in 1979 in a hoard in Donghou Village, Chifeng, Inner Mongolia, early Liao Dynasty gold and silver implements including a gold and silver-plated holding pot, and a cockscomb pot, were excavated. This gold and silver-plated holding pot

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(Fig. 6.15.7) is in imitation Tang Dynasty style, displaying refined craftsmanship; the gold and silver-plated cockscomb was created in the style of an ethnic Khitan leather sack pot, with its decorative pattern and techniques taken from the Tang. The surface of the pot is engraved with winding branches and curling leaves, and rhombuses on each side. Below the inner fish pattern is a recumbent deer, surrounded by decorative curled grass, sprigs and flowers, and layered stones. These decorative motifs are divided into gold-plating, and sparkling gold, setting off the silver on the pot’s design. More large quantities of gold and silver implements were unearthed in the Qima Mausoleum in Dayingzi, Chifeng, and the Liao Dynasty hoard in Bairin Right Banner, all demonstrating high manufacturing standards. In addition, although the manufacturing of Jin and Western Xia gold and silver implements was also of a certain standard, few of these objects remain. In the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, clear improvements were made in bronze casting techniques, and output was increased. The water method of bronze casting, a technique recorded by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays (Menxi bitan 冶铜), was an important Song Dynasty invention. As the technique was simple and convenient, and its costs low, it was widely adopted. Song Dynasty bronze work was also somewhat developed on the basis of the Tang and Five Dynasties, with the majority of workshops being located in Nanfang. In Song Dynasty bronze work, production of highly practical household utensils was greatly increased. These mainly included mirrors, pans with long handles, bottles, clothing irons, fire spades, incense burners, curtain hooks, cups, plates, pots, and jars. Most of their designs were concise and agile, with the designs of some implements resembling those of porcelain. Other objects included Buddhist statues, sacrificial vessels, and musical instruments. Imitation sacral vessels and mirrors were two forms of Song bronze work with

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rather high standards. In the Song Dynasty, imitation sacral vessels were mainly used for rites and music, and ritual sacrifices. In the final years of the Northern Song, much production took place. Castings were refined, and loyal to their source objects, with simple and elegant designs. This had a great influence on the imitation ancient vessels of later generations. Due to the great demand for bronze mirrors, they became the most important product in bronze industry. Extravagant patterns were not valued in the creation of Northern Song bronze mirrors, which paid more attention to practicality. Implements were light, with succinct decoration. While Song Dynasty bronze mirrors were produced in great quantities in places such as Huzhou, Lin’an, Mingzhou, Jiankang, Jizhou, Raozhou, Fuzhou, and Chengdu, those made in Huzhou were most renowned. Although Song Dynasty bronze mirrors were usually round, they also came in a square, the Chinese character ya (‌亚), the rhombus, bell, and cooking cauldron shapes, with some also having handles. Among these, the ya-shaped mirror constituted a distinguishing feature of the era. The backs of many Song Dynasty mirrors featured cast decorative patterns such as those of birds and flowers, insects and fish, animals, figures, Buddhist images, landscapes, pavilions, seagoing ships, auspicious signs, the Four Divinities, the Eight Divinatory Trigrams, and celestial bodies. Some mirrors also lacked a design. In picture designs, cuju (ancient Chinese soccer) players, and seagoing ships and ichthyosaurs were the most distinguishing features. Patterns were often made using simultaneous clay-piling, printmaking, and yangxian. The rhythm of the lines would increase the undulation and weight of the pattern, avoiding the easily-created sense of carelessness and monotony caused by the light form of the object. In addition, there was also a Song Dynasty pattern on which words from »Man Jiang Hong« were inscribed, constituting another highly distinctive feature.

SECTION 5 METAL, JADE, AND GLASS WORK

2. Jade and Glass Work The style of jade artifacts manufactured in Jiangnan and Western Shu during the Five Dynasties was carried on from the Tang Dynasty, and was therefore not specially created. In the Song Dynasty, much of the responsibility for manufacturing jade intended for imperial use fell to the Arts and Crafts Office and the Xiuneisi. Jade artifacts were not only used in sacrifices, but also to decorate several items such as emperors’ official seals, hats and clothes, jade chariots, saddlery, and swords. As uses for jade artifacts were broad, the development of jade work was promoted. Moreover, due to the boom in epigraphy, the style of jade artefact connoisseurship and collection became very prosperous, increasing the popularity of pseudo-classical jade artifacts. The variety of styles, designs, and patterns of Song Dynasty jade works was very rich. Implements could feature figures, birds and flowers, and animals, and were fit for purpose in form and spirit, brimming with lively appeal. Their processing techniques were skillful, and various individual images could be carved according to different vein lines and shapes of a jade’s color and luster. The »xiaosi [charming color] jade« technique was developed and used to carve items such as yellow jade cat mothers, lotus sunflower cups, and jade lotus leaf cups. Song Dynasty jade artifacts were not only elegant in style, with delicate decorative motifs, but also demonstrated various carving techniques. Renowned for their hollow works, Song Dynasty jade artifacts were exquisitely made, delicate, and pretty, featuring naturally undulating images with neat turns. Its technical terms were concise and accurate, encompassing both physical and spiritual aspects. Featured subject matter including figures, stories, auspicious signs, landscapes, birds and animals, and flowers and plants. Backgrounds were rather complex, and many images were painted on. Primary and secondary positions as well as physical and spir-

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itual aspects of objects were skillfully arranged, reaching a high standard. As people in the Song Dynasty focused on characters, text inscriptions on artifacts were distinguishing characteristics of Song jade. Jade inscriptions could either be of scripture of poetry. Small characters resembled sesame seeds, and double gou lines were as thin as a strand of silk. This was typical of miniature carved inscriptions on jade artifacts. Song Dynasty jade artifacts exhibited careful carving and exquisite polishing. This caused the simple techniques of jade works to become more elegant and delicate, causing the aesthetic concept of »the superior man places a high value on jade« to be used in a new era. Liao and Jin jade artifacts were also very advanced, which was especially evident in their jade carvings of birds and beasts. While some Liao Dynasty jade works were bought or stolen from Song areas, others were self-made jade artifacts, which were quite reminiscent of Tang jade. The latter was more representative of their ethnic aesthetic features. In the gradual process of integration with Han culture, the decorative spring water and autumn mountain jade decorative forms of Jin Dynasty jade artifacts were characterized by their Jurchen characteristics. With relief sculpture yangxian and hollow carving as their main techniques, these individually had profound and long-lasting impacts on jade decoration styles in later generations. With developed sea transportation, the Song Dynasty had closer economic and cultural ties with various Central and Southwestern Asian countries, from which it imported much high-quality glass work. Under this influence, Song Dynasty glass works also underwent significant development. Its glass output was substantial, with widespread manufacturing locations. Its range was varied, largely consisting of jars, bottles, basins, bottle gourds, grapes, lamps, bird figures, pestles, earrings, and beads. Their range of uses also became wider. With diverse, brightly colored, and beautiful designs, many of these objects served a

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decorative purpose. In addition, some manufacturing was carried out in regions of the Liao, Jin, Dali Kingdom, and Huihe, the most notable being the glass works produced by the Hui in Waxxari, in Ruoxiang, Xinjiang. In firing techniques, they may have been strongly influenced by Central Asian works.

Section 6  Lacquer, Bamboo, Wood, Ivory, and Rhino Horn The production of lacquer works in the Song Dynasty was very common. While official bodies established specialized management institutions, folk workshops were also scattered around. Meanwhile bamboo, wood, ivory, and rhino horn also developed in this period, with several works being produced.

1. Lacquerware In both Northern Song Bianjing and Southern Song Lin’an, dedicated lacquer shops and manufactories were established. These included Wenzhou Miscellaneous Lacquerware Shop, in Bianjing, and Master You’s Lirenfang Gate Lacquer Shop, Master Qi’s Rhinoceros Leather Shop Below the Qinghu River, and Huangcao Shop of Wenzhou Lacquerware, in Lin’an. However, the key manufacturing locations of Song Dynasty lacquerware included Suzhou, Xiangzhou, Hangzhou, and Wenzhou. At the time, lacquerware was mainly focused on daily household utensils. Varieties included bowls, plates, boxes, caskets, stands, and study tools. This lacquerware was also very varied, with different styles for the same designs. For instance, plates came in round, oval, square, waisted, four-cornered, octagonal, round twisted corner, and four-cornered tree peony shapes. The four different types of lacquerware were copper paint, rhinoceros leather, snail inlay, and carved lacquerware.

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Gold lacquer was a new lacquer work technique in the Song Dynasty. This was divided into gold relief and gold outlines. In the former, a design was carved with yin lines with a special tool on a red or black lacquer base, then filled with gold or silver powder; meanwhile, the latter involved directly depicting a design on the lacquerware using a brush. In 1978, three pieces of wooden gold relief lacquerware were unearthed in a Southern Song tomb in Wujin, Jiangsu. These included Willow Embankment (Liutang tu 柳塘图), a rectangular black lacquer box with gold-filled red lacquer stripes, Court Lady in the Garden (Yuanlin shinü 园林仕女图), a lotus petal-shaped gold-relief red lacquer casket, and Going Traveling (Chuyou tu 出 游图), a rectangular gold-relief red lacquer box. On all of these, figures were outlined with gold against a black or red lacquer base, resulting in a gongbi line-drawing technique. Rhino leather, also known as tiger leather lacquer, or boluo (tiger) lacquer, involved layered application of contrasting bright colors on an implement with unequal convex and concave, dense and thick colored lacquer. This resulted in a lacquer layer that was rich with color. Finally, this was polished with coal. As the lacquer layers were of different heights, implements could exhibit cloud-shaped, round, or pine scales stripes after polishing. The snail inlay would embed various spirals in the surface of an implement. The silver white radiance of the snail inlay would often be set off by the black lacquer surface, creating a magnificent artistic effect. Snail inlay lacquerware prospered during the Song Dynasty, as did the bronze line inlay decorative technique. According to the thickness of the snail inlay, there were differences between the ancient and the modern. Taking the Northern Song as its frame of reference, the Five Dynasties took the former as the old, with many of its thick snail inlays; after the Northern Song, however, to suit the requirements of decorative painting, snail inlays were made thinner. The

SECTION 6 LACQUER, BAMBOO, WOOD, IVORY, AND RHINO HORN

6.15.8 Bodiless ti rhino circular fan handle, Southern Song, held by Zhenjiang Museum in Jiangsu

carving of lacquerware was a technique that prospered in the Song Dynasty. Due to differences in colors of layered lacquer, colors were divided into red, yellow, green, and black. There were also techniques such as ti lacquer and ti rhino. Typical

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surviving carved lacquer works include the ti red box with an osmanthus flower pattern, and the bodiless ti rhino handle (Fig. 6.15.8) rhino handheld mirror box, both unearthed in a Song mausoleum in Jintan in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. Once part of the collection of Xiang Molin of the Ming Dynasty, the osmanthus flower-patterned ti red box features a lid, on top of which is a carved branch of osmanthus flowers. With its edges thoroughly concealed, the box is smooth and round. The lacquer quality is strong and thick, with bright and shiny inner depth. On an infant game-scene ti black plate is a carved night scene of the Mid-Autumn Festival, with railings winding all around, and a group of children playing rowdily. Decorative carvings are not deep, and their heights are generally identical. Somewhat resembling a wooden print, it has an unsophisticated appeal. Liao Dynasty lacquerware was divided into the two forms of wooden body and rolled wood paste body. Varieties included bowls, plates, basins, ladles, small earthenware plates, caskets, combs, and pillows, and colors included black, vermilion red, and sauce red. Jin Dynasty lacquerware largely inherited the Northern Song lacquerware industry. The ti rhino unearthed in Jin tomb, Datong, Shanxi, featured a ti sweetgrass pattern throughout its whole body. The protruding carved pattern softly rotates, and the yin outline emphasizes the two levels of red lacquer, classified as red between black lacquer. This is the largest ti rhino lacquer work from the Song and Jin periods to date.

2. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory, and Rhino Horn In the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, bamboo, wood, ivory, and rhino horn techniques flourished greatly. The Song Dynasty Arts and Crafts Office dealt with 42 kinds of works, including rhino skin, ivory, and amber, and inwood carving work, its bamboo, wood, ivory, and rhino horn carvings were of equal quality. Bamboo

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carving was mainly carried out in the south. Zhan Cheng, who lived during the time of Emperor Gaozong, was skilled in using bamboo to carve palaces, figures, and birds and flower figures. These were complete down to the smallest detail, and extremely dexterous. In Western Xia imperial Mausoleum no. 8, courtyards, mountain ranges, trees, flowers and plants, and figures carved out of bamboo were discovered, with rather rich painting appeal. Wickerwork and rattan works were also common. In many places, name-brand products appeared, such as »Yangzhou district woven mats,« »Yuanzhou bamboo shoes,« and »Quanzhou white rattan chests.« As elephant tusks and rhino horns were rare materials, they were always imported from overseas. These were used in the imperial household to make figures of chariots, bookmarks, trays, seals, and painting and calligraphy roller ends, the craftsmanship of which was rather exquisite. Surviving works include a rhino horn flowerpot. As for the Song ivory pen pot carved with cuju scene held by the Anhui Museum, its outer walls are carved with a scene of an aristocrat’s deep and remote flower garden, in which some men are playing cuju. For this, the artist used the ivory as paper, upon which they wrote with a knife. Through appropriate spacing and careful carving, the different textures of the garden’s buildings, mountains, trees, and figures are thoroughly conveyed, as is the leisurely atmosphere of aristocratic society.

Section 7  The Four Treasures of the Study The »Four Treasures of the Study« usually indicated the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. As these were developed in the Song Dynasty, they were inseparable from the comprehensive flourishing of literature and art at the time. The term »wenfang« (study) appeared approximately during the Northern and Southern Dynasties,

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when it denoted a place in which officials dealt with correspondence. After the Tang Dynasty, it came to indicate the study of a literatus. While study tools had been long established, they did not have a set form. Li Yu, the final ruler of the Southern Tang, who was skilled in brush-andink writing, collectively referred to Chengxin Hall Paper, Li Tingui ink, and the She inkstone as »the crowns of the world.« Northern Song writer and poet Su Yijian’s Notes on the Four [Tools] of the Study (Wenfang sipu 文房四谱) is divided into notes on brushs, notes on ink, notes on paper, and notes on inkstones, as well as discussions on the two additional implements of the brush-holder and the brush-rinsing pot. The »Four Treasures of the Study« thus gradually became the norm.

1. Xuan Writing Brush and Famous Inks In the Song Dynasty, Xuanzhou (modern Xuancheng in Anhui) was the center of writing brush manufacturing, with the so-called Xuan writing brush, made with the brown autumn fur of elderly rabbits, at the top. The Xuan writing brush was renowned all over the country during the Tang, with greater development in the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song. Most notable were the brushes manufactured by the aristocratic Zhuge family, which spanned both the Tang and Song dynasties, and were skillfully made. This original brush-manufacturing technique, and improved brush-manufacturing methods greatly advanced the progress of the writing brush. The Zhuge family’s brush manufacturing was originally known for its »three auxiliaries.« These »three auxiliary brushes« were the basic style of writing brushes after the pizhu (split pillar) technique was created. The Zhuge family produced brushes for long brush tips. As the brush hair would be deeply inserted into the end cavity of the brush pipe, it would remain secure and not fall out. It was also very flexible. The several longtipped zhuxin (pillar heart) brushes unearthed in 1988 in a tomb from the 8th year (1118) of the

SECTION 7 THE FOUR TREASURES OF THE STUDY

Zhenghe Period of the Northern Song, in Hefei, Anhui, were typical of this kind of brush. Based on this, the Zhuge family later created the »centerless scattered outstanding brush.« Dispensing with the zhuxin, with one or two hairs, this brush featured a rather long brush head, its depth buried in the cavity of the brush. This achieved a stable, strong, and ink-saving efficacy. This form, with its lack of center, long brush tip, and deeply buried brush head, was an improvement on the long-tipped brush. This signified a great shift in brush manufacturing techniques. The »centerless scattered outstanding« brush resulted from the collective knowledge of the artisans of the Zhuge family, with Zhuge Gao as the main creator among them. Zhuge Yuan, Zhuge Jian, Zhuge Feng, and Lu Dayuan, Lu Daoren, and Wang Boli acted as his disciples. Other famous brush-makers included Wu Shui, Chengyu, Dai Qiying, and Zhang Yu. Most Song Dynasty ink was produced in Xiezhou (modern She in Anhui). During the late Tang and Five Dynasties, China was torn apart by war. Xi Chao, son of famous Tang Dynasty ink artisan Xi Nai, migrated south to escape this. Upon reaching Xiezhou, he continued to produce ink, and ink manufacturing centers all over the country gradually moved south. As Xizhou was located in the Yellow Mountains, within its borders were excellent quality pines. Burning pine bark and resin, Xi Chao created ink with improved quality. By the Southern Tang, Xi Chao’s son Xi Tinggui had taken over ink production, with his reputation increasing by the day. Gaining the recognition of the Southern Tang ruler, the monarch’s family name Li was bestowed, causing his produced ink to be known as »Li Ink.« In addition to making ample use of Mount Huang pines, Li Tingui also improved pine-crushing and gum-adding techniques. As for raw materials, he added 12 items, including jade fragments, borneol, raw lacquer, gamboge, rhino horns, pearls, and croton. His technique was exquisite, with appropriate propor-

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tions of ash and gum. The ink’s color was glossy and beautiful, and its texture was fine and sleek. »Li Ink,« as representative of the emergence of Xie ink, constituted a sign of Chinese ink manufacturing techniques’ maturation. When Northern Song ink production techniques had reached their peak, some more famous inks appeared in the Central Plains and in the southwest. However, Xie ink remained the most prominent. Ink production was expanded to the surrounding regions of Xiuning, Huozhou, and Huizhou. During the Xining (1068–1077) and Yuanfeng (1078–1085) periods, Zhang Yu also created the technique of using soot to produce ink. Adding substances such as borneol, musk, and gold leaf to the soot, he created »Longxiangji Imperial Offering Ink.« The Song Dynasty saw a dramatic rise in famous ink makers, of which over 100 names, including Sheng Kuangdao, Wang Di, Shen Gui, Pan Gu, and Pu Dashao are recorded. Pan Gu in particular enjoyed a favorable reputation. On the basis of Li Tinggui’s ink, they created Hui ink techniques with more widespread manufacturing locations, and more comprehensive systems. Moreover, there was a great breakthrough in ink manufacturing materials, as the refined soot of tung oil replaced pine ash, becoming the main material used in ink manufacturing. In the aspects of density, luster, permeation, gradation, waterproofness, and the stability of the ink’s color, it was clearly superior to pine ash ink.

2. Famous Papers and Ink Stones Throughout the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song, the paper used in painting and calligraphy gradually improved. Starting from the Five Dynasties, bark paper replaced jute paper, and became commonly used in painting and calligraphy. The production and imitation of Chengxin Hall paper promoted the improvement of painting and calligraphy paper quality, accompanied by the improvement of papermaking technical procedures and equipment. Letter paper

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production gradually developed, and bamboo paper, straw paper, rand ecycled paper became progressively popular. Other notable paper products also sprung up in great numbers. In the Five Dynasties, the official directorate office for the notable paper product Chengxin Hall Paper was specially set up in the time of Li Yu, the last ruler of Southern Tang. This was named after the Chengxin Hall storage space. This paper was as smooth as spring rivers, and as dense a silk cocoons, and was extremely precious even in its time. With the Song Dynasty as the maturation period of Xuan paper, Jing in Anhui became the center of Xuan paper production. Xuan paper was of fine quality, smooth, soft yet durable, pure white, not easily damaged by moths of worms, and easy to maintain in the long-term. In addition to use in painting and calligraphy, it was also largely used for prints, fans, letters, rubbings, and papercutting. Following the development of typography and painting and calligraphy, paper production in other Song Dynasty regions also flourished greatly. For instance, in Shu, paper was often made with hemp, and around Zhejiang it was frequently made with fresh bamboo. In Beitu, there was mulberry tree bark paper, and rattan was used in paper around the Shan River. At this time, paper decoration was prevalent, with power, wax, dye, and yahua being added to paper. Refined letter paper was also produced in the colors of red, purple, brown, yellow, and bluish green. Equally as famous as Tang Dynasty Xuetao letter paper was Sichuan Xiegong paper, which came in ten colors, including red, yellow, green, and blue. This was also known as »ten-type rough letter paper.« Floral paper was also gradually developed, with the emergence of designs featuring landscapes, forests, sprigs, flowers and fruits, lions and phoenixes, fish and insects, the God of Longevity, the Eight Immortals, and bell cauldrons. At this time, there were also imitations of famous papers such as Tang Xuetao letter paper and imitation South-

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ern Tang Chengxin Hall paper. Moreover, there was also the jing paper stored in Jinsushan. This was mulberry bark paper, inside and outside of which was wax, with a slightly glimmering surface. This was famous for being the paper upon which the Tripitaka was printed. After the Five Dynasties until the Northern and Southern Song, inkstones gradually became mainstream, with Duan and She ink stones receiving the most attention. With their solid and moist materials, purplish color and luster, dense patterns, and elegant carvings, in addition to being a means of grinding ink, Duan and She inkstones also became subjects of evaluation and assessment. Many famous literati wrote essays on inkstones, with notes on curio. For example, Ouyang Xiu’s Notes on Inkstones (Yanpu 砚谱), Su Shi’s Judgements on Inkstones (Yanping 砚评), and Mi Fu’s History of Inkstones (Yanshi 砚史) were all focused on form and feeling, and were culturally educational. The Duan inkstone, produced in Duanzhou (modern Zhaoqing in Guangdong), with its features such as exquisite and tender stone quality, density and solidity, silent grindstone, water reservoir and lack of waste, and production of ink without losing brush hairs, was the best of all famous inkstones. Since its popularity during the Tang, it was especially revered by literati in the Song Dynasty, and Duan inkstones were given as tributes. Moreover, She inkstones, produced in Shezhou, reached their apex with the »She River Dragon Tail Inkstone.« In the Southern Tang, the Inkstone Affairs Department was established in Zhengzhou, providing an

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imperial storehouse for the organization and selection of stones for inkstone production. By the Song Dynasty, the reputation of She inkstones had become greater, so much so that they received the praise of the literati. The carving style of She inkstones was upright and proper, and became representative of Song Dynasty carving. In addition, other well-known varieties of Song Dynasty inkstones included the »Hongsi,« »Taohe,« and »Zijin« inkstones. As for inkstone style, Five Dynasties inkstones generally carried on the designs of Tang Dynasty inkstones, with the winnowing basket-shape as the most important. In the Northern and Southern Song, inkstones designs tended to be diverse. In the manufacturing process, various craftsmen, according to the quality of local inkstone materials, exhibited their talent by individually producing many different styles of inkstones. For instance, Duan inkstone shapes included the Chinese character feng 风 (wind), the »phoenix pond,« hatchets, bells, jade tablets, zithers, moons, and pitchpipes. Shapes of She inkstones included Jade Hall, moons, »dragon eye,« jade tablets, melons, »Biyong« and »Heavenly Lake.« Moreover, the most representative inkstone style of the Song Dynasty was the renowned chaoshou (»grab hand«) style, also known as the chashou (»insert hand«) style. The backs of these inkstones were hollow from the front to the back, with the front and two sides forming the edges. These could be placed down steadily, and also allowed one to insert their hand into the bottom of the inkstone to lift it up, hence the name.

CHAPTER XVI  NEW ACHIEVEMENTS IN WRITING ABOUT FINE ARTS Section 1  Theories of Painting Following the extensive phenomenon of free artistic expression between the Northern and Southern Song and the Five Dynasties, theories also received unprecedented attention. With great number and varied subjects, comprehensive and meticulous discourse and profound viewpoints, the standard greatly surpassed previous dynasties. Systems were gradually formed in several theories of painting, with the most outstanding theoretical achievements being accomplished in landscape painting. In this period, Jing Hao’s Notes on the Art of the Brush (Bifa ji 笔法记) of the Five Dynasties, Guo Xi’s Lofty Record of Forests and Streams (Linquan gaozhi 林泉高致) and Han Zhuo’s Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes (Shanshui chunquan ji 山水纯全集), both of the Northern Song, were the three of the most representative writings.

1. Jing Hao’s Notes on the Art of the Brush In chapter one of Notes on the Art of the Brush, Jing Hao outlines ancient topics. This comprehensive work is a relatively early treatise on landscape painting in the history of Chinese painting theory. It is written in a question-and-answer format about the brush techniques of an old man from Shigu Mountain. With explanations and elaborations, this work demonstrates understanding that far surpasses that of its predecessors. »Painters and paintings observe the object and take its truth« is one important point of this work. Topics in landscape painting theory from the Sui and Tang dynasties onward all include »Six Prerequi-

sites,« »Spirit, Subtlety, Originality, and Cleverness,« »Four Strengths of the Brush«, and »Tangibility Versus Intangibility.« In Notes on the Art of the Brush the »truth« and »likeness« of artistic images are explained. »Likeness obtains form and loses vital energy. Truth is achieved when both vital energy and essence can flourish.« From this, it is clear that realm of »truth« is superior to that of »likeness.« Consequently, Jing Hao places particular emphasis on painting the truth of objects and their images. This is known as the »representation of truth,« and not only truly recreates an objective object and its image, but also requires an accurate portrayal of their poetic charm. This requires exquisite artistic skill on the part of the painter, as well as the ability to meticulously observe, comprehend, and ponder life down to the smallest detail. On this basis, Jing Hao claims that painting involves the »Six Prerequisites« of vital energy, rhythm, thought, scenery, brush, and ink. This is a continuation of the »Six Criteria« theory developed by Xie He. As for brush technique, Jing Hao puts forward the »Four Strengths« of »muscle, flesh, bone, and spirit,« providing specific guidance as to their practical use. Jing Hao also judges artworks by dividing them into »Four Classifications,« being »spirit, subtlety, originality, and cleverness.« He also discusses the two defects of »tangibility« and »intangibility« in painting, thus reflecting his emphasis of the idea that »both vital energy and essence can flourish,« and that the creation of work that is both divine and physical. Successes and failures in landscape painting ink techniques since the Tang Dynasty are also systematically laid out in Notes on the Art of the

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Brush. This encouraged the gradual maturation of landscape painting theories. Using ink painting as a new angle for criticism, Jing Hao reevaluates the work of Tang Dynasty landscape painting masters such as Li Sixun, Wu Daozi, Xiang Rong, Wang Wei, and Zhang Chen. These discussions are rather refined. His early adoption of the merits and drawbacks of ink painting as key criteria of landscape painting evaluation reflected the beginning of a move towards ink painting during the period. From this viewpoint, Jing Hao mainly took inspiration from Zhang Gui in landscape painting, while also developing the strokes of Wu Sheng, and the ink use of Xiang Rong, combining them into an integral whole. Not only that, but Jing Hao ultimately proposed that only by forgetting about the brush and ink could one see the true boundaries of the painting. This proclamation provoked the development of literati theories of painting. Taking a broad view of the arguments in Notes on the Art of the Brush, they promoted the »painting truth« pursued in landscape paintings after the Northern Song, giving prominence to the practical creation of ink paintings.

2. Guo Xi’s Lofty Record of Forests and Streams Guo Xi’s Lofty Record of Forests and Streams is another classical work on Chinese landscape painting theory, written in the Northern Song. Guo Si, the son of Guo Xi, compiled and organized his father’s spoken teachings into essays, thereby merging his own knowledge with his father’s. The entire work consists of six chapters, »Instructions on Landscape Painting,« »The Meaning of Painting,« »Secrets of Painting,« »Painting Topics,« »Reminders on Painting Styles« and »A Record of Painting.« The first four among these are treatises on painting techniques with thorough explanations of the author’s views on landscape painting production; in »Reminders on Painting Styles,« parts of Guo Xi’s paintings are recorded; in »A Record of Painting,« Guo Si relates the story of Guo

SECTION 1 THEORIES OF PAINTING

Xi receiving the favor of Emperor Shenzong, as well as information on historical paintings in the palace. This document is an important resource for researching both the life of Guo Xi and court landscape painting. Different from Notes on the Art of the Brush, Lofty Record of Forests and Streams emphasizes the painter’s careful observation of natural scenery and close attention to the artistic moods of landscapes. Aspects such as the relationship between the arrangement, detail, and integrity of scenery and composition in landscape paintings, as well as the use of brush, ink, and coloring, are thoroughly discussed. In addition to elaborating rules of natural landscape composition, and paying attention to changing landscapes during the four seasons, at morning and night, in wind and rain, and in light and dark, the author also particularly advocates the painter’s discovery and molding of the graceful artistic image of a landscape. In his opinion, the painter must select the most moving natural scenery and carry out an extraction process, constantly mulling it over to create a rich, ideal, and appealing artistic mood. He also emphasizes the rich life experience and earnest attitude required of the painter. Only through »cultivation and expansion,« »observation of pure skill,« »accumulation of much experience« and »taking of pure essence« would they overcome various common mistakes in painting. Full of original ideas, the author proposes a combined distant and close observation method known as the »developing distance method,« and the »all-round perspective method« in which one depicts all they see in their landscape painting. As for the spatial perspective of mountains, the author firstly summarizes the »three distances« of high distance, deep distance, and level distance. In addition to explaining compositional laws of landscape painting and principles of transformation, he also demonstrates perspectives of viewing the forms and appearances of mountains from different angles, as well as rules of spatial dis-

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placement. The writer emphasizes the four changing seasons in landscapes, elaborating upon the different natural phenomena discovered in the mist and haze of true landscapes during the four seasons, as well as the rule that the ground causes all landscapes to be different. Regarding the relationship between mountains and their surrounding scenery, the author presents the measurement relation that »mountains are taller than trees, and trees are taller than people,« as well as the interactive relationship between forest valleys, pavilions and kiosks, and people in motion—along with mountains, rivers, and marshes. In this way, the writer gradually explains the creative requirement of emphasizing the greatness of mountains and the movement of water in landscape painting. This reflects his long-term intention to observe and experience, and his relentless pursuit of the creation process. Furthermore, the author of this work stresses the aesthetic function of landscape paintings. According to him, with landscape paintings one can not only walk and observe, but also travel and reside—translating this into a fine work of art. This meant that landscape paintings had to satisfy »people’s quick expectations,« allowing them to break away from »dusty vessels and echoing locks,« thus obtaining spiritual comfort. The phrase »sitting down not on a banquet seat, but amid streams and ravines« meant that, even in an official position, one could delight in landscapes. This reflected the carefree mindset of literati scholar officials during the Song Dynasty. Moreover, the writer felt that only by transcending earthly matters could one truly comprehend the beauty of landscapes and experience the boundless charm of mountain scenery. This is what is called the »ambition of the forest and stream.« The author states that only after a landscape has formed a strong relationship with an individual can it hold aesthetic value. Landscape paintings must also contain »thought beyond the scene« and »external thought.« How-

CHAPTER XVI NEW ACHIEVEMENTS IN WRITING ABOUT FINE ARTS

ever, for a painter to reach these two boundaries, they must possess the fundamental prerequisites of »cultivation,« »observation,« »experience« and »selection.« As a result, only with profound and extensive training, meticulous and precise observation, extensive and rich experience, and succinct and appropriate selection could a painter both receive and observe, thereby creating a style of their own. The author also focuses on ink painting technique, believing that »in putting brush to paper, one should unite heaven and earth.« He puts forward the requirements of »mixed brushwork and moist ink coloring,« and the corresponding eight brush techniques of circling pale ink, texture stroke scrubbing, washing, cleansing, dropping, clenching, dotting, and drawing. These various viewpoints reflect the multifaceted exploration of landscape painting practice in the Song Dynasty, while also initiating new aspects of scenery observation and technique demonstration in Northern Song landscape painting.

3. Han Zhuo’s Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes Han Zhuo’s Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes is another important study on landscape painting from the Northern and Southern Song and the Five Dynasties. Published during the third year (1121) of the Xuanhe period, it is a record of the author’s key artistic views. Also known as Han Chou and Qintang, Han Zhuo was a native of Nanyang (now located in Henan). Born into an official family with a literary reputation, he was skilled at painting landscapes and ink stones. However, his main achievement was his contribution to painting theory. During the Shaosheng period (1094–1098) of the Northern Song, Han Zhou went to Kaifeng, where he received the military rank of Emperor’s Son-in-Law as well as the appreciation of Wang Xuan, with whom he often evaluated ancient and modern painting and calligraphy. Wang Xuan also recommended him

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to Zhaoji (Emperor Huizong of Song), who was Prince of Duan at the time. After Zhaoji ascended the throne, Han Zhuo was made painter-in-waiting at the Hanlin Calligraphy and Art Department, before becoming chief secretary, providing his services to the imperial court palace. His painted works have all been lost. Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes consists of ten chapters, entitled »Treatise on Mountains,« »Treatise on Water,« »Treatise on Forests and Trees,« »Treatise on Rocks,« »Treatise on Rose-Tinted Clouds, Mist and Dew, Sunrays Penetrating Mountain Fog, Wind and Rain, and Snowy Fog,« »Treatise on Scenes of Figures, Bridges, Defensive Forts, Buddhist and Daoist Temples, Mountain Cottages, Boats and Carts, and the Four Seasons,« »Treatise on Brush and Ink Methods and Spirit and Sound Defects,« »Treatise on Painting Observation and Other Knowledge,« »Treatise on Ancient and Modern Scholars,« and »Treatise on the Paintings and Shortcomings of the Three Ancients.« In this work, the invaluable viewpoints and discourse of predecessors are extensively gathered and compiled systematically. Han Zhuo emphasizes that a painter must be learned with broad knowledge, learning from the reason of nature and the methods of the ancients. However, he was disdainful towards these »not seeking ancient methods nor painting true mountains, but engaging only in vulgar transformation, selecting and gathering the false and superfluous.« He thus blamed the generation who did »not know landscape rules and requirements.« Harmonious and Complete Compilation on Landscapes complemented the »three distances« put forward by Guo Xi, namely level distance, high distance, and deep distance. The new »three distances« consisted of broad distance, hidden distance, and obscure distance. Compared to the »three distances« of Guo Xi, the new »three distances« focused more on the natural characteristics of misty rain and lingering clouds south of the Yangtze River. This increased subjective

SECTION 1 THEORIES OF PAINTING

experience, thus expanding expressive space for landscape painting.

4. Theoretical Writings on Birdand-Flower and Figure Painting The development of bird and figure paintings during the Northern and Southern Song and the Five Dynasties provoked the emergence of birdand-flower painting theory. Both written in the Northern Song were Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays (Mengxi bitan 梦溪笔谈) and Guo Ruoxu’s Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting (Tuhua jianwen zhi 图画见闻志), which carried out treatises on the Five Dynasties birdand-flower paintings of Huang Quan and Xu Xi. In Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo discusses the flower paintings of Huang Sheng and his son, which featured clever coloration, and original, delicate brushwork, the ink marks of which were barely visible. Finishing their works with a with simple light wash, they were known for »sketching from nature.« In his discussion of Xu Xi, Shen Kuo mentions that in his ink bird-and-flower paintings, he would use the brush hastily, outlining with red powder and nothing more. This created an impression that, although distant, they conveyed a sense of liveliness. In the Northern Song there was also Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan (Guangchuan huaba 广 川画跋), written by Dong You, containing unique insights on »likeness« in bird-and-flower paintings. In the Southern Song, in Jade Dew from the Forest of Cranes (Helin yulu 鹤林玉露) Luo Dajing recorded Southern Song insect painting masters and their painting processes, known for »the uniting of insects and oneself.« The Xuanhe Catalog of Painting (Xuanhe huapu 宣和画谱) emphasized the portrayal of different flowers, plants, and birds, as well as the notion that only through mastery of the typical characteristics of these could a painter make them appear vivid and lifelike. In addition, pioneer of scholarly painting Su Shi focused on the bamboo paintings of Wen Tong, in-

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dicating his theoretical positions of »planning in advance« and »the heart and hand responding to one another.« Regarding figure painting theory, in Dream Pool Essays, Shen Kuo carried out textual analysis of figure paintings, and put forward specific topics relating to painting techniques, such as the musical aspects of Prime Minister Gao Yi’s temple murals, and Wu Daozi’s technique of depicting emanations from the Buddha’s head. In Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting, Guo Ruoxu carries out detailed discussions of historical changes in ancient Chinese attire. On that basis, he gives Yan Liben’s painting of Zhaojun wearing a veil hat, and Wang Zhishen’s painting of Emperor Wu of Liang sitting in a carriage, as examples of paintings with a lack of attention to detail. In theorizing the portrayal of women, Guo Ruoxu also claimed that people of the time, only concerned with the appearance of their paintings, did not capture the appeal of reason. He felt that this was inferior to the physical and spiritual nature possessed by paintings of women by wellknown scholars in previous dynasties, which provoked a sense of deference and submission. In Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan, paintings of Tang Dynasty court lady Zhou Fang, and those which survive by Wu Daozi, are evaluated. The treatise Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting was also related to figure painting in that it summarized the characteristics and achievements of works of figure paintings masters from previous dynasties. This consisted of both theory and narrative. Zhao Xihe’s Pure Records of the Cave Heaven (Dongtian qinglu 洞天清录) contains a rough commentary on the successes and failures of the figure paintings of predecessors. He also emphasizes the importance of »finishing touches« in figure painting, devising for this a set of subtle techniques. In Mi Fu’s Famous Sayings of the Oceans and Mountains (Haiyue mingyan 海岳名言), he mainly recounts his own experiences and insights. In a theoretical section on figure painting, he writes an eye-wit-

CHAPTER XVI NEW ACHIEVEMENTS IN WRITING ABOUT FINE ARTS

ness account of surviving famous paintings from past dynasties, and carries out a commentary on their truth and style. In painting theory, Su Shi paid particular attention to the lifelike, believing that Wu Daozi’s paintings achieved »creation of new ideas within the rules, entrusting subtle reason beyond the bold and unconstrained.« This became a well-known preposition in art theory.

Section 2  Painting Reviews During the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song, painting evaluation was gradually developed. The most important of these rich writings included Huang Xiufu’s Record of ­Famous Paintings of Yizhou (Yizhou minghua lu 益 州名画录), Liu Daochun’s Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties (Wudai minghua buyi 五代名画补遗) and Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty (Shengchao minghua ping 圣朝名画评), Mi Fu’s Famous Sayings of the Oceans and Mountains, and Dong You’s Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan. Notably, after Li Sizhen was placed in the »mediocre classification« during the Tang Dynasty, he conducted himself more admirably in the Song Dynasty, ultimately being placed in the highest painting classification level.

1. Huang Xiufu’s Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou, also known as Record of Famous Paintings of Chengdu (Chengdu minghua lu 成都名画录), is the earliest extant regional history of Chinese paintings. Also an evaluation of paintings, it mainly records the situation regarding mural creation in Western Shu from the later Tang through the Five Dynasties and the early Northern Song. The authors, Huang Xiufu and Zi Guiben, had long lived in Chengdu. Although their dates are unclear, they may have

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been born during the later Shu, and were active in the early years of the Northern Song. Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou is divided into beginning, middle, and ending chapters, and is in a historical biography format. It contains profiles and murals of 58 painters, from Sun Wei to Zheng Wenxiao. These painters and their works are arranged into the four classifications of »mediocre, divine, extraordinary, and professional.« In this work, Huang Xiufu was the first to place the mediocre category above the other three, which had a far-reaching impact on the painting evaluation system. Focusing on the individual characteristics of each classification, Huang Xiufu used concise language to define and explain these. This served as the criterion for evaluating the relative superiority of paintings, and his understanding of art was thereby concentrated and reflected. In his opinion, of all the painting classifications, »mediocre« was the hardest to achieve. This state did not adhere to conventions of refined lines and delicate washes but, with the brush pot forming its tool, it was naturally attained with no model form, born from the expression of ideas. In other words, the mediocre classification was as result of natural and authentic ability. Meanwhile, the divine classification was based on the ability to conform to nature, the extraordinary classification was based on the ability to conform to natural instincts, and the professional classification was bason on the ability to conform to an image. As Huang Xiufu viewed the mediocre classification as the highest artistic category, he was the first to place it above all other classifications. Based on his criterion, the rankings of 58 famous painters in Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou formed a pyramid structure. After most painters were placed in the professional category, this structure progressively decreased until Sun Wei was the only artist in the mediocre category. Although in Huang Xiufu’s painting evaluation the mediocre classification was merely focused on exceeding the mediocre and conventional, and did not touch upon the

SECTION 2 PAINTING REVIEWS

creation of literati paintings, it objectively offered a theoretical basis for the »careless and mediocre brushwork« of later literati painters. Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou also included biographies of several famous painters. These contained their native places, official positions and promotions, educational relationships, names of their works and the places in which they created them. As the author accumulated material by researching remnant murals, the written accounts in this work of names, content, eras, arrangements, compositions, and painting characteristics of temple murals are therefore reasonably comprehensive, accurate, and trustworthy. As mural painters were mostly Western Shu academy painters, whilst introducing them he also touches upon painting academy systems, as well as the promotion records, social positions, position status, educational relationships, painting creations, and artistic schools of painters. This provided important documentary material for research into painting activity in Western Shu painting academies during the Five Dynasties, and the influence of these on early Song painting academies. In addition, the »Six Criteria« of Xie He of Southern Qi were also rearranged and interpreted in Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou, the impact of which continues today. The compilation of Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou was influenced by the historical painting records of writers such as Pei Xiaoyuan, Zhu Jingxuan, and Duan Chenshi of the Tang Dynasty. However, Huang Xiufu must be credited with innovating the regional historical painting record format.

2. Liu Daochun’s Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty and Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties The influence of the periodized critical biography style begun by Zhu Jingxuan of the Tang Dynasty in his painting history, Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Guang (Guang liangchao min-

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ghua mu 广梁朝名画目), was greatest in Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty and Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five, by Liu Daochun. While Liu Daochun’s dates are uncertain, he was a native of Kaifeng, and was active approximately during the Northern Song. Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty, also known as Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Song Dynasty (Songchao minghua ping 宋朝名画评), mainly comments on the general situation regarding painting development in the early Song. The entire book is compiled according to the successive categories of figures, landscapes and forests, livestock, flowers, plants and plumage, spirits, and wooden buildings. Within each of these six categories, the artistic achievements of painters are evaluated according to the three categories of »divine, extraordinary, and professional.« Concisely explaining his own artistic views, the author justifies his divisions of different painters into these three categories. Of the historical biographies in this work, while most painters are accorded one each, there are also some collective biographies. As all content of this work was the author’s own research, its material is authentic. While the development of fine arts during the Song Dynasty fundamentally revolved around activity in the Imperial Painting Academy, the organizational structure, scope, position, members, and painting activity of the latter are recorded in detail in Commentary on Famous Paintings of the Present Dynasty. Particularly important are the two criteria for evaluation and identification of works laid out in the preface to this book, namely the »Six Prerequisites« and the »Six Strengths.« This could be said to be specifically using, interpreting, and developing the »Six Criteria« theory of Xie He and the »Six Prerequisites« of Jing Hao. This had significant influence on later painting practice and evaluation. Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties, completed in the fourth year (1059) of the Ji-

CHAPTER XVI NEW ACHIEVEMENTS IN WRITING ABOUT FINE ARTS

ayou period, was also known as Notes on Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties (Wudai minghua ji 五 代名画记) and Records of Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties (Wuchao minghua lu 五朝名画录). This work fundamentally continued the paradigm and style of Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages (Lidai minghua ji 历代名画记) and Records of Famous Paintings of the Tang Dynasty (Tanchao minghua lu 唐朝名画录). In that work, Liao Daochun recorded and arranged painters overlooked in Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Guang in his so-called »addendum,« which is therefore an addendum to Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Guang. The book compiles a total of 24 painters and artists, arranging them in order of figures, landscapes, animals, flowers, bamboo, and plumage, wooden buildings, clay modelling, and wood carving. In each of these seven categories, painters are also arranged into the three historical biography classifications of »divine,« »extraordinary« and »professional.« Although its length is short, this work contains much valuable historical information, including written accounts of Five Dynasties painters Jing Hao and Guan Tong, and Khitan painters Hu Yuan and Li Zanhua, which were first seen in this work. Meanwhile, the clay modelling and wood carving activity of Yang Huizhi, Liu Jiulang, Wang Wen and Yan Shi are also recorded. This is the only ancient theoretical writing on painting that includes historical biographies of sculptors.

3. Other Painting Reviews Written evaluations of paintings during the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song also included Li Jian’s Classification of Deyu Zhai’s Paintings (Deyu zhai huapin 德隅斋画品) and Dong You’s Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan. Li Jian, courtesy name Fangshu, was the author of Classification of Deyu Zhai’s Paintings. A native of Huazhou (modern Hua, in Shanxi), although poor in his youth was brimming with talent, obtaining

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the recognition of Su Shi. In middle age, he cut short his dreams to become an official, making his home in Changdu (now Eastern Changge, in Henan). In the first year of Yuanfu (1098), when Zhao Lingwa became the commander of Xiangyang, he took in his travel bag some famous paintings, which Li Jian evaluated. In Classification of Deyu Zhai’s Paintings, he recorded 22 works of art, concluding that four were from the Tang Dynasty, 13 were from the Five Dynasties, and five were from the Song Dynasty. These works have since been lost. However, from Li Jian’s commentary, with its exquisite writing style and specific descriptions, one can gauge the features of some significant works from the Tang to the Northern Song. This also held significant value for research into painting history and painting and calligraphy appraisals. Apart from Classification of Deyu Zhai’s Paintings, there were no other evaluative writing styles at the time that carried out assessment based on rankings. However, due to the writer’s comprehensive artistic training, his evaluations were precise and appropriate, hitting the marks of subtlety and reason. The writer of Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan was Dong You, courtesy name Yanyuan. A native of Dongping (now located in Shandong), he served as Edict Attendant of the Huiqiu Hall during the Zhenghe period (1111–1118). Well known for his ability to appreciate and carry out textual criticism of painting and calligraphy, his Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan and Postscript on Calligraphy of Guangchuan (Guangchan shuba 广川 书跋) constituted a double-edged sword in written textual research and interpretation of painting and calligraphy during the Northern Song. Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan was comprised of six chapters and contained 134 prefaces and postscripts, including imperial and personal collections. The majority of painting postscripts among those featured historical stories and social customs. Painting postscripts placed great emphasis on textual criticism and appraisal via dis-

SECTION 3 ART-HISTORICAL WRITING

cussion. Quoting the classics, they all carried out multifaceted demonstrations of aspects such as subject matter and the object systems of artworks. While different from other evaluative writings, placing particular emphasis on artistic styles and techniques, it periodically offered unique insights on the identification of works.

Section 3  Art-Historical Writing Writings on the history of painting from the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song directly inherited the historical biography style of Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages. Also borrowing stylistic elements from annuals and chronicles, for agility and pragmaticism, it formed a new and distinct style. Historians emerged in large numbers during this period, manifesting written works. The overall contribution of the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song to the written history of painting consists of three particularly noteworthy aspects. First, the attention paid by fine arts historians to the current dynasty—for instance, Guo Ruxu’s Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting and Deng Chun’s Continued Paintings (Huaji 画继) both placed particular emphasis on the history of the their time. Second was the prominent emergence of regional history. In addition to Famous Paintings of Yizhou, lost works such as Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Paintings (Liangchao huamu 梁朝画目), New Compilation of Guang Paintings (Guanghua xinji 广画新集), Record of Yizhou Paintings (Yizhou hulu 益州画录), and Record of Lost Paintings from South of the Yangtze River (Jiangnan hualu shiyi 江南画录拾遗) had been categorized as regional histories of painting. Third was the comparmentalization of history. Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting and Continued Paintings were typical reflections of this.

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1. Guo Ruoxu’s Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting Guo Ruoxu, author of Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting, was a native of Taiyuan (now located in Shanxi). Although his dates are uncertain, he was active during the Xining period (1068–1077) of the Northern Song. Born into the imperial household, Guo Ruoxu’s father and grandfather both had a passion for calligraphy and painting, and owned a rich collection. Guo Ruoxu read omnivorously, acquiring outstanding knowledge and experience. In the prime of his life, he wrote Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting. Following Famous Paintings Through the Ages, in that book he recorded the historical development of painting from the first year of the Huichang period of the Tang Dynasty to the seventh year of the Xining period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1074). In total, the work included 284 painters. Among them, 27 were from the late Tang, 91 were from the Five Dynasties, and 166 were from the early Song. Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting contains six chapters in total. Chapter one was a narrative discussion, the style of which imitated the first three chapters of Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages. This included five narrative writings on the various theories, exploring the present dynasty, ancient admonishments, meanings of paintings’ names, and the creation of models. There were also the 11 discussions on different kinds of clothes, distinctive and unteachable styles, merits and drawbacks of brush techniques, styles and techniques of Cao and Wu, coloring techniques of Wu, images of women, collection of icons, the three masters of landscape painting, the different styles of »Huang and Xu,« dragon painting styles and techniques, and merits and drawbacks of the ancient and the modern. Within these, a great deal of content including painting history, theory, logic, techniques, evaluation, and collection was related and discussed.

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This was a concentrated embodiment of Guo Ruoxu’s painting theory and artistic views. Chapters two to four imitated the style of the final seven chapters of Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages, listing the profiles of 284 painters from the late Tang until the beginning of the Northern Song. Within these are written accounts of their lives, mentors, expertise, painting achievements and artistic ideologies. Chapter five provides reminders of stories, selecting relevant tales of painters passed on in the writings of predecessors from the Tang until Five Dynasties. There are 27 of these in total. Chapter six is centered on recent events, recording matters personally witnessed by the writer related to painting circles in the Five Dynasties, Song, Liao, and the Korean Goryeo Dynasty. There are 32 of these in total. Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting continued and developed Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages’ writing technique of combining biographies with historical discussions. This work preserved a great deal of historical painting material, reflecting features of painting development from the later Tang until the mid-Northern Song. However, taking »painting« as its main thread, Notes on Famous Paintings Through the Ages chronologically relates the development process of painting from prehistory until the Tang, from a historiographical point of view. This work indicates that after painting became a standalone form, its ancient records of enlightening accomplishments were lost. Meanwhile, more importance was attached to craftsmanship, thereby resulting in the judgement of the »modern as inferior to ancient.« However, centering on the artistic quality of painting, Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting focuses on painting vocabulary, thereby reaching the conclusion of the ancient and the modern each have their own merits and drawbacks. In Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting, Guo Ruoxu further develops the »Six Criteria« of Xie He, believing that these were core

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methods of painting that remained steadfast through the ages. In particular, the »lively spirit« was the essence of ancient and modern technique. While the other five could be improved through study, only the lively spirit was a gift with which a painter must be born. He also linked the moral standing of artists with their creations, believing the two to be inextricable. According to him, if moral standing was high, so would be spirit; if spirit was high, so would be liveliness. This argument had an important impact on later generations, especially on literati painting. He also indicated the differences in painting styles caused by different living environments, as well as the contemporary painting requirement of »working out the theme before beginning to paint,« which was the only way of arranging the overall composition. As painted art moved from craftsmanship into a higher level of cultural standing, these arguments padded out theory with knowledge.

2. Deng Chun’s A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art-Historical Writings A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art-Historical Writings was an important historical treatise of paintings that came after Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting. The author Deng Chun, courtesy name Gongshou, was a native of Shuangliu (now located in Sichuan). Although his dates are uncertain, he was born at approximately the end of the Northern Song, and was mainly active during the Southern Song. Born into a long line of high officials, his family owned a rich collection of paintings and calligraphy, and had carried out multifaceted research into other famous relics. Experienced and knowledgeable, he verified documents and, according to what he had seen, compiled A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art-Historical Writings. A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art-Historical Writings was a written account of historical facts regarding painting circles from the

SECTION 3 ART-HISTORICAL WRITING

94 years between the seventh year of the Xining period of the Northern Song (1074) and the third year (1167) of the Qindao period of Emperor Xiaozong, during the Southern Song. The book is comprised of ten chapters, with a preliminary chapter as a preface, including a written account of the origin, process, method, and style of the compilation, and in which the author elaborated upon his personal artistic views. Chapters one through five compile biographies of 219 painters, classifying and arranging them according to their status and positions: chapter one, devoted to »sacred art,« was a written account of the painting activity of Emperor Huizong of Song; chapter two is devoted to »princes and imperial relatives«; chapter three focuses on »royals, dignitaries, and worthies, and hermit scholars«; chapter four was on »increased gentry civilians«; chapter five on »Daoist monks, generational women (and eunuchs).« As he believed that high quality of paintings could only be achieved through high moral standing, he paid attention to the expression of feelings, as well as the intrapersonal spread of art. The biographies were arranged in order of the painter status. Although this had first been seen in the period of Record of Things Seen and Heard with Regard to Painting, by the time of Deng Chun it had become the esteemed style of aristocrats and scholar-officials. This reflected the beginning of a move in the history of art from political enlightenment and religious belief towards the humanities. In addition, chapters six and seven were divided into the classifications of Daoist and Buddhist spirits, copied characters, mountains, rivers, trees, and rocks, flowers, bamboo, and plumage, livestock, insects, and fish, wooden buildings, boats, carts, fruit, vegetables, medicinal herbs, and small scene paintings. There was also historical information on academy painters, and the lifetime achievements and specialties of professional painters. Chapter eight is devoted to artwork inscriptions, featuring a catalogue of the writer’s personal private fine art collection. Nine is devoted to various distant

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theoretical opinions, and ten is devoted to various theories. In both of these chapters, the scattered »jotting« style is used to divide written accounts of legends passed on in the Tang, Five Dynasties, and mid-Northern Song painting circles. The author thus put forward his own opinions on painting evaluation and connoisseurship. A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art Historical Writings first appeared in the Early Southern Song Dynasty. This was the precise time at which literati painters began to appear. Amongst literati scholar officials, painters emerged in large numbers, becoming more active by the day. The author’s reverence for the literati is a precise reflection of this trend. In his work, Guo Ruoxu’s expresses his belief that the »lively spirit« of painters was unteachable, completely depending upon individual aptitude. On the one hand, he emphasizes the cultural accomplishments and artistic charm of painters. On the other hand, he records the situation regarding relevant systems, creative activities, and professional painters in the Imperial Painting Academy, as well as the exchange of fine art between the Song Dynasty and its surrounding regions. However, he belittled common artisans. A Continuation of the History of Painting and Other Art Historical Writings set the precedent for comprehensive use of multifaceted resources such as poetry, literature, and notes of predecessors in compiling history. However, as for commentaries on painters’ works, having not seen them in person, the author could neither praise nor criticize. This resulted in a treatise that was relatively cautious and even-handed. In addition, periodized and regional history emerged prominently during the Five Dynasties, and in the Northern and Southern Song periods. Among these, Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Paintings, Hu Jiao’s Liang Dynasty Catalogue of Famous Paintings of Guang, and Liu Daochun’s Addendum to Famous Paintings of the Five Dynasties reflected the situation of painting development in the Central Plain; Ren Xian’s New Compilation

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of Guang Paintings, Xin Xian’s Record of Yizhou Paintings, and Huang Xiufu’s Record of Famous Paintings of Yizhou all recorded changes in western Shu painting circles; records of painting south of the Yangtze river included the anonymous Record of Paintings South of the Yangtze River and Xu Xuan’s Record of Lost Paintings from South of the Yangtze River. As periodized and regional history involved research into historical painting phenomena from a particular period or region, this could be deeply, comprehensively, and easily carried out. This research was therefore rigorous and trustworthy.

Section 4  Records of Painting, Writings on Connoisseurship and Collection, and Writings on Epigraphy and Architecture In addition to the aforementioned painting theories, classifications, and history, during the Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song writings on fine art also included records such as the Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting, as well as writings on connoisseurship and collection. Moreover, the origin of epigraphy and the development of architecture also led to more writings.

1. Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting, and the Writings on Connoisseurship and Collection of Mi Fu and Others The Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting was a large record of paintings compiled by the Hanlin Imperial Academy, presided over by Emperor Huizong of Song. All opinions and commentaries on calligraphers and painters in this work are representative of the fundamental position on painting of the imperial household, that is, of Emperor Huizong. Its grading criterion were also identical to those of the Song Dynasty Painting Academy.

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The Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting is comprised of 20 Chapters. In total, it records 231 painters from the Wei, Jin, Northern Song dynasties. It contains a total of 6396 works divided into the ten categories of »Daoism and Buddhism,« »Figures,« »Buildings,« »Ethnic Minorities,« »Dragons and Fish,« »Landscapes,« »Livestock,« »Birds and Flowers,« »Ink and Bamboo« and »Fruits and Vegetables.« At the beginning of each section is a short piece of writing detailing the origin, development, and representative individuals of each particular branch of painting. Painter profiles and works were then arranged according to period. Although Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting is generally considered a record book, it lacks the requirements for this in many ways. For instance, it only lists items, not recording the circulation of or inscriptions on works. However, it displays its strength as a historical biography. First, due to its focus on a great deal of original objects, its evaluations are not carried out in a vague or general manner; second, due to the method of branch division, the development and underlying structure of each branch is completely clear. In »Discussion of Birds and Flowers,« the compiler points out the perspective of an object’s »inner feeling,« drawing a comparison between the painting and a poem. According to the distinctive features of each bird-and-flower painting, he also elaborates on the different temperaments that they express. This is rather insightful. Apart from writings on connoisseurship and collection compiled by the court, there were other significant works pertaining to painting and calligraphy evaluation by Song Dynasty scholar-officials. The most important among these included Mi Fu’s History of Calligraphy (Shushi 书史) and History of Painting (Huashi 画史), compiled according to the painting and calligraphy that he had observed, Li Jian’s Classification of Deyu Zhai’s Paintings, which was a record of paintings collected by Zhao Lingwa, and Dong You’s Postscript on Calligraphy of Guangchuan and Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan, which mainly focused on textual

SECTION 4 RECORDS OF PAINTING, WRITINGS ON CONNOISSEURSHIP AND COLLECTION, AND WRITINGS ON EPIGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE

criticism of works. Furthermore, in the Southern Song, Zhao Xihe’s Pure Records of the Cave Heaven featured specialized discourse on examination of antiques such as zithers, strangely-shaped stones, bell-cauldrons, technique books, and famous paintings. Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays also included a »Painting and Calligraphy« section, in which connoisseurship of painting and calligraphy was discussed. Mi Fu’s History of Painting, comprised of one chapter, was his written evaluation of paintings. This was a written account of famous paintings seen (or occasionally not seen) by Mi Fu in his life. On this basis he discussed their merits and drawbacks, distinguished their authenticity, and made textual analyses of their errors. He also related anecdotes about adornment, and the circulation process. From the view of texture, adornment, imprints, pen and ink, and painting styles, he put forward evidence for painting appraisals. This held definite consultation value for collectors in later generations. Dong You’s Postscript on Paintings of Guangchuan was a written account of both painting logic and technique. It also contained extremely detailed textual criticism of character stories and regulation ceremonies of famous paintings in public and private, and ancient and modern collections. Huang Bosi’s Surplus Discussions on Eastern Observations (Dongguan yuluni 东观余论) and Zhao Xihe’s Pure Records of the Cave Heaven were more particular amongst writings on connoisseurship. Not typically focusing on specific arguments regarding works, they instead used general argumentation methods of connoisseurship. Born into the Song imperial clan, Zhao Xihe’s dates are uncertain; Pure Records of the Cave Heaven was published approximately during the first year (1190) of Shaoxi. In addition to performing textual research on ancient paintings, he also investigates ancient and modern stone inscriptions, verifying their authenticity by means of precise and appropriate connoisseurship.

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2. The Beginning of Epigraphy and Relevant Writings The Song Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese art collection and epigraphy research. As the precursor to Chinese archaeology, particularly that of art, epigraphy took shape at the beginning of the Northern Song and developed greatly throughout the dynasty. From the perspective of the difference from traditional painting and calligraphy research, the emergence of epigraphy broadened the scope of art history research for the first time. The phrase »bronze and stone« was first used by early Song writer Zeng Gong in his Record of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions (Jinshilu 金石录). In addition, Lu Dalin’s Illustrations of Archaology (Kaogutu 考古图) was the first book to contain the term »archaeology.« However, the individual most responsible for initiating Song Dynasty epigraphy was Liu Chang, who lived during the reign of Emperor Renzong. Of the 11 ancient vessels collected by his family, Liu Chang copied their inscriptions and painted illustrations of them, engraving them into stone. This was known as Stele of Pre-Qin Ancient Vessels (Xian Qin guqi tubei 先秦古器图碑). In Notes on Pre-Qin Ancient Vessels (Xian Qin guqi ji 先秦古器记), he also suggested research methodologies for ancient vessels. Meanwhile, the earliest extant comparatively systematic catalogue of ancient vessels was Lu Dalin’s Illustrations of Archeology, published in the seventh year (1092) of the Yuanyou period. Published approximately 30 years later, Illustrations of Archaeology, Illustrations on a Wide Range of Antiques from the Xuanhe Period (Xuanhe bogu tu 宣和博古图) recorded a total of 839 bronze vessels from the Shang to Tang Dynasties, collected by the Song Dynasty imperial household in the Xuanhe palace. These were divided into 20 main categories, and various objects were classified according to form and arranged by chronological period. This work concentrated the most important bronze artefacts collected during the Song

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Dynasty, including important vessels such as the Jin Jiang Tripod and the Qihou Bell. More accurate than Illustrations of Archeology, this book featured illustrations of certain artefacts and inscriptions on them, recording their dimensions, volume and weight, and as far as possible giving information on the collection and excavation of the objects. Illustrations on a Wide Range of Antiques from the Xuanhe Period also made several contributions to names of bronzeware classifications, vessel styles and line appearances. Many modern commonly-used terms developed at this time. In brief, these two books amply revealed the high status of antique research during the Northern Song. After this, other epigraphy writings included Xue Shanggong’s Sacral Vessel Carvings Through the Ages, Wang Hou’s Sacral Vessel Carvings, and Wang Yi’s Record of Antiques Collected from the Xiao Study; these featured copied inscriptions and interpretations or textual analysis of them, functioning as compilations of carved inscriptions. Regarding stone carving, there was Ouyang Xiu’s Collection of Antiques, Zhao Mingcheng’s Record of Bronze and Stone Inscriptions, which arranged records of historical relics according to their periods, Wang Xian’s Catalogue of Geographical Events Inscribed on Tablets, Chen Si’s Collection of Precious Engravings, which arranged historical relics according to the areas in which they were excavated, and Compilation of Precious Engravings, which classified figures according to their use of vessels. Meanwhile, Hong Shi’s Analysis of Writings in Chancery Script and Continued Writings in Chancery Script contained full texts of stone carvings. In addition, on money there was Hong Dao’s On the Source of Wealth, on printing there was Chao Keyi’s Rules for the Collection of Ancient Seals, and on jade artefacts there was Long Dazhou’s Collected Illustrations of Ancient Jade. There were also catalogs and records of bronze mirrors, portrait bricks, and portrait stones.

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3. The Timber Classic and Treatise on Architectural Methods With the development of construction in the Song Dynasty came a significant number of architectural writings. Among them, the Timber Classic (Mujing 木经) and Treatise on Architectural Methods (Yingzao fashi 营造法式) were the most important. Yu Hao (?–989), author of the Timber Classic was a builder during the Five Dynasties at beginning of the Northern Song. An unrivaled carpenter, he participated in the construction of the wooden pagoda at Fangtian Temple in Hangzhou, the wooden pagoda at Kaibao Temple in Kaifeng, and the Sangha Pagoda in Sizhou. Based on his practical experience, he wrote the Timber Classic, which was published in three chapters and served as an important architectural monograph. Now lost, it is only summarized in Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays. Li Jie (?–1100), author of Treatise on Architectural Methods, was a native of Guancheng (modern Zhengzhou, in Henan). First selected to become a Jiyin county officer, he later served in the Directorate for Palace Buildings and as Grand Master of Palace Leisure. He presided over several large national construction projects. Very talented, he was skilled at writing and painting, and wrote a great deal throughout his life. Most significant was his Treatise on Architectural Methods, which was compiled and edited in the fourth year (1097) of Shaosheng, published in the third year (1100) of Yuanfu, and printed and circulated in the second year (1103) of Chongning. The entire book was comprised of 34 chapters, divided into the five main sections of »Explanation of Terms,« »Particular rules for Construction Work,« »Restrictions to Work,« »Precedents for Material« and »Illustrations.« The first chapter in this work was entitled »Overall Explanation« and the second »General Regulations.« There, the different names of each architectural term in ancient documents of the time, as well as the for-

SECTION 4 RECORDS OF PAINTING, WRITINGS ON CONNOISSEURSHIP AND COLLECTION, AND WRITINGS ON EPIGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE

mal names used in the book are verified. Chapters three to five record the 13 work systems of trenching and fencing, stonework, large-scale woodwork, small-scale woodwork, carving, woodturning, sawing, bamboo work, tiling, mud work, color painting, brickwork, and room work. It also contains explanations of how each kind of work was related to a building’s status and size, selection and use of materials, as well as the measurements and workings of various components, and the relationship between working methods and other components. Chapters 16 to 25 stipulate the quotas and calculation methods for each kind of work according to the content of its system. Chapters 26 to 28 stipulate the material quota for each work and relevant project quality issues. The final two chapters consist of diagrams, including gauges at the time, and stonework, large-scale woodwork, smallscale woodwork, work production planar graphs such as color painting designs, profile diagrams and component diagrams, as well as all kinds of carving diagrams. In addition, at the beginning of each chapter is a sample and catalogue. Within these, a certain number of stipulations and numbers are explained, such as the roof slope curve drawing method, calculation of the proportions of various geometrical diagrams for material use, determination of vertical and horizontal construction methods, and formulation of work itineraries according to the different seasons. Notably, as well as the formulation of various regulative systems, this book also contains the proposed rule of »having fixed methods but not fixed forms.« In fundamentally adhering to this major principle, all kinds of systems could »increase or decrease as they pleased.« In this way, planning and construction had standards to comply with and regulations to follow, as well as flexibility in dealing with specific situations, and could avoid becoming rigid and dogmatic. Treatise on Architectural Methods was an official document which mainly recorded structural

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techniques of buildings such as Northern Song palaces, temples, official institutions, and official residences. However, according to the figures, out of the 357 essays and 3555 short note catalogues in the entire work, there were 308 essays and 3272 short notes catalogue whose durable, long-lasting methods were passed on from generation to generation of craftsmen. This therefore somewhat reflected the general status of construction techniques in the Central Plains at the time. Directly or indirectly, it constituted a written account of Chinese architectural planning and construction supervision experience, as well as the extent of craftsmen’s’ grasp on science and technology in the Northern Song Period. It is also the extant earliest Chinese monograph on architecture. For research into the development of Five Dynasties and Northern and Southern Song construction— and for ancient Chinese construction, especially considering the success of ancient Chinese architectural techniques, it had great significance.

Section 5  Writings on the History and Theory of Calligraphy As well as being important periods in the development of calligraphy theory, the Five Dynasties and the Northern and Southern Song were also prosperous periods for treatises on calligraphy. From the Five Dynasties until the Northern Song, calligraphic styles facilitated innovation not only in Northern Song calligraphic thinking, but also in the general mood of »praising the intention« of calligraphy, while also promoting model calligraphy evaluative connoisseurship and collection, and the emergence of writing on this.

1. Writings on Calligraphy by Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Others The writings on calligraphy of Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and others can be seen through-

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out their prefaces and postscripts to poetry and literature, as well as in other treatises. Ouyang Xiu was a well-known politician, historian, writer, and proficient calligrapher during the Northern Song. History testifies to his fondness for ancient objects and love of learning. Helping to collate characters on bronze and stone left behind by the Han, and stray fragments of text, he researched and inspected their differences and similarities, compiling the Collection of Antiques. This work consists of ten chapters, and is brimming with insightful content regarding notes on calligraphy. In it is a treatise on model calligraphy, including the »free brush and lingering interest« and the »fluid and unconstrained.« Due to this boundless attitude, people thought that these were curiosities that told of his attitude to model calligraphy. In fact, it also concerned the acquaintance of calligraphy’s essence and function. That is, using »free brush and lingering interest« to demonstrate its »attitude.« This provoked joy in people. He also recounted his experience studying calligraphy, saying that if a calligraphy student grasped one of these principles, then they could grasp the other. This included his understanding of principles as one of his »prerequisites« of calligraphy. Su Shi was the founder and symbol of the »praising of intention« calligraphy style during the Song Dynasty. Not only did his calligraphic work influence a generation, but the historical points of view and thought on calligraphy reflected in his theory also had important value. His essays on calligraphy theory appeared sporadically throughout his poetry, literature, and postscripts. These included »Notes on Calligraphy.« »Notes on Ancient Calligraphy,« and »Notes on Self-Written Calligraphy«— which were later compiled into Dongpo’s Notes on Calligraphy (Dongpo lunshu 东坡论书). Su Shi’s treatise on calligraphy mainly embodied aspects such as the charm, rules, and brush techniques of calligraphy. Among these was the idea that calligraphy must contain the five unified forces of

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SECTION 5 WRITINGS ON THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF CALLIGRAPHY

»spirit, vital energy, bone, flesh, and blood,« in addition to arguments on rules and brush technique. This had a definite impact on later generations. Historically renowned for his use of the cursive script, Huang Tingjian’s essays on calligraphic theory were scattered throughout Collected Works of the Hills and Valleys (Shangu wenji 山谷文集), and borrowed by later generations in »Notes on Calligraphy.« This reflected his understanding of calligraphic study. Explaining the brush techniques of »stating intention and moving the wrist« and »lifting the brush up high,« this was very enlightening for calligraphy students in later generations. Most noteworthy was his assertation that »in studying calligraphy, one must be moral of mind, having undergone extensive sagacious education. Only then can one’s calligraphy be trustworthy.« This reflected his value of the self-cultivation of calligraphers. In his theory he also evaluated several ancient model calligraphies, which had definite historiographical significance. Mi Fu’s calligraphy theory mainly included History of Calligraphy and Famous Sayings of the Oceans and Mountains. Divided into two chapters, History of Calligraphy contains records of Mi Fu’s home collection, and ancient relics that he had seen throughout his life. The first chapter is dedicated to original calligraphy from the Jin and Tang dynasties. The second chapter is dedicated to partial original calligraphy from the Tang and the Five Dynasties, and imitation stone carvings. This work contains detailed records of the textures, seals, and postscripts of works, as well as anecdotes and occasional commentaries. Features such as adornments and seals are also related. In this work, Mi Fu revaluates some original calligraphies with accepted arguments, offering his own corrections. For instance, he believed that the Thousand Character Classic (Qianzi wen 千字文) was the collaborative work of Zhong Shaojing and Ouyang Xun, and certainly was not the product of eternal wis-

dom; on the other hand, he determined that Yu Shinan’s Cursive Script (Caoshu 草书) truly was written with eternal wisdom. While Mi Fu was very much appreciative of Jin works, he took a rather dim view of works from the Tang. For instance, he criticized the duo of Yan and Liu as »the forefathers of grotesque and evil writing.« He also explained that Song Dynasty aesthetics prioritized inborn skill and charm, whilst frequently disparaging the neat, cautious style esteemed in the Tang. Besides acting as an evaluative writing, History of Calligraphy was also model work of calligraphy connoisseurship and collection. Famous Sayings of the Oceans and Mountains, comprised of one chapter, conveyed Mi Fu’s normal opinions on calligraphic theory. While he had a negative impression of ancient calligraphy, his opinion was original in places.

2. Xuanhe Catalogue of Calligraphy and Other Writings on Calligraphy of the Northern Song Xuanhe Catalogue of Calligraphy (Xuanhe shupu 宣和书谱) is a written record of model calligraphy presided over by the court of Emperor Huizong of Song during the Xuanhe period. The entire treatise is comprised of 20 chapters, recording famous relics of model calligraphy collected throughout the ages in the Xuanhe period palace, featuring 197 calligraphers and 1344 works in total. Chapter one is a record of all monarchs through the ages, from Emperor Wu of Jin until Emperor Shizong of Zhou, a total of 12; chapter two is devoted to the seal and clerical scripts, featuring a total of nine calligraphers; chapters three to six are dedicated to the regular script; chapters seven to 12 are dedicated to the semi-cursive script, and chapters 13 to 19 are dedicated to the cursive script; chapter  20 is dedicated to the broad chancery style, with additional imperial orders from the emperor. Each chapter begins with an introduction, and contains information on the origin and development of each calligraphic style, including profiles

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and commentaries on calligraphers. The form of this work is comprehensive and complete, with precise and appropriate commentary. The fixed historical material and theories in this book are invaluable. Another rather significant work was Zhu Changwen’s »Continued Judgements on Calligraphy« (»Xushu duan« 续书断). Zhu Changwen (1039– 1098), courtesy name Zhu Boyuan, was also known as »Hidden River Hermit.« A native of Wu county (modern Suzhou in Jiangsu), he was a calligrapher. »Continued Judgements on Calligraphy« constituted the ninth and tenth Chapters of his Ink Pond Collection (Mochibian 墨池编), which he compiled independently. Ink Pond Collection is a selection of essays on calligraphy through the ages, gathered and compiled by Zhu Changwen. With a total of 20 chapters, it contains the eight categories of: »Study of Characters,« »Methods of the Brush,« »Miscellaneous Discussions,« »Evaluations,« »Praising Narrations,« »Treasures,« »Inscriptions« and »Tools.« While its form imitated that of Zhang Yanyuan’s Important Records on Model Calligraphy (Fashu yaolu 法书要录), the former’s was more extensive. At the end of each chapter and essay was a commentary containing a refined and thorough examination. »Continued Judgements on Calligraphy« was followed by Judgements on Calligraphy (Shuduan 书 断) by Zhang Huaijin of Tang, which imitated its style. Calligraphers from the Tang until the Guoning period of the Song Dynasty were divided into the three classifications of the »divine, extraordinary, and professional,« and each granted a commentary. Filling in the gaps of Judgements on Calligraphy on calligraphic history during the Tang and Song dynasties, it placed a total of three calligraphers into the »divine« classification, ten into the »extraordinary« classification, and 66 into the »professional« classification. A biography was written on each calligrapher, and 33 are mentioned in the appendix. The work begins with a short essay on the calligraphy of emperors since

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the Song Dynasty—whom no one dared to evaluate. It ended with ten more records of calligraphers of the time, who were not evaluated due to the fact that their future development could not be predicted. In this work, the meanings of the three calligraphy classifications are interpreted, and calligraphic criticism is integrated into the category of calligraphic historiography. This thereby created a form of calligraphic history that incorporated criticism, which was truly rare at the time.

3. Major Writings on the History of Calligraphy of the Southern Song When the Southern Song was forced to relinquish the area south of the Yangtze River, its achievements in calligraphy did not fall short of those of the Northern Song. On the contrary, theoretical research into calligraphic history prospered, with abundant written works. These mainly included Zhao Gou’s Treatise on Brush and Ink (Hanmo zhi 翰墨志), Jiang Kui’s Continued Notes on Calligraphy (Xu shupu 续书谱), Huang Bosi’s Surplus Discussions on Eastern Observations, Chen You’s Miscellaneous Notes by a Rustic (Fuxuan yelu 负 喧野录) and Dong You’s Postscript on Calligraphy of Guangchuan. Treatise on Brush and Ink was compiled by Zhao Gou. Zhao Gou (1107–1187), also known as Emperor Gaozong of Song, was skilled in regular script, semi-cursive script and cursive script, was also rather insightful in the area of calligraphy theory. The single-chapter Treatise on Brush and Ink was mainly intended as a model. It was only slightly different from the »two Wangs« with regards to the »intention« of calligraphy esteemed by the Northern Song literati. Yearning for elegant style with classical flavor, Zhao Gou advocated for and emphasized the classical foundation of calligraphy. This was of great importance in the history of calligraphy. In his theoretical works, he advised first studying the regular script before the semi-cursive and cursive scripts. He also believed that the standard and cursive scripts should both be in use.

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SECTION 5 WRITINGS ON THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF CALLIGRAPHY

Continued Notes on Calligraphy was written by Jiang Kui. Jiang Kui (approx. 1155–1209), courtesy name Yao Zhang, also known as Baishi Daoren, was a Southern Song ci writer and musician. He was also a theorist. In chapter one of Continued Notes on Calligraphy, he expands upon ideas from Sun Guoting of Tang’s Notes on Calligraphy (Shupu 书谱). In each of the twenty sections, a topic such as calligraphic style, brush technique, ink technique, copying, composition, or spirit is discussed. In the work, the »balance« and »consciousness« of calligraphy is discussed. He believed that a calligrapher’s »consciousness« was not bound to the continuation of tradition. It could demonstrate as much artistic individuality as possible, not meticulously paying attention to balance for the purposes of tradition, and above all not renouncing tradition for a superficial individualism. He also believed that brush techniques were neither suitable for revealing nor concealing much, and wrote about successes and failures in concealing and revealing brushstrokes from an investigative perspective. Brushstrokes, whether upright, superior, concealed, revealed, up, down, light, or dark, all had to be »miraculous.« In his essays, he also discusses the merits and drawbacks of linshu (calligraphy facing) and moshu (calligraphy imitation) as well as writing techniques, among other things. Surplus Discussions on Eastern Observations was written by Huang Bosi. Huang Bosi (1079–1118), courtesy names Zhang Rui and Xiao Bing, was also known as Yun Linzi. Chapter two of Surplus Discussions on Eastern Observations first appeared in the seventh year (1147) of the Shaoxing period, and was systematically compiled by his son, Qi. Beginning with corrections of errors in copybooks, this was followed by 105 essays discussing topics such as prefaces and postscripts, and evaluative notes. These devoted the most attention to stone rubbings, and then ancient bells

and tripod vessels, and finally paintings. The author of this work carried out accurate textual analyses, emphasizing the importance of transmitting spirit rather than form, and arguments such as »taking the spirit and ignoring the form.« These were all in keeping with the common practices of the time. In addition, Chen You’s Miscellaneous Notes by a Rustic consists of two chapters. The first chapter contains five discussions on stone carvings, one discussion on the seal script, and seven discussions on the styles of various calligraphers; the second chapter contains four discussions on techniques of studying calligraphy, and twelve discussions on brush, ink, paper and ink stone. All of these theories are extremely refined. Postscript on Calligraphy of Guangchuan consists on ten chapters. Chapters one through four record sacred bell and tripod vessels and »right weight« inscriptions from the Zhou and Qin dynasties, as well as character stone carvings such as »Cursing the Chu« and the »Mount Yi Inscription.« There are 75 of these in total, each of them comprehensive and verified. Chapter five records metal and bronze inscriptions and stone carvings from the Han Dynasty. There are 27 of these in total. Chapter six contains 38 stone rubbings from the Wei, Jin, and the Northern Southern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty. Among these are many works by experts such as Zhong Yao, Huang Xiang, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, and Zhi Yong. Chapters seven to nine contain stone rubbings of the work of Tang Dynasty calligraphers. There are 74 of these in total, including those of calligraphy masters Ou Yangxun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, Xue Ji, Yan Zhengqing, Liu Gongquan, and Huai Su. Chapter ten contains works of calligraphers from the Five Dynasties until the Northern Song. There are 13 of these in total. The written accounts in this work are quite rich, constituting a relatively precise and appropriate treatise.

PART TWO YUAN DYNASTY

OVERVIEW

At the beginning of the 13th century CE, a major change took place in Chinese history. When the Southern Song Dynasty was in internal and external difficulties, the noble leader of the Mongolian Borjigin tribe, Temüjin, raised the Nine White Banners at the source of the Onon River in the north of the desert, and was elected by the Mongolian nobility as the Great Khan with the title »Genghis Khan« (posthumously declared as Emperor Taizu of the Yuan Dynasty), thus creating the Mongolian empire. In 1271, Kublai changed the name of the empire to the Great Yuan, and in 1279, he destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, finally ending the long division of China, thus writing a new page in Chinese history. The Yuan Dynasty was a short-lived but vast state. It was both unified and turbulent, it was both autocratic and open. The Yuan Dynasty was a time of both great ethnic conflict and major changes in the thinking of the literati class. The political change of sovereignty, the intense social turmoil, the major changes in the thinking of the literati, the popularity of Daoism, Buddhism and other religions, and various intricate social factors all created a special cultural and artistic landscape. The outstanding feature of Yuan Dynasty culture and arts is this interculturality. Ethnic collision and ethnic integration led to the integration of culture and arts, and ethnic intermingling promoted the exchange of culture and arts. This outstanding phenomenon was because of the gradual acceptance of Han culture by the Mongolian rulers. As a sign of the times, the Yuan zaju opera was a product of the fusion of Chinese cultures and arts with Mongolian and even Jin and Jurchen cultures and arts. Interculturality was

also reflected in the frequent international cultural exchange activities, and the Yuan Dynasty widely absorbed both the Islamic cultures of Central Asia and the Christian cultures of Europe on the basis of Chinese cultures, thus promoting the diversification of Chinese artistic styles in various disciplines. The history of the Yuan Dynasty was less than a century from the time when Emperor Shizu (Kublai) changed the name of his country to Yuan; it was only a little over a century counting from the time when the Mongolian empire destroyed the Jin and unified the north. However, the artists of the Yuan Dynasty created glorious and brilliant art. Yuan Dynasty opera, music, and dance were all rich in their own characteristics. Yuan zaju marked the maturity of opera and the first glorious period of Chinese opera; Yuan sanqu was another milestone in lyric writing. The visual arts of the Yuan Dynasty were also remarkable, with the unprecedented activity and dominance of literati painting and calligraphy, the diversified development of religious art, the planning and construction of the largest city in the world at the time—Dadu (Khanbaliq)—and the formation of the period style of arts and crafts, which elevated the aesthetic ideal of the Chinese nation to new heights.

Section 1  The Establishment of the Yuan Dynasty and the Development of the Chinese Arts The development of Yuan art occurred under specific historical conditions. In addition to the

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change of dynasties, the fall of the Song Dynasty and the rise of the Yuan Dynasty were also, according to traditional thinking, a time when »foreigners« entered the Central Plains. Although there was no lack of precedent in Chinese history for Han Chinese to serve minority regimes, such as the Northern Wei and then the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, and Northern Zhou during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties Period, and the Liao and Jin dynasties that competed with the two Songs. But the Yuan dynasty was different from all previous cases. First of all, the Yuan Dynasty was a nationwide regime established by the Mongols, and the first nationwide unified regime established by a minority group in China, and its territory was unprecedentedly huge. Second, the Mongol rulers’ entry into the Central Plains brought with it the migration and intermingling of ethnic groups, which objectively led to integration and exchange among the various Chinese ethnic groups.

1. The Great National Integration The unification of the Yuan Dynasty facilitated exchange and contact among the various ethnic groups in the country and created an unprecedented national integration. The great unification provided favorable conditions for economic and cultural exchanges among the various ethnic groups, which were always eager to strengthen their economic ties and cultural exchanges in order to meet their material and cultural needs. During the Yuan Dynasty, large-scale transportation networks were set up: in the northern province of Lingbei, three main arterial roads, namely Teregen Road, Morin Road and Narin Road, were built to meet the needs of frequent interactions between the Central Plains and the Mongolian grasslands; in the northeastern province of Liaoyang in the Songhua River and Heilongjiang River valley, stations were set up to strengthen ties with the Jurchen as well as various ethnic groups in

Overview

the Shuidada and Nurgan regions; in the southwestern province of Yunnan, more than 80 stations were set up, covering Dali, Lijiang, and other ethnic areas. Between Tubo and Dadu, 28 stations were set up; in the Uyghur regions north and south of Mt. Tianshan, additional roads and stations were built on the basis of the previous post roads, so that they were directly connected with the Central Plains and the capital of Dadu. After the unification of Yuan Dynasty, there were no more boundaries in the country, and the courier station system of Yuan Dynasty was well-established and developed, as described in the Yuan Dynasty Great Statutes of Statecraft (Jingshi dadian 经世大典): The territory of our country is great, [with the river] flowing into [the ocean in] the east and [the land] covering [the desert in] the west, and the boundaries reaching the north and the south, and all that is under the jurisdiction of the country are set up with courier stations, which are scattered all over the country and connected with each other, so that the order of the morning can arrive by the evening, with [the message] well delivered when the sound is heard.

This greatly facilitated interaction between various ethnic groups. The process of unification in the Yuan Dynasty was also a process of national integration. The integration of ethnic groups was closely related to the migration and cohabitation of ethnic groups. The migration of ethnic groups was mainly reflected in two aspects: one was the migration of ethnic minorities into the Central Plains and the Jiangnan region; the other was the migration of Han Chinese into ethnic minority areas. For territorial expansion and conquest by force, the Yuan rulers forced a large number of Mongols and Semu people in the northwest to leave their homeland and move to other places. The Mongols conquered abroad, and their families also formed »old and young battalions« that moved along with the army. From the time Genghis Khan attacked

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the Jin Dynasty, Mongolian soldiers and civilians were constantly mobilized to the south and entered the interior of the Central Plains. After the unification of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols and the Semu people were scattered throughout the country, cohabitating with the Han and other ethnic groups. Another sign of ethnic integration was the intermarriage between different ethnic groups. The Mongolians, for example, gradually eliminated the economic and cultural differences between them and the Han Chinese, and intermarriage with the Han Chinese and other ethnic groups became more and more common—and they gradually became one by blood. This change of lifestyle determined a change of consciousness. Mongolians and other ethnic minorities cohabitating and intermarrying with the Han Chinese became integrated into one with the Han Chinese over time. The Mongolian nomads from the grasslands, originally with »customs of clothing without waiting for the silkworm and eating without waiting for the plow,« gradually influenced by the more advanced economic culture of the Han people, significantly changing their ways of life and production. Due to the different natural conditions, the Mongolians had to engage in agricultural production in order to maintain themselves long-term in the Han area. The Mongolians, who originally had »no family name,« began to adopt Chinese family names. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Mongolians with Chinese surnames were quite common, such as the painter Zhang Yanfu and the playwright Yang Jingxian, both of whom were Mongolians who had adopted Chinese surnames. Ethnic migration was compulsory, and ethnic integration was bloody. In the process of the ethnic minorities entering the Central Plains and Jiangnan, ethnic groups were full of tensions and conflicts, but eventually the tensions and conflicts turned into integration, which resulted in the acceptance

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of the Han culture by the ethnic minorities. Starting from the reign of Kublai, various items of the Confucian institutions had been passed down almost like a national system, such as emperor titles, official systems, ways of governance, agriculture and silk farming, taxation, the monetary system, curricula, the hierarchy of carriage and clothing, imperial lectures, the Suburban Sacrifice, the imperial ancestral temple, sacrifice to the gods of earth and grain, rule for conferring posthumous names, rules for awarding official recognition, schooling, the recommendation system, the Five Punishments and the Five Mourning Degrees, sacrificial orders, etc. Although Kublai’s implementation of the »Han code« was not complete, and the old customs of the desert and the north still remained in abundance in the Han area, the ruling system and cultural institutions already followed the »Han code.«

2. The Coexistence of Multiple Religions The Yuan Dynasty was both a multi-ethnic and unified country and an era in which many religions coexisted. As the Yuan rulers adopted an eclectic religious policy, they allowed various religions to develop to varying degrees. Buddhism, Daoism, Islam, and Christianity spread across the vast territory of the empire, and the influence of Buddhism and Daoism was particularly profound. The first Buddhism that Mongol rulers came into contact with were the various Zen (chan 禅) schools of the Central Plains. During the reign of Ögedei, Yelü Chucai, who had been a Buddhist disciple and later called himself a Buddhist »householder,« the status of Buddhism in the Mongol court began to increase. Among the various schools of Buddhism in the Yuan Dynasty, Tubo Buddhism (Tibetan Buddhism) had the highest status in the court. However, its relationship with the Mongols occurred later than that of Han Buddhism. Roughly in the late reign of Möngke Khan, Tubo monks began to infiltrate the Mon-

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gol court. Tibetan Buddhism, following esoteric traditions, was more sophisticated and profound than shamanism, both in philosophy and in ritual, and was more acceptable to them than Han Buddhism. In 1253, Kublai officially became a follower of Tibetan Buddhism after receiving Drogön Chogyal Phagpa, leader of the Sakya School. From then on, Tubo Buddhism gradually replaced Zen Buddhism and became the revered Buddhist sect of the Mongol rulers. In the first year of Zhongtong (1260), Kublai made Phagpa the State Preceptor, and in the 7th year of Zhongyuan (1270), he was further made Imperial Preceptor. From then on until the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Tubo monks served as Imperial Preceptors. Under the initiative of the emperor, the worship of Tubo Buddhism became the fashion of the imperial family and the dignitaries of the Yuan Dynasty. Yuan Dynasty emperors, consorts, nobles, bureaucrats, and others, continued to build new temples, and the most notable temples in the Yuan capital Dadu include Da Huguo Renwang Temple (built by Kublai’s empress on the bank of Gaoliang River in the west of Dadu), Da Shengshou Wan’an Temple (built by Kublai inside Pingze Gate, the present-day White Stupa Temple [Miaoying Temple]), Da Chengtian Husheng Temple (at the foot of Mt. Yuquan in the western suburb, built during the reign of Emperor Wenzong), among others. These were all monasteries held by Tubo monks, and had great political and economic power. Daoism is the traditional religion of China. By the Yuan Dynasty, there were three main schools of Daoism. One was the Taiyi sect, created by the Jin Dynasty Daoist priest Xiao Baozhen. The sect was characterized by prophecy and prayers as the exorcism of spirits, and was once valued by the rulers. The second was the Zhenda sect (also known as the Sect of the Great Dao), created by Liu Deren in the early Jin Dynasty. The sect advocated the »nine commandments« of abandoning desires, giving up alcohol and meat, diligent farming, hard work, and feeding oneself, and was

Overview

well-received among small farmers. After entering the Yuan, it was also treated with courtesy. The third was the Quanzhen sect, which was created by Wang Zhe of the Jin Dynasty. Wang Zhe adopted the appellation Chongyang zi and he had seven major disciples: Ma Yu, Tan Chuduan, Qiu Chuji, Liu Chuxuan, Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong, and Sun Bu’er. The founding father Wang Zhe, together with Ma, Tan, Qiu, Liu, Wang, and Hao, are known as the »Seven Truths.« This sect, which still exists, believes that »the one who has eliminated illusions and has perfected his truth is the divine being.« It advocates that through asceticism and patience, one can return to one’s true essence by abandoning all materialistic disputes. Comparing the three sects, Quanzhen came to the forefront and gained a far superior position in the early Yuan Dynasty than the Taiyi, Zhenda, or other Daoist sects, or Buddhism, Confucianism, and others, to the extent that it was able to maintain the situation where »the only ones who set up any religion are of the Quanzhen family« in the north for 30 to 40 years. Quanzhen absorbed Confucianism in its ideological beliefs, even approaching Confucianism. At the beginning of the religion, Wang Chongyang combined Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, advocating the equality and unity of the three religions, with the Daoist classic Daodejing, the Buddhist sacred text Heart Sutra, and the Confucian cannon Classic of Filial Piety as the must-study classics for the Quanzhen Daoists. Even up to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, when Qiu’s disciple Li Zhichang was the leader of the religion, the Book of Changes, the Classics of Poetry, the Book of Documents, Daodejing, and the Classic of Filial Piety were still used as the classic texts to persuade the emperor and teach disciples. From Wang Chongyang and Qiu Chuji to Li Zhichang, the leaders of the Quanzhen Daoism have always invoked Confucianism and followed the principle of »not living alone in one religion.« This undoubtedly created the necessary conditions for

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the establishment of ties between Quanzhen and secular scholars. With the formation of the Huihui ethnoreligious group, Islam developed on a larger scale in the Yuan Dynasty. In the 11th century CE, Islam in Xinjiang was limited to the southwest corner, and by the 20th year of the Zhizheng reign (1360), Islam had taken the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains by storm. In addition to the famous Qingjiao Mosque in Chang’an, Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, and Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, which were extensively restored during the Yuan Dynasty, there were famous temples built in Yanjing, Helin (Karakorum), Hangzhou, Dingzhou, and Shanchan (Kunming). In terms of doctrine, Chinese Muslim scholars borrowed from Confucianism and »merged the East and the West« to create their unique Kalam system, a religious philosophy that used Confucianism to expound Islamic teachings. In terms of religious institutions, the Chinese Muslims introduced the Religious District (jiaofang 教坊) system, in which a Muslim settlement centers around a mosque. This was both an independent, territorial religious organization unit and a distinctly feudal one. The head or guardian of the Religious District was either himself a Muslim landowner or directly supported by the ruler. This system was clearly a product of the combination of Islam and the Chinese feudal system. The Sinification of Islam, which took root on Chinese soil, had a wide impact not only on the formation and development of the Huihui people, but also on the politics, economy, and culture of some other ethnic minorities. Christianity was introduced to China from the early Tang Dynasty and was called Jingjiao (lit. »Luminous Religion«) or the »Persian Religion« at the time, and belonged to the Nestorian Church. However, in the fifth year of Huichang (845), with Emperor Wuzong’s persecution of Buddhism, many foreign religions were dealt a severe blow and Jingjiao tended to be extinct in the core region of China, and was only active among mi-

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nority groups in the northwest. With the Mongol conquest of China, some of the Turkic and Mongolians who believed in Nestorianism were scattered throughout the country, and Nestorianism was reintroduced to the interior. Its followers spread throughout Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Shandong, as well as Guangdong, Yunnan, and Zhejiang, and its churches spread throughout the north and south of the country. Not only were there Nestorian institutions in Ganzhou and Ningxia in the north, but there were also churches in the southern cities of Zhenjiang, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Wenzhou. At the same time, there were some Catholics from West Asia and Eastern Europe among prisoners of war and craftsmen taken back after the Mongol conquest; furthermore, because of the direct connection between the Mongolian and Yuan regimes and the Roman Curia, many Catholic missionaries came to the East. Therefore, Catholicism also spread to China in the Yuan Dynasty. The co-existence of multiple religions had a significant impact on Yuan Dynasty literature and arts. This influence was both multifaceted and comprehensive. It was reflected in both doctrine and ritual, and there were both positive and negative aspects. First, the coexistence of multiple religions not only promoted the overall development of the arts, providing space for the arts to be displayed and performed, but also stimulating the development of various religious arts. Religious activities involved all people, all social classes, and all artistic disciplines; therefore, frequent religious activities not only provided opportunities for the arts to be displayed and performed, but also brought a wide audience to the arts and promoted their popularity. For example, as a Buddhist event, the Yuan Dynasty held a grand tour of the imperial city in Dadu every year, in order to purify the inauspicious and guide the well-being of all beings. This was a religious event in which all art disciplines and many artists, from

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the emperor down to the common people, participated. The coexistence of multiple religions resulted in different religious arts with their own characteristics. On top of the existing foundation, the Yuan Dynasty further developed and created Buddhist arts, Daoist arts, Islamic arts, and Christian arts. Each religious art had its own characteristics, and by its very nature was determined by the characteristics of its respective religion. The purpose was to promote the teachings of their religion and to expand their influence, so that people from all walks of life would implicitly accept their teachings through the appreciation of art. In turn, arts also used religion to develop itself, making itself richer and more diverse. Take architecture as an example—although all Yuan Dynasty religious buildings have a mystical aspect, they are different from each other. For example, the Tibetan Buddhist architecture Sakya Monastery in Tibet is known for its stability and steadiness; the Daoist architecture Yongle Palace in Shanxi is known for its charm and elegance; and the Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou is known for its cleverness and humor. Second, religious doctrines and rituals permeated all types of arts in the Yuan Dynasty, and Yuan Dynasty arts also reflected the condition of religion at the time from different aspects. The influence of Quanzhen Daoism can be clearly seen in the Yuan Dynasty’s sanqu and zaju works. Yuan Dynasty sanqu compositions are full of works that »lament the world« and »hide from the world,« and such works can be found in most of the composers’ sanqu works, which can be said to be the result of the influence of Quanzhen Daoism to a certain extent. The most significant influence of Quanzhen on the theater in Yuan zaju is the production of a large number of immortal-themed morality plays. Some of the plays show the ideological tendency to expose and criticize reality, while the traces of the infiltration of Quanzhen are obvious. Among the immortals appearing in the plays, whether

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they are the main characters throughout the play, or the supporting characters that only make occasional appearances, most of them have connections with Quanzhen. They are either the patriarch and the priest of the sect, or people who were not part of the Quanzhen genealogy but were highly revered by Quanzhen, such as Zhuang Zhou and Chen Tuan, as well as The Eight Immortals. Most of the stories are based on a legend of Quanzhen or are constructed by piecing together several legends. Some works also express certain concepts and doctrines of Quanzhen, such as the concept of a secluded life and the »realm of the immortals« as one, the idea of avoiding earthly rights and wrongs and enduring unwarranted humiliation, and the precepts of abstaining from alcohol, sex, and money. The reason why Quanzhen had a great influence on the theater had much to do with the social reality of the time, which created a mood of disenchantment with the world among literati. The Buddhist ideas of compassion and reincarnation also permeated Yuan Dynasty operas. Gods and Buddhas were important themes in Yuan Dynasty operas. When people could not find answers in their dark reality, they pinned their ideals on the Buddhist paradise, and there was no shortage of such content in Yuan zaju operas. What is more noteworthy is that Yuan Dynasty opera reflected the acts of some obscene and evil monks at the time. During the Yuan Dynasty, Buddhism was prevalent, monasteries and monks spread all over the country, and there were some evil monks who bullied the market, plundered lands, and took away people’s wives and daughters. There was an early Southern Opera piece titled Zujie, based on current events of the time. In the opera, the monk Zujie brutalized innocent people, cutting open the belly of a pregnant woman to identify the gender of the baby, his crime so heinous that he was finally killed by the people. This work reflected a dark social reality. Influenced by religion, religious dances with the characteristics of the times were formed during

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the Yuan Dynasty, such as the shamanic dance that invited the spirit to enter the dancer’s body, and the Qiangmu monastery dance of Tibetan Buddhism. Religion had a more significant impact on the plastic arts. Religious doctrine not only permeated the religious arts as a whole, but also permeated specific disciplines such as architecture, murals, sculpture, etc. These include the mural paintings in the Daoist Yongle Temple and the Buddhist Xinghua Temple of Jishan; the Daoist statues of the Twenty-Eight Constellations in the Jade Emperor Temple in Jincheng, the Buddhist stone carving at Feilai Peak in Hangzhou, the Islamic and Christian carvings and sculptures in Quanzhou; the Daoist architecture of the Yongle Temple, the Mahavira Hall of the Buddhist Zhenru Temple in Shanghai, the Quanzhou Mosque, and others. All of these religious incarnations embody their respective teachings. For example, the Yongle Temple murals depict the deeds of the legendary patriarch of Quanzhen, Lü Dongbin, and his disciples, with the aim of promoting the philosophy of Quanzhen, which is »to reject illusions and to keep one’s truth.« The time and space created by the collection of buildings, murals, and sculptures in Yongle Temple also represent the religious atmosphere of Quanzhen.

3. Cultural Inclusion and Development The Mongolian domination of the Central Plains was reflected in cultural aspects, which brought about both a conflict between nomadic and agrarian cultures and a convergence of the two. The major political, economic, social, and intellectual changes of the Yuan Dynasty also provided new opportunities for cultural development. The open international cultural environment, the coexistence of many religions, and the inheritance and progress of science and technology provided a wide space for the development of culture and art. Chinese culture showed strong inclusiveness and adaptability in the environment of the Yuan Dy-

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nasty, and continued to move forward after replenishing with new blood and adding new vitality. Amid clashes and fusions of ethnic cultures, Chinese culture as a whole was integrated once again. In the process of integration, the Han culture absorbed the »heterogeneous« elements of minority cultures, adding new blood and proving once again the great inclusiveness and complementarity of Chinese culture. By learning from Han culture, the minority groups not only developed their own cultures further, but also contributed to the development of Chinese culture, proving the plurality of Chinese culture. Confucianism was the main culture of the Han people, which emphasized the importance of »managing the world« (jingshi 经世). When the Han Chinese were in power, Confucianism emphasized »legitimism« (zhengtong 正统) and the »distinction between Hua [Chinese] and Yi [Barbarians]« (huayi zhibian 华夷之辩). In the Yuan Dynasty, when minority groups unified China, Confucianism was faced with the new problem of how to deal with the relationship between »Hua and Yi.« Out of a sense of social mission, some Confucian scholars cooperated with the Yuan rulers and participated in the construction of the regime. In dealing with the issue of »legitimism« and »Hua and Yi,« they used the traditional concept of »using Xia [the Chinese] to change Yi« to solve real conflicts, using the advanced Xia culture to influence and sensitize what were seen as culturally backward tribes outside the Central Plains, i.  e., to influence the Yuan rulers to accept and implement what was considered the advanced form of governance in China, »rule by rites« (lizhi 礼治). The Confucian political concepts of »managing the world« and the idea of »using Xia to change Yi« show the adaptability and inclusiveness of Confucian political culture. It was through this mechanism of inclusion that the Confucian scholars of the Central Plains, whose mission was to promote the Han codes of conduct, continuously and actively infiltrated non-Han regimes to carry

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out cultural re-integration, and thus the reestablishment of the Confucian socio-political order. The integration brought about a cultural »heterogeneity« that added new elements and vitality to China’s indigenous culture and arts, and gave rise to new artistic disciplines. The flourishing of opera music in the Yuan Dynasty was the result of traditional music’s absorption of the music of northern ethnic groups. With the successive domination of the Khitan, Jurchen, and Mongolian tribes in the Central Plains, the music of the northern tribes was introduced in large quantities, bringing strong, fresh air to the music scene in the Central Plains. This fused with Han ditties to form a new kind of music tune, sanqu. The tunes and singing used in Yuan zaju operas were mainly developed by inheriting the northern music tradition. Many of the tunes tiles used in Yuan operas, such as Anahu 阿那忽, Yebuluo 也 不罗, Hudubai 忽都白, Tangwudai 唐兀歹, etc., have lyrics that are interspersed with many words borrowed from Mongolian, such as »luotaba« 落 塔八 (drunkenness), »badu’er« 巴都儿 (warrior), »mihan« 米罕 (meat), »mo« 抹 (I), »molin« 抹邻 (horse), »hu’erchi« 虎儿赤 (musician), »hutong« 胡同 (long and deep place), etc., which all illustrate the influence of the Mongolian language on the Yuan zaju opera. On the other hand, cultural integration promoted the development of minority cultures and brought about significant changes in the shape of Chinese national culture. During the Yuan Dynasty, transportation was convenient and there were major routes connecting the capital and the minority regions, and there were close trade and cultural exchanges among the various ethnic groups. The intermingling and integration of ethnic groups led to a cross-fertilization of cultures. In addition, as the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were not Han Chinese, they naturally paid special attention to the status of minority groups. In terms of notions of ethnicity, the Yuan rulers tried to exalt the historical status of minority regimes. Under the influ-

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ence of the policy-making intention to pay attention to the political and cultural status of ethnic minorities, their cultures developed rapidly. For example, the Mongols did not have their own script, and borrowed the Uyghur script during the time of Genghis Khan. During the reign of Kublai, a new Mongolian script (commonly known in academic circles as ʼPhags-pa script) was created by the Imperial Preceptor Phagpa to spell out all words using Sanskrit and Tibetan alphabets. The standardized Mongolian characters, both orthographically and the phonologically, were established during the reign of Chengzong. Mongolian scholars wrote historical works in Mongolian script, such as The Secret History of the Mongols and Erdeniin Tobchi. Tibetan culture also had important developments during the Yuan Dynasty. The Tibetan heroic epic, Epic of King Gesar, was largely formed during the Yuan Dynasty. Tibetan medicine, Tibetan Buddhist architecture, and Tibetan painting not only had new developments in the Tibetan region, but also were widely introduced into the Central Plains, adding splashes of color to the Han culture there. The Yuan Dynasty was also a period of frequent cultural exchange between China and foreign countries. Massive opening to the outside world caused a large number of Persians and Arabs from Central Asia to move to China, and according to some scholars their number reached as many as two million. Among them, there were many scientific and technological talents, and advanced technology from foreign countries flowed into China, such as Arabic astronomy and mathematics. While foreign cultures were imported into China, Chinese culture was also introduced to the West. Gunpowder, the compass, and printing, among the Four Great Chinese Inventions, were introduced to Europe one after another, as were the abacus, silk, porcelain, and tea. The Chinese art of painting also influenced Europe. The 14th century Italian painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti was said to have been influenced by Wu Daozi in his

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creations; Giotto’s »speaking hand« style was known to have taken from the techniques of Chinese painters, and on his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua and the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi he also used the ʼPhags-pa script as a decorative motif. It was in this cultural environment of inclusiveness, diversity, intermingling, and complementarity, as well as the prosperity of commerce, the progress of science and technology, and the mutual stimulation of Chinese and foreign cultures, that the Yuan Dynasty arts took steps.

4. The Situation of the Literati and their Artistic Creations The literati of the Yuan Dynasty encountered many unprecedented issues, so much so that the status, prospects, and situation of the literati became an acute social problem. Confucian scholars in China have always had a strong sense of social responsibility. They cared not only about cultivating oneself and managing one’s family, but also about governing the country and pacifying the world. From Confucius to later generations of Confucian scholars, they all advocated active participation in the world and the political realm and had a strong sense of social responsibility. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, rulers had understood the principle of »those who win the [support of] scholars will prosper, those who lose it will perish,« and used Confucian scholars to maintain their feudal rule, viewing them as an important political force. During the Song Dynasty, Confucian scholars were given special treatment and their social status was quite high. But in the Yuan Dynasty, the situation changed dramatically. Although Kublai appointed Confucian ministers, Emperor Renzong held imperial examinations, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was made official, many colleges were sponsored by the government, and Confucius was revered with the posthumous title, the Great Completer, Ultimate Sage and Exalted King of Culture (Dacheng

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zhisheng wenxuan wang 大成至圣文宣王), the social status of Confucian scholars was greatly reduced. Except for a few Confucian scholars who were given high official ranks, most of them were left idle, and many fell to the bottom of society. Since the Sui and Tang, scholars had followed the path of study to imperial examination to government official. However, in the Yuan Dynasty, the career path of Confucian scholars was greatly hindered by the shortcomings of the evaluation-recommendation system, the policy of ethnic discrimination, and the intermittent nature of the imperial exams. The role of the imperial examinations in the selection of officials was much less important than that of the Song Dynasty, and even Confucian scholars who had succeeded in the highest level of the imperial examinations were given lowly official positions. The intermittent nature of the imperial examinations, the multiple paths of service, and ethnic discrimination, made it impossible for a large number of Confucian scholars to advance their careers, which led to bitterness, dissatisfaction, and loss. This, coupled with already existing ethnic resentment, further cooled the enthusiasm of the Confucian scholars to enter politics. In the Yuan Dynasty, Confucian scholars, both in and out of office, felt a sense of suppression and the bitterness of not being born at the right time. The few literati in the court were under pressure of suspicion, ostracism, and social opinion, and were in constant mental pain—while most of them lived at the bottom of society and suffered from the hardships of life. How to choose your own way of living, how to live a meaningful and valuable life, is the problem faced by literati of every era. The rejection of the path to the government made the literati of the Yuan Dynasty a bit more clear-sighted. They began to re-examine the value of life and gradually realized that the official career was not the only path. Thus they gradually poured their enthusiasm into the inheritance of culture, and moral adherence.

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The policy of ethnic discrimination could not stop the spread of culture, and, as Confucians in the Yuan Dynasty were reduced to the bottom of society, they could better understand the meaning of survival. Once they left the path of seeking an official career, once they did not regard the official career as the only way to survive, they found that there were many paths to choose from. The literati of the Yuan Dynasty were looking for their own paths in many ways. To a certain extent, Yuan society also provided an opportunity for the literati to find alternative paths. The Yuan rulers did not have a deep understanding of indigenous traditional culture and objectively loosened their ideological control, allowing society to be freed from traditional norms and allowing the literati to spread their wings of thought in a relatively wide space. The policy of national discrimination and the neglect of the imperial examinations deprived a large number of literati of their superior social status and political future, and they were thus freed from their dependence on the regime. Existing as ordinary members of society, the literati earned their livelihood by selling their intellectual creations to society, thus strengthening both their sense of personal independence and their ties with the general public, especially the public. Their conception of life and aesthetic interests thus changed significantly from those of the scholar-officials of the past. Even among the literati who had entered the civil service, many of them had a feeling of separation from the ruling group and were influenced by the overall social environment. Their thought also underwent changes. Some of them chose to »escape« from the world by hiding in the mountains and woods, and putting their heart in nature. They painted mountains and wrote about water, composed poems and music, carefully constructing their own »paradise« in a chaotic world. They seemed to be uninterested in anything happening, as if they were lived in another world, and that other world, under their

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brush, was incredibly peaceful, even unearthly, calming, and comfortable. These lofty scholars and hermits leisurely engaged in »idle talk,« moon-viewing, go, and fishing. It seems that the storms and wind could never destroy their tranquility, and the fierce storms could not make any ripples. With their spirits entering such a world, they forgot about suffering, feeling that the struggle of reality was insignificant. It was in this realm that the literati of the Yuan Dynasty created their landscape paintings. Although this realm was unreal, it was a true reflection of the mentality of the literati of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan literati repeatedly painted the theme of the »mountain dwelling,« turning the Song Dynasty’s popular theme, »journey,« into a place of residence, in an attempt to live in the tranquility of nature forever. Associated with the avoidance of the world are »lamenting the world,« »resenting the world« and »playing with the world.« The content of lamenting the misfortune of life, grieving the darkness of reality, and exposing the ugliness of the officialdom can be found everywhere in Yuan Dynasty poems, lyrics, and songs. Of course, literati of all generations had a sense of worry, and there are works of sorrow and indignation from all dynasties and generations. However, in comparison, it was more common in the Yuan Dynasty, and the mindset of Yuan literati was heavier. What is more noteworthy is the mentality of »playing with the world.« Since they were discarded by rulers and put aside, or sidelined and vilified, why should they be as serious as the literati of the past? Thrown out from the core of politics or expelled from political circles, they stood outside to view the political storm and comment on ancient and modern figures, forming their different opinions. Thus, the historical figure Qu Yuan, who dedicated himself to politics and monarchs, was mocked by the Yuan literati, and his lifestyle was dismissed. Chen Cao’an’s Hillside Sheep: Untitled (Shanpo yang: Wuti 山坡羊 无题) said »Why suffer

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from the storm,« and Guan Yunshi’s Joy in front of the Palace (Dianqian huan 殿前欢) said King Huai of Chu, [had a] loyal subject who jumped into Miluo River. The Li Sao is read with empty melancholy, [although its brilliance] can compete with the sun and moon. Feeling sad, [I] burst out in laughter. [I am] laughing at you, Sanlü Daifu [Qu Yuan’s official position]: Why don’t you let go of your body and mind? [The water of] Canglang [River] pollutes you, you [also] pollute [the water of] Canglang.

This reflects the attitude that the rise and fall of dynasties is a constant farce, that politics is the business of politicians, and that the literati who are keen to participate in politics are just needless sacrifices. With the loss of traditional beliefs, the mentality of the literati began to change, and their values also underwent a certain transformation, realizing that »loyalty to the emperor« was of little value, and that the value of a literati’s life did not necessarily or even need to be linked to politics. Although this change was painful, it reflected the literati’s self-awareness and the increase of their personal interest. But simply »lamenting,« »resenting,« or »playing with the world« cannot solve the fundamental problems of life. People, as living individuals, after all live in the real world. In the real world, people of culture have to consider both cultural transmission and the issue of their livelihood. In an era of fierce social turmoil, those who can actually hide in the mountains or those who can work as officials are after all both a minority, and the »retirement to hermitage,« fishing, and »idle talk« are only ideals for most literati. »Not asking about the world« is actually in the midst of the world’s affairs. The rulers’ abandonment forced most of the literati to go towards society and the people, while the literati also took the initiative to do the same for their livelihoods and cultural transmissions. During the Yuan Dynasty, many literati established colleges for the common people and served as schoolmasters or lecturers. The

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most important thing about the tradition of these colleges is twofold: first, its nature as a private school outside the standard official education; and second, its complete and self-sufficient research and learning purpose. It was possible to maintain a certain distance from the current regime, but also to pass on traditional culture and reflect traditional values. Especially in the early Yuan Dynasty, many Song loyalists chose the survival path of going to a college to teach, and made a living by gathering apprentices. According to statistics, 406 colleges were built or restored in the Yuan Dynasty, and they were spread all over the country—where many Confucian scholars took teaching as their profession and played an important role in the spread of culture. The literati were relatively concentrated in the cities, and when they no longer had illusions about their career, they turned to serve the public to show their talents, gain what they needed to survive, and win social recognition through their intellectual work. The prosperity of the Yuan Dynasty urban economy and the growth of the civil class provided an opportunity for the literati to display their talents in the arts. The civil class was said to encompass »120 trades« in the Yuan Dynasty, and these citizens were not as elegant as the traditional literati and scholar-officials, but more knowledgeable than rural peasants. After the hustle and bustle of life, it was a suitable spiritual enjoyment for them to watch operas that were both accessible and highly artistic. In order to adapt to the entertainment habits of the public, opera performances in the Yuan Dynasty were socialized and commercialized. The scripts of operas created a demand for literati writers, and engaging in opera was a viable way to earn a living. So many literati went to commercial theatres and engaged in opera business with opera performers. When the literati went into the marketplace, their mindset changed greatly through their contact with artists and the public. Traditional concepts

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despised »musicians and performers,« yet playwrights became close friends with actors in the process of working with them. Guan Hanqing, Bai Pu Yang Xianzhi, Zheng Guangzu, and others formed deep friendships with famous zaju actors. Their long career in opera led to a change in their values. They participated in opera activities with their own strengths, playing an important role in opera activities and earning the respect of actors. Through socialized and commercialized performances, the fruits of their labor were recognized by society and they were paid accordingly. Isn’t this kind of living more meaningful? Therefore, literati playwrights proudly acknowledged their ways of living. Ma Zhiyuan once said that »Dongli [Ma’s courtesy name] is the master of wind and moon [metaphor for love affairs].« Guan Hanqing was not ashamed to describe himself as the following, »I am the leader of the world’s dandies and the head of the world’s wastrels.« He compared himself to »not steamed, not cooked, not flattened, not fried,« and taking pride in being a »romantic prodigal« who hangs around in pleasure quarters and engages in leisurely and elegant pastimes—who would rather be punished for his lifestyle than succumb to the »brocade headcollar« of fame and fortune. This was, of course, a »fall into the lower class« according to traditional literati standards. But Guan Hanqing was more interested in the freedom and happiness he had gained by being free from the »brocade headcollar« of fame and fortune. His long and detailed list of bragging points shows the ability and mental state of the literati who survived on their own intellect in the city, with an exuberant and witty mood—which was very valuable compared to the repressed literati who struggled to find a place in official careers. In short, the literati class was severely tried in the specific historical environment of the Yuan Dynasty. The rulers left the literati class idle, resulting in their ill-fated career paths. Because of this, the literati spent more time and energy on

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cultural transmission and artistic creation. What is unfortunate for politics turned out to be fortunate for the arts. the literati class of the Yuan Dynasty produced fewer officials who could help govern and rule the world, but more outstanding artists. It was in the Yuan Dynasty that the literati played an important role in the prosperity and development of the arts. Yuan zaju operas and literati paintings, which represent the arts of the era, are a true depiction of the world of the literati’s mind.

Section 2  Characteristics and Achievements of the Arts of the Yuan Dynasty The convergence of multiple cultures and the diverse and colorful arts of various ethnic groups, the pluralistic and symbiotic artistic landscape, the aesthetic pursuit of multiple trends, and the interpenetration and synthesis of various artistic disciplines, together formed the characteristics of the arts of the Yuan Dynasty. In the journey that was part of a historical transition, Yuan Dynasty artists left a distincti footprint of the times.

1. Convergence and Diversity The unprecedented multi-ethnic social environment, the vast geographical space, the relatively open atmosphere of the times, and the frequent international exchanges created favorable conditions for the integration of multiple cultures during the Yuan. The integration of multiple cultures included not only the integration of the cultures of the Central Plains and that of the frontier, but also the integration of court culture and folk culture, the integration of Han culture and minority cultures, the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, the integration of northern and southern cultures, and the integration of Chinese and foreign cultures. The fusion of multiple cultures not only made Yuan Dynasty art col-

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orful in its totality, but also provided fresh blood for the development of various disciplines. In the plastic arts, the convergence of multiple cultures directly affected the diversified development of craftsmanship and architecture and the formation of the stylistic landscape. The Mongolian aristocracy, as the ruling class, was bound to manifest its cultural concepts and aesthetic sense tenaciously. They drank heavily, so there were huge wine storage vessels such as silver-covered wooden urns that could »store more than 30 dan of wine« in the court; the deserts and highlands in the north are cold and windy, so the woolbased felt industry also gained unprecedented development in the Central Plains; nomadic tribes migrated along with their resources, so artisans made large quantities of portable vessels; the Mongolian admiration for white and blue colors resulted in a large number of white and blue works of art, such as white silk and wool products as well as blue-and-white porcelain. However, as a nomadic people, the Mongols did not have a long tradition of handicrafts, and the development of arts and crafts in the Yuan Dynasty was mainly indebted to Islamic culture and Han culture. That is to say, the Mongolian tastes and preferences were realized with the help of the achievements of the material and spiritual civilization of the Muslim and Han peoples. Through their western conquests, refined handicrafts and excellent craftsmen were obtained from Islamic countries in Central Asia, and the Mongol aristocracy gradually became enthusiastic about Islamic culture, so the official arts and crafts, which embodied the aesthetic ideals of the Mongol aristocracy, also abandoned the clean and elegant artistic style of the Song Dynasty, and turned to the pursuit of a refined and luxurious style. However, after the Mongolian aristocracy entered the Central Plains, it could not be isolated from traditional Han culture, and its aesthetic taste was inevitably influenced and restricted by Han culture. The main body of artisans in the Yuan Dynasty were

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still Han Chinese. Therefore, Han culture played an important role in the production of Yuan Dynasty crafts. Although there are obvious traces of Mongolian and Islamic cultures in Yuan Dynasty embroidery and ceramics, almost all Han patterns and traditional craft methods were preserved. The architecture of the Yuan Dynasty further reflects the characteristics of the integration of multiple cultures. For example, the people involved in the design of the city of Dadu came from various ethnic groups, including Liu Bingzhong, Zhao Bingwen, and the father and the son Zhang Rou and Zhang Honglüe, all of Han descent, Yesubuhua, of Mongolian descent, Yeheidie’erding, belonging to the Semu group, and so on. The Han architects, led by Liu Bingzhong, tried their best to reflect the cultural consciousness of the Han ethnicity in the architecture of the imperial capital, where there was both the Confucian idea of the supremacy of the monarch and the Daoist appreciation for the nature. The former was manifested in the prominent central axis of Dadu, which was neatly organized with the majestic palace surrounded by the solemn streets and alleys, showing the strict institutional norms of Confucianism and the dignity of imperial power; the latter is manifested in the gardening of the overall space of the city, drawing water into the city, creating hills inside the city, planting trees on the hills, and embellishing spaces with pavilions, temples, and towers, so that the regular and solemn imperial city would be infused with a lively and natural atmosphere. But the ruler of the imperial city was, after all, from the northern desert and grassland tribes, with a martial spirit, so the characteristics of steppe culture were bound to show: the imperial city and the palace were pushed forward, placed in the southern end of the central axis, so that they were hugged by the city walls on the left, right, and from behind, showing a courageous and unstoppable spirit, which is clearly the display of a rising nation’s determination to sweep the world and drive straight forward. As for the

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yurt-shaped orda and palm-fiber palace (zongmao dian 棕毛殿), purposely built in and the lofty and glorious Chinese palace complex, they expressed the Mongol’s nostalgia for the grassland culture. In the imperial courtyard, there were also Uyghur halls that reflected the civilization of the Western Regions, which indicates the Mongol’s inclusive and tolerant attitude. The music and dance also reflected the trend of the integration of various cultures. Mongolians were originally a singing and dancing people, so they attached great importance to music and dance. In the Yuan Dynasty, the court had a large music and dance management organization, and there were Changhe Office and Tianyue Office, established under the Yifeng Department of the Ministry of Rites, to manage the Huihui musicians and the Hexi musicians respectively. The music of the Yuan court consisted of Han, northwestern ethnic, and Mongolian music, which was played according to different occasions and was often interspersed. The fusion of southern and northern music was a characteristic of Yuan Dynasty music. The Mongols, who had invaded the Central Plains, were won over by the profound and sophisticated Chinese culture, although they discriminated against the Han Chinese in their ethnic policies. Yelü Chucai, who excelled in qin, had actively suggested to the Yuan ruler to learn Chinese culture including music. In terms of the construction of music culture, the Yuan Dynasty’s yayue music system was modeled on Han court yayue music as well. Han music was also heavily absorbed in banquet music (yanyue). At the same time, Mongolian steppe-style tones were also introduced to the Central Plains, which had an important influence on the musical style of the northern music. Yuan Dynasty music also incorporated foreign music, such as the 72-stringed pipa, which was brought back in the year 1257 by the Yuan general Guo Kan from his western expedition, after the conquest of Qishimi Tribe (now Kashmir) of the Kingdom of Baoda (now Baghdad).

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As for the Yuan zaju and Southern Opera, they were arts incorporating many cultures. The Yuan zaju opera was born from the Song zaju and the Jin yuanben, and was bred from the culture of the Han and the culture of the Jurchen. After its birth, the Mongolian steppe culture fed it with fresh blood. The tunes of Yuan zaju were composed of a variety of northern tunes called »northern music« (beiqu 北曲), and there were a large number of fanqu 蕃曲 (the music of northern nomads) in northern music—especially the rough and bright songs of the Mongolian people, which played a very important role in the formation of the tunes of Yuan zaju. The fondness of the Mongolian nobility also played an important role in the flourishing of Yuan zaju and facilitated its development, as the court often had the Imperial Academy perform a variety of songs, dances, and zaju. It can be said that the process of the emergence and prosperity of Yuan zaju was the process of the integration of multi-ethnic cultures. In a sense, the flourishing of Southern Opera was also the result of the cultural integration of the north and the south. The unification of the Yuan Empire made the original Southern Opera absorb the strengths of northern culture and reorganize itself, and the writers and artists of northern zaju came south and joined the ranks of Southern Opera creation, so that qualitative changes took place in Southern Opera. In the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the playwright Shen He advocated the interpolation of northern and southern opera tunes, creating the »North-South Set,« which represented the absorption of northern music by Southern Opera. The great synergy formed by the fusion of various cultures pushed the development of Yuan Dynasty arts, giving it rich and diverse colors and making it shine on the future generations to come. Yuan Dadu, built jointly by many ethnic groups, was the largest and most beautiful city in the world at the time, and a rare artistic masterpieces in the history of ancient Chinese urban architecture. The ceramics and embroideries, which were a fusion

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of Mongolian, Islamic, and Han cultures, were famous for their exquisite and luxurious characteristics of the time and were sold overseas. The music and dance that resulted from the fusion of cultures showed vitality. The Yuan zaju opera, which was nurtured by both Han and ethnic minorities, emerged as a representative of Yuan art and as a symbol of the aesthetic characteristics of the era with its extraordinary dynamism.

2. Symbiotic and Parallel Developments On the basis of the fusion of various cultures, Yuan Dynasty arts showed a pattern of diversified symbiosis, with the various categories of arts competing with and complementing each other and reflecting the aesthetic needs and ideals of different classes, the most prominent of which were the two peaks of Yuan zaju opera and literati painting, which represented the aesthetic characteristics and highest achievements of the times. In general, Yuan Dynasty arts were diversified and symbiotic in a wide artistic space, with official arts reflecting the aesthetic preferences of the rulers, literati arts expressing the aesthetic ideals of the literati, and folk arts reflecting the joy, anger, and sorrow of the common people. The sophisticated Han arts and the vibrant arts of various ethnic minorities also developed to varying degrees. Various religious arts, including Buddhist arts, Daoist arts, Islamic arts, and Christian arts, left many masterpieces in the midst of the fierce competition. It is in this artistic landscape that opera, music, dance, painting, architecture, sculpture, and crafts all created new forms to meet the needs of different classes, showing multi-directional aesthetic pursuits and diversifying in multi-directional development. The landscape of plastic arts, for example, consisted of three major veins: first, literati painting and calligraphy, which embodied the cultural strengths, aesthetic ideals, and spiritual representations of the Han people; second, religious arts, which were needed by both the rulers and

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the ruled as spiritual support; and third, crafts and architectural arts, which met the needs of different social classes and integrated aesthetics and practicality. The three major veins reflected the spirit of the times and aesthetic pursuits from different aspects. To capture the aesthetic characteristics of Yuan Dynasty arts, these three major veins should be grasped as a whole. The calligraphy and painting of the literati reflect the cultural mentality and aesthetic ideals of a specific social class, representing the spiritual orientation and aesthetic construction of the lost scholar-official class, which indeed reveals the mood of the times determined by a specific social reality. However, this is only one side of the story, and if we examine literati painting and calligraphy in the context of all Yuan Dynasty culture, we will find that it was only one component of it. In contrast, religious arts had a broader mass base and met the spiritual needs of most people. Religious art was inevitably influenced by the aesthetic consciousness of the ruling class, but its creators and audiences were mainly folk artists and ordinary people, and thus religious arts had more popular color. While the literati were trying to distance themselves from real society by concentrating on the wilderness, folk artists were still observing life with a broad vision and devoting themselves to creation with enthusiasm, showing life in Yuan Dynasty from all aspects. In contrast to the light ink of literati painting, folk artists opened a colorful and enthusiastic aesthetic world in religious art. There were no long sighs of the literati through ink and brush, no grievances or wistfulness, but rather hymns of life, and frank expressions. Whether through the murals of the Yongle Temple or other popular, local temples, the statues of the Twenty-Eight Constellations in the Jiwang Temple, or woodblock-printed illustrations, it is clear that pessimism and despair never applied to the working masses. No matter how harsh the reality was and how dangerous life was, they did not waver in their will to survive, and

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their pursuit of good things. With the passage of time, the religious meanings applied to religious arts have faded, but as the crystallization of the nation’s spiritual pursuits and aesthetic ideals, it still casts a glow. Like the visual arts, Yuan Dynasty dance and music also showed a variety of patterns and aesthetic trends. There were three major lines of Yuan Dynasty dance: court dance, religious dance, and folk dance, each with different characteristics. The court dances were for the political and entertainment needs of the ruling classes and reflected the aesthetic habits of the Yuan rulers. The music and dance dedicated to heaven and earth and the ancestors, such as the music and dance of the Suburban Sacrifices, those for ancestral temples, the Ten-Room Music and Dance of the Taiding reign, either commemorate the merits of the ancestors or express the glorious deeds of territorial expansion. The team dances of the court assemblies and banquets and the dress event, the Zhama Feast, were on a grand scale, with »grand music played,« »variety acts performed,« and »a wonderful dance in purple clothing«—which was the ultimate imperial pleasure. In particular, the Sixteen Heavenly Demons Dance, which was popular at the court during the reign of Emperor Shun, consisted of 16 dancers dressed in tight clothes, and was claimed to »praise to Buddha,« though in reality was a lascivious court pleasure. In contrast, religious dances such as shamanic songs and dances, the Cham Dance of Tibetan Buddhism and the Dongba dance of Yunnan were full of celebrations of raw vitality. Among folk dances, the »dancing song« popular in many ethnic groups and the southwestern piece Baisha Fine Music celebrated love of life with full enthusiasm. Music of the Yuan Dynasty also had a variety of aesthetic pursuits, adapting to the needs of various classes depending on the venue and the audience it served. The palace music system of yayue and banquet music was inherited from the previous dynasties and widely absorbed Han Chinese

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music and the music of other ethnic groups, and further developed. The subjective intent of court music was to »make known the dignity of the great monarch of the nine-gated [heavenly palace]  … [and] to make visible the image of the diligent king of a thriving dynasty,« as stated in »Records of Rites and Music« in History of the Yuan Dynasty, which reflected the aesthetic requirements of the ruler. In contrast, although folk singing-storytelling was once banned by the rulers, it was always popular because it was loved by the people. The various forms of singing-storytelling, such as zhugongdiao, taozhen, yushuo, daoqing, pipa ci, cihua, and daoqing, vividly expressed the joy, anger, and sorrow of the common people. The Yuan Dynasty also produced a new form of singing-storytelling, huolang’er 货郎儿 (lit. »peddler«), and there were artists who sang it for a living. The singers of huolang’er shook the pellet drum of the knick-knack peddler and walked around village after village, singing according to the festival, creating a special aesthetic landscape. The most outstanding achievement of Yuan Dynasty music was the new development of the art of singing. During the Yuan Dynasty, singing activities were very common. From the Yuan rulers down to people of all ethnicities, they all took pleasure in singing and expressing their voices. Mongolians alone had war songs, feast songs, hunting songs, hymns, songs expressing the homesickness of warriors, narrative songs, etc. The lyrics of these songs expressed different aspects of Mongolian military and civilian life at the time. The Yuan Dynasty was also the era of the flourishing of marketplace songs, which were »prevalent in Yan and Zhao, and became increasingly popular afterwards,« and were born in response to the aesthetic needs of the public’s spiritual life. It is also worth noting that the singing activities of the courtesans and the musical life of the literati both exuded a new aesthetic atmosphere. The courtesans were a very special group of people who lived by xiaochang and piaochang,

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and had low social status. But it was amid their misfortune that they saw the world for what it really was and sang frankly about their sorrows and their aspirations for a better life. The courtesan Zhang Yulian said, »[I] listened with inclined ear to the horses passing in front of the door, and looked at the flowers falling outside the curtain with tears,« expressing the hardships of courtesans. The famous actress Zhulian Xiu said, »Even if [you] died under the peony, you would be a romantic ghost,« expressing longing for true love. The courtesan’s boldness in chanting her inner anguish was unprecedented. The musical activities of the literati were mainly reflected in the composition of sanqu. Sanqu was a song genre that was mainly lyrical, written in rhyming verses, and was sung in arias. The form and language of sanqu are distinct, compared to poetry and ci verses. On the one hand, while sanqu adhered to fixed tone patterns, additional words, ranging from one character to a dozen or so, could be inserted freely; on the other hand, the language of sanqu was mainly spoken and colloquial. These characteristics made sanqu a freer and lighter form, more suitable for expressing immediate and active emotions. »Novel and unique songs with beautiful meanings« constituted the main artistic characteristic of sanqu, thus breaking the shackles of the »gentle and gracious« »poetic teachings« that had long reigned in the Chinese poetic tradition, forcing the early folk songs and ballads gain significant progress in their aesthetics. The newness and dynamism of sanqu was not the same as the novelty expressed in poetry through the refinement of one or two words; it was a frank, straightforward, and unrestrained expression of feelings; the content it depicted dared to reveal the psychological aspects of human desires or instincts in a vivid way.

SECTION 2 CHARACTERISTICS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ARTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

3. The Twin Peaks and a Generation of Marvels The most glorious highlights of Yuan Dynasty arts were Yuan zaju opera and literati painting. Yuan Dynasty literati paintings expressed the spiritual direction and aesthetic concepts of the lost scholarly class with their unique artistic patterns. Yuan zaju, on the other hand, had a broader social base, met the aesthetic needs of different classes, and fully reflected the aesthetic characteristics of the times, making it an outstanding representative of Yuan arts. Literati painting was a unique phenomenon in Chinese art, reflecting the spirit of the nation and the characteristics of Chinese culture, and occupying a prominent position in the history of world arts. Literati painting has a long history and was formally established in the Song Dynasty, but its real development came in the Yuan Dynasty. The basic characteristics of literati painting were formed in the Yuan Dynasty: instead of objectively reproducing objects, subjective feelings were expressed through them, brush and ink became independent aesthetic elements, and poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seals became organic parts of the picture. In this social environment, the literati and scholars of the Yuan Dynasty further transformed creations into a means of personal expression and speech, strengthening the sense of subjectivity. The painter took greater initiative in creation, and his eyes were no longer caught by the appearance of specific things, allowing his mind to freely wander and explore the universe, and through quiet observation the artist could achieve the realm of unity between nature and man, using his mind to drive the ink in his painting. In this way, what appeared under the painter’s brush was not only the image of the object captured, but also the manifestation of the painter’s spiritual self. The creation of the literati was not only the promotion of national aesthetic ideals under specific historical conditions, but also

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the embodiment of the spiritual character of the literati. In this regard, the literati paintings of the Yuan Dynasty surpassed their predecessors with unique characteristics. Compared with previous generations, painting and calligraphy in the Yuan Dynasty failed to gain the attention of the rulers, and, on the other hand, the rulers relaxed their control. Compared with the rulers of the Song Dynasty, who interfered with painting from time to time, Yuan Dynasty painters had relative autonomy. The literati painters could select the subjects they were interested in based on their own preferences, explore their own artistic language, and form their own artistic style. From Zhao Mengfu to the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, everyone had their own unique style. The elegance of Zhao Mengfu, the vigorous and majestic style of Gao Kegong, the spacious and charming style of Zhu Derun, the unrestrained and fresh style of Huang Gongwang, the smooth and subdued style of Wu Zhen, the simple and detached style of Ni Zan, and the dense and exuberant style of Wang Meng are all fascinating. In addition, many important theoretical insights were put forward in the Yuan Dynasty, including Zheng Sixiao’s »gentleman’s painting,« Qian Xuan’s »scholarly spirit,« Zhao Mengfu’s »ancient meaning,« Wu Zhen’s »suitable to the mood,« Tang Hou’s »expressing spirit,« and Ni Zan’s »unrestrained spirit.« These ideas not only enriched the theory of literati painting but were also important to the entire history of Chinese literary and artistic theory. However, it should also be noted that although ­literati painting elevated the aesthetic ideal of the nation to a new level and was indeed »elegant« to the extreme, it also had its own limitations. The creators and admirers of literati paintings were limited to the literati class and did not have a direct connection with the masses, and they failed to directly reflect the times when there was no peace, when class struggles and ethnic conflicts were intertwined, and when society was open and

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cultural interactions were frequent. It was Yuan zaju that directly reflected the characteristics of the times, expressed the voices of the people, was loved by the masses, and caused strong repercussions throughout society. Yuan zaju opera sang the strongest voice of the times with its exciting and exuberant character. Tang poetry, Song ci verses and Yuan opera were traditionally each regarded as the symbols of their eras. Yuan opera refers to zaju opera, and it occupies an extremely important position in the history of Chinese literature and art, being a symbol of the maturity of the first peak of Chinese opera. Zhong Shicheng’s Record Book of Ghosts (Luguibu 录鬼簿) recorded more than 90 writers of zaju, with more than 450 kinds of works; the early Ming Dynasty writer Zhu Quan’s Tables of Correct Tones for a Period of Great Peace (Taihe zhengyin pu 太 和正音谱) recorded 191 writers of zaju, with more than 560 titles of works. The sheer number of zaju playwrights and the prevalence of scripts speaks volumes about the scale and popularity of this form of opera. In stark contrast to the solitary appreciation of literati painting, Yuan zaju operas directly faced a wide audience of different classes. The performances of Yuan zaju were concentrated in economically prosperous cities such as Dadu, Zhending, Bianliang, Pingyang and Dongping in the early stages, and mainly in the southeastern coastal cities with rapid economic development in the later stages. Cities were the centers of culture and often led the aesthetic fashions of society at large; and the cities were dominated by the civil class, who needed arts to satisfy their spiritual entertainment. During the Yuan Dynasty, theatrical performances were socialized and commercialized, and it became fashionable and popular to watch them. Therefore, reflecting the aesthetic characteristics of the times and satisfying the spiritual needs of the common people were the important tasks given to Yuan zaju opera. Yuan zaju captured the pulse of the times and created

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an artistic image that was loved by the audience, reaching an unprecedented height in both ideology and artistry. If literati painting had the color of »escapism,« Yuan opera was a true portrayal of life. Although they were both written by literati, they reflected different aesthetic pursuits and ways of dealing with the world. While literati painters sought their own perfection by »avoiding the world,« writers of zaju embodied their values by »entering the world.« While literati painting was calm and introspective, Yuan zaju opera was impassioned and exuberant, in tune with turbulent times. The writers who lived at the bottom of society felt the social turmoil and suffering of the people, recognized social ills and the brutal greed of the rulers, and understood deeply the aesthetic pursuits of the citizens. The content of Yuan zaju is exceptionally broad and the subjects are extremely rich. Zhu Quan of the Ming Dynasty divided zaju into 12 categories, while modern scholars mainly divided them into several types, such as love and marriage dramas, social dramas, historical dramas, legal case dramas, and divine and immortalized dramas. Although the subjects of these major categories were different, they all reflected the aesthetic characteristics and ideals of the times from different aspects and are closely related to the social life and psychology of the playwrights at that time. Love and marriage dramas in Yuan zaju, in expressing the eternal theme of true love between young men and women, highlighted the bold pursuit and active spirit of women in the dramas. In their struggle against external obstacles and search for marital autonomy, they often show a spirit of initiative in the issue of love and marriage, which is reflected in Zhao Pan’er in Saving the Prostitute (Jiu fengchen 救风尘), Wang Ruilan in The Moonlight Pavilion (Baiyue ting 拜月亭), and Li Qianjin in On Horseback and over the Garden Wall (Qiangtou mashang 墙头马上). Women also often showed insight and boldness that men

SECTION 2 CHARACTERISTICS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ARTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

did not. For example, the soul of Zhang Qiannü in Qiannü’s Soul Leaves Her Body (Qiannü lihun 倩女离魂) boldly »elopes« with Wang Wenju, while Wang shows fear doing this. The woman Luo Meiying in Qiu Hu Tries to Seduce His Own Wife (Qiu Hu xi qi 秋胡戏妻) demands a divorce from her husband after discovering his bad behavior, which more than anything demonstrates the woman’s demand for equality. In contrast, the male protagonists in these plays are timid, cowardly, and obscene. The portrayal of women as stronger than men became an important phenomenon in Yuan Dynasty love and marriage dramas, which to a certain extent shows the weakening of the traditional concept of male superiority. There was certainly an »idealization« there, but it also reflects from the side the new concept of the civil class and the weakening of the feudal system in the early Yuan Dynasty. The social dramas are even more distinctive for characteristics of the times. They reflect and depict, to varying degrees, the universal phenomena of society at the time and the multitudes of life in the world, exposing the darkness and ills of society with a sharp brush. Among them, The Injustice to Dou E (Dou E yuan 窦娥冤) is the most representative, in which the tragic fate of Dou E is a resounding expression of the ordinary people’s call for justice and a lashing out at the forces of evil. The legal case drama revolves around civil and criminal events, to expose and punish evil and to promote good. In Selling Rice at Chenzhou (Chenzhou tiaomi 陈州粜米), the playwright writes about the oppression of innocent people by the powerful and influential, and the punishment of the powerful by the upright judge Bao Zheng, glorifying the image of the upright official and common people who do not succumb to evil forces, as well as exposing the ugly faces of corrupt and stupid officials. The common people of the Yuan Dynasty suffered from the double burden of ethnic oppression and class oppression, and thus were more eager for integrity and fairness in poli-

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tics and social justice, calling for »clean officials.« The legal case drama’s promotion of justice and righteousness expressed the aspirations of the public. The essence of historical dramas was to express the sentiment of reality through historical stories. In the historical dramas of the Yuan Dynasty, the writers’ perspective on historical facts was often not confined to the reproduction of the true picture of history, but focused on the development of the world of »self-expression« and the use of historical themes to put forward their own ideals. Or rather, their attention to artistic creation was not focused on the fine observation and grasp of historical facts, but on the archetype and readymade outlines of characters and plots provided by historical facts and legends, which were used as the basis for their expression. For example, Ma Zhiyuan’s Autumn in the Han Palace (Hangong qiu 汉宫秋) is not about Wang Zhaojun leaving her native land in the Han Dynasty, but about her death by throwing herself into the river, thus highlighting her patriotic feelings, which the author obviously used to express his own national sentiment and that also satisfied the need of the audience. There, the sense of the times was intertwined with the writer’s self-expression. Another example is Guan Hanqing’s Going to a Meeting with a Single Sword (Dandao hui 单刀会), in which Lu Su of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period is ordered to take back Jingzhou. Official history records that Lu Su was in the superior moral position and Guan Yu was rendered speechless. In Guan’s zaju, however, it is written that Guan Yu, on the grounds that his lord, Liu Bei, is a »Liu« and thus a descendant of the Han imperial family, righteously rebukes Eastern Wu: »Then you, Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu, has what to do with our Liu family?« This reflects the mood of the times. As for divine and immortal dramas, they were also a reflection of social reality. The pursuit of the immortal realm in these plays was essentially

Overview

a reflection of the sentiments of the literati at the time. In that period, there were indeed a considerable number of literati living in seclusion to avoid the world, which was a unique social phenomenon. The contempt for the powerful and the noble in these plays reveals the spirit of realistic criticism. All in all, Yuan zaju is like an encyclopedia of Yuan society, truly reflecting the colorful social life and distinctly showing the rich and diverse personalities and spiritual world of the playwrights. With its artistic power, zaju criticized the marriage system, family system, bureaucracy, and other social evils of feudal society, and exposed the brutality, decadence, desolation, and hypocrisy of the feudal ruling class and the upper class; at the same time, zaju gave deep sympathy to the unfortunate, oppressed, and sacrificed—and glorified their beautiful characters, expressed their cries for justice, and represented their heroic resistance. The spirit of their heroic struggle won the love of audiences, and became a symbol of the arts of the times.

4. Interpenetration and Convergence By the Yuan Dynasty, the trend of interpenetration and integration among various categories of arts became more obvious. In the plastic arts, the most evident and prominent phenomenon of interpenetration between painting and calligraphy was the use of calligraphy in paintings. In its own development, Chinese painting had always absorbed as much as possible from sister arts. In the Song Dynasty, when literati painting was formed, Su Shi and others noticed the relationship between poetry and painting and advocated the use of poetry in painting: »Poetry and painting follow the same principles, the work of heaven [naturalness] and freshness«; »If you talk about painting by visual resemblance, you will see that you are next to a child; if you have to use this particular poem when composing a poem, you definitely are not someone who understands poetry.« The emphasis on the proxim-

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ity of painting to poetry, with its lyrical tradition and the advocacy of the pursuit of poetic mood in time and space in painting, was undoubtedly a major advance in bringing into play the spirit and agency of painters, and sparked the trend of literati painting. However, the Song Dynasty failed to discuss in depth how to express poetic sentiment in painting, how to make literati painting show its own characteristics in visual form, how to show the characteristics of literati painting through techniques of delivery, and how to perfectly unite the lyrical purpose with the visual style of the picture. Regarding the relationship between calligraphy and painting, Zhang Yanyuan of the Tang Dynasty had already put forward the theory of »the same method of calligraphy and painting,« citing Zhang Sengyou, who »dotted, trailed, hacked, and swiped [with his brush], according to Lady Wei’s Diagram of the Battle Formation of the Brush, with each dot and stroke being a special design, like hooked halberds and sharp swords being neatly arranged«—and Wu Daozi, who »derived his brush method from Zhang Xu, which shows that the use of brush is the same in painting and calligraphy!« However, it mainly referred to the use of the same brush method in painting and calligraphy and had not yet explicitly raised the issue of the penetration of calligraphy into painting. Although the Song Dynasty emphasized the brushwork of painting, the descriptive method of painting still occupied an important position, and the descriptive method was the main means of depicting objects, with for example the »running clouds and flowing water« method emphasizing roundness, smoothness, strength, and gracefulness of the lines, and the extremely rich versatility and expressiveness of the various brush strokes in calligraphy had not yet been consciously emphasized in painting. In rebellion against the meticulous depiction of the Southern Song Painting Academy, and the creative mood of »not being bound by the principle, not being driven by the object,« Yuan Dynasty li-

SECTION 2 CHARACTERISTICS AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ARTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

terati painters began to search for a new, more expressive artistic language to turn depictions into expressions. At this point, the use of the brush was no longer just about the fluidity and rigidity of the lines, but about the specific brushwork and aesthetic style of calligraphy embodied in the painting. Ke Jiusi, Zhao Mengfu, and others clearly put forward the idea of integrating calligraphy into painting. Zhao Mengfu put forward this requirement for creative practice: »A rock is like flying white [script] and a tree is like the Zhou [graphs], and to depict the bamboo [one] should master the Eight Principles. If there is someone who can do this, he should know that painting and calligraphy are fundamentally the same.« He took the rock and the tree as examples, emphasizing the use of the flying white technique in calligraphy (applying a relatively dry brush at a high speed) to paint a rock in order to depict its texture; applying the brushwork used to write the Zhou graphs (zhouwen 籀文) to the branches and trunks of dead trees for a sense of oldness and vigor; and using the various brushwork techniques of the Eight Principles of Yong (eight common strokes found in the character yong 永) to paint bamboo, so that the bamboo leaves and the brushwork were intertwined as one. In this way, the brushwork and aesthetic characteristics of calligraphy were integrated into the painting, so that each stroke, the most basic element that constitutes the artistic image, had an independent aesthetic value, and through clever combination with the image formed a unique momentum, rhythm, and charm. The painters of the Yuan Dynasty achieved the expected effect in this regard, not only overcoming the Song practice of meticulous depiction, but also making the whole creative process change from description to expression, turning stillness into movement, driving the brush with emotion, expressing the heart directly, and strengthening the dynamism and emotional color of painting as never before. Bamboo, orchids, and other »gentleman paintings« symbolizing the character of the

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literati were also developed to an unprecedented extent in the Yuan Dynasty. The trends of development of Yuan Dynasty arts were, on the one hand, interpenetration and, on the other hand, convergence. The reason why Yuan zaju opera became the symbol of a generation of arts was, in a sense, the result of the synthesis of various types of arts. The word za 杂 (lit. »miscellaneous,« »variety«) in zaju can be understood as the synthesis of multiple arts, as it was itself a comprehensive form of art, encompassing literature (script), music (singing), dance, storytelling, performance, and stage art. It was the synthesis of multiple arts that brought Chinese opera to maturity. The »singing« of Yuan zaju had widely absorbed the grand suites music of the Tang and Song Dynasties, zhugongdiao and other folk tunes, and even minority music and foreign music. In terms of the method of linking the tune sets, the placement of the modes and keys, and the combination with the structure of the opera, the experience of zhugongdiao had been borrowed, forming a strict program with a certain flexibility at the same time. The »speaking« in Yuan zaju operas drew from the art of singing-storytelling, such as the insertion of spoken lines into singing parts borrowed from huolang’er and the »rhyming speech« borrowed from the rhyming method of poetry. The »acting« and »fighting« in Yuan zaju were obviously borrowed from the movements of dance. For example, the »combat section« is a dance movement with martial arts elements, and the dance fragments were performed according to the needs of the plot or interspersed with and straying from the plot. The stagecraft, with the dual attributes of being stage art and plastic art, also played an important role in Yuan zaju. From the mural painting

Overview

Zhongdu Xiu Performed Here in the Hall of Mingying Wang in Hongdong, Shanxi Province, the Yuan zaju opera characters wore both clean and heavily-applied make-up, as well as fake beards and other facial props. The costumes included »cloak and plate« for officials, »plain clothing« for common people, »Daoist clothing« for Daoist priests, and »blue clothing« for the poor people. The curtain and other stage devices and tables, chairs, knives, swords, and other qimo (props) were used to enhance the atmosphere. The synthesis of all the arts together not only made Yuan zaju uniquely national in style, but also enabled the respective development of all the arts. In terms of dramatic literature, a complete script with a combination of rhyming verse and prose was produced. A complete story was narrated in acts, and each act was both a musical unit and a natural passage for the development of the storyline, which was not limited by time and place, each act mostly including many scenes, leaving a wide space for the actors and giving the audience room for imagination. The music of Yuan zaju was also quite distinctive, as it absorbed a wide variety of musical materials and organized them into strict form; within the strict program, it also allowed for free changes according to the needs of the plot, forming both principle and flexibility. The music of Yuan zaju opera was already a mature music. Dance was incorporated into zaju, which gave birth to opera dance. Opera dance enriched the connotation of Chinese dance with its dramatic characteristics. And the joining of plastic art gave rise to a new style of art, namely stage art, which although not yet fully developed laid the foundation for the development of stage art in later periods.

CHAPTER I  ZAJU OF THE YUAN DYNASTY During the Yuan Dynasty, variety plays (zaju 杂 剧) became »the literary form that symbolized the entire era.« A very popular art form, zaju came to constitute the main current in the arts, spreading nationwide and bringing about the first golden age of Chinese opera. The format of Yuan zaju, which differed from that of Southern Opera, developed based on the zaju of the Song Dynasty, with the main transitional forms being hall dramas (yuanben 院本) and music plays (zhugongdiao 诸宫调). Zaju were rather short: the standard structure consisted of four acts (zhe 折) and one prologue (xiezi 楔子), with one lead singer at all times. The songs that were sung were in the northern style (beiqu 北曲), and each of the four acts consisted of one set. Normally, the four acts used the xianlü mode (xianlügong 仙吕宫), the nanlü mode (nanlügong 南吕宫), the zhonglü mode (zhonglügong 中吕宫), and the shuangdiao mode (shuangdiao 双调), in that order. Zaju had already come into existence during the Jin Dynasty, first flourishing in the north, around Khanbaliq (now Beijing). In this initial period, the peak of zaju, the major playwrights were figures such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, and Yang Xianzhi, and the period boasted a great many masterpieces. Later, the center of zaju creation shifted to Hangzhou, and the finest playwrights of this second period were Zheng Guangzu, Qiao Ji, and Gong Tianting. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, zaju had already fallen into decline; the preeminent zaju dramatists during this period were Luo Ben, Wang Ziyi, Jia Zhongming, Zhu Quan, and Zhu You.

Section 1  Proliferation of Zaju 1. Establishment of the Status of Zaju as »Literature of a Generation« The term »zaju« first appeared late in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, it was used to refer collectively to miscellaneous dramas (zaxi 杂戏) and variety shows (baixi 百戏). The theatrical performances customarily referred to as zaju during the Yuan Dynasty were, in the words of Wang Guowei, »true operas.« Zaju came into existence somewhat later than the Southern Operas produced in the south. From a musical perspective, zaju can be divided into northern-style airs and southern-style airs (nanqu 南曲), but as the production of zaju shifted southward, the two fused into a combined format, the »combined northern-southern« (nanbei hetao 南北合套) form. The Yuan rulers enjoyed and supported zaju, and the literati took part as well, so zaju dramas became far more numerous and influential than Southern Opera works. As Wang Guowei wrote of zaju, »Although they only depicted their own feelings and the spirit of the times, sincere reasoning and an exceptional spirit« flow through »the spirit of Yuan Dynasty theater« that is found in them. In the annals of literary history, zaju (Yuan Dynasty theater) also shine due to clear-cut features, and a literary status that equals that of such art forms as the poetry of the Tang Dynasty and the ci (‌词) poems of the Song Dynasty.

2. Performance Centers for Zaju The fact that zaju flourished as »the literary form that symbolized the entire era« is evident from

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both the number of playwrights and the number of works produced. Zhong Sicheng’s Register of Ghosts (Luguibu 录鬼簿) mentions 152 zaju playwrights (including some authors of scattered arias (sanqu 散曲) and more than 400 individual zaju works. The book Continuation of the Register of Ghosts (Luguibu xubian 录鬼簿续编), by an early-Ming author, refers to 71 zaju playwrights and 78 zaju works dating from the Yuan Dynasty through the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. Together, these two books list a total of 223 playwrights and nearly 500 works. During the Ming Dynasty, The Taihe-Era Collection of Tunes (Taihe zhengyin pu 太和正音谱), by Zhu Quan, refers to 535 zaju works and 69 zaju playwrights; the book classifies 110 zaju works as »old and new anonymous zaju« and classifies four zaju playwrights (with 11 works) as »male actors who did not make it into the top ranks.« Altogether, the three books listed here mention more than 650 zaju works. The enormous number of »ci poems and arias« that were written at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty built upon and continued the flourishing creation of zaju works; the scale and quantity of the zaju plays that were created demonstrate audiences’ love for this genre, a love that was due at least in part to the quality and the spirit of these Yuan Dynasty theatrical works. Khanbaliq, the political and cultural hub of the Yuan Dynasty, was also the main center for the production and performance of zaju. Of the 56 playwrights recorded in Register of Ghosts, 17 were natives of this city: Guan Hanqing, Yu T ­ ianxi, Ma Zhiyuan, Wang Shifu, Wang Zhongwen, Yang Xianzhi, Ji Junxiang, Fei Tangchen, Zhang Guobin, Liang Jinzhi, Sun Zhongzhang, Zhao Mingdao, Li Zizhong, Shi Zizhang, Li Kuanfu, Fei Junxiang, and Li Shizhong. Register of Ghosts also includes a large number of playwrights who, though not natives of Khanbaliq, resided and wrote zaju in the city for a considerable period of time—writers such as Bai Pu and Gao Wenxiu. Bai, whose ancestors were from what is now Hequ

CHAPTER I ZAJU OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

in Shanxi Province, was born in Kaifeng and lived in Khanbaliq twice; Gao, who was from Dongping in Shandong Province, is famous for having written Water Margin plays. Hongzi Li Er, who was from Jingzhao (now Xi’an) and who lived in Khanbaliq along with Hua Li Lang, composed, together with Ma Zhiyuan and Li Shizhong, Golden Millet Dream (Huangliang meng 黄粱梦). In terms of numbers of works, no less than 156 zaju were written by early-period Khanbaliq playwrights, of which more than 60 were by Guan Hanqing alone. Khanbaliq was also the main place where scripts for zaju were exchanged and disseminated. The 30 Yuan Dynasty printed editions that preserve zaju in their original form were printed primarily at Hangzhou and Khanbaliq. The use of engraving and printing technologies contributed significantly to the diffusion, exchange, and popularization of zaju. In February of each year, the Yuan emperor, his ministers, the vassal princes, the emperor’s sonin-law, and others would enjoy »plays« (xiju 戏剧) and »theatrical performances« (xiji 戏技) while »banners came and went without ceasing, and the official musicians and theatrical performers of the Yifeng Office [Yifengsi 仪凤司] and the Jiaofang Office [Jiaofangsi 教坊司] displayed their skillful talents to the full.« There were rules for how zaju and other arts were to be »presented« to the court; when a performer was summoned to perform for the central court or for regional officials, this was referred to as a »summons to official duty.« Even at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the »Zhangzhong Music Ministry« (zhangzhong yuebu 仗中乐部) still had »5,000 staff members.« Because Khanbaliq was known across Eurasia as an international metropolis, it came to be a sought-after destination for zaju playwrights and actors. During the Yuan Dynasty, most actors were under the jurisdiction of the Jiaofang Office and were referred to as »musicians« (yueren 乐人) (Fig. 7.1.1).

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SECTION 1 PROLIFERATION OF ZAJU

3. Integration and Evolution of Multimedia Arts Wang Guowei, after analyzing the 280 capital plays (guanben zaju 官本杂剧) listed in the catalog of zaju in the work Memoirs of Wulin (Wulin jiushi 武林旧事), concluded that »Song Dynasty plays actually synthesized a variety of miscellaneous dramas, and the era’s operas synthesized a variety of musical compositions.« Zaju evolved from Jin Dynasty hall dramas. Although the »list« of Jin Dynasty hall dramas contains no less than 690 dramas, not a single script survives, so there is no way to compare zaju with hall dramas. It seems that hall dramas were an immature art form, while zaju constitute »true operas.« During the Jin Dynasty, in addition to hall dramas and zaju, there were also music plays. These plays, which were long, prosimetric compositions, exerted an extremely clear influence on the formation of zaju from the viewpoint of both narration and music, so much so that Zhong Sicheng, in Register of Ghosts, treats Jin Dynasty playwright Dong Jieyuan, the author of The Romance of the Western Chamber Music Play (Xixiangji zhugongdiao 西厢记诸宫调) as the »founder« of zaju, and lists him among the »leading« masters of zaju. When one compares The Romance of the Western Chamber Music Play with Wang Shifu’s zaju entitled Romance of the Western Chamber, it can easily be seen that the music play exerted a clear influence on the zaju. Both variety shows and Song Dynasty zaju constituted broad categories of performing arts. The song and dance music, lyrics, third-person narration, and first-person narration in zaju would all became organic elements of plays in general. Although Southern Opera and zaju did not arise at the same time or in the same place, and their musical structures are different, overall, the two art forms are similar. In early Southern Operas, the long, continuous prosimetric chains of music plays, as well as the clown performances that pop

7.1.1 A Yuan Dynasty theatrical troupe as seen in a ­landscape painting at Baoning Temple, in Youyu

up at random in the storyline, show that these early operas were still immature and also reveal the process by which Southern Operas developed from village ditties into mature plays. Zaju caused drama to flourish in China for the first time, and zaju scripts became uniform. After studying 335

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zaju melody patterns from the viewpoint of form and content, Wang Guowei wrote that almost half of them were »tunes that already existed.« Comparing the content of zaju to that of Song Dynasty zaju, Jin Dynasty hall dramas, Southern Operas, and grand suites, Wang found that 32 zaju had the same titles as older plays or came from older plays. On the basis of these studies, Wang judged that zaju »advanced with respect to the operas of the previous dynasty in two main ways«: the first was »advancement in musical composition,« and the second was the »change from third-person narrative to first-person narrative« that constituted »a major advancement in opera.«

4. Influences of Arts of the Mongols and Other Surrounding Groups on Zaju Zaju drew on and absorbed the popular song and dance music of the Mongols and other neighboring peoples and used this music to further strengthen and highlight the style and quality of the northern artistry of zaju. The Khitans, Jurchens, and other neighboring ethnic minorities were bold, unrestrained peoples who were skilled at singing and dancing. And the Mongols, even on their military campaigns, did not forget to bring along musicians; their celebrations and banquets were always accompanied by singing and dancing, giving rise to a unique artistic style. Once the Mongols began to rule China, the musical instruments and musical compositions of the Mongols (including other peoples, such as the Jurchens) came to be absorbed by zaju. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yifeng Office and the Jiaofang Office were created under the Imperial Secretariat’s Ministry of Rites and given responsibility for musicians, musical instruments, etc. In the eighth year of the Dade era (1304), the Jiaofang Office was raised to the Third Rank, an indication of how important this office was. In the Yuan court as well, northern-style airs predominated completely.

CHAPTER I ZAJU OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

One of the most important places where zaju was performed was the »jinyuan« (‌禁垣), i.  e., inside the palace itself. The Yuan court’s love of zaju was the driving force that led zaju to flourish and become an art form for the masses. In addition, play performances served as ceremonies by means of which the people welcomed the emperor, and this contributed greatly to the development of zaju. The »almost rapid-fire« quality of northern-style airs led directly to »halting of the strings in stringed instruments and the presence of many words from the languages of the northern peoples,« indicating that zaju were directly influenced by the spirit and the musical styles of the Mongols.

5. Abolition of the Imperial Examinations and the Role of Zaju Scriptwriters The primary reason that zaju can be discussed on equal terms with Tang poems and Song ci is because of the improvement that took place in the literary quality of zaju scripts. The participation of literati in the creation of zaju brought about a fusion of the literati and the common people. Chinese literati aspired to »make the world a better place,« and the imperial examination system of the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty gave unknown scholars from ordinary families the possibility to secure official positions. Both the scale of the examinations and the number of test-takers who passed them grew over time, reaching a peak during the Song Dynasty. The Yuan government was wary of Han people, especially southern Han people (i.  e., »southerners«), and when it abolished the examination system for a period of many years this also blocked the path for the literati to become government officials. The 13th century, when the imperial examination system was abolished, was precisely the peak of zaju. Men of letters mixed with the common people and began frequenting theaters. In the spirit of cynicism and unrestrained humor, these literati exposed and criticized society mercilessly.

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The abolition of the imperial examinations at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty altered the social status of Confucian scholars. The values of the literati and their attitudes toward society achieved their best expression in »Yuan Dynasty theater.« Most of the literati who wrote zaju were minor, low-level officials who »were kept in low positions with no way to display their abilities«; for them, writing zaju served as a second job, a »career« to which they devoted more of their attention and enthusiasm. Some examples can be given. Yang Xianzhi, a professional zaju playwright who wrote eight zaju works, had a close relationship with the theater world. Guan Hanqing was, for the zaju industry in Khanbaliq, »the leader who spurred on the theater, the commander-in-chief who brought together the editors, and the chief officer who led zaju.« Li Shizhong took part in the Yuanzhen Writers’ Association (Yuanzhen shuhui 元贞书会); he and Association members Ma Zhiyuan, Hua Li Lang, and Hongzi Li Er constituted the »four excellent ones,« and together they co-authored Golden Millet Dream. Xiao Dexiang was a member of the Wulin Writers’ Association (Wulin shuhui 武林书 会), and The Jade Box (Yuheji 玉盒记), a late-Yuan or early-Ming zaju by Yang Wenkui, was described as »written by that man in the New-Old Writers’ Association (Xinjinlao shuhui 新近老书会), and a very nice play.« It was in Khanbaliq, too, that the most famous writers’ associations were located. One important reason that zaju were able to become »the literary form that symbolized the entire era« was the fact that the literati were very familiar with the lifestyles of the lower classes. The literati also shared the lower classes’ thoughts and feelings. These members of the literati enjoyed nothing more than prostitutes, drinking, and partying. And they were in very close contact with the artists of the time. For example, Zhu Lianxiu, a zaju actress who was »unrivalled for her time,« exchanged poems and songs with Guan Hanqing, Hu Zishan, Wang Qiujian, Lu Zhi, Peng Haisu,

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and others. The literati would also team up with writers who had started out as artists and would co-author scripts with them, e.  g., Ma Zhiyuan and Li Shizhong teaming up with Jiaofang artists such as Hua Li Lang and Hongzi Li Er to »assemble« Golden Millet Dream and other works.

Section 2  Guan Hanqing and His Plays 1. Biography and Works of Guan Hanqing Guan Hanqing (Fig. 7.1.2), whose art name was Yi Zhaisou, was from Khanbaliq, although it is also claimed that he was from Qizhou or Jiezhou. He was born in approximately 1225 and died around 1302. Zhong Sicheng’s Register of Ghosts indicates

7.1.2 A portrait of Guan Hanqing

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that Guan at one time was appointed Director of the Imperial Physicians’ Office and states that he was the leader of the »deceased former geniuses« of the early days of zaju creation, and the book Taihe-Era Collection of Tunes, written during the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Quan, describes him as »the very first, at the beginnings of zaju.« Guan passed his youth in Khanbaliq and his middle age in the Kaifeng area. He was very familiar with the lifestyles and the theater venues of the lower-class theatrical districts, and the stories in his many zaju were all set in the Kaifeng–Luoyang–Zhengzhou–Jinan Region. In his later years, he went to Hangzhou, where he wrote the »Hangzhou Scenery« (Hangzhou jing 杭州景) section of A Flower in the Nanlü Mode (Nanlü yizhi hua 南吕一枝花), and during this period he also wrote the zaju plays Meeting the Enemies Alone (Dandao hui 单刀会) and The Injustice of Dou E (Dou E yuan 窦娥冤). Guan was a true leader, »the leader who spurred on the theater, the commander-in-chief who brought together the editors, and the chief officer who led zaju.« Among those who were in rather close contact with Guan were Yang Xianzhi, Liang Jinzhi, Fei Junxiang, and Wang Heqing. In terms of his unyielding mind and spirit, Guan could be accurately described as »a noisy copper pea that can be steamed but won’t become soft, can be boiled but won’t become cooked, can be beaten but can’t be crushed, and can be fried but won’t pop.« The zaju plays that Guan created reflected, to an even greater degree, both society’s responsibilities and his criticisms of society. During his life, he wrote a total of 66 zaju, of which 18 survive, and out of his scattered arias, 13 of his separate suites (santao 散套) and 57 of his short lyrics (xiaoling 小令) also survive.

2. The Injustice of Dou E and its Social Criticism The zaju plays that Guan Hanqing wrote can be roughly divided into three categories: social dramas such as The Injustice of Dou E, The WifeSnatcher (Lu zhai lang 鲁斋郎), and Butterfly

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Dream (Hudie meng 蝴蝶梦), love and marriage dramas such as Saving a Prostitute (Jiu fengchen 救风尘), The Riverside Pavilion (Wangjiang ting 望 江亭), The Pavilion of Moon Worship (Bai yue ting 拜月亭), and Playing with Wind and Moon (Tiao fengyue 调风月), and historical dramas such as Meeting the Enemies Alone, The Dream of Western Shu (Xi Shu meng 西蜀梦), and Lamenting Cunxiao (Ku Cunxiao 哭存孝). These works are thoroughly permeated with close attention to the lower classes and criticism of unjust situations in society. The Injustice of Dou E, as a result of its depiction of real life, its exposure and criticism of society and government, and its success in shaping the artistic appeal of tragic characters, was praised by Wang Guowei, who wrote, »we should not be embarrassed to list it among the world’s great tragedies.« The Injustice of Dou E is based on the legend of the »Filial Woman of Donghai« (Donghai xiaofu 东海孝妇). This legend is first found in The Garden of Stories (Shuo Yuan 说苑), composed during the Former Han Dynasty by Liu Xiang, and is also found in the book In Search of Spirits (Soushen Ji 搜神记), composed during the Jin Dynasty by Gan Bao—yet it also spread widely among the common people. While Dou E is still young, her mother dies. And when she is seven years old, her father, in order to repay his debts, sends her to the family of Granny Cai in order for her to become the bride of Granny Cai’s son in an arranged marriage. Dou E grows up and marries the son, but he dies soon afterward, and she and her mother-in-law have to depend on each other. When Granny Cai goes out one day to collect debts, the physician Sai Lu Yi tries to kill her for her money, but she is rescued by Zhang the Mule and his father. Later, the Zhangs try to force Granny Cai and Dou E to marry them, but Dou E refuses. In revenge, Zhang the Mule seeks to kill Granny Cai by poisoning her, but the poison instead kills his own father; Zhang the Mule, in anger, falsely accuses Dou E of the murder before the local authority.

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Dou E is weak toward her mother-in-law, but she is strong and unyielding in the face of Zhang the Mule and the authority. Though beaten to a bloody pulp, she refuses to give in, yet she willingly »confesses« the crime in order to keep her mother-inlaw from being flogged. Despite the fact that Dou E, a faithful follower of the moral code for women, regards the local authority as »bright as a mirror and clear as water,« he condemns her to ascend the headsman’s scaffold. Before she is beheaded, Dou E pronounces three vows, the third of which is this: »Dou E, the filial woman of Donghai, is also the only reason that the sweet rain did not fall for three years. And now it is your turn, Shanyang County.« During the Yuan Dynasty, Shanyang County was the administrative center for Huai’an Circuit, and Huai’an Circuit, along with Yangzhou and other areas, at one time suffered for three continuous years from drought and locusts. Hence, the creation of The Injustice of Dou E closely combined the legend of the Filial Woman of Donghai with historical reality during the Yuan Dynasty. Guan Hanqing’s zaju works also display courage and insight in pleading for the interests of the common people, as can be seen in the castigation of misdeeds, committed by profligate sons of rich families and by playboys, found in such works of Guan’s as The Wife-Snatcher and The Riverside Pavilion.

3. Saving a Prostitute and the Image of Women Guan was very good at writing female-character plays (danben xi 旦本戏), and on the zaju stage he created a number of female characters with highly distinct personalities, such as Dou E, Zhao Pan’er, Tan Ji’er, Wang Ruilan, Yan Yan, Xie Tianxiang, Du Ruiniang, and Mother Chen. By means of these characters, the plays give expression to the lives, thoughts, marriages, and loves of women, shine a light on women’s problems and social conflicts during the Yuan Dynasty, reveal and probe into the

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goodness and kindness of these characters, and show strong sympathy for lower-class women. A good example is Guan’s play Saving a Prostitute. In Saving a Prostitute, Song Yinzhang, a female singer and dancer in the city of Bianliang, entices Zhou She, a rich merchant; Song then abandons her sweetheart, the talented An Xiushi, and marries Zhou. After Song marries Zhou, he abuses her terribly, and she appeals for help to her sister, Zhao Pan’er. Zhao falsely promises Zhou that she will marry him, and asks him to divorce Song. Once the divorce has been obtained, Zhao dumps Zhou, and Song makes up with An Xiushi. In the play, although Zhao Pan’er is just a courtesan, she is quick-witted, passionate, courageous in seeking justice, highly resourceful, and shrewd and ruthless in pursuing her goal. A female character very different from Zhao Pan’er can be found in Guan’s play Xie Tianxiang. The eponymous protagonist, Xie Tianxiang, has a weak character and lets others take advantage of her. Xie is in love with Liu Yong; meanwhile, Prefect Qian removes her name from the registry of musicians and has her live in the women’s chambers of his own home. But three years pass, and Xie is unhappy that she has »only a nominal existence« in Qian’s home. Then Liu Yong passes the imperial examinations and returns to Bianliang. Although Xie is initially hesitant and indecisive, not sure if she should »go forward or backward,« she nevertheless returns to Liu’s embrace without any misgivings. Another play by Guan, The Pavilion of Moon Worship, celebrates a young noblewoman’s unwillingness to forget the past and praises her fidelity in love. In this play, at the end of the Jin Dynasty the Mongol army attacks Zhongdu (now Beijing); Wang Ruilan, the daughter of the Jin minister of war, gets separated from her family while fleeing, unexpectedly meets the scholar Jiang Shilong amid the chaos of the war, and marries him of her own choice. Afterwards, however, her father breaks up the marriage. Though Wang Ruilan returns to her peaceful former life as a member of a

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noble family, she is still deeply in love with Jiang; as a result, they are reunited in the end. In Guan’s zaju entitled Playing with Wind and Moon, the character Yan Yan, who is described as a »cunning maid,« is a concubine of very humble origins. Intelligent and lively, she is a servant of Xiao Qianhu, who courts her and promises to marry her, and she, in response, promises to marry him. When Xiao breaks his word and reneges on his promise, Yan Yan is hit hard by this, suffering terrible pain and despair. Nevertheless, her courage in quarreling with her »master« and her combative temperament make Yan Yan a dazzling character. Guan Hanqing also created a number of maternal female characters, such as Mother Chen in Mother Chen Educates Her Son (Chenmu jiaozi 陈母教子) and Mistress Wang in Butterfly Dream, and these maternal characters embodied society’s traditional ideas and moral precepts to an even greater extent.

4. Meeting the Enemies Alone and Heroism Of Guan Hanqing’s historical dramas, only a few survive, the most important of which are Meeting the Enemies Alone, Lamenting Cunxiao, and The Dream of Western Shu. In these plays, what is given particular prominence is the heroism of male characters. In Meeting the Enemies Alone, the general Guan Yu is portrayed as particularly heroic, constituting the most dazzling male character portrayed in any of Guan Hanqing’s zaju works. When the historical Guan Yu attended a meeting alone, this thrilling yet safe occurrence constituted one of the most colorful events of his life: as depicted in Guan Hanqing’s play, Guan Yu’s awe-inspiring dedication to righteousness, along with his fearlessness, exhibits to the full the boldness and courage of a heroic spirit. In the play Lamenting Cunxiao, after Li Keyong, Li Cunxiao, and others have suppressed the Huang Chao Rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty, Li Keyong is taken in by slanderous accusations

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made by certain scoundrels and has Li Cunxiao, who was »noble and righteous,« dismembered by being torn asunder by five carts. Guan Hanqing omits from the play Li Cunxiao’s outstanding achievements and instead simply depicts the tragedy of Cunxiao’s unjust death by dismemberment after he has been framed by two villains. The strong feeling of desolation that is found in Guan’s historical plays is especially evident in this play. The fourth act ends with the dismemberment of villains Li Cunxin and Kang Junli as a memorial sacrifice for Li Cunxiao. The sacrificial rite is brought onto the stage, and the play concludes with a Daoist »yellow-amulet ceremony« being carried out in expiation for Li Cunxiao so that his spirit may ascend to heaven. This ceremony shrouds the entire play with a solemn, dense, and lingering feeling of sorrow and desolation. Finally, in the play The Dream of Western Shu, what is depicted concerning Guan Yu and Zhang Fei is not the towering heroism they exhibited during the Three Kingdoms Period but instead their tragic fate.

5. Artistic Characteristics of Guan Hanqing’s Zaju Works Guan Hanqing’s zaju works not only were numerous, they also represented outstanding artistic achievements that greatly enhanced the status of zaju as literature. In appraising them, Wang Guowei wrote, »Guan Hanqing was completely unique, he composed his magnificent texts by himself, his words accurately expressed human emotions, and every word in these texts was natural speech, so Guan was the greatest person of the Yuan Dynasty.« Guan’s zaju works have three main artistic characteristics. First, they focus on reality. Guan drew his material from folk legends and popular literature. The themes and characters of his plays mostly came from real life. And while some of his works were about figures from the past, the lifestyles and emotions that he depicted were nevertheless for

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the most part realistic. For example, Wen Jiao in The Jade Mirror Stand and Liu Yong in Xie Tianxiang were both famous historical figures, but in these plays their characters are given some additional touches of realism, and they are portrayed in ways that place particular emphasis on the expectations and emotions of the women involved, Liu Qianying and Xie Tianxiang. In Guan’s hands, historical figures become simply labels, since what Guan is focusing on is reality. Hence The Injustice of Dou E, with its profound viewpoint and artistic maturity, raises to new heights the question of how reality should be dealt with. Guan’s historical plays do not simply reproduce history; rather, they tend to popularize history, and the point of view that they promote is that of folk culture and popular culture. For example, although Meeting the Enemies Alone and Lamenting Cunxiao both have historical themes, their plots do not completely match historical facts: the former play takes the character of Guan Yu and reconstructs it in an artistic manner, while the latter, in fidelity with folk legend, treats Li Cunxiao very sympathetically. Secondly, Guan’s plays are carefully structured, highly dramatic, and have clear-cut characters. Each of Guan’s zaju is characterized by a single line of thought and a constantly high artistic level, is carefully structured, features intense dramatic conflict, and has clear-cut characters. The »four acts and one prologue« structure of zaju required playwrights to have excellent organizational ability, since they needed to be able to fill out the entire dramatic structure of »introduction, elaboration, transition, and conclusion« within a limited timeframe. Guan did not simply write »arias,« he wrote »plays.« In The Pavilion of Moon Worship, to tell the love story of Jiang Shilong and Wang Ruilan, he weaves tightly together a number of different dramatic scenes, such as the pair meeting amid chaos, marrying, and being separated, the sisters worshiping the moon, and the final reunion when the top civil and military scholars

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arrive; by means of paradoxes and conflicts, the plot depicts Jiang and Wang’s powerful love for each other in the midst of adversity. The structural conception of Guan’s zaju works is outstanding. For instance, the play The Dream of Western Shu has no central character, and the main characters in the play are not even real persons. The character at the center of the play is not a living person but instead the spirit of a dead man, Zhang Fei. The plot unfolds, somewhere between reality and unreality, by means of visions seen in dreams, while the mood that dominates and permeates the entire play is one of »bitter tears and desolation.« Similarly, Meeting the Enemies Alone, in disregard of the traditional operatic rule that the main character must make his or her first appearance before the supporting characters, has the main character, Guan Yu, not appear until the third act. The play tells of how Lu Su, during the Three Kingdoms Period, came up with three different plans for regaining control of Jing Province by inviting Guan Yu to cross the river to attend a banquet. The first two acts of the play show how Lu’s plans were opposed by Qiao Guolao and Sima Hui, and these acts also describe the bravery and fearlessness of Guan Yu as seen from their point of view. By the time Guan finally appears, in the third act, it is vividly evident that he has a heroic spirit, i.  e., that he has lofty ideals, is brave and bold, prepares well-thought-out plans in advance, and would be a match for 10,000 men—and from that point onward the play moves quickly towards its climax. And when Guan, returning across the Yangtze River in triumph in a boat, thinks back on the vicissitudes of the past and exclaims, »Heroic blood has been shed continuously for twenty years,« this brings the play to a close. Hence, the structure of the play is original and unconventional. The plot of The Pavilion of Moon Worship, a play about love, consists of a number of intertwined conflicts, such as conflicts between people and

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war, between men and women, between choosing one’s spouse on one’s own and doing so at the command of one’s parents, between holding on to one’s own way of thinking and breaking free from it, and between separation and longing. The main conflict is between choosing one’s spouse on one’s own or at one’s parents’ command; in this conflict, the play depicts the independent love between Wang Ruilan and Jiang Shilong in the midst of adversity and makes evident the rebellious spirit of Wang Ruilan, a daughter of the nobility. Thirdly, Guan’s zaju use natural language that can be appreciated by people of all classes. Zaju tend to be classified into »natural school« and »literary school« works, and while Wang Shifu is the most famous writer of the literary school, Guan Hanqing is the most famous writer of the natural school. »Naturalness« is the fundamental trait of the language of zaju, and the lyrics of Guan’s zaju are of such a kind that »when they describe an emotion, they gladden the heart, when they describe a scene, the hearer almost sees it before his eyes, and when they narrate something, it is like one is hearing it firsthand.« Guan uses language that fits well with the status and personality of whichever character is speaking. For instance, although Zhao Pan’er, Song Yinzhang, Xie Tianxiang, and Du Ruiniang are all courtesans, each one of them speaks differently, in a manner that reflects her individual character. And while Dou E and Yan Yan both live among the lower classes, Dou is a young widow faithfully following the moral code of women, so the anger in her language is held back by moderation—but Yan, a serving girl, is less restrained, quite intelligent, and very lively. And, as a given character’s thinking and personality develop and change, the language that the character uses also changes. When Dou E, as a widow, first hears that her mother-inlaw is going to marry Zhang the Mule’s father, she merely offers polite advice. Then, in the struggle with Zhang the Mule and his father, her unyield-

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ingness and her personality begin to emerge. And when, in her struggle with the local authority, her thinking reaches the point that, reproving both heaven and earth, she questions the existence of any order in the universe and with fierce indignation utters from the headsman’s scaffold her »three vows,« her tragic personality climaxes. Additionally, in Guan’s works, some of the servants and attendants who are barely described also have distinctive personalities.

Section 3  Wang Shifu and Romance of the Western Chamber 1. Biography and Works of Wang Shifu Wang Shifu, whose actual name was Wang Dexin, was from Khanbaliq. The year of his birth and the year of his death are unknown. The Register of Ghosts included him among the »deceased former geniuses« of the genre. Given that Zhou Deqing’s Rhymes of the Central Plains (Zhongyuan yinyun 中 原音韵) classifies the author of the Romance of the Western Chamber together with Guan Hanqing, Zheng Guangzu, Bai Pu, and Ma Zhiyuan as »the masters« who »are no more,« Wang must have lived in the same period as these »four great masters.« It was only by accident that Wang became a member of the literati: because he mixed with the people of the Fengyue Ying, Yinghua Zhai, and Cuihong Xiang theater districts, where the official artists lived, he came to be very familiar with the thoughts, feelings, and lives of those artists. Wang wrote a total of 14 zaju. Of these, complete scripts survive for Romance of the Western Chamber, The Story of the Dilapidated Kiln (Poyao ji 破 窑记), and The Hall of Spring Splendor (Lichun tang 丽春堂), and some arias survive for The Lotus Pavilion (Furong ting 芙蓉亭) and The Tea-Trading Boat (Fancha chuan 贩茶船), but the other works have been completely lost.

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The Story of the Dilapidated Kiln recounts the tale of a marriage between the scholar Lü Mengzheng and the woman Liu Yue’e. To pick a husband for herself, Liu Yue’e, the daughter of Squire Liu, throws a silk-embroidered ball into the crowd below her, and the ball hits Lü Mengzheng. Although Squire Liu detests the poor and loves the rich, his daughter defies him and chooses to live with Lü in a dilapidated kiln, living with him there for ten years without complaining once. Liu Yue’e’s transformation from a wealthy young lady into a poor wife at a kiln is not the result of a momentary emotional impulse; she is hardworking, and she suffers through ten years of hardship without any resentment. Then Lü passes the imperial examination, and the couple’s life changes from bitterness to sweetness. When Lü returns home from the capital after having successfully obtained an official post, he lies to Liu Yue’e, telling her that he failed. She consoles her husband, saying, »As long as you’ve returned home safely and we can be together again, it doesn’t matter whether you obtained a position or not.« In The Hall of Spring Splendor, which is set during the Jin Dynasty, Prime Minister Le Shan and Military Inspector Li Gui are amusing themselves together one day in the imperial gardens when Le loses to Li at the game of shuanglu 双陆 chess, becomes angry, and is sent to Jinan in punishment. In Jinan, Le has nothing at all to do, and spends his days going on trips to scenic spots. Later, some bandits start a rebellion, and the court brings Le back into service. When he is restored to his original post, Le holds a banquet at the Hall of Spring Splendor, and at the banquet he entirely forgives his grudge against Li Gui.

2. Transformation of the Story of Romance of the Western Chamber The zaju entitled Romance of the Western Chamber is Wang Shifu’s best work. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, however, there have been reports that this zaju was not written by Wang Shifu

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alone, and among the claims made are that it was written by Guan Hanqing alone, or that it was started by Guan but completed by Wang, or that it was started by Wang but completed by Guan. The story underpinning Romance of the Western Chamber made its first known appearance during the Tang Dynasty: during the final years of the Zhenyuan era (785–805) of Emperor Dezong, Yuan Zhen composed a chuanqi 传奇 fictional short story entitled The Story of Yingying (Yingying zhuan 莺莺传). In this story, a young male student named Zhang, who is living at Pujiu Temple in the city of Puzhou, meets up with the Cui family when the family moves into the temple. At a banquet, he sees the Cui family’s daughter, the »beautiful and breathtaking« Yingying. With the help of the female servant Hong Niang, Zhang writes poems expressing his feelings, and obtains a reply from Yingying. Although Yingying initially is »sober of dress and stern of face,« and insists that Zhang »behave politely, control himself, and not become disorderly,« before long she throws herself into his embrace. After that, the two of them have secret trysts, »leaving at dawn, and coming in at dusk.« However, Yingying is full of resentment, causing her to play the qin (‌琴) zither in a melancholy fashion. When Zhang is preparing to go to Chang’an to take the imperial examination, Yingying has a foreboding that he is about to leave her for good; sorrowfully she plays the prelude to the tune Rainbow Skirt Feathered Dress (Nishang yuyi 霓裳羽衣) for Zhang on her zither, but in the middle of the tune she is overcome with sadness, hides her face, and leaves. While Zhang is staying in Chang’an, he and Yingying exchange letters and she sends him gifts such as a jade ring. A year passes, Yingying marries another man, and Zhang also gets married. Later, when Zhang is passing by the place where Yingying lives, he wants to pay her a visit on the grounds that he is her cousin, but she refuses. Zhang goes away, and the two never hear from each other again. Later,

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7.1.3  A New Year’s picture of Romance of the Western Chamber produced during the Qing Dynasty

Yingying becomes miserable, and the story ends on that tragic note. During the Song Dynasty, authors’ values underwent a change: authors gave increased sympathy to Yingying and rejected and criticized Zhang’s »having his way with and then abandoning« her, i.  e., his »making amends for mistakes.« Subsequently, the creation of the work Romance of the Western Chamber Music Play, by Song/Jin-Period writer Dong Jieyuan, stands as a landmark. Because the main accompanying instruments in northern music plays were the pipa (‌琵琶) lute and the zheng (‌筝) plucked zither, this play was also called The Western Chamber Tanci (‌弹词) and The Stringed-Instrument Western Chamber. The Romance of the Western Chamber Music Play

came to be rearranged, as a result of which it ended up with a total of more than 190 melody patterns, used 14 modes, and consisted of more than 50,000 written characters, bringing the story of Yingying and Zhang to an entirely new level— and laying the foundation for Wang Shifu’s zaju play entitled Romance of the Western Chamber. In addition, a number of deficiencies in the Romance of the Western Chamber Music Play, such as the incomplete and inconsistent depiction of Zhang’s personality, improper portrayal of the personalities of Yingying and Hong Niang, and vagueness in the thinking and personality of the elderly mother, were resolved in Wang’s Romance of the Western Chamber (Fig. 7.1.3).

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3. Ideological Content of Romance of the Western Chamber Wang’s Romance of the Western Chamber explored, in greater depth than had been done before, certain ideas that were in opposition to feudal ethics and the feudal marriage system, and the play also rendered the depiction of the characters’ personalities more complete and more consistently. The play’s main theme completely overturns that of The Story of Yingying: it affirms the love between Yingying and Zhang, and the story is no longer a tragedy. Even after Zhang becomes an official, he is still in dire straits; having been away for a long time, he has come back without attaining an official position, making him a poor social match for Yingying. Nevertheless, at no point are their pure feelings for each other ever stained by any trace of worldly concerns, such as differences in social status or the amount of property owned. What »casts a spell« on Zhang is Yingying’s youthful beauty. Their love for each other begins at first sight, and as it grows stronger and stronger, they cast away traditional ethical norms. The love between Yingying and Zhang not only emerges unscathed from a conflict with Yingying’s elderly mother, it also withstands the allure of position and wealth. Rather than the feudalistic imperial examinations and an official career, what the two value and treasure is love, and this attachment gives more universal significance to their ideal: »May all lovers in the world be united as husband and wife.« In Romance of the Western Chamber, Hong Niang indicates how she regards Zhang: »What an illustrious bookworm! What a crazy, poor, and pedantic scholar! If he did any physical work, he would get sweat on his brow, run late, get sick, and have to wipe away flies. He has a shine that dazzles people’s eyes, but a poisonous sourness that hurts people’s teeth.« Yet when Zhang hears the elderly woman change her mind, and have himself and Yingying refer to each other as brother and sister,

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he undergoes a sudden change. To express his love, he goes so far as to even want to kill himself. When Zhang is faced with Zheng Heng and a lie, he does not go along with either of these. In the zaju, Zhang’s personality, which is loyal to love and defends love, is portrayed in a way that is not only more complete and consistent, but also more likable. In the music play, Yingying’s elderly mother abided by traditional ethical norms and governed her family strictly, yet she never opposed Yingying and Zhang. She was hardly a typical feudal parent; rather, her thinking and character were those of a mother. In the zaju, she is portrayed in a way that emphasizes her stubbornness, snobbishness, and hypocrisy as a feudal parent, so that she becomes the one who opposes and battles Zhang and Yingying’s pursuit of unbridled love. Thus, in the zaju her character is refashioned in a way that not only increases dramatic conflict in the story but that also enhances the ideological connotations of Yingying and Zhang’s love for each other as well as its significance as a form of opposition to feudal ethical norms. Hong Niang, though only a maidservant and a minor character, fills some very important roles in the play. Despite the fact that the main focus of the story is the love between Yingying and Zhang, the play dedicates a considerable amount of time to depicting Hong Niang, her role as go-between in the romance between Yingying and Zhang, and the pleasure she finds in helping others. She is of low birth, yet she has an upright, warm, intelligent, and resourceful character. While on the surface she is outspoken and has an unforgiving tongue, inside she is warm-hearted. She carries poems and messages between Yingying and Zhang, and when the pair encounter difficulties, she offers them advice without hesitation. When Yingying’s elderly mother changes her mind, and Zhang, in despair, wishes to kill himself, it is Hong Niang who suggests that Zhang use the zither to express his feelings, which ends up bringing Zhang and Yingying

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back together again. In the scene entitled »Questioning Hong,« Hong Niang’s quick-wittedness, bravery, and fearlessness are demonstrated to the full, making this scene one of the most memorable in Romance of the Western Chamber. Tang Xianzu praised the character of Hong Niang as having »a superabundance of talent, knowledge, and courage.« The play’s depiction of Hong Niang’s character made the name »Hong Niang« synonymous with any enthusiastic matchmaker between a young man and a young woman.

4. Artistic Characteristics of Romance of the Western Chamber Though amply borrowing from and assimilating the artistic achievements of those who had gone before him, Wang Shifu in Romance of the Western Chamber engaged in a great deal of innovation, imparting to this play the characteristics that make it unique and thereby rendering the play a high artistic achievement. 1. A Complete Dramatic Structure with Reasonable Dramatic Conflict The structure of Romance of the Western Chamber is rather unusual, consisting not of »four acts and one prologue« but of five acts and 21 prologues. However, the change in the story’s structure had no effect on the integrity of the storyline. The structure of the script, though enormous, does not violate the basic structural rules for zaju; for instance, each of the play’s parts consists of four acts and one prologue, and there is one lead singer at each point. The play’s massive structure permits the plot to unfold to the full and makes it easier for the characters to be depicted with greater precision and for emotions to be expressed more fully. The keen, tense dramatic conflict in Romance of the Western Chamber unfolds on three different levels: 1) the central conflict of the entire play, which sees Yingying, Zhang, and Hong Niang pitted against Yingying’s elderly mother; 2) internal conflicts among Zhang, Yingying, and Hong

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Niang who, though sharing the same goal and the same ideals, do not agree with each other, and; 3) an external conflict between the rebel army of Sun Feihu, on the one hand, and Yingying’s family and the temple’s monks, on the other. These three conflicts make the plot unfold in a convoluted manner, with ups and downs, and this whirlpool of conflicts makes the story thrilling and fascinating, leaving the audience spellbound. 2. Characters Depicted Using a Number of Different Methods One more reason for the success of Romance of the Western Chamber is the fact that the play creates a number of typical characters that are highly realistic. First of all, it depicts characters by means of conflicts. For instance, although the monk Hui Ming does not appear much in the play, his personality is quite distinct. When Sun Feihu’s army surrounds Pujiu Temple, with a large number of soldiers ringing the temple on all sides, and Zhang worries that no one will be able to break out to deliver a message, the temple’s elder says, »I have a disciple here, named Hui Ming, who does nothing but drink and get into fights. If I tell him to go, he absolutely will not go, but if I use language to get him stirred up, he certainly will go.« So, even before Hui Ming makes his first appearance, he has already impressed the listeners. The play also depicts characters indirectly. Much of the time, the romance between Zhang and Yingying is described through the eyes of Hong Niang. For instance, in Part Three, Act Four, in which Hong Niang is the lead singer, the play examines from Hong’s perspective the setback suffered by Zhang and Yingying after the girl’s elderly mother repudiates their marriage agreement, and it does so by discussing their mental state and their painful longing for each other. It also uses psychological descriptions to portray characters. The romance between Zhang and Yingying mainly consists of them feeling affec-

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tion toward each other, yearning for each other, and parting from each other. For example, after the soldiers withdraw and the situation becomes safe, Yingying’s elderly mother holds a banquet to which she invites Zhang. He and all the others, supposing it to be a marriage banquet for himself and Yingying, arrive at the banquet in joy but unexpectedly find out that the elderly woman expects »Yingying to pay homage to him as to an elder brother,« and this immediately puts Zhang and Yingying into great agony. At that point, the lyrics describe at length the couple’s feeling that »though our troubles currently are endurable, how long will we be able to endure our thoughts?,« and reveals more fully the countenance of »the cunning old woman.« Finally, the play also employs extremely strong contrasts in order to bring conflicts to a climax. For instance, when Yingying’s mother repudiates the marriage agreement, the play first depicts Zhang and Yingying as happy, and has them interpret the mother’s statement in a favorable sense: »When the time comes to give a congratulatory gift, a congratulatory gift should be given. My mother is so kind-hearted.« Their mood reaches a peak of joy just before they go to the banquet, but then the mother’s plain yet obscure language unexpectedly plunges the pair into great misery. This tremendous contrast, which comes about instantaneously, not only heightens the sense of drama, it also lets the audience gain greater insight into the inner personalities of Yingying and Zhang. 3. A Poetic Drama Style that Is Magnificent, Elegant, and Gorgeous Romance of the Western Chamber, the best-known work of the »literary« school of zaju composition, organically fuses together narration, lyrics, and scene description, and the play’s rich poetic picturesqueness makes it one of the finest examples of poetic drama in Chinese classical theater. The Ming Dynasty writer Zhu Quan assessed the play in this way: »Wang Shifu’s words are like beautiful

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women set amid flowers, and his narrations are detailed and tactful, so they are enjoyed by one and all. He has some extremely beautiful phrases, as beautiful as Yang Guifei when she emerged naked from a bath in Huaqing Pool, or Lüzhu when she was picking lotuses alongside the Luo River.« Romance of the Western Chamber strikes a perfect balance between the elegant and the unrefined, between depth and shallowness, and between poetry and drama. At every point, the play is permeated with a rich, poetic quality. Throughout the play, a great deal of colloquial, vernacular speech is used. Wang Guowei had this to say: »In classical literature, when things were described, this was done for the most part using classical language, and colloquial language was never used. In addition, it was done without using a large number of written characters. It was only in Yuan Dynasty theater that, through the use of surplus syllables, a large number of colloquial words or natural sounds were employed to describe things. This had never been done in literature before.« In Romance of the Western Chamber, personality-specific language is used to express the respective personalities of Zhang, Yingying, Hong Niang, and the elderly mother with more vividness, so that when one hears how a given character speaks, one can intuit that character’s personality, and when one sees a given character, one can imagine how that character will speak. However, a given character’s way of speaking changes from one environment or emotion to another. There exist more than 60 editions of Romance of the Western Chamber that were printed during the Ming Dynasty, and almost 100 that were printed during the Qing Dynasty. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the status of Romance of the Western Chamber was already such that »even women and girls were all able to cite it from memory.« The influence of Romance of the Western Chamber can be seen very clearly in The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting 牡丹亭), a chuanqi by Tang Xianzu, as well as in Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.

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Section 4  Ideas and Artistic Achievements of Zaju 1. Facing Reality: The Critical Function of Zaju Among zaju, there are some plays, termed »social dramas,« that reflect societal reality and social problems. The key person with regard to such dramas was Guan Hanqing, whose works can be categorized into social dramas, love and marriage dramas, and historical dramas. Among Guan’s works, plays such as The Injustice of Dou E, The Wife-Snatcher, and Butterfly Dream expose social problems in depth, problems such as dark aspects of Yuan Dynasty society, corruption among officials, the impunity of the privileged classes, and the lot of the lower-class masses. The rebellion and tragic end of Dou E, which were a tearful and bloody protest against the darkness of feudal government and against the forces of evil, also came to symbolize a positive breakthrough for the future in the critical spirit of zaju. Daoist immortal plays, which other playwrights wrote, feature an abandoning of the world and a search for the realm of the Daoist immortals. The fact that these plays began to appear in large numbers was directly related to changes in Yuan Dynasty society and to the popularity of the Quanzhen school of Daoism in northern China. In Water Margin dramas, there is a sharp conflict between the Mount Liang heroes and the government: the heroes’ assisting of the weak, restraining of the powerful, punishing of the wicked, and eliminating of traitors represent a kind of justice and fairness. The category of zaju in which critical thinking predominated most was that of judicial dramas (gong’an ju 公案剧): plays such as Selling Rice in Chenzhou (Chenzhou tiaomi 陈州粜米), The Wife-Snatcher, Butterfly Dream, Shen Nu’er 神 奴儿, The Gold-Producing Mansion (Shengjin ge 生

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金阁), and The Ghost in the Pot (Pen’er gui 盆儿鬼) hurled accusations and criticism straight at officials’ sons, minor religious officials, and the rich and powerful, lashing out at society’s negative aspects and governmental corruption. With the times changing radically, and the state changing as well, the literati lost their traditional status and were »kept in low positions with no way to display their abilities.« This caused them to have a completely different understanding of society and also shook and undermined their system of traditional values. Not only were the literati no longer illustrious and influential, they even lost the most basic social status and human dignity. Their thoughts and feelings were like a fishbone caught in their throat that they needed to spit out: they incarnated the thought and the artistic achievements of zaju and molded »the spirit of Yuan Dynasty theater« for an entire era.

2. People are the Roots of the State: A Downward Shift in the Aesthetic Perspective of Zaju Viewed from the perspective of aesthetic development, what zaju reflected was a kind of new aesthetic quality that was built upon overturned and destroyed traditional foundations: the minben 民 本 philosophy, or the notion that the state must seek the good of the people. Minben thinking had become the dominant force in society, philosophy, culture, and aesthetics; emerging into prominence from persons of lower, marginal, or excluded social status, this thinking gradually formed a new societal zeitgeist, with lower-class culture occupying center stage, so that the ordinary masses’ standards of right and wrong and aesthetic orientations became the choice and the norm for society. The minben thinking latent in zaju caused the worldview expressed in zaju to resonate strongly with audiences. At the heart of minben thinking is the judging of right and wrong based on the thought, perspectives, and value choices of the

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common people and the lower classes, so zaju brought about the greatest possible unity between playwrights, actors, and audiences. The reality of the literati being »kept in low positions with no way to display their abilities« caused the creative environment for zaju, which was dominated by the literati, to depart from the traditional ways in which plays had been created. Empathy, along with closer contact with the lower-class masses, brought about great changes in the thinking and the ideas of the playwrights, led to their works being truly endorsed and aesthetically appreciated by the general public, and then spurred zaju on to become a nationally popular art form with a new, distinct quality.

3. Poetic and Picturesque: Poeticism of Zaju While the use of »song and dance« in order to act out stories is one fundamental feature of Chinese opera, another such feature is lyricism, and the process by which the characteristics of this lyricism were formed was marked by the spirit of poetry and song. The literati of the Yuan Dynasty brought to their zaju the feelings they had about creating poems and songs, imparting to zaju a very ample lyricism. In this respect, it would be difficult to compare zaju plays to what preceded them, Southern Operas, which »started out without any modes and also rarely had any rhythm.« Wang Guowei considered zaju to be »the most natural literary form in China« and stated the following: The best thing about Yuan Dynasty plays is not their ideas or their structure but their written texts. What is exquisite about these written texts is, to sum it up in a few words, the fact that they have artistic conception. Why do I say they have artistic conception? Because when they describe an emotion, they gladden the heart, when they describe a scene, the hearer almost sees it before his eyes, and when they narrate something, it is like one is hearing it firsthand.

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In bringing forward the concept of »artistic conception,« Wang was using the standards of literature to evaluate plays, and he judged that »the best old poems and ci were all this way« and that »this was also true of Yuan Dynasty theater.« In zaju, the stage setups and the ways that props (qiemo 砌末) were used were very simple; they satisfied the standards for giving priority to essence over form, using form to depict spirit, and achieving unity of form and spirit, and they thereby gave to zaju an aesthetic sense consisting of richly picturesque charm.

4. Rich and Powerful: The Aesthetic Styles of Zaju The aesthetic sense that the writer sought varied from one playwright to another. For example, for Guan Hanqing the goal was »a banquet so sumptuous that it intoxicates the guests,« for Wang Shifu it was »beautiful women set amid flowers,« for Ma Zhiyuan it was »speaking the truth boldly,« for Yang Xianzhi it was »the nighttime moon seen from a gorgeous tower,« for Ji Junxiang it was »plum blossoms amid snow,« and for Shi Zizhang it was »the grass of long life on Mount Penglai.« When zaju turned into a new, fashionable trend, they had an aesthetic style that Ming Dynasty writer Wang Shizhen epitomized as »vigorous and majestic.« Wang Shizhen epitomized the style of zaju in this way when he was comparing zaju to Southern Opera, to poetry, and to ci. He compared zaju to Southern Opera from a contemporary, horizontal perspective, and he compared zaju to poetry and ci from a historical, vertical perspective. Because he examined zaju from both contemporary and historical perspectives, and from both identical and different points of view, his epitomization of the style of zaju is quite accurate. The vigor and majesty of zaju are dialectically unified with the diversified pursuit of aesthetic sense and aesthetic style on the part of individual zaju playwrights. In zaju, the vigor and majesty are

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found not only in the music, language, and writing but also in the thoughts and feelings. Although playwrights such as Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, and Wang Shifu did not have the same experiences or interests or use the same perspective when selecting material for creating their plays, they did have the same strong mindset and feelings. The critical thinking, democratic consciousness, and pursuit of ideals that characterize their playwriting reflected particular characteristics of Yuan Dynasty society and embodied the values orientation and critical spirit of Yuan Dynasty intellectuals. Guan Hanqing’s personality can be described as »a noisy copper pea that can be steamed but won’t become soft, can be boiled but won’t become cooked, can be beaten but can’t be crushed, and can be fried but won’t pop,« and Ma Zhiyuan’s style is characterized by unperturbed floating in the realm of Daoist immortals and, in his works about Confucian scholars, by a desire to enter into and help society, while the spiritual connotations of Wang Shifu’s works are a rejection and criticism of feudal ethics and the marriage system, along with a yearning for and affirmation of unfettered love along the lines of »may all lovers in the world be united as husband and wife,« as manifested in the moving, romantic love story of the »beautiful women amid flowers« style that is told in Romance of the Western Chamber. The works of these three playwrights, which were the best zaju to come out of Khanbaliq, served as models for later zaju, with the result that these playwrights constituted, as Wu Mei expressed it, »the three models of the golden age.« In addition, the zaju works of these three playwrights constituted a single aesthetic style.

5. A Happy Ending: The Structural Pattern of Zaju Concluding a storyline via a happy ending was the structural plot pattern not only for ancient Chinese plays but also for zaju. Stories of the c­ huanqi genre had a »minor ending« (xiao shousha 小收煞) and

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a »major ending« (da shousha 大收煞). Li Yu wrote that the so-called »minor ending« referred, with reference to a chuanqi, to »the conclusion of the first half, when the situation is temporarily taken stock of and the gong and drums are toned down somewhat, and which is called the ›minor ending‹,« and he wrote that the so-called »major ending« is »the overall conclusion, which is called the ›major ending‹; what makes this scene difficult is that it lacks any trace of inclusion but has a happy feeling of closure.« The happy ending was a pattern not only of structure but also of thought. The ending was one of the main plot-structure elements of zaju, and in some cases it was a necessity. In plays such as Romance of the Western Chamber, The Pavilion of Moon Worship, Gold Thread Pond (Jinxian chi 金线池), Tears on the Blue Gown (Qingshan lei 青衫泪), and Listening to a Zither at a Bamboo Dock (Zhuwu ting qin 竹坞听琴), a man and a woman fall in love and, in spite of obstacles, are united in the end, while in plays along the lines of The Stone Tablet for Seeking Good Fortune (Jian fu bei 荐福碑), a scholar in dire straits passes through many vicissitudes until one day his fortune changes and he becomes successful and famous, and in plays such as The Injustice of Dou E and Evening Rain in the Xiaoxiang Region (Xiaoxiang yeyu 潇湘夜雨) the »happy ending« has »traces of inclusion« that are very subjective and quite manifestly artificial. At the end of The Injustice of Dou E, the ghost of Dou E appears in a dream to her father, who previously had been a government supervisor, makes a request of him, and informs him of her grievances, and in the end her grievances are redressed and her name is cleared. In Evening Rain in the Xiaoxiang Region, behind the play’s external dramatic structure of a happy ending there lies an internal, aesthetic psychology embodying a considerable quantity of traditional cultural concepts and optimism. Hence Wang Guowei wrote, »The spirit of our people is worldly and optimistic, so the operas

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and novels that are the best examples of this spirit are everywhere full of this happy-go-lucky feeling; they start out sad but end up happy, start out with separation but end up with a reunion, and start out with difficulties but end up with things going smoothly, and it is difficult to satisfy audiences in any other way!« Despite the fact that, during the Yuan Dynasty, feudal ethics suffered attacks and underwent some destruction, it was still the case that most young men and women had no choice but to take from plays the beautiful wish that »all lovers in the world may be united as husband and wife«; a happy ending was not only the dream of many young men and women, it also facilitated the regular conclusion pattern for zaju.

6. Appealing to Both Refined and Popular Tastes: The Aesthetic Realm of Zaju As the ruling position of the Mongols became established, and the social status of the Mongols and other ethnic minorities became higher and more honored, the language of the Mongols gradually became fashionable, to the point that some Han people felt proud to take Mongolian names. As a result, the Mongolian language came to be widely cited by zaju playwrights. The reason that zaju could be appreciated by people of all classes lay in the fact that as the status of vernacular-language literature rose, the literati, who were the main creators of elegant literature, mixed with the common people. Guan Hanqing even went so far as to »personally take the stage, with makeup on his face,« and perform at the theater himself. It is therefore not at all surprising that the works of these literati combined both elegant and vernacular elements.

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Although the writers of zaju were fully aware of the importance of vernacular language, they did not reject elegant language. Rather, by combining the two, they rendered their works more richly and poetically expressive. One example of this, found in Part Two, Act One, of Romance of the Western Chamber, is the air »Hun jiang long« (‌混江龙), which runs as follows: The falling flower petals form groups; the myriad wind-blown petals arouse anxiety. The pond dreams of dawn, and the balustrade bids farewell to spring. The fine powder on the butterfly’s wings lightly brushes the snow-like willow seeds wafting through the air, and the fragrance of the soil held in the swallow’s beak blends with the scent of the fallen petals on the ground. The springtime heart that binds is short in comparison to the trailing branches of the willow; the distance between people separated only by a flower’s shadow is greater than the distance between the ends of the earth. The fragrance makes the glories of the capital of the Six Dynasties appear as nothing, and the clearness humbles the uprightness and resentment of the three Chu kingdoms.

A Ming Dynasty writer said of this aria that it was »parallelism dealing with emotion« and has »words and meanings that are moving«; the mood of the scenery forms a contrast with Yingying’s longing for Zhang, and the beautiful, elegant lyrics express very aptly her delicate psychology. Similarly, the act that is entitled »Parting at the Roadside Pavilion,« through the use of a large quantity of poems, ci, onomatopoetic words, repeated words, metaphors, and folk sayings, is at once elegant and vernacular, constituting a gorgeous, magnificent stylistic feature of this play.

CHAPTER II  SOUTHERN OPERA OF THE YUAN DYNASTY The Yuan Dynasty’s Southern Operas, which are also referred to as »theater pieces« (xiwen 戏文), »Yongjia zaju« (‌永嘉杂剧), and »Wenzhou zaju« (‌温州杂剧), are an art form that started out as short, folk song-and-dance plays and then absorbed folk art forms such as Song Dynasty zaju, storytelling scripts (huaben 话本), music plays, and drum lyrics (guzi ci 鼓子词). As for when Southern Operas came into existence, one theory is that they first appeared in the final years of the Northern Song Dynasty, while another hypothesis is that they began during the reign of Emperor Guangzong (1190–1194) of the Southern Song Dynasty. The southward transfer of the Song court spurred the economy and culture of the South, and the flourishing of the capital city of the Southern Song, Lin’an (now Hangzhou), created favorable conditions for the development of Southern Opera. Although Southern Opera is often referred to as »Southern Opera of the Song and Yuan Dynasties,« this chapter will mainly consider the Southern Opera of the Yuan Dynasty.

Section 1  The Boom of Southern Opera The terse simplicity of northern zaju brought into stark relief the deficiencies of early Southern Opera, such as its jumbled verbosity and its adlib style. After playwrights and artists for northern zaju moved south, and took part in creating Southern Opera and in allowing the genre absorb the better qualities of northern zaju, Southern Opera underwent a qualitative change. In the final years of the Yuan Dynasty, the phenomenon

of zaju playwrights also writing Southern Operas became more and more conspicuous. Playwrights of northern zaju took the nutrients found in zaju and used them to nourish Southern Opera. In Southern Opera, customarily, playwrights did not indicate their names on their works. Because these playwrights banded together into organizations known as »writers’ associations,« each playwright in a given association would simply be referred to as »a talented person« within that association. As a result, a great many Southern Opera scripts bear only a name along the lines of »______Writers’ Association.« For example, the work Top Graduate Zhang Xie (Zhang Xie zhuangyuan 张协状元) was written by »a talented person« of the Jiushan Writers’ Association. Most Southern Opera was written after the Yuan Empire had already taken shape. A very large number shared the same themes as zaju but not the same titles, a result of the economic and cultural exchange that took place between northern and southern China. To cite just a few examples, there are Yang Xianzhi’s zaju entitled Autumn Evening Rain in the Xiaoxiang Region at the Lin River Post Station (Linjiang yi Xiaoxiang qiuye yu 临江驿潇湘秋夜雨) and the Southern Opera entitled Lin River Post Station (Linjiang yi 临江驿), the zaju by Shi Junbao entitled Grand Master Qiu Hu of Lu Dallies with his Wife (Lu dafu Qiu Hu xi qi 鲁大夫秋胡戏妻) and the Southern Opera Qiu Hu Dallies with his Wife (Qiu Hu xi qi 秋胡戏妻), Guan Hanqing’s zaju entitled Lord Guan Meeting the Enemies Alone (Guan dawang dandao hui 关 大王单刀会) and the Southern Opera Lord Guan Goes on his Own to Meet the Enemies Alone (Guan dawang du fu dandao hui 关大王独赴单刀会), Bai

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Pu’s zaju entitled Tang Emperor Xuanzong and a Chinese Parasol Tree in Autumn Evening Rain (Tang Minghuang qiuye wutong yu 唐明皇秋夜梧 桐雨) and the Southern Opera Horses Trampling Consort Yang (Ma jian Yang fei 马践杨妃), and the zaju by Ji Junxiang entitled The Great Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao (Zhaoshi gu’er da baoyuan 赵 氏孤儿大报冤) and the Southern Opera The Tale of the Revenge of the Orphan of Zhao (Zhaoshi gu’er baoyuan ji 赵氏孤儿报冤记). Because many Southern Operas were folk creations, few of them were printed. The only ones for which complete scripts survive are the three earliest Southern Operas: Top Graduate Zhang Xie, The Scion of an Official Family Opts for the Wrong Career (Huanmen zidi cuo lishen 宦门子弟 错立身), and Little Butcher Sun (Xiao Sun tu 小孙 屠). In the case of the Southern Opera works The Orphan of Zhao, The Story of the Dilapidated Kiln, The Tale of the Eastern Window (Dongchuang ji 东 窗记), The Tale of the Shepherd (Muyang ji 牧羊 记), The Tale of Filial Son Huang Searching for his Parent (Huang xiaozi xunqin ji 黄孝子寻亲记), A Thorn Hairpin (Jingchai ji 荆钗记), The White Rabbit (Baitu ji 白兔记), Praying to the Moon (Bai yue ji 拜月记), Slaying the Dog (Sha gou ji 杀狗记), and The Tale of the Pipa (Pipa ji 琵琶记), all or part of the texts underwent modifications at the hands of Ming Dynasty artists or literati. In addition, there are certain Southern Operas from which only some arias have survived. The work with the largest number of surviving arias is Wang Xiang Lies on the Ice (Wang Xiang wo bing 王祥卧冰), from which 81 arias have survived, while the works with the fewest number, such as The Monastery of the Jade Pure One (Yuqing an 玉清庵), have only one surviving aria. According to a count carried out by modern scholar Qian Nanyang, no less than 119 arias survive from lost theater pieces of the Song and Yuan dynasties. In addition, Zhang Dafu compiled some surviving arias, arriving at a total of more than 130. Although the total number of known Southern Operas is more than 230, less

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than one tenth of these operas have actually come down to us. After arising in Wenzhou, the Southern Opera genre spread to Zhejiang, Fujian, and elsewhere, and there was quite a boom in the performance of Southern Opera. The Puxian Operas and Liyuan Operas of Fujian still contain many poems and rhapsodies from Southern Opera works. Liyuan Opera, whose music absorbed naamyam (‌南音) folk music from southern Fujian, came to be referred to as »Quan qiang« (‌泉腔). When Southern Opera reached Quanzhou, it fused with the local folk music but also retained elements of the combined northern-southern musical tradition. Within Liyuan Opera works there survive incomplete books of the Southern Opera Zhu Wen and the Taiping Coins (Zhu Wen Taiping qian 朱文太 平钱); these books are referred to as Zhu Wen and the Walking Ghost (Zhu Wen zou gui 朱文走 鬼) or simply Zhu Wen. These books, which were »theatrical books« valued and kept by elderly Liyuan Opera artists, consisted of texts transcribed by hand into old-style account books. In many cases, they were »scripts for female parts« (danben 旦本) or »scripts for male parts« (shengben 生本) destined for exclusive use by actors, and these books contain some plays that had been considered lost. These theatrical books contain a great many »coined« phonetic characters that are »characters in the local dialect.« The books also contain a large number of comic gestures and remarks, and in that respect they have maintained one of the characteristics of Southern Opera. In Liyuan Opera, a work is normally named after a character who appears in that work. For example, the Southern Opera work Slaying the Dog is referred to in Liyuan Opera as Sun Rong (‌孙荣), Praying to the Moon is Jiang Shilong, and A Thorn Hairpin is Wang Shipeng (‌王十朋). Some melody patterns from Southern Opera works survive in naamyam accompanying suites (zhitao 指套), in naamyam scattered songs, and in Liyuan Opera works themselves.

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1. Differences between Southern Opera and the Zaju of the North In the heyday of zaju, the roundabout, charming song-and-dance music of the south contrasted with the powerful northern desert winds that constituted the spirit of northern zaju. When northern zaju works reached the south, they were monotonous, cold, and flat: they consisted of four acts and one prologue, the songs were all northern-style airs, and there was just one lead singer at all times. Southern Opera, on the other hand, was lively and refreshing, with no restrictions on how long an opera could be or on which characters could sing. Southern Opera and zaju constituted two parallel forms of opera. Zaju continued all the way down to the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, and Southern Opera provided the foundations for the emergence of chuanqi stories. In composing Romance of the Western Chamber, Wang Shifu broke through, rather early on, the barrier of four acts and one prologue: the play has no less than five parts, 20 acts, and four prologues. In the fifth part of the play, Wang overthrew the rule that there be just one lead singer at a time (whether female or male), which he did by having both a male character and a female character sing within a single act. In terms of script structure, Southern Opera scripts start out with a written section in which the author explains his reason for writing the opera and gives a synopsis of the plot; this section is referred to as a fumo 副末 opening or a jiamen 家门 synopsis. This opening section helps the audience understand the plot clearly and »enter into the opera« right away. In zaju, the structural framework of introduction, elaboration, transition, and conclusion, making up four acts and one prologue, is reproduced in the music as well: the set of airs that is used in a play restricts, to a certain extent, the plot and content of the play. In the structure of Southern Opera, on the other hand, the writer can make choices based on the plot or the characters’ emotions, and can

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make the opera as long as he wishes; there is no strict limit on the number of scenes, so an opera may have 20, 30, 40, or even 50 scenes. The writer can also choose the modes and the sets of airs according to his needs. Another major reason why Southern Opera flourished was the fact that the coordination between the structure of an opera and the structure of its music did not stagnate. Because those who wrote Southern Operas often were very knowledgeable about tonality, they would take musical structure into account when writing a script; their long and short scenes were linked to the large suites and the melody patterns of the music. In addition, the number of melody patterns in a single set of tunes was not as rigidly fixed in Southern Opera as it was in zaju, and this is what gave Southern Opera its feeling of liveliness, openness, and freedom—and what made zaju so well-knit, musically. Southern Opera, by expanding the content, space, length, depth, and breadth of play performances and making plays freer and livelier, had an enormous impact on zaju.

2. Focusing on Real Life and Reflecting People’s Voices The content of Southern Opera works was close to real life and faithfully reflected what people loved, hated, and aspired to. In Evaluations of Plays (Qupin 曲品), Lü Tiancheng grouped the content of Southern Operas into six categories: »one is loyalty and filial piety, another is morality and righteousness, another is love, another is bravery and chivalry, another is position and wealth, and another is Daoism and Buddhism.« These sorts of theater pieces were greatly liked by audiences, so Southern Opera naturally became more and more popular. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a Buddhist monk in Wenzhou by the name of Zujie. Backed by the local government, he committed all kinds of wicked acts. His persecution of the Yu family was considered especially heinous,

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and although he was powerful, the way he treated the Yu family roused the people to anger. His misdeeds were written up in a theater piece that was performed widely, and the resulting discontent among audiences caused the local government, in fear, to »throw him into prison and execute him.« This episode illustrates the close connection that existed between Southern Opera and the common people. Little Butcher Sun, whose full title is Unlucky Little Butcher Sun Gets Hanged Upside Down (Zao pendiao meixing xiao Sun tu 遭盆吊没兴小孙屠), is a play about injustices that was »compiled by the Guhang Writers’ Association.« According to Cao Lianting’s edition of Register of Ghosts, the writer Xiao Dexiang authored five zaju, one of which was Little Butcher Sun. In the play, Sun Bigui is a bold and forthright man who is fond of martial arts; because he makes his living as a butcher, people call him Little Butcher Sun. His elder brother, the scholar Sun Bida, marries an official prostitute named Li Qiongmei. Li had formerly been friends with a man named Zhu the Clerk; the two renew their friendship, and Li and Zhu kill a maid named Meixiang and abscond together. Because Meixiang had been dressed up in Li’s clothes, Sun Bida is unjustly jailed for the crime, confesses under torture, and is sentenced to be punished for the murder of his wife—but his younger brother takes Sun Bida’s place in jail in order to save him. Zhu the Clerk, with the intention of silencing Sun Bida by killing him, bribes an official, ties the prisoner up tightly with ropes, rolls the prisoner up inside a dry straw mattress (mat), and dumps him in a desolate place just outside the city walls. Certain that the prisoner will die, Zhu abandons him there. However, this injustice in the world of men offends Heaven, which sends the deity of Taishan to the rescue; Little Butcher Sun is returned to life and regains consciousness. In order to set the facts straight, the Sun brothers take their case to Bao Zheng, the prefect of Kaifeng. In the end, the truth becomes clear, and Zhu

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the Clerk and the others receive the punishment they deserve. Little Butcher Sun is somewhat short on fierce indignation and wild curses; amid an atmosphere of warmth and tenderness, the feelings of righteous anger get smothered by the strong sense of brotherly love. Among the northern zaju that were »judicial plays« exposing social ills, some of them, such as The Mistaken Accusation of Theft against Cao Boming (Cao Boming cuo kan zang 曹伯明错勘赃) and Zheng the Official in the Bitterly Cold Pavilion Amid Wind and Snow (Zheng kongmu fengxue kuhan ting 郑孔目风雪酷寒亭), were adapted into Southern Opera works. The Southern Opera work The Scion of an Official Family Opts for the Wrong Career appeared relatively late. In terms of form, it is related in some ways to zaju. To summarize the plot briefly, Wanyan Shouma (also called Yan Shouma) meets by chance an itinerant female entertainment artist named Wang Jinbang, and he invites her to come to his family’s official mansion and sing. Shouma already likes singing, and what with Wang’s captivating way of singing for an audience, he becomes completely infatuated with her. But while he is there watching her in an ecstasy of love, his father, who is the prefectural magistrate for Henan, returns to the official mansion and comes upon this scene. Furious, the father drives Wang away and locks his son in his study, ordering him to attend to his studies. Later, Shouma escapes from home, and after wandering here and there in search of Wang, he finds her. He stays with the theater troupe, which is led by Wang’s father, and he marries Wang. Meanwhile, Shouma’s father gets promoted, but he is depressed because he has lost his son. Seeking for a way to dispel his sorrow, he has someone invite the Daxingyuan theater troupe to come and perform for him, little imagining that his beloved son, whom he has been longing for day and night, is now a member of the troupe. Love for family members is indeed hard to relinquish: the father rediscovers his lost son and has to come to terms

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with him. This opera demonstrates the strength of human nature. Among the Southern Operas that have attracted attention, there are some with plots that involve people getting separated by the chaos of war, some examples being A Thorn Hairpin, The White Rabbit, and Praying to the Moon. In these operas, such female characters as Qian Yulian, Li Sanniang, and Wang Ruilan undergo suffering, yet they are not mere victims, since they also pursue brighter prospects for happiness. Though these women are weak, their life experiences lead them to have definite views of their own and make them willing to struggle and not surrender to fate—and in the end they win out.

Section 2  Gao Ming and Tale of the Pipa 1. The Life and Thought of Gao Ming Gao Ming, the author of the Southern Opera The Tale of the Pipa, was from Ruian in Zhejiang Province. His courtesy name was Gao Zecheng, but because his art name was Dongjia, people called him »Master Dongjia«—though he was also referred to as »the Vegetable Root Daoist.« He was born around the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th century, and he died in 1359 during the period prior to the fall of the Yuan Dynasty (in 1368), when social conditions were at their worst and the popular struggle against the Yuan was at its fiercest. Gao wished to »restore things to how they were in the times of Yao and Shun, more than 3,000 years ago,« so he became angry and depressed, and died of illness in Siming (Ningbo). Gao Ming’s father (Gao Tianxi), uncle (Gao Yanru), and younger brother (Gao Yang) were all poets. As for Gao himself, his poetry and prose were superb, his ci poems and arias were quite long, and in particular he excelled at calligraphy. He was a student of famed Confucian philosopher Huang Jin,

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and as a result of Huang’s influence, Gao came to have a reverence for filial piety. Quite a few of his poems and prose works, such as The Tale of the Well of Filial Piety and Justice (Xiaoyi jing ji 孝义井 记), The Tale of the Former Site of the Home of Filial Son Hua (Hua xiaozi guzhi ji 华孝子故址记), and A Poem about the Virtuous Woman Wang (Wang jiefu shi 王节妇诗), advocated the moral principles of »filial piety and justice.« Wang passed the triennial imperial exam in the fourth year of the Zhizheng era (1344) and passed the highest level of the imperial civil service exam in the year following. Gao served at one time as an office clerk in Chu Prefecture, and in Hangzhou he served as assistant prime minister of the province. But his ten years as an official were hard on him because his strict moral principles would not permit him to curry favor with the powerful or flatter influential officials. Around the tenth year of the Zhizheng era (1350), Gao resigned his official position and henceforth devoted himself exclusively to writing The Tale of the Pipa. Gao had had a rich variety of experiences already in his life; The Tale of the Pipa distilled down those life experiences, embodied Gao’s likes, dislikes, and ideals, and reflected the contradictions in his thinking. In addition to The Tale of the Pipa, Gao also wrote The Rou Kezhai Anthology (Rou Kezhai ji 柔克斋集), a 20-volume collection of his poetry and prose, but most of this collection has been lost, and only 50 or so works survive from it. Among the surviving works are »A Rhyme by the Official He Zhao for the Gravestone of Yue Fei« (He Zhao chengzhi ti Yue Wang mu yun 和赵承旨题岳王墓韵), »A Replying Rhyme for Chou Gaoying« (Ciyun Chou Gaoying wen 次韵酬 高应文), »Title for a Painting of a Tiger« (Ti hua hu 题画虎), and »Tale of the Raven Treasure« (Wu bao zhuan 乌宝传). In Gao’s works, one can sense the truth of his lament that »every tyrannical government that exists in the world of men accompanies you.«

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2. Tale of the Pipa as a Thrilling Picture of Life One of the earliest Southern Operas was the folk work The Chaste Woman Zhao and Cai Erlang (Zhao zhennü Cai Erlang 赵贞女蔡二郎). And previously, during the Jin Dynasty, there already existed a hall drama entitled Cai Bojie (‌蔡伯喈). In addition, the poet Lu You once wrote the following: »As the sun goes down among the old willows at the Zhao family villa, a blind old man is beating a drum. Who is able to control what sort of reputation he will have after his own death? The entire village listens to the singing of the tale of Household General Cai.« From this, it is evident that a similar story was already being passed down among the people. A large number of different editions of The Tale of the Pipa have survived; just counting Ming Dynasty block-printed editions, there are more than ten that have come down to us. Most of these block-printed editions underwent modification during the Ming Dynasty. For instance, in the case of the handwritten two-volume work entitled New Edition of the Cai Bojie Tale of the Pipa (Xin kanben Cai Bojie Pipa ji 新刊本蔡伯喈琵琶记), by Qing Dynasty writer Lu Yidian, the plot of the story is similar to that of Gao Ming’s The Tale of the Pipa, the format of the story is identical to that found in The Three Theater Pieces of the Yongle Encyclopedia (Yongle dadian xiwen san zhong 永乐大典戏文三种), and the texts of the arias are the same as those in the Yuan Dynasty Scores (Yuan pu 元谱) that are included in the work The Beginning of the Nine Modes (Jiugong zhengshi 九宫正始). To summarize the plot of The Tale of the Pipa: Cai Bojie (that being his courtesy name; his official name was Cai Yong) has been married for just two months, but in response to pressure from his father and the advice of a neighbor, Grandee Zhang, he heads off to the capital for three years to take the imperial examinations. While he is away, his hometown of Chenliu suffers three years

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of drought, and his bride, Zhao Wuniang, undergoes innumerable hardships in order to assist Cai’s parents. The natural disaster is compounded by manmade calamities, and Cai’s parents die of cold and hunger. Zhao Wuniang has no choice but to load her pipa lute on her back and set off for the capital in search of her husband, begging along the way. Meanwhile, Cai passes the exams and achieves the grade of Number One Scholar, but Prime Minister Niu urges Cai to marry his daughter, and Cai is forced to comply. He wishes to return home, yet he is unable to do so, and he misses his parents and his wife greatly. One day, Zhao Wuniang, searching for her husband, walks into the mansion of Prime Minister Niu and, with the help of the prime minister’s daughter, she meets up with her husband. Cai, learning that his parents have passed away, takes Zhao Wuniang and the prime minister’s daughter back to Chenliu and performs the memorial rites for his parents. Prime Minister Niu requests and obtains from the emperor an edict of commendation for the entire Cai family, and the opera concludes with a happy ending. With regard to this work, Tang Xianzu wrote that »reading a part of The Tale of the Pipa is better than reading a section of ›Encountering Sorrow‹ [Li sao 离骚]«. And Huang Pu stated that he believed that Gao Ming »used ci poems and arias to entertain himself … so he wrote The Tale of the Pipa to wipe away Cai Bojie’s shame.« Zhu Yuanzhang, after entering the city of Jinling in 1356 and basing himself there, stated, »I have heard of him, and want to employ him, but I have had no luck,« and it was due to Zhu that The Tale of the Pipa would continue to be performed frequently throughout the Ming Dynasty. This opera has been commented upon for more than 600 years, by everyone from emperors down to commoners and from the literati of antiquity down to contemporary critics, so it is obviously a work of very high artistic value. For the common people, life was always precarious, like gossamer, and the tragic plight of

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Cai’s elderly parents reflects the life of the lower classes. Hence, Gao Ming borrowed the name of the Han Dynasty personage Cai Bojie in order to depict real life in late Yuan Dynasty society.

3. The Artistic Image of Zhao Wuniang The artistic image of Zhao Wuniang that is presented in The Tale of the Pipa is a pure embodiment of the beauty of moral uprightness. Zhao already existed in the folk consciousness, but Gao refashioned and distilled the personality of this woman of the people in order to make her character clearer and render her interior world richer, resulting in an artistic image that was more moving. Zhao becomes the epitome of the virtuous wife and filial daughter; in the end, she receives a commendation from the emperor, and she not only accepts the reality of bigamy but even »is humbly grateful« and »cherishes in gratitude« the situation. As an average, typical rural housewife, Zhao Wuniang is content with a quiet, simple life, and is satisfied with the joys of being a newlywed bride. But when her father-in-law forces Cai to go take the imperial exams, this shatters her dream; she worries that her husband will have a change of heart, and she repeatedly warns him, »When there are nothing but red-painted towers for ten li in every direction, your love might grow cold and you might take a beautiful woman for yourself.« She disagrees with her father-in-law’s opinion on the »supreme act of filial piety,« and complains that »his opinion is skewed, and he will not have even one son at his side.« Zhao’s rebellious spirit is poles apart from what feudal morality looked upon as »filial piety.« The three years of drought have made her life desperate: setting aside her own grievances, she devotes herself unstintingly to serving her parentsin-law with filial piety and respect. Though she herself is eating only husks, she says not a word when her mother-in-law mistakenly reproaches her. After her parents-in-law have both died, she

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cuts off her hair and sells it in order to be able to give them burial. To build the funeral mound, she has to carry dirt in her hemp skirt and build the mound herself by hand. Before heading off for the capital in search of her husband, she draws a picture of her parents-in-law to carry with her. On the anniversary of their deaths, she finds a cup of cold rice porridge made with tea, which she offers up as a memorial for them. Though she begs for food, she gets none, and she wishes she could die: after experiencing the weeping of her two elderly parents-in-law, the departure of her husband who does not return, mistreatment by officials as cruel as tigers and wolves, and not having a single grain of rice to ease her hunger, death would be a release. But she recalls her helpless parents-in-law and decides to take the more difficult path, that of »living.« In short, Zhao Wuniang embodies a woman’s perseverance and goodness as well as the uncompromising pursuit of filial piety. The Tale of the Pipa not only portrays Zhao Wuniang’s actions, it also reveals in-depth her inner perseverance and uses her fears to cast into stronger relief her filial piety and her respect toward her parents-in-law.

4. The Artistic Image of Cai Bojie The Cai Bojie depicted in The Tale of the Pipa differs from Cai Erlang as portrayed in the early Southern Opera The Chaste Woman Zhao and Cai Erlang. Gao Ming transformed Cai Bojie (Cai Erlang) from a faithless man who abandoned his parents and wife into a man who thinks constantly of his parents and wife, who is steeped in suffering, and who never acts faithlessly unless compelled to do so. The »three refusals« that Cai received and his »three failings in filial piety« illustrate the conflict between loyalty and filial piety taking place within him. Although at one point Cai attempts a desperate rebellion, in the end it fails and he follows the path of accepting his lot, waiting, and fantasizing. This impresses on the audience the power of the emperor, the

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hypocrisy of morality, and the corruption of officialdom. Cai is a tragic figure, and it is difficult to judge him accurately using the standards of loyalty and filial piety or of good versus evil. In Tale of the Pipa, what unfolds before one’s eyes are the mental state and the difficult living conditions of an era and of a category of intellectuals. Even though the author praises »the truly filial Bojie,« he nevertheless depicts Cai as a realistic person with emotions, likes, dislikes, contradictions, and sufferings. The moments in which Cai »rejects marriage« and »rejects an office« are the most glorious of his life, moments in which he says what he wants and needs to say in a bold, unhesitant manner without any evasion or concealment. He contradicts Prime Minister Niu, »the most conceited man in the entire imperial court,« to his face, telling him that he does not want to marry his daughter. And when he enters the Niu family’s sumptuous mansion, which is »shimmering like candlelight, swaying like incense smoke, and surrounded by beautiful ladies-in-waiting,« and he encounters the prime minister’s daughter, whose »charming appearance rivals that of a goddess,« he is left unmoved, and he uses a stringed instrument to express the despondency, loneliness, agitation, anger, and resentment that he feels inside. Gao Ming’s thinking is very similar to Cai Bojie’s. Rather than saying that Gao wrote The Tale of the Pipa to clear the name of the historical Cai Bojie, it would be more accurate to say that Gao used the drinking goblet in Cai’s hand in order to pour out the misery he felt in his own heart.

5. The Artistic Achievements of Tale of the Pipa After Gao Ming tired of official life and resigned his position, he went to Ningbo and lived in seclusion at Lishe in Nanxiang, where, over the space of three years, he wrote Tale of the Pipa. A work entitled The Diao Hill Miscellany (Diaoqiu zalu 雕邱杂录) recounts the following: »When Gao

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Zecheng was creating Tale of the Pipa, he closed his door and refused to accept visitors, exerted himself to the utmost in singing, and had spittle coming out of his mouth uninterruptedly for a long time, and the floorboards all wore through where he used his feet to mark the beat.« This vividly illustrates how intensely the author concentrated when he was composing this work. Tale of the Pipa attained a number of different artistic achievements. First, there is the work’s status and influence in the history of the development of opera. The completeness, smoothness, elegance, vividness, and unfettered expansiveness of Tale of the Pipa corrected the roughness and disorderliness that constituted deficiencies in early Southern Opera. The work is also more expressive than northern zaju plays, which were rigid and stiff. Tale of the Pipa also laid the foundation for the production of the chuanqi of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Second, Tale of the Pipa portrayed characters in ways that were unique. In zaju, the restrictions imposed by the format of four acts and one prologue often had an impact on the psychological depiction of characters. But in Southern Opera, which was flexible and unfettered, the writer was free of such restrictions and able to let characters express their inner feelings to the full—and this allowed works to be more poignant. The arrangement of acted and lyrical scenes in Tale of the Pipa reached levels that were unprecedented, resulting in such fine scenes as the eating of the husks, the drawing of the portraits, Zhao remembering her husband, the admiring of lotuses, the viewing of the moon, worrying about the marriage, and the sweeping of the burial mound. The author took the techniques of straightforward narration (fu 赋), metaphor (bi 比), and indirect narration (xing 兴) that were found in classical poetry and ci and used them to add emotion to descriptions of scenery and to describe visible things in ways that evoked thoughts and feelings, thereby making the portrayals more natural, smooth, and supple.

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Third, it employed the technique of carefully managed contrast between two subplots that move forward simultaneously, thus giving the work greater expressivity. The work as a whole consists of 42  scenes, in which the Cai family’s miserable sufferings, due to hunger and cold, contrast with the extravagance and luxury of the Niu household. Similarly, the warm-hearted and compassionate Grandee Zhang, who was born in a rural village in the mountains, combines in one person the best of the feelings and humanity found in simple folk, while the cold, heartless Prime Minister Niu, a powerful, high-ranking official at court, is a stiff, gloomy schemer who seeks power. And although both of the two main women in the opera are beautiful and kind, they have some major differences: while Zhao Wuniang is a girl who embodies the common people’s moral outlook as well as their love and respect for the elderly, and therefore takes care of her parents-inlaw while they are alive and buries them after they die, Prime Minister Niu’s daughter, a wealthy girl who grew up in the prime minister’s mansion in the shackles of the feudal code of ethics, lives her life by following the rules and has turned into a »beautiful mannequin.« In terms of attitudes toward the imperial examinations, Cai’s father forces his son to go take the exams both as a supreme act of filial piety and in order to be thoroughly loyal to the emperor by being »bookish,« while Cai’s mother, who is simple and practical, wants her son to remain by their side. And in terms of filial piety, while Zhao Wuniang has the courage to speak her mind frankly, Cai gives in to his father’s command in order to fulfill the requirements of filial piety. This opera by Gao Ming is full of artistic contrasts: the playwright uses flatlands to set off high mountains, cold to set off hot, and hot to set off cold, and also makes use of sweetness in the midst of bitterness, bitterness in the midst of sweetness, and suffering and joy blended together—all of

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this resulting in a work that leaves audiences with much to think about. Fourth, the opera uses language with extreme skill. Gao Ming’s language not only is attentive to poetic concision, artistic conception, and implications, but it is also richly dramatic. Gao did not pursue beauty of language blindly for its own sake, »literaturizing« the language of opera, and he used the conventional phrases of opera only very rarely. Instead, he designed a specific way of speaking for each character based on that character’s identity, status, origins, personality, situation, and so on, with the result that each character speaks differently. The language used in Tale of the Pipa can be divided roughly into two types: the natural, simple language used by ordinary people, which is spoken by lower-class persons such as Cai’s father, Cai’s mother, and Li Wang, and that which lays stress on literary grace, and is spoken by well-educated intellectuals. In An Account of Southern Lyrics (Nanci xu lu 南词叙 录), Xu Wei says of the language of this opera that »every sentence of it consists of natural language, without any modern literary style at all.« Fifthly, the work attained new levels in the poetic meters that it used in the ci poems composed for given tunes. The music of early Southern Opera was monotonous and unsystematic; in Tale of the Pipa, however, in response to developments in drama and changes in the mood of the people, considerable attention was given to how melody patterns were arranged, how joint singing was organized, how the phonetic tones of words were determined, and the actual words and characters that were chosen. As a result, the ci were easy to sing, and the arias were pleasant and moving. In Evaluations of Plays, Lü Tiancheng says of the arias in Tale of the Pipa that they »can be imitated but not equaled« and that they are »superb.« In The Principles of Music (Qu lü 曲律), Wei Liangfu judged the opera to have »excellent phonology,« and honored this work as »the forefather of all arias.«

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Sixth, the work was very well-suited for stage performance. In Collected Jottings from the Shaoshi Retreat (Shaoshi shanfang bicong 少室山房笔丛), Ming Dynasty writer Hu Yinglin wrote of Tale of the Pipa that it »is rich in talent and has fully crafted rhythm, and when theater troupes practice it, it takes up practically half of the world, from the big city all the way down to little back streets, and every time it is performed, it goes all night up until the dawn, and even though all the people enjoy themselves, there is no time for mistakes.« This gives some indication of just how often the work was performed. Some actors spent their entire lives building up images of particular characters in Tale of the Pipa, even bringing to life secondary characters such as Cai’s father and mother. Despite all these achievements, Tale of the Pipa has some shortcomings. For example, after Zhao Wuniang has suffered through so much, to have her accept a bigamous situation so as to fulfill the author’s ideal of a »virtuous wife« makes the happy ending seem somewhat unrealistic. Similarly, Prime Minister Niu’s daughter was born in the prime minister’s mansion, has been thoroughly inculcated with feudal ethics, is constantly uttering ethical norms, is numb to the point that she says »I do not notice it when spring comes around each year, and the feelings of my heart never change,« and faithfully follows the norms of ethics and the feudal code of behavior— yet when she is reduced to the status of a second wife and Cai treats her with indifference, she feels neither resentment nor anger but simply serves as a model for the adage that a woman should »obey her father while still living at home, and then obey her husband after she marries.« Along the same lines, Grandee Zhang is the epitome of a person embodying traditional virtues, such as helping one’s neighbor, finding pleasure in helping others, and having pity on the elderly and the poor; he has witnessed with his own eyes the tragedy of the Cai family, has been strongly moved by the corruption at court and the mud-

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dle-headedness and greed of officials, and, when Cai’s father dies three years after Cai’s departure, he gives to Zhang his goosefoot-wood staff and charges him to use it to drive the unfilial Cai Bojie off of the Cai family property and then expose his dead body for all to see. And yet, when the emperor honors all the members of the Cai family for their loyalty, filial piety, morality, and righteousness, Zhang is simply overjoyed and bursts into song. The reason that the work contains behavioral inconsistencies such as these is that the author is advocating the virtues of loyalty and filial piety, and these inconsistencies reflect his philosophy that »good style is useless unless you teach virtue.«

Section 3  The Four Southern Opera Classics The works Wang Shipeng and the Thorn Hairpin (Wang Shipeng jing chai ji 王十朋荆钗记), Liu ­Zhiyuan and the White Rabbit (Liu Zhiyuan baitu ji 刘知远白兔记), Praying to the Moon (also known as The Tale of the Secluded Boudoir (Yougui ji 幽闺记)), and Slaying the Dog, often collectively referred to in abbreviated form as »Thorn, Liu, Praying, and Slaying,« are the »Four Classics of Southern Opera« that were popular in the late Yuan Dynasty. In Rules for Plays (Qu lü 曲律), Wang Jide wrote, »Old plays such as Thorn, Liu, Praying, and Slaying have been passed down to us from two or three hundred years ago without getting lost. Because there were few playwrights in that era, if such works had not reached us, we would have nothing at all, so it is fortunate that they were passed down.« Since the »Four Classics« were close to real life and to the common people, the people liked them. Aside from these four works, some other relatively influential Southern Operas were The Story of the Golden Seal (Jinyin ji 金印记), Su Qin Returns Home in Beautiful Clothes (Su Qin yijin huan xiang 苏秦衣锦还乡), The Tale

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of Su Wu as a Shepherd (Su Wu muyang ji 苏武牧 羊记), Prime Minister Qin and the Eastern Window Incident (Qin taishi dongchuang shifan 秦太师东 窗事犯), Lü Mengzheng and the Story of the Dilapidated Kiln Exposed to Wind and Snow (Lü Mengzheng fengxue poyao ji 吕蒙正风雪破窑记), and The Story of the Orphan of Zhao (Zhao shi guer ji 赵氏孤儿记).

1. The Thorn Hairpin The Thorn Hairpin is a love story that recounts the sorrowful separation and joyful reunion of Wang Shipeng and his wife, Qian Yulian. However, the leading male character in the opera is not the historical Wang Shipeng, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, but instead an artistic creation. The Thorn Hairpin was written by Ke Danqiu, who was born in Xianju (‌仙居). Ke’s actual name was Ke Jiusi, his courtesy name was Ke Jingzhong, and his art name was Danqiu Sheng. After having served as an historical scholar at the Kuizhangge Academy and having been raised to the Fifth Rank, during the reign of Yuan Emperor Wenzong he was a literary aide and had dealings with such persons as Yu Ji and Zhao Meng. He spent two years in the lower Yangtze River region, during which time he was on intimate terms with Gu Ying, a wealthy resident of Kunshan. The Gu household supported a large number of female artists, who were capable of singing Southern Opera. In The Thorn Hairpin, Wang Shipeng proposes marriage to Qian Yulian, offering her as an engagement present a hairpin made of thorn wood, while Sun Ruquan, son of a wealthy family, also proposes to Qian, offering her hairpins of gold and silver. Qian is in love with Wang’s talents, and she holds Sun’s gold and silver in low regard, so she marries Wang. Wang goes to the capital to take the imperial examinations, and he passes the exams with the grade of Top Graduate. Afterward, the prime minister, Mo Qixie, wants Wang to marry his daughter, but Wang flatly refuses. Meanwhile, Sun Ruquan fails the exams

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and returns home from the capital; he cleverly swaps a letter that Wang wrote home to his family with another letter saying that Wang, in the capital, has married the prime minister’s daughter. Qian’s stepmother tries to force Qian to remarry, but she swears that she would rather die than marry Sun. The stepmother imprisons Qian, but Qian breaks through a window and escapes; finding herself at her wits’ end, she tries to drown herself, but is saved from drowning by Qian Zaihe, the governor of Wenzhou. Wang Shipeng’s mother, going to the capital, informs him that his wife is dead. In the meantime, Qian Yulian, on the basis of a false report, believes that her husband has died, and she vows to never remarry. One day, Wang Shipeng and Qian Yulian meet by chance at Xuanmiao Temple, but they have difficulty recognizing each other. However, at the arrangement of Qian Zaihe, Wang catches sight of the thorn hairpin, and he and his wife are reunited. The playwright uses Wang Shipeng and Qian Yulian to extol »husbands conserving righteousness and wives conserving morality,« and to criticize the idea of basing marriages on power and money. The most notable artistic achievements of The Thorn Hairpin lay in two areas: its structure and its language. In Discourse on Drama (Qu lun 曲论), Xu Fuzuo wrote that »where The Thorn Hairpin excels is in its plot.« In this opera, which has a total of 48 scenes, the marriage of Wang and Qian undergoes trials via a variety of conflicting relationships and a number of combinations of interpersonal feelings, and these trials permit the feelings and the qualities of the characters to come to light amid the tribulations of hardship and danger. At times, Wang and Qian find themselves in desperate circumstances, but at other times they see a glimmer of hope, and these ups and downs in the plot and in the characters’ emotions make for a fascinating opera. In terms of the language of The Thorn Hairpin, Lü Tiancheng, in Evaluations of Plays, wrote that

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»it uses a clear style to express clear emotions, so that the emotions and the words engender each other, and this is the most difficult thing to achieve.« Xu Fuzuo, in Discourse on Drama, wrote that »it is back-alley slang, extremely coarse, but its use of rhymes is very rigorous; sometimes the language that is authentic for the social setting is the same as the language that is authentic for the character’s personality, but sometimes they differ.« In The Thorn Hairpin, the unrefined language that is spoken in the non-sung sections by individuals such as the mother-in-law and Sun Ruquan reveals quite vividly that these speakers are base scoundrels. The opera uses some rather simple and straightforward language to express appearances, actions, and thoughts; this language, which is frank, plain, and easy to understand, is an example of »the emotions and the words, such as are contained in the language for the social setting and the language for the personality, engendering each other.«

2. The White Rabbit It is difficult to be certain who wrote The White Rabbit. The earliest performance scripts have been lost, and the scripts that have come down to us have all undergone embellishment. Although the opera is set during the Five Dynasties period, it in fact reflects the reality of life and the emotional world of people during the Song and Yuan dynasties. The opera tells the story of Liu Zhiyuan, who is destined to one day become emperor. When Liu sleeps, snakes enter the seven orifices of his head, and his body emits red light all over, so even though Liu is simply a horse breeder for a man named Li Wenkui, it is clear that he is someone special. As a result, Li, who is rich, has Liu marry his daughter, Li Sanniang. After Li Wenkui and his wife pass away, their eldest son, Li Hongyi, takes over the family estate. Li Hongyi snubs Liu because of the latter’s poverty; because Li wishes to marry off his younger sister, Li Sanniang, to a

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rich and influential family, he forces Liu to pen a document divorcing her. Li Sanniang does not accept the situation, and Liu has no choice but to go far away, to join the army. Liu rises to a powerful position, becoming a soldier in Taiyuan under Military Commissioner Yue, and Yue has Liu marry his daughter. As a result of a number of military exploits, Liu is promoted to be the military governor of all China. In the meantime, Li Sanniang, in her poverty, is abused by her elder brother and his wife, and treated as a slave, »carrying three hundred loads of water by day, and working at the millstone by night until daybreak.« In the midst of these sufferings, she gives birth to a son she had conceived with Liu. She delivers the child in the mill, and, without scissors to cut his umbilical cord, she has to bite it off with her teeth. For that reason, the child, Liu Cheng, gets the nickname Bitten Navel (yao qi 咬脐). To keep her infant son from being harmed by Li Hongyi and his wife, Li Sanniang entrusts Bitten Navel to a handyman, Old Man Dou, who takes Bitten Navel to Liu, begging milk for the baby along the way. Sixteen years later, Bitten Navel, who has grown up and become a minor general, catches sight of his mother, Li Sanniang, at a well. With Bitten Navel serving as go-between, Liu Zhiyuan finally meets Li Sanniang again. In short, the mother and son recognize each other, and then the husband and wife are reunited. Because Bitten Navel’s shooting of a white rabbit is what led him to encounter his mother at the well, the opera was named The White Rabbit. Although this opera, on the surface, portrays the sorrowful separation and joyful reunion of a husband and wife, audiences were able to see beyond the sufferings, the embellishments, and the happy ending that appear on the surface. Because The White Rabbit embodies the common people’s views of right and wrong, the opera is very close to them, and carries a great deal of their spirit.

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A folk creation, the opera is simple and unsophisticated, with characters that are distinct and vivid. The ideas follow a clear sequence, and the plot develops tightly but smoothly, so the opera is pleasant to the eye and easy to understand. Lü Tiancheng wrote of this opera that »the ci are very old, provide a sense of calmness, and represent a number of different old styles.« The White Rabbit has preserved a rather large quantity of folk language and expressions, and in these the remains of folk literature, shuochang spoken and sung art, legends, and stories can be discerned.

3. Praying to the Moon Praying to the Moon, also known as Jiang Shilong and Praying to the Moon (Jiang Shilong bai yue ji 蒋世隆拜月记) and as The Tale of the Secluded Boudoir, is an adaptation of a northern zaju by Guan Hanqing entitled A Beauty Pining in her Boudoir: The Pavilion for Praying to the Moon (Guiyuan jiaren bai yue ting 闺怨佳人拜月亭). There is considerable controversy concerning who the author may have been. A large number of different editions of this opera have come down to us. The story is set during the Jin Dynasty. As the Jin court confronts a war in which the fate of the people hangs in the balance, heated argument breaks out at court between noninterventionists and those who favor military resistance. The outcome is that those in favor of military resistance lose the argument and are crushed, and their leader, along with almost his entire family, are beheaded. The only person in the leader’s family to escape alive is a son of his, Tuoman Xingfu; he is saved by the scholar Jiang Shilong, who treats him as a younger brother. When the flames of war reach the city, everyone, from poor peasants to the children of officials, flee pell-mell. Jiang Shilong encounters by chance Wang Ruilan, the daughter of Minister of War Wang Zhen, and they get married amid the tribulations of war. Meanwhile, Jiang’s younger sister, Jiang Ruilian, meets with Madame

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Wang, the wife of the minister of war, who adopts her as her own daughter. After the chaos of war has passed, Minister Wang refuses to recognize his daughter’s marriage to the unknown scholar Jiang Shilong, but Wang Ruilan refuses to change her mind and remarry. Nevertheless, Minister Wang announces publicly that he will give away both his daughter and his adopted daughter in marriage to whichever two men win the ranks of top civil scholar and top military scholar, respectively. But when the two winning top scholars arrive and enter the Wang mansion, it turns out that the top civil scholar is Jiang Shilong, who recognizes his younger sister and reunites with his wife, Wang Ruilan—while the top military scholar, who happens to be Tuoman Xingfu, marries Jiang’s younger sister, Jiang Ruilian. In short, the script tells a love story in a setting of exile and chaos, amid the confusion and disorder of war. Praying to the Moon has artistic achievements in a number of areas, that critics have praised down the centuries. This work is the most excellent of the »Four Classics of Southern Opera.« In his critical comments to the Rongyutang edition of this opera, Li Zhuowu wrote that »Praying to the Moon’s arias and spoken parts are all quite natural; one suspects that they were divinely made— how can anyone say that they are manmade!« And Ming Dynasty writer He Liangjun, in Collected Discourses from the Studio of the Four Friends (Siyouzhai congshuo 四友斋丛说), commented in regard to the scenes »Running in the Rain,« »Mistaken Identity,« »Setting Out,« and »Meeting at the Post Station,« that »all of the questions and answers are capable of being sung, and the narrations of the circumstances are tactful and detailed, with no wasted words, so these scenes can be said to be exquisite.« Praying to the Moon is also a comedy of a very rare kind, one whose comic situations are set up in appropriately natural ways. The act entitled »Pray-

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ing to the Moon« starts out with the theme of longing, with Wang Ruilan longing for her husband and praying to the moon. But the chatty, noisy Jiang Ruilian is joking with Wang Ruilan, thereby annoying her, so Wang Ruilan complains to their parents, and Jiang Ruilian, being the younger sister, has to apologize and kneel down to be lectured by Wang Ruilan. But when Jiang Ruilian finds out her elder sister’s secret, their relative positions undergo a hilarious change, and the comic scene is further enhanced by the way Jiang Ruilian, with her highly amusing personality, teases and laughs at her elder sister. And the opera comes to a comic ending when the two »brothers,« Jiang Shilong and Tuoman Xingfu, independently receive the ranks of top civil scholar and top military scholar, separately go to the Wang mansion to marry the two »sisters.« The skill with which Praying to the Moon makes use of coincidences lies in the way the work combines overall, actual reality with partial, dramatic reality: combining the background reality of national peril with the theatrical reality of life-changing opportunities in the midst of war imparts dramatic color to the scenes and characters and thereby makes the coincidences seem less forced.

4. Slaying the Dog The author of Slaying the Dog is unknown. Although many critics, beginning with Ming Dynasty writer Lü Tiancheng, have held that this opera was written by Xu Zhongyou, Wu Mei suggested that »perhaps Slaying the Dog has been lost for a long time, and some later person falsely passed this work off as Xu’s.« The plot of Slaying the Dog is relatively simple. Sun Hua, a son of a wealthy family, spends his time with scoundrels, and Sun’s wife (Yang Yuezhen) and younger brother (Sun Rong) are very unhappy about this. When Sun Rong tries to persuade his elder brother to change his ways, Sun Hua kicks him out of the house. At her wits’ end,

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Yang Yuezhen kills a dog, disguises it as a human being, and places it at the doorway of the house. On a windy, snowy night, Sun Hua returns home completely drunk and, seeing a dead body in front of his house, falls into a panic. He begs his scoundrel friends to save him by helping him hide the body, yet they refuse. However, Sun Hua’s younger brother helps him out, and they bury the body. The scoundrels, on the other hand, report Sun Hua to the local authorities, who arrest him for murder. But his younger brother comes forward to save him by confessing to the crime in his place, and is found guilty of murder. But then Yang Yuezhen appears in court and explains that the dead body was that of a dog and that she had killed it herself. In the end, Sun Hua recognizes his scoundrel friends for what they are, and the authorities, moved by the story, issue a commendation to the entire Sun family. Slaying the Dog is an exhortatory drama; it was written in order to teach people in general to be careful in their choice of friends, to teach wives to be virtuous (because, as the saying goes, »the husband of a virtuous wife has few misfortunes«), and to teach younger brothers to fulfill their duties toward their elder brothers (given that »once the parents have passed away, the eldest brother becomes like a father«). This opera also extols conventional feudal morality. Even though Sun Hua, as a feudal family head, is awful, the writer props him up again and again. When Sun Hua expels his younger brother from the house, and Sun Rong has to spend his days begging in the street, Yang Yuezhen, though she sympathizes with her brother-in-law, sends nothing at all to help him, since she holds that »a man without a wife is like a house without an owner, while a woman without a husband is like a body without an owner.« The playwright uses Yang to proclaim this important principle, and even when the younger brother suffers from cold and hunger, she remains unmoved so that she may be regarded as a »virtuous wife.« To attain the end of promoting feudal

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moral ethics, the play has the younger brother go to court and confess to a murder in order to prop up the authority of his elder brother as head of the feudal family. However, because »righteousness,« in the eyes of the author, has nothing to do with justice or injustice, the author’s criticism of the scoundrels ends up sounding weak.

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The Four Classics of the Southern Opera—Praying to the Moon, The Thorn Hairpin, The White Rabbit, and Tale of the Pipa—have continued to be performed unceasingly down the centuries, and they stand as regional plays that, either in their entirety or in the form of opera highlights, have come down to us today.

CHAPTER III  OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­STAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY Yuan Dynasty theater and Southern Opera were largely made for the stage, but with entertainment value in the script, they were written not only with the actor sin mind, but also with the readers in mind. The uniqueness of its characteristic operatic artistry and aesthetics manifests itself in the era’s zaju and Southern Opera performances, as well as music and stagecraft. The incorporation of art forms like verse, music, dance, and the fine arts into traditional opera went on to become an integral part of the craft. The formulas, subjectivity, expressionism, singing, spoken word, acting styles, stage fighting, and dance of zaju and Southern Opera are clearly evident, with roles clearly delineated. A formula was set down to clearly delineate roles in Yuan theatrical performances, providing a rubric for the costuming, makeup, and vocalizing—which demonstrates the lavish artistry of the Yuan Dynasty opera stage.

Section 1  Performance Structure and Form 1. The Literary Society, the Dramaturge, and the Scribe Operatic performance was based on a script, which was intricately linked with the development of theatrical creative works and the theater arts in general. Due to the abolition of the imperial examination system during the Yuan Dynasty, a good many scholars and entertainers began working collaborations, composing scripts specially for certain theater troupes, and it was these historical conditions that gave rise to literary societies.

Literary societies were gathering places for men of letters. The writing of dramas and Southern Operas, as well as specifically writing Song-Jin-style opera (zhuan ci) revues for performers in theater troupes, created a forum for men of letters and men of drama alike to connect. The literati who joined these literary societies were known as literary society dramaturges, or, simply, dramaturges. The performing artists who realized the true extent of the correlation between a quality performance and the scripts penned by the hand of the dramaturges had profound faith in the writing. As the Lan Caihe states, »Happening perchance upon a bamboo theater adorned, would it not appear as princely and posh as a grand stage?« Other quotations along the same lines include, »A proper manuscript is required from the good sir at the literary society,« and »A gentleman seeks a fundament from which his ethos springs forth.« Entertainers’ reliance on literary societies resulted in the formation of other societies in centers of the theater arts in the grand capital of Peking, in Hangzhou, and in Wenzhou, among other places. From the theatrical troupe’s high demand for scripts emerged the opera scribe, or theatrical recorder, who was responsible for transcribing scripts written by dramaturges.

2. Theatrical Troupes and Performance Formats Yuan Dynasty acting troupes were essentially organized by families, with one household forming one unit and centering around one or two principal actors. As recorded in The Green Towers (Qinglou ji 青楼集), Zhao Pianxi, Fan Bolanxi’s helpmate, this can be understood as a husband-and-

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wife troupe with the wife, Zhao Pianxi, regarded as the main performer. Moreover, it was one single troupe composed of a mother, son, daughter-inlaw, granddaughter, and granddaughter-in-law, each with his or her own respective forte. The zaju Lan Caihe depicts the life of a family drama troupe with Lan Caihe at its center. The wife Xi Qianjin, the son Caihe Jr., the daughter-in-law Lan Shanjing, and the male cousin on the mother’s side, Li Botou, are all performers in a family drama troupe, while male cousin Wang Ba’se from Lan Caihe’s sister’s family is a musical accompanist who also does odd jobs for the troupe. A »House of Dramatists« was a general term for a dramatic society during that era, of which Lan Caihe’s family troupe belonged. It was composed of family members of direct blood relation and non-blood relations alike, such as adopted daughters and foster parents. Those who made their living by performing zaju unfortunately had exceptionally low social status, and were referred to as »courtesan entertainers. These groups were made up of families of captives or criminals with artistic talent, or the children of impoverished families, as children of upstanding households would never act in the theater. Shows put on by drama troupes took several forms, as listed below: (1) Tile-roofed theaters, or pleasure quarters. These were venues in cities set up for plays and operas. For example, in The Dealer Knew Not of Gou Lan (Zhuanjia buzhi goulan 庄家 不识勾栏), a Yuan Dynasty dramaturge tells the story through the eyes of a peasant farmer who has gone to live in the city. In it he gives a complete depiction of the tile-roofed theaters as fixed locations in the cities for putting on shows. (2) Countryside outdoor stages. These were places for seasonal productions, for example during sacrificial ceremonies, harvest celebrations or festivals. As aestivals offer-

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ing sacrifices to the gods, the goal of these shows was to entertain the gods. Stages were erected in temples, as an activity in which joy was brought to both man and god. Building a bamboo theater or high outdoor stage was en vogue during the Yuan Dynasty. Theaters from the Yuan Dynasty populated Shanxi’s Punan district in great numbers, and many from that era have survived even today. The outdoor stage was also known as an entertainment pavilion or a stage hall. (Fig. 7.3.1). (3) Bamboo theaters. These were folk theater venues erected in populous areas with easy access to transportation. There was nothing but a stage with no theater, per se, and no one manning a wooden door leading to a playhouse. Nor was there any need for 200 copper coins. Within the villages were passionate theater devotees acting as would be impresarios, known as »theater heads« who would specially invite acting troupes to perform, and then go door-to-door collecting money, as well as handling issues pertaining to the performances themselves. In the south, the earliest dramas would only have consecutive performances lasting several days during farmer’s slack season, and festivals to offer thanks and reverence to the gods. The »Luqi« were folk artists of the Yuan Dynasty. The »Cun Luqi« were wandering entertainers with a style of performance known as »street performing.« They would seek out expansive, bustling areas in which to put on their shows. This manner of performance existed as early as the Song Dynasty. Restaurants, tea houses, and private homes were small-scale performance venues with an audience, but with a small audience of less than a dozen in attendance. The mural in the tomb of Xili Zhuangyüan in the city of Yüncheng City, Shanxi Province, depicts the performances of entertainers in homes. There are 12 performers and an accompanist.

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7.3.1 Yuan Dynasty opera house in Dongyüe Temple, Wangqu Village, Linfen City

The »command performance« was a type of performance characteristic of the Yuan Dynasty. Due to the limited freedoms afforded to the courtesan entertainers, government officials could summon whichever entertainers they named on a list whenever they wanted to put on a show for them free of charge. Any entertainer who put on a sloppy show or delayed the official could be reprimanded or beaten. Performances such as these were rife with the somber overtones of subjugation. Taking the stage, i.  e., putting on a performance. On the pillars of the stage in the Bailin Temple at Gushan mountain in Wanrong County, Shanxi, there is an inscription that reads, »Zhang Dehao, popular entertainer from Yaodu, made the stage here.« The style of characters the inscription was written in indicates that Zhang Dehao, who was the central figure of a theater troupe, once put on a performance in that location. The banners of the

murals in the Mingying King Hall of Guangsheng Temple, Zhaocheng, Hongdong County, Shanxi, written in regular script, read, »Highly regarded popular entertainer from Yaodu, Zhong Duxiu took the stage here,‹ first year Taiding, [missing character] day of April.« There are 11 actors in the painting, four of whom are women and seven of whom are men, each wearing different costumes. (Fig. 7.3.2)

Section 2  The Music of Zaju The maturation of zaju was not only apparent in its literary aspects and dramatic structure, but it also manifested itself within the music as well. Zaju music was categorized under Northern Opera, and assimilated a wide variety of musical

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7.3.2 Yuan Dynasty zaju murals

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influences, and organized them following strict patterns, within which various free-form changes were allowed based on the demands of the plot.

1. Origin of the Tunes The Northern Tunes used in zaju were made up of various kinds of melodies from North China that were popular in their day. Their basic unit was the music tune title, and the music in each act of a poetic drama was linked together into a suite by a certain number of tune titles. Yuan Dynasty figure Zhou Deqing lists 335 Northern tune titles in his book, Central Plains Phonology (Zhongyüan yinyün 中原音韵). According to Wang Guowei’s research, On Song and Yuan Opera (Songyüanxi qükao 宋元 戏曲考), there are 11 tunes from traditional Chinese music, 75 tunes from Tang and Song poetry, 28 tunes from each of the Zhugong ballads, and nine ancient songs which can be proven to be from the Song Dynasty, for a total of 123 songs. There are 200 remaining songs, and Wang Guowei surmises that many of them must be from Song and Jin songs. A considerable number of nomadic tunes (music of the northern nomadic peoples) is extant within Northern Opera. Ming Dynasty figure Xu Wei wrote in his book, Commentary on Southern Opera, »Today’s Northern Opera covers the music of the northern crusades of the Liao and Jin dynasties. With magnificent, powerful songs about soldiers on horseback flowing into the Central Plains, these tunes satisfy the daily use of the common folk.« Ming Dynasty figure Wang Shizhen, in his book A Fine Tune (Qü zao 曲藻), also stated, »These tunes, they are the metamorphosis of ci poetry. From the Jin and Yuan dynasties they have invaded China, making use of the music of the northern barbarian: they are cacophonous and imperious, lying between soothing and agitating. Ci poetry cannot be restrained, it is all the more seductive when lent to a new sound.« Since the Song Dynasty, the northern nomads went south and began to dominate central China, bringing

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with them the sounds of their own ethnic music. After being accepted by the people of the Central Plains, it became the music of the era and merged with Northern Opera when zaju came into being.

2. How Suites Formed The basic structural unit of zaju is the act, and the music structure corresponding to the act is the suite. For instance, a one-act play uses a suite, or sequence of tune titles, which was called a cycle in the Yuan Dynasty. The name of the cycle generally consists of two parts, specifically the name of the mode and the name of the first tune title. A cycle is usually in the same key. There is no fixed number for how many tune titles are used as it is based on the needs of the specific stage production. There are as few as three or four, and as many as 20 or 30. The most important tune title used is in the front (the first tune title), which is the lead of the suite. The writing of lyrics set to the tune also requires strict adherence to total patterns, rhyme schemes, and meter. The cycle must have a coda at the end, and, in the middle, a set number of bridges between tune titles. There are many ways to form a cycle in zaju. In one respect, different plots required different music to be arranged with it. In another respect, after the playwrights became more proficient in the use of tune titles, they began creating new patterns along with utilizing existing bridging methods in an effort to avoid repetition. There were several bridging methods used at the time: One, the sonata form. The »sonata« (chan ling) was a tune title bridging method that appeared in the Song Dynasty. Generally, there was a prologue in front and a coda behind, with the connection of several tune titles in the middle. Both oratorios (chang zhuan) and song-speech dramas (zhu gongdiao) in the Song Dynasty utilized this form. Zaju took on the bridging method of the song-speech drama, with the chan ling sonata being one of the primary bridging methods. For example, Parting Wine at the City Gate on the Road to Enlightenment,

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a song cycle in the first act of in Wu Changling’s zaju, Tang Xuanzang of the Western Heavens, is composed of six bridged tunes: (In the Xianlü key) The Crimson Lips tune title–The Wandering Dragon–The Oil Gourd–Music over All of Creation– Flowers of the Rear Courtyard–The Young Brothers–The Tailpiece. There is no prologue. The initial tune title (leader) is The Crimson Lips, called The Crimson Lips Suite. Almost every zaju uses it. Two, the rondo form. The chuangda »rondo« was also a tune title bridging method in the Song Dynasty. It was generally used for oratorio after the prologue. There is also a cycle similar to the rondo in the zaju. For example, in The Empress’ Palace, in the third act of Luo Guanzhong’s The Wind and Cloud Society: Propriety–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Erudite Man–The Wooden Club–The Erudite Man– The Rolling Silk Ball–The Erudite Man–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Erudite Man–The Rolling Silk Ball– The Erudite Man–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Shed Gown–Drunk on the Worldly–Coda–Finale. The initial tune title of this cycle is Propriety, followed by the juxtaposition of the two initial tune titles The Rolling Silk Ball and The Erudite Man, which are used repeatedly. And it is not the original repetition of the tune title, but the combination of different compounds that are treated differently. The Rolling Silk Ball uses embellishment and two separate tempos of common time. The Erudite Man also uses embellishments, but there is a significant modification to the melody. This kind of bridging method was used more in the zhenggong mode. Three, the reprise. When a tune title and its variants were used continuously in the middle of the cycle, it was called a reprise (yao pian) of the previous song. Continuous use of a tune title and its reprise will highlight the musicality of the tune title. In the second act of Ma Zhiyuan’s The Golden Millet Dream (Huangliang meng 黄粱梦), The Jealous Lover was used ten times in a row, and the last nine times were all variants-reprises. The order of arrangement is: (In the key of Shangdiao)

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The Noble Guest–An Unrestrained Melody–Perfume of the Golden Chrysanthemum–The Jealous Lover–reprise–reprise–reprise–reprise–reprise– reprise–reprise–reprise–reprise–The Flowers in the Rear Courtyard–A Pair of Wild Geese–Higher than the Waves–Cabaletta. This bridging method is most used in the Shangdiao mode, with the most frequently reprised tune title being The Jealous Lover. Four, the coda. That is, a tune title and its variants that are continuously used at the end of the cycle until the finale. The usage is the same as a reprise, but the location is different. The reprise is used in the middle, and the coda is used towards the end, which is the last variation of the tune title. There is a set of tune titles in Bai Renfu’s The Autumn Leaves of Yü (Yügou hongye 御沟红叶), which uses The Frolicking Child finale: (In zhenggong mode) Propriety–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Erudite Man–The Gibber Jabber Song–The White Crane–reprise–The Embroidered Shoe–Merriment Comes in Threes–Old Man Bao–Bao The Ancient– Lady Willow–Harmony in the Dao–The Frolicking Child–Third Coda–Coda–First Coda–Finale. The third coda, the coda, the first coda and the finale are all variants of The Frolicking Child. The numbers indicate both the order and the different changes. Not all modes require codas, and not all tune titles can be used in codas. Commonly used modes in codas and commonly used tune titles in codas are: (In the nan lügong mode) The Penned Sheep, The Nightbird’s Chatter, The Tea Picking Rhyme, The Bodhisattva from Liangzhou, Perambulating Over Green Hills; (in the zhong lügong mode, The Frolicking Child; (in the zhenggong mode, The Frolicking Child, The Rolling Silk Ball, The Gibber Jabber Song, The Erudite Man, Drunk on the Worldly, Oh Liangzhou, The Laughing Monk, The Swan’s Frolic in Autumn, etc; (in the shuang diao mode) The Song of Tranquility, The Song of The Heavens, etc. The number of stanzas with codas can be as few as one or two, and as many as ten.

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Five, the tailpiece. The tailpiece is similar in function to the finale, except that the tailpiece is used in the middle of the suite where the plot takes a major aria. In the second act of Guan Hanqing’s Three Fantasies of Attendant Bao (Baodai zhisankan hudiemeng 包待制三勘蝴蝶梦), in the key of nan lü tune title, A Beauteous Blossom, two tailpieces are used, both of which are related to the plot twist. The tune title used in the whole suite is: A Beauteous Blossom–The Seventh Liangzhou– Congratulations to the Bridegroom–Tailpiece–The Pond of Spring Reeds–The Penned Sheep–Tailpiece–Peonies of Crimson–The Bodhisattva from Liangzhou–The Water Nymph–Finale. As stated in The Great Compendium of Modes of Northern and Southern Theater: »The phrasing of the tailpiece is the same as the finale, hence the name.« Mr. Yang Yinliu believes that the tailpiece and finale are »not only the same in lyrical form, but also nearly identical in terms of harmonic pitch.« The preceding example shows that although the two tailpieces in the song are close in melody to the finale, there is a big difference in syntax and number of phrases. Both tailpieces are only half the length of the finale. Six, prioritizing tune titles. Priority tune titles are certain tune titles that appears multiple times in a cycle and become the main thread that runs through the whole suite. For example, the third act of Ma Zhiyuan’s The Golden Millet Dream, which uses Venturing Beyond the Great Wall five times: (In dashi diao mode) The Six Dynasties–Venturing Beyond the Great Wall–The First Enquiry–A Sorrowful Parting–Venturing Beyond the Great Wall–reprise–The Goose Flies Over the Southern Tower–The Six Dynasties–Venturing Beyond the Great Wall–The Percussing of Drums–Venturing Beyond the Great Wall–The Vase–The Jade Cicada Finale. Seven, transposition. Transposition means inserting other tune titles in the middle of a song tune title (see chapter four, section two of The Hawker for details). Playwrights used different bridging

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methods, but also handled the same suites of songs in a multitude of ways. The most common was to switch to different tune titles and use different sorting orders. There are only 15 modes used in zaju. They are: (In huangzhonggong mode) The Dark Thicket; (in zhenggong mode) Propriety; (in zhonglügong mode) The White Butterfly; (in xianlü gong mode) The Crimson Lips, The Eight Voices of Ganzhou; (in Nan lügong mode) A Beauteous Blossom; (in shuangdiao mode) The New Water Aria, Five Offerings, The Yellow Bean; (in shangdiao mode) The Noble Guest; (in yüediao mode) The Quail Quarrel, The Three Terraces, Tune of the Plum Blossoms; (in dashidiao mode) The Six Dynasties, Charm of a Singer. Although there are very few genres of suites yet within the repertoire of different writers or even within the same author’s repertoire, the application of a type of song cycle tune title and the successive order are strikingly dissimilar. In different writers, or in different works of the same author, the tune title selection and sequence of the same kind of repertoire are rarely the same. The above example is the same as the Zhenggong Palace– Propriety suite. The combinations and sequencing of tune titles in The Autumn Leaves of Yü are different from those in Meeting of Wind and Clouds. In the second act of Bai Renfu’s zaju, The East Wall (Dongqiang ji 东墙记), the combinations and sequencing are: Propriety–The Rolling Silk Ball– The Erudite Man–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Erudite Man–The Wooden Club–The Shedded Gown–Oh Liangzhou–reprise–Ascend the Tower–reprise– The Fragrance Filled Courtyard–The Frolicking Child–Fourth Coda–Third Coda–Coda–Finale. This case is different from the previous two cases. Comparing the three, it is apparent that only the first three tune titles are fixed, while the latter tune titles are more flexible.

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3. The Flexibility of Tune titles The music of zaju is made up of compound tune titles. There are about 350 tune titles in the existing repertoire of zaju. Each tune title generally represents a relatively fixed tune, and the lyrics that match the tune also have a rather fixed style. Different tune titles have different tunes, and their lyrical styles are also different. However, both lyrics and music do have considerable freedom. This is because the playwrights made breakthroughs in the established styles starting from the content and emotions they wanted to express when writing the lyrics themselves. For example, Guan Hanqing’s Zaju, The Fragrance of Burnt Offerings (Xietian xiang 谢天香), act two (in the mode of nanlü: tailpiece) the lyrics are as follows: As he sat in earnest repose, I caught sight of his mien so grim, what was this air of auspice and favor that swathed the trim? I was most vexed that he would put his voice to song, a lass in garb had been taking the stage all along. For his brazen dramatizing could steal them away and bewitch the eyes of all under the roof this day.

The same tune title was also used by Guan Hanqing in, The Butterfly Dream (Hudie meng 蝴蝶梦) but to a different effect and with different lyrics: My child punished for transgressing Xiao He law, passing unjust sentence they read solemnly from holy scripture. They flogged my boy from head to toe, how could I even set eyes upon him now? They beat him ’til he was bloodied and bruised, pain like legs cut and neck strung by noose. Parental protection he did miss, why must he endure a pain such as this?

In these lyrics, the number and position of newly added characters has changed, and even the number of orthographic characters has changed. The flexibility of the number of words makes the length of the sentence more adaptable, making the phrasing more colloquial, rhythmic, and impactful. In addition to changes in the number of characters, the four tones of level tone, rising tone, de-

CHAPTER III OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­S TAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

parting tone, and entering tone, all change frequently as well. Classic cases are the tune titles from, Oh Spring Wind, Oh Quaff–Tide tune title, Guan Hanqing, Ma Zhiyuan, Zheng Dehui, Zhang Shouqing, Qiao Mengfu, and the luminaries of the genre that used them. Putting these works together side by side for comparison reveals that no two are alike in terms of their lyrics, tune, or tonal structure. Comparisons make it apparent that there are almost no tunes or songs. Changes in the number of characters and their tones inevitably caused changes to the melody. When the same tune titles of a zaju are matched with different lyrics, the tunes take on a vastly different character. The key, pitch, rhythm, and meter might be different from word to word, with the melody changing more freely. When the range of stylistic variations was large enough to give rise a certain degree of independence, this resulted in what was known during the Ming Dynasty as a single form. Both the reprise and finale are of a single form. The same tune title shows up in or more different melodies, but the variations are written into the score of a relatively fixed melody.

4. The Relationship Between Mode and Structure According to the book The Treatise on Music (Chang lun 唱论) by Yannanzhi, a literati of the Yüan Dynasty, Northern Opera likely had 17 modes. Zhou Deqing’s Central Plains Phonology (Zhongyuan yinyün 中原音韵) lists only 12 modes as the huangzhong gong, zheng gong, dashi diao; the xiaoshi diao mode and xianlü gong modes were called »keys« in both the Central Plains Phonology and The Southern Village Records of the Arts. The xianlü gong was modified in opera to the zhonglü gong, nanlü gong, shuang diao, yüe diao, shang diao, shangjüe diao, and banshe diao modes. Judging from the existing zaju repertoire, only the nine modes of zheng gong, zhonglü gong, nanlü gong, xianlü gong, huangzhong gong, dashi diao, shuang diao, shang diao, and yüe diao made

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their way into actual practical application within opera. Judging from the names of these keys, the modes of Northern Opera are the same as the name of the Twenty-eight Keys in use during the Tang Dynasty, but the number was greatly reduced. The Twenty-eight Keys from the Tang-era song-dance music were based on the music of different bureaus of music. The music from different regions and ethnic groups took a great many different forms, and some did not even belong to the same tonal system. After intermingling for an extended period, a mode system of twenty-eight tunes took shape. The name of this mode system was still used in the Song Dynasty, but banquet music was mainly performed in an extracted form, leaving the Twenty-eight Keys incomplete. After entering the age of drama, music was transformed to accommodate one individual as lead at the center of the performance. The accompaniment band of the zaju was mainly composed of four instruments: the drum, the clapper, the flute, and the gong. All accompaniment was performed by the flute. In the northern Kunü Opera, the tuning of the nine modes of the flute as equivalent to the keys of modern music is represented by letters such as C, D, E is roughly as follows: Zheng Gong Mode–the key of xiao gong (D), the keys of che diao (C) or shang diao (Bb) Zhonglü Gong Mode–the key of xiaogong diao (D) the keys of che diao (C) or liu diao (F) Nanlü Gong Mode–the keys of fandiao (Eb)t xiaogong diao (D) or che diao (C) Xianlü Gong Mode–the keys of xiaogong diao (D), che diao (C) or zheng gong (G) Huangzhong Gong Mode–the keys of liugong (F), fandiao (Eb) or zhenggong diao (G) Dashi Diao Mode–xiaogong diao (D) or che diao (C) Shuang Gong Mode–the keys of yi diao (A) or zhenggong diao (G) Shang Diao Mode–the keys of liu diao (F), fan diao (Eb) xiaogong diao (D) or che diao (C) Yüe Diao Mode–the keys of liu diao (F), fan diao (Eb)

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There are five keys and four scales within these nine modes. The original name of the court banquet music tune was changed to a gongche key name, which is different from the original meaning. The zaju used a set of tune titles for each act that must belong to the same mode. The first act used xianlü gong; the second act used modes more sparsely, but most of them were nanlü gong, zheng gong, and zhonglü gong. The third act was even more random, but zhonglü gong, zheng gong, and yüe diao were mostly used instead of xianlü gong. The fourth act mainly used shuang diao instead of xianlü gong and dashi diao. Out of the nine modes, dashi diao was merely used nominally. Although the zaju was set as »one mode per act,« when the music of this act required tune titles from other modes, this could be realized by borrowing modes. For example, the (zheng gong mode–Propriety) set in the second act of the zaju, Hold the Tray Level with the Eyes (Jü ’an qimei 举 案齐眉), the tune title used was: (In zheng gong mode) Propriety–The Rolling Silk Ball–The Laughing Monk–(zhonglü gong mode) Drunken Spring Breeze–The Pomegranate Flower–The Quail Quarrel–Ascend the Tower–reprise–December–A Ditty to Tang Yao–(banshe diao mode) The Frolicking Child–Finale. The first three tune titles are in the zheng gong mode, the middle seven are zhonglü gong mode, and the last two are in banshe diao mode. Another example is the (shang diao mode—The Noble Guest) suite in the second act of Zhang Tongbin’s zaju, General Xue Rengui. The tune title used is: (shang diao mode) The Noble Guest–The Rambling Song–The Parasol Tree Leaves– (xianlü gong mode) The Flowers in the Rear Courtyard– (shang diao) The Jealous Lover–reprise–The Crashing Waves finale. Except for the The Flowers in the Rear Courtyard sandwiched in the middle, there are three shang diao tune titles in the front and back. These tune titles available for loan are called »in and out tune titles.«

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Of the 12 modes used in Northern Opera, 10 modes (except xiaoshi diao and shangjüe diao) ›lent‹ tune titles to other modes, with the zheng gong mode having a higher proportion (there are 25 tune titles in this mode, 17 can be lent), zhonglü gong (the tune has 32 songs, 24 can be lent), the xianlü gong mode (the mode has 42 songs, 18 of which can be lent); there are eight modes (other than banshe diao, dashi diao mode) the others borrowed tune titles. The higher proportion is the zheng gong mode (borrowed 30 tune titles), the zhonglü gong mode (borrowed 31 tune titles), the xianlü gong mode (borrowed 15 tune titles), the yüe diao mode (16 tune titles in this mode, 24 of them borrowed). The three modes of zheng gong, zhonglü gong and xianlü gong modes, whether borrowing or lending, are relatively active, while yüe diao is only prominent in borrowing. The borrowing mode was used quite often in zaju, while borrowing modes in lyric verses was less commonly used. The tune titles used in the borrowed modes are similar to the tune titles of the original mode, and the tune titles with vastly different styles were essentially never borrowed from each other.

5. The Characteristics of Musical Styles Northern Opera and Southern Opera were produced in different regions. They used different languages, different temperaments, and even different ways of expressing emotions, resulting in different musical styles. Northern Opera used mostly seven tones, the melody mostly jumped by intervals, with comparative freedom to move up and down the scale. Southern Opera, on the other hand, mainly employed five tones, and the melody used progressive intervals with twists and arias. Northern Opera was more straightforward and livelier, while Southern Opera was more delicate and rhythmic. Northern Opera used the »base tempo« (absolute tempo) more than Southern Opera, namely, the »terminating sound« tempo.

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The performance venues of the zaju were mostly outdoor, such as outdoor theaters or marketplaces. Whether it was singing or instrumental accompaniment, louder volume was a prerequisite. Therefore, the ensemble of zaju was mainly composed of drums, clappers, flutes, and gongs. Duan Anjie’s, Song and Poetry Miscellany (Anfu Zalü 乐府杂录) states that the ensemble in the Music and Dance Bureau of the Tang Dynasty consisted of flutes, clappers, and two drums. Song Dynasty oratorios, song-speech dramas, were also used to accompany these three instruments.

Section 3  The Music of Southern Opera The music used in Yuan Dynasty Southern Opera was mainly styled after the local theater of South China. Due to the influence of Theravada Buddhism on zaju, Southern Opera did not get the attention of the literati, although the Ming Dynasty scholar Ye Ziqi boldly claimed that »Southern Opera reaches the pinnacle of perfection.« At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, fervor for zaju had waned, and the literati shifted their favor to Southern Opera, causing a meteoric rise in its popularity. A great corpus of excellent scripts was produced, and a number of tune titles were used in music, thus giving birth to a new voice after absorbing Northern Opera. By the close of the Yuan Dynasty, Southern Opera had been developing for nearly two centuries, bestowing it with a host of tune titles. According to Yang Yinliu’s counts of the tune titles used in the two dramas, The Moon Worship Pavilion (Baiyüe ting 拜月亭) and Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记), it was determined that more than 180 separate tune titles were used after factoring out variants. After factoring the variants back in, The Moon Worship Pavilion (Baiyüe ting 拜月亭) used more than 300 tune titles, and Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记) more than 400 tune titles. There are 58

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tune titles with the same name and about 250 tune titles with different names, for a grand total of more than 300 tune titles. As the center of zaju activities moved south, Northern Opera gradually flowed in a southerly direction. Shen He, a zaju writer from Hangzhou, first advocated the use of Northern Opera mixed with tune titles adapted from southern melodies, which occurred in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty. This formed a »north-south united structure« of suites. The script of Happy Foes (Huanxi Yüanjia 欢喜冤 家) mentioned by Zhong Sicheng in The List of Immortals (Lugui bu 录鬼簿) from the Yuan Dynasty has been lost. The lyrics of the lyric verse Eight Views of Xiaoxiang (Xiaoxiang bajing 潇湘八景) can be found in the compilation The Glorious Anthology of Verse and Opera (Cilin zhaiyan 词林摘 艳), and the order of tune titles is: (North) When Admiring Flowers–(South) Song Rehearsal–(North) The Nezha Aria–(South) Song Rehearsal–(North) The Magpie on the Bough–(South) The Fragrance of the Laurel Branch–(North) The Mistletoe–(South) The God of Peace and Happiness–(North) Bridge Six–(South) coda. There are three Southern Operas from the Song and Yuan dynasties collected in The Yongle Great Encyclopedia (Yongle dadian 永乐大 典) of the Ming Dynasty, namely, Virtuoso Zhang Xie (Zhangxie zhuangyüan 张协状元) The Little One’s Death by Misadventure (Xiaosun Tu 小孙屠) and The Official’s Family (Huanmen zidi cuolishen 宦门子弟错立身) The latter two had a combination of both northern and southern influences. Among them, there are two suites for The Little One’s Death by Misadventure (Xiaosun Tu 小孙屠), both of which are marked as Southern Opera. The first suite is: (North) The New Water Aria–(South) Wind Enters Song–(North) The Cinnamon Plucking Song–(South) Wind Enters Song–(North) The Water Nymph–(South) The Forest Song–(North) Fall of the Wild Goose–(South) The Forest Song– (North) Song of Victory–(South) The Forest Song. The other Southern Operas of the Yuan Dynasty that have complete scripts now also more or less

SECTION 3 THE MUSIC OF SOUTHERN OPERA

included a combination of Northern and Southern. In the Ming Dynasty legend, Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记), the music of this drama reflects the basic character of Southern Opera music as well as its own uniqueness: First, tune titles are not denoted with a mode. That is, mode is unmarked mode. Second, all roles must sing. And sing in unison. Third, Southern tunes dominate. There are a mere four Northern Opera tune titles out of more than 180 tune titles. Fourth, extensive use of the reprise. For example, in The Fettered Southern Branches, the 17th tune title of the opera The Granary (Yicang zhangji 义仓赈济), the reprise was used nine times in a row. Fifth, the number of characters used in a tune title must follow a basic format. There was not as much leeway as there was in a Northern Opera suite. Sixth, the use of narration. At the end of some episodes, there are three drama phrases that narrate a summary of the plot, mostly in the form of the actors speaking lines from offstage. Seventh, the use of transposition. The Song of Divination tune title in the 27th Gange Fencheng has been transpositioned: first song (The Song of Divination–Intro) (the first two lines of the tune title), and then (The White Butterfly) (The Good Sister), and then (The Song of Divination–Outro) (the last two lines of the tune title). Eighth, the incorporation of Grand Opera. In the sixteenth act of The Vermilion Staircase (Danbi chenqing 丹陛陈情), there is a series of tune titles such as (first bridge) (second bridge) (first outro) (ending) (middle outro) (finale) (grand finale). This tune title series obviously comes from Grand Opera. Ninth, the use special tune titles. The first tune title in the 33rd, the style of Listen to the Girl in the Sedan Chair (Song of Divination–Reprise) is the same as (The Song of Divination), but it is considered a reprise and is likely from outside. In the 34th section of The Portrait in the Temple, a young

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monk invites Buddha to sing the Buddha Song that is nearly 300 words long. The Southern Opera music of the Yuan Dynasty had a rich variety of tunes. Scores for The Great Compendium of Modes of Northern and Southern Theater, the Anthology of Similarities and Differences, The Moon Worship Pavilion (Baiyüe ting 拜 月亭) and other score collections include some Southern Opera scores, involving 62 repertoires, totaling about 293, of which approximately 188 have complete scores, and there are approximately 501 others that do not.

Section 4  Performing Arts Song Dynasty zaju and Jin Dynasty revues both integrated singing, recitatives, and performances into dramatic form, as well as various modes of artistic expression. On this basis, the development of zaju and Southern Opera was integrated with other art forms. A cornucopia of works by a plethora of creatives whose art featured different themes, styles, and forms, all made an appearance onstage.

1. The Lineage of the Performing Arts The acrobatic and martial arts moves of variety performances in Jin Dynasty revues, the sword and staff fights of Song Dynasty zaju, the recitatives of Jin Dynasty revues, stage directions, song-speech arias, singspiels, poetry readings and folk singing, were all absorbed into zaju and Southern Opera. Folk narrative music and folk dance became an important part of theater in the Yuan Dynasty. Based on the crosstalk art form, zaju transformed from the omniscient third-person narrator to the first-person narrator. Yuan Dynasty operatic performance art exceeded that of the Song Dynasty zaju and the Jin Dynasty revue. For example, the »singing« of zaju and Southern Opera introduced new elements into the mix, thrusting the operatic

CHAPTER III OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­S TAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

vocalization into the realm of theater, making it essentially different from the »singing« of narrative music art. Zaju transformed from a single lead singer to a split between the female lead (zhengdan) and male lead (zhengmo) roles. In family troupes, most male and female performers were given full reign to flaunt their own particular métier due to the single lead form. According to records on the opera The Green Towers, Zhang Yulian remarked, »Extemporaneously improvised rhapsodic rhyme; wittily crafted tones and temperaments made the Northern and Southern Operas truly incomparable«; Kong Qianjin once said, »A well-versed lutist can handily undertake the ballad«; Li Zhiyi opined, »He who is intimate in the art of the etude, is he who can master the art of the ballad.« Zhao Zhenzhen, Qin Yulian, and company were masters of the sung and spoken dramatic form. They not only took the stage in zaju, but also lent their virtuoso voices to the likes of song-speech dramas, medleys, ballads, arias, and lyric-verse sets. Zaju actors pursued clear and resonant enunciation to create oneness of word and sound, thus giving rise to main techniques of singing, namely, matching of rhyme and accuracy of melody, modulation of tone for cadence, repetition and reduplication of lyrics. With more words and fewer notes, the pace should be quick and steady, and words enunciated clearly, »like a string of dragon pearls.« With more notes and fewer words, »The sounds must have a round fullness with a penetrating brightness.« The Treatise on Music stipulates, »Stay true to the written word and spoken line, hold to the tune and pitch,« which is not only a criterion for judging the level of the singer, but also one of the keys to singing in zaju. To express a character’s emotions in a piece, the singing of Southern Opera and zaju required giving vent to genuine emotion. Affective vicissitudes and an inner life to the characters within the context of the given situations were a must. The actors were asked to put the emotions of the

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characters into the songs, to perform the scenes described in the script, by emotionally tempering the lyrics in an effort to imbue feeling into the scene, to let true sentiment emerge from the scene, and cause that energy to burst forth from the stage. Some were asked to »tie their emotions into knots,« while others were asked to »wail and lament in emotional truth,« with the ultimate goal being to better express the inner thoughts and emotions of the characters.

2. The Principle of Blending Fantasy with Reality and the Flexibility of Time and Space The goal of musical narrative art is to tell stories through poetic narratives. The performers would simulate or perform the manner, tone, and actions of the characters in the story, with the main purpose being »storytelling.« Southern Operas and zaju are essentially stories acted out on stage. Musical narrative art is not restricted by time and space, it is flexible and free. With the rhythmic narrative actors, it can go from left to right or from right to left. The operatic art was influenced by this, although the storytelling remained relatively consistent, there nevertheless remained a certain degree of flexibility and malleability. This intimately linked the blend of fantasy and reality with the flexibility of dramatic time and space. What is apparent from the mural depicting »the great folk actor Zhong Duxiu taking the stage« is that the accompanying musicians are standing onstage during the zaju performance. They are directly facing the audience, playing the flute, beating the drums, and clapping the clapper while the actors are waiting outside the door. No curtain was required, while temporal, environmental and locative transitions were expressed in the manner of the actors moves on and off the stage. As these plots mostly revolved around historical figures and stories from the long past, this doorway to the stage was referred to as »the ancient entrance« at the time.

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In the zaju, Sima Xiangru’s Inscription on the Bridge (Simaxiangru Tiqiao Ji 司马相如题桥记) there is a point in the story where Xiangru commands the Kingdom of Shu (modern day Sichuan) by virtue of imperial edict. He travels from the capital to the state of Shu, which lay several thousands of miles away. The script called for »a male actor with painted face speaking in a tongue of the Western Regions on his knees saying with conviction in his voice, ›The deputy post official of Xianyang rejoices in thy coming.‹« And in a few, simple words, Sima Xiangru’s journey of thousands of miles from Xianyang to Shu was complete. The changes of time and place are explained through movements on and offstage, along with the language and actions of the of the posthouse official. The flexibility and freedom of time and space in zaju and Southern Opera were related to the performances. In the second act of the zaju, Memoirs of King Zhao of Chu’s Disembarkment (Chuzhaowang shuzhe xiazhou 楚昭王疏者下船) there is a scene in which King Zhao’s family of four board a ship. Through the dialogue of the helmsman and performances of the actors, the audience could feel and imagine the wind lifting the boat up and the water flooding it. After the king’s wife gets off, the boat is lightened, yet the wind and waves are still too powerful. Only when the prince disembarks does the boat finally stabilize. Though the situation is simulated, it comes across as being very real. In the principle of simulating reality to suspend disbelief, the use of real physical objects is an indispensable supplement to simulation techniques. The mise-en-scène, consisting of stage property and sets both large and small, were called que mo in the zaju and Southern Opera, and were used as a support for performances and as an additional means of transporting the audience to another place and time.

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3. The Genesis of Stylized Acting The stylized performances of Chinese opera took shape in zaju and Southern Opera, such as breaking the fourth wall by addressing the audience, delivering auspicious messages, or singing or dancing before the start of the main show, which actually existed in Song zaju, and gave rise to the »narrator’s prologue that introduces the circumstances« in Southern Opera. The opening narration typically took the form of a song in the gongdiao mode, which gave the outline of the story. The elderly man’s preamble introduces the show, and also delivers greetings to the audience and praise to the forthcoming play to arouse viewer interest. Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记) has two songs, The Droplet in the Garden Spring and Prelude to the Water Melody, in its opening narration. The former sets the scene while the latter proclaims the author’s artistic views. In it there are such passages as: From time immemorial there has been more than a story or two oft told of talented scholars and fair maidens. The stage depicts tales of gods, immortals, demons, and goblins, yet we are vexed and cannot bear the sight. Without wit to edify its nature, even the delightful is of no use. So, speaking of these legends, they bring us joy with ease, yet struggle to move our hearts. Good sirs just look at as such. We should harken not to the jest and buffoonery of the players on this stage, nor the modes and measures of the music played, but rather we should heed the filial piety of our sons and the virtues of our wives.

This passage has often been quoted by theorists and critics as an example of the author’s creative intentions. There is a set pattern that the characters in Southern Opera and northern zaju must follow in their stage entrances and exits, such as the poetic entrance, the rhyming entrance, self-announced entrance, and the poetic exit. This style of introducing the characters developed into what became

CHAPTER III OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­S TAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

known as a »self-announced cast« in which the characters in the show would introduce their roles to the audience. Considering the motley crew of characters and different spoken languages the form was quite diverse. The divisions between singing and performing are rooted in the development of the performing arts. A play revolving around an emperor was called a »throne play.« In productions centered around the female dan lead as protagonist there is the »boudoir play,« which was entirely a musical opera. A play centering around an outlaw hero hiding out in the forest was called a »forest play.« A play with a wandering hero good at acrobatics and martial arts, sword and staff fighting, who saves the town was called a »bare-chested play,« which was performed by those skilled at acrobatic martial arts stage fighting.

4. The Roles of Northern Zaju and Southern Opera 1. Role Breakdowns in the Northern Zaju The breakdowns divided the different characters into different performance styles within the opera. There were role breakdowns in both zaju and Southern Opera, but the two are essentially different. The first category is the leads both male and female, termed zhengmo and zheng dan respectively. The two leads usually sing in the play, but due to the single lead vocalist ethic, lead singing duties were divided into principle male (moben) and principle female (dan ben), with the lead actor being the principle male and the lead actress being the principle female. But unlike the cast breakdowns in Southern Opera, the breakdowns were not based on the character types. Regardless of age, personality, civilian life, or martial arts skill, in zaju, any male actor who sang was known as zhengmo, even a supporting actor with vocals would play a zhengmo role. All female characters with arias were called zhengdan.

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The second category is the roles in the breakdown without sung lines, called chongmo, waimo, xiaomo, waidan, and liandan. Chongmo were also called fumo, and had roles that included the following: (1) The first character to step on stage in the play; (2) A male supporting player in a male–lead centered play; (3) A male supporting player in female lead–centered play. A chongmo could also be the leading actor in the play, but he does not sing. Because this did not qualify as a comedic character, it was essentially different from the fumo of Song Dynasty zaju and Jin Dynasty revues. In the female roles, there is a kind of dan who did not sing, which was different from the zhengdan, and roughly equivalent to a fudan. In the male-centered plays, it was the female lead who does not sing an aria. There was also another situation, which was a role that was second only to the male lead, although there were certain individual exceptions. The waimo would play many male roles of lesser importance. The characters played by the waidan were not as extensive as those of the waimo. The chadan played devious women. The third category is the »painted-face« and the »buffoon,« called jing and chou, respectively. The painted-face characters in zaju inherited the comedic stylings of the revue comic performance, but with some notable changes. They include comedic characters with low social status, or negative characters with prominent social status, and sometimes female characters of the same type. Originally zaju made no distinctions between the painted-faced jing and the harlequin chou, but once the influence of the buffoonish performances of the chou from Southern Opera took hold, certain young or lowly characters with a quirky comedic energy were then dressed in the signature costume of the buffoon. Originally, the

SECTION 4 PERFORMING ARTS

buffoon role was played by two actors of the painted-face role, but later changed to one painted face and one buffoon. Some characters in zaju retained their revue titles, such as bolaoer for old men, boer for old women, banglao for bandits, duzi for beggars, and gu for officials. Children were called laier, farmers were called he and the emperor was called jia. Certain phrases began appearing in scripts, »Madame Cai the boer,« »The leading man enters from stage left with the boer, and the Daoist lad,« »The banglao enters the scene,« and »The gu leads his followers on stage,« »Zhao dressed as the jia,« »A lady leads a laier onstage,« »A bulaoer enters with his boer and a female child,« »A buffoon dressed as a duzi opens the door [stage direction],« »A buffoon dressed as a female farmer, and the leading man dressed as a he pulls the clown onstage.« Due to the influence of Southern Opera, later the casting for some characters in zaju became clearer. 2. The Role Breakdowns of Southern Opera The role breakdowns of the Southern Opera are different from those of zaju. They are mainly divided into seven types revolving around the sheng and dan roles: sheng, dan, jing, chou, wai, mo, tie. Sheng and dan are younger characters. The repertoire of the Southern Opera was largely made up of family morality plays and romances. They were not restricted by »one lead singer« in the form of drama. The leads were often young men and women, so there were a greater number of works centering around the two young protagonists. The Southern Opera originally had no young male leads (xiao sheng), but due to the demand for content, younger male lead roles began appearing in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. The Story of the Slaughtered Dog (Shagou ji 杀狗 记) also makes the young male character one of the prominent roles in the cast. Tiedan was a female role affixed from outside to the role break-

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downs, and a new role that came about based on content needs. In the Southern Opera, sheng and dan were dramatic characters, while jing and chou were both comedic characters. Later, the painted-faced jing role gradually took on both dramatic and comedic traits. Mo played the lower social strata, the people in the officialdom as well as the city–dwellers, such as bartenders, servants, yamen attendants, government officials, soldiers, military officers, gate keepers and the like. Wai played older characters of higher status or pivotal position within the family structure, such as Cai Gong and Prime Minister Niu in Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记). The role breakdowns of Southern Opera are more particular about the age, identity, status, and personality of the role, which showed hints of typecasting. All embody the conventions of Southern Opera and Zaju performance style, from the acting tricks and techniques, to the role breakdowns, to the performance stylings to modes of expression. The unique aesthetic form, style and tastes of Chinese opera make their presence known within zaju and Southern Opera alike.

Section 5  Stage Art There is a lack of tangible written and visual information on the stage art of Southern Opera and zaju. Ming Dynasty author Wang Jide wrote in The Musical Form (‌曲律 Qülü): I once read a Yuan opera script; the preface of the first scroll lists the names of certain items of a military sort that would appear in the opera and designated the names of the uniforms as well as the weapons. It said that certain men would sport certain caps, don certain costumes, wield certain weapons. It was of a most detailed nature. However, the designated uniforms and apparatuses are now no longer known.

CHAPTER III OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­S TAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Even a dramatist from the Ming Dynasty was frustrated by the fact that the details of Yuan Dynasty drama were so opaque. Based on existing information it is only possible to sketch out a rough picture of the makeup, costuming, props and scenery, and mise-en-scène of the stagecraft of the day.

1. Costuming of Southern Opera and Zaju Southern Opera and zaju inherited the unpainted and painted face makeup traditions. The plain face was also called the natural face, clean face or lightly made-up face. Most of the male protagonists in the Southern Opera were men of great character and erudition, and these positive characters appeared with no makeup, for example, Cai Boxie in Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记), Wang Shipeng in The Purple Hairpin (Jingchai ji 荆钗记), and Zhang Xie in Virtuoso Zhang Xie (Zhangxie zhuangyüan 张协状元), who all went onstage with unpainted faces. Judging from what appears in the mural The Great Folk Actor Zhong Duxiu Taking the Stage, the first and second individuals on the right are a man and a woman in full costume with faces made up in such a way as to avoid an sort of exaggeration or uglification, with just a slight amount of embellishment of the actor’s features. The principle is based on natural beauty and true color. This was actually different from concept of light makeup, with its delicately made-up features, ruby red lips, pearly white teeth, soft fleshy face, thickly painted-on eyebrows and cherry-shaped mouths. The painted face was used to mock satirized characters, or scoff at the villainous characters, who were all made up with white powder on their faces and played by the jing. For example, Guan Yü had a red face, and Li Kui, Zhang Fei, and Yü Chi had black faces. The beautified red or black face laid the foundation for the specially-designated facial makeup of Guan Gong, Li Kui, and other characters in future opera productions. Women could also have painted faces. The role of the harlot Xiao’e in Yang Xianzhi’s The Wintry

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Pavilion (Zhengkongmu fengxüe kuhanting 郑孔目 风雪酷寒亭) was written for a chadan, »With the blue like indigo, the purple like mauve, the white like snow, and the black like night, the harlot much resembles a colorful, flowery apparition.« The chadan would often accept the work (act in a performance) with the jing. Their painted faces were even more greatly exaggerated with more vibrant colors. There was also a type of light makeup for women that was rather unique, it was the plain-faced look of the courtesan, which required pigments on the face to create a villainous image, to distinguish them from respectable women. The purpose of light and hideous makeup designs painted on the face in this manner was quite obvious, it was to enable the audience to understand who the good and bad characters were at a glance. Zaju and Southern Operas also employed mask design. Records from the Yuan Dynasty Statutes (Yüandian zhang 元典章) indicate that emperor Yuan Shizu, better known by the moniker Kublai Khan, imposed a ban on skull wearers until the eighteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1281). The skull mask expressed the majesty of the gods and was a symbol of exorcising evil spirits. Beards were a common disguise for male characters. Fake beards were an important means of disguising characters. The color and shape of the beard could distinguish the age, identity, status, and personality of the character. Older ones wore white beards, younger ones wore black, courageous characters wore beards that gave them an imposing look, and notorious river pirates wore red beards. The costume was an integral part of character design. The fresco entitled,The Great Folk Actor Zhong Duxiu Taking the Stage shows the specific peculiarities of zaju costumes. Different characters had their own unique color schemes, textures, and patterns that exuded a sense of floral polychrome.

SECTION 5 STAGE ART

Costuming was divided into the authority figure, the plain clothed, the Daoist shaman and the blue garbed. The authority figure is the dress of an official who holds a ceremonial tablet and sports an official uniform. The plain clothed was associated with the common people who wear simple attire. The Daoist shaman wore the dress of Daoist priests, Buddhist monks and nuns, who wear Daoist robes, Crane-wing cloaks, flowing head sashes and the like. The blue garb is the dress of the poor and the destitute and symbolizes ragged clothes. The manner of dress reflects the differing status of the various characters in society. The wearables of the cast, or costuming (xingtou) was loosely related to real-life clothing but did not merely emulate or beautify the clothing found in life. In stage costuming, official characters wore official attire, the commoners had their common clothing, the rich expressed opulence through their vestiary, the poor would wear what symbolized their lowly position, scholars would wear costumes that emulate the air of the intelligentsia, and military generals sport military uniforms. The character’s identity was extremely specific, and the costume was not created arbitrarily. Props and costumes (chuanguan) refers to the costumes of the characters and the weapons they carry. For example, Lü Bu’s props and costumes were three–pronged crested pheasant tails, red headbands, ceremonial robes and martial attire, robes, neckerchiefs, straight wraps, shoulders, belts, three mustaches, and bamboo slips. In addition to wearing a crown of swirling clouds and a robe of red clouds and cranes, Zhuge Liang also carried a feather fan.

2. Stage Property and Mise-en-scène The Yuan Dynasty fresco The Great Folk Actor Zhong Duxiu Taking the Stage provides visual clues for us to understand the typical mise-enscène of the Yuan Dynasty. First of all, there is a scrim with an ornate Chinese coin-like pattern, separating the front and backstage areas, playing

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a decorative and beautifying role. Looking at the raised area on the left side of the scrim, the backstage door (ghost gate) can be seen. There is also a corner that can be raised on the right side, and the mural is hidden. The backstage door is the upper and lower stage door. There are two pictures hanging on the scrim, one is a dragon among the misty water scene, and the other is an angry man with wild eyes chasing after it with a sword. This is painted on the wall of the Meio King’s Palace. The king of Meio is the river god, also known as Tairo. His birthday is on March 18th, and August 15th is a religious festival when all must offer up thanks to him through sacrifice and drama. These two paintings would be hung for performances on specific occasions. The continued use of this style of scrim that appeared on the opera stage in the Yuan Dynasty and is called »preserving the past.« With the emergence of real scenery and backdrops on the stage, preserving the past seems to have fallen out of favor. However, preservationist creative principles in traditional dramatic performances of Chinese opera are still alive and well. For example, Mei Lanfang’s preservation takes the form of embroidering Mei Lan on exquisite silk fabric. The scrim’s presence in the painting is related to the real conditions and finances of the opera troupe at that time and works to serve the suspension of disbelief evoked by the opera. There is virtually no scenery or property on the stage whatsoever. The creation of the milieu relies almost entirely on the acting and singing of the performers and the imagination of the audience. Stage property refers to various items other than caps, clothes, shoes and socks, belts. Things such as knives, swords, whips, iron talons, bamboo whips, bows and arrows used by generals, tablets held by civil officials, and princesses. The gods used Gui and Jing, as well as daily necessities such as baskets, sticks, feather fans, counting beads,

CHAPTER III OPERA PERFORMANCE FORMATS AND ­S TAGECRAFT OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

and a statuette called »ni« (a figurine later called »the god of luck« in the troupe). These miscellaneous items are collectively called stage property, which are also called props, which is contrasted with mise-en-scène tables, chairs, and large tents. Stage props are the large and small props used in the process of acting out a stage production. Stage props are the physical objects used in actors’ performances. To help the audience understand and make associations, stage props are needed in the course of acting out both the real and fantasy elements of a dramatic production. For example, Dou Tianzhang reads scrolls under a lamp in The Injustice to Dou E (Gantiandongdi dou’e yüan 感天动地窦娥冤). The night is imaginary, but the lamp is real. The lamp prop proves itself to be indispensable. The stage is bright, and the lighting scheme can make the audience associate the scene with nighttime. Another example is The Autumn Storm on the Xiaoxiang River (Linjiangyi xiaoxiang qiuyeyü 临江驿潇湘秋夜雨). In the scene in which Zhang Cuiluan is banished and sent a frontier garrison, the lyrics mention an »evil storm,« and »wild white waters in the sky« and »autumn night rain,« all of which rely on the imagination. The iron lock around Zhang Cuiluan’s neck and the club in the hands of the escorting guard are both real. The prop iron lock indicates Zhang Cuiluan’s identity as a criminal while the club shows the cruelty of the escorting guard. In the absence of shackles and sticks, as well as small props, the actors’ fervid singing and indicative acting would fail to touch off the audience’s understanding of the drama. Stage props could function as a dance tool for actors on occasions In early Southern Opera, there was an umbrella dance. The combination of the umbrella and the dancing figure gave the dance more allure and brought out the characteristics of stories expressed through song and dance.

CHAPTER IV  MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY The most captivating music of the Yuan Dynasty was zaju music. It took the art form of music in drama to bold new heights of artistry as compared to its predecessors, Song Dynasty zaju and the Jin Dynasty revue. The music of zaju absorbed Tang and Song Dynasty Grand Opera, zhugong diao, and Song Dynasty classical music, along with various and sundry folk tunes, ethnic music, and foreign tunes on a massive scale. The tune title bridging method, mode patterns, and the conformity with the dramatic structure in the music borrowed heavily from zhugong diao and laid the groundwork that later manifested tune title-style music in opera. The musical accompaniment of the zaju also carried on the combination of drum, clapper, and flute combination from the Tang and Song. This combination is still used to this day in Kunqü Opera and some other tune title-style operas. The lyric verse, which is collectively called Yuan opera verse, was a new song genre created by inheriting the method of »writing words to complement sound« of Tang and Song poetry. The spoken and sung music in the Yuan Dynasty also experienced its fair share of changes and developments. In the Yuan Dynasty, some highly accomplished masters of the musical form emerged, and books such as Monograph on the Musical Modes (Qinlü Fawei 琴 律发微) were published. Due to the fact that the pipa lute expanded added new registers to the range of Chinese instruments, and began to be played with a pick, musical expression thus entered brand new territory. The widespread use of the two-stringed fiddle (huqin) represented a watershed moment in the development of stringed instruments to subsequent generations. The gong chimes (yünao) were widely used in the imperial

court and among the common folk and became the main melodic percussion instrument over time. Another significant characteristic of Yuan Dynasty music was the exchange and integration of Northern and Southern Chinese music, and Eastern and Western music.

Section 1  Songs and Their New Developments Singing was quite common in the Yuan Dynasty. A smorgasbord of genres of popular songs, and accomplished singers, have been entered into the annals of history. The emergence of lyric verse provided a wellspring on new musical material and promoted the further development of the art and craft of singing.

1. Street Music The Treatise on Music (Chang lun 唱论) described the street song as a penetrating tune with a beautiful message. Ming Dynasty scholar Shen Defu wrote, in the Volumes on Ming Civilization (Wanli Yehuobian 万历野获编), that the ballad of the Yuan had begun circulating with female entertainers, and spread. This indicates that street song’s popularity during the Yuan Dynasty. Ming Wang Jide’s Musical Form (Qülü 曲律) explains, »The so-called arietta is a short song sung in the open-air arena.« Here arietta refers to some of the shorter songs popular in open-air bazaars.

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2. Ciqu, Narrative Songs Ciqu in the Yuan Dynasty was a form of singing and may also have been a general term for a similar genre. Case in point is the History of the Yuan Dynasty: Penal Codes (Yüanshi xingfazhi 元史刑法志), which recorded certain stipulations. »With respect to all ciqu compositions, any dramaturge who should defame or vilify his superiors or His Majesty with vile insults in his ciqu diction, shall be put to death.« The same volume further recorded the following stipulation, »Any dramaturge who labels arbitrary criticisms within the lyrics of his ciqu compositions shall be banished into exile.« Be that as it may, music which functioned to defame, criticize, or slander the government would serve a definite narrative purpose. Furthermore, according to the Yuan Dynasty Statutes (Yüandian zhang 元典章) and other documents, the Yuan Dynasty government issued regulations outlawing »singers« in the 28th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1291), the 4th seven-year ­Yanyou period (1317) and the 6th seven-year Yanyou period (1331). This sheds light on the fact that ciqu singing was considered something ­performed by professional, or at least semi-professional, artists.

3. Sanqu, Lyric Verse Lyric verse was a form of lyric song that emerged in the Yuan Dynasty. It, alongside the zaju, formed Yuan opera. Lyric verse had two forms: the aria and the cycle, which were mainly used for lyricism and scene description. Occasionally there was narrative, but no first-person narrative dialogue or stage directions were used. It was different from drama and closer to a narrative song. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youdun began calling his self-produced plain-songs by the name »lyric verses.« And more recently, individuals such as Wu Mei and Ren Zhongmin called the plain-song or arietta and lyric-verse set by the title »lyric verse.«

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Lyric verse is a direct descendant of verse put to music (qüzi) from the Song Dynasty. It carried on the method of songwriting from that era, namely, writing lyrics to sound, along with the long and short verse structures. Thus, the two took on a strikingly similar form when applied to songs. Lyric verse tended to be more popular and colloquial compared to the folk song (qüzi), so they tended to be very straightforward and sincere. In the structure of the song, a cyclical structure was also applied to the lyrics as well as the meter of the individual song, enriching the expressive content. With regards to the sources of melodies, lyric verses incorporated a great deal of popular music, right alongside the use of certain classical songs, so it had the distinctive character of that era. Lyric verse made additional breakthroughs in the rigorous Song Dynasty practice of writing the lyrics to melodies, most especially in the way of song cycles, diction and melodies, which were far freer. This led to a great divergence and resulted in many tune titles being far from their original form. The music used in lyric verse was from Northern Opera. The Lyric verse was a genre of music that was mainly lyrical (occasionally narrative) in nature, and its form was simply verse, used for singing a cappella. Zaju, on the other hand, was a genre of opera, and its mode of expression was to act out stories on the stage. In the performance, in addition to the rhymes and lyrics, there are also spoken parts, and the performance also has elements such as »stage directions« and »dance numbers.« The main features of lyric verse were as follows: 1. The Song There were two types of songs in lyric verse, the arietta, and the song cycle. Arietta is the concept for a song, referring to a single song. The term is used to denote the difference from a song cycle.

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The Arietta The arietta was a song used exclusively in lyric verses. Its tune title structure, phrasing, tonal structure, and rhyming patterns are all similar to Song poetry. Although each tune title can be called arietta when used alone, in fact, the tune title used as an arietta was only part of a Yuan song tune title. According to Sun Xuanling’s statistics compiled in The Complete Yuan Lyric Verse (Qüanyüan sanqü 全元散曲), there are 108 tune titles (modes) used as ariettas: huangzhong gong 8, zheng gong 12, zhonglü gong 21, nanlü gong 7, shuang diao 44, shang diao 6, yüe diao 6, dashi diao 2, and xiaoshi diao 2. This shows that the number of tune titles used for ariettas was different. Of these tune titles, there were only 62 exclusively used in ariettas, including 23 medleys. There were only 39 tune titles used to form a single arietta, and a handful of them were dedicated to a certain cycle. Both the arietta and the cycle were part of lyric verse, but both had their own unique tune titles. The arietta was possibly the literati’s approach to Northern Opera tune title lyricalization with respect to creative methods and styles, with a more rigorous form. The tune titles used in the cycles may have had a different origin from the arietta tune title and were handled in a freer and more relaxed manner. One, two or three tune titles linked together was a medley with two or three tune titles. The Chinese word for medley was composed of the characters for ›carry‹(dai) ›over‹(guo), as well as ›unite,‹ (jian), indicating a linking together of separate tunes to form a new one. The Song Cycle The cycles of lyric verse are also known as the lyric-verse set, and its structural principle is no different from that of the opera suite, which can be referred to in above section on zaju. In terms of naming, the lyric-verse set often had one additional section to indicate the content of the work

SECTION 1 SONGS AND THEIR NEW DEVELOPMENTS

as compared to the opera suite. For example, in Liu Shizhong’s, The Northern Empress’s Palace– Propriety–The Official from Shanggao. Here The Official from Shanggao indicates the contents of the work, while »Northern« refers to Northern Opera. In addition, lyric verse used more cycles than the zaju, which used 15 cycles while lyric verses used 60. These cycles were distributed throughout the 12 modes, and there were more cycles in each mode than the zaju. In the lyric-verse set, there were only two tune titles at the shortest and 34 tune titles at the longest, showing that the length of the lyric-verse set was more flexible. Musical Accompaniment The instrumental accompaniment in lyric verse has much to do with the performance venues, which were mainly brothels and private mansions of dignitaries and nobles. The singers were mainly brothel courtesans and privately-trained »geisha« girls, whom few people would ever see. Therefore, the accompanying instruments were dominated by several resonant and tasteful instruments. Those that were used in lyric verses mainly included the clapper (ban), the zither (zheng), the lute (pipa), the recorder (xiao), the wood flute (di), the mouth organ (sheng) and the harp (se), of which the clapper, zither and lute were most numerous. The Modes The modes of the lyric verse were part of the same system as the zaju, which were the 12 modes listed in the Central Plains Phonology (Zhongyuan yinyün 中原音韵). Yet, the modes used in lyric verse were more numerous those used in zaju. The modes of xiaoshi diao, shangjüe diao, and banshe diao, which were not used in zaju, were all used in lyric verse, showing that the modes listed in the Central Plains Phonology coincided with reality. Lyric verse tune titles, when used as arietta alone, generally did not change their original modes.

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Only a few tune titles appeared in the two modes, and though this was a special case, it illustrates the adaptability of the modes used in Northern Opera. The lyric verse cycles generally kept to a strict set of rules. There was the occasional borrowed mode, that is, borrowing a tune title belonging to another mode, but this practice happened far less than in the zaju cycles. The Details of the Lyric Verse Most of the existing repertoire of lyric verse expresses feelings of affected sentiment and amorous affection as well as negative emotions of withdrawal and seclusion. They were used as a pleasant diversion after wine or tea. Certain pieces expressed the author’s noble opposition to worldly decadence, fierce sense of righteousness, and compassion for the country and the people, or perhaps issued a scathing denouncement of the corruption of the ruling class of the Yuan Dynasty, or expressed sympathy for the working people who suffered greatly during the upheavals that took place during the dynasty. The creation of lyric verse also included some writers from ethnic minorities, such as Satura of the Hui ethnicity, and Guan Yünshi and Xüe Angfu of the Uyghur ethnicity. There are 680 music scores of Yuan lyrics in The Great Compendium of Modes of Northern and Southern Theater (Jiugongdacheng nanbeici gongpu 九宫大成南北词宫谱), and none of the other song collections are included in this repertoire.

4. Singing Activities of Courtesans in Pleasure Quarters There was an abundance of singing that took place in the Yuan Dynasty, and the singing styles of courtesans who worked at brothels were also varied. Treatise on Music mentions singing schools that included xiaochang, cunchang, manchang, tanchang, buxü, daoqing, salian, daifan, and piaojiao—with a »school« here referring to a

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certain way of singing. Of these schools, buxü and daoqing were related to Taoism, and xiaochang came from the Song Dynasty. The other forms are referred to only by colloquial terms. Song Dynasty xiaochang and piaochang were mainly popular in brothels in the Yuan Dynasty. The courtesan was a singular group of girls with low social status that made a living by working as good-time girls. But to receive a gentleman of letters, they were required have higher cultural attainments. Learning and perfecting the arts of poetry, song, lute-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting were their basic tasks. The Northern Opera created by the literati was mostly performed by these courtesans. According to the records of Xia Tingzhi during the Yuan Dynasty, there were more than 100 courtesans of the day skilled at song and dance, and renowned for beauty and accomplishments. Among them were Liang Yüanxiu, Liu Yange, Du Miaolong, and Nie Tanxiang, who were only good at singing or dancing. There were also Song Liusao, Yülian’er, Wang Qiaoer, Yü Sijie, Fan Xiang’ge, Yang Manu, Zhang Yülian, Sai Tianxiang, Zhao Meige, Chen Poxi, Guan Yin’nu, Jin Yinger, Yifen’er, and Liu Poxi. Famous for a type of casual singing called xiaochang were: Jie Yühua, Xiao Exiu, Li Xinxin, Yang Naier, Yüan Dang’er, Yü Panpan, Yü Xinxin, Wu Nü, Yan Xüemei, Niu Sijie, Wang Yümei, Li Zhiyi, Kong Qianjin, and Zhen Feng’ge. And of that list, Jie Yuhua, Xiao Exiu, Wang Yumei, Li Zhiyi, and Kong Qianjin were accomplished at a type of slow ballad-like singing style called manchang (a genre of xiaochang). The way to win praise and notoriety at the time was to sing and play and instrument simultaneously, or to be one’s own accompaniment, as it were. Yü Sijie’s singing and pipa lute playing was lauded for being the best of her era. Jin Yinger’s singing and zither playing were considered to be rare and incomparable. Kong Qianjin was wellversed in singing slow ballads and playing the four-stringed lute (ruan). Chen Poxi was highly

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skilled at playing and singing Tatar songs, which was in all certainty a unique skill at the time. All different genres of singing focused mainly on the tradition of composing lyrics to a melody, and occasionally composing the actual tune. The courtesans who were proficient at this skill were: Liang Yuanxiu, Zhang Yiyun, Zhang Yulian, Yifen’er, BanBan Chou, and Liu Poxi. Songs such as, Oh Liangzhou, The Song of Youth, The Crimson Gown, Tangerines and Song of the Village by Liang Yuanxiu spread like wildfire. Zhang Yulian earned universal praise for several beautifully crafted lines. Both »Extemporaneously improvised rhapsodic rhyme; wittily crafted tones and temperaments sublime, Northern and Southern Opera are truly the art of our time,« and »Lend an ear to the sound of his Majesty’s procession just beyond thy chamber’s gate, shed a tear at the sight of fluttering petals just beyond thy curtain’s plait« became popular catchphrases of the day. The melodies of some ancient songs had been lost throughout the ages, yet she was able to sing them based solely on the phonological rhymes of the lyrics. Liu Poxi had a remarkable ability to improvise rhyme. She once made an excursion to Guanghai by way of Ganzhou, and on the way she paid a visit to the prefectural superintendent of Jianjun, the Uygur called Quan Ziren, whose name literally means »All good boys.« Quan Ziren just so happened to be having a sumptuous banquet for some guests and friends, all of whom had stuck a green plum on their hat to play a drinking game shortly before she arrived. Singing along with the song Waters of the Green River, she began the game by composing the initial line of the song, »Green plum green plum, upon the tree,« and then motioned for everyone in attendance to pick up where she had left off. No one uttered a word. So, after getting everyone’s consent, she continued, »Green plum green plum upon the tree, how we want to pluck off thee; and eat ye whole if thou art not tart, for if thou art we must take heart; all good boys love what’s sweet, and if they’re good

SECTION 1 SONGS AND THEIR NEW DEVELOPMENTS

then let them eat.« Quan Ziren’s name was cleverly woven into the poem, and it simultaneously expressed her affection for him. For her display of lyrical ingenuity, he praised her to no end, and later accepted her as a concubine. In addition to the courtesans being good at singing simple melodies, there were also those who specialized in other forms of singing. For example, those who were good at singing zhugong diao included Zhao Zhenzhen, Yang Yü’e, Qin Yülian, and Qin Xiaolian, among others. Those who were good at performing zaju included Zhu Lianxiu, Sai Lianxiu, Shun Shixiu, Nan Chunyan, Si Yannu, TianRanxiu, Tian Xixiu, Wang Bener, Ping Yangnu, Li Xiuzhi, Zhu Jinxiu, Xiao Yumei, Zhao Zhenxiu, Li Jiaoer, Cui Hexiu, Wang Lianlian, Gu Shanshan, Lian Qianxiu, Yan Shanxiu, Jing Jianjian and Li Dingnu. Specialists of the Southern Drama were Long Loujing and Dan Chixiu, among others. Although the courtesans of zaju and Southern Drama did not specialize in singing, it goes without saying that it was an important skill.

5. Xiong Penglai and The Classic of Poetry Reciting poetry was an integral part of etiquette in the Zhou Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, reading poetry was promoted again, and this continued into the Yuan Dynasty, with its greatest representative being Xiong Penglai (1246–1323). Xiong Penglai, Zi Yüke, was born in Yüzhang (now Nanchang), in Jiangxi Province. He was born in the late Southern Song Dynasty. He was a scholar living who was a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination during the 11th year of the sexagenary cycle in the reign of Emperor Xian Chun (1274). That year he was invited by the assistant minister of the Baoqing prefecture to take office there as a magistrate, but he was unable to take office before the downfall of the Southern Song. At the dawn of the Yuan Dynasty, he taught in the countryside, and later served as an official of Confucianism in Minhai, and was appointed by

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the court as a professor of Confucianism in Fujian and Luling. Wherever he went, he was actively engaged in some sort of pursuit, such as textual archaeology and the revival of court music. He himself wrote lyrics made his own instruments. Scores for the Standing Harp (Se pu 瑟谱) that he compiled is a collection of songs set to lyrics taken from The Classic of Poetry (Shi jing 诗经). The musical scores of the ancient poems he set to music were selected from the Twelve Elegant Verses (Fengya shiershipu 风雅十二诗谱), passed on by Zhao Yansu during the Song Dynasty, while the melodies of new poems were written by Xiong Penglai himself.

6. Mongolian Music Mongolians have always had a knack for singing and dancing. A plethora of excellent songs were produced by Mongolian military and civilians both before and after the Yuan Dynasty. Judging by the lyrics that have survived the generations, these songs reflected the different aspects of Mongolian military and civilian life and sentiment of the time of writing. 1. Fight Songs There was a song that had just been written when the Mongolian army aggressively crossed the Han and Yangtze rivers, and went south on a mission to attack the Song, called the Rippling River Song. »Rippling River« was what the Mongolians called the Yangtze River. The lyrics extolled heroism, and Kublai Khan himself heard to it. After hearing the song, he joyfully ordered his troops to sing it in an effort to promote the nation’s military might. This song thus became the military song of the Mongolian army. After being captured, Wen Tianxiang, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, was taken to the great capital city of Dadu, which was the name for Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty. He heard the Mongolian soldiers singing the military song Ahra Khan Comes with a powerful and imposing tone, at which point he exclaimed with

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

fright, »This song sung in the key of huang zhong sounds the death knell sounds the Southern Song loyalists.« 2. Banquet Music The Mongolians fancied good mead and good meat, and they could not help themselves but sing aloud during a feast. Below is an example of Mongolian banquet music from the 13th and 14th centuries: The heavens live on through eternity, but short and bitter is man’s destiny. River waters spring forth from the earth, man’s heart was noble from his birth. At the lakeside collects algae of green, where gulls collect to feast and preen. The gentleman is gallant and right, a friend to all is his birthright. From the Otorrentoia River’s source, flows the sacred spring waters ’course. Our people enjoy the prosperity, that flows to our offspring like the river to the sea. [excerpt]

The Otorrentoia Riverhead is the place where Genghis Khan set down his flag of truce that established the Mongolian empire, which is why the Mongolians refer to it as the »sacred spring.« 3. Hunting Songs In Inner Mongolia’s Ordos Plateau, in the Bayan Nur prefecture and other places, there is still a hunting song, Three Hundred-Sixty Mongolian Gazelles, that was written in the 13th century. This song extols the bravery of hunters, while simultaneously using personification to create the gentle and lovely images of animals. 4. Praise Songs The Silver Battle Steeds, a song popular on the Xorchin Grasslands of Inner Mongolia, expressed the sentiment that wartime soldiers felt towards to their horses. The song is widely circulated in Inner Mongolia, where some lyrics are different, but each different version praises the horse.

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5. Warrior Nostalgia Songs A product of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ballad of Karakorum expresses the nostalgia of the warriors about to trek back home to see their relatives, and explores the militia’s thoughts and feelings during the war. 6. Narrative Songs There is a fair abundance of Mongolian narrative songs. The narrative song put to music the heroes of the nation and important historical events. For example, in 1206, the leader of the Han Yalati tribe abruptly led the tribe to surrender to Genghis Khan. In order to reward him, Genghis Khan gave his own daughter’s hand in marriage to the tribe leader’s son Yinalchi and gave an array of gifts to him, including 99 camels. A female camel that had just given birth to a small white calf was also included in the dowry. After the mother left, the little camel was very lonely. People created the song The Lonely White Calf, naming it after this little camel that had left its mother: The lonely white camel, famished and faint its belly began to growl. Missing its auburn-coated mother, it could not hold back a howl. When would the mane on its hump begin to grow long? How it desired to run to Lake Baikal and see its ma.

Art Songs Art songs were worked on by professional musicians and academics who were in possession of a high level of artistry and produced works of great aesthetic value. For example, The Aging Goose, produced in Kublai Khan’s time: Oh! The swallow’s wings flapped with all their might from the silver shore of the sea; clucking, rising, tweeting, soaring high and free. Oh, back to the vast grasslands ye seven lovely young swallows fly; eating, sleeping, nesting, living there in peace and tranquility. (excerpt)

SECTION 2 SINGING-STORYTELLING MUSIC

It can be seen from the above records that the Mongolian nationality not only possessed the might of resources like gold, iron, and horses, yet also had rich and sensitive inner emotional life. In addition, in the Yuan Dynasty, was a kind of »Dala Theater« popular among the Mongolians. This is a form of theater that integrated singing, dance, and instrumental music, but primarily singing. The song would tell a complete story, so it has the characteristics of a narrative song, which was called »Daolahu Song« in the Ming Dynasty. Some long narrative poems that appeared in the 13th century, such as, Genghis Khan’s Two Steeds, The Legend of Xaraxahsan’s Quiver, Genghis Khan’s Victory over the Three-hundred Chichewa People, and The Tale of the Orphan may have been Daolahu Song lyrics of the time.

Section 2  Singing-Storytelling Music The singing-storytelling music of the Yuan Dynasty in part inherited the old forms and works handed down from Song and Jin dynasties, but nevertheless new works such as The Hawker began appearing. Although there is no record of the drum lyric in the Song or Yuan dynasties, Yang Yinliu believes that there is a relationship between the drum lyric in the Ming Dynasty and the drum lyric that was extant in the Qing Dynasty. There were the following forms of Singing-Storytelling Music in the Yuan Dynasty:

1. Zhugong diao, Ballads in All Keys and Modes The zhugong diao was born in the Northern Song Dynasty and ended its development in the Yuan Dynasty. According to records in Zhong Sicheng’s The List of Immortals (Lugui bu 录鬼簿), Hangzhou native Hu Zhengchen was well-versed at singing various ancient tunes, such as Dong Jieyuan’s The Romance of the West Chamber (Xixiang ji 西厢记),

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which began with »the virtues of our Majesty,« and, in the final chapter, »it shall be sung 30 years have passed since he left this world.« The first draft of The List of Immortals was completed in the first year of Zhishun (1330), in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty. There were those who could sing Romance of the West Chamber–The Ballads in its entirety. But by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, very few people were capable of singing it. There were only four female artists who had the skills needed to perform zhugong diao in Xia Tingzhi’s The Green Towers (Qinglou Ji 青楼集), and those four female artists were Zhao Zhenzhen, Yang Yue, Qin Yulian, and Qin Xiaolian—but later no one carried on the tradition. There were only three zhugong diao written in the Yuan Dynasty that are known of today. The Green Towers, with Zhao Zhenzhen, Yang Yü’e has stated; Yang Lizhai, who was skilled at singing zhugong diao, saw a performance of Qing the Official by his acquaintances Zhang Wuniu and Shang Zhengshu, on account of the performance of the works, A Sky Full of Partridges, and the A Whistle and The Frolicking Child coda. Qing the Official was an original work by Zhang Wuniu in the Southern Song Dynasty, sung by Zhao and Yang, and was an adaptation of the work of Shang Zhengshu of the Yuan Dynasty. The other two are The Lofty Pavilion (Zhugongdiao fengyün ziyüeting 诸宫调风云 紫月亭) by Dai Shanfu in the Yuan Dynasty, and The Deeds of Emperor Tianbao (Tianbao yishi 天宝 遗事), by Wang Bocheng. The Deeds of Emperor Tianbao tells the story of Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty and his concubine Yang Guifei. There is a set of songs, The Horses Tread Concubine Yang, which is combined with tune title (zhenggong mode-Propriety) in the zaju. The similarities show that the zaju music is closely related to the music of the zhugong diao, which predates zaju, and whose musical content, bridging methods and mode patterns all affected zaju. The tune titles used in zhugong diao later became part of Northern Opera, and the music

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

of zhugong diao was also present in Northern Opera. Although zaju retained the tradition of being sung by one primary individual from the zhugong diao, its multi-person performances were more developed than zhugon gdiao. By the Ming Dynasty, the name of not a single zhugong diao was known.

2. Taozhen, Sieving the Truth Taozhen 陶真 (lit. »Sieving the Truth«) was a form of singing-storytelling beloved by peasants in the Song Dynasty, and it continued to develop after it was passed down to the Yuan Dynasty. It was performed in a duet form that added a harmony that repeated some variant of a phrase from Falling Lotus Flowers after each line. For example, in The Granary (Yicang zhangji 义仓赈济) the 17th tune title of the Southern Drama Tale of the Lute (Pipa ji 琵琶记), there is a comic dialogue between the village head Li, played by the painted-face role, and the minister of punishments, played by the buffoon role: Painted-face: […] I have a mere three dutiful children who tidy my kerchief. Such insolence and effrontery incites a gentleman like myself to rage, and to release my vexations I must now engage in taozhen. Buffoon: Ah! »Taozhen,« how doth one do this? Painted-face: Aha! Thou wast listening after all. Very well then, I shall sing it. You do the dadahay part. Buffoon: Very well. Painted-face: Oh, I have a filial son, birth another filial one, Buffoon: Dadahay … and so fall the lotus flowers, Painted-face: Oh, he is so disobedient, birth another unfilial son. Buffoon: Dadahay … and so fall the lotus flowers, Painted-face: Thou misgiveth, but look upon the drops falling from the eaves, Buffoon: Dadahay … lotus flowers falling like the autumn leaves, Painted-face: In dribs and drabs it falleth, by no mistake, Buffoon: Dadahay … it falleth like the lotus flowers.

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The singing form in the play is based on life, and taozhen in this play reflects the formal characteristics of taozhen in the Yuan Dynasty. Taozhen-style story-singing may be the predecessor of Tanci, a style of story-singing with a stringed instrumental accompaniment that made its way from the Yuan Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

3. Yushuo, Driving the Words Yushou 驭说 (lit. »Driving the Words«) was an art that was only seen in the Yuan Dynasty. Literati,Wang Yun from the era made mention of it in poetic form in »A Verse Gifted to Yushuo Performer Gao Xiuying in the Tune of the Partridge Sky« (Zheguyin zeng yushuo Gao Xiuying ci 鹧鸪 引赠驭说高秀英词) in the 76th volume of the Complete Works of Sir Autumn Brook (Qiujian xiansheng daquanwenji 秋涧先生大全文集): In short silk gown and light makeup, the performer takes the stand, and with casual sultry she flicks the sleeve from her hand. Face covered with silk fan, her honeyed voice shimmers, and she begins to plume. Her witticisms reach the air and dissipate, lingering like the scent of perfume. She sings of the Han, Wei, Sui, and Tang, but why opine the dynasties of a past age? Generation upon generation of history makes its way upon the stage. A hundred years turned to drollery of a storyteller’s jest, as the bamboo claps and her songs attest.

There are many situations in which Yuan Dynasty academic literati gifted courtesans or female artists with inscribed poetry. Judging from the descriptions contained in this poem, Gao Xiuying’s dramatic performance was a long historical story. Her stage props consisted of a silken song fan, a clapper, and a mallet. Moreover, the name yushuo itself indicates that there was a spoken part, though there are no works of yushuo left to verify this.

SECTION 2 SINGING-STORYTELLING MUSIC

4. Pipa Song-Lyrics The name pipa ci (pipa lute song lyrics) is only seen in the prohibition of the Yuan government. Yuan Dynasty Statutes (Yüandian zhang 元典章) Section 57, Ministry of Justice Code 19, »Miscellaneous Bans,« contains the ban from the 12th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1275): With respect to singing pipa song lyrics and paddler’s tunes in public places, this practice causes crowds gather filling the streets, squares and markets to capacity, as well as the intermingling men and women, which not only to incites legal disputes, but also the fear of other manner of troubling incidents. Meng Dutang has put forth the opinion that anything resembling it should be forbidden. This notice shall be sent to subordinates and down the chain of command, and the aforementioned prohibition should be strictly adhered to. Let it be heretofore entered into statute.

The ban did not specify whether pipa ci was strictly a song or a singing-storytelling form, but judging from the performance effect mentioned in the ban, it was more likely to be a singing-storytelling form. Furthermore, the ban mentions pipa ci together in the same context as peddler’s tunes (speech-song music, see below), in which a vendor would work a hand-cranked drum to draw attention to his wares. Therefore, in can be surmised that the two are highly likely to be of the same kind. Pipa ci works of the Yuan Dynasty are now hard to come by. In Tale of the Lute, Zhao Wuniang goes to Dadu to find her husband, carrying a pipa and singing along the way. What she sang was likely this sort of lute story-singing. In Tale of the Lute: Yuan Dynasty Cai Bojie Edition, there is a dialogue between a noble’s son and Zhao Wuniang:

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Noble’s Son: Which songs canst thou play? ­Perchance dost thou know the tune, Fourth Son? Zhao Wuniang: No, My Lord. Noble’s Son: What of Eight Beautiful Hands? Zhao Wuniang: Afraid not sire, I, this lowly maiden, can play but a few simple tunes about filial piety.

In The Melodious Boudoir Music Scores (E’yünge qüpu 遏云阁曲谱), from the late Qing Dynasty, and the Collected Opera Scores (Jicheng qüpu 集 成曲谱), from the Republic of China, there is the same dialogue. The original tunes of The Fourth Son and Eight Beautiful Hands were each replaced by Nightly Strolls and Flowers Blowing in the Wind, as well as Daoist chants and Flowers Blowing in the Wind. These melodies were the most popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties, illustrating that The Fourth Son and Eight Beautiful Hands from the Yuan Dynasty were just like the later Nightly Strolls and the others mentioned, but was reworked by other artists and used for lyrics and singing. Combined with the plot of Tale of the Lute, Zhao Wuniang’s lines »play but a few simple tunes about filial piety« should actually be, »play and sing some tunes some filial piety.« It shows that pipa ci may have been a kind of self-played pipa accompaniment, that consisted of singing stories to popular melodies.

5. Cihua, Song-Lyric Storytelling Cihua 词话 (lit. »Song-lyric storytelling«) was also a musical narrative that appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. This name was first seen in Public Laws and Statutes, Volume 27, »Miscellaneous Trivialities« (»Tongzhi tiaoge zashi« 通制条格杂事), compiled by Wanyan Nadan and others: In November of the 11th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1274), the Imperial Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture presented a report to a superior: The area around Henan Road in Hebei had been patrolled and agricultural officials had been persuaded to file a report: At Shuntian Road in

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Shulu County Township Zhentoudian, hundreds were present taking up cihua. In addition to the conviction of the village head Tian Xiu and others, this department should pay attention to: Entering the names of the entertainers into the list with the strictest accord, as well as restraining the remaining peasants, merchants, and privileged sons, if they are no otherwise employed, and are engaged in learning the performing arts, such as cihua. Submitted for bureau approval.

It is apparent from the ban that cihua was booming in the Yuan Dynasty to a fair extent. In addition to professional musicians in the strict sense, there were a large number of amateur singers from the cities to the countryside, causing panic among the rulers. Cihua appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and many published works are in existence, but no works from the Yuan Dynasty have been discovered thus far. It is generally believed that cihua refers to the textual script of singing-storytelling and opera. But judging from this prohibition, cihua was sung by »professional musicians« at the time, so it was therefore not simply the script, but also has its own established singing style. The cihua in the early Ming Dynasty was performed by one person playing the pipa lute, which would likely have been the same in the Yuan Dynasty.

6. Daoqing, Daoist Chants Daoqing originated from the »scriptural rhymes« chanted by Daoists in temples during the Tang Dynasty, which were scriptural and poetic forms. After incorporating the tones and tune titles, it evolved into the Daoist songs sung by the priests in the folk tunes. There were two types of poetry and tune titles. In the Song Dynasty, the fishing drums and simple boards used in Daoist chants appeared, which shows that Daoist chants had possibly emerged in the Song Dynasty. The Treatise on Music declares, »Each of the three religions sings about what it values most highly: The Daoist priest sings about the spirit, the Buddhist monk

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sings about character, the Confucian sage sings about doctrine.« Within the »singing sects« there was Daoqing, indicating that Daoist chants enjoyed greater popularity in the Yuan Dynasty.

7. Huolang’er, Peddler’s Tunes Huolang’er (lit. »The Hawker«) is also a musical narrative that formed in the Yuan Dynasty. Its music is listed in Northern Opera, and the basic melodies are quite similar to the vending cries of Song Dynasty merchants. The form of singing-storytelling based on this is called huolang’er, or, Peddler’s Tunes. The Hawker tune title was originally a short melody. Judging from the remaining lyrics and music score of The Hawker, the melodic changes were freer. The number of phrases, their order, and the details of the singing could all be rearranged at will according to the needs of the lyrics. The Hawker’s variation is The Transposed Hawker. This so-called transposition is to divide the melodies of The Hawker into two parts and insert one or more other tune titles in the middle. Therefore, the tune here refers to the melodies represented by tune titles. In the classic Chinese novel Outlaws of the Marsh (Shuihu zhuan 水浒传), Song Jiang asks Yan Qing to sing The Transposed Song of the Traders, indicating that there was already a transposition method among traders at that time. The Horses Tread Concubine Yang uses The Transposed Hawker. The Hawker tune title consists of six phrases. The method of transposition is to first sing the first five phrases of The Hawker, then sing The Shed Gown (Tuo bushan 脱布衫) and Drunk on the Wordly (Zui taiping 醉太平), then sing the last phrase of The Hawker. Generally, The Hawker tune title only put the last phrase at the end in transposition, and put it after the inserted tune title, and put most of the phrases in front to be sung. The Hawker melody was sung by Zhang Sangu in the anonymous Yuan Dynasty zaju, Trials and Tribulations Like Daybreak for the Hawker, in

SECTION 3 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

which The Hawker melody appears nine times. Other than the first stanza, the melodies were changed from two to nine. Therefore, The Transposed Hawker suite was called The Ninefold Altered Hawker. Besides being used for singing-storytelling, The Hawker tune title was also used in a song-cycle in zaju, zhugong diao, and lyric verse. The independently produced singing-storytelling Hawker works have never come to light. The Hawker was performed by the singer shaking the rattle drum (snakeskin drum or string drum), playing the clapper, and singing along with the rhythm.

Section 3  Musical Instruments and Instrumental Music 1.  Musical Instruments The musical instruments recorded in »Rites and Music« of History of the Yuan Dynasty are classified according to their practical functions. There were yayue musical instruments, banquet instruments, and instruments that doubled as dance equipment in a band—actually a song and dance troupe. Yayue music in the Yuan Dynasty was divided into hall music (dengge 登歌) and palace music (gongxuan 宫悬). Although the instruments had their own scales, the types and quantities were different:

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CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Hall Music Instruments

Palace Music Instruments

Metal: bronze chime bells (bianzhong 编钟) (one stand with 16 bells)

Large bronze bells (bozhong 镈钟) (12 stands, each with one bell) bronze chime bells (bianzhong) (12 stands and 16 bells per stand)

Stone: stone chimes (bianqing 编磬) (one stand with 16 bells)

stone chimes (bianqing) (16 stands and 12 chimes per stand)

String: 10 qin-zithers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 stringed zithers, two of each kind) 4 se-zithers

27 qin-zithers (three single-stringed zithers and two of each of the 3, 5, 7, 9 stringed zithers) 4 se-zithers

Bamboo: two xiao-flutes (pan flute known as paixiao 排箫), two di-flutes (long flute), two yue-flutes (‌龠), two chi-flutes (‌篪)

10 xiao-flutes, 10 di-flutes, 10 yue-flutes, 10 chi-flutes

Gourd: four reed-pipe mouth organ (chaosheng 巢笙), four small reed-pipe mouth organ (hesheng 和笙), one seven-star gourd (qixing pao 七星匏, a free reed wind instrument with seven pipes), one nine-star gourd (jiuyao pao 九曜匏, a free reed wind instrument with nine pipes), one leap-month gourd (runyu pao 闰余匏, also a type of free reed wind instrument)

10 chaosheng mouth organs, 10 yu mouth organs (‌竽), one seven-star gourd, one nine-star gourd, one leapmonth gourd

Clay: two vessel flutes (xun 埙)

Eight vessel flutes (xun)

Leather: two bofu-drums (‌搏拊) (a type of small drum hanging from the neck)

One Jin drum (Jingu 晋鼓), four tree drums (shugu 树鼓 a type of large military drum), two thunder drums (leigu 雷 鼓, a type of large eight-sided drum), two thunder rattles (leitao 雷鼗), two road drums (lugu 路鼓, a type of large four-sided drum), two road rattles (lutao 路鼗)

Wood: one zhu (‌祝, a percussion instrument in the shape of a wooden box used to mark the beginning of the music), one yu (‌敔, a percussion instrument in the shape of a tiger used to mark the end of the music)

one zhu, one yu

The instruments used at feasts and banquets were: pan pipes (xinglong sheng), lute (pipa), zither (zheng), kobyz (huobusi), two-stringed violin (huqin), lithophone (fangxiang), wood flute (longdi), shawm (touguan), mouth organ (sheng), harp (konghou), gong chimes (yün’ao), recorder (xiao), woodblock (huizhu), drum (gu), bongo drum (zhanggu), hand-held bongo (zhagu), hand drum (hegu), seven-string zither (qin), shepherd’s pipe (qiangdi), clappers (paiban), bronze drum (shuizhan).

The instruments used by musical groups (song and dance troupes) for performances were seen in banquet instruments, and also used as dance equipment, were the golden bridle snare drum, flower bridle boatman’s drum, sun and moon drum, sun, moon and gold boatman’s drum, fisherman’s drum, bamboo drum, etc. There was also the 72-string lute that Guo Kan brought back from Baghdad. In addition to some of the popular folk musical instruments, which are the same as those of the court, there were iron

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flutes and sanxian. Popular musical instruments in the army included the two-stringed violin and the suona shawm. Two of the above new musical instruments were introduced from other countries: The Xinglong Pan Pipes entered China during the Zhongtong reign (1260–1264), when the Hui people returned to their land, that is, Chorasmia, the ancient country in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya in Central Asia. It used bamboo strips for reeds, and »had sound but no pitch« when it first arrived. After Zheng Xiu, the judge of Yuchen Music Academy, tested the tuning, it was determined that the instrument was clear and resonant with deep bass overtones. Later the instrument was reconstructed. The 72-string Lute. According to History of the Yuan Dynasty: Guo Baoyu Biography (Yüanshi guobaoyü zhuan 元史 郭宝玉传), the 72-string lute was taken by the Yuan Dynasty General Guo Kan and heir apparent Halagu Khan on his westward march, obtained from the Bahada Kingdom (today’s Baghdad), and brought back to China around 1259 CE. What is called a lute should be a plucked instrument with strings, and of such plucked instruments in Arab countries, there may be 72 strings, only the flat-lying plucked instrument the qalun. The Uighurs in Xinjiang, China, also have the qalun, mostly with 36 strings, which are used in Muqam melodies. There are also some musical instruments, which appeared earlier than the Yuan Dynasty, but were more commonly used during the era, which attracted the attention of scholars at that time and were set down into record. The fisherman’s drum and the bamboo drum. These can be seen in The Acrobatic Children, painted by the Northern Song Dynasty painter Su Hanchen. They were mainly used as dance tools in the tenth incarnation of the Shou Xing Song and Dance Troupe in the Yuan Dynasty court. Ming Wang Qi’s, Assembled Illustrations of the Three Realms (Sancai tuhui 三才图会) describes

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the following two instruments, »The Fisherman’s Drum, bamboo is cut into a cylinder, three to four feet long, with skin stretched over the top [using the thinnest section of pig intestine]. It can be played using two hands to strike it. There is a description of the Bamboo Drum, which is made almost entirely of bamboo. It is two feet in length, six or seven inches wide, and half as thick. The end is slightly reversed. When singing, two sticks are used to strike it. Its production started in the Mongol Dynasty; Mongol Dynasty is inaccurate [sic].« They are the accompaniment instruments of speech-song music in the Daoist chant (also known as fisherman’s drum) genre, but the length of the bamboo drum was shortened to approximately one foot (33.3 cm). The sanxian. The 21st volume of Raising the Nunnery Supplemented Edition (Shengan waiji 升庵 外集), by Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty, states, ›The sanxian of today began in the Yuan Dynasty. As stated in the Hillside Operas, ›The sanxian, open stroked calligraphic characters inscribed by the most beauteous of hands as a gift to Yü’eer.«‹ The Hillside Operas refers to Zhang Kejiu, a lyric verse writer from the Yuan Dynasty. In terms of form, the distant ancestor of the sanxian may be the Saz (xiantao) of the Qin Dynasty. The name sanxian was first seen in Cui Lingqin’s Records of the Music Conservatory (Jiaofang ji 教坊记) in the Tang Dynasty. It is a plucked stringed instrument that »stringed instrument specialists« had to learn together with the lute, harp and zither. In the Song Dynasty, the sanxian was called names like »the spade lute« and »shovel lute.« Other than the crossbar at the end of a buggy, the sanxian most resembles a spade. There is a statue of a Liao-era sanxian being played at the brick pagoda of the Yünjü Temple in Fangshan, Beijing. There are figures of entertainers on the murals of Fujiatun Yuan Tomb in Lingyüan, Liaoning Province, in which there are additional images of musicians playing the sanxian in accompaniment to singers. (Fig. 7.4.1)

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7.4.1 Sanxian accompaniment images in the murals on the Tomb of the Yuan Dynasty at Fujiatun, Lingyuan, Liaoning

The yün’ao gong chimes. Nowadays, the chiming gongs are referred to as the yün luo. There is an image of gong chimes made up of ten small gongs in the »Picture of the Hawker« painted by Su Hanchen of Song Dynasty. It was used in the royal court and Daoist temples in the Yuan Dynasty. History of the Yuan Dynasty (Yüanshi 元史) describes it in the following terms, »The gong chimes are made of bronze, with 13 small gongs, affixed to a same wooden frame, with a long handle held in the left hand, and the gongs hit with a mallet using the right hand.« Judging by the existing murals in the Yongle Palace in Ruicheng county, from the Yuan Dynasty, the number of gongs affixed to the yün’ao frame at that time was inconsistent, there were those with 14 gongs and those with 10. These types of chiming gongs were mostly used in temples and Xi’an folk pan pipe bands and in percussion-centric music. (Fig. 7.4.2)

The qobuz. History of the Yuan Dynasty (Yüanshi 元史) contains an entry: »The Qobuz is made like a lute, with a fretless straight neck with a small groove in it, like a lute with a bottom shaped like half a wine jug. It has a leathery surface, four strings, and the single pole in running through it.« Upon returning to China and introducing the instrument, it was called by the original Turkish, which in the language actually referred to all kinds of stringed instruments. But since the word entered the vernacular in the Song Dynasty, the qobuz has been known by many names through the years, such as, the qobuz, kyl-kobyz., and the kobyz. History of the Yuan Dynasty records that in 1253 CE, when Kublai Khan’s conquest of the city of Dali in Yünnan Province passed through Lijiang, he was welcomed and assisted by the Naxi chieftain Ah—Cong Ah-liang, called by some Mu Tian Wang. Before Kublai Khan captured Dali and

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7.4.2  Gong Chimes in Su Hanchen’s The Hawker

returned to the capital, he gave some of the musicians and musical instruments he brought with the army to Ah-liang as a reward. Kobyz is called the sugudu in Naxi. (Fig. 7.4.3) Huqin (two-stringed violin). The Xiqin, a twostringed violin that appeared in the Tang Dynasty, is the earliest known version of a Chinese twostringed instrument played with a bow. But there was no horsehair bow at the time, so it was played with bamboo. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the »horsetail two-stringed violin« appeared. According to the History of the Yuan Dynasty, the twostringed violin of the Yuan Dynasty had a structure »Like a kobyz, with a neck that curves at the top, a dragon head, two strings, played with a bow that is made of horse tail.« In the Cave no. 10 of the Yulin Grottoes in Gansu Province, there is a musician playing the two-stringed violin (Fig. 7.4.4). The two-stringed violin was also commonly used in the army in the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhang Xingxing was a master of the instrument. The short preface of Yang Weizhen’s poem »Two-Stringed Violin Master Zhang Xingxing« (Zhang xingxing huqin yin 张猩猩胡琴引) says, »In the South, the two-stringed violin is called the second sanxian,

7.4.3  Ming Dynasty kobyz

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7.4.4 Huqin in Cave no. 10 of the Yulin Grottoes

and in the North it is known by its present name … the disciples practicing at the conservatory are multitudinous, those present to applaud their cleverness are few. Still there is one who receives the cheers, and it is none other than the barbarian himself. And therein lie his cleverness.« The twostringed violin was mainly played by entertainers from northwestern tribes that were referred to as »barbarians« (hu), and playing the instrument with such deftness is what earned Zhang Xingxing the auspicious title of »barbarian.« The standing harp. The harp was introduced into China from Western Asia. History of the Eastern Han: Annals of the Five Elements (Houhanshu wuixingzhi 后汉书: 五行志) contains the following, »Emperor Liu Hong is enamored with the clothing, bed screens, beds, cross-legged sitting position, cuisine, harp, flute and dance of the barbarian. The emperor’s clan from the capital compete to adorn themselves in the curious barbarian-style of dress.« This shows that the harp was introduced to China in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In volume 14 of Du You’s A Comprehensive Study of History, The Four Delights (»Yüesi« 乐四) he declares, »The Harp is a northern barbarian’s instrument favored

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

by Emperor Ling of Han. The body is long and curved, with 22 strings. It is held upright in the arms and played with two hands. It is commonly known as the stretched finger instrument.« The Tang Dynasty mother-of-pearl inlay harp, collected by the Shosoin Treasure House in Nara, Japan, has 23 holes with which the instrument can be strung. History of the Yuan Dynasty comments, »The harp is made of wood, broad in the middle, cross-wood is placed under the midsection with a crossbar like the shape of the 12th constellation, and a column cap at the top with a phoenix beak added. The actual number of strings of the harp did not matter that much, but those of the Yuan Dynasty has at least three string numberings: 24 strings, 20 strings, and 14 strings, with the14 string variety likely having been most popular.« The suona horn. The suona has been the most popular wind instrument in rural areas since the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was introduced from Persia and Arabia as late as the Tang Dynasty. After the Jin and Yuan dynasties fell, the use of the suona horn increased. Ming Xuwei said, in Commentary on the Southern Drama (Nanci Shulu 南词叙录), Following great upheaval, Central Asian music has prevailed in the Central Plains region since the Jin and Yuan dynasties, now all but a few ancient scores are still in existence. For instance, the lute, zither, flute, the four-stringed lute, and the small bronze drum. The songs include Welcoming the Immortals and The Heir Apparent. But none of the old songs remain. As for The Suona Horn, brass instruments and the like, the instruments on hand are all relics from the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Nevertheless, there is more music than this mere handful.

He believed that the suona horn made its way into the mainland along with other Jin and Yuan music. The suona horn was primarily used for military music at first, and then it was introduced into the civilian population from the army.

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2. Instrumental Music 1. Instrumental Music in the Royal Court There was instrumental music in the court of the Yuan Dynasty, called »Dada Music« (meaning Mongolian Music). The musical instruments used to play these forms of music include the zither, the qin lute, the two-stringed violin, and the kyl-kobyz. The songs were divided into three categories: Grand Opera, ballad and Hui ethnic music. Most of the song titles were transliterated, except for a few notations in the parentheses of the original text. For most of them, there is no way of knowing their content. The few should be from West Asia and Central Asia during that era. For instance, Mahay Modundun may be related to the Muqam of some Arab countries and the Uyghurs of Xinjiang. The Grand Opera Dala is called The White Finch (Bailingqüe 白翎雀) in Chinese, and is one of the most influential pieces of instrumental music from the entirety of Yuan Dynasty history. This song was composed by the actor Shuo Delu of a music conservatory at the behest of Kublai Khan himself. Due to different understandings of The White Finch (including by the people of Yuan Dynasty), this song in particular has many widely different interpretations. This music is mentioned in many poems in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. 2. Seven-Stringed Qin Zither Music Seven-stringed Zither music in the Yuan Dynasty was sandwiched between the two prosperous periods of the Song Dynasty and that of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Outstanding violinists and works primarily include: Kublai Khan and Yelü Chucai The seven-stringed zither found the bulk of its popularity among Han literati, but in the Yuan Dynasty, it also attracted the love of Mongolian rulers and other ethnic literati, such as Yüan Shizu, a.k.a. Kublai Khan, (1215–1294). When he

SECTION 3 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

was young, Yelü Chucai recommend to him Miao Xiushi, a zitherist born in the Jin Dynasty who passed away in 1232 CE. When Wang Yüanliang, a zitherist who lived from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, accompanied the emperor, empress dowager and empress to Yanjing, Kublai Khan heard about Wang Shanqin and summoned him to play at the palace. When Wang Yüanliang asked Kublai Khan to allow him to be a commoner, Kublai Khan agreed to let it be so. Mao Minzhong, who also entered the Yuan Dynasty from the Song Dynasty, once traveled north from Lin’an (today’s Hangzhou, Zhejiang) to offer songs to Kublai Khan for officialdom, which also shows that great favor placed upon him. Yelü Chucai (1190–1244) was a member of the ­Khitan tribe, named Jinqing, and with an assumed name of Zhanran, the 8th grandson of Liaodong Dan. He was an important minister during the Mongolian period, assisting Genghis Khan and Ogedei Khan for nearly 30 years, and he was an official to Zhongshu. He was also an excellent seven-stringed zither player. He learned the zither from Dayong Mi, Xiushi Miao, and Song Wan. He had an extensive repertoire of expert music, most especially, The Water Sprite. He greatly admired Miao Xiushi. Whenever a new score came his way, he consulted with Miao Xiushi to fully comprehend the demands of the music before starts playing. After becoming a Mongolian official, Yelü Chucai actively recommended Miao Xiushi to the young Kublai Khan, but when Mr. Xiushi was found again in Nanjing (now Kaifeng, Henan), he was aging, and he passed away on the way north to Fanyang (now Zhuozhou, Hebei). Because Yelü Chucai was dedicated to studying the zither, his musical ear enabled him to pick up music in terms of melody and style with relative ease. At the request of Miao Xiushi’s son Miao Lan, he wrote a preface to more than 40 of Miao Xiushi’s scores that he left for posterity. Miao Lan learned the zither from his father and played exceptionally well. Yelü Chucai used the opportunity while

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he was on holiday to play more than 50 variations on traditional large-scale zither music with Miao Lan. His poem »An Esteem to Chief Pu Chayüan« (Zeng puchayüan shi 赠蒲察元帅) contains the following line, »The plain-sleeved beauty learns Han dance, while strains of the two-stringed violin make the Jade Palace prance,« which suggests the information exchange between the Mongolian and Han ethnic groups. Continuation of the Zhejiang School SevenStringed Zither The Zhejiang School seven-stringed zither, which flourished in the late Song Dynasty, continued in the Yuan Dynasty. The important deeds of the Southern Song Zhejiang School zither masters Mao Xün (Zi Minzhong) and Xü Yü (Zi Tianmin) were mainly in the Song Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty was only the coda. After the Yuan army broke Lin’an, Mao Minzhong went north to Dadu with zitherists Ye Lanpo and Xü Qiushan (the son of Xü Yü) in an attempt to capitalize on Kublai Khan’s praise of his prowess in the hopes it would catapult him to fame and fortune. He was highly recommended throughout the capital of Dadu by Kublai Khan. To promote his name, he renamed his old works, Mount Tushan in Old Anhui and Sightseeing in the Capital, and prepared to dedicate them to Kublai Khan. But his wish never came to fruition as he died on the very premises. Because his offer to Kublai Khan required him to beseech an official, Cha Fuxi regarded him as a »national traitor« and a »renegade.« Xu Tianmin was one of the most influential zither players. The zither player Yuan Jüe learned The Zhejiang Scores from Xü Yü, and later introduced the pedigree of seven-stringed zither from The Boudoir Scores to The Jiangxi Scores and then to The Zhejiang Scores in Explaining the Zither. Lin’an Daoist Jin Ruli also learned zither from Xü Tianmin and Xu Qiushan. He believed he has the best of Xu Yü, and he understood Yang Yan’s unspoken meaning in The Violet Clouds Scores (Zix-

CHAPTER IV MUSIC OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

iadong pu 紫霞洞谱). He compiled the 15 songs passed by Xu into Paradise Beyond the Clouds Zither Scores (Xiawai qinpu 霞外琴谱), indicating that this was a score that he has learned in addition to The Violet Clouds Scores (Zixiadong pu 紫 霞洞谱). Song Yinwen, a famous Zhejiang School zither player in the Yuan Dynasty was a student of Xü Qiushan. He excelled at playing Eighteen Beats of the Nomad Flute and was one of the outstanding Zhejiang school zither players in the Yuan Dynasty. After Xü Qiushan, the Zhejiang School had his son Xü Xiaoshan, his grandson Xü Hezhong (born in the early Ming Dynasty), and four generations of grandparents and grandchildren. In the Ming Dynasty, this was named the House of Xü. Wang Yuanliang Wang Yuanliang, birth name Shuiyun, was a zither virtuoso who survived from the Song Dynasty into the Yuan Dynasty. While living in the Southern Song Dynasty, he was able to enter and leave the palace solely on the basis of his exceptional zither skill. Wang Yüanling was a folk musician with a fierce national consciousness whom some scholars include in the Zhejiang School. After the Yuan army broke Lin’an, he followed Kublai Khan’s three queens, namely the emperor’s grandmother Xie Daoqing, Empress Dowager Quan Shi and Wang Zhaoyi, to go north to Yanjing, and was tasked with drumming and playing for Qüan Shi and Wang Zhaoyi. During his stay in Yanjing, he visited and played for him a number of times. In the preface of Wang Yuanliang’s Manuscript of the Hushan Genre collection, Liu Chenweng, a survivor of the Song Dynasty remarked, »Wang Shuiyun used a cloth to carry a zither across the River Yi, to make his way to the Yantai […] carrying it to senior minister Wenshan, where he performed the work Dark Imprisonment ten times. Wenshan [i.  e. Wen Tianxiang] also harmonized with him during the song.« Once, Wang Yüanliang played Eighteen Beats of the Nomad Flute for Wen Tianxiang, and read the collected text of Du Fu’s poems

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to beats. The senior minister and the commoners used music and poetry to communicate under the same circumstances in a subjugated land. Wang Yüanliang was also an exceptional poet. Mao Minzhong went north to beseech an official. The experience left him very indignant and in response he composed three poems, »Zitherist Mao Minzhong’s Northern Expedition,« to mock Mao Minzhong. Later generations collected more than 220 of his poems. While expressing grief and indignation, these poems also chronicled his own personal experience of the country’s subjugation. They were called epics by later generations. Kublai Khan heard of his zither skills and called him into the palace to play. He played an encore, a rousing performance that exhibited his »spirit of Gao Jianli.« However, he was ultimately resigned to beg Kublai Khan to allow him to take leave of a royal appointment to be a simple commoner.

3. Pipa Lute Music The lute song The Falcon and the Swan is the earliest hand-played lute song known in China. It was first seen in the poetry of Yuan Dynasty poet Yang Yünfu’s »The Luanjing Sonnets«: For the love of the lute’s melodious strains, under high moon goblets fill and drain. New sounds flood the song Liangzhou with a passionate yen, the swan swoops from the falcon’s claw, the hunt is in vain.

Yang Yünfu lived in the first half of the Yuan Dynasty (1268–1323). This was a new song, and the falcon is a ferocious hawk that the Mongols used as a hunting bird. The music describes the whole process of falcon chasing and capturing swans, reflecting one aspect of Mongolian people’s hunting life. The music is intense and captivating. Qing Dynasty Hua Qiuping’s Lute Scores (Pipa Pu 琵琶谱, 1818), Li Fangyuan’s Thirteen New Grand Opera Lute Scores of the Southern and Northern Schools (Nanbeipai shisantao daqu pipa xinpu 南北派十三套大曲琵琶新谱 , 1895) and

SECTION 4 YAYUE CEREMONY MUSIC AND YANYUE BANQUET MUSIC

other collections include this song, where the title was changed to The Falcon and the Crane. In the Yangzhengxüan Lute Scores (Yang zhengxüan pipa pu 养正轩琵琶谱, 1929) edited and annotated by Shen Haochu, it was changed to The Goose Swoops over the Sandy Plain. The most famous lute player in the Yuan Dynasty was Li Gongren. In the nineteenth year of Yuan Dynasty (1282), Li ascended to the royal court and spent 36 years in the palace. He returned home due to foot problems. Yuan Dynasty literati Yüan Jüe, Jie Naisi, and Wang Shixi each wrote a poem, »Li Gongren Lute Maestro,« to praise him, in which Yuan Shi said, »Emperor Jinyü made a stopover for a time, and drank in Li’s lute like fine wine.« This goes to show how renowned Li Gongren’s performances were.

Section 4  Yayue Ceremony Music and Yanyue Banquet Music Court music of the Yuan Dynasty included two aspects.

1. Yayue Ceremony Music The music of the Yuan Dynasty includes hall music, palace music, and the musical institutions of King Wen. Its formation has roughly gone through these stages: In the early years of Yuan Taizu, also known as Genghis Khan, he accepted the suggestion of Gao Zhiyao from Hexi and used the ancient music of the Western Xia Dynasty.

In the 10th year of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty (1238), based on advice from Confucius’ 51st grandson Kong Yüancuo, Emperor Taizong issued an edict, that if there were any local officials who understood the rites and music from the former kingdom of Jin, they were to move to the Dongping Mansion together with their families under

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the direction of Kong Yüancuo. In the 11th year of Emperor Taizong, Kong Yuancuo was ordered to Yenching to escort 92 people including Xü Zheng, who was in charge of ceremonial music, Wang Jie, who was in charge of etiquette, and Le Gong, who had been visited to Dongping Mansion. In April of the following year, Taizong ordered Dengge to conduct a drill at the Xuansheng Temple in Qüfu. In the 16th year of Emperor Taizong, Taichang sent Taile Ling Miaolan, recommended by Xü Zheng, to Dongping to instruct the workers to make two zithers for ceremonial music. A ceremonial music training base in Dongping Prefecture was established. In March of the 2nd year of Emperor Xianzong (1252), Yan Zhongji, Wanhu of Dongping Prefecture, was ordered to establish an organization to make and practice various gongxüan musical instruments, dresses, hats, and other ceremonial utensils. On August 11th, they would worship the Haotian God on Riyue Mountain. In the 3rd year of Emperor Xianzong, Kublai Khan, who had yet to ascend the throne, shuffled the management of Dongping Mansion. Song Zhouchen, who was then in charge of Dongping Mansion’s official affairs, was also in charge of Taile ceremonial officials and Le Gong. Their work was streamlined and improved. On July 11th in the spring of the first year of Zhongtong (1260), a new system of ceremonial music (hall music) was used to pay respect to ancestors in Zhongshu Province. In September of the following year, chief minister of the court of imperial sacrifices Wang Yong was ordered to oversee the musicians in the Dongping Mansion. In the 5th year of Zhongtong, based on to the proposal of the Minster of Sacrifices, the central secretariat

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enacted a new system of ceremonial music that was named »The Great Achievement of Music.« In October of the 1st year of the Yuan Dynasty (1264), an edict was issued to collect the Jin ­Dynasty ceremonial music musical instruments scattered amongst the people. In November of the 3rd year of the Yuan Dynasty, for the first time in the history of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the complete music of hall music, palace music and Wen Wu Second Dance were used. The framework of ceremonial music in the Yuan Dynasty thus took its rudimentary form, approximately a century before and after the Renzong period. The ceremonial music of the Yuan Dynasty was mainly an offshoot of Jin ceremonial music, which was restored and renamed on the basis of Song ceremonial music.

2. Yanyue Banquet Music The banquet music of the Yuan Dynasty, except for the three Hui songs, is all Mongolian music. Hui songs is the music brought back from West Asia or Xinjiang during the Western Expedition. The part of the banquet that was equivalent to the singing and dancing Grand Opera was performed by four »bands« (including bands and song and dance troupes). According to the occasion of use and the content of the performance, the band was divided into four types: the music king band, the birthday star band, the ritual band, and the remaining band. The music king band performed on New Year’s Day, the birthday star band performed on the Tianshou Festival, the ritual band performed during the pilgrimage, and the remaining band performed Buddhist songs and dances. At the time of Emperor Yuan Shun, there were 16 demon dances in the palace (see chapter V, section  1 for details), and the band also used both Han and Mongolian musical instruments.

CHAPTER V  DANCE OF THE YUAN DYNASTY Intercultural communication between different regions and ethnicities of China has been a significant driving factor behind the development of Chinese dance. It is recorded in the »Biography of Kublai Khan,« in the History of Yuan (Yuanshi, 元 史) that in the fourth lunar month of the 17th year of the Yuanzhi Era (1280), »The Song [Dynasty] Minister of Rituals, Music Bureau, and Court of Imperial Sacrifices were used [in the Yuan court].« In the second month of the 21st year, »Musicians from Jiangnan were included [in court music],« and in the first month of the 22nd year, »Eight hundred musician families moved from Jiangnan to the capital to seek instruction.« The musicians migrating northward brought the music of the south with them. Songs of the Yuan Court (Yuangong ci 元宫词) has the following description: »The beautiful music of the Minister of Rituals reverberates through the air, with clinking glasses endlessly conveying the tunes. One need not boast of Northern tunes now that the old musicians of Jiangnan have arrived.« The intermixture of Northern melodies and Southern verse became the driving force behind the interaction of Northern and Southern dance. Located at the core of the empire, the Mongolian people were also excellent singers and dancers, and the Yuan rulers were followers of Tibetan-style Buddhism. Due to political demands, they enacted religious tolerance policies which in turn accelerated the development of religious dances. However, the Yuan rulers also enacted discriminatory policies against other ethnic groups (especially the Han Chinese), restricting their freedom of speech and movement, particularly in regard

to group-based social activities. This of course proved a great hindrance to any special occasions that involved group dances. As dance became prominent within the rising tradition of Chinese opera, many talented singers and dancers became specialized in opera.

Section 1  Court Music and Dance The founder of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, also known as Emperor Shizu of Yuan, had a number of Han Chinese advisors at his side. As such, he had a decent understanding of Han Chinese culture and their feudal power structures. He followed the recommendations of these advisors by recruiting Confucian scholars to the court, enacting Han-advocated policies, and he promised in an imperial edict to »examine the great laws of the [Chinese] sages and discuss the ways of past eras.« He also established a centralized power structure based on the Han feudal system, and carried on Confucian rites and rituals. However, these rites and rituals were not simple imitations of the Song rulers of the previous era, but rather were the result of a multicultural amalgamation of Han Chinese and Mongolian court music (yayue) and folk music.

1. Yayue Dance for Sacrifices The yayue dance of the Yuan Dynasty was formulated from the traditional court dances of the rules from the northern steppes. These dances began with Genghis Khan and gradually developed over time, reaching their zenith under Kublai Khan,

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whereupon they were known as »Yuezhi ribei« (‌乐 制日备). Later, as recorded within »The Biography of Kublai Khan« in the History of Yuan, »In the second month of the 21st year (1284), musicians from Jiangnan were included [in the court], and in the first month of the 22nd year, 800 musician families moved from Jiangnan to the capital to seek instruction.« Everything from plundered instruments of the recently conquered Western Xia to the ritual and musical instruments of the late Jin Dynasty, as well as Han Chinese musicians from the Jiangnan Region, became concentrated around the area of the capital of Dadu, present-day Beijing. In the 8th year of the Zhiyuan era (1271) on the emperor’s birthday, the first official honor guard orchestra and the Bureau of Music were established. The yayue dances of the Yuan Dynasty included dance for suburban sacrifices, dance for the ancestral temple, and the Dance for the Ten Shrines of Taiding, all of which took on a variety of standards and forms. The civil dances (wenwu 文舞) and military dances (wuwu 武舞) of the Song Dynasty were also still used. 1. Dance for Suburban Sacrifices During the Civil Dance for Calling Spirits (Jiangshen wenwu 降神文舞), which involved dancers holding yue flutes, the first offering involved six parts of the Dance of Revering Virtue and The Melodies of Qianning. An offering of wine would also include a performance of the Dance of Revering Virtue, first using the Melody of Mingcheng and later adding drums. The secondary and final offerings involved a military dance in which dancers held shields and axes called the Dance of Certain Accomplishment. 2. Dance for the Ancestral Temple Performed during the sacrifices at eight of the shrines of the ancestral temple, the Civil Dance for Calling Spirits was performed open-handed and utilized nine parts of the Dance of Military

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Certainty and Scholarly Peace and the Melody of Laicheng. This dance set was established during the era of Kublai Khan. Apart from being able to use different musical accompaniments to differentiate different ancestors during the civil dance portion, it also used changes of direction during the military dance portion to signify the glory of the Yuan’s westward conquests before the formal establishment of the dynasty. In this way, the dance also served as a simple history of the founding of the Yuan empire. 3. Dance for the Ten Shrines of Taiding The Dance for the Ten Shrines of Taiding was a sacrificial dance formulated during the Taiding era (1324–1328) from the dances of the ancestral temple established by Kublai Khan. Under the new system, sacrifices were no longer made to Kublai Khan or the other deceased patriarchs at their shrines. Aside from the practice of each dance using different music for each shrine, the practice of using yue flutes in civil dances and shields and axes in military dances to symbolize the Yuan’s conquests was also abolished. In order to adapt to the ritual demands of dances, the Yuan court established a large organization for the oversight of dance.

2. »Orchestra« in Assemblies and Banquets The Yuan Dynasty had a strict system for »orchestras« (processional dances) based on what had been established during the Song. It is recorded in detail in the History of Yuan: On the New Year, use the »Procession of the King’s Music,« and perform the verses Ten Thousand Years of Joy, Willows of the Long Spring, and The Auspicious Banner; perform an ensemble piece for The Auspicious Banner; sing the songs New Waters, Buying Fine Wine, and The Song of Peace. On the emperor’s birthday, use the »Procession of the Emperor’s Birthday,« and perform Willows

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of the Long Spring; perform an ensemble piece for The Crab Apple Tree along with The Spirits’ Urgency; sing the songs New Waters, Buying Fine Wine, and The Song of Peace. At court gatherings use the »Musical Procession of Rites,« and perform Willows of the Long Spring; perform an ensemble piece for New Waters and Son of the Water Fairy; sing the song New Waters. After completing worship rituals of the Xia, sing one verse of Son of the Water Fairy, then sing The Green Cave, harmonized with the rear procession; sing the songs New Waters, Buying Fine Wine, and The Song of Peace.

3. The »Jamah Banquet« Under the Yuan system, during New Year’s celebrations, the emperor’s birthday, and court gatherings, a »jisun banquet« would always be held, »jisun« being the Mongolian word for »same attire.« The jisun banquet was also called the »jamah banquet,« »jamah« being the Persian word for a type of outerwear. All the attendants of a jamah banquet wore the same color of clothing, bestowed upon them by the Khan or emperor. It was a way for the ruler to show favor to subjects, and for him to clearly designate who was or was not in his good graces. It was a great honor to be bestowed with such attire, and was a symbol of high nobility. The Yuan rulers maintained some Mongolian hunter-gatherer traditions during these banquets; the ruler would sit at the head, while in front of him would be lined up his warriors and generals in brocade clothing, and sometimes even wild animals slain by his hunters would be displayed. After taking in the culture of the Central Plains, the court began to incorporate more elements of ritual into the banquet. For example, the emperor instructed the administrators of the Bureau of Music to temporarily stop the use of string and most wind instruments and instead had the court musician play yayue music on the xiao flute, signifying a transition towards the culture of the Central Plains.

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4. The Mysterious Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons The Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons is the only dance to be included in the History of Yuan, and is found within a chapter discussing the latter part of the dynasty, »The Biography of Emperor Shun.« It originated with the Buddhist tunes of the regions west of the Yellow River, and became widespread among the populace with the transmission of yu 娱 Buddhist dances by the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. It was performed by sixteen court dancers whose hair would be tied in several braids while wearing ivory headdresses. They wore scarlet-lined robes with gold coins, and adorned their bodies with pearls and jewels. They also wore padded gold coats and long sleeves, and tied ribbons to their shoes. Every dancer carried a kapala, a kind of Tibetan Buddhist ritual implement, while one dancer played a tune with a bell called a lingchu 铃杵. Another eleven court women formed the orchestra. Their hair was tied into a twisted coil called a chui ji 槌 髻, or »cudgel bun.« They wore a kerchief about their heads, tight-fitting clothing, and Tang-style hats. This performance was called »Praising Buddha,« though it was performed primarily for the pleasure of the emperor, aristocrats, and lama monks, and could otherwise only be viewed by capable Vajrayana practitioners. The kapala was a ritual implement used primarily by the Buddhist lamas, and is also known as a »skull bowl« as it was fashioned from a human cranium. The dance would be led by a single woman, whose speedy movements and whirling gives one a feeling that they might fly away at any moment (Fig. 7.5.1). The »heavenly demon« dances of zaju were also called »processional dances,« and take their roots from the Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons. Buddhist musical dances like this were incorporated into zaju, and were gradually merged into traditional Chinese opera.

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7.5.1 Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons

Emperor Shun of Yuan, also known as Emperor Huizong, took little interest in politics and lived a life of luxury. He would often invite lama monks to teach tantric sexual practices, and enjoyed obscene performances. He also spent extravagantly, combing through the Dance of the Sixteen Heavenly Demons for tantric practices, turning into a licentious show for the court’s enjoyment. After the emperor fled following the dynasty’s fall, the dance was believed to be merely the practice of a fallen nation.

5. Other Dances Seen through Historical Documents and Artifacts Some other dances of the Yuan Dynasty are recorded in various writings and unearthed artifacts. However, their records are quite brief, in some cases leaving nothing but a name. This has

made it difficult to get a thorough understanding of any of these dances; those given below are but a few simple descriptions. 1. The Character Dance Under the Yuan court system, all officials were required to dismount from their horses and proceed on foot when entering the imperial palace. Every time the emperor returned to the palace from an outing, the palace dancers would come out to sing and dance for him in greeting. The dancers grouped themselves such that they formed the four Chinese characters for »peace under heaven« (‌天, 下, 太, 平) as a way to extoll the emperor. Such a dance was also found during the Tang Dynasty, and is recorded in detail in the Rhapsody on the Character Dance of Kaiyuan (Kaiyuan ziwu fu 开元字舞赋). It was also found in the

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Song Dynasty, recorded as follows: »The dancers prostrate their bodies on the ground, and arrange [themselves] to form [Chinese] characters.« There were also other male dancers who wore fine, light garments with long sleeves, tied their beards, and danced by fluttering in the eight directions, hence the name of their dance, the Dance of Eight Openings (Ba zhan wu 八展舞). 2. The White-Tailed Sparrow The White-Tailed Sparrow (Bailing que 白翎雀) was composed by the Yuan Dynasty’s Royal Academy of Music. Tao Zongyi records it as such in his work Record of Nancun Ceasing His Work in the Fields (Nancun chou geng lu 南村辍耕录): Mister Chen Yunqiao said: The white-tailed sparrow comes from the lands of the Wuhuan tribe of the north. The males and females chirp and hoot together, creating their own music. Therefore, Emperor Shizu [Kublai Khan] ordered the court musician Shuo Delü to compose a song named after the birds. When it was composed, the emperor asked, »Why does it not have the sound of a discontented widow in mourning?« However, the song had already been spread around, and to this day none can change it.

While the emperor Kublai Khan was hunting outside of Daidu, he saw a group of white-tailed sparrows fly onto a pile of straw. This made Kublai nostalgic for the scenes of the grassy steppes around his homeland, so he ordered the court’s musician Shuo Delü to compose a song about it. The emperor was dissatisfied with the final project, saying it »does not have the sound of a discontented widow in mourning.« However, Shuo Delü was not able to make revisions before the score had already been disseminated. It is possible that Tao Zongyi heard this song, so in his section about The White-Tailed Sparrow he assessed it as such: »The beginning is wonderfully gentle and flowing, while the end is hurried and urgent. It feels highly incomplete, as such, I heartily disapprove of it.« We can see that he

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felt The White-Tailed Sparrow was obviously too rushed at the end and lacked any substance or charm. There is a line in Yang Weizhen’s poem, »Bamboo Branch Song of Wuxia« (Wuxia zhuzhi ge 吴下竹 枝歌) that reads, »The White-Tailed Sparrow is strummed with both hands, and 18 dancers carry hujia flutes.« The White-Tailed Sparrow could possibly be compared with Cai Wenji’s work Eighteen Hujia Beats (Hujia shiba pai 胡笳十八拍), as they both have the styles of the northern ethnic ­minorities. 3. The Dance of the Flipped Crown and Flying Strides and the Dance of the Rising Luan and Falling Crane There was a particularly talented woman in the court of Emperor Shun called Ning Xiang’er who was able to perform the notoriously difficult Dance of the Flipped Crown and Flying Strides (Fanguan feilü wu 翻冠飞履舞), as well as the fluttering, birdlike motions of the Dance of the Rising Luan and Falling Crane. The Qing Dynasty text Gujin Tushu Jicheng (‌古今 图书集成), also known as the Imperial Encyclopaedia, cites the Record of the Yuan Residential Quarters to show that Ning Xiang’er was indeed not chosen simply due to her sexual attractiveness like most imperial concubines, but rather for her exceptional talent as not only a dancer but also a musician; the Record states that she was »adept at the drum and the se zither, and knows the ways of music.« A Yuan Dynasty tomb was discovered in recent years in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, within which is a colored picture of a dance troupe in which the orchestra has jiegu drums, the same kind of drum as found in 1978 on a Khitay jade tablet of a dancer, also in Chifeng. In 1973, eight Yuan Dynasty carved stone figures were unearthed in Xifengfeng Township of Jiaozuo, Henan Province. Among these, two depicted servant children, while the other six depicted

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dancers, giving a representation of the dances of the northern Jie people (Fig. 7.5.2). 4. Haiqing Takes the Goose Yang Yunfu’s previously-mentioned pipa work Odes to Luanjing reflects the Yuan rulers’ life of hunting on the frontier. In the evenings, hunters would gather in their camps to drink freshly-churned mare’s-milk liquor and eat the day’s catch of Mongolian gazelle or gerbils while singing and dancing Haiqing Dance to the beat of a drum. Haiqing Takes the Goose is not only a pipa melody, but also a dance accompanied by the pipa.

Section 2  Religious Dance 1. Mongolian Dances in Worship of Grand Trees Living on the plains, the Mongolian people had scant capacity for production. This led to a great respect for, and in turn worship of, the natural world, and the belief that all living things have souls—shamanism. Mongolian shamanism reveres the sky-god Tengrin as the supreme deity. As such, anything that reached the sky was afforded great respect in Mongolian nature-worshipping practices, such as trees and mountains. Large trees in particular, seldom seen on the Mongolian steppes, were revered as gods and spirits, and were considered mother to all things, an umbilical cord to the land from which all things emerge. The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty (Yuan chao mi shi 元朝秘史) records that when the great-uncle of Genghis Khan, Hotula, took the position of Khan, he danced with the common people under the trees. It is a traditional Mongolian custom to perform a dance encircling trees, with a wild vigor that could »kick dust up to one’s knees,« and take long, »unrestrained footsteps.« The power and

7.5.2 Yuan zaju carving, Jiaozuo, Henan Province

vigor of these dances showcased the rugged and agile nature of the nomadic tribes, as well as their devotion to the spirits.

2. Songs and Dances of Shamanic Séance and Andai The word »shaman« is derived from a Tungusic word meaning »someone who dances ecstatically from excitement.« However, the Mongols called their own shamanic witch-doctors by the names Huandun and Bo’ke. The Huandun is considered the grandson of Heaven, and is the steward of this world. The Bo’ke serves as an emissary between the worlds of humans and spirits, and often represents the will of the spirits during religious events. Upon death, their soul becomes

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a burgud—an eagle, as the eagle god is regarded as the first ancestor of the Mongolian people in their shamanic tradition. Bo’ke served in many different roles. Some were specifically responsible for divination, others for delivering children. Those responsible for curing illnesses through songs and dance were called Andai Bo’ke, as well as sometimes »singing white eagles.« They would use songs and dances to call upon the spirits to cure a variety of ailments, including mental illness. According to legend, there was a dance called Ada Andai, which was used to relieve women of lovesickness caused by a haunting from a »ghost lord,« as well as a dance called Wuruga Andai which was used to treat female infertility. The Yuan Dynasty scholar Wu Lai wrote in Séance Songs of the Shamans of the North (Beifang wuzhe jiangshen ge 北方巫者降神歌) that the shaman women would start their dance with »beating a drum and singing,« accompanied by a zheng and pipa. When calling upon the spirits, the shaman would not only sing along with the beat of the drum, but also imitate the sounds of animals, while the movements of the dance themselves resembled a proud raptor in flight. By merging performance techniques like music, dance, and vocal mimicry, a powerful, colorful scene was created.

3. The Capital Parade, a Grand Buddhist Event The Capital Parade of the Yuan Dynasty was a grand parade organized by the Imperial Secretariat, and involved dancing, singing, and other performances. The »Treatise on Sacrifices« (Jisi zhi 祭祀志) in the History of Yuan records that the Capital Parade began in the seventh year of the Yuanzhi era (1270), and occurred annually on the 14th, 15th, and 16th day of the second month in Daidu, and was attended by several thousand people. After a month of preparation, the first parade included colorful flags, music, exquisite attire, and several teams of performers. The parade made its way past all 360 of the city’s state-run

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Buddhist temples and shrines, and stretched for over thirty li, or 15  km, with viewing platforms at several areas for the emperor, empress, and royal family. In his piece Odes to Luanjing, Yang Yunfu describes how every year at the parade all kinds of artistic performers would gather in the capital, and the crowds would follow after them everywhere as they showcased various tricks and talents.

4. The Cham Dance, a Monastic Dance of Tibetan Buddhism Dances at all Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries came to be a standardized form of dance known as Cham. Due to phonological differences in the Mongolian language, the word Cham later became Chama. The first Tibetan Buddhist monastery established during the Tibetan Empire was Samye Monastery. In the year 767, when Guru Padmasambhava established and consecrated the temple, he also passed on incantations to expel foul spirits, as well as the tantric dance of »unsurpassable yoga« called the Golden Dance. The Golden Dance incorporated elements of masked dances and drum dances from the Bon religion, and was used in Buddhist ceremonies for expelling ghosts and praising spirits. It set off the development of Tibetan monastic dances; one could say that Padmasambhava was the first to use dance as a way of subduing demons and spirits. The dances which developed from the Golden Dance were called Cham, and took on unique features that differentiate them from both the Golden Dance and the Bon rituals for expelling spirits. Preserved in the lamaseries, the Chama Sutra was a crucial guidebook to learning the Chama dances. The sutra explains that most of the events at different Tibetan Buddhist monasteries were relatively similar, the only differences being due to differences of sect or the size of the respective monasteries. The relics preserved in the lamaseries of modern-day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are nearly identical to the »devil’s dance«

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Chama implements in Beijing’s Yonghe Temple. The Chama dances were brought from Tibet to the Guangzong Temple in Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor in the Qing Dynasty and all the way up to the 1960s.

5. Dance in Yuan Dynasty Dunhuang Murals The Buddhist art found in the Dunhuang caves reflects not only the fusion of Buddhist imagery with the art of the Central Plains, but also depicts some Yuan Dynasty dance forms. Among the relatively rare Yuan-era Buddhist caves, the murals in Mogao Cave no. 465 give us a prime example of the artistry of the Yuan Dynasty’s state religion—lamaism—and are brilliant pieces from the golden age of the Sakya school of

7.5.3 Tantric dancers, Mogao Cave no. 465, Dunhuang

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Vajrayana Buddhism. Three of the cave murals depict the »double-body image« of Buddha Shakyamuni subduing the creatures of the desire realm. They show a husband and wife standing in each other’s embrace, showing the »six places of love.« However, the atmosphere is one of fear, as shown by the expressions of rage upon the subjects’ faces and strings of skulls around their necks. There are also striking images of bodhisattvas in unique dancing positions, while gandharvas, Buddhist devas known for their musical skill, cluster around them with song and dance (Fig. 7.5.3). In 1982 at a Yuan Dynasty tomb at Quhuisi Temple in Lingqiu County, Shanxi Province, an exquisite golden headdress was unearthed, revealing the characteristics of the headdresses of Yuan Dynasty ladies, which were modeled after the gandharvas.

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On the ceiling of Yulin Cave no.  10, constructed during the Yuan Dynasty, there is an image of nine »musical devas« (Ji yue tian 伎乐天) playing music with instruments such as the pipa, zheng, huqin, xiao flute, single-faced and waist-held drums played with mallets, yu pipes, and hengdi flutes. It is the earliest known depiction of string instruments. The top of the eastern cave wall depicts a line of instruments including the jiao horn, drums, nao, tao rattle drums, paixiao pipes, waistheld drums, zheng, paiban, pipa, yu pipes, huqin, and single-faced drums. This depicts the idea that the Dharma is capable of causing musical instruments to perform on their own, with no human musicians. Furthermore, on the southern wall of Mogao Cave no. 465, near the image of Hevajra is a three-eyed nude figure with large breasts and a slender waist rising above a flame. Her left leg is raised, with her left hand bending around the leg while holding an earthen bowl, while her right hand holds a gada mallet. The Yuan Dynasty painting in Yulin Cave no.  4 also vividly depicts female religious dancers, some of whom are playing lingchu bells, bo cymbals, or Tibetan horns. All of these paintings depict dances from the lamaist tradition, art forms which were heavily influenced by Indian religions.

6. Dongba Dances as Recorded in Dongba Scriptures In ancient times, the numerous ethnic groups of southwestern China were called »the southwest barbarians.« The Nanzhao Kingdom was established there during the Tang Dynasty, later to become the Dali Kingdom during the Five Dynasties, which remained untouched by the rulers of the Central Plains until the Yuan Dynasty. Kublai Khan conquered the Dali Kingdom after his forces crossed the Jinsha River, after which the region was governed as a province of the Yuan Dynasty called the Yunnan Branch Secretariat. He also sent several pacification commissioners, and

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from there on the Dali Kingdom, as well as parts of neighboring Myanmar and Laos fell under the sway of the Yuan. While enslaved by the Dali Kingdom in the 12th century, the Naxi 纳西 people created the Dongba script, which is still in use today. It is made of ideographs and pictographs, and cannot be read based on the script alone; rather, it must be interpreted by someone who is familiar with the oral tradition associated with it. The Dongba Sutra (Dongba jing 东巴经) was written on strips of cotton parchment roughly nine cun (11.8 ″) long and three cun (3.9 ″) wide, with three lines of script on each page. It is written from left to right, and used a mixture of soot and pig’s bile, as well as mineral pigments, for ink. It was used for sacrifices and divination, and covered various topics such as history, religion, philosophy, literature, astronomy, geography, law, agriculture, technology, and dance. The sacrificial dance movements of the Dongba religion have been preserved and passed down through the form of the ideographs of the scripture—so much so that the scripture has come to be called the Dongba Sutra Dance Manual (Dongba jing wu pu 东巴经舞谱). During the late Tang through the Five Dynasties, the Bon religion of the Tibetan Empire exerted its influence on the Dongba religion, to the point that the Bon shaman Dongba Shilo is now considered the founder of the Dongba religion. The Dongba Sutra also exhibits signs of lama influence. The Roadmap of the Gods (Shen lu tu 神路图), a cloth Dongba scroll dating back to the Qing Dynasty (now housed in the Lijiang Cultural Museum), depicts the disciples of Dongba Shilo after his death performing the rites for him to transcend to the 33rd deva realm. The disciples’ hair are tied in the same kind of buns as the early Naxi people, though some wear their hair down. They wear a cord around their waists and hemp lower garments, as well as felt shawls, similar to the images of dancers. In the 32nd and 33rd sections

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7.5.4 Dongba Roadmap of the Gods scroll, Lijiang Cultural Museum, Yunnan Province

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of the Roadmap of the Gods, apart from depicting Dongba Shilo’s disciples performing the Dance of Entering Preciousness (Jin bao wu 进宝舞) and other singers and dancers with percussion and wind instruments, it also shows people wearing Yuan Mongol-style wide-brimmed leather (or felt) hats, proving that they had been influenced by Yuan Mongol culture (Fig. 7.5.4). Now, with the Dongba Sutra having been passed down through the generations, we are able to split the dances performed into five categories: The first are dances that venerate the gods. These include dozens of dances such as the Dongba Shilo Dance and the Dharmapala Dance of Nine Lights and Nine Venerations. The second are dances about animals, which can be further divided into three types: (1) Those with set meanings. For example, the Dance of the Golden Frog depicts the Dongba story of creation and the origin of dance; the Dance of the Flycatcher depicts how the spirits bestow benefits upon those who do good; and the Dance of the Golden Peacock depicts the arrival of auspicious omens. (2) Animals used by the spirits. These include the dances of divine beasts such as the red tiger or red lion. (3) Dances for common animals, such as the hedgehog, mountain goat, leopard, or white horse. The third is dances involving objects such as musical instruments (e.  g., bells, drums, gongs) or ritual objects (e.  g., exorcism mallets, ritual staves, spirit lamps). The fourth is dances for warfare, such as the Dance of Dharmapala Youma Capturing the Enemy and Slaying Ghosts, or the Dance of Suppressing and Slaying the Banshee. The fifth is masked dances. Such dances had masks in forms such as a white deer, a pien niu (offspring of a bull and female yak), a porcupine, a red deer, or a monkey.

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7.5.5 Dongba Sutra Dance Manual (line drawing), Naxi people

These dances were all to be performed according to the rules in the Dongba Sutra. Fig. 7.5.5 The text below the dance depictions is the phonetic script of the Naxi language, called Geba (according to Chinese pinyin pronunciation). It reads: »When performing the Dance of the Golden Frog, first take one step with your left leg. Then ring your bell above yourself while bringing your foot back and stamping down. Step forward with your right foot, then turn your face to the left three times. Squat down and raise your legs forward twice.« The dance described in Rules of the Spirit Dance (Tiao shen wudao guicheng 跳神舞蹈规程) is similar to this one, though of a different length at a total of 32 steps. Every dance found in the Dongba Sutra has different kinds of steps of varying amounts, and all must be performed strictly according to the instructions given.

Section 3  Folk Dance 1. The Widely Circulated »Stomp Song« »Stomp songs« are a kind dance found in many different areas of China. They involve both singing and dancing, and their primary characteristic is stomping one’s feet to create a tempo. The »stomp songs« of the Yuan Dynasty are recorded

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in many texts and poems. The Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty includes the dance of encircling trees, while »The White-Tailed Sparrow« in Record of Nancun Ceasing his Work in the Fields notes, »The gazelle feeds the leopard’s young, fine wine overflows from ten thousand cups. The purple canopies of Nine Dragon Temple are held high, the sound of the stomp song is vigorous like thunder.« Yuan Tong writes in Matters of Letters From an Inn (Keshe shu shi 客舍书事), »The slanted sun cannot be seen enough, stomping dances carry it together.« Nai Xian writes in Song on the Wall (‌塞上曲), »We stomp and sing and get drunk in the camp ’till nightfall, the sound of whips and drums press on the ocean.« The Nantong Museum in ­Jiangsu province has Yuan Dynasty copper casts of figures of female dancers raising their sleeves and stomping their feet, while the »Treatise on Administering Punishments—Prohibitions« in the History of Yuan has strict stipulations which imply that the courtesans of the Yuan Dynasty were taught stomp songs.

2. The Kuku Headdress and Dancing Wild Geese The Kuku (Chinese pronunciation Gugu guan 罟罟冠) was a headdress worn by Mongolian aristocratic women during the Yuan Dynasty, and originally was unrelated to dance. Chapter 16 of A Record of Yuan Poetry (Yuan shi jishi 元诗纪 事) quotes a line from Taiding-era scholar Yang Weizhen’s poem, »Branch Song of Wuxia«: »The kuku is one chi [just over a foot] high, those who wear it can sing like an oriole and dance like a goose.« This reference to geese is directly related to the dance called Dancing Wild Geese. While performing the dance, dancers would wear a hat roughly a foot tall and have to keep their bodies and necks completely straight and upright. Likewise, while entering a tent wearing a kuku headdress, women were not allowed to lean their head down, so they had to keep straight and bend down in an upright position as in the dance.

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The chapter »Standards of Musical Tuning« in the Gujin Tushu Jicheng quotes Yu Yan’s poem, »Corrupt Conversations at the Banquet« (Xi shang fu tan 席上腐谈) as saying, »I see the court ladies perform the Dance of the Mulberry Branch. They wear a red object on their heads, it is long and pointed, like a horn. I suppose this is the kuku.« Yu Yan came from the Wu Commandery in present-day Zhejiang and Jiangsu Province, and lived during the end of the Song and beginning of the Yuan dynasties. This line indicates that the kuku headdress was already in relatively widespread use in the region at the time. Comparing Yu Yan and Yang Weizhen’s poems, we see that the headdress was worn by the court dancers when performing both Dancing Wild Geese and Dance of the Mulberry Branch. The kuku originated from the northern tribes. It has a tall, tube-like shape, and was worn solely by aristocratic women. There were no set rules for the adornments on a kuku, though there would be significant differences depending on the wearer’s social and economic status. The Dancing Wild Geese dance itself potentially imitated the movements of birds, making it a direct descendant of the dances of the Mongolian tribes from the steppes.

3. The Huihui Dance Passed from Central and West Asia The so-called »Huihui« 回回 of the Yuan Dynasty refers to a caste of people within the empire who came from Central and West Asia, usually Muslim merchants, who came to be well-respected by the Yuan government. Mongolian merchants as well as the Huihui who were sent west by the Mongols as officials brought back the songs and dances of West and Central Asia to the Central Plains. These songs and dances were often called Huihui dances or Huihui songs. The 18th chapter of Record of Nancun Ceasing his Work in the Fields includes the names of some of these Huihui songs, including Kangli (Kang li 伉里), Song of Muhammad (Maheimo dangdang 马黑某当当), and Song of the

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Clear Spring (Qingquan dangdang 清泉当当). Zaju and play scripts also took in many Huihui songs and dances. For example, The Shepard (Muyang ji 牧羊记) includes at least two different Huihui songs and one dance.

4. Refined Music of Baisha, Folk Music and Dance of the Southwestern Peoples Refined Music of Baisha (Baisha xi yue 白沙细 乐), also called Refined Pear of Baisha (Baisha xi li 白沙细梨) or The Departure Gift (‌别时谢礼) is a long-standing tradition of the Naxi people, incorporating music, song, and dance into a single artform. It is said that when Kublai Khan and his army entered the Dali Kingdom in 1253, then crossed the Jinsha River and arrived in Lijiang, the Naxi leader Mai Liang welcomed them, and gave them gifts during their military exploits. Kublai later bestowed Mai Liang with an official position, and when he returned to his army, he granted Mai Liang’s »departure gift« the name Refined Music of Baisha, and lauded it as »A gift to the Yuan clan.« This »refined music« does not use percussion, and has a smooth, melodious, melancholy style. Nowadays, Refined Music of Baisha and associated dance is primarily performed at memorial services. Its melodies, instruments, overall performance (performers still wear traditional headscarves and Mongolian-style long robes) all take Naxi traditions as their foundation while also incorporating the music and dances of the Yuan. The Refined Music of Baisha starts with a prelude called Sincerity (Du 笃) followed by ten movements: A Letter, Three Trickles of Water on Snow Mountain, Beautiful White Clouds, The Barefoot Dance Melody, The Bow and Arrow Dance Melody, Southern Melody, Northern Melody, Lychee Blossoms, The Skylark’s Dance Melody, and Crying to Heaven. All three dance melodies as well as Beautiful White Clouds include dance performances. The Dongba Sutra records the dances as such: 1) The Barefoot Dance Melody shows the hardships

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of the Naxi people crossing mountains with bare feet. It includes techniques such as jumps, spins, stomps, and bends; 2) The Skylark’s Dance Melody is performed by two people, one representing a black skylark, the other white. The dancers hold a fan in each hand and dance as if in flight, singing and dancing at the same time. The dance must be accompanied by a 13-stringed zheng; 3) The Bow and Arrow Dance Melody has been lost; 4) Beautiful White Clouds, a section of Dance of the White Crane, is similar to the section »Memorial for the Departed« (Ji sizhe 祭死者) of the Dongba Sutra— Elegies in its lyrics involving the pacification and expulsion of ghosts.

5. Han Folk Dances The Yuan rulers put many restrictions on the ethnic Han Chinese and southern Song peoples, with rules such as »For those who gather in crowds in special attire to beat gongs and drums for festivals to the spirits, the leader shall receive 57 lashes and the followers shall be demoted one rank.« However, this did not include restrictions on the songs and dances of the Chinese people’s holidays so long as they did not interfere with Mongol rule. 1. Welcoming Drums According to legend, Welcoming Drums (Ya gu 迓鼓) was compiled during the Song Dynasty as a way for the military general and the prince to train their troops while resisting the invading Western Xia. It remained popular during the Yuan Dynasty, and is mentioned several times in the Sanqu [songs] of Yuan (Quan yuan sanqu 全元散 曲). For example, the writer Zhang Kejiu wrote a line in his work »Tearing Cassia Bark—Reply to Seclusion«: »The young girls go out to perform the Welcoming Drums dance on the Lantern Festival.« There is also another set written by an anonymous Yuan scholar which is called The Yuediao of Fighting Quails (Yuediao dou anchun 越调 斗鹌鹑), which has a line that reads, »The air is filled with the clamorous sound of the Welcoming

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Drums,« while the sanqu writer Hu Zishan wrote in his poem »Welcoming Drums«: »The children dancing to the drums are as spritely as a fresh new set of clothes.« These all indicate that the Welcoming Drums dance was a popular activity during the festivities of the Lantern Festival. Welcoming Drums in the Village (Cun li ya gu 村里迓鼓), a part of the set Tunes of the Palace (Xian lü gong 仙 吕宫), is often used in zaju. Welcoming Drums is also mentioned in Record of Nancun Ceasing his Work in the Fields in a section called »Welcoming Drums at the Riverbend.« 2. The White Ramie Dance The White Ramie Dance (Baizhu wu 白纻舞) was originally a folk dance that originated in the Jiangnan Region (near present-day Jiangsu and Zhejiang) during the Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era. It later came to be performed during banquets at the royal court, and during the Tang Dynasty it was reverted to the Qingshang style music of the Three Kingdoms era. It is named after the long robes woven from white ramie fibers, which have been praised for their beauty by poets and writers through the ages. They were often given as offerings to monarchs or as amusement for the spirits. In the 3rd chapter of Collection of Selected Yuan Poems (Yuan shi biecai ji 元诗别裁集), the lateYuan poet from Shanyin (in present-day Zhejiang Province) Zhang Xian described in his poem, »Song of the White Ramie Dance« (Baizhu wuci 白 纻舞词): The ladies of the court of Wu carry sacrificial knives and wear long dance robes of ramie. Clouds hang over us whiter than snow, the Jichu song returns loftily. The nine young ladies with hairpins of purple jade, in waist-hugging garments their steps are made. Cherries agleam revealed in fluttering sleeves of white, parrots to their golden cages return from their flight.

This verse tells us that performers of the White Ramie Dance wore long, form-fitting robes woven from ramie fibers, and would sing the Jichu 激楚

CHAPTER V DANCE OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

song as they danced, wore hairpins inlaid with purple jade, took small, quick steps, and unfurled long white sleeves.

Section 4  Dance in Zaju and Opera The rise of zaju indicated the full maturation of the art of traditional Chinese opera, which also had a strong influence on the development of Chinese dance. According to zaju scripts, dances performed in operas from the time roughly fell into three different categories. The first category is those dances which are based on normal human movements. Within the zaju scripts would be written stage directions called ke 科, reminding the performers of the emotion to display or action they were to take on stage—for example, the »Laughter ke,« »Leave ke,« or »Cry out like a wild goose ke.« The Peach Blossom Girl Breaks the Rules to Marry the Duke of Zhou (Taohua nü po fa jia Zhou Gong 桃花女破法嫁周公) has a ke that instructs, »The role of the virtuous female [zhengdan 正旦] picks up and presents a cup of wine.« In The Swindler Girl Changes the Scene (Zha nizi tiao fengyue 诈妮子调风月), there are two different ke, including »See the lantern moths« and »catch a lantern moth,« which instruct the dancer on what actions to perform. Emperor Ming of Tang on a Rainy Autumn Night Under Wutong Trees (Tang minghuang qiu ye wutong yu 唐明皇秋夜梧桐雨) has a ke that simply says »do the dance«—referring to a spinning dance of the western tribes. The Three Heroes Battle Lü Bu at Hulao Pass (Hulao guan san ying zhan Lü Bu 虎牢 关三英战吕布) has several ke, such as »Do battle« and »two people battle each other in harmony,« which remind actors to perform dance techniques with martial arts incorporated into them. Zaju also directly utilized aspects of Chinese folk dances. For example, The Bamboo Horse Dance (Zhu ma wu 竹马舞) is a kind of processional dance from

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the Song Dynasty which has been passed down to this day, now called Running Bamboo Horses, though in zaju it has been called names such as Trudging Bamboo Horses. As the name implies, the dance involves using bamboo horse figures to imitate galloping onto a battlefield and fighting in close combat. The second category is when the actors perform a dance piece within the opera for the sake of advancing the plot, and are created according to the opera’s story. For example, in Emperor Ming of Tang on a Rainy Autumn Night Under Wutong Trees, Strongman Gao implores Madame Yang to come perform the Dance of the Raiment of Rainbows (Nichang zhi wu 霓裳之舞), which is what brings the character of Yang Guifei into the scene. The third category is those dances which are inserted into an opera and deviate from the overall

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plot. Due to its popularity, the dance Music in the Village Fields (Cuntian yue 村田乐) was put into some zaju performances, not in order to advance the plot, but rather simply for the sake of having the dance itself. In Zhu Kai’s zaju called Liu Xuande Drunkenly Walks to Yellow Crane Pavillion (Liu Xuande zui zou huang he lou 刘玄德醉走黄 鹤楼), in the second act when Liu Bei passes on secret information, a dance adapted after Music in the Village Fields is performed by two characters who emulate a scene of farmers dancing and singing at a festival. These kinds of seemingly randomly inserted dances were quite common in zaju. This tells us that not only did audiences of the time have a particular fondness for dance and song, but also that the dances of traditional Chinese opera still had not fully developed.

CHAPTER VI  PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND SEAL CARVING IN THE YUAN DYNASTY Section 1  Painting of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Loyalist Painters Hold to Tradition After the fall of the Southern Song in 1279, some loyalist painters in the Jiangnan region maintained a position of staunch resistance, or at the very least non-cooperation, with the newly established dynasty. They regularly paid homage at the ruins of the Southern Song capital to vent their longings for the past. At this time of dynastic transition, these painters clung to tradition and expressed their laments and anger through poetry, literature, calligraphy and painting. Loyalist painters of the early Yuan Dynasty included Gong Kai, Zheng Sixiao, Qian Xuan and Wen Riguan. In this unique historical context, they maintained their beliefs and expressed resistance through artworks with the ideals of truth, kindness and beauty that were recognized despite the unrelenting wheels of history. 1. Gong Kai, a Man of Passion and Anger Gong Kai (1221–c. 1305), a native of Huaiyin (present-day Jiangsu Province), was also known under the courtesy name Sheng Yu and the pseudonyms Cui Yan and the later Cui Weng. Born into a scholar family of modest standing, he was »burdened with talent« from a young age and dedicated himself to »winning a golden wound and sleeping in the emperor’s stables.« During the reign of (Southern Song) Emperor Lizong (1260–1264), he was appointed as a supervisor under the Department of Planning and Allocations, then later served as an attaché to

generals Li Tingzhi and Lu Xiufu in their defense of Yangzhou against the Mongols. After the siege of Yangzhou had ended, he traveled by sea to Fujian to search for Song Emperor Duanzong. In the chaos of war, Gong Kai lost contact with Song forces and journeyed from Quannan (present-day Minhou in Fujian Province) to Zhexi (present-day Suzhou). There, he learned that Lu Xiufu had met his end and that the kingdom had fallen—but he remained hopeful that »the gods of the earth and grain [metaphor for the state] could be restored from ruin.« He carefully collected nineteen memorial poems by Southern Song loyalists and compiled them into the Prologue of Poetry In Memoriam for Lu Xiufu (Ji Lu Jun shi wan shi xu 辑陆 君实挽诗序). In 1283, when Wen Tianxiang was martyred, Gong Kai’s anger once again came to a head. He composed the work Biography of Grand Chancellor Wen of the Song (Song Wen chengxiang zhuan 宋文 丞相传), in which he closely analyzed the military reasons for the fall of the Song Dynasty. After unification under the Yuan Dynasty, many Confucian scholars in the Jiangnan region joined the new court. Gong Kai desired to maintain a spirit encapsulated in the line »grains of the Zhou towered like mountains, while Boyi and Shuqi chose hunger.« He was active in Jiangnan literary circles as an open loyalist, keeping a long beard and graceful eyebrows, tall of stature and refined of character as the immortals and swordsmen in paintings of old. Gong Kai’s preferred subjects were thin horses and the warrior Zhong Kui—and from the poems that accompanied his paintings, the meaning that they carried is clear. For example, his painting

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Jun Gu a Noble Horse depicts a thin horse walking slowly with the wind to his back and his head lowered. His mane and tail blow loosely in the wind, and while seemingly wrenched and sorrowful, the painting also hides a profound spiritual power. The poem accompanying the painting reads, »Ever since the clouds and mist fell upon the Heavenly Pass, empty have been the twelve imperial stables of the former dynasty. Today who will have pity for the shrunken form of his splendid body? In the light of the setting sun, on the sandy bank, he casts his towering shadow—like a mountain!« The horse was in fact a metaphor for Gong Kai himself. Despite being burdened in his youth and unable to achieve his goals, Gong Kai was able to express the grief that all loyalists felt from the loss of their sovereign and homeland in painting this thin horse. The lines of the thin horse were achieved by the application of midbrush hooks, adding layer after layer of light ink to create a contrast of light and dark and provide texture to the skin and hair. Fifteen ribs can be seen on the horse’s body, embodying the artists words, »Now being away from home, one can’t help but become thin, hence this image. Estranged by a thousand li, the crooked and the inferior are no longer taboo.« The scroll painting, Zhong Kui Traveling, depicts Zhong Kui and his sister on palanquins being carried by demon servants. Zhong Kui’s sister and her serving girls are shown with makeup of deep ink, known as »ink rouge.« All of the demons have the heads of horses, with some wearing tunics of animal skin while others have helmets similar to Mongol cavalry, bringing to mind the Mongolian nobles who won their empire on horseback. In a poem in the colophon section of the scroll, Zhou Yun encapsulates the theme of the painting in the line »sweeping away the vicious and evil,« while Chen Fang tightly links the painting with the mind of the artist in the line, »The old man with his pen is as a great general, capturing the myriad demons and driving away the ominous. His heart

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is as that of Zhong Kui, waving his command standard as his meaning dictates […]« In his later years, Gong Kai was influenced greatly by Daoist and Buddhist teachings, resulting in strongly emotional themes, like the »beating of demons« and the »thin horse« giving way to gentler content, such as the life of the recluse, traveling from Hongya, and the washing of elephants. 2. Zheng Sixiao, a Man of Sorrow Zheng Sixiao, a native of Lianjiang in Fujian Province, lived from 1241 to 1318 and was known under the courtesy names Suonan and Yiweng. His father and uncle were the heads of the Pingjiang Academy (in present-day Suzhou) during the Southern Song. In his youth, Zheng Sixiao carried on the teachings of his father and was a virtuous and noble person. By the end of the Song Dynasty, he sat for the Erudites Literati examination as a member of the Imperial Academy, and was appointed to head the Hejing Academy. He also offered strategies at court for defending against the Mongols, but they were not used. After the fall of the Song Dynasty, he hid away in the temples and alleyways of Suzhou, remaining »staunch in his solitary loyalty.« His writings include A History of the Heart (xin shi 心史) and A Collection of Poems by Suonan (suo nan shi ji 所南诗集). He was the most vocal among the Southern Song loyalists in his resistance against the Yuan Dynasty rulers, and his actions were the most determined. It is said that he hung a ceremonial tablet above his door that read »A World Void of Origin« (Ben xue shi jie 本穴世界), with the form of the first two characters alluding to the Great Song (Da Song 大宋). He generally »wore a shawl and carried a staff, walking alone, sitting alone, lying alone, drinking alone, taking wine alone and coming and going alone« amidst the temples and hills. Nearing the year’s end, he would look to the south and wail, paying his respects and returning home. His wealth of poetry contains his solitary anger and sorrow, cursing the Yuan regime and

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longing for the restoration of the Southern Song. In Passing the School at Qi Zifang, he writes, »The sky casts an ancient pallor on the wooden doors, family traditions of old remain. In this life, I have never received kindness save from my father and my king,« an expression of his steadfast loyalty to the court of the Southern Song. His loyalty to the previous dynasty was in fact a defense of mores and cultural values that were inherent to his people. This enabled him to safeguard his personal character despite the spiritual pains he had to endure living in such adversity. Zheng Sixiao was also a poet, and his ink brush painting of orchids imbues a deep longing for the Song: »When painting the orchid, its flowers were few and leaves thin, with no earth to cling to. Someone asks, ›Can you bear that the land has been taken by barbarians?‹« His orchid paintings were famous throughout the Jiangnan region and he received countless requests for them, but Zheng Sixiao believed in the maxim that »A request may be left unfulfilled, but the lack of request may result in a gift.« Once, an official in Jiading tried to coerce him to paint his famous orchids. He replied, »I may lose my hands, but you will not have your orchid.« Clearly, Zheng Sixiao reserved a special hatred for officials that served the Yuan. A scroll of Zheng Sixiao’s orchids still survives today, its leaves painted with just a few strokes, embracing two buds. The strokes are strong and robust with an air that is unsullied and noble. The brushwork of both his calligraphy and painting is strongly influenced by the clerical script style, which calls for an introspective and reserved hand. His poetry betrays his hatred for his Yuan overlords even more pointedly, »I have often bowed my head, asking Emperor Xi of old, who are you to come to this place? You have not opened your nostrils before this image, yet ancient incense wafts through the air.« Zheng Sixiao’s paintings of orchids and grasses are symbolic of his personal character. He com-

CHAPTER VI PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND SEAL CARVING IN THE YUAN DYNASTY

bined poetry and painting to create a unique spiritual atmosphere on the page. 3. Qian Xuan, Simple and Unrestrained Qian Xuan (c. 1239–after 1322), is also known by the courtesy name Shun Ju and the pseudonyms Yutan, Old Man of Qing Que and Li Xi Weng, among others. He also went by the ›home names‹ Xi Lan Zhai or Xi Lan Weng. He was born in Huzhou (present-day Zhejiang). During the Jingding Era of the Southern Song (1260–1264), he was a country jinshi (‌进士) who was about to start on his path to officialdom just as the Song court was overthrown. This dealt him a heavy blow, and the works he had already written, including Theory on the Analects (Lunyu shuo 论语说), Further Discussions on the Spring and Autumn Period (Chunqiu yulun 春秋余论), Examination of Theories on the Yi Jing (Yi shuo kao 易说考) and Review at Intervals during the Hermitage (Hengmi jian lan 衡泌间 览) were all destroyed. He gave up any thought of official service, and his anger reached a breaking point. He decided he might as well »dedicate his life to art and painting, regardless of the rise and fall of dynasties.« His works are rarely dated, in a deliberate effort to ignore the existence of the Yuan Dynasty government. Among loyalist painters of the early Yuan Dynasty, Qian Xuan’s attitude was somewhat unique. He did not cooperate with the new dynasty, nor did he desire to be at odds with it. Unlike the wild passion and anger of Zheng Sixiao and Gong Kai, his mind was more tranquil. He often emphasized the idea of »leisure,« and yearned for babbling streams in the deep mountains, and ancient forests. This attitude of »extreme splendor reverting to the ordinary« was his way of overcoming the pain of loss he felt for his homeland and country, allowing him to settle into a state of quiet comfort that came from a spiritual melding of the mind with nature. Since he could not change the cruel reality in which he found himself, he thought it better to cast himself into nature’s embrace to

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7.6.1 A Scene of Cuju, Qian Xuan, Shanghai Museum

seek the peace his soul needed. It was because of this tranquil state of mind, which he used in his observation of nature, and his infatuation with art, that Qian Xuan’s artistic mastery stands out among other loyalist painters—and why he has had greater influence on later generations. Qian Xuan is also known as one of the »Eight Talents of Wuxing,« and was well-versed in music as well as poetry, calligraphy and painting. His painting alone shows extensive training and a consummate mastery. His depictions of people, natural scenes, birds, flowers and mounted horses are all exquisite, while his style of painting was characterized as »elaborate and delicate«— and an unbroken continuation of the painting traditions handed down from the Tang and Song dynasties. He insisted that paintings have a »gentlemanly air,« with a simple and serene feel. »One must make no demands of this world—do not destroy your soul for empty praise.« The content of many of his paintings reflected a reclusive mindset. His most celebrated works include A Scene of Cuju (Fig. 7.6.1), A Portrait of Tao Qian and A Mountain Hermitage with Clouds.

4. Wen Riguan, Indulgence and Wildness Wen Riguan’s original first name was Yushan, and he later took the courtesy name Zhongyan and the pseudonyms Riguan and Zhiguizi. He was known among society as Wen Riguan, but also took the religious name Ziwen. He was a native of Huating (present-day Songjiang District, Shanghai) and became a monk at the Geling Manao Temple, in Hangzhou. After the fall of the Song, Wen Riguan’s loyalty remained as immovable as a boulder. It was at that time that Yang Lianzhen, an official, high ranking monk and General Administrator of Buddhist Affairs for the Jiangnan region under Kublai Khan, traversed the region, sacking the tombs of the Southern Song emperors. One day, Yang Lianzhen invited Wen Riguan to share a bottle of fine wine, but despite his usual penchant for drink, he »never let a drop moisten his lips, and seeing the tracks of chariots, angrily cursed him as a ›tomb robber‹.« He was nearly sentenced to death, and became known as the »wild monk.« He never failed to share his wealth with the poor. Wen Riguan’s fiery personality came from his loyalist sentiment, and was translated through

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brush and ink into a unique style of freehand ink wash painting. Wen Riguan also created ink wash paintings of grapes, which became known as »Wen grapes.« This was the result of his unique method of observation and his insight into brush technique, used in both calligraphy and painting. The branches and leaves of his grape vines resemble the cursive script used in calligraphy. The wild calligraphy of the poem in his work Grape Vines in Ink (Mo putao tu 墨葡萄图) comes from the same source as his painting.

2. Zhao Mengfu’s Achievements in Painting Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) adopted the courtesy name Zi Ang, and the pseudonyms Master of the Pine and Snow, and Master of the Water Spirits Palace. He was a native of Huzhou. In the last years of the Song, he tested into the Imperial Academy and served as Administrator of Households for Zhenzhou. After the fall of the Song, the Yuan rulers sent ministers of the court to the Jiangnan region to seek out nobles and literati of the previous dynasty. Zhao Mengfu gave up his chance to go north and serve the Yuan court five times, mostly because he either wanted to observe trends in power or the position offered was not to his liking. However, he was encouraged to »strengthen himself through learning,« and his own Confucian notion of serving the state continued to drive him to find an opportunity to go to court. In 1286 (the 23rd year of Zhiyuan), Zhao Mengfu traveled north to serve the Yuan. Emperor Shizu greatly admired him, and he was »placed first among others,« and named Grand Master for Admonishment and Director of Arms. In 1291 (the 28th year of Zhiyuan), Zhao Mengfu was embroiled in a power struggle between Mongol nobles, and offered suggestions to Kublai Khan to remove the powerful minister Sangha from power. Sangha was sentenced to death, and Zhao Mengfu worried that the opposing side would take revenge after the death of Kublai Khan. The following

CHAPTER VI PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND SEAL CARVING IN THE YUAN DYNASTY

year he worked to request a position away from the capital, and became an administrative clerk in Jinan. Three years later, Kublai Khan died and Zhao Mengfu returned to the court to compile the True Record of Emperor Shizu (Shizu shilu 世 祖实录). After its completion, he returned to his birthplace. In 1311, Ayurbarwada ascended to the throne, known by the temple name Renzong. Zhao Mengfu once again became a court official, taking important positions at the Hanlin Academy and Jixian Academy, realizing the »civil rule« under Renzong. In 1316 (the 3rd year of Zhiyan), Zhao Mengfu was given the highest position he would achieve in life. He became Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts (Sub-First Rank), Grand Master for Glorious Happiness as well as Drafting Clerk of Imperial Edicts and Compiler of Historical Records, which raised him to First Rank with grace extending for three generations. Zhao Mengfu is known for his rich learning, and breadth of skill in painting and the arts. He was well versed in all genres and all painting styles. Zhao Mengfu’s landscape, bird-and-flower, bamboo-and-stone and man-and-horse works were characterized by »a knowledge of intricacies and exhaustive expression of natural charm.« His landscape paintings were his most successful, with two distinct styles—one careful and neat, the other free and eccentric. The former carried on the beautiful and refined style of the Jin and Tang and the simple, light brushwork of Li Gonglin, while the latter showed more of his own individual style. The richness of the pictorial language in Zhao Mengfu’s works is expressed in each genre, blending both natural greens and black ink into his landscape paintings. Throughout his life, he never stopped searching for the expressive language that could blend his own personal spiritual nature with the natural world. In his early years, Zhao Mengfu began by studying blue-green landscapes, in large part influenced by the blue-green landscape paintings of his long-time friend Qian Xuan. This type of landscape painting was com-

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7.6.2  Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains, Zhao Mengfu, National Palace Museum, Taipei

mon throughout the Huzhou region, and is clearly a result of the reverence given to the aesthetics of the Jin and Tang. The earliest extant example of Zhao Mengfu’s landscape works is The Mind Landscape of Xie Youyu (Xie Youyu qiushu tu 谢幼舆丘 塾图), which uses the blue-green landscape technique of the Six Dynasties to depict the famous scholar Xie Kun casually wandering through the mountains. It is especially fitting, and expresses his artistic ideal that ancient subjects should be painted with an »ancient feel.« In the painting, Xie Kun seems to become one with the mountains that surround him, sitting and listening to the rush of the pines and the sound of the water. One becomes lost in the mountain landscape and entranced by the pine forests. His Landscape of Wuxing (Wuxing qingyuan tu 吴兴清远图) and Self-Portrait (Zihua xiang 自画像) simplify the compositional language of the blue-green landscape style, helping it to better express the sentiments of the scholar class. In the first painting, the artist stands on the southern shores of Lake Tai, gazing into the distance at East Dongting Mountain and the islets that seem to float in the middle of the lake. The second painting depicts the artist as an adornment in the middle of a bamboo forest, filled with emotion. He subtly employs a freehand style and a blue-green theme.

The work that fully showcases the scholarly heart of Zhao Mengfu is his Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains (Qiao Hua qiuse tu 鹊华秋色 图) (Fig. 7.6.2). The artist was 42 years old when he painted it, and it is most likely an expression of his longing for home. It depicts the Qiao and Hua mountains on the outskirts of his home town of Jinan in Shandong Province. This painting established Zhao Mengfu’s landscape style, which used dry, light brushwork to leap out of the rut created by Dong Yuan of the Five Dynasties period. The painting contains the two mountains above rivers and shoals, flanked by reeds and small villages. Fishing nets and boats can also be seen, as well as plants and trees like mulberry and hemp. Every element is rendered sparingly and evenly with the brush to reveal the charm of the natural scene. The artist dapples the mountains with the green of flowers, and applies shades of autumn to the trees, bringing it all together with varying shades of ink. It is an extremely clean and clear image and has been a model of this style for generations. The subjects in Zhao Mengfu’s paintings often include people interacting with horses (watering, washing, walking or training), creating a style termed man-and-horse paintings. The most representative work is Zhao Mengfu’s 1312 (the 1st

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year of Huangqing) work entitled Horses Watering in the Suburbs in Autumn (Qiujiao yinma tu 秋 郊饮马图), which depicts a stable hand dressed in Tang-style robes, herding horses near a pond. The grass and trees are dressed in blue-green, which makes the red robes of the stable hand all the more eye-catching. Employing the traditional blue-green technique of the Tang Dynasty, the scene is rich and heavy, while the brushwork used on the rocks and trees is relatively carefree. Dry-brush and blue-green techniques are part of the compositional language of scholars and artisans, and Zhao Mengfu skillfully blends these two techniques in a way that does not lose an ounce of scholarly elegance. The dynamic nature of the man and horses fully expresses the joy and ease of nature. The composition of the painting is broad and expansive with a balance of crowded and open spaces. It is a masterwork that combines the best of the man-and-horse and landscape techniques. Monk in a Red Robe (Hongyi luohan tu 红衣罗汉图) (Fig. 7.6.3) was completed by Zhao Mengfu while

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in the capital, and is a Buddhist-themed painting using the image of an Indian monk with typical Indian Aryan features and a stern expression. Curving lines overlap to form the folds in his robe. The ancient coloring is thick and heavy with wide, muddy strokes forming the trees and rocks, mirrored in the inscription on the painting, reading »rough with an ancient air.« Using the ink wash technique to depict dry bamboo-and-stone scenes was a place where calligraphy and painting came together for Zhao Mengfu. It was also one of the main ways he used to express his feelings most directly. Elegant Rocks and Sparse Trees (Xiushi shulin tu 秀石疏林图) and Grotesque Stones and Clear Bamboo (Guaishi qingzhu tu 怪石晴竹图) are Zhao Mengfu’s best examples of ink wash bamboo-and-stone paintings. Both depict large stones and thin bamboo, observed by withered trees surrounded by wild bamboo grasses. The young bamboo groves are rendered with thin but powerful strokes, and the leaves are thick yet distinct. Both of the works reference to the styles of Su Shi of the Song Dynasty

7.6.3 Monk in a Red Robe, Zhao Mengfu, Liaoning Provincial Museum

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and Wang Tingjun of the Jin Dynasty, but also incorporate his own temperament. Each stroke is just as the artist intended, and is taken from calligraphy. The »flying white« style of his midbrush and side-brush strokes also give a richness to the rhythm and texture of the painting. In the first painting, the brushwork is stiffer, with stones mainly using the side-brush technique, while in the latter the theory of the common origin of calligraphy and painting has enabled the painting to stand the test of time. Extant examples of Zhao Mengfu’s works also include Bamboo in Ink and Three Studies in Bamboo. Under Zhao Mengfu’s strong influence, the paintings of the Zhao family combined an air of nobility with scholarly elegance. The works of Madam Zhao, Guan Daosheng, as well as his children and grandchildren, carried on Zhao Mengfu’s broad range of subject matter and manifold techniques. Zhao Mengfu’s sons, Zhao Yong and Zhao Yi, his grandchildren Zhao Feng, Zhao Lin and Sun Wangmeng, as well as his nephew Cui Yanfu, all became successful painters.

3. A Peak in Literati Painting, the »Four Masters of the Yuan« Following advancements made by Zhao Mengfu and others, Yuan Dynasty painting began to make its impact on China’s painting culture by the middle of the Mongolian’s reign. The Yuan style is encapsulated by the works of four great masters— Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen, Ni Zan and Wang Meng. Prior to the Yuan, and into its early years, the world of painting did not clearly distinguish between scholarly painting and painting done by craftspeople. Starting in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, especially following the rise of the »four masters,« scholarly painting came into its own and took a dominant position, forming the style of Yuan painting during the era. The works of the »four masters« are a realization of the achievements of landscape painting during the Yuan. They shared a common style that be-

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longed to the era, but also each had clear style of their own. Huang Gongwang was the oldest of the four masters, with a style of painting that was extremely free, light and elegant. Ni Zan’s style was simple, cold, barren and expansive. Wang Meng chose a richly beautiful and ornate style, while Wu Zhen’s paintings were emotional, straightforward and full. Aesthetically, they distanced themselves from the Mongolian ruling class. They advocated »enjoyment« and »relaxation« in art, resulting in an artistic theory that typified scholarly painting, that combined poetry, calligraphy and painting itself. This marked the climax of scholarly painting in the Yuan Dynasty. 1. Huang Gongwang, Carefree Elegance Huang Gongwang (1269–1354) was also known by the courtesy name Zijiu and the pseudonyms Great Fool, Master Fool and Master of the One Peak. He was originally surnamed Lu, and was a native of Changshu (present-day Jiangsu). When he was eight years old, he was given to a certain Madam Huang, who was already in her nineties. She was so overjoyed, she exclaimed, »Master Huang has long hoped for a son!« Her joyful words immediately became his name. In his youth, Huang Gongwang was intelligent and studied hard. As an adult, he was skilled in many areas of study, and people said of him that, »In learning, Gongwang does not give himself over to flowery language. Of the things of the world, there is nothing he does not know. In talents and the arts, there is nothing he cannot do. He is able to complete long passages with a single stroke. Everyone calls him master. He excels at painting.« He served as a Clerk of Punishments and Hall Clerk in the Ministry of Inspections. A clerk was a very low-level functionary in the Yuan government, and without any real power. Usually, one would have to serve over ten years to advance to the level of an official.

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Huang Gongwang was always ambitious, and serious and diligent in his work. However, his path to officialdom was rocky, because while in Zhexi assisting his superior Zhang Lu, he was charged with a crime and jailed for mismanaging finances. This was a deep spiritual shock for him, and by the time he was released he was over 50 years old. After he was released from prison, he joined the Quanzhen (Perfect Realization) Sect of Daoism, changing his name to Bitter Journey to the Pure Villa, and adopted the pseudonym Great Fool. Initially, he lived in Songjiang and made a living by telling fortunes and selling paintings. Later, he moved to Hangzhou and often journeyed between Fuchun, Wuxing, Songjiang, Suzhou, Jingxi and Wuxi. In More Miscellanies of the Purple Peach Room (Zitao xuan youzhui 紫桃轩又缀), Li Rihua writes, »Huang Gongwang initially lived in Hangzhou […] traveling between the three cities of the Wu, establishing three halls of worship at Wende Bridge in Suzhou.« Huang Gongwang’s founding of the three halls of worship prove that after joining the Quanzhen Sect he was part of the Daoist leadership. In Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village (Nancun chuogeng lu 南村辍耕录), Tao Zongyi adds that he not only established three halls of worship, but that he also took disciples. Huang Gongwang already began interacting with the Daoist community in Hangzhou while serving as a clerk there. He had very close relationships with the likes of Zhang Yu and Wang Taoyan. He joined the Quanzhen Sect, which called for arduous self-cultivation, as the disciple of Jin Zhiyang. He was deeply committed to Daoist teachings, most fundamentally because religion gave him freedom, and lessened the suffering in his heart that he experienced at the most difficult times in his life. Many people during the Yuan Dynasty had similar spiritual needs. However, adhering to a religious sect could not rid him of all the troubles of actual life. The fact was, Huang Gongwang was unable to completely commit to the arduous trainings of the religious

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world. In the latter half of his life he was addicted to alcohol and threw himself into the embrace of mother nature. He became addicted to poetry and painting, finding spiritual transcendence by throwing himself into the transformative influence of nature and landscape painting. In his later years, he spent a lot of time traveling through the Jiangnan region and around the Fuchun River in Zhexi, ultimately dying far from home in Hangzhou. He was buried at the western foothills of the Yu Mountains in Changshu. After his death, despite devoting himself to religion, it was not his religious contribution that was remembered, but his paintings. The reason Huang Gongwang is considered first among the »four masters« is not only because he was the oldest, but also because he maintained the »orthodoxy« of Dong Yuan and Juran. For painters of the Ming and Qing dynasties, his works are also considered a model of the scholarly landscape style. He correctly understood and mastered the spirit of Dong Yuan and Juran while further expanding the aesthetic ideal of »simple innocence.« Huang Gongwang was most adept at landscape-style painting. He spent his life in love with the sparse forests and snowy peaks of the Jiangnan region, using the sparse landscape style to depict its misty peaks. He developed an elongated »hemp wrinkle«(pima cun 披麻皴) to reflect the texture of the mountains of the Jiangnan region. His lengthening of these lines became what people called the »long hemp wrinkle« technique, and used texture dstrokes to render earth mounds and hills. This strengthened the expressiveness of the strokes. The mountains, stones and slopes that sprung from his brush used ink sparingly, but never lose their fullness and richness. His landscape paintings are dappled with light ochers and blues, making them even more ethereal, helping the pale-ocher landscape style to mature and become a unique and complete unique technique within the landscape genre.

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7.6.4  Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (section), Huang Gongwang, Zhejiang Provincial Museum

He painted actively in his later years up until his death, and over one hundred of his landscape paintings are listed among famous ancient works, with several dozen of these preserved until the present day. Most are in the pale-ocher style, but also include ink wash paintings as well. The most well-known of Huang Gongwang’s paleocher landscape paintings are Stone Cliff at the Pond of Heaven (Tianchi shibi tu 天池石壁图) and Red Cliffs and Jade Trees (Danya yushu 丹崖玉 树). The composition of the two works is generally the same, but the mountains of the first painting seem more vertical, while the second forms an ›S‹ shape, with richer variation. Most paintings combine shades of ocher, dark blue and dark black for subtle, elegant colors, setting the tone for pale-ocher landscape paintings. The scattered trees and creeping pines form beautiful pine-laden vistas, and the scenes are richly rendered with relatively simple strokes, inviting the viewer to explore and savor the work. Huang Gongwang’s most famous work is Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Fuchun shanju tu 富春山 居图), in two sections, with one in the collection of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum and the other in Taipei’s National Palace Museum. (Fig. 7.6.4) According to The Collection of Painting Inscrip-

tions by Lu Tai (Lutai tihua gao 麓台题画稿), this work took seven years to complete and was gifted to Master Wuyong. This is Huang Gongwang’s most celebrated large-scale work. Scenes within the painting are arranged with a certain rhythm. The pines are in a tight line, and from the layers of mountain ridges that form a screen of peaks to the sand bars and shallow pools, the scene is expansive and full of variety. Figures seem to move as the scroll is opened and the viewer is drawn into its magnificence. This is a typical example of the scattered perspective method in traditional Chinese painting. In his later years, the artist lived in the mountains and forests along the banks of the Fuchun River, gaining great insight into the details of the landscape there. He depicted the barren hills with pines and firs that lined both sides of the river. Hillsides, pavilions, villages, boats, bridges and fishermen dot the canvases. There is movement in the seemingly still scene, which is filled with the joys of rural life. Veiled in the clear coolness of early autumn, the painting is no less impressive than works from masters of the past. The artist’s use of a »bald« brush and scant ink produces cracked, swiped strokes that are dry yet full. The paths of his brush

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strokes are wild and free, and the overall impression is muddied and hazy. He uses heavy ink to render moss, and rice-grain sized dots to complete the trees, giving a spirited feel to this otherwise dappled mountain scene. The organic combination of dots and lines, revealing the desolate and boundless heart of the artist. By using the »long wrinkle« technique, the artist has achieved a soft and loose feel that softens the coldness of the scene. He shows all of the nuances of Ni Zan, Wang Meng and Wu Zhen, and the work has been described by Yun Shouping as »replete with all techniques.« 2. Ni Zan, Simple and Melancholic Ni Zan (1301–1374) was originally known by the given name Chang and also took the courtesy name Yuanzhen, as well as the pseudonyms Yunlin, Huanxiazi and Lanzan. He was born in Wuxi to a wealthy family. His father died when he was young, and he was raised by his elder brother, Ni Wenguang. Ni Wenguang was a very well-known senior member of the Daoist community, ensuring Ni Zan access to an excellent education. Ni Zan lived in the three-story Pavilion of Clear Secrets, surrounded by plants and flowers that bloomed year-round and were often enveloped by mists. It was one of the most popular places for scholars of the time to gather. However, his obsession with cleanliness became something of a joke among his scholarly and calligraphic contemporaries. He often ordered his servant boy to wipe down the parasol tree in his garden and use a long pole with a hook to remove dead flowers and leaves so that his feet would not get dirty. He even insisted on drinking only from the front two pails brought in by the man who delivered his drinking water, worried that the one behind might have a peculiar odor. In 1328, when Ni Zan was 28 years old, his family’s standing began to decline. Meanwhile, the chaos brought by the uprisings of Fang Guozhen in Taizhou and Zhang Shicheng and Zhang Shixin

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in southern Jiangsu ended the leisurely and comfortable life of the Ni family. In order to avoid tax collection by the local government as well as his family’s personal debts, he began to sell off his family’s possessions and ultimately fled to the Lake Tai area, where he lived in seclusion for twenty years. There, he led an itinerant life, »living on a skiff wearing a bamboo hat, wandering between Zhenze and Sanmao.« Ni Zan’s experiences, his attitude toward life, his studies and even his own personality resulted in a unique artistic perspective and style. He was aloof and solitary, but at the same time maintained relationships with officials and powerful nobles, believing strongly in his »common« achievement. This life view was reflected in his art and was expressed in a kind of dualism. On the one hand, his landscape paintings have a simple naiveté and otherworldliness, but at the same time also revealed a cynicism and desire to not be left out. The social context of his time and his family background were the reason for this dualism, but regardless of his interaction with the world or his view of it, these were all true aspects of Ni Zan’s personality. Of the four masters, Ni Zan placed the most emphasis on a freedom of spirit in his painting. This freedom of spirit was the fundamental philosophy of Yuan Dynasty scholars, and he raised this freedom of spirit to a level that achieved the natural expression of intrinsic awareness of life. In many other philosophies of painting, concepts like »beyond the brush« and »transcendence« have been used, alluding to a detachment and freedom from objective matters. Ni Zan’s use of »beyond the brush« and »transcendence« betrayed an idealized world. Unlike Huang Gongwang, Wu Zhen and Wang Meng, Ni Zan’s landscape paintings eliminated excessive elaboration, instead focusing only on the simple and pure. He did not paint boundless mountain ranges or luxurious cloudscapes, nor did he depict strange peaks and gnarled trees. He

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simply encapsulated and purified the objects he viewed, ultimately placing them in a tri-part style that could not be any simpler: in the foreground, a few trees with scant leaves on a flat plain with an open grass hut; in the distance, a veiled, indistinct shadow of a mountain peak; and in the center an empty, broad and tranquil lake. There are no birds, no boats, not a single trace of man; the entire vista and environment is tranquil, empty, desolate and remote. For a long time, the mists and clouds of Lake Tai nurtured the artistry of Ni Zan’s landscape paintings, forging a disparate landscape style that was desolate and lonesome. Initially, he followed the styles of the Five Dynasties painters Dong Yuan and Juran, following his master Mi Fei. He was close to Huang Gongwang, mostly painting the low hills, sparse trees and distant peaks of the Lake Tai area. He was also the first to use the »turned-strap« wrinkle stroke (zhedai cun 折带 皴), a textured stroke that looked like a folded strap—hence the name. This technique was extremely well-suited for rendering the stone and crevices that had been formed by the waters of Lake Tai. Ni Zan’s brush strokes are extremely simple, but in the dry, sparing strokes, there is an elegant beauty that is pure and clean with an unfettered tranquility. His landscape works were particularly favored by Ming and Qing Dynasty painters and were considered as the best examples of transcendence in art. His paintings were nearly all devoid of people and focused on the eternal. After the Ming overturned the Yuan, his paintings were not signed with a Ming Dynasty era date, as he refused to recognize the Ming regime. Ni Zan’s landscape paintings always retained a unique spiritual context. In his early years, his works focused on sketches of actual natural scenes. In his »Inscription for a Painting of a Square Cliff,« he describes himself, saying, »I first learned how to cast colors, seeing things and painting them as they were.«

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None of his early work survives, but traces can be found in paintings from the middle of his life that help us understand what they looked like. Water and Bamboo Dwelling (Fig. 7.6.5) was painted when he was 43 years old, and is his earliest surviving work. According to a description by a friend of Ni Zan, it was an imagined scene of a landscape of bamboo and water east of the city of Jingzhou. The arrangement of the painting is structured with a strict adherence to realism. There is a pleasing balance in his use of brush and ink. The composition of the bamboo, thatched hut and peaks covered in low forests beyond the stream show the first signs of the »one river, two banks« style, but because of the links between the foreground and background it seems tight with round, full brush strokes. Traces of techniques typical to Dong Yuan and Juran can still be seen, and are very different from the light strokes and sparing use of ink that are seen later. What is unique is the use of application of a light green color, which is very rarely seen. A similar technique is used in the later An Empty Forest after Rain (Yuhou konglin tu 雨后空林图), currently in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Clearly, this style is an element in Ni Zan’s paintings typical of his early to middle periods. However, Ni Zan’s later years were where his personality truly came through in his paintings. In this period, he transitioned out of the strictness of his early and middle periods and abandoned all constraints. His brush strokes became increasingly free and expressive, with brush movement tending to be lighter, and more even. The feel of his paintings is simpler and bleaker. It was at this time that many of his best works were produced. For example, his Enjoying Trees from a Pavilion in Autumn (Qiuting jiashu tu 秋亭嘉树图) and Forest Pavilion and Distant Peaks (Linting yuanxiu 林亭远岫) use the same technique in different contexts, and are typical of the »one river, two

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7.6.5  Water and Bamboo Dwelling, Ni Zan, National Museum of China

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banks« compositional style. The empty pavilion beneath the trees symbolizes the loneliness of the artist. The scattered and empty scene is filled with rocky slopes that use the »turned-strap« wrinkle stroke. Despite the dryness of his brush, there is still moisture in the scene. His selection of subjects inspires confidence and goes »beyond the brush« for a completely natural feel. There is a lonely desolation to the broad expanse that calls back to lofty ancient times. The Distant Cold Flow Pine (Youjian hansong tu 幽涧寒松图)) is another work in which he abandoned color, typical of his use of clear water and light ink to create a desolate landscape. Fishing Village on a Clear Autumn Day (Yuzhuang qiuji tu 渔庄秋霁图) was painted in 1355 with a light and dry ink wash style using deep, heavy strokes to depict mountains and trees after an autumn rain. The stones and mountains are rendered with sweeping horizontal strokes, fully capturing a carefree, wild spirit. He then uses heavy ink to outline nearby trees with strong branches to reveal a toughness in this desolate space. This is a depiction of the artist’s search for subtlety and tranquility. The Rongxi Studio (Rongxi zhai tu 容膝斋图) is another representative work from Ni Zan’s later years. It continues the »one river, two banks« style, but the brush work is hazy and dark, moving away from previous angled styles, an example of »unintentionally achieving greatness.« It is considered the apex of the »transcendent works« of Ni-style painting. 3. Wu Zhen, Rich, Heavy, and Moist Wu Zhen (1280–1354) was also known under the courtesy name Zhonggui and the pseudonyms Master of the Plum Blossom. Master Plum and the Abbot of Plum Blossom Temple. He became a Buddhist adherent in his later years, taking the elder pseudonym Plum Novice. He was a native of Weitang (present-day Chengguan, in Zhejiang Province).

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Wu Zhen was always thought of as destitute and poor, but according to Genealogy of the Wu Clan of Yimen (Yimen Wu shi pu 义门吴氏谱), he was in fact part of an old, wealthy family. His main source of income doubtlessly came from the shipping business that his grandfather had established. Wu Zhen’s residence was in the present-day city of Chengguan in the County of Jiashan, which he initially called Bamboo Manor and later changed to Plum Blossom Temple. In his early years, he and his brother studied under Liu Tianji, learning the essence of his Daoist teachings. His brother became well-known as a fortune teller. His father and grandfather developed independent, strong dispositions through their time at sea, where they had to battle the elements. This naturally greatly influenced the formation of Wu Zhen’s personality. When a contemporary of his, Sheng Mao, was experiencing great fame, his paintings sold at very high prices. Wu Zhen’s wife tried to convince him to swallow his pride and study under Sheng Mao, but Wu Zhen refused, saying, »I will answer you in twenty years!« History would remember these words. Wu Zhen’s thought was influenced by Daoism and, later, Buddhism, and as a Jiangnan scholar he couldn’t help but also be influenced by Confucian philosophy. However, the Confucian examination system held absolutely no attraction to Wu Zhen. In one sense, the loyalty he felt to the Song because of his family background meant that he could never swear allegiance to the Yuan, while at the same time the imperial examination system had largely been replaced by the Yuan system of nomination. This contributed even more to Wu Zhen’s unexpected fame. He often journeyed among the rivers and lakes of the region, as the inscription in his painting A Fisherman (Yu fu tu 渔父图) reads, »An evening wind rises across an expanse of azure waves, a lone leaf crosses a docked boat. The railings and oars are steady and the straw cloak is light, I only fish for perch, not for fame.«

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Wu Zhen’s Daoist and Buddhist beliefs also stemmed from his search for a place safe from the disaster and chaos of Yuan Dynasty society. Wu Zhen’s orientation and attitude toward traditional ink wash painting were as Xia Wenyan described: Wu Zhen »copies the landscape master Juran and his companions without equal, but those that are passed down through time are not dedicated and therefore fall away. He is also able to paint ink flowers.« Most importantly, Wu Zhen was not limited to the methods of those who came before him, refusing to copy the styles of his predecessors, and instead developing his own compositional language. The composition of Wu Zhen’s landscape paintings falls into two categories. The first is a »one river, two banks« style, placing nearby slopes and banks on the same line in the center of the lake with slight rises and falls. The second is typified by the addition of a barren mountain peak or a few massive trees to the previous style. This breaks with compositional parallelism, as vertical scrolls place their inscriptions and poems mostly at the top. His landscape paintings mostly depict the lives of fishermen on boats or fishing along the river, which developed into a major theme. Wu Zhen’s landscape paintings rarely use color, concentrating mainly on ink wash with his greatest skill in the use of water for luxuriant vegetation. He also enjoyed using the long hemp wrinkle stroke to render mountains and the bark of ancient trees. He was also adept at using light ink to paint rocks dotted with heavier »point moss« strokes. He also indulged in painting boulders on the tops of mountains, effectively capturing the terrain of the low hills of the Jiangnan region, expressing his subtle but direct spirit. The lives of fishermen fishing in rivers and lakes was the main topic of Wu Zhen’s landscape paintings, representing the artists idealized state of being, and were a true depiction of his reclusive life. Floating in the picture is a small local zemeng-style boat. Keeping in mind that Wu zhen’s

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hometown was covered in rivers, lakes and inlets, it is clear how natural the choice of life in a fishing village would be. The composition of A Fisherman (Fig. 7.6.6) is arranged along a single plane, providing the still trees, slopes and stones with a sense of movement. The objects in the foreground, middle ground and background create an atmosphere that is completely at ease. The artist does not paint layer after layer of trees, but simply four trees at different distances that seem to drive the entire painting. The river babbles from a distant location into a river, and the composition and strokes used in the distant mountains look very similar to Storied Mountains and Dense Forests (Cengya congshu 层 崖丛树) by Juran, but brush movement tends to be simplified, and more angular. In addition to landscape paintings, Wu Zhen was also adept at ink-bamboo paintings. He stated that he spent 50 years learning how to paint bamboo, borrowing techniques from Wen Tong and Su Shi, and influenced by Li Kan and Zhao Mengfu. He enjoyed painting wild bamboo and bamboo in wind, with each leaf seeming to rustle with each gust, noting that each »experience unfair to the heart can be taken away with a few lengths of bamboo.« This makes his »brush play« something that comes from the heart. His ink-bamboo paintings mainly fall into two categories: the first is a style with clear branches and distinct leaves that drape to the side. The second is characterized by a brush movement that represents the cursive script in calligraphy with full application of ink. 4. Wang Meng, Profound and Boundless Wang Meng (?–1385), was also known by the courtesy name Shuming and the pseudonym Yellow Crane Mountain Wood Gatherer, among others. He was a native of Wuxing (present-day Huzhou in Zhejiang Province) where he was born into a powerful family, the grandson of Zhao Mengfu and cousin of Tao Zongyi.

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7.6.6 A Fisherman, Wu Zhen, The Palace Museum, Beijing

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His family background meant that Wang Meng was steeped in Confucian philosophy. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, peasant rebellions were everywhere and in order to escape the chaos he fled to Yellow Crane Mountain (located in the present-day Linping Mountains, northeast of Hangzhou). There, he built the White Lotus Dwelling, composing poetry, painting and hosting guests— which included notables like Huang Gongwang, Ni Zan, Chen Ji, Yang Weizhen and Tao Zongyi. This became Wang Meng’s main creative space while he was in seclusion. While Wang Meng may have been living in the mountains, he was very much aware of the happenings of the world. Ni Zan tried to convince Wang Meng to give up on his official position, saying, »Be a wanderer of unknown alleys; he who is happy in the Dao does not know poverty.« But Wang Meng had other plans. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng developed a military power base in Southern Jiangsu and Wang Meng came out of hiding to serve as secretary general. In 1366 (the 26th year of Zhizheng), Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen south the Ping River, forcing Wang Meng once again back into hiding, but still traveling as far as the capital and interacting widely throughout the Jiangnan region. During the reign of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming (1368–1398), he served as an administrative clerk in Tai’an, in Shandong Province. During this time, he visited the residence of Left Administrator Hu Weiyong to view his collection of calligraphy and paintings. Hu Weiyong secretly plotted with Mongol nobles to mount a rebellion and was killed, sealing the fate of more than 30,000 other people along with him. Wang Meng was not immune from this purge, but his life was spared and he was simply jailed. He was around 70 or 80 years old at the time. Wang Meng dedicated himself to landscape painting, developing his own system. He was the most varied of the four masters in his use of ink and

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brush. His landscape paintings were full and rich, and his use of texturing was unrivaled. He incorporated the techniques of Dong Yuan and Juran of the Five Dynasties, as well as Li Cheng and Guo Xi of the Northern Song. Wang Meng’s paintings are characterized by the loose, soft and free »ox-hair« and »frayed-rope« texture strokes that depict the boundless layers of mountains that cover the Jiangnan region. »Frayed-rope« strokes are rougher than »ox-hair« strokes, with lines that look like the ends of an unwinding rope, loose and hanging. It is very natural and used mainly in the outlines of mountains and massive boulders. He paid special attention to practicing how much power to give his brush. He began his paintings with brushwork similar to running-cursive and seal scripts, heavy and thick. Each stroke seems to go into the paper, giving the images they create a vivacity and liveliness. One of the styles of Wang Meng’s landscape paintings was a full style that was at the same time fresh and cool. Mountain Dwelling on a Summer Day (Xiari shanju tu 夏日山居图) and Dwelling in Seclusion in the Summer Mountains (Xiashan gaoyin tu 夏山高隐图) are typical examples of summer landscapes by Wang Meng. Both of these works were painted in the late Yuan Dynasty at the height of his talent. The composition and the brush work are in the same style. The first work is typified by lofty, green ridges, with tall pines and flowing streams. The rocks are rendered through a combination of hemp wrinkle, frayed-rope and ox-hair texturing to produce a very dense canvas. It is a verdant, luxuriant expanse that is devoid any wind. All that it reveals is the sky and streams, for a strictly proportioned scene. The second painting is of dark green mountains at the height of summer. The viewer’s eyes are filled with luxuriant green, and spy scholar gentlemen in a grass hut at the foot of the mountain, escaping the summer’s heat. This is a very faithful depiction of the artist’s life while in seclusion. It

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is characterized by compound strokes that build upon each other for a dense, heavy style. The second of Wang Meng’s landscape styles is characterized by a boundless depth, as in Ge Zhichuan Relocating (Ge Zhichuan yiju tu 葛稚川 移居图) (Fig. 7.6.7). This is one of Wang Meng’s allegorical works, depicting Ge Hongwei of the Eastern Jin escaping the chaos of the court and taking his family and students into hiding in the Luofu Mountains in Guangdong Province to seek the Dao. The painting shows the party as they enter the mountains. His use of brush and ink is very distinctive, and different from other paintings. He exclusively uses very dry ox-hair and frayed-rope strokes, shading only slightly with tones of ink, blue-green and ocher to add a moisture to the dryness. There is no point moss used in the painting. The figures are drawn with a certain awkwardness, and the overall composition is tangible, with no mist or clouds. The canvas is dense, but not crowded, with empty spaces among the objects for a rich sense of heavy space. Wang Meng’s expansive landscape paintings surpass all those before him in terms of the density of his strokes, developing a unique compositional language that uses his own style of texturing through the ox-hair and frayed-rope techniques. It is a rich landscape with limitless variation. His use of brush and ink is concentrated, but not at all random, creating a dense yet uncrowded landscape that is deep with powerful shapes while depicting the elegance of the forest, providing the viewer with a luxuriant visual experience. Of the Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Meng’s brush work is the most dense and luxuriant, employing the richest and most varied compositional and technical elements, placing it in a class of his own.

4. Yongle Temple Murals The Yongle Temple was built in 1247 and originally located in Yongji County, Shanxi Province. Facing

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7.6.7  Ge Zhichuan Relocating, Wang Meng, The Palace Museum, Beijing

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the Yellow River and backed up against the Wulao Peak, it was built in a stunning natural setting. In 1959, the construction of the Sanmenxia Reservoir forced the temple to be relocated in its entirety to the north side of Ruicheng, also in Shanxi Province. Three kilometers east of the village of Longquan, it is comprised of several major structures: Dragon Tiger Hall (Longhu dian 龙虎殿), also known as Wuji Gate; Hall of the Three Purities (Sanqing dian 三清殿) (Fig. 7.6.8), also known as Wuji Hall; Hall of the Pure Yang (Chunyang dian 纯阳殿), popularly called Luzu Hall; and Hall of the Double Yang (Chongyang dian 重阳殿), also known as Qizhen Hall. Each hall has frescoes with the majority of the content falling into two categories. The first is depictions of immortals, gods and animals of the zodiac, located in Wuji Gate and the Hall of the Three Purities. The other category is a series of paintings that depict the incredible story of the founder of the Quanzhen School of Daosim, which are housed in the Hall of the Pure Yang and the Hall of the Double Yang. All of these frescoes have something in common— they cannot exist separately from the buildings in which they are housed. Their composition is a part of the architectural model and style of the complex. The painting of the frescoes at Yongle Temple was closely coordinated with the arrangement of the buildings, fully expressing the teachings of the Quanzhen School. The frescoes cover a total area of 9,600 square meters, with the largest of the frescoes located in the Hall of the Three Purities. They are also the finest of the frescoes, and represent the height of fresco art during the Yuan Dynasty. Wuji Gate is the main entrance of Yongle Temple. It contains six frescoes that cover an area of about 80 square meters. The paintings are of standing guardian gods with stern and ferocious expressions. The figures are over two meters tall, much larger than a human being, and the viewer has to

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look up to see them, making an immediate visual impact—and threatening to any unworthy visitor. Upon first entering, the viewer is stunned by the religious solemnity, inspiring them to pious reflection and respect. The brush work and lines used in the frescoes include rounded and angular shapes that are full and powerful, with coloring that ranges between heavy and even. While some of the colors have faded with the passage of time and the ravages of the elements, the rich, exquisite beauty of their form, lines, and rich coloring remains as impressive as ever. Traces of repairs by later artists because of damage to the frescoes can be seen. The Hall of the Three Purities is the main hall of Yongle Temple and at its center would have been the altar to the most important Daoist deities, the Three Pure Ones: the Jade Pure One, Lord of Primordial Beginning (Yuqing yuanshi tianzun 玉清元始天尊), the Supreme Pure One, Lord of the Numinous Treasure (Shangqing lingbao tianzun 上清灵宝天尊) and the Grand Pure One, Lord of the Way and its Virtue (Taiqing daode tianzun 太清道德天尊), who is commonly known as the Highest Elder Lord (Taishang laojun 太上老 君). The sculpted images have since been lost. The frescoes in the Hall of the Three Purities have been preserved completely intact, and while they are painted in different locations on the four walls of the hall, their content forms one complete whole. The frescoes in this hall are 4.25 meters high and 94.68 meters long, covering a total area of 403.33 square meters. The Pilgrimage of Celestials (Chaoyuan tu 朝元图) is the main theme of the frescoes in the Hall of the Three Purities, depicting eight main deities dressed in the robes of emperors and empresses. They stand in the center of the mural, leading over 290 minor deities and immortals to pay homage to the supreme Daoist deity—the Lord of Primordial Beginning. The eight deities depicted include: Old Man of the South Pole, the East Pole, the Purple Tenuity, Great Emperor of Polaris, the Jade Emperor,

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7.6.8 Various Gods on the Western Wall of the Hall of the Three Purities, Yongle Temple

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Queen of the Earth, Duke of the Woods and the Golden Mother. Surrounding them is an impressive litany of followers three or four lines deep. From their characteristics, clothing and accoutrements, a range of minor gods can be distinguished, including the four Heavenly Marshals: Tianpeng, Tianyou, Heisha and Zhenwu, and their entourage. Others include the Ten Masters of Mysterious Origin, the Twenty Eight Mansions, the Five Mountains and Four Rivers, and the Ten Taiyi, as well as the Golden Child and Jade Maid. Their garments, blowing in the breeze, enable the viewer to feel that speed with which the host of immortals hasten to their destination. The goddesses are elegant and graceful, moving the viewer with their gentle demeanor. Most of the images are around two meters high, with the major deities towering even higher. The artists use gestures, expressions, luxurious headdresses, garments and seats, as well as their halos, parasols, offerings and the respectful deference of the minor deities, to highlight the kingly bearing of the main gods. They also strive to provide each of the many deities with different personal traits within a universal religious theme. Some are wide-eyed with anger or brave and fierce, others are beaming with joy, while some are elegant and refined. Yet others are dignified or kind, with none of them looking like another. The mural is filled with figures to create a grand and expansive scene with a solemn and sacred air that moves the soul. It is worth recognizing the incredible skill with which the artists completed this work. The nearly three hundred holy figures on the mural, whether through their common direction, the touching of their robes, subtle whispers or slight glances, create a wide, harmonious scene that contains similar themes and order among the chaos (Fig. 7.6.9). The painting is outlined using powerful, rounded strokes, with some reaching two meters long— and completed in a single breath. The flowing, settled lines are without the slightest hint of hesitation, grounded and measured with transitions

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carefully executed. Color tones mainly include mineral based pigments such as azure blue, malachite, cinnabar and realgar, producing a richly luxuriant scene that is very decorative. From its selection of subject matter, to overall composition, arrangement, choice of color, line execution or other elements, it is clear that the murals in the Hall of the Three Purities continue the grand traditions of Daoist mural painting handed down from the Tang Dynasty, and this pilgrimage of deities can be traced back to traditional sketches. The Hall of the Pure Yang is also known as the Hall of Patriarch Lu (Lüzu dian 吕祖殿), and is the second largest hall in the Yongle Temple complex. Patriarch Lu was one of the legendary Eight Immortals. His full name was Lu Dongbin. The murals on the east, west and north walls of the Hall of the Pure Yang are of the Revelation of the Journey of the Pure Yang Emperor (Chunyang dijun xianyou xianhua tu 纯阳帝君仙游显化图), and show the myth of Lu Dongbin descending into the world to help man transcend. It includes 52 individual scenes and covers an area of 193 square meters. Some of the images were repainted by later artists there with natural landscapes, including cloudscapes and rocks and trees filling the spaces between each of the individual scenes. The content is extremely rich, maintaining an unbroken flow throughout. The scenes include images of city life that show street side restaurants, gardens, private homes, hawkers and soldiers, each with a title inscription. These images are a true representation of social life in northern China during the Yuan Dynasty, and provide researchers of social customs of the period with a reliable visual record. Perhaps the most notable work in the Hall of the Pure Yang is on a fan-shaped wall, Zhongli Quan Tests Lü Dongbin (Zhongli Quan du Lü Dongbin tu 钟离权度吕洞宾图), which shows the Daoist immortal Zhongli Quan guiding Lu Dongbin in his quest for immortality. The lines of the painting are

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7.6.9 Various Gods, Yongle Temple

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strong, and layered with an extraordinary power. The landscape background makes the figures even more prominent. Lu Dongbin’s hesitant expression and reserved gestures show the intense conflict in his heart. Zhongli Quan encouraging gaze and expectant body language reflects his genuineness. Both of the figures are extremely lifelike, and encapsulate the ideal of Chinese painting to »capture spirit in form« and express a »lively spirit.« The third largest of the halls at Yongle Temple is the Hall of the Double Yang, also known as the Hall of the Seven Perfect Ones (Qizhen dian 七真 殿) and contains 52 paintings with a total area of about 150 square meters. The murals in the Hall of the Double Yang form a series of scenes that depict the fantastic life of the founder of the Quanzhen School, Wang Chongyang, from his birth to his transition to a »perfect one,« covering 49 scenes in total. The concept and composition are similar to the Revelation of the Journey of the Pure Yang Emperor in the Hall of the Pure Yang, similarly reflecting social customs of the period.

Section 2  Calligraphy and Seal Carving of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Trends and Development in Yuan Dynasty Calligraphy In the latter half of the Southern Song Dynasty, calligraphy was wild and unrestrained. As the world transitioned from the Song to the Yuan, much of this style remained. According to Yu Ji, the impact of calligraphic styles from the Southern Song and the late Jin were either »as delicate as woven reeds« or »grotesque«—even »completely disgusting.« With the appearance of Zhao Mengfu, Xianyu Shu, and Deng Wenyuan, methods turned back

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to the Jin and Tang, resulting in massive change. Calligraphy of the Yuan Dynasty moved towards a greater appreciation of rhythm and method, and the artistic styles of these three men set the stage for what would become known as Yuan Dynasty calligraphy. Zhao Mengfu was a paragon of Yuan Dynasty painting as well as a leading artist in calligraphic circles. His notable contributions to the world of calligraphy resulted in an about face for a generation of artists. With his outstanding artistic accomplishments, his clear emphasis on scholarship, his depth and breadth of knowledge as well as his political and social position, he led the call to »study the Jin.« He developed a style that was soft and beautiful, yet robust and relaxed. As a calligrapher, Zhao Mengfu held carefully established theories and maintained principles about his creative process. On a theoretical level, he advocated that artists »study the Jin.« He praised the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi as »round as a pearl and slender without being gaunt,« and said that he was an artist that ›pursued perfection and beauty.« Meanwhile, he also said Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphy »was spirited in both image and word with ink and color soaring,« clearly expressing his appreciation for a neutral beauty that was modest, gentle, and cleverly elegant. His Postscript of the Dingwu Preface of the Orchid Pavilion (Ba Dingwu lanting 跋定武兰亭) reads, »the calligraphy of the Wei and Jin was born anew with the arrival of Youjun, and the Orchid Pavilion was the forebear of this new form.« »Why, if a calligrapher does not study the Orchid Pavilion, can he be said to have learned at all?« He recognized the innovations of Wang Xizhi in the annals of calligraphic history and believed that he was the best model for studying calligraphy. Under Zhao Mengfu’s influence, many calligraphers began to study Jin and Tang styles, and for a time Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi were very en vogue. Zhao Mengfu was especially diligent in

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studying the styles of the two great Wang’s, repeatedly copying Wang Xizhi’s Preface of the Orchid Pavilion and Wang Xianzhi’s Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River (Luoshen fu 洛神赋). He copied the Preface of the Orchid Pavilion no fewer than several hundred times, and the Record of Great Observations (Daguan lu 大观录) exclaimed that it »was true to the original without exception.« However, despite being copies of the Preface of the Orchid Pavilion, Zhao Mengfu’s works had both similarities to and differences from Tangera versions. It was extremely close to the Sacred Dragon Copy by Tang-era artist Feng Chengsu, in terms structure and composition, but in terms of brush use Zhao Mengfu was more precise than his Tang-era counterparts, with a greater deal of naturalness and coordination between lifting, pressing and turning of the brush. Zhao Mengfu is also more aware of incorporating the spirit of Jin-era masters, compared to Tang artists. His copy not only strove for similarity of form, but also to capture the methods of brush use as well as the spirit and rhythm of the era, blending them into his own style. His calligraphic achievements are mainly concentrated in the regular, semi-cursive and cursive script styles, and were later called Zhao-style Script, which was hailed as the »best of the dynasty.« Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphic style continued to change with the masters he studied, and became increasingly mature and practiced. His style can be divided into two stages, before and after the age of 45. His works before the age of 45 most clearly show his studies of the old masters. In his youth, he was greatly influenced by the calligraphy of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song, who had a slight and elegant style. His large-character semi-cursive work, Eight Poems to Autumn (Qiuxing bashou 秋兴八首), was completed in his twenties and was similar in style to that of Emperor Gaozong with some traces of the style of Zhiyong.

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His Thousand Character Classic in Cursive Script (Caoshu qianzi wen 草书千字文) was composed in December 1286 (the 23rd year of Zhiyuan), when he was 33 years old. It was requested by his nephew Zhang Jingliang while he was on his way to the capital after being recommend to the court by Cheng Jufu. His brush use is precise yet powerful, with a structure that is rigorous yet full of change. Somewhere between modern cursive and clerical cursive, his technique comes from Zhiyong with observations of Zhong Yao and Zhang Zhi, and borrowings from Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. With a strong framework, it remains reserved, and shows his initial desire for implied elegance. Works around the same period include the Stele for Cao E (Cao E bei 曹娥碑), in small regular script, and the cursive script works Postscript of the Wet Nurse Stele (Ba baomu bei 跋保母碑, Fig.  7.6.10) and Postscript of the Great Way Rubbing (Ba dadao tie 跋大道帖), achieving a stable, broad structure based on Zhang Yao’s brush technique. His brush use has a rhythm that incorporates both an ancient awkwardness and spirited elegance. He also draws from the full, strong aspects of Zhiyong’s technique. Between the ages of 40 and 45, Zhao Mengfu produced even more works. These include A Poem on Baotu Spring (Baotu quan shi 趵突泉诗), The Return (Gui qu lai ci 归去来辞), Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River and An Ode to Snow (Xue fu 雪赋). Whether in small regular script, semi-cursive or cursive script, these works show the beginnings of artistic maturity. In a postscript by the artist, he says that A Poem on Baotu Spring was written for his friend Zhou Mi on returning from Jinan between the second half of 1295 (the 1st year of Yuanzhen) and 1296 (the 2nd year of Yuanzhen). This rubbing study mainly uses angular strokes, but has a very rounded structure with a clear brush style typical of the Six Dynasties version. The Return was completed in 1297 (the 1st year of Dade), while both the Ode to Snow and Ode to

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7.6.10  Postscript of the Wet Nurse Stele, the Palace Museum, Beijing

the Nymph of the Luo River (in the style of Zhang Yuan) were finished in 1298. Both The Return and Ode to Snow use the semi-cursive script, but the former is heavy and solid, while the latter is delicate and light. The feel of these works shows the initial signs of the Zhao style, with its broad, bold structure, balance of form and even fullness that loses nothing in terms of elegance and levity. Perhaps the work that most exemplifies the characteristics of this period is the Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River. The strokes are vigorous and smooth, with a measured structure. He has abandoned any trace of strict adherence to ancient methods, and shows the first signs of his clear, strong personal style. After the age of 45, Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy uses more power, and with his advanced years

his interests also become more diverse. As we approach his later years, we see more and more seminal works that fully establish his personal style. His brush use is clear and strong, with a structure that is broad and open while maintaining a style that is modest, gentle and cleverly elegant. He achieves a unification of the rigorous, unabashed, reserved and freewheeling. In 1300 (the 4th year of Dade), at the age of 50, he wrote a version of Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River for Sheng Yimin, which perfectly encapsulates the achievements of his artistic style. Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River was a famous work by the author Cao Zhi that was rendered in small regular script by Wang Xianzhi. Zhao Mengfu loved writing this ode and while he worked to emulate the technique of Wang Xianzhi, he also works

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to encapsulate the line »she flits like a frightened goose, but as graceful as an undulating dragon«—which he translated into his flowing script. Zhao Mengfu was very adept at small regular script, and in 1304 (the 8th year of Dade) completed An Inscription for Ode to the Nymph of the Luo River for Zijian (Ti Zijian Luoshen tu 题子建洛 神图). The work is elegant, with 78 characters in only five lines, but every character is a pearl, and colors burst from each line. His brush use is clean and strong with each stroke exquisitely executed. It is both powerful and elegant, full of changes yet a harmonious unified whole. It was not only praised during his own time, but also became a model of the small regular script style for later generations. Zhao Mengfu’s large regular script works were also in a class of their own, as with his Commemoration of the Reconstruction of the Three Gates of the Temple of Profound Mysteries (Xuanmiao guan chongxiu sanmen ji 玄妙观重修三门记) and Commemoration of the Reconstruction of the Hall of the Three Purities of the Temple of Profound Mysteries (Xuanmiao guan chongxiu Sanqing dian ji 玄妙观 重修三清殿记), both completed in 1303 (the 7th year of Dade) with strict attention to overall structure and broad form. If his small regular script exhibited a pure and elegant beauty, then these two large regular script works show the beauty of power and strength. The famed scholar Li Rihua said of his works, »the text of this stela has the brilliance of Taihe without his excessiveness, the gravity of Jihai without being dull. You can sense its brilliance without gazing at it plainly. It is the best of Zhao’s stela.« When Zhao Mengfu was around 60 years old, he rendered many famous Buddhist works into calligraphy. These included the Memorial to Dampa (Danba dishi bei 胆巴帝师碑), Daodejing of Laozi (Laozi daode jing 老子道德经) and Hymn to the Virtues of Wine (Jiude song 酒德颂), all of which show his exuberant creativity.

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In his later years, Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphic style became increasingly settled and practiced, complete in both form and spirit as well as a balance between roughness and refinement. Without trace, he blended the artistry of Li Yong, Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi to form his own Zhao style. The Memorial to Dampa was written in 1316 (the 3rd year of Yanyou) and was an imperial contract, composed of large characters that blended both regular and semi-cursive script. The structure of the characters borrowed mostly from Liu Gongquan and Li Yong, while his brush use technique followed Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, for a style that saw a freedom in order as well as powerful elegance. The fall of his brush on the page, the rise and fall of each stroke as well as the structure of the characters—harmony in difference, give and take, vertical symmetry, support and order are all carefully arranged, but also give the viewer a natural, harmonious feel. In his later years, Zhao Mengfu continued to learn from the masters of the past, but was not beholden to them. He drew from Li Yong’s weight and strength as well as the unyielding power of Liu Gongquan’s brush. At the same time, he also kept from growing haggard, decadent and withdrawn. Each stroke he put to paper was careful, but full of variation with an elegance in the midst of strength. Zhao Mengfu also left behind several great works for later generations, including A Farewell Letter to Shan Juyuan (Yu Shan Juyuan juejiao shu 与山巨 源绝交书), Epitaph for Chou E (Chou E muzhi ming 仇锷墓志铭), Commemoration of the Temple of the Spirit of Happiness in Hangzhou (Hangzhou fushen guan ji 杭州福神观记), Inscription on the Pagoda at the Temple of Happiness and Light (Guangfu si ta ming 光福寺塔铭) and Memorial for Yinggong Abbot of the Temple of Grand Religion (Song Yinggong zhuchi longjiao si shu 送瑛公住持隆教寺疏). A Farewell Letter to Shan Juyuan was written in 1319 (the 6th year of Yanyou).

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Zhao Mengfu’s heart was in conflict his entire life, which made things difficult for him. In writing the words of greats of the past, his emotions came through in the characters and lines of his works. The first half is in semi-cursive regular script, but with the rise and fall of his emotions as the passion of the text changes, Zhao Mengfu’s brush strokes become increasingly unrestrained and uninhibited. We can see regular, semi-cursive and cursive script as well as intermittent examples of modern cursive and clerical cursive. There are a great number of variations, and uninhibited rises and falls, while paying special attention to call and response as well as measuring speed. However, in both the slow narration of the first half as well as the unrestrained style of the second half, Zhao Mengfu’s brush work was completed with unwavering care. Even when his brush was flying across the page, it was free without being wonton, and indulgent without losing control, constantly retaining his usual gentle strength. Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy was famous throughout the land during his time, and many people sought his works, resulting in many works. Of these works, some were carefully wrought and some were commissioned works. Even for commissioned works, his practiced brush work held to the same exacting standards. From his lifetime of calligraphic dedication, we can see that while learning from the ancient masters, specifically Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, he succeeded in developing his own style. In the language of calligraphy, he was more independent than others. His brush technique was more careful than either Wang Xizhi or Wang Xianzhi, developing his own unique rhythm and methodology and creating a style of calligraphy that was beautiful yet robust, restrained yet relaxed. Appreciating Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy is like watching a willow sway in the breeze, pleasing to both the eyes and the mind of the viewer. Zhao Mengfu started a new era in the history of callig-

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raphy and made a considerable impact on the calligraphy of those that came after him. Xianyu Shu (1257–1302), also known under the courtesy name Boji and the pseudonyms Mountain Man of Assiduous Study, Hermit Clerk of the Tiger Forest, Master of Fostering what is Correct and the Master of Xixi. He was born in Khanbaliq (present-day Beijing). When he was young, Xianyu Shu was a provincial official and in 1287 (the 24th year of Zhiyuan) he transferred to the Bureau of Distribution in ­Liangzhe, leaving his post in 1292 (the 29th year of Zhiyuan). For a time, he lived in Xixi near Hangzhou, and founded the Studio of Assiduous Study. Later, he became a Provincial Manager for the ­Jiangzhe Circuit. In 1302 (the 6th year of Dade), he returned north where he became an archivist with the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and died in the same year. Xianyu Shu studied the Tang-era calligrapher Li Beihai and spent great effort on the Yuelu Temple Stele. He improved greatly from his interactions with Zhao Mengfu. He was incredibly mindful in his calligraphic studies, and his brush technique was developed through practical experience. Su Tianjue noted that Xianyu Shu once saw two people in the country trying to extract a cart from the mud, suddenly realizing that brush use must have a »rough force,« and must not float without any strength. Xianyu Shu was also daringly innovative. Once when someone asked him about brush use, his eyes flashed and his arms waved, saying »Be bold! Be bold! Be bold!« There are currently 40 of Xianyu Shu’s works still in existence, most of which are in semi-cursive script and cursive script, with very few examples in regular script. In his medium regular script work, Daodejing of Laozi, his brush work is greatly influenced by Zhu Suiliang, and show traces of Zhao Mengfu. His brush use is clean and smooth, with an even and natural structure. However, he did not show as much variation as Zhao Mengfu. Xianyu Shu’s calligraphy is outstanding for its

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7.6.11  Poem by Du Fu on Visiting the Zhao Mausoleum, Xianyu Shu, Palace Museum

powerful spirit, which increases with the size of his characters. In the large regular script works Admonitions to the Imperial Censors (Yushi jian 御史箴) and Song on a Light-Transmitting Mirror (Touguang gujing ge 透光古镜歌), the structure is relaxed and bright with strong brush strokes. While the there isn’t much care taken in the strokes, his brush use is methodical and makes them vigorous and magnificent. Xianyu Shu’s works in semi-cursive script include Poem by Du Fu on Visiting the Zhao Mausoleum (Du Gongbu xingci Zhaoling shi 杜工部行次昭陵 诗), Poem for a Cherry Apple Tree by Old Man of the Jade Office (Yuju weng haitang shi 玉局翁海棠 诗), Rubbing of Various Poems by Wang Jinggong (Wang Jinggong zashi tie 王荆公杂诗帖), The Return, Song of the Stone Drum (Shigu ge 石鼓歌) and Ode to the Self-Written Poems (Zishu shi zan 自书 诗赞), among others. There were also a number of postscripts attributed to him, including Postscript to a Rubbing of the Wet Nurse Stele (Ba baomu bei tie 跋保母 碑帖), Postscript to Cloudy Mountains by Mi Youren (Ba Mi Youren yunshan tu 跋米友仁云山图), Postscript of the Five Character Damaged Edition of the Dingwu Preface of the Orchid Pavilion (Ba Dingwu lanting wuzi sunben 跋定武兰亭五字损 本), Another Postscript to the Damaged Edition of

the Dingwu Preface of the Orchid Pavilion (You ba Dingwu lanting sunben 又跋定武兰亭损本) and Preface to a Letter by Zhao Mengfu (Ti Zhao Zi’ang shuzha 题赵子昂书札). His Poem by Du Fu on Visiting the Zhao Mausoleum (Fig. 7.6.11) blend regular script and semi-cursive script with a power and weight that pervades the work without losing measure. Each stroke is upright and strong without any hesitation and characters are written with abandon. It is an inspired work that does not pay much attention to brush technique, with more effort put on strength and power. The roughness of his calligraphic style matches his personality, which was described as a »visage with the greatness of a river.« Like Zhao Mengfu, Xianyu Shu also called for a return to tradition, and opposed the styles of the Song Dynasty. However, their adherence to masters differed, as did their personalities. Zhao Mengfu was more partial to the Jin, emphasizing form and rhythm, while Xianyu Shu favored the Tang, noted for his strength. Zhao Mengfu’s calligraphy was precise and practiced with full, rounded strokes. Xianyu Shu sought a rawness that delved into the pleasure of a sparse roughness. Deng Wenyuan (1258–1328), known under the courtesy name Shanzhi and Feishi, was also known as Master Barefoot. He was a native of

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Mianzhou (present-day Mianyang). He enjoyed studying at a young age, and by the age of fifteen he had memorized the Spring and Autumn Annals. At the end of the Song Dynasty, he worked under the Bureau of Distribution in Zhexi. After founding of the Yuan Dynasty in 1290 (the 27th year of Zhiyuan), he served as an Instructor Second-Class at a Confucian School in Hanghou opened by the Branch Secretariat, later serving as an Auxiliary Academician at Jixian Academy as well as Imperial Chancellor, after which he resigned his commission. He died in 1328 (the 1st year of Zhihe) and was given the posthumous title Wenxiao. Deng Wenyuan was widely knowledgeable and a proficient calligrapher. He was most adept at cursive script, but was also capable in both regular and semi-cursive script. He initially followed the styles of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, later studying Li Yong. In the early Yuan Dynasty, he frequently discussed the arts and politics with Zhao Mengfu and Xianyu Shu. His calligraphy was strong, full, and beautifully meticulous, comparable to Zhao Mengfu. There are over ten of Deng Wenyuan’s works that have survived to the present day. Two Poems in Five Character Verse (Wuyan lüshi ershou 五言律诗二首) was written during his middle years in a very tall and upright semi-cursive script. The brush is heavy with the grace of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi as well as the power of Li Beihai. His Postscript of the Five Character Damaged Edition of the Dingwu Preface of the Orchid Pavilion is written in semi-cursive script when Deng Wenyuan was 50 years old. The brush style of this rubbing is very free, with a loose structure. The strokes are not very careful, but the overall composition is natural and harmonious. His tracing of the Quickly Mastered [Characters] Sections (Jijiu zhang 急就章) was Deng Wenyuan’s tracing of the Three Kingdoms clerical cursive work of Eastern Wu master Huang Xiang.

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The Quickly Mastered [Characters] Sections (Fig.  7.6.12), was originally titled Quickly Mastered Chapters and was the work of Han Dynasty scholar Shi You, and was used for writing lessons in primary school. Starting from the Han and Jin, many calligraphers copied the Quickly Mastered [Characters] Sections, departing from its original purpose and simply viewing it purely as an example of an example of clerical script artwork. After the Tang Dynasty, clerical cursive script became increasingly less practiced. In the Yuan Dynasty, Deng Wenyuan and Zhao Mengfu enjoyed the script the most. Deng Wenyuan incorporated regular script and clerical script techniques into it, and restored the artistic charm of clerical script. This rubbing contains a postscript by Peng Hua, which reads »the motion of his brush is like that of a dragon emerging from the sea, soaring and unconstrained.« Deng Wenyuan did his most to maintain a simplicity to his strokes, with an upward tick. The structure of his characters is square and flat, and are characterized by an individual coiling without linking, but with the incorporation of techniques and form from regular script, the style is different from classical clerical cursive. In writing clerical cursive, Deng Wenyuan strove to achieve a classical feel, but, in another sense, his »return to tradition« actually contained some of his own innovations and some distinctive contemporary elements. Like many Jiangnan scholar-artists, he achieved outstanding success during the Yuan Dynasty. Jiangnan calligraphers in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty wrote a new chapter in the history of calligraphy. They stayed away from the political center, losing themselves in the art of brush and ink among the clean mountains and clear waters of the fertile Jiangnan region. They immersed themselves in swaths of brush strokes and seas of ink. In both painting and calligraphy, each expressex their own brilliance.

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7.6.12  the Quickly Mastered [Characters] Sections, Deng Wenyuan, the Palace Museum, Beijing

Representative calligraphers included Ni Zan, Wu Zhen, Yang Weizhen, Lu Junren, Wu Rui, Yu He, Shen You and Qian Liangshi, among others, but Ni Zan was perhaps the most representative of the painter-calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty. Most painters of the Yuan Dynasty also excelled in calligraphy, with Ni Zan, Wu Zhen and Wang Meng showing the most creative depth among the Four Masters. In addition to the Four Masters, artists including Zhu Derun, Gu An, Fang Congyi and Wang Mian also made notable contributions to calligraphy.

Painter-calligraphers, especially from the Jiangnan region, were an important phenomenon during the Yuan Dynasty. Ni Zan was perhaps had the most personality. His painting style was simple and distant, while his calligraphy was similarly simple and classically elegant, just like his paintings. Most of Ni Zan’s works of calligraphy still in existence are in small semi-cursive regular script, but elements of clerical script can also be discerned. His works are cold, distant, and have a classical simplicity. He was greatly influenced by the style

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7.6.13 Poems from the Veranda of Quiet Lodging, Ni Zan, the Palace Museum, Beijing

CHAPTER VI PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND SEAL CARVING IN THE YUAN DYNASTY

in Zhong Yao’s Recommendation for the Commendation of Ji Zhi (Jian Ji Zhi biao 荐季直表). His other works that have been preserved to the present day also include Poem for a Subdued Room (Dan shi shi 淡室诗), Poems from the Veranda of Quiet Lodging (Jingji xuan shiwen 静寄 轩诗文, Fig. 7.6.13), Manuscript of Various Poems (Zashi tie 杂诗帖), Poems Composed at Home Recalling a Stay at Yi Studio (Huai Jiyi zhai suiyu shi 怀寄彝斋随寓诗), Rhyme Homage to the Poem of Farming and Hermitage (Ciyun gengyin shi 次韵耕 隐诗), On Private Dedication (Zhi shendu shidu 致 慎独诗牍), Two Poems to Deji (Cheng Deji ershi 呈 德机二诗), and Postscript to the Wu Bing Version of the Preface of the Orchid Pavilion (Ba Wu Bing ben lanting 跋吴柄本兰亭), among others. Up on close examination of these works, both the structure and brush use of the characters is strongly influenced by clerical script, deftly incorporating these two elements of clerical script into regular script. The beginning of strokes do not begin with a dot, but with a twist of the brush above the paper. Other aspects such as the similarities in the corners as well as heavy downward strokes followed by light lifting of the brush are not at all by chance. The structure of the characters tends to be flat with long horizontal strokes. The core of the characters are tight, while the periphery spreads out, similar to the strong yet floating style of the Jin era. The flow of the strokes in Poem for a Subdued Room are smooth with a practiced consistency and no trace of frivolous lack of control. Wu Zhen was one of the Four Masters known for his painting, but also experienced in calligraphy. Unlike Ni Zan, Wu Zhen was more skilled at cursive script. His works still in existence include a long scroll work of the Heart Sutra (Xin jing 心经) is notable for its smooth, natural strokes, with free, unrestrained brush technique. The full Sanskrit name of the Heart Sutra is Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya, which translates into »The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom.« It was trans-

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lated into Chinese by Xuanzang, based on scriptures brought from India. Wu Zhen composed this version of the Heart Sutra when he was already middle aged, reflecting his enlightened state of mind and unburdened spirit following his adherence to Buddhism. Wu Zhen’s paintings strove to be edgy, and his poetry free, while his calligraphy seemed to take flight. When his poetry and calligraphy took to the page, poetry, calligraphy and painting became one, making him a truly representative painter-calligrapher. Zhang Yu (1277–1348) was known by the courtesy name Bo Yu and the pseudonyms Master of the Chaste Dwelling and Unofficial Historian of Words and Songs. He was a native of Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou). At the age of 20 he left home to dedicate himself to Daoist studies, becoming one of the most famous Daoist scholars of the Yuan Dynasty. Zhang Yu had a broad range of knowledge, and his poems, calligraphy and paintings were said to be the first among Daoist masters of the Yuan. Early in his life, he modeled his calligraphy on Zhao Mengfu’s Memorial to General Li Sixun (Yunhui jiangjun bei 云麾将军碑), later turning to studies of the Maoshan Stele, which took on the spirit of both Li Yong and Zhao Mengfu. He had very good relationships with both Ni Zan and Yang Weizhen, composing endless poems about them, which were compiled into the Unofficial History of Words and Songs (Juqu waishi 句曲外史). Zhang Yu often composed inscriptions or postscripts on the paintings of famous artists, in a style that was relaxed and elegant with an air that was handsome, clear and strong. His style seemed to emanate from the realm of the immortals, with a spiritual elegance that harkened back to the Jin and Tang. His other works included Tablet Dedicated to Master Zhou Guangmozi (Guang Mozi Zhou jun jie 广莫子周君碣), Memorial of the Taixian Pavilion (Taixian ge ji 台仙阁记), Inscription for Two Poems by Zhang Yanfu (Ti Zhang Yanfu

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ertu shi 题张彦甫二图诗), Poem on the Portraits of the Five Gentlemen of the Song and the Two Bodhisattvas (Song wu xian er kaishi xiang shi 宋五贤二开士像诗), Poem on Viewing the Records of Shen Zongjing (Kan Zongjing lu shi 看宗敬 录诗), Rhyme Homage to Tianjing Offering an Orange (Ciyun Tianjing shangren song gan shi 次韵天 镜上人送柑诗, Postscript to Xuandu’s Theory on Characters (Xuandu zishuo ba 玄度字说跋), Poem on Happenings at the Mountain Dwelling (Shanju jishi shi 山居即事诗), Poem on an Iron Zither (Ti tieqin shi 题铁琴诗), On Reaching the Heights of the Southern Peak (Deng nanfeng jueding shi 登南 峰绝顶诗), and Self-Scribed Poem (Zishu si 自书 诗), among others. Rhyme Homage to Tianjing Offering an Orange is one of Zhang Yu’s most representative works in regular script. The structure fuses aspects of Ouyang Xiu with the elegance and balance of Zhao Mengfu. Two Poems by Zhang Yanfu, written in running-cursive, uses a relatively relaxed structure. It is a replica of a rubbing of Zhang Yanfu’s poems, which were used to »test brushes,« specifically focusing on brush use. While it is somewhere between semi-cursive and cursive script, the characters remain independent from each other. Special attention is paid to the thickness of the strokes, the concentration of ink and variations in the form of the characters, giving it a style of its own. Yang Weizhen (1296–1370) was also known by the courtesy name Lianfu, and the pseudonym Iron Cliff. He was a native of Zhuji (present day Zhejiang). In his youth, he »collected ten thousand books,« and after five years of dedicated study, in 1327 (the 4th year of Taiding), he became a jinshi and was appointed to a position at a Confucian academy in Jiangxi. During the chaos at the end of the Yuan, he fled to the Jiangnan region and settled in Qiantang. While in hiding in Songjiang, he would go boating on the lake with other Jiangnan scholars, playing Plum Blossom Alley on his iron flute, liv-

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ing free and easy. In 1369 (the 2nd year of Hongwu, Ming Dynasty) he was summoned to Nanjing to repair books on ceremony and music, but he requested to return to his hometown—as he could not faithfully serve two dynasties. Yang Weizhen was one of the Yuan Dynasty’s most famous poets, composing Master Iron Cliff’s Poems in the Style of the Ancient Music Bureau (Tieya xiansheng gu yuefu 铁崖先生古乐府) and A Collection of Poems by Iron Cliff (Tieya shiji 铁 崖诗集), as well as many others. His poems were known for their »odd words and strange language,« and his calligraphy also had a curious energy. He began by following the calligraphy of the masters of the Jin and Tang, blending techniques of clerical cursive and ancient clerical scripts with random elements of regular, semi-cursive and cursive scripts, but he was known throughout the Jiangnan region for his running-cursive style. His running-cursive works are mostly typified by sharp angles and the structure of his characters tended to tilt to the side while the overall shape of the characters was often distorted. There is a clear unevenness between dry and wet use of ink and there is a significant difference in the thickness of strokes and the formation of the characters. Later scholars described Yang Weizhen’s calligraphy as having the »air of an unsettled time,« which was directly related to the time in which he lived and his own personality. As calligraphy during the Yuan Dynasty was enveloped by the calm and reserved style of Zhao Mengfu, the solitary Yang Weizhen intended to create something new and different. He worked to avoid being too balanced, and even purposefully distorted the shapes of characters—creating a script that was rebellious and odd. His works that survive today include Epitaph of Zhou Shangqing (Zhou Shangqing muzhi ming 周 上卿墓志铭), Preface to Mr. Shen’s Poems in the Style of the Music Bureau (Shen sheng yuefu xu 沈 生乐府序), Later Preface to A Short Journey of the

CHAPTER VI PAINTING, CALLIGRAPHY, AND SEAL CARVING IN THE YUAN DYNASTY

Immortals (Xiao youxian ci houxu 小游仙辞后序), Various Orations by Zhang Xuangong South of the City (Zhang Xuangong chengnan zayong 张宣公城 南杂咏), Poems of Soft Songs of Wandering Immortals (Youxian changhe shi 游仙唱和诗), Fragrance of the Jade Well (Yujing xiang shi 玉井香诗), Poems of the Hall of the Old Age (Wanjie tang shi 晚节堂 诗), Manuscript of the Clouds (Yunjian tie 云间帖) and Tablet of the Hovel for Selling Characters (Yuzi wo ming 鬻字窝铭).

2. Calligraphers of Ethnic Minorities One of the highlights of Yuan Dynasty calligraphy was the appearance of calligraphers among ethnic minorities. Emperors Renzong, Yingzong and Shundi were all skilled calligraphers, ranging from good quality to passable. One group of minority calligraphers were especially notable figures like Yelü Chucai, Kanglinaonao, Guan Yunshi and Yu Que. The appearance of calligraphers of other ethnic groups not only reflected cultural interactions and integration between ethnic groups during this unique historical period, it also gave them an opportunity to make an indelible mark on Chinese calligraphy. Yelü Chucai (1190–1244) was also known by the courtesy name Jinqing and was of the Khitan ethnic group. After Mongolian troops entered Yanjing in 1215, he accompanied Genghis Khan on his western conquests as a scribe and astrologer. After Ögedei Khan ascended to the throne, he served as »yeke bichechi,« or chief scribe in charge of Chinese writing, an equivalent of the Han position of Director of the Imperial Secretariat. In politics, he proposed a series of policies and measures that were beneficial to economic recovery and development. In 1238, Yelü Chucai submitted a petition to the provinces of central China to hold the Confucian examinations, producing many key advisors to Kublai Khan. Yelü Chucai was also instrumental in the promotion of Han culture during the early Yuan Dynasty.

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He was skilled in regular script, studying ancient masters like Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan, as well as Jin-era calligraphers like Zhao Bingwen and Ren Junmo. His calligraphic works that survive today include A Poem of Farewell to Liu Man (Song Liu Yangmen shi 送刘阳门诗), with its powerful brush work and a prominent strength. The work has clear elements of both Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. Early Ming Dynasty scholar Song Lian described his calligraphy, saying »his characters are powerful and vigorous, as if forged from iron.« His style was very much in line with his role as a chief advisor of a newly established kingdom. Guan Yunshi (1286–1324), a Uighur, is also known by his Uighur name Sewinch Qaya, but later followed his father Guan Zhige in taking the surname Guan. He also was known under the pseudonym Sour Studio. He worked as a poet and was one of the Yuan Dynasty’s most famous composers. He served as a darughachi, a tax administrator, under the Myriarchy of Lianghuai that was based in Yongzhou. He was also an academic at the Hanlin Academy, serving as the Drafting Clerk of Imperial Edicts and Compiler of Historical Records. Later he retired his position and settled in Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou). He is mentioned in the History of the Yuan (Yuan shi 元史), which states that »he borrowed from the strengths of ancient calligraphers in cursive and clerical script, adding variations that established a school of his own.« The largest work of calligraphy handed down from the Yuan Dynasty is one of his works with only two characters, »zhong zhou« 中舟, or »middle boat«. The characters are large, using a midbrush technique that is strong and powerful. Another work that survives is Postscript to Cicadas and Crows in Winter (Ba Song ren hanchan ya juan 跋宋人寒蝉鸦卷), one of his own poems, which has a sweeping brush technique that is powerful throughout. Compared to Zhao Mengfu and oth-

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ers who cling to measured, traditional styles, he was clearly unrestrained. As stated in the Essential Collection of Calligraphic History (Shushi huiyao 书史会要), »his famous chapters and handsome language is known among holders of the brush; it is odd and curious; viewing his calligraphy gives knowledge of the cultivation of his heart.« Kanglinaonao (1295–1345), also known under the courtesy name Zishan and the pseudonym Studio of Correctness, was one of the Semu people, and a native of Kangli, in present-day Xinjiang. He was a high-ranking member of society and directly participated in the cultural development of the Yuan Dynasty. He promoted cultural exchange between different ethnic groups and played an important role in encouraging Mongol rulers to adopt Han culture. Kanglinaonao’s calligraphy was influenced by a number of schools. His regular script was based on Yu Shinan, while his semi-cursive and cursive script was heavily influenced by the styles of Zhong Yao, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Sun Guoting and Mi Fei. His calligraphy was bold and unconventional, enjoying a good degree of fame at the time. History of Yuan states that he »excelled at the running-cursive script with those with knowledge saying it was influenced by Jin calligraphers. Each of his works were sought-after treasures, no less than gold and jade.« His fame was so great that it nearly reached that of Zhao Mengfu. In the Essential Collection of Calligraphic History, it states that »critics said his calligraphy was famed the world over; from the time of Zhao Mengfu was, he is counted among his like.« He studied diligently his entire life and he completed works of calligraphy with great speed. In Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village, Tao Zongyi notes that he »asked a guest how many characters could be written in one day, and the guest said, ›I have heard that Zhao Mengfu can write 10,000 in one day‹; he responded, ›I can

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complete 30,000 in just over one day, putting my brush down without feeling fatigued.‹« His brush was fluid and fast, and none of his contemporaries were able to compare. His works that have survived to the present day include Biography of a Carpenter by Liu Zongyuan (Liu Zongyuan ziren zhuan 柳宗元梓人传), Story of an Exiled Dragon (Zhelong shuo 谪龙说), Record of Zhang Xu’s Brush Work (Zhang Xu bifa ji 张旭笔 法记), Quatrain Poems of the Tang (Tang ren jueju shi 唐人绝句诗), Poems of Li Bai (Li Bai shi 李白 诗), Poems of Lady Du Qiu (Du Qiu niang shi 杜秋 娘诗), Self-Written Poem from the Sheng’an Model Calligraphy (Sheng’an tie zishu shi 圣安帖自书诗), Self-Written Poem of Lamentation on an Autumn Night (Zishu qiuye ganhuai shi 自书秋夜感怀诗), A Poem Noted on Command (Fengji shi 奉记诗), Manuscript of Dispatching Messengers (Xuanshi tie 宣使帖), Copy of the Shiqi Model Calligraphies (Lin shiqi tie 临十七帖), Postscript to Song-era Painting of Streams and Mountains (Ba Song ren xishan wujin tu 跋宋人溪山无尽图), Postscript to Ren Yueshan’s Zhang Guo Attends Emperor Ming of Tang (Ba Ren Yueshan Zhang Guo jian Minghuang tu 跋任月山张果见明皇图), Postscript to Zhao Mengfu’s Classic of Clarity and Stillness (Ba Zhao Mengfu shu chang qingjing jing 跋赵孟頫书 常清静经), Rubbing of the Postscript of the Dingwu Preface of the Orchid Pavilion (Ba Dingwu lanting tie 跋定武兰亭帖), and Postscript to the Temple of Reformation (Ba huadu si bei 跋化度寺碑), among others. Biography of a Carpenter by Liu Zongyuan was created when he was 37 years old, in the cursive script style. Strokes are practiced and without hesitation. The speed is as the coming of wind and rain, which is echoed in the brush strokes. The composition is a pleasing combination of struggle and passivity. On Zhang Xu’s Brush Technique was composed when he was 39, and incorporated the last two parts of Yan Zhenqing’s Review of the Twelve Meanings of the Chief Clerk Zhang’s Brushwork

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(Shu Zhang Zhangshi bifa shi’er yi 述张长史笔法 十二意), which exhibits the spirit of Wang Xizhi’s running-cursive technique with an elegant and free style. Yu Que (1303–1358), known under the courtesy names Tingxin and Tianxin, was a member of the Tangwu clan. His family was originally of Wuwei in Hexi, but when his father moved to Luzhou, he identified with Luzhou. He was a well-known disciple of the scholar Wu Cheng. He was granted the status of jinshi in the first year of Yuantong and was appointed an administrative clerk in Sizhou, participating in the drafting of the History of Song, Liao and Jin. He was versed in the writing of histories and the composition of poems. He also excelled at calligraphy his extant works include the Historical Archives Model Calligraphies (Shiguan tie 史馆帖) and Postcript to Su Shi’s Model Calligraphy of Ledi (Ba Su Shi ledi tie 跋苏轼乐地帖). The Historical Archives Model Calligraphies were a letter to a friend, which mentioned his interactions with many different scholars. The work used small semi-cursive script and had many elements from Mi Fei, as well as the air of Zhao Mengfu’s style. The script is wild, with a balance between heavy and light for an overall relaxed feel. In the Postscript to Su Shi’s Model Calligraphy of Ledi, the motion of his brush is unplanned and natural, producing a feeling that is relaxed and free, without being forced. He achieved the goal of unexpected greatness. Yu Que’s calligraphy was aesthetically amusing, following the techniques of the Jin and Tang and placing rhythm and style above all else.

3. Seal Carving in the Yuan Dynasty Collection of paintings and calligraphic works during the Yuan Dynasty, especially among scholars, became increasingly popular. Personal seals and collection seals were widely used on many of these works, with scholar-painters and officials paying more and more attention to the artistry and specific uses of these seals. From participat-

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ing in the design of seals to personally carving seals, from forged copper and iron to the use of stone, the artistic methods used to produce seals put them increasingly in the reach of scholars. In The History of Seals (Yin shi 印史), Zhao Mengfu brought the art of seals in the Yuan Dynasty to a new level of elegance and provided a theoretical basis for their study. Created in the early Yuan Dynasty, The History of Seals was based on a selection of 340 ancient seals contained in A Collection of Precious Seals (Baozhang jigu 宝章集古), which included sources. However, this has been lost, with only a preface remaining in the Collection of the Pine and Snow Studio (Songxue zhai wenji 松 雪斋文集). The basis for his selection of certain seals was to be »unlike the popular and common, with an inclination toward the ancient.« And ultimately, to »ensure that upon seeing them, the curious individual will be driven to choose a new string to find harmony and change their path to find the way.« This reflected Zhao Mentfu’s aesthetic sensibilities, which held the elegance of the past and simplicity above all else, causing it to become the key reference book of its time. Most of the seal script inscriptions were designed by Zhao Mengfu himself, including »Zi Ang of Clan Zhao« (Zhao shi Zi ang 赵氏子昂), »Seal of Zhao Mengfu« (Zhao Mengfu yin 赵孟頫印), »Master of the Water Spirt Palace (Shuijing gong daoren 水精宫道人), »Great Elegance« (Da ya 大 雅) and »Pine and Snow Studio« (Songxue zhai 松雪斋). Wu Qiuyan (1272–1311) was a seal carver whose fame was equal to that of Zhao Mengfu. He was also known by the courtesy name Zihang, and the pseudonyms Chaste and White, Bamboo House, and Bamboo Essence. He was a native of Youlong (present-day Zhejiang). Historical documents describe him as »blind in his left eye and with a lame left leg.« He was one of the earliest recorded seal carvers of the Yuan Dynasty. Well-versed in the classifi-

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cation of Chinese characters, he worked as hard as Zhao Mengfu to correct the forms handed down from the Tang and Song. He was especially skilled at seal script, creating the »jade fiber« style of seal script, which fundamentally changed the look of carved seals. Two of his square seals in white characters still survive, carved in rounded, winding seal script that is extremely fine. His seal script works still in existence include the seven-character »Wuyan Temple Year Nine of the Reign of Dade« (Dade jiunian wuyan guan 大德九 年吾衍观) and was placed at the end of the work Poems of Zhang Haohao (Zhang Haohao shi 张 好好诗). The characters are in small seal script, rounded and even with lively structure. The size of the characters are not all the same, but have a natural balance. If Zhao Mengfu set the aesthetic benchmark for seal carving, and Wu Qiuyin provided a point of entry into the art, then it was Wang Mian who was the earliest to apply these to stone seal carving. According to the Manuscript of Seven Classifications (Qixiu leigao 七修类稿), »in ancient times, cooper was used for seals; by the late Yuan, Wang Mian of Kuaiji began using a milky white stone to carve them.« The stone was brittle, and traces were left when carved with a knife. Very easily wrought with a knife, today a stone of blue and white is used with coloring similar to polished tortoise shell, glossy and hard. In many of Wang Mian’s paintings, we can see that his personal seals were made of stone. Styles of the seals vary and were not made by a single individual, which indicates that Wang Mian was not the only person working with stone. The transition from copper to stone was a great leap in the history of seal carving. Seal making in copper was greatly limited, and could not fully express the aesthetic aspirations of the artists. With the advent of stone carving, seal script carving truly came into its own, expanding the possibilities for artistic expression, and how carving chis-

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els could be used. And »carving technique« is as important to seal carving as »brush technique« is to calligraphy. Possibly even more important is that most of the copper seals made before the Yuan Dynasty were produced by craftspeople. With the arrival of the Yuan Dynasty and the carving of stone seals by Wang Mian and others, the aestheticism of schol-

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ars came to seal carving and signaled a major change in the history of seal carving. After the end of Yuan Dynasty, stone seals became increasingly common, with scholars joining the ranks of seal carvers, bringing seal carving to the same level as calligraphy. It is for this reason that Wang Mian’s foray into stone seal carving is considered incredibly important.

CHAPTER VII  ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE OF THE YUAN DYNASTY Section 1  Architecture of the Yuan Dynasty As part of Chinese culture, the artistry of Yuan Dynasty architecture developed even further the achievements of the Tang and Song dynasties. The Mongolians established two capital cities— one at Karakorum and the other at Xanadu. After the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, a new capital was built at Khanbaliq, which was second only to the Tang Dynasty capital of Chang’an in terms of the size of the city and the majesty of its palaces. The Mongol rulers accepted the Confucian traditions of the Han people, and the construction of Khanbaliq clearly exhibited Confucian aesthetic ideals. The palaces of Khanbaliq followed the traditions of the Song and Jin while adding their own elements, to great success. However, the palace grounds retained some elements of steppe lifestyle. Buddhist, Daoist and other temples continued also to be built. According to the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, which managed »the religion of the Buddha,« as of 1291 (28th year of Zhiyuan), there were over 24,000 Buddhist temples throughout the country. From temples that currently still exist, we can see that some were constructed with official support and had a strong traditional style. Their layout, composition and structure were all relatively standardized and represent an official style. There were also some that were built by private craftsmen and are generally more flexible in their design and construction. In addition to traditional religious structures, there are many Tibetan Buddhist (i.  e., Lamaist) structures in Tibet dating from the Yuan Dynasty that

still exist. Yuan Dynasty rulers had great respect for Tibetan Buddhism and strengthened architectural exchange between the Han and Tibetan peoples. This included architectural elements from the Central Plains that came to Tibet as well as Tibetan architectural styles that were imported, exemplified by the »chorten,« or stupa. The Yuan Dynasty was also an important period of development for Islamic architecture. Many Islamic places of worship were constructed in cities including Khanbaliq, Karakorum, Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Dingzhou and Shanchan (Kunming), to the point that they were located »as close as the capital and in the farthest provinces, numbering more than ten thousand, all holding ceremonies of worship to heaven facing west.« This added yet another style to Chinese architecture. Along with the Song and Liao dynasties, the architecture of the Yuan Dynasty existed between the second (Tang/Song) and third (Ming/Qing) high points in the development of Chinese architecture, and served as a period of transition between them. While it is difficult to say that the achievements during this period can be compared with those of these two major waves of development in Chinese architecture, the accomplishments represented in Khanbaliq in its palaces and gardens, as well as the advent of new types of architecture, are still enough to attract considerable attention.

1. Khanbaliq (Grand Capital of the Yuan Dynasty) Khanbaliq, the Grand Capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was no less impressive than the Chang’an of the Sui and Tang eras, or Beijing during the Ming and

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Qing dynasties. These cities strictly adhered to carefully prepared construction plans. The regular layout, grand scale, majestic buildings, and their impact on later generations, make them the most important of China’s ancient imperial capitals. The city planners placed the palace complex in the center of the city and strove to base construction on the plans for the imperial capital of the Zhou Dynasty, as outlined in the Artificer’s Record (Kaogong ji 考工记). The most unique part of the planning of Khanbaliq was that it followed the Artificer’s Record to the letter, which stated that a capital city is »a square of nine li on each side. On each side there are three gates. Within the city there are nine north-south and nine east-west roads; the north-south roads are as wide as nine carriages side by side. The ancestral temple of the ruling house is to the left of the palace, the temple to god of the soil is to the right. The palace faces the court in front and the market is behind it.« Khanbaliq was massive, measuring 6,700 m east to west and 7,600  m north to south. It was essentially square in shape and much larger than Nanjing under the Liao Dynasty and Zhongdu under the Jin. It also surpassed Bianliang of the Northern Song, and approached the scale of Luoyang, the Eastern Capital of the Tang Dynasty. Its eastern and western walls were on nearly on the same line as the later eastern and western walls of the Inner City of Ming- and Qing-era Beijing. Its southern wall was close to two li (one kilometer) north of the later capital and its northern wall was around five li (2.5 km) north of Beijing’s. In addition to two gates along the north wall, each of the other sides had three gates. The main gate of the city was the Gate of Brilliance and Centrality (lizheng men 丽正门). Inside of each gate was a major thoroughfare with another running between each gate, forming circuits within the city walls. With the exception of roads cut off by the palace complex, and bodies of water within the city, all roads crossed the city and maintained a nine-by-nine grid pattern.

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The city walls were all formed from rammed earth, with horse paths and towers at each of the four corners. To prevent erosion from rain, at one point the walls were covered in reeds, known as »straw mat earth construction.« By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the city walls had also added barbicans. The Imperial City was located in the southern part of the Inner City. Its main gate was the Lattice Star Gate (lingxing men 棂星门). The Imperial City ran along the city’s central axis (the same axis as Ming and Qing Beijing) where the royal palace was also located. This was also known as the ›Great Interior‹ (da nei 大内), and its main gate was called the Gate of Worshiping Heaven (chongtian men 崇 天门). One of the city’s most important markets was located in the area around the Drum Tower, north of the Imperial City. To the left and right of the Imperial City were the eastern and western city gates, the Gate of Uniform Transformation (qihua men 齐化门) and the Gate of Just Rule (pingze men 平则门). Within these gates were the Imperial Ancestral Temple (tai miao 太庙) and the Altar of Earth and Harvests (sheji tan 社稷坛). These were all clearly laid out according to guidelines in the Artificer’s Record. Generally speaking, out of all of China’s many cities, Khanbaliq came the closest to the ideals outlined in the Artificer’s Record. The square outer city walls, the symmetrical east-west layout along a north-south central axis, the impressive positioning of the royal palace on this central axis and the strict grid network of roads as well as the position of the »Ancestral Temple on the left and Altar of the Earth to the right of the palace complex all served to demonstrate the supreme authority of the emperor, and strictly upheld political concepts of ancestral codes and Confucian mores. The concept of rule through order that the Mongols sought had a direct impact in this sense, and was their ideal social model expressed through form. The chief architect of Khanbaliq was the Han Confucian scholar Liu Bingzhong. For generations, his family had been nobles of the Liao and

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Jin dynasties, and were heavily influenced by the Confucian concept of »rule by rites.« In traditional Confucian teachings, there were inherent elements that helped bridge the gap between the Han and the barbarians, and they used their political ideals in their service to rulers of other ethnic groups that came to the Central Plains—resulting in the concept of »Han culture taming the barbarian.« Throughout the Yuan Dynasty, the practical application of this concept effectively used the advanced culture of the Central Plains to impact and improve the rule of the Mongolian rulers, who had built their empire on a nomadic economic system and military conquest. As early as the beginning of the reign of Kublai Khan, the famous neo-Confucian scholar Hao Jing had used the example of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei moving his capital to Luoyang to demonstrate »Han culture taming the barbarian,« encouraging the emperor to move his political center south. He said, »to the east of the capital of Yan [Beijing] is Liaodong and Jieshi [both sites near the Bohai Sea], to its west the Three Jin Kingdoms [Shanxi Province]; Backed by passes and peaks with rivers at its fore, [it] governs all of China to its south.« The Mongolian noble Ba’atur believed that the land of Yan in Youzhou is like the dragon and the tiger, a fierce and majestic landscape; controlling the great rivers of the south, the plains and deserts of the north. The Son of Heaven must be in the center, receiving obeisance from the four directions. If our great king wishes to rule the world, the place where he establishes his kingdom must be in Yan.

In the »Biography of Liu Bingzhong« (»Liu Bingzhong zhuan« 刘秉忠传) in the History of the Yuan (Yuan Shi 元史), it states that »Statutes, Ceremonies, Music, Laws, the Three Bonds and Five Virtues were established under Emperors Yao and Shun […] practicing them according to the stories of the Duke of Zhou. Today, we can ill afford to lose a thousand years in a moment.« It was les-

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sons like these that were used to council Kublai Khan—and met with his great approval. Khanbaliq had eleven city gates, each equipped with gate towers as well as barbicans outside the wall. They, along with the corner towers and the city wall itself, created a varied and rich outline for the city. Within the geometric center of the city, a central platform was constructed that »covered one square mu.« To the west of the platform was a Drum Tower, and just north if it a Bell Tower. The street extending eastward from the platform led directly to the Gate of Worshiping Benevolence (chongren men 崇仁门). The Drum Tower and Bell Tower were both imposing structures »with multiple stories over arched passageways while the rhythm of the drum and ring of the bell added to the majesty of the imperial capital.« These massive structures were built in a coordinated manner, located along major roads and in a key position, and became a central focal point that corresponded to major thoroughfares and made the city an organic, artistic whole. Layouts placing the drum and bell towers at the center of the city where major roads meet became a common plan for many cities in northern China during the later Ming and the Qing. Most of the major roads in Khanbaliq ran north to south, with wide streets measuring 24 bu or »paces« wide (37  m), and narrow streets 12 bu. Between these streets were alleyways or hutong running east to west that measured 5–6  m in width. The distance between each of the hutong measured 50 bu (77 m) and created a very orderly structure. Residential homes were built there with »priority given to the wealthy and skilled.« The abundant wealth of these individuals ensured the quality of their structures, which is clearly why they were given priority in these areas and ensure the appearance of the city. The inner city was divided into 50 fang or wards, but these were merely administrative structures and were not enclosed by walls, as they had been during the Han and Tang dynasties.

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During the Yuan Dynasty, Europe was a collection of divided feudal states that were incapable of creating an imperial capital as impressive as Khanbaliq. In the Travels of Marco Polo (Make Boluo xing ji 马可·波罗行记), as translated by Feng Chengjun, its states that Marco Polo said Khanbaliq was the ultimate example of beauty and perfection, and it could not be expressed in words. He described the city, saying the streets are so straight and wide that you can see right along them from end to end and from one gate to the other. And up and down the city there are beautiful palaces, and many great and fine inns and fine houses in great number. All the plots of ground on which the houses of the city are built are four-square, and laid out with straight lines; all the plots being occupied by great and spacious palaces […] each square plot is surrounded by handsome streets for the traffic.

A contemporary, Huang Wenzhong, wrote in his Ode to Khanbaliq (Dadu fu 大都赋): »Its markets are crisscrossed with passageways with countless alleys; the largest able to hold one hundred steeds, the smaller eight carts square. Looking along the streets from east to west was as to gaze upon the Buddha, while walking from the south to the north of the city would take an entire day.« The city also contained many scenic waterways that were a unique feature of Khanbaliq, providing a way to supply goods to the city as well as transportation, while at the same time beautifying the city, enriching the lives of the people, and improving its climate. Prior to the construction of Khanbaliq, this area contained a system of waterways with rivers flowing from the mountains in the northwest into the Gaoliang River (gaoliang he 高粱河) and collecting at Jishuitan (‌积水潭, »Water-Collecting Pool«) and Haizi (‌海子, »Small Sea«), known today as Jishuitan and Shichahai (‌什刹海, »Sea of the Many Temples«), but covering a larger area. The water continued to flow south to Taiyechi (‌太液 池, »Pool of the Supreme Water«; present-day Bei-

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hai and Zhonghai—Nanhai had yet to be created) where an imperial villa had been built during the Jin Dynasty. The planners of Khanbaliq were successful in making the most of the limited surface water of the north, incorporating Taiyechi into the Imperial City, while Jishuitan and Haizi were incorporated to areas within the main city walls. The famous Yuan Dynasty scientist Guo Shoujing also brought the waters of Baifu Spring into the city, increasing the amount of water that flowed into Jishuitan and Haizi, which allowed for the creation of the Tonghui River (tonghui he 通惠 河). The Tonghui River flowed from Haizi to the southeast, passing along the eastern side of the Imperial City to the south until it flowed out of the city, then it turned east, toward Tongzhou. There, it linked with the Grand Canal, enabling great boats from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to sail directly into Khanbaliq and dock at Haizi—»Grand visitors from Sichuan and Shaanxi, great merchants of Anhui and Jiangsu, set their sails billowing and arrived at the foot of the emperor.« Wealthy merchants gathered in large numbers there, which led to the opening of »many stages and wine houses« along the eastern bank of Haizi and in the alleyways of Rizhong Ward to the north. There were also markets that sold rice, flour, silk, jewelry, fowl, and fruit—creating a thriving commercial center. There were also many gardens and temples surrounding Haizi, with ten of the temples being counted among the most famous and giving Haizi another name—Shichahai, or the Sea of the Many Temples. According to the chapter »Drinking on the Dike of the Temple of Pure Deeds« in Scenes and Monuments of the Imperial Capital (Dijing jingwu lue 帝京景物略), the Garden of Ten Thousand Springs was where the elites of the Yuan Dynasty would gather, and the lotus blossoms of the Temple of Pure Deeds were especially famous. At the time, it was said that »waves lapped at the gate of the temple and the lotus blossoms were as the glow of evening.«

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2. The Palaces and Gardens of Khanbaliq Records show that the palaces of the Great Interior were built along the central axis to the east of Taiyechi. On the western bank of Taiyechi, opposite the Great Interior, were the Palace of Grand Fortune (long fu gong 隆福宫) and the Palace of Glorious Sanctity (xing sheng gong 兴圣宫) where the Empress Dowager and the Heir Apparent respectively resided. These three palace compounds formed a triangle with Taiyechi set in the center. To the north of the Great Interior there were also royal gardens. All of these palaces and gardens were within the boundaries of the Imperial City and were for the exclusive use of the Emperor. The design of the square in front of the palace used the format of the Northern Song capital of Bianliang, and the Jin Dynasty capital at Zhongdu— with a T-shaped layout. However, the location of the square differed in that it was outside, rather than inside the main gate of the Imperial City. This was because the southern city wall of Khanbaliq had to avoid the northern wall of Zhongdu, which left little distance between the southern gate of the city and the main gate of the royal palace, while there was a rather large distance between the southern gate of the city and the main gate of the Imperial City that allowed for east-west passages and room for a vista in front of the Imperial City. This meant that the space between the main gates of the Imperial City and the palace complex was even more limited. The designers of the city used this to their advantage by moving the T-shaped square outside the main gate of the Imperial City with a second square between the main gates of the Imperial City and royal palace. In front of this second square was the Golden River (jinshui he 金 水河), which was crossed by three bridges, called the Zhou Bridges (zhou qiao 周桥)—echoing the Zhou Bridges (zhou qiao 州桥) of Bianliang. At the end of this square was the main gate of the royal palace, which officially known as the Gate of Worshiping Heaven, and generally called the Merid-

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ian Gate (wu men 午门), following the traditional practices of each dynasty from the Sui and Tang to form a concave space with towers on either side. In the center was a gate tower that was connected via diagonal side buildings to two ear-towers at the left and right corners, which were again linked by enclosed corridors to corner towers on the left and right that were »lower by three levels.« The entire scene was majestic and beautiful. This change meant that the square in front of the palace was bordered by two gates in the front and back as well as the east, west and north. Each of the city gates had gate towers, and each corner of the city wall was installed with corner towers. The city wall itself was also encased in brick. Within the royal palace there were two large courtyards aligned along the central axis that were surrounded by side buildings at the corners of which were also four corner towers. With overall space already relatively limited, this added a layer of depth and enriched the progression of the space. These two squares served as an overture to the overall axis of the palace complex. Meanwhile, the T-shaped square at the front was like a prelude to this overture and was itself separated into two sections. The vertical line of the »T« made the visitor feel inexplicably drawn forward toward the powerful, expansive horizontal main gate of the Imperial City. In the latter of these two squares, flanked by the towers of the palace, one could feel the weight of power and the might of imperial authority. The way in which this series of spaces was handled was very successful in terms of architectural artistry. It continued during the Ming and Qing dynasties and was used very widely. (Fig. 7.7.1) The Great Interior was 480 bu (~740 m) from east to west and 615 bu (~947 m) from north to south, with its western wall running along the same line as the Forbidden City today in Beijing, while its southern wall was slightly north of the current southern wall approximately where the Hall of Supreme Harmony (taihe dian 太和殿) sits. The

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7.7.1 Gate of Worshiping Heaven in Khanbaliq, Fu Xi’nian

northern wall was also slightly farther north of the current one, and the overall size of the palaces are similar. The entire royal palace was surrounded by a wall that was high and thick. There were three gates to the south with the previously mentioned Gate of Worshiping Heaven at the center. The gate had five passageways with side doors to the left and right. The first complex was known as the Palace of Great Brilliance (daming gong 大 明宫), which was a massive space where court ceremonies were held. This was accessed through the side doors on the left and right of the Gate of Great Brilliance (daming men 大明门). At the

center of this grand space was the Hall of Great Brilliance (daming dian 大明殿) with a spacious square spreading out before it and a corridor behind it that lead north to the Rear Hall of Great Brilliance (daming hou dian 大明后殿), creating an I-shaped structure that sat on a foundation three levels high, crafted out of white stone; each level of the platform was lined with stone balustrades. The rear hall was five bays wide and on either side were side rooms with three bays as well as the three-bay wide Pavilion of Incense (xiang ge 香阁), creating another I-shaped structure with a slightly longer lower horizontal line. Below the

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platform foundation were two side halls—the Hall of Literary Contemplation (wensi [dian] 文 思[‌殿]) and the Hall of Purple Sandalwood (zitan [dian] 紫檀[‌殿]). In the center of the northern row of halls was the Hall of Precious Clouds (baoyun dian 宝云殿), with side doors on the left and the right. The surrounding side buildings totaled 120 bays. South of the east and west gates of this circuit of halls were a bell tower and a drum tower. The Hall of Great Brilliance totaled eleven bays wide with records showing that it reached 200 chi wide (~ 62 m), even larger that today’s Ming/ Qing-era Hall of Supreme Harmony. Marco Polo said of this hall that it was »so large that it could easily dine 6,000 people […] so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on earth could design anything superior to it. The outside of the roof is all colored with vermilion and yellow and green and blue and other colors, which are fixed with a varnish so fine and exquisite that they shine like crystal, and lend a luster to the palace so it can be seen from a great distance.« The ›scarlet steps‹ in front of the Hall of Great Brilliance were covered in grass. According to Elegant Gatherings at Jade Mountain (Yushan yaji 玉山雅集), »when Kublai Khan built the Great Interior, he brought the desert sands and grasses to the scarlet steps, for all his descendants to see so they would not forget.« There was also a horizontal passage between the front and rear courtyards that linked with the East Flowery Gate (donghua men 东华门) and West Flowery Gate (xihua men 西华门). The second complex was known as the Palace of Extended Spring (yanchun gong 延春宫) and was located on the site of today’s Jingshan Hill, but at the time was a stretch of flat land. The Palace of Extended Spring was the emperor’s private residence, and while it covered a slightly smaller area, it was similar in form to the first complex, with two halls forming an I-shaped structure. The only difference was that the front hall was a tall, two-storied pavilion called the Pavilion of Ex-

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tended Spring (yanchun ge 延春阁). The »scarlet steps« in front of this structure were planted with pine trees. To the left and right of this complex were side buildings, but it did not have a northern gate. The rear palace complex may have also been flanked with six palaces to the east and six to the west. These would have been smaller complexes where the empress and concubines resided. The layout described here was clearly influenced by the palaces of the Song and Jin dynasties, including the horizontal passage between the first and second palace complexes as well as the I-shaped layout of the halls. In the late Yuan Dynasty, another palace named the Palace of Clear Tranquility (qingning gong 清宁宫) was constructed between the Palace of Extended Spring and the Gate of Virtuous Rule (houzai men 厚载 门), the north gate of the royal palace. This complex included the Hall of Clear Tranquility (qingning dian 清宁殿) as well as »the hills« (shan zi 山 子), the Palace of the Moon (yue gong 月宫) and other structures. There were also other tall pavilions, flying bridges and stages where songs and dances were performed, which »when heard by the people of the city, made them feel as if they had ascended to heaven.« Essentially, the Palace of Clear Tranquility was a garden, and in this sense, the arrangement of these palaces in Khanbaliq served as a precursor to the Forbidden City of the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the court at the front, residences behind, and followed by the imperial gardens and minor palaces to the east and west. The Hall of Jade Virtue (yude dian 玉德殿) was located to the northwest of the royal palace and was a minor hall mainly used for Buddhist offerings and sometimes for royal audiences. The layouts of the Palace of Grand Fortune and Palace of Glorious Sanctity were similar to that of the royal palace, focused around a central I-shaped structure. However, they were both on a much smaller scale, with a single palace wall surrounding them and not a larger defensive wall.

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There were also gardens south of both the Palace of Grand Fortune and Palace of Glorious Sanctity. The mist-covered waters of Taiyechi were quite large with three islands in the middle of the lake. It copied imperial gardens of the past, which were characterized by a single lake and three sacred mountains. The northern island was the larger of the three, and during the Yuan Dynasty it was called Mountain of Ten Thousand Years (wansui shan 万岁山)—and is the present-day Jade Flower Island (qionghua dao 琼华岛) in Beihai. The Hall of Vast Cold (guanghan dian 广寒殿) at the top of the hill was constructed in the Liao Dynasty. The sides of the island were dotted with other halls, buildings and pavilions. Water was also pumped to the top of the hill, and sprayed forth from the mouths of carved stone dragon heads. The hill was covered throughout with flowers and trees as well as stones from the banks of Lake Tai that had previously been at the Jin Dynasty capital of Bianliang. Exotic birds and beasts were also kept on the island. According to Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village, the entire hill was covered in »peaks with hidden gems, thickly verdant pines and junipers, with a beauty that was heaven-made.« Marco Polo said that the trees were all green, but the hill itself is all green likewise and there is nothing to be seen on it that is not green. Therefore, it is called the »Green Mount.« The middle island was called the Round Islet (yuan chi 圆坻) and is called the Round City (tuan cheng 团城) today. The Hall of Admiring Heaven (yitian dian 仪天殿) was built on this island with a stone bridge to the north linking it to the Mountain of Ten Thousand Years. To the east was a wooden bridge that led to the West Flowery Gate of the Great Interior, and to the west another that crossed to the western bank of Taiyechi. This made Round Islet a central hub of the complex of palaces and gardens of the Imperial City. The southern island was called Rhinoceros Hill (xi shan 犀山) and was the smallest of the three.

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The area covered by Taiyechi, the landscaping and the buildings on two of the islands, already existed before the founding of Khanbaliq. The city planners successfully used these existing areas and placed them in the middle of the three palace complexes, creating a stark contrast between its lively elegance and the solemn order of the palaces while also mirroring the gardens within the palaces. The Yuan Dynasty »built a capital to establish order and towers to form a palace, believing that respect did not come without grandeur and might could not be ensured without majesty.« Clearly, a great deal of emphasis was placed on the psychological impact of architecture. Khanbaliq and its palaces were constructed around this central concept, laying a strong foundation that carried on and innovated concepts in the Artificer’s Record and traditions of the Tang and Song, while at the same time contributing to the grand architectural achievements of Ming- and Qing-era Beijing and its palaces. In terms of individual structures, palaces of the Yuan Dynasty saw further maturing and formalizing of structures like the I-shaped halls. The side rooms of the I-shaped halls were usually fixed at the either side of the rear hall, unlike previous dynasties that had been relatively random. Temples and residential buildings of the Yuan Dynasty also utilized the I-shaped layout. The rear hall of the I-shaped complex was characterized by a higher Incense Pavilion, which became typical of the Yuan Dynasty. The roofs of incense pavilions were all in the hip-gable style that extended outward, known as the tortoise-head style or commonly as »lifted-head« halls. There were also names like Felt Hall (zongmao dian 棕毛殿) and Uighur Hall (weiwu’er dian 畏 吾儿殿). According to the Lost Records of Former Palaces (Gugong yi lu 故宫遗录), »from the Pavilion of Extended Magnificence (yanhua ge 延华阁) to the east was the Felt Hall, which used felt to replace ceramic tiles.« Temporary palace camps

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called »ordos« often used felt, which may have been the source of inspiration for Felt Hall in the palaces of Khanbaliq. Uighur Hall was located to the west of the Pavilion of Extended Magnificence and was six bays wide, but there is no description of its appearance. It may have used the architectural styles of the Uighur people of the time. One of the most interesting aspects of the interior decorations of the palaces was the coverings on the floors and walls. Rugs and tapestries had been present as early as the Han Dynasty and even in the pre-Qin era. They continued to be used through the Tang and Song, but were not as common as in the palaces of the Yuan Dynasty. First, patterns were created in stone on the floors, then they were covered in carpets, sometimes using several at the same time. The ger-palaces of the Mongolian nobles used »felt both above and below,« which is why there were so many wall coverings in Yuan Dynasty palaces. Records show that when winter arrived, the fore-hall of the Hall of Great Brilliance were decorated with tapestries of yellow fur pelts, while the Incense Pavilion used wall hangings of ermine pelts and warm sable. The two side rooms of the Pavilion of Extended Spring, which were sleeping quarters, also used wall hangings of sable. The Lost Records of Former Palaces also states that all of the sleeping chambers and »in the walls were small double doors in which garments were stored. Their surfaces had red and gold windows that were covered in gold leaf.« It seems that this was influenced by Central Asian decoration. The homes of Central Asia were generally adorned with many small niches formed from plaster. Some of them went through the walls and were used to store clothing. Uighur dwellings in Xinjiang are the same to the present day. Most of the architectural elements in the Yuan palaces came from areas outside the Central Plain, but naturally most of them still adopted Chinese elements. The coiled golden dragons in the caisson of the Pavilion of Extended Spring are

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traditional architectural decorations associated with the Han people.

3. Buddhist and Daoist Temples The architecture of Buddhist and Daoist temples is exemplified by the Palace of Eternal Joy (yongle gong 永乐宫) in Shanxi Province, the Shalu Monastery (xialu si 夏鲁寺) in Tibet, and the white pagoda of the Temple of Marvelous Response (miaoying si 妙应寺) in Beijing. The Palace of Eternal Joy is located in Yongji County, Shanxi Province, the legendary home of the Tang Dynasty Daoist master Lü Dongbin. Initially, it was a shrine dedicated to Lü, later becoming a temple in the late Jin Dynasty. In 1262 (the 3rd year of Zhongtong, Yuan Dynasty), it was rebuilt as a sub-temple of the massive Great Pure Yang Palace of Longevity (da chunyang wanshou gong 大纯阳万寿宫). The latter was located 20–30 km north on Nine Peaks Mountain (jiufeng shan 九峰 山), which was destroyed by Japanese bombardment during the Second World War. The temple had three courtyards and its long, narrow layout included a »palace gate« (gong men 宫门), Gate of the Limitless Ultimate (wuji men 无极门), and three halls, namely the Hall of the Three Purities (sanqing dian 三清殿), the Hall of the Pure Yang (chunyang dian 纯阳殿) and the Hall of the Double Yang (chongyang dian 重阳殿). Of the three halls, the Hall of the Three Purities was the largest with each succeeding hall slightly smaller than the last, while the width of the »moon terrace« in front of the halls and ceremonial pathway decreased accordingly. This is to say that the depth of the space in front of the hall was based on the overall size and height of the hall itself. This created a balance that allowed for a pleasing visual effect. Each of the three halls are decorated with murals and are some of most exquisite of the Yuan Dynasty, holding an extremely important place in the history of art. The content of the murals is located according to the importance of its content, with the pantheon

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7.7.2  Hall of the Limitless ­Ultimate, Palace of Eternal Joy

of Daoist deities in the first hall, the life and miracles of the Pure Yang »True Man« Lü Dongbin in the second, while the third hall depicted the life of the founder of the Quanzhen School, Wang Chongyang. Other than a niches or altars for the deities, the halls contain no other objects. The eaves in the front of the halls allow for a lot of sunlight allowing for good lighting inside, creating a good environment for viewing the murals. Whether in terms of overall layout or specific aspects of the architecture, the murals were clearly given careful consideration. The murals also contain a great deal of architectural images, including the Yellow Crane Tower, palaces and private residences, providing a wealth of information for research into the history of Chinese architecture. (Fig. 7.7.2) The spatial arrangement within the Palace of Eternal Joy is very playful. The long ceremonial pathway is flanked on either side by narrow walls and trees, leading the visitor into a deeply mysterious world. Following this path, the visitor arrives at the Gate of the Limitless Ultimate where a small horizontal space suddenly appears, signifying a contrast and break with the long, narrow space of the pathway while at the same time hinting at and

laying the foundation for the wide, open space that lies through the gate. Once through the Gate of the Limitless Ultimate, there is a sudden openness and the Hall of the Three Purities stands unexpectedly far away. It is large enough to hide the halls that lay beyond it and stands alone without side halls or covered corridors, giving it a supernatural spirituality. The space behind the Hall of the Three Purities becomes smaller and still lacks side halls or corridors. At the end of the complex of buildings there is also no sign of the long, tall structures typical of courtyard homes or Buddhist temples that provide an impressive end to the structure. It seems that the space has intentionally been weakened, ultimately descending into an empty loneliness. The Shalu Monastery is just over 20 km southeast of the Tibetan city of Shigatse, on a flat stretch of land between the mountains. The original monastery was built in 1087 (the 2nd year of Yuanyou, reign of Emperor Zhezong, Song Dynasty) and was named Shalu, which means »new leaves« in Tibetan. By the Yuan Dynasty, at the end of the 13th century, the »tumetu-iin noyan,« the chief administrator of a »tumen« of Shalu, caught the

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eye of Kublai Khan, upon whom he bestowed great wealth in order to rebuild the Shalu Monastery, which had been damaged in an earthquake, »constructing a Buddhist hall that was named the Golden Hall of New Leaves as well as other buildings large and small.« This likely included the most important building of that has survived to this day, the Shalu Lakhang, the main hall of worship. After 1333 (1st year of Yuantong, reign of Shundi), Butön Rinchen Drup once again began a large construction project that rebuilt even more of the temple. Butön Rinchen Drup was a famous Buddhist scholar and is known for his History of Buddhism in India and Tibet (Budun Fojiao shi 布 顿佛教史). He also founded the Shalu Sect, making Shalu Monastery famous throughout Tibet. Shalu Monastery was located in the western part of Shalu City, which was surrounded by a rammed earth wall, and occupied a full third of the city. It originally included four dastan, or Buddhist universities, which no longer exist. Of the original buildings, only the Shalu Lakhang still stands, and is unique for having a lower level built in the Tibetan style and an upper level made up of a Han-style courtyard compound composed of four individual halls. It is the first example of Sino-Tibetan architecture in Tibet. Shalu Lakhang Hall faces east, and covers a square space formed by a network of columns that measure seven bays in both directions (this is the equivalent of a scripture hall). It is a single-story structure with closely spaced beams that create a flat roof. In the center, three bays from the outer walls, is a three-bay square opening through the roof where light from above floods in through a raised skylight. To the left and right of the scripture hall on the rear three sides of the building are several Buddhist halls with a surrounding corridor running along the outer perimeter. This corridor winds around to the front of the scripture hall and leads into it. The resident monks circle the hall clockwise along this corridor reciting scripture. The entire structure forms a horizontal rect-

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angle with an entry hall in the center of the front of the rectangle that is five bays wide. In front of the entry hall is a single door that is one bay wide, which is itself covered with a balcony. On the second story there is a structure that stands on top of the rear hall, which is echoed similarly on structures to the left and right linked by corridors. In the front, there are two additional stories with another hall on top the upper level. All four of the Buddhist halls are designed in the Han style, three bays wide with single-eave hip-gable roofs. They all use dougong bracket sets and surrounded by walls that create a courtyard. The roof of the front hall is even with the wall eaves of the upper level of the entry hall, creating a shape that makes it look like a triple-eave roof. In the center of the four halls is the roof of the scripture hall and the flat-roofed skylight that rises out of the scripture hall. The hip-gable roofs of the four halls are covered with glazed roof tiles with the two side halls retaining the original Yuan Dynasty glazing, while those on the main hall and front hall have been replaced. There are ruins of a kiln near the Shalu Monastery, which indicates that the glazed tiles were produced locally. The columns, beams, roof structure, double end brackets, descending cantilever dougong and slender portions are all typical of Yuan Dynasty styles in China proper. The Shalu Lakhang Temple is also the earliest known example of Han style roofs, but the roof styles used are more simple copies and lacked innovation, which is typical of this early period. (Fig. 7.7.3) The White Pagoda of the Temple of Marvelous Response was built on the north side of the road inside the central gate on the western wall of Khanbaliq, the Gate of Just Rule (pingze men 平则门; present-day Fuchengmen in Beijing). 1271 (8th year of Zhiyuan, reign of Shizu, Yuan Dynasty) was the year that the Yuan Dynasty was founded and also saw the start of construction on this pagoda. Construction lasted for eight years as the rest of the city was also being built. In front of the pagoda,

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7.7.3  Front view of Shalu ­Monastery in Shigatse, Tibet

the Great Temple of Eternal Peace and Sacred Longevity (da shengshou wanan si 大圣寿万安寺) was constructed. Its name was later changed to the Temple of Marvelous Response (miaoying si 妙 应寺) in 1457 (1st Year of Tianshun, Ming Dynasty). Today it is commonly known as the Temple of the White Pagoda (baita si 白塔寺). The pagoda itself is impressive, rising to a height of 51  m with three distinct sections from top to bottom. The lower section is made up of a threelevel platform that is in the shape of a cross with multiple corners. The lowest level of the platform decreases in size twice from top to bottom, and is clean and simple. The upper two levels are in the form of a sumeru throne with carved columns on the corners of the concave middle section and has a generally richer and more luxurious design. The middle section is the body of the pagoda and is round with a solid core. It is a substantial structure with the rounded »shoulders« at its center and sides that gradually angle downward and inward. At its base is an inverted lotus pedestal and several horizontal layers. According to a ceremonial tablet inscribed with the Commemoration of the Imperial Consecration of the Pagoda of Spiritual Ascendancy for Relics of the Buddha, the body

of the pagoda was originally covered in Tibetan Buddhist insignia like single maces, jewels, lotus flowers and crossed maces; it was also draped in a »net of pearls and hanging colored tassels.« The upper section of the pagoda was placed upon a platform that was a cross-shaped sumeru throne with multiple corners, commonly known as the »neck of the pagoda.« From this platform is a layer of thirteen disks that gradually narrow upward, known as the »thirteen heavens« which support the pinnacle of the pagoda. The pinnacle is made of copper and measures 9.9 m in diameter with a massive parasol at the top. There is a cooper chorten, a small stupa, that measures 5  m high and the edges of the parasol are decorated with hanging copper plates carved with lace-work patterns and copper bells. The entire pagoda sits on a T-shaped raised platform, which also contains a fore-hall and small square pavilions at each corner, all in the Han style. The combination of the pagoda and the four pavilions echo the image of a mandala. (Fig 7.7.4) Other than the copper pinnacle at the top of the pagoda, the rest of the structure is made of a bricklined solid core covered in white lime, making it

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Section 2  Sculpture of the Yuan Dynasty 1. Buddhist Sculpture

7.7.4 White Pagoda, Temple of Marvelous Response, Beijing

seem as pure as jade, and which gave it another name—the Jade Pagoda. The copper pinnacle used to gleam gold, and the contrast of the gold and white gave the visitor an especially lofty, pure feeling. Overall, the pagoda is very proportional, with an imposing, powerful presence, and is the best example of »vase-shaped« Tibetan pagodas. Volume seven of the Gazeteer of Shuntian Prefecture (Shuntianfu zhi 顺天府志) includes an excerpt from the Comprehensive Gazeteer of the Great Yuan (Da Yuan yitong zhi 大元一统志) that describes the pagoda as »exquisitely imposing and beautiful, a central feature of the capital,« that matched the boldness of Khanbaliq.

The similarities between the hunting culture of the Mongolian people and the nomadic lifestyle of the ancient residents of the Tibetan Plateau made the adoption of Tibetan Buddhism (also known as Lamaism) by the Mongolians very natural. After China was unified under the Mongolians, the Tibetan Empire became a vassal of the Yuan Dynasty and in order to connect better with Tibet on a spiritual level and develop their own religious traditions, the Mongol Yuan court greatly supported Lamaism, and brought it to Han regions of China. The most representative example of this style of sculpture is the grottoes at Feilai Peak in Hangzhou and the relief sculptures of the Cloud Platform at Juyongguan in Beijing. The Feilai Peak Grottoes are located to the northwest of Hangzhou at the foot of the Lingyin Hills. Carving began during the Qianyue Kingdom of the Five Dynasties Period, became increasingly prolific during the Song Dynasty, and reached its most exquisite during the Yuan. Yuan-era grottoes were created between 1282 and 1292 (19th–29th year of Zhiyuan) and were directed by the imperial appointee Yanglian Zhenjia (Byaṅ-sprin), who was a Tibetan monk and Commander-General of Buddhist Affairs, as well as other monks and lay officials that assisted him. However, the true artistic creation was carried out by enslaved craftsmen, which included many Tibetan and Mongolian artisans. The boundless knowledge of these artists from a number of ethnic groups have been forever etched with axes and chisels into niches on the high and lofty peaks of Feilai. There are 68 individual niches containing 117 figures from the Yuan Dynasty in the grottoes at Feilai Peak, mostly depicting buddhas, bohodisattvas and Drolma with content from both Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism from Han regions

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7.7.5  Standing Buddha, Feilai Peak, Hangzhou

that is rendered in Han or Tibetan styles, or a combination of both. Overall, the majority of the Yuan Dyansty sculptures at Feilai Peak are Han in style (Fig. 7.7.5), the most exquisite of which is the carving of the Maitreya Buddha in grotto number 36. Measuring 2 m high and carrying a monk’s satchel, his large body is squat on a stone surface with his large belly laid bare. His countenance is kind with a slight smile and a generous appearance. In volume 22 of the Song Biographies of Eminent Monks (Song Gaoseng zhuan 宋高僧传), it states that there was a monk with a cloth satchel from Fenghua (in present-day Zhejiang) in the times of the Five Dynasties, who said he was the reincarnation of the Maitreya Buddha. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, monks with

cloth satchels in Zhejiang were all said to be symbols of the Maitreya Buddha. This early carving of the Maitreya Buddha was the predecessor of the all those that came after. On either side of the carving are are groups of arhats, which, as tradition dictates, were kept smaller than the Maitreya Buddha to emphasize his relative importance. The sculpture of the Maitreya Buddha was also fully endowed with of human emotions according to the stories of monks with cloth satchels, enchanting visitors throughout history. (Fig. 7.7.6) The Yuan Dynasty carvings of bodhisattvas at Feilai Peak retain traces of Tang and Song styles as in the sculpture of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, in Niche no. 60. She is in a half-lotus position with a jeweled crown on her head. Her face is full and

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7.7.6 Maitreya Buddha and Eighteen Arhats, Feilai Peak, Hangzhou

balanced with robes that are long and flowing in a very natural position. This sculpture, along with bodhisattvas in lotus positions in Niches no.  54 and no. 58 are all exquisite Yuan Dynasty works. The carvings at Feilai Peak also include images of deities in both Han and Tibetan styles. One example of this is in the early Niche no. 1, which contains a group of sculptures, including the Vairocana Buddha, Wenshu (Mañjuśrī) Buddha and Puxian (Samantabhadra) bodhisattva as well as Drolma and the Heavenly Kings. Portions of these images show the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. The richest example of the influence of Tibetan Buddhism is in the Usnisavijaya Drolma in Niche

no. 52. Drolma is a goddess in Tibetan Buddhism and in Tibetan her name means to »save«. She is also called the »mother of the Buddha« and is similar in appearance to the bodhisattvas. This image of Drolma was created in 1287 (24th year of Zhiyuan). She has three heads and six arms with three eyes on each head. While her body may be strangely shaped, her face is still gentle and peaceful. The image of Vaiśravaṇa riding a lion in Niche no.  43 is typical of content in Tibetan Buddhist sculpture. The front legs of the lion are spread apart in a fierce stance, echoing the intimidating presence the Heavenly Kings. Perhaps the strangest sculpture is the statue of Vajrapāṇi in Niche

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no.  5. Wearing a Buddhist crown, the figure is naked and bloated, with short legs that make him almost look like a dwarf. This is evidence of how Tibetan Buddhism used severe and frightening images to inspire fearful respect in their followers. The Tibetan Buddhist figures at Feilai Peak emphasize the face and the jeweled headdresses, marking the beginnings of more detailed carvings and paintings that later appear in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This attention to detail is a departure from traditional Chinese stone carving, which emphasized an overall aesthetic whole. Stone carving during the Han Dynasty was characterized by a »forceful and grand« style, but this had already started to change during the Tang Dynasty, which sought a fuller, more relaxed and more natural style. By the Song Dynasty, techniques in realism became increasingly mature, as exemplified by stone carvings at Maiji Mountain and Dazu. Yuan Dynasty carvings continued trends of the past and provided inspiration for the future and changes in style during this period were closely linked to the aesthetics of Tibetan Buddhism. The carving of Mahākāla, the god of war in Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism, is rendered here in the strange and frightening Tibetan style at the cliffs of Ziyang Mountain. The Yuan emperor was presented with this statue by Drogön Chögyal Phagpa. The ugly appearance of Mahākāla is very close to Niche no. 5 at Feilai Peak, which contains the sculpture. His hands are holding a human head and there is a ring of heads on his belt. A daughter of Mara is under his foot and his face is very sinister. This reflects the religio-political system whereby Tibetan rulers used the bloodiness and terror of Tibetan Buddhism to secure their rule under serfdom. The relief sculptures on the Cloud Platform at Juyongguan Pass are a perfect combination of Han and Tibetan artistry. The carvings are in bas-relief and cover the interior of a »street crossing platform« with a passageway through it.

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It is located in the suburbs of Beijing within the former barracks of the Juyongguan Pass and was built between 1342 and 1345 (2nd and 5th year of Zhizheng). The Yuan Emperor Shundi ordered his Prime Minister Alutu to lead the construction. The site originally also contained three pagodas and halls of worship that were all constructed in the Tibetan style. These were destroyed in battle during the early Qing Dynasty. The Cloud Platform is built of white marble and is covered in bas-relief carvings of images typical of tantric Buddhism. The roof of the archway is carved with exquisite mandalas, the Guardians of the Ten Directions and One Thousand Buddhas. On either side of the interior of the passageway there are reliefs of the four Heavenly Kings with dharani-sutras and »Record of Merits for the Construction of the Pagodas« (Zaota gongde ji 造塔 功德记) in six different scripts—Sanskrit, Tibetan, ’Phags-pa, Old Uighur, Chinese and Tangut. The bas-relief of the Heavenly Kings on the Cloud Platform also seem to be the most ancient versions of these figures. To either side of the each of the four Heavenly Kings stand a servant, either a demon soldier or an official. Under the feet of the Heavenly Kings are other demons, struggling violently, while under the right foot of the Heavenly King of the East who »holds up the realm,« Dhṛtarāṣṭra (dongfang chiguo tianwang 东方持国天王), is a woman in Han dress that has been bound, evidence of how the Yuan Dynasty rulers showed their subjugation of Han people in religious art. On the curved archways at the north and south entrances to the passageway, there are also garudas, whales, lions and elephants. (Fig. 7.7.7) The stone relief carvings on the Cloud Platform are rich and concentrated. The most notable of these are the Four Heavenly Kings, which are carved with incredible detail from their helmets to their clothing that seems to blow in the wind. There are also billowing clouds behind them, all of which serve to even more vividly express their sacred authority and power. The carvings of the

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Heavenly Kings are powerful with solid forms and even proportions. The detailed but realistic depictions take nothing away from the presence of these figures, which is rare in carvings of the Yuan Dynasty.

2. Daoist Sculpture and Carving The Yuan Dynasty was an important period in the development of Daoist figure sculpture. Yuan rulers frequently personally directed the creation of figures of Daoist deities. The majority of Daoist sculptures in northern China during the Yuan Dynasty are concentrated at two main sites—the Longshan Grottoes near Taiyuan in Shanxi Province and the Twenty-Eight Mansions at the Temple of the Jade Emperor in Jincheng. The overall artistic style continues the achievements of the

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Northern Song and Jin dynasties. The carvings from the Longshan Grottoes and the painted clay sculptures of the Temple of the Jade Emperor are the most representative of this period. The Longshan Grottoes are located 20 km southwest of the city of Taiyuan, in Shanxi Province. Its construction was led mainly by the famous Daoist master of the Quanzhen School, Song Defang, and his followers during the reign of Ögedei Khan (1229–1241), and includes a total of eight grottoes. It is the only group of Daoist grottoes from the Yuan Dynasty and is typical of the work of craftsmen of northern China as it transitioned from the Jin to the Yuan. Carvings in these grottoes are mainly dedicated to subjects including Qiu Chuji, the Three Purities, the Reclining Master, the Three Sovereigns, Song Defang and the Seven

7.7.7 Relief carvings inside arched passage of the Cloud Platform, Juyongguan, Beijing

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True Taoists of the North (Wang Chongyang and his six disciples). The first grotto is mainly dedicated to Qiu Chuji who is seated in a lotus position with his hands in his sleeves. According to partial inscriptions, we know that it was created by Song Defang in memory of Qiu Chuji. The second grotto contains three stone figures with their legs crossed and hands raised in a formal greeting. These figures are the most revered deities in the Daoist pantheon—the Lord of Primordial Beginning, Lord of Spiritual Treasure and the Lord of the Way and Virtue. The third grotto also contains three carved figures, one reclining and two standing. The reclining figure measures around 2  m long and is sleeps on a 0.7 meter-wide stone bed. Records show that the founder of the Quanzhen School, Wang Chongyang, saw a reincarnation of Lü Dongbin at the town of Ganhe (present-day Huxian in Shaanxi Province) where he received the secret practices of self-cultivation and learned the methods of the immortals. In 1161 (the 1st year of Dading, Jin Dynasty), he carved out a tomb in the village of Nanshi, which he named the »tomb of the living dead.« This carving was likely created to depict Wang Chongyang in his tomb. The 4th grotto contains a total of eleven carved figures with the main figure decorated with a top-knot hair style and Daoist robes. The fifth grotto contains three stone figures, one main figure with two attendants. The main figure is 1.2 m tall. The sixth grotto has four sculpted statues with the central figure depicting a Daoist in evenly sculpted robes on a platform with eight layers. The folds in the robes are natural and there seems to be light coming from behind the statue. The figure is around 3 m tall with a sculpted figure to the left and right with their hands clasped together in reverent respect. From the arrangement of one seated and two standing figures, we know that these are the founders of the Eastern Han Sect of Daoism: Zhang Ling, Zhang Heng and Zhang Lu. The seventh grotto contains the carved images of the

CHAPTER VII ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Seven True Taoists of the North (Wang Chongyang and his disciples). The eighth grotto contains no stone carvings. Only a few damaged clay figures remain today. The Longshan Grottoes are dedicated to Daoist idols, but many of the hand gestures, positions, seating platforms and back lighting use the same styles and techniques as Buddhist carvings. The artists were extremely skilled in realism, especially in the likenesses of the »True Man Wang Chongyang« and the »Grand Supreme Elderly Lord,« which are the most lifelike. The carving of Wang Chongyang is of a middle-aged man with his hands in his sleeves in a leaning seated position without a trace of the severity of a god; instead, he has the tender face of a young student. Meanwhile, the eyes of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord are half-closed and he is in a peaceful seated position as an old man that has simply dozed off. The sculptures are thick and round with heavy folds in their robes, which make them look as if they were made of cotton. Unlike carvings in Tibetan Buddhism, the Longshan Grottoes use images typical of everyday life to connect more closely with worshipers, making it seem as if Daoist deities were living among the people. This was key in the trend toward realism in Daoist art. The Longshan Grottoes also demonstrate the aesthetic ideals of Daoism, which are based in cleanliness and purity. The figures are all dressed in traditional Chinese garments with the folds of their robes draping down from their thrones. The lines are clear and clean with a rhythm and flow that give the entire figure a peaceful, pure demeanor, which nicely offset the atmosphere. The painted clay sculptures of the Twenty-Eight Mansions in the Temple of the Jade Emperor are located in the village of Fucheng east of Jincheng in Shanxi Province. The temple is one of the most famous Daoist places of worship in northern China. Construction began during the reign of the Northern Song Emperor Xining (1068–1077)

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with improvements made throughout the Song and Yuan dynasties. There are many Daoist clay sculptures in the temple, but the Twenty-Eight Mansions in the western hall of the rear courtyard are the only examples of Yuan Dynasty artistry. Ancient Chinese astrology separated the stars in the sky into 28 groups, naming these groups of stars, or »Mansions,« so the Twenty-Eight Mansions can also be understood as 28 constellations. There are seven mansions that belong to each of the cardinal directions. The master of the east is the Azure Dragon and includes seven mansions— the Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail and Winnowing Basket (jiao 角, kang 亢, di 氐, fang 房, xin 心, wei 尾 and ji 箕). The west is ruled by the White Tiger and includes the the mansions Legs, Bond, Stomach, Hairy Head, Net, Turtle Beak and Three Stars (kui 奎, lou 娄, wei 胃, mao 昴, bi 毕, zi 觜 and shen 参). The south is ruled by the Vermilion Bird and its mansions are the Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Extended Net, Wings and Chariot (jing 井, gui 鬼, liu 柳, xing 星, zhang 张, yi 翼 and zhen 轸). The master of the north is the Black Tortoise, who rules over the mansions of the Dipper, Ox, Girl, Emptiness, Rooftop, Encampment and Wall (dou 斗, niu 牛, nü 女, xu 虚, wei 危, shi 室 and bi 壁). The Tang Dynasty Master of the Five Elements, Yuan Tiangang later linked the Twenty-Eight Mansions with 28 different animals, adding a character from the Five Elements, creating names like the »Wood Dragon of the Horn« (jiao mu jiao 角木蛟), »Golden Dragon of the Neck« (kang jin long 亢金龙), »Earth Badger of the Root« (di tu he 氐土貉) and »Sun Rabbit of the Room« (fang ri tu 房日兔). Daoism later included these into its pantheon of deities and made them objects of worship. The sculptors of the Yuan Dynasty followed the practices of Daoist teaching and depicted the Twenty-Eight Mansions in the images of everyday men and women, both old and young. Their professions and positions as well as their severity and tenderness were also very different. The names of

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7.7.8 Twenty-Eight Mansions (White Rat of Emptiness), Temple of the Jade Emperor, Jincheng

each of these figures began with a character from each of the Twenty-Eight Mansions and were also assigned to one of the Five Elements or the Sun and Moon as well as an animal. This animal became the symbol of its mansion. However, the artist did not use combine the features of the person and its corresponding animal into the sculpture as in the past, but made the animal an element of the overall sculpture—as with the »White Rat of Emptiness«(xu bai shu 虚白鼠, Fig. 7.7.8), the »Water Earthworm of the Chariot« (zhen shui yin 轸水蚓, Fig. 7.7.8), or the »Water Ape of the Three Stars« (shen shui yuan 参水猿)— which were all represented by women dressed

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3. The Famous Sculptor Araniko

7.7.9 Twenty-Eight Mansions (Water Earthworm of the Chariot), Temple of the Jade Emperor, Jincheng

in richly decorated garments. The »Water Earthworm of the Chariot« is a women holding a worm between her fingers and carefully examining it. The »Fire Serpent of the Wings« (yi huo she 翼火 蛇) is a warrior bristling with anger, bare-chested and stomping; he grasps a serpent in his raised right arm. The »Moon Bird of the Net« (bi yue wu 毕月乌) and the »Earth Pheasant of the Stomach« (wei tu zhi 胃土雉) are both depicted as old men. As each of the Twenty-Eight Mansions are distributed between the four cardinal directions—North, South, East and West—there is no hierarchy. The figures are all the same size, which serves to bring each of these individual forms into a comprehensive whole, providing the pilgrim with a rich religious experience.

Araniko (1245–1306) was one of the most important architects and sculptors of the Yuan Dynasty. He was originally a member of the royal family of Licchavi (present-day Nepal). In 1260 (the 1st year of Zhongtong, Yuan Dynasty), Imperial Preceptor Drogön Chögyal Phagpa was ordered by Kublai Khan to build a pagoda of gold in Tibet. He selected over eighty renowned craftsmen from Licchavi for its construction, led by Araniko, who was only 17 years old at the time. He was a favorite of Drogön Chögyal Phagpa and after the golden pagoda was finished, Araniko brought his team of artists to pay homage at Khanbaliq where he gained favor with the Great Khan. Araniko was ordered to participate in the construction of many important Buddhist and Daoist temples in the capital city. He also produced sculptures of Confucius and the Ten Savants. The most notable project that Araniko led was the construction of the great pagoda at the Temple of Eternal Peace and Sacred Longevity in Khanbaliq (present-day White Pagoda in the Temple of Marvelous Response in Beijing). In 1273 (10th year of Zhiyuan), Araniko became the grand supervisor of all manner of craftsmen and, five years later, was granted the titles Grand Master of Imperial Entertainments, Grand Excellency of the Masses and Officer of the Imperial Manufactories Commission. After his death he was conferred with titles including Grand Preceptor, Commander Unequaled in Honor, and Duke of Liang and Supreme Pillar of State. He was also given the posthumous name Minhui. His eldest son Asengge was also an outstanding sculptor and took the position of Grand Excellency of the Masses. In 1313 (the 2nd year of Huangqing), Asengge and his assistants were ordered by Chos-kyihod-zer Pakshi to create one hundred forty Buddhist statues of varying sizes for the Five Bay Hall and Octagonal Tower of the Temple of Eternal Peace and Sacred Longevity.

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Another of Araniko’s sons, Asula was given the position of darughachi, responsible for a wide range of craftsmen, clearly a carrying on of his father’s legacy. I can be said that the passion of Araniko and his descendants for art and religion wrote a glorious chapter in the history of art and sculpture of the Yuan Dynasty. Araniko passed his techniques on to many Chinese craftsmen while in Khanbaliq, and one of his most outstanding pupils was Liu Yuan, who was also known by the courtesy name Bing Yuan and who was a native of Baodi in present-day Tianjin. He was originally a Daoist priest and had for a time followed the famed craftsman Qi Daolu, practicing all types of carving and sculpture. Later, he studied »Buddhist images of the Western Heavens« (sculpture in the Lamaist style), creating Buddhist and Daoist statues for a number of temples. He was also skilled at painting, known for his »Small Landscape from a Dream of Suzhou« (»Meng Su xiaotu« 梦苏小图) and gained favor with both Kublai Khan and Buyantu Khan. He was Grand Secretary, Grand Master for Proper Service and Chief Minister at the Palace Library of Bright Literature. He was known for a time as Grand Master Liu and became the highest-ranking Han official in the Yuan Dynasty for his artistry and favor with the emperor. According to Private Jottings of Gao Shiqi after Retirement (Jin’ao tuishi biji 金鳌退食笔记), Liu Yuan was especially adept at expressing the re-

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lationship between the sovereign and his subjects of everyday life in Daoist sculptures. In his sculpture, »Superior View of the Mysterious Capital,« he depicts a minor official defeated in battle kneeling before the emperor, being questioned. The emperor holds a ledger in his hand and speaks to the side seemingly full of anger—it seems as if the »entire hall is listening in fear.« Liu Yuan’s Buddhist sculptures were famous throughout both Khanbaliq and Xanadu (present-day Duolun County, Inner Mongolia). He also created statues of the Three Sovereigns in the Temple of the Three Sovereigns in Xanadu, which were praised for »encapsulating the minutest details of the Three Holy Ones.« In 1318 (4th year of Yanyou), Liu Yuan received an imperial edict to create the Four Heavenly Kings for the Temple of the Azure Pagoda (qingta si 青 塔寺), and in the following year he was also commissioned to create the Four Heavenly Kings, the Vairocana Buddha and bodhisattvas for the Temple of the Fragrant Hills (xiangshan si 香山寺). One of Liu Yuan’s students, surnamed Zhang, received tutelage in his master’s technique. Sculptors of note from the Yuan Dynasty include Liu Yuan’s master Qi Daolu as well as Lü Bogong, Na Huai, Ba’erpu, Wu Tongjian, Li Tongzhi and others. While they were not able to sign their names to their artworks, some Yuan Dynasty sculptures that still survive very well may have been the work of their hands.

CHAPTER VIII  CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY The development of craftsmanship and the arts during the Yuan Dynasty was influenced by a very multicultural environment. The rich patterns of the Islamic arts gave a strong exotic flavor to high-end fabrics, gold and silver work, and pottery. Christianity was not only mentioned in much of the literature of the Yuan Dynasty, it also influenced craftsmanship and art. Along with the spread of a mysterious sect of Buddhism (Lamaism) from Ü-Tsang (modern Tibet) in central China, the Imperial Preceptor Drogön Chögyal Phagpa developed a writing system that took his name, the ’Phags-pa Script, which was used to write sutras that have been preserved under the glaze of Yuan Dynasty pottery to the present day. The »myriad treasure« patterns that appeared on fabrics and vessels also symbolized the spread of Lamaism far afield, and were the origin for the later, fully Sinicized »eight treasure« patterns. On the foundations of the practices of previous dynasties, like the Song, Jin, and even the Tang, the Yuan Dynasty created a strong official system for manufacturing and art that met the needs of the ruling classes. This system mainly concentrated on nine different areas—establishing systems, manufacturing methods, setting up administrative authorities, the management of craftsmen, preparation of materials, standardization of manufacturing, codifying use by different classes, setting up distribution channels, and managing the moral practices of the public. The system that managed craftsmanship and the arts during the Yuan Dynasty integrated social values and taboos as well as rites and ceremony. This pervaded not only the manufacture of differ-

ent crafts, but also their distribution. This was a system that was based in China, but integrated the unique characteristics of nomadic cultures. It reflected the direction that the Yuan Dynasty would take and standardized the manufacturing and distribution of products. The strong emphasis that the ruling class put on craftsmanship and the arts, the multicultural environment in which they developed, and the system that both drove and restricted its development, expressed a transitional development that was typical of the Yuan Dynasty. Craftsmanship and the arts during the Yuan Dynasty represent the essence of a unified China, and the character of the nation as a whole. It is also a product of the mutual interaction of Chinese and outside cultures as well as the coexistence of many different cultures. This grand expression of tolerance provides the period with a rich and complex cultural context.

Section 1  Changes in Clothing and Developments in Weaving, Embroidery, and Dyeing 1. Changes in Clothing The clothing of the Han people during the Yuan Dynasty retained many traditional styles. Among the common people, this included the wearing of a top-knot tied with a ribbon, conical bamboo hats, cross-collar short shirts and cloth shoes with leg wrappings, while Confucian scholars still wore the traditional long robes of the Tang Dynasty.

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7.8.2  Yuan Dynasty mural sketches of Mongol women worshiping the Buddha, Dunhuang 7.8.1 Dancing figures (Yuan), Henan Provincial Museum

However, the influx of new trends and gradual changes in popular culture, as well as frequent changes in political power since the Song and Jin, meant that clothing changed with the times—and Han-style clothing in northern China gradually started to show elements of Mongolian influence. A group of terracotta figures unearthed at a Yuan-era tomb near Jiaozuo in Henan Province are an example of a combination of Han and Mongol clothing, and unique aspects of Mongolian clothing that were popular at the time. Female figures at the Temple of the Two Trees near the city of Pingyao in Shanxi Province are also evidence of this, with their tied ribbons, narrow sleeves, and shirts that cover half of their arms. Mongolian dress had a number of unique characteristics. Men wore a square tile-shaped felt hat

and a fitting robe with sleeves that covered half the arms, or a cape. For shoes they wore leather boots. (Fig. 7.8.1) Soldiers wore a braided jacket that was draped over the shoulders. Women wore a bogtag (»matron’s crown,« gugu guan 姑姑冠), the quality of which dictated the station of the woman and how elaborate the rest of her costume would be. Formal dress for women was loose and wide, often dragging on the ground and requiring handmaids to carry it as they walked. (Fig. 7.8.2) This influence meant that women throughout the country, regardless of their station or their ethnicity, commonly made their own tuanshan (‌团衫), or large gowns. The Mongols used both solid colors and colored pattern, sometimes with gold strands. This gave woven fabrics a great variety and a dazzling appearance. As the luxury of the Yuan court grad-

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ually spread through society, the rules on dress and adornment established in the 8th year of Zhiyuan were frequently disobeyed. It was said that, »since that year, the nobles and the commoners competed in luxury, mixing the high and base, subverting propriety and wasting money.« To deal with this problem, in the first year of the Yanyou period, Buyantu Khan »ordered the Director of the Imperial Secretariat to establish codes of dress.« Rules of dress during the Yuan Dynasty basically followed the system of the Jin, dictating the material, colors, patterns and measurements used in clothing based on the rank of the individual for officials and titled ladies. The standards for these different styles dictated that lapels had to be on the right (the right side was a sign of nobility during the Yuan), that luo (a lightweight silk gauze) was the noblest of fabrics for upper garments, and that decorations could be patterned for nobles, but simple for the lower classes. Large patterns were a sign of nobility. Purple was a sign of high station, while green was lowly, while headdresses of jade were reserved for those of high station and gold for those of lower position. The general rule was that »upper classes could encompass the lower, but the lower shall not supersede the higher.« Politically, the Yuan Dynasty was divided into four classes of people, which was also reflected in this system of dress. Mongolians had the fewest restrictions, able to use fabric of any pattern or color with the only exception being »the pattern of the dragon or the phoenix«—the dragon referred to the five-taloned, double-horned imperial dragon. Commoners (mainly ethnically Han and other southern groups) »may not dress in ochre or yellow and are only permitted to use dark patterns, fine silk, thin damask and fine feathers of birds. Headgear must not be decorated with gold or jade and boots may not be patterned.« Minor officials not given a rank may only wear »luo upper garments of sandalwood and brown« and »may not manufacture without permission.« The

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Semu people were given only slightly more flexibility, stating that »with the exception of their tents, they shall be subject to the same rules as the common people.« For lower-class professionals such as musicians, artists and prostitutes, the Yuan court established very detailed regulations. In one sense, these measures reflected not only the trend to other restrictions in addition to clothing in the early days of the Yuan Dynasty, but also established the direction that standards of Yuan Dynasty dress would progress. The Mongols were generous drinkers and held grand banquets. After the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, large-scale events were organized by the emperor himself, called Jisun Feasts. These were held in specific locations with the emperor, nobles, and officials all dressed in what were called »jisun robes« (jisun meaning color in Mongolian). In the »Treatise on Dress« in the History of the Yuan, it states that the emperor had eleven grades of jisun robes for the winter months and fifteen for the summer months, while officials were allowed nine grades for winter and fourteen for summer. The grandest of these were the emperor’s sable jisun robes for winter, made of countless precious pelts, that could not be worn by officials because of their pure white color. Jisun robes of the Yuan Dynasty made generous use of fabrics like nasij, velvet, and all shades of felt and luo, decorating them with gold and gems and the most valuable of them in brilliant red and peach, followed then by blue and green, with the lowest of the jisun robes in brown. In the Travels of Marco Polo, he states that the emperor held thirteen of these great feasts, attended by nobles and those of high station, numbering as many as 12,000 people. Despite the masses of people in attendance, their jisun robes were all provided by the emperor! Clearly, the organization responsible for the dyeing and producing the jisun robes and other decorations must have required production on a massive scale.

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In addition to clothing, another thing that drove weaving and dyeing during the Yuan Dynasty was the appearance and increased use of Mongolian gers, mattresses and carts. The Yuan rulers maintained their own ethnic traditions, and in addition to massive »ordos« (imperial gers) in the Mongolian homeland, from the time of Kublai Khan, Mongolian-style buildings known as »tent halls« began to appear in the royal palaces at Khanbaliq. In the spring and summer, the emperor would also visit Xanadu or go on hunts with nobles and officials, which would require the creation of temporary camps. The scale of these building projects was massive. Their construction and decoration required huge amounts of felt, which were decorated with nasij, and luo of various colors and pelts. The obsession of the Mongolian nobility with precious materials, dazzling patterns, and bright colors, meant that their desire for exquisite and beautiful fabrics drove change in traditional dress in China and the development of weaving and dyeing.

2. Exquisite and Rich Silks and Brocades By the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, incredible progress had been made in weaving and dyeing techniques that were represented mainly in official fabric production. Beginning with reforms carried out by Yelu Chucai during the reign of Ögedei Khan, silk became a basic unit of taxation and for estimating wealth. The volume of production of silk over a century of Yuan Dynasty rule was massive and was a fundamental factor in the development of silk weaving and dyeing during the Yuan Dynasty. The difference between general silk products and specially produced silk was in the weaving methods and the raw materials that were used. General silk production used regular weaving methods, while specially produced silk applied special weaving and dying techniques or added higher quality raw materials. The most well-known

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types of silk produced during the Yuan Dynasty included satin, Sichuan brocade, Jiqing muslin, Lu silk and Miji silk tabby. Satin was still rare during the Song Dynasty, as techniques had not yet matured. During the Yuan Dynasty, satin was also known as »xi silk.« Production of satin increased dramatically during the Yuan Dynasty, and by the middle of the dynasty could be mass produced with intricate patterns and bright colors. The outstanding quality of satin also meant that it was frequently used for imperial gifts. Local official factories included the fabric and dyeing houses of Qingyuan Circuit and Zhejiang Circuit in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Annual tributes included large numbers of bolts of satin with ›veiled‹ patterns (patterns in the color of the fabric) and in single colors. The colors were generally the same, mainly including types of brown as well as crow-cyan, blue-cyan, date- red, bright green and white. The exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful colors of Yuan Dynasty satin were often praised by people of that period as well as later generations as the most elaborate and »picture-like« kesi (‌缂丝, lit. cut-silk). The patterns in Yuan Dynasty satin were similar to those of Song satin, but of higher quality—with images of animals like dragons in medallions, cloud dragons, Yili horses and other auspicious animals. There were also innovative images like the Buddhist swastika (‌卍), images of Buddhist treasures, and passion-flower designs. The techniques used also became so advanced that silver threads were introduced, producing even more valuable varieties of satin. Even as late as the end of the Yuan Dynasty, satin remained a very valuable and luxurious product. In November 1263 (the 4th year of Zhongtong), the Korean king sent ambassadors to the capital, and Kublai Khan presented them with just one bolt of Sichuan brocade, showing just how precious of an item it was at the time. In the late Yuan Dynasty, Ukhaantu Khan (the Shundi Emperor), known for

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his love of luxury, rode his imperial barge on the Moon Pond, »surrounded on all sides by screens that were all made of Sichuan brocade.« From the »Sichuan Brocade Screen« (»Shujin ping« 蜀锦屏) chapter of the Deer Skin Collection (lu pi zi ji 鹿皮子集), we learn that Sichuan brocade of the Yuan Dynasty continued the tradition of Song-era brocade, with beautiful colors and patterns that made it highly decorative. Screens covered with bird and flower patterns in Sichuan brocade were also especially prized during the Yuan Dynasty. If Sichuan brocade was famous in western China, muslin from official factories was famous in the east. The official weaving and dyeing factory in Jiqing (present-day Nanjing) was known for its so-called »Jiqing muslin« or »official muslin,« famous for being extremely thin and light. It was commonly used to make summer clothing that was simply draped over the body. It was very elegant, but unfortunately it is very difficult to recreate. The Yuan Dynasty also had some very famous silk fabrics, such as Quanzhou satin from the south, Miji silk tabby from Weitang in the Jiaxing circuit, and Lu silk from the Luzhou in the north (present-day Changzhi in Shanxi Province). Miji silk tabby takes its name from a craftsman surnamed Mi and was known for its fine and lustrous texture, that was very popular with famous painters like Zhao Mengfu, Sheng Mao and Wang Yuan, and known throughout the country. Colors also continued to be infused with special social and cultural meaning. General silk fabrics were mostly one single color, which covered a whole range of tones including red, yellow, blue, green, brown, white, black, etc. With the exception of white and black, each of these colors also had a social rank attached to them. White, blue, brown, green and black were the most common fabric colors during the Yuan Dynasty, and their popularity varied in different areas and different periods. Mongolians saw white as a very basic

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

color, but also liked cyan. White and blue silk appeared in large quantities during the Yuan Dynasty. However, in Han tradition, white was an inauspicious color, which meant that it was generally more common in northern regions previously ruled by the Liao and Jin dynasties, and only before the mid-Yuan. Blue fabrics, however, did not follow ethnic and regional lines or trends. Blue silk was also widely produced in southern China, and made up one-fourth of all colors in which silk was produced. The Yuan court declared that brown was the color of the lower classes, but because of the principle that gave upper classes access to lower colors while disallowing lower classes the use of upper class colors, meant that brown became one of the most commonly seen colors during the Yuan Dynasty—used in the jisun robes of the emperor himself, as well as of the lowliest of officials or Confucian scholars. In shamanism, black was the color of evil. After the Mongols, who followed shamanist traditions, came to the Central Plains, black became the color of the »common people« and prostitutes. The common people made up the majority of the population, which meant that black was the most common color. As their culture progressed eastward, the green of the Islamic world also provided the Yuan Dynasty with increased variety. Red and yellow were treated differently. The Mongols put great value in the color red, and dictated that it could only be used by the emperor, empress, nobility, high-ranking officials, and Tibetan Buddhist monks. Yellow (especially ochre) was reserved exclusively for imperial use. This meant that fabrics in red and yellow were not commonly used. The convention and rules attached to the use of single color silk fabrics used during the Jisun Banquet was one of the main reasons that single color silks were so common during the Yuan Dynasty. However, regardless of the reason that it was pop-

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ular or given importance, a color or several colors would increase in popularity if popular culture demanded it. During the Yuan Dynasty, colors like red, green, brown and red had a number of different tones. There were more than ten tones that fell under blue and red alone, while »brown« included everything from silver-gray to dark purple, encompassing dozens of colors, making it the most diverse color range. In addition to single colors, the Yuan Dynasty also produced satin fabrics that incorporated both color and pattern. This included pentachrome satin, and a fabric that flashed both red and white. Sichuan brocade was also among these. The family tomb of the Yuan Dynasty figure Wang Shixian held fabrics with auspicious patterns in a range of colors and circular flower patterns. A hoard of objects in the former capital of the Jining circuit (present-day Jining in Inner Mongolia) included brocade with winged lambs. These are both example of richly decorated silk fabrics. These patterns were another platform for the expression of cultural concepts with meanings that spanned religion, class, aesthetics and prayer, which made the range of patterns used become increasingly detailed and rich. Overall, patterns used during the Yuan Dynasty were organized in the same way as during the Song Dynasty. Flowers included scrolling, cut branches, and flowers in a circle patterns, while animals included dragons and other animal medallions. Many of the patterns used on silk during the Yuan Dynasty were similar to those used in other areas of craftsmanship. Flower medallions were frequently used on gold and silver works, while base patterns of Buddhist treasures and other patterns (like dragon patterns) would be accented with clouds—and were mostly used as decoration on pottery. Scroll work, cut branches, and phoenixes with floral patterns, were used universally. However, stand-alone cloud patterns and floral medallions were generally only seen on

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silk fabrics and were typical of silk patterns of the Yuan Dynasty. The content of patterns on silk during the Yuan Dynasty was extremely varied. It included chrysanthemum flowers, plum blossoms, lotus flowers, passion flowers, peonies, flowering apples, lingzhi, scrolled grasses, Buddhist treasures, dragons, phoenix, deer, cranes, goats, winged goats, Yili horses, auspicious creatures, magpies, mandarin ducks, Buddhist swastikas, diamond patterns, meandering patterns, interlocked lozenges, turtle shell, minor treasures and cloud patterns. Geometric representations of plants and animals as well as text and human figures were also used. Most flower patterns followed those of the Song and Jin dynasties, which was expressed in the Yuan Dynasty adoption of Jin-era practices of using different contexts, sizes and combinations of flowers on the robes of officials to denote rank. Patterns developed during the Song Dynasty combining elements from each season into a »fullyear scene« pattern were common among fabrics used by the general public. A damask jacket from a Yuan Dynasty tomb of the Cao family in Wuxian, Jiangsu Province, is an example of this pattern. Despite being specialty fabrics, gold-embossed silks unearthed from the hoard of the Yuan Dynasty city at Jining circuit also have the »full-year scene« pattern. The Buddhist swastika were the most varied of the geometric patterns. Auspicious patterns of the Yuan Dynasty were often paired with auspicious sayings, which showed that the concepts connected with these auspicious symbols were not entirely mature. Dragon-themed patterns during the Yuan Dynasty included the cloud Dragon, dragon medallion, moving dragon, crouching dragon, rising dragon and recoiling dragon. The recoiling dragon was the most noble among them, followed by the cloud dragon and the dragon medallion. Some dragon patterns were also paired with other elements to

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create dragon images with auspicious plants and clouds or precious gems. In addition to traditional themes, the Yuan Dynasty also used patterns that had more exotic origins, which were typified by two animals, or birds in a nested border. During the Yuan Dynasty, embroidery became more of an industry, and the common people called it »sewing grass.« There were a few unique types of embroidery that appeared during the Yuan Dynasty. These were produced by some outstanding craftsmen, like the famous »boundary painting« (jie hua 界画) artist Xia Yong, who was also renowned for his »hair embroidery« (fa xiu 发绣), which became very influential during the Ming Dynasty. The emergence of specialized embroidery was a direct result of the spread and innovations of this art form. The applications of embroidery during the Yuan Dynasty were extremely varied. There was a large amount of embroidery used at court and on imperial gers, which was often accented with gold, jewels and jade, making them even more brilliant (Fig. 7.8.3). Official robes and carriages all had various types of embroidery, signifying the rank of the official or owner. The bogtag, the traditional crown worn by Mongolian noble women, was decorated with »embroidery of red and cyan or gold and gems.« The common people also used embroidery to express their own aesthetic tastes. Isolated geographic development of different forms of arts and crafts meant that local styles also appeared during the Yuan Dynasty. Fujian Embroidery was among the most famous of these, and was heavily relied upon by the ruling class. Recent research shows that the later Shandong and Suzhou styles of embroidery may have already begun to form during the Yuan. Typical examples of Yuan embroidery have been unearthed from the Tomb of Li Yu’an in Zouxian in Shandong Province, as well as in the Jining circuit. There were many ways that gold was used in fabrics during the Yuan Dynasty, but the main techniques were woven or printed.

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Typical examples of printed gold fabric have been found in the Jining circuit, which include gowns, robes, sashes and quilt covers. Most of the patterns are rectangular and include elements like plum blossoms, orchids, lotus flowers, chrysanthemums, peonies, roses and clouds. The patterns are clear and exquisite, exhibiting the finest craftsmanship. The affinity among the Mongol nobility for all things »western« meant that during their western conquests, they looted a great number of treasures and stole their craftsmen—who created exquisite gold brocade and promoted its development during the Yuan Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, gold brocade was divided into two categories: nasij and gold satin. The »cloth of gold« was known as »nasij« in Arabic, »nakh« in Persian, and »nasich« by Marco Polo. This form of gold brocade was known in Chinese mainly as nashishi (‌纳石失). Nasij was mostly used for clothing, curtains, mattresses, and borders for collars and sleeves. It was also used in imperial funerary ceremonies. It was used the most in jisun robes, dappled in pearls and gems that sparkled and dazzled. The patterns varied, depending on the context in which it was used. When used as borders on collars and sleeves, patterns were usually small, delicately scrolled grasses that weaved back and forth. Scattered flower patterns were also used as in the collar borders on robes worn by Kublai Khan’s wife, Empress Chabi. The growth of nasij during the Yuan Dynasty is the best example of the integration of Islamic and Chinese culture. A piece of nasij cloth with paired parrots currently in a Berlin museum is typical of Islamic art in its structure and patterns, but with the background of a Chinese dragon. Another example of nasij textile, in Vienna, shows paired lions playing with a jewel. It also shows the name of the Arab craftsman, while the main pattern remains stylistically Chinese.

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7.8.3 Embroidery of the Western Heavenly King Who Sees All, National Museum of China

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3. Ethnic Felt Rugs While the Yuan emperor supported the adoption of Han culture, the royal palace at Khanbaliq also created a massive Mongolian imperial ger, while carriages, decorations and clothing also retained a strong Mongolian influence. There were considerable changes in clothing and decoration due to Mongolian cultural influence during the Yuan Dynasty (mostly in northern China), which led to a resurgence in the weaving of wool typical to nomadic peoples. Felt (zhan 毡) is produced from the fur of goats and camels through a process of moistening, heating, compacting and pressing, to create flat layers of felt. Woolen rugs (ji 罽) are tightly packed woven products made of wool. These felt and wool products were »provided to the imperial household for use in decoration, gers, curtains, chariots and rain dress.« There are many sections of the History of the Yuan that record tributes to the Yuan court from many ethnic groups in southwestern China of »rain felt« that could be made into rain dress, which could be counted among woolen fabrics. In the early Yuan Dynasty, possibly as a remnant of the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongolian people, felt and wool products were mainly used in ger flaps, but as living quarters became increasingly fixed, felt and wool was increasingly used for carpets. Imperial workshops of the Yuan Dynasty produced massive amounts and sizes of felt and woven wool products. In the early years of the period of Zhiyuan of Kublai Khan (1264–1294), production of felt totaled around 46,700 square meters. The Ger Hall, constructed entirely of felt, could hold several thousand people. Production Record of Felts and Carpets of the Great Yuan Dynasty (Dayuan zhanji gongwu ji 大元毡罽 工物记) lists countless types of felt and woven carpets: cut felt, Hui-style cut felt, velvet felt for capes, cut velvet felt, brushed patterned felt, lamb felt, dyed felt, patterned and brushed wool vel-

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vet dyed felt, smoked felt, sewed tweed fine felt, haiboshi patterned felt, cut velvet patterned felt, cut patterned green felt, camel-pattern felt, and more. Yuan Dynasty felt also utilized color as decoration, including subtly different colors like white, quiet white, powder white, black, great black, cyan, light cyan, red, flesh-red, deep red, yellow, willow-yellow, persimmon-yellow, red-yellow, green, bright-green, silver-brown, etc. White and cyan were the most commonly seen colors for felt, while the royal court also used great deals of red and yellow. Patterns on felt mainly used a »cut pattern« method, which sewed pieces of felt into a pattern on a base of felt of a certain color. The massive scale and space of the gers required a grand, eye-catching image, which was achieved through these precisely and delicately executed patterns. The size possible with the cut pattern method as well as its flexibility was especially suitable for this environment. Wool carpets (ji 罽) were also known simply as wool pieces or wool satin. Historically, it was also known as »fabric of fine fur« (cui bu 毳布). Wool satin came in single colors, woven with gold or with embroidery. Single colors were mainly red, alizarin crimson, white and camel brown. Other woven fabrics produced during the Yuan Dynasty included »fine fur satin,« sufu (‌速夫, from the Arabic »ṣūf« meaning wool) and »western brocade.«

4. Cotton Cloth Popular Across the Country Prior to the Yuan Dynasty, the character for ›cotton‹—棉 mian—was nowhere to be seen. The related character 绵 (also mian) referred to »silk floss,« while the word for cloth—布 bu—referred exclusively to hemp textiles. Cotton was produced in the northwest and southwest of China, and by the Song Dynasty it had started to be grown in Fujian and Guangdong, but before »cotton« became commonly used, it

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had been known as jibei (‌吉贝), from the Sanskrit word for cotton—karpasa—and was only common in Fujian and Guangdong. In the early Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian armies wrought havoc on silk production, and private silk farms began to disappear—directly affecting sources of fabric for clothing. The Mongol ruling classes were very much aware of this. Early in the dynasty, the government issued the Fundamentals of Agriculture and Sericulture (Nongsang jiyao 农桑辑要), which promoted the benefits of cultivating cotton, and the weaving of cotton fabric gradually developed thereafter. The Yuan government also benefited from the newly formed cotton textile industry, and by 1289 (the 26th year of Zhiyuan), Zhedong, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, Huguang and Fujian all formed cotton »supervisorates« that collected 100,000 bolts of cotton in taxes annually. Under the Yuan Dynasty, the technology used in the weaving of cotton in the Jiangnan region advanced quickly, especially in Songjiang, which not only employed the highest number of people, but also had the best techniques. This trend meant that where silk had been the pillar of the textile industry among the common people, there was a transition under the Yuan to a model that equally developed both silk and cotton production. Private manufacturing of cotton textiles began to flourish and enabled cotton textiles, which had remained a minor industry, to discover a newfound prosperity under the Yuan. Regions south of the Yellow River became key locations for the cultivation of cotton and the production of cotton textiles and annual production of cotton cloth saw massive growth. Around 1299 (the 3rd year of Dade), the Imperial Silk Vault under the Ministry of Revenue received upwards of 500,000 bolts of cotton annually from different parts of the country. The most unique aspect about cotton textiles was that they were soft to the touch, high quality, and low cost—making them ideal for people at all levels of society. How-

SECTION 1 CHANGES IN CLOTHING AND DEVELOPMENTS IN WEAVING, EMBROIDERY, AND DYEING

ever, the fact that techniques used in the weaving of cotton were relatively rudimentary prior to the Yuan delayed the development of cotton textiles as an industry. One of the key figures in driving the development of cotton textiles during the Yuan Dynasty was Huang Daopo, from Wunijing in Songjiang. Between 1295 and 1297, during the Yuanzhen Period under Temür Khan, Huang Daopo, who had been exiled to Hainan, returned home and began producing cotton. She brought back advanced cotton weaving tools and techniques from the Li People of Hainan, which she shared with her neighbors. Before this, the people of the Songjiang region had extracted cotton fibers by hand, and used simple bamboo bows to process them. The techniques they used were outdated and inefficient. Huang Daopo brought back foot powered spinning wheels, crushers, bows, rods and beaters used in the processing of cotton, making basic processes like removing seeds, tufting, creating thread and weaving more efficient. She also introduced separating fibers, dyeing, heddling and raised patterns, further improving weaving techniques. This allowed for the weaving of different sizes of quilt covers and sashes as well as the creation of patterns like cut branches, phoenix medallions, chess boards and Chinese characters, ushering in a new era for private weavers. Later, after the cotton industry in Songjiang improved, the lives of its residents also improved. Songjiang provided cotton for the surrounding regions, and its cotton textiles became known nationwide, driving further improvements in cotton production. In the latter part of the Yuan Dynasty, cotton production in Songjiang became increasingly refined. Blue-and-white dye patterns could produce scenes with reeds, geese and flowers that were as clear as a picture and with colors that did not fade. In addition to more practical products like quilt covers, people also used the fabric to make pillows and mattresses showing an increased em-

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phasis on decorative elements. This kind of blueand-white fabric is most likely the precursor to today’s indigo Nankeen cloth.

Section 2  Artistic Trends and the Creation of Vessels Many of the works produced by craftspeople in China were imbued with important cultural meaning. One of example of this is how jade vessels signified status and rank, which continued through the Yuan Dynasty. The penchant for luxury during the Yuan Dynasty was mainly due to an abundance of precious raw materials, which became a part of everyday life and spread throughout society. A passion for gold was an unquenchable part of the aesthetic tastes of the Yuan rulers. However, the cost of endless conquest and the unceasing bestowing of gifts was massive, which meant that money and grain were regularly in short supply. At the close of the Yuan Dynasty, many emperors issued edicts that forbade private smelting and sale of gold and silver. It also forbade the use of gold decoration in textiles and vessels. However, these rules were first broken by the ruling class itself with illegal use of gold in textile and vessel production never really ending. Buddhist offerings like gold-embossed Sanskrit sutras were very common. The conflict between the love of gold by the upper classes and the forbidding of gold among the lower classes was a contradiction that followed the Yuan Dynasty from its beginning to its end.

1. Extravagant Large-Scale Works of Jade There were clear systems for the use of jade during the Yuan Dynasty. In June of the 1st year of Zhiyuan, »The System for the Creation and Use of Imperial Seals: in the issuing of all orders issued First and Second Ranks shall use jade; Third to Fifth Ranks shall use gold.« In the 8th year of

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

Zhiyuan, a royal edict was issued that only first rank officials could use jade belts, while third and fourth rank officials should use the Jade Lychee Belt. During the Yanyou period, the use of jade vessels was limited to first to third rank officials, while fifth and sixth rank officials could use only gold. From historical records of the use of gold and jade in the most important ceremonial vessels used in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the imperial »Five Carriages,« the status of jade vessels in this system were clearly higher than gold. As for the common people, it was strictly forbidden to use jade or gold on headwear. The creation of these systems reflected the emphasis that the ruling class placed on jade vessels. Jade works were divided into two categories—large and small—during the Yuan Dynasty. Small works included accessories, jade vessels, personal seals and displays, which served the social function of expressing the status of the owner. Specific functions restricted the forms, decorations and quality of workmanship, essentially continuing the traditions of the Song and Jin dynasties. Accessories included decorations, belt hooks, belt plates, and bi (‌壁, disks with a hollow center); vessels included peach-shaped cups, double-eared cups, zhan (‌盏, short cups), jue (‌爵, wine vessels), xi (‌洗, wash basins), lug handle vases and zun (‌尊, a large wine vessel) with movable loop handles. Personal seals were divided into yin (‌印) and ya (‌押), differing in terms of content. Displays were not very common and mostly contained small curiosities. Decorative accessories from the Yuan Dynasty contain traces of styles from the Liao and Jin dynasties. A belt ornament in white jade with a gyrfalcon snatching a swan with exquisite openwork unearthed from an early Yuan tomb dedicated to Qian Yu near Wuxi is an example of subject matter used in »spring water« jade carried on from the Liao and Jin periods. A peach-shaped cup from the Qian Yu Tomb (Fig. 7.8.4) became increasingly popular from the Song and Yuan and beyond, and can be seen in vessels made of other materials.

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SECTION 2 ARTISTIC TRENDS AND THE CREATION OF VESSELS

7.8.4  Openwork peachshaped cup in celadon jade, ­Municipal Museum of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province

During the Jin Dynasty, the rise of epigraphy, the popularity of reproduced ancient works as well as the forms and patterns used in bronze works of the Three Dynasties of antiquity, were regularly used. The Yuan Dynasty continued this trend uninterrupted. In 1276 (13th year of Zhiyuan), when General Bayan of the Baarin led his army into Lin’an, he took ceremonial treasures from the Song court and transported them to Khanbaliq. In the 29th year of Zhiyuan, Yanglian Zhenjia, a monk from Ü-Tsang, sacked the treasures of Southern Song tombs. These actions ensured that nearly all of the jade works of the Southern Song were now in the hands of the Yuan Court. These remnants from the previous dynasty became models that the Yuan Dynasty used to copy jade works from the Song. The Yuan-era dragon patterned jade zun with movable ring handles is a typical example of a Song Dynasty replica. The form and basic decoration of this zun are both similar to pre-Qin bronze hu (‌壶, a type of wine vessel), while incorporating scrolled grasses, cloud patterns and the Chinese character »‌王« (wang, meaning »king«), incorporating both ancient and modern elements. The image of the »dragon flying in the sky« is an even more typical Yuan element. The lug handle lidded vase from the early Yuan Dynasty tomb of

Fan Wenhu in Anhui Province is another strong example of Yuan Dynasty replicas of Song-era works. In 1309 (2nd year of Zhida, Emperor Renzong), the jade Guanyin presented by Pacification Commissioner of Huaidong Sa Du is similar in its artistic elements and tone to a seated statue of Guanyin with a qingbai glaze unearthed from the ruins of Khanbaliq, showing countless connections between the two. Large jade works are perhaps the most typical of the Yuan Dynasty and have become a symbol of a »golden age« of jade craftsmanship in China. Original large jade works from the Yuan Dynasty are rare today, but records show that large jade pieces and decorations with jade were common in artificial mountain landscapes, and displayed indoors throughout palaces, temples and other halls. In the Hall of Great Brilliance in Khanbaliq, where »main ceremonies like ascension to the throne, new year celebrations, imperial birthdays and court ceremonies« were held, were contained a jade weng (‌瓮, a large round vessel) as well as ceremonial musical instruments made of jade, including bianqing (‌编磬, a set of flat stone chimes), sheng (‌笙, a reed instrument with vertical pipes) and konghou (‌箜篌, an ancient Chinese harp). In 1265 and 1267 (2nd and 4th years of Zhiyuan) during

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the reign of Kublai Khan saw the creation of the Great Jade Sea of Du Mountain and the Small Jade Hall, both located inside the Hall of Vast Cold on Longevity Hill. There were also other large works, including an artificial mountain of jade and a jade chime. The Great Jade Sea of Du Mountain was dark green and is mentioned in Tao Zongyi’s Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village, where he states, »the jade had white portions that were carved into fish and other creatures according to their shape, diving between the waves; the vessel could hold over thirty dan [3,000 liters] of wine.« Originally, patterns »showed traces of carving, but were not finished in detail,« and the rim of the vessel »rose and fell with the object and across its length were lotus leaves.« Only the Mongols, with their bravado and love of drink, could harmoniously combine such a massive object with the power and roughly hewn style shown in this work. However, the fall and rise of empires, the passage of time and additional decorations by future generations (several changes were made during the reign of

7.8.5 Great Sea of Du Mountain, Round City, Beijing

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

the Qianlong Emperor), have caused this »Sea of Jade« to lose some of its spirit and form. Today, the Great Jade Sea of Du Mountain that sits in the Round City at Beihai Park in Beijing is a broad vessel shaped like a monk’s alms bowl with a large mouth. It is now only 70 centimeters high and 55 centimeters deep with a circumference of 493 centimeters at its largest point, but this still puts its weight at 3.5 tons. The sides of the Sea of Jade still retain the waves, fish, dragons and other creatures first mentioned, but the surface has since become smooth and fine, losing much of its original boldness. Its importance as a part of imperial collections has allowed the Great Jade Sea of Du Mountain to pass through the trials of history to the present day, but it has not been used to hold wine for a long time—and instead is filled with a wealth of history. (Fig. 7.8.5)

2. Gorgeous Works of Gold and Silver In terms of signifying status during the Yuan Dynasty, objects of silver and gold may have been second to jade, but their use was far more common. A

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large number of gold and silver objects were used in major affairs of state as well as the everyday lives of the ruling class during the Yuan Dynasty. There were many ceremonial weapons used by the emperor, all of which were made of silver covered in gold, with all kinds of patterns. The imperial Five Carriages were adorned with gold and silver. In the Jade Carriage, a red lacquer box in the front of the carriage had a gold globe-shaped censer, a gold incense holder, a gold incense box and a silver ash plate. The items placed on the altars of the Imperial Ancestral Temple (zong miao 宗庙) and Hall of Imperial Portraiture (shenyu dian 神御殿): ding (‌鼎, a ceremonial sacrificial vessel), casket (lian 奁), jue (‌爵, wine vessels), jia (‌斝, a roundmouthed wine vessel), plates, yu (‌盂, a broadmouthed jar), incense boxes, bowels, saucers, pitchers, axes, cups and yi (‌匜, gourd-shaped ladles), all fashioned in gold or silver, either gold plated with silver or silver plated with gold. Yuan Dynasty officials from the first to fifth ranks could use gold and silver vessels, while officials of the sixth rank could use gold-plated vessels. The common people could only use average silver objects. The use of gold among the ruling classes became very popular, to the extent that there were many legal cases fought because of the desire among officials for gold objects. This culture of luxury blinded people by greed, which greatly affected society with many examples of people flaunting the law and creating fake gold and silver vessels. Historical records and objects that have been unearthed show that large vessels for wine and food were the most common works in gold and silver during the Yuan Dynasty, creating a trend of manufacturing large-scale objects. A large silver spoon from the Yuan Dynasty unearthed near the city of Hefei in Anhui Province measures 54.3 centimeters long and a diameter of 17 centimeters. Clearly the vessel that went with it must have been massive. The Hall of Great Brilliance in Khanbaliq once held a weng made of lacquered wood and covered in silver with »dragons and clouds in

SECTION 2 ARTISTIC TRENDS AND THE CREATION OF VESSELS

gold winding around it; measuring one zhang and seven chi [5.4 meters] high and able to hold over 50 dan [5,000 liters] of wine.« This massive wine vessel was created in the first lunar month of 1285 (22nd year of Zhiyuan). While the Mongol rulers called this vessel a »lacquer weng,« the fact that it was enveloped in gold and silver and the visual effect that it created puts it solidly in the category of gold and silver vessels. During the Jisun Feasts held by Kublai Khan, attended by thousands of people including officials dressed in luxurious finery, surrounded by decorations of shining silver and gold, all in a massive space typical of Yuan Dynasty architecture, this 5,000 liter weng, itself covered in gold and silver decoration of dragons and clouds reaching over five meters high, was placed within the Hall of Great Brilliance where coronations, new year celebrations, imperial birthdays and court ceremonies were held, clearly shows the extent of magnificence and extravagance of the time. Its function and impact was similar to the Great Jade Sea of Du Mountain, with the same attention to craftsmanship, but with a different air. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the government placed many limits on private production of alcohol. During the Zhiyuan period, rules were set down that »only official wine shall be sold,« in order to keep wealth in the hands of the government. It even strictly forbade officials to give wine as gifts. The fact that the imperial house could make such a massive wine vessel, drinking their fill in the depths of the palace halls, speak to the extreme extravagance they enjoyed. A vessel like this was no longer a simply a vessel to hold wine, but a symbol of imperial power. Silver and gold vessels during the Yuan Dynasty were not only vast in size, they were also vast in number. Large amounts of gold and silver objects have been found in Yuan Dynasty tombs and hoards in Jiangsu, Hunan and Anhui, with the vast majority made of silver. A hoard located in Linli in Hunan Province alone unearthed 257

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gold and silver objects (148 gold, 109 silver). The forms that gold and silver objects took in the Yuan Dynasty included vessels like plates, bowls, yu (‌盂, a broad-mouthed jars), cups, zhan (‌盏, short cups), yi (‌匜, gourd-shaped ladles), boxes, vases, jars, spoons, caskets and censers. Many of these were wine vessels. Decorative accessories also included hair plates, hair-sticks, hairpins, flower pins, bracelets, rings, arm bands and sash decoration and hat decoration; there were also decorations for personal seals. Gold objects of the Yuan Dynasty, especially accessories, came in all forms, while works in silver were usually simple and clean, at the same time both bold and gentle. This difference was closely related to the specific way gold and silver objects were manufactured as well as how they were used. The shape and form of silver objects also can show a tendency toward richer and more diverse designs, especially in vessels that mimicked shapes of plants, which were exquisite and very playful. There were relatively clear restrictions on the use of these decorations. Most wine vessels were smooth and without decoration, while other vessels had more decoration. Decorative accessories were generally so full of rich decoration that no more could be added. The main methods used in decoration were engraving and mold pressing with wire filigree, and gold inlay was also used. The most notable discoveries of Yuan Dynasty silver and gold works were in the tomb of Lü Shimeng and his wife in Wuxian, in Jiangsu Province, and the Linli Hoard in Hunan Province. Gold works unearthed from the Lü Tomb includ both vessels and accessories with exquisitely beautiful patterns that were very densely packed. Gold sash decorations were three-dimensional and clearly mold pressed with winding filigree between the designs in the form of vines. A gold cup unearthed from the Linli Hoard is very representative, with its overall form and portions of the cup in the shape of melons, sunflowers and plum blossoms, showing the fullness and richness of Yuan Dynasty work, with

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

their typical rustic patterns and deft decorations full of life. Gold head ornaments were also exquisite, with turquoise inlaid between filigree, reaching an elaborate complexity that surpassed even the Tang Dynasty. There were also silver cups, arm bands and bracelets with gold inlay that are all examples of outstanding Yuan Dynasty work.

3. New Trends in Lacquerware from Private Commercial Kilns The »Treatise on Officials« in the History of the Yuan contains two places that mention official facilities for producing lacquerware. One was the Lacquer and Painting Service under the Ministry of Works General Management Office of Craftsmen, which was responsible for the »direction of work related to creating lacquerware.« From the The Right Supervisorate of the Eight Works under the Ministry of Works, which was responsible for the »issuance of lacquer works for the imperial household,« we known that the Lacquer Bureau produced lacquerware. The other was the Bureau of Lacquer and Painting under the Crafts Office of the Regency of Khanbaliq, »responsible for work on lacquer and painting in the palaces of the two capitals.« From the functions of the other four bureaus under the Crafts Office (Paintings Service, Gold Plating Service, Mounting Service and Pigments Service), we can see that the Lacquer and Painting Service was dedicated to the decoration of lacquerware in palace buildings, not its manufacture. The Fuliang Porcelain Service of the Supervisorate-in-Chief of Metal Workers and Jewelers for all Circuits under the Imperial Manufactories Commission, which in addition to being exclusively responsible for the firing of porcelain, was also locally responsible for the manufacturing of some imperial lacquerware. From the lacquer artwork on the imperial Jade Carriage, we can see that lacquerware during the Yuan Dynasty employed all colors of lacquer, including vermilion and cyan. There were a wide

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range of materials and techniques that were used for lacquerware in architecture. While the silver-cased lacquer weng mentioned previously can be counted as a work of gold or silver, it we can assume that official lacquer manufacturing agencies could also coordinate the production of large works. Today, the most commonly seen items that have survived to the present day are simple lacquerware works by official workshops. These items are usually marked with the words »Imperial Household« (neifu 内府), but the manufacturing and texture is generally unrefined. Red was a highly revered color during the Yuan Dynasty and plain red lacquerware must have been used for objects of the imperial family and nobles, while black was reserved for the lower classes. Common objects included boxes, plates, bowls, caskets, basins and practical decorative objects. A casket in red lacquer with lotus leaves from the Yuan Dynasty Ren family tomb in Qingpu near Shanghai is simple and dignified. It is one of the more exquisite works that remain. The lacquerware artwork during the Yuan Dynasty represented the level of technique during the era. Jiaxing, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Luling and Fuzhou were famous for the lacquerware they produced with the most important among them being Xietang and Yanghui, in Jiaxing Prefecture. A popular publication during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Fragmented Gold (Sui jin 碎金), contains a chapter on the arts and, in section 27, »workers and artisans« are described as private lacquerware manufacturers with a very proactive word—»utilizing lacquer.« Types of lacquerware at the time included rhinoceros skin, felt pulp, brocade rhinoceros, tihong (‌ 剔红, carved red lacquer), vermilion red, faded red, gold lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay. Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village also records varieties like glossy black, manshui (‌鳗水, »eel-water«) and filled gold or silver. Clearly, despite the general simple finish used in lacquerware of the Yuan Dynasty, the overall look was quite varied. Historic

SECTION 2 ARTISTIC TRENDS AND THE CREATION OF VESSELS

7.8.6 Round plate in carved lacquer with jasmine flowers by Zhang Cheng, Beijing Palace Museum

records show that lacquerware of the Yuan Dynasty took the form of many items used in everyday life—such as saucers, basins, alms bowls, yu (‌盂, a broad-mouthed jars), bowls, zhan (‌盏, short cups), plates and boxes. Other lacquerware items that remain to the present day include zun (‌尊, a large wine vessels) and boxes. Of all these techniques, the greatest achievements were in carved lacquer, mother-of-pearl inlay, and filled gold or silver, creating the most impact on the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Historical records show that carved lacquer originated in the Tang Dynasty, but the carving remained shallow. Carved lacquer of the Song Dynasty was praised and appreciated during the Yuan era with a finish that tended to be smooth and rounded. However, the technique used in carved lacquer during the Yuan Dynasty was far beyond that of the Tang and Song, reaching a historic level. Styles of Yuan-era carved lacquer include mainly tihong (‌剔红, carved red lacquer) (Fig. 7.8.6) and tixi

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(‌剔犀, black and red carved lacquer). These two techniques used similar methods, which was to apply up to a hundred layers of lacquer on the base and carve designs into the layers after they had dried. The difference between the two is the color of the lacquer that was used. The tihong method used only red lacquer, while the tixi method used two or more colors. The different thickness of the colors meant that carving using the tixi method revealed different layers of color as one carved, serving a strong decorative function. This made it unnecessary to carve increasingly complex designs, which meant that works using the tixi method mainly used the clean, regular cloud pattern. Tihong, which used a single color, was very suitable for carving forms of varying depth that changed the tone of the color. This meant that the designs created with this method were densely packed and complex. This did not make the beautiful outer layer of red lacquer seem thin, instead it added a depth to it, giving the noble red color an elegant playfulness. There was also another important difference in the treatment of these two techniques, which revealed artistic principles common to all artisans. Mother-of-pearl inlay was the most common inlay technique used in lacquerware. Artisans would use thin flakes from shells or powder that they would apply to the surface of the lacquer to form patterns. Sometimes intricate patterns would be carved on the surface of the pieces of shell. The changes in the way light strikes the shell and the visual effects enrich the coloring of the piece with flashes of light and color on the dark surface of the lacquer. The Newly Expanded Essential Discourses on the Investigation of Antiques (Xinzeng gegu yao lun 新增格古要论), written by the Ming Dynasty scholar Cao Zhao and added to by Wang Zuo, states that »vessels with mother-of-pearl inlay are produced in Luling County of Ji’an Prefecture in Jiangxi Providence« and »were requested by the wealthy of the Yuan Court unceasingly; the lacquer is well made with delicately crafted adorable

Overview

figures.« Fragments from a black lacquer plate with mother-of-pearl inlay from Houyingfang, part of the ruins of Khanbaliq, are inlaid with an image depicting the Hall of Vast Cold. This exquisite workmanship is representative of most of the mother-of-pearl inlay lacquerware from the Yuan Dynasty. This work is made of »cut pieces of shell applied according to their accents of color.« Thin flakes from the shells of mussels form delicate patterns. The inlay is carefully coordinated with the decoration in the lacquer, faithfully depicting buildings and landscapes. The contrast of color and light in the mother-of-pearl and the lacquer shows the beautifully exquisite style of official works of the Yuan Dynasty. Examples of lacquerware with patterns filled with powdered gold and silver in etched grooves still in existence today are mostly in Japan. One of the most representative works is a box for sutras inlaid with images of people, flowers and birds in gold fill. It uses a technique described in the Records of Lacquer Ornamentation (Xiushi lu 髹饰录), which states that »the fine lines of the images are completed one after another with a brush.« The phoenix, peacocks and human figures, which are the main features of this sutra box are arranged within the backlit area of the surface. The offset patterns are full and delicate, which is typical of lacquerware produced by private workshops working in the »official« style during the Yuan Dynasty.

Section 3  Aesthetic Transition in Pottery and Porcelain 1. Movement of Porcelain Production to the South and the Birth of a »Porcelain Capital« The Yuan Dynasty was a period of great change in terms of technique and artistry for Chinese pot-

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tery and porcelain. This was mainly seen in two closely linked areas, changes in the structure of porcelain production and in the aesthetic pursuits of the craft itself. The social upheaval caused by continued war during the transition from the Jin to the Yuan greatly weakened productivity in northern China. Bad policies at the beginning of Yuan Dynasty rule, such as a transition from farming to herding, further exacerbated the damage to productivity. Large population movements to the south included skilled porcelain artisans, who joined this southern migration. The repercussions of instability did not go unnoticed by Yuan Dynasty rulers. Kublai Khan’s wars to eliminate the remnants of the Song also included a number of measures to »stabilize industries and benefit agriculture.« This enabled southern regions, with their relatively strong natural and economic foundations, to be less impacted by the ravages of war. The fact that porcelain manufacturers in southern China were not as affected by war meant that they could maintain previous levels of production. Civil unrest and cultural conflict meant that pottery and porcelain of the Yuan Dynasty was fundamentally different from the previous dynasty. Porcelain during the Northern Song was equally prosperous in the north and south. By the Jin Dynasty, the kilns of the north had already begun to enter a period of recession. With the arrival of the Yuan Dynasty, the downturn in the porcelain production of the north was already irreversible once famous kilns had basically disappeared (i.  e., Ding Kiln, Yaozhou Kiln, etc.) or were in rapid decline (i.  e., Jun Kiln). While demand from the private market enabled the Cizhou Kiln complex to maintain a relatively large output and reflected some unique elements from the period, it gradually lost the vitality and vigor of the past, becoming increasingly conservative and less innovative. In comparison, porcelain production in the south continued to develop and flourish during the Yuan Dynasty. Kilns of the south were located in

SECTION 3 AESTHETIC TRANSITION IN POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

the densely populated Jiangnan region, which provided the porcelain industry with a large labor force and lent the rich social context of the south to porcelain production. Some remote regions also had kilns that produced unique wares. Furthermore, artisans from the north that moved south also brought with them techniques for painting and glazing which complimented the techniques of the south, especially in Jingdezhen. This not only strengthened southern porcelain production, but was also an important element in driving changes in the artistry of southern porcelain. The northern decline and southern rise in porcelain during the Yuan Dynasty was closely linked to the historical trend of economic and cultural centers moving south, which meant that Chinese porcelain production also moved south. The kiln complexes at Jingdezhen and Longquan had the largest impact in this respect. Both of these kilns produced large amounts of porcelain, and their artistry adapted to the demands of the period, reflecting current trends and gaining popularity both in domestically and abroad. China’s long history of porcelain production provided a strong foundation, which, along with the stimulation of many cultural elements as well as the drive provided by the Fuliang Porcelain Service established by the court, enabled unprecedented growth at Jingdezhen. There were many innovative and unique techniques and forms, which had far reaching impact on later generations both in China and around the world. Jingdezhen gradually became the center of Chinese porcelain production.

2. The Transition of Private Commercial Kilns 1. Jun Kilns Established during the Dading Period of the Jin Emperor Shizong (1161–1189), the Jun Kilns gradually grew into a complex of kilns that reached a large scale during the Yuan Dynasty. The complex

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of Jun kilns during the Yuan Dynasty were located in central and northern China, with dozens of kilns in Juntai, Baisha, Dangzhai, Xilu, Baijiamen, and Liujiamen in the present-day city of Yuzhou in Hunan Province, forming the core of the complex. Other kilns in Hunan Province were located in places like Linru, Jiaxian, Baofeng, Lushan, Neixiang, Xin’an, Hebi, Anyang, Linzhou, Junxian and Zhanxian, with more in Cixian in Hebei Province, Hunyuan and Jiexiu in Shanxi Province, and Huhhot in Inner Mongolia. The influence of these kilns also reached southern China. The geographic distribution of these kilns show that there was considerable production of Jun wares during the Yuan Dynasty. Jun ware was not favored by the ruling classes of the Yuan Dynasty, and the kilns did not produce the exquisite pieces it produced for tribute to the Northern Song court. During this period, the Jun kilns mainly produced everyday objects like plates, bowls, jars, as well as a limited number of stem cups, pitchers with handles, pillows, vases and tripod censers. Vases and censers that were used for display were also relatively fine. Traditional sky-blue, moon-white and blue and red glazes remained popular, but exquisite pieces in rose purple and crabapple red glazes became the most prized. One type of decoration used in Jun ware of the Yuan Dynasty was the addition of splashes of a red copper-based solution on a complex milky blue glaze (this was not achieved through the use of cobalt) that was then brushed into swaths, creating contrasting red and blue colors after firing at a high temperature. The other type of decoration was the use of carvings or pressed patterns on the outside of vases and censers. The thick, opaque characteristics of Jun glazes made it unsuitable for other types of decoration. Many large-scale pieces of Jun ware were made during the Yuan Dynasty that are of good quality both in terms of their composition and the firing process. A Jun ware tripod censer with two

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

ear-handles and a blue-white glaze with animal designs unearthed near Huhhot in 1970 is 63 centimeters high and has a year mark of »ji you«(‌己 酉), which is confirmed as 1309 (2nd year of Zhida), designating it as a mid-Yuan work. In 1972, a Jun ware vase with a foliated rim and two ear-handles in a blue glaze with purple streaks measuring 42.7 centimeters high was unearthed at the Yuan Dynasty Houtaoyuan dig in Beijing. These works emphasized the use of decoration and pressed sculpted forms of the overall form. These were also covered in sky-blue and moon-white glazes that were allowed to run and mix freely, creating a certain tension in the work. (Fig. 7.8.7) 2. Cizhou Kiln Complex The Cizhou kiln complex was centered around Guantai and Pengcheng in Cixian, in present-day Hebei Province. Since the Yuan Dynasty, this kiln has remained the largest privately operated kiln in northern China. During the Yuan Dynasty, Cizhou kilns were concentrated in Cixian in Hebei Province, Tangyin Hebi, Yuzhou and Jiaxian in Henan Province, as well as Jiexiu and Huoxian in Shanxi Province. The decorations used in Cizhou ware of the Yuan Dynasty generally followed traditional designs. The method with the most decoration still uses a black-on-white design. A large jar with a black-onwhite phoenix design with brown accents would have been used to enrich the tone of the piece. These black-on-white painted designs are very unique to this period. This method starts with the outlines of larger designs, followed by details with finer instruments for other portions. This greatly simplified the manufacturing process. A peacock in black with a green glaze produced at the Cizhou and Pacun kilns is one of the more unique designs from the Cizhou complex. However, low-firing temperature makes the glaze chip easily. At the same time, Jingdezhen was producing blue and white porcelain with a phoenix design in blue glaze, copying Central Asian glazed

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they occupied, enabling the designs to expand or contract. However, during the Yuan Dynasty, designs were supposed to fill the surface of objects to express a »fullness«—but this fullness should not be crowded, and individual designs were relatively spread out. There were few works that were very meticulous and precise. Types of designs included dragons, phoenix, birds, animals, flowers, landscapes or poetry. The use of text is one of the traditions of Cizhou ware, and decoration using an entire work around the body of a piece was an innovation of the Yuan Dynasty. Scenes of fish and weeds was often used in the center of large basins, but differed from designs with two fish that were popular in the south. Single fish designs were most common in Cizhou ware and reflected the regional differences in aesthetics between the north and south. There was a rich range of designs used on porcelain pillows with workmanship that was delicate and fine. Meiping (‌梅 瓶, »plum vase«) from these kilns during the Yuan Dyansty did not place as much emphasis on design as those from the Song and Jin eras did. This was especially true in works produced for the imperial court. A great number were produced, but they were plain pieces for everyday use and only contained the words »Imperial Household« in the middle of the piece. This showed that the Yuan court did not require decoration on mass produced vessels for everyday use. 7.8.7 Jun ware double ear-handle vase with a base, National Museum of China

pottery. The technique used by the Cizhou kiln complex may also have similar origins. However, the designs used on works for the imperial court definitely would not appear on works from the Cizhou complex. The Cizhou kilns have always excelled at decoration. During the Song and Jin periods, the designs of these wares allowed space for the objects

3. Huo Kiln Earliest records of the Huo Kiln can be seen in volume sever of the Ming-era Newly Expanded Essential Discourses on the Investigation of Antiques, which states that »Huo wares originate from Huozhou in Pingyang Prefecture, Shanxi Province.« This work also mentions the Peng Kiln, founded by the Yuan-era artisan Peng Junbao, a native of Xietang in Jiaxing Prefecture, who was famous for his gold fill works. It states:

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During the Yuan Dynasty, Peng Junbao, an artisan expert in gold fill, created replicas of ancient Ding Ware in Huozhou, which include some very neat vessels with a folded rim, and they were called Peng Ware. The ones made with fine and white clay is similar to Ding Ware, but the biqing mouth [biqing is thought to be an erroneous spelling of the character »‌滑« (hua, smooth), to distinguish Peng’s replica of the ware with a smooth mouth, huakou (‌滑口), from the coarse mouth, mangkou (‌芒口), of Ding Ware] lacks fullness and is very brittle; it is of little value. Sellers of antiquities call it »New Ding Ware« and those who take interest pay high prices for it, which is laughable.

The Essential Record of All Things (Bowu yaolan 博 物要览) by Gu Yingtai combines these two under one heading. It states, »During the Yuan, Peng Junbao created replicas of Ding Ware in Huozhou, which was called Peng Ware and also known as Huo Ware. The ones with a folded rim in imitation of the ancient Ding Wares are very nicely made, using fine and white clay, and they all have a smooth mouth, but is not as lustrous and very brittle […]« Wares from the Huo Kilns included »bent waist« plates, xi (‌洗, wash basins), saucers for zhan (‌盏, short cups), stem cups and covered jars. Most of them are plain, while a few have pressed designs and yet others with copper rims. As noted in historical records, wares from the Huo Kiln imitate the white glaze style of Ding Ware both in terms of glaze and workmanship. On the surface, Huo ware looks very similar to Ding ware, but decoration on the rims of the huakou mouths and the brittleness of clay mean that it is only similar in appearance and falls short in terms of quality. The Huo Kiln is located at the crossroads of many of the kiln complexes in northern China. Considering the large number of rough, low quality porcelain in northern China during the Yuan Dynasty, the ability of the Huo Kilns to produce replicas of ancient white-glaze pieces of fine clay and pure white glaze that are rare and very precious. The achievements of these kilns, are in one sense a re-

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

sult of the strong traditions of northern porcelain production, and in another sense due to the participation of artisans like Peng Junbao. However, as part of the overall trend in northern porcelain production during the Yuan Dyansty, the limited achievements of Huo ware, are simply the final glimmer of brilliance of northern kilns. Whether in terms of volume, quality or artistry, it was difficult for this kiln to make considerable achievements. 4. The Longquan Kiln Complex Longquan ware saw a golden age during the latter period of the Southern Song, known for its bluegreen glaze that was like jade and the most famous type of porcelain during the Song Dynasty, renowned both through China and in other countries. With the arrival of the Yuan Dynasty, the Longquan Kilns made important changes in terms of aesthetics, while maintaining production. This was expressed in larger items with a great emphasis on decoration with patterns (Fig. 7.8.8). Production by the Longquan kiln complex during the Yuan Dynasty grew to an unprecedented level with over two hundred kiln locations known today dating from the Yuan Dynasty, which comprise half of the total number of Longquan kilns that have existed throughout history. They were distributed throughout the Nanxi River basin in present-day Zhejiang Province and extended into the upper reaches of Yongkang Creek, a tributary of the Qiantang River, as well as the upper reaches of East Creek, a tributary of the Min River. Centered around Longquan County, Longquan kilns of the Yuan Dynasty also existed in Qingyuan, Yunhe, Lishui, Suichang, Songyang and event Yongjia counties, showing the scale that the kilns during the Yuan Dynasty. The most unique aspect of the distribution of this complex of kilns is that each location had good access to water shipping routes and was near the international port of Wenzhou, which had a Bureau of Maritime Trade. There is a rich variety of forms in Longquan ware, including cups, plates, bowls, xi (‌洗, wash basins),

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7.8.8 Longquan ware plum green glaze broad-mouthed vase with scrolling and peony patterns, National Museum of China

yi (‌匜, gourd-shaped ladles), boxes, jars, zun (‌尊, a large wine vessel), pitchers and vases as well as the flat pitchers that became common during the Yuan Dynasty. Large pieces with thick and heavy walls were typical of Longquan ware during the Yuan Dynasty. Examples from Yuan-era excavations include a one-meter tall vase, a plate measuring 60 centimeters in diameter and bowls with a diameter of over 40 centimeters. These large objects are proportionally suitable and well made with a majestic presence. Large examples

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of Longquan ware from the Yuan Dynasty that have been unearthed or handed down in Inner Mongolia or Western Asia show that these types of vessels satisfied the preferences for large works during the Yuan Dynasty in China and farther afield. Generally, the manufacturing of smaller vessels was more given more attention than larger vessels. Longquan wares clearly incorporated decorative elements in their designs, including diamond-shaped plates, bowls with a concave neck, vases with ring handles, phoenix-tail zun (‌尊, a large wine vessels), xi (‌洗, wash basins) with sugar cane decoration and covered jars with lotus leaf designs. These all served to create forms that were rich with meaning. Modeled patterns and carved patterns were the most popular forms of decoration during this period. Printing patterns was one of the main decorative methods used in Longquan ware. Appliqué porcelain can be divided into full glaze and exposed clay and is generally used on larger vessels. Exposed clay appliqué was an innovative method at the time and its inspiration may have come from the gold patterns on metal works. It employed a bluegreen glaze offset by patterns in red earth tones that are especially eye catching. The decorative effect is startling, but is remains slightly forced. Its origins can be traced to the blue-green glaze with splashes of color popular during the Wei and Jin capitals during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, reappearing during the Yuan Dynasty. This method of decoration was used in the blue and white porcelain produced at Jingdezhen. The content of designs used in Longquan ware inherited the lotus petals and double fish designs of the Southern Song, but also included cloud dragons, soaring phoenixes, cloud cranes, luck deer, Buddhist swastikas and treasures, the Eight Immortals, the eight trigrams, cloud-thunder, squares, drum nails, cash patterns, ruyi, peonies, banana leaves, cut plum branches in half-moon shapes, plum-orchid-bamboo-chrysanthemum patterns,

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sunflowers, okra, lingzhi, melons, chrysanthemum blossoms, monkeys on horseback and floral designs. These designs were imbued with specific meanings or connotations. Just as phoenix and dragon patterns were subject to restrictions during the Yuan Dynasty, cranes and deer represented wealth or long life, Buddhist swastikas and treasures were symbols of Tibetan Buddhism, the Eight Immortals and the eight trigrams were popular among Daoist adherents during the Yuan Dynasty, while bamboo, plum, orchid and chrysanthemum blossoms reflected the lofty purity and asceticism of Confucian scholars, and »monkeys on horseback« and floral designs were not unrelated to commonly shared ideals from everyday life—also revealing a flourishing world of folk arts. A large number Chinese characters were also used for decoration, including auspicious phrases and the names of artisans. ’Phags-pa script was also unique to Longquan ware of the Yuan Dynasty, giving these pieces great research value. 5. Qingbai Ware The qingbai ware that flourished during the Song Dynasty continued to be produced during the Yuan Dynasty and was shipped throughout China and as far as Southeast Asia. Kilns that produced qingbai ware were concentrated in present-day Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces, with Jingdezhen in Jiangxi being the most famous among them. It is now known that the Qudougong Kiln near Dehua in Fujian Province mainly produced qingbai ware for export and have been unearthed in a number of countries including the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. Qingbai ware produced at Jingdezhen expanded on the foundations of the previous dynasty by incorporating new techniques, aesthetics and cultural elements, which produced new characteristics that were different from previous generations and represented the level of qingbai ware during the Yuan Dynasty.

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

The clay body of these pieces used a compound made up of two materials that improved the resistance of the body of pieces to heat and made the production of large pieces possible. It also allowed for the firing of smaller forms with fine and delicate decoration. The ratio between glaze ash and stone, creating a glaze that is greenish and tends to be slightly less transparent. The types of pieces produced included everyday vessels as well as a wealth of items that included everything from stationary items, offering vessels to sculpted figures. Everyday items were the most common and appeared in the greatest numbers. These included traditional items like bowls, plates, cups, vases, jars, censers and pillows, but also included flat jugs with handles, calabash shaped jars with handles, Tibetan-style mdong-mo ewers and monk’s hat pots. These innovative forms reflected the influence of Mongolian culture and Tibetan Buddhism. Stationary items were a relatively new item and included brush holders and animal-shaped ink stones. Items used for offerings and sculptures were used mostly for display and included censers, flat jars and statues of Guanyin. The qingbai ware of the Yuan Dynasty no longer had the light and delicate air of pieces from the Song Dynasty, instead taking on a form that was substantial and full. While there was no lack of exquisitely wrought and carefully decorated pieces, too many artisans tried to show off— while too few integrated different styles. In terms of decoration, traditional methods like printed designs, carved patterns and painted patterns were common, while new methods like appliqué, molded designs, carved openwork, beading and coloring were also popular. Beading is a form of decoration unique to Jingdezhen, and uses clay to form small beads into a line, then placing them on the surface of the final piece. These types of decoration appear on Yuhuchun vases, meiping, capped jars, stem cups and pillows. This method also appeared in blue and white and underglaze copper red works of the same period.

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3. Innovations in Pottery and Porcelain at Jingdezhen Porcelain production at Jingdezhen had already reached a very large scale prior to the Yuan Dynasty, making very impressive achievements. Records of Ceramics (Tao ji 陶记), written by the Southern Song scholar Jiang Qi, states, »There were over 300 workshops producing ceramics in Jingdezhen in the past. Works of clay were pure white without blemish. Therefore when they were sold at other places, they were known as Rao [Jiangxi] jade. They can be compared to the red porcelain of Ding and qingbai of Longquan, all being quite exceptional.« With its qingbai porcelain, which was like »Rao jade,« it became one of the main privately operated kilns along with the Ding and Longquan kilns. During the Yuan Dynasty, Jingdezhen became even more influential than it had in the past. The Hutian Kiln was representative of this success and it flourished, producing a large amount of porcelain that was sold both throughout China and abroad. The Nan River split Hutian Kiln into two halves on either bank, creating two areas for production, one north and one south. Kilns on the north bank manufactured porcelain for domestic consumption and best known for small vessels like wine cups, »bent waist« bowls and stem cups. Large plates and vases were relatively scarce. Kilns on the south bank were responsible for export porcelain, producing large blue and white vessels like plates, bowls and jars. They were characterized by large mouths, thick bases and tight patterns that used richly colored imported cobalt. Patterns were carefully painted and arranged with a clear Islamic influence and a high level of skill. Official egg-white glaze wares for the Bureau of Military Affairs was produced at the Hutian kiln as were blue and white porcelain that was used widely by private consumers. The Fuliang Porcelain Service existed for 74 years, from 1278 to 1352 (15th year of Zhiyuan to 12th year

SECTION 3 AESTHETIC TRANSITION IN POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

of Zhizheng). During this period, official agencies that monitored the production spared no expense and ordered all types of wares, which was important in driving the development of porcelain crafts at Jingdezhen. The wares that they oversaw production of represented the highest level of porcelain production during the Yuan Dynasty, improving upon and innovating many high level products like blue and white, underglaze copper red, blue glaze, red glaze and egg-white glaze. The form and decoration of these wares built on the foundations of the Song Dynasty, incorporating Mongolian styles and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Islamic elements, creating an entirely new look and style. From materials currently available, Jingdezhen pottery and porcelain did not develop a classic Yuan Dynasty style until the latter portion of the dynasty. Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain, for example, had been influenced mainly by the Cizhou kiln complex in the north and the underglaze coloring of the Jizhou kilns in the south prior to the Yuan Dynasty. The most popular was porcelain with a rough dark underglaze, which can be seen as a sign of the rise of underglaze coloring like that of Jingdezhen. Confirmed as a work from the mid-Yuan Dynasty and unearthed from Huangmei County in Hubei Province in 1975, a covered jar dated 1319 (6th year of Yanyou) is decorated with peony scrolling, animal handles and a lotus leaf lid with a tower-shaped knob on lid, all in a blue and white glaze. The coloring of the blue and white glaze used in this jar, the technique of the »lotus leaf lid,« and lion and elephant handles, as well as the arrangement of the cloud collar at the shoulder of the piece and the peony scrolling in the middle, are all close to classic Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain. However, the clay used in this jar is not as fine and the glaze is slightly blue. The technique of the painting is dull and the lots petal patterns in the lower part of the belly of the jar still use the Song style with arched edges and sharp tips. The form of the peony flowers is also not the classic

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style of the Yuan Dynasty, which shows that Yuan blue and white porcelain was still in its formative phase during this period. The late Yuan Dynasty, especially between 1328 and 1352 (from the reign of Wenzong through the 12th year of Zhizheng during the reign of Shundi) was the period during which classic Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain matured. Whether in terms of the raw materials, forms or decoration, Jingdezhen set the tone for the techniques and styles used in classic Yuan blue and white porcelain. High quality pieces of blue and white porcelain that have been passed down to the present day or been unearthed are from this period. However, even Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain from the Zhizheng period can still be divided into works for tribute or private sale, or even for domestic sale or export. A tripod censer in blue and white glaze with a chrysanthemum pattern dating from 1351 (11th year of Zhizheng) was unearthed in 1988 at Wuxue in Hubei Province and is an example of a piece for domestic sale. The shape is basic with simple patterns and the painting is crude, but the body, glaze and color is typical of classic Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain. Of the pieces of Jingdezhen porcelain from the Yuan Dynasty that can be seen today there are considerable differences in terms of the texture of the clay, the style of forms, types of patterns and the quality of the colors. As there is currently no clear basis to distinguish between these different phases of development, Yuan Dynasty Jingdezhen porcelain cannot be further divided into different periods based on these differences. The reasons for these differences has been explored by researchers in terms of the social class, economic influence, religious beliefs, lifestyle, cultural sensitivities and aesthetic preferences of the owner of the piece, which has produced some reasonable results. During the Yuan Dynasty, Jingdezhen artisans improved and developed famous varieties including blue and white, underglaze copper red, blue glaze, red glaze and egg-white.

CHAPTER VIII CRAFTS OF THE YUAN DYNASTY

There were also important innovations made in the techniques used in each of these varieties, from the preparation of raw materials, the forming of individual pieces, methods of decoration, to firing techniques. In the preparation of raw the raw materials, considerable changes were made in terms of raw materials used for the clay, glaze and paints, which laid the foundations for considerable advances in the techniques used in Yuan Dynasty porcelain production. In the actual forming of pieces, improvements in the combination of different clays made the production of large vessels possible, while changes in firing techniques ensured that large vessels would not lose their shape during the firing process. In decoration, artisans solved the problem of ensuring that full, delicate patterns could be coordinated on large, rough pieces. The increase in firing temperatures was also an important index in the improvements in firing techniques. Generally speaking, the most innovative category of works to come out of Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty was »painted porcelain,« which fundamentally changed the focus of Chinese ceramics in the direction of painted porcelain. One of the conditions for painted porcelain is to have a pure white base coat glaze in order to perfectly apply the colors. Both white porcelain and painted porcelain Yuan Dynasty pieces from Jingdezhen shared the same roots—in Song Dynasty qingbai porcelain. During the Song Dynasty, only one type of raw clay was used for the base, while by the Yuan Dynasty a combination of clay and kaolin were used, resulting in a two part composition. The use of kaolin increased the amount of aluminum oxide in the wall, making the body of the pieces stronger and more heat resistant. This allowed for increased firing temperatures and reduced the possibility of the shape of the vessels changing during firing. It also laid the foundation for the development of pure white, hard porcelain, which became one of the fundamental prerequisites for comprehen-

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sive innovations at Jingdezhen. It was a great ­invention. The glaze used in qingbai ware tended to be green or yellowish green, but regardless of the final shade of the glaze, it generally remained in harmony with carved designs. This type of product continued to be produced during the Yuan Dynasty. However, qingbai glaze prevented underglaze colors from being seen, which required a more transparent glaze and white clay to resolve this problem. The appearance of this white clay was the key to the flourishing of painted porcelain. In this sense, Jingdezhen continued using qingbai porcelain as a base, but it while it continued along this »same path,« it also resulted in two different results. This so-called same path was to reduce the amount of ash in glaze, while increasing the amount of silica, reducing the amount of calcium and iron that was originally in qingbai glaze, while increasing the relative amount of potassium and sodium. However, this path went in two different directions, which resulted in two different outcomes. One was the creation of a brand new type of white porcelain, egg-white glaze porcelain. The reduction in ash and the increase in glaze stone helped to dissolve more of the ferrous metals like iron in the clay under high temperatures, and increase the whiteness of the glaze. It also increased the stickiness of the glaze in high temperatures, which allowed for increased thickness and created crystalline deposits of materials like quartz and more small pockets of glaze, making the glaze a milky white color. This quality of glaze would also sometimes turn a slight green color, which caused some people to call it egg-green, but the milky cloudiness of the glaze remained the same. Taixi-style white glaze plates with a dragon pattern are the most representative of egg-white glaze porcelain. The strong, yet fine clay used is pure white, while the glaze is smooth and fluid with a slight green shade, with a generally balanced composition.

SECTION 3 AESTHETIC TRANSITION IN POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

Another important example of egg-white glaze porcelain is pieces from the Bureau of Military Affairs. These include a stem cup with a printed cloud dragon pattern in an egg-white glaze unearthed in 1952 from the tomb of the Ren clan at Qingpu in Jiangsu Province (present-day Shanghai); a bowl with a cloud dragon pattern in egg-white glaze unearthed from Huocheng in Xinjiang in 1952; a shallow bowl with a printed dragon pattern in egg-white glaze unearthed in 1980 at the Yongxin hoard in Jiangxi; and a bowl with printed chrysanthemum scrolling in an egg-white glaze unearthed from the Le’an hoard in Jiangxi in 1984. These are all fine examples of egg-white glaze Bureau of Military Affairs pieces. One other outcome was that the appropriate mixture of glaze stone and ash, which created a brilliant transparent glaze that when fired was white with a slight green tint, which could perfectly showcase the pure white body beneath it. It was obvious that this glaze had originated from qingbai glaze and still retained some of its green tint, but already fell within the range of white glazes and could very capably showcase the underglaze colors. In fact, among the underglaze painted porcelain produced at Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty, even in mature, classic Yuan-era blue and white pieces, vessels that use egg-white glaze can still be seen. There are similar examples even at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. However, the cloudy, translucent quality of egg-white glaze isn’t suitable for showcasing the colors of underglaze paintings and colored glazes, which is why the second type of white glaze was more common with its slightly green white color and bright, transparent finish. With the increasing maturity of the techniques, the whiteness of glazes continued to improve, finally becoming the main material used in painted porcelain. This reflects the process of continued experimentation in porcelain production techniques at Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty. (Fig. 7.8.9) With improvements in the preparation of raw materials used in producing the clay forms and

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7.8.9 Vase with dragon pattern and elephant handles in a blue and white glaze, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art

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glazes, firing techniques at Jingdezhen also saw important changes. These changes came through in many different areas, but the two that deserve the most attention are the following. The Yuan Dynasty no longer used the re-firing technique typical during the Song Dynasty and instead layered several pieces in one saggar and a face-up firing technique for a single piece in one saggar. This improvement avoided the drawback of re-firing just to increase production volume while also improving quality. The key change that made this possible was the increase in the temperature of the kilns. The kilns at Jingdezhen during the Song Dynasty only reached a temperature of around 1200 °C, while by the Yuan Dynasty they reached approximately 1280 °C. The reason for this increase in temperature was improvements made to the chemical composition of the clay and glaze (materials used in the piece itself) as well as the walls of the saggar. The increase in kiln temperatures also allowed for the creation of hard white porcelain, creating the conditions for painted porcelain to become well-known.

SECTION 3 AESTHETIC TRANSITION IN POTTERY AND PORCELAIN

It was from this time that Jingdezhen ceramics truly changed. As a focus of the confluence of many cultural elements as well as a center of innovative porcelain production techniques, Jingdezhen made many achievements during the Yuan Dynasty. The painted porcelain that it developed resulted in many famous styles during the Ming and Qing dynasties—such as painted porcelain styles like doucai (‌斗彩), pentachrome, tri-chrome underglaze, and colored glazes with colors like bright red (i.  e., »ruby red«, »sacrificial red«), »Langyao red« (i.  e., »cow blood red« or »chicken blood red«), »sacrificial red,« »cowpea red« (i.  e., »drunken beauty,« »baby’s face,« »peach petal«), »sacrificial blue,« sky blue, powder blue or soy glaze, yellow glaze and green glaze. There were countless reds and purples as well. Seemingly every color of the rainbow was represented. For these reasons, it can be said that technical innovations at Jingdezhen during the Yuan Dynasty marked a new aesthetic direction in the art of Chinese ceramics.

CHAPTER IX  YUAN DYNASTY THEORIES OF ART Variety plays (zaju 杂剧) represent the zenith of the period in the history of Chinese drama that coincided with a high-point in the history of Chinese painting. The influence of Mongolian music and dance on the music and dance of the Central Plains as well as the blending of southern and northern musical styles were such that the two styles became integrated. Yuan Dynasty song and dance assimilated steppe culture, giving its art a distinctively bold and vigorous spirit. A number of monographs on literary and art theory emerged, such as The Record of Ghosts (Lugui bu 录鬼簿), The Green Bower Collection (Qinglou ji 青楼集), A Treatise on Singing (Chang lun 唱论), Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains (Zhongyuan yinyun 中原音韵), Secrets of Landscape Painting (Hua shanshui jue 画山水诀), A Precious Mirror for Examining Painting (Tuhui baojian 图绘宝鉴), and An Addendum to the Continuation of the History of Painting (HuaJI buyi 画继补遗).

Section 1  Treatises and Theories of Opera The surge in research into zaju can be said to have started in the mid-Yuan Dynasty. The Treatise on Singing by Yan Nanzhi is representative of these works, and covers singing methods and vocal theory. While it contains a wealth of visual materials and practical experience, it lacks imagination. It is a very detailed study, so shortcomings like insufficiencies in depth and breadth of knowledge were hard to avoid. It was the earliest monograph on the study of zaju, however, and arguably laid the foundations for the study of drama.

1. Zhong Sicheng and The Register of Ghosts Zhong Sicheng’s courtesy name was Xuxian, and he also went by the sobriquet Chouzhai. The time of his birth and death are unknown. Originally from Daliang (present day Kaifeng, Henan), he spent a lengthy period of time in Hangzhou, and studied under Jiangsu and Zhejiang government officials Deng Wenyuan and Zao Jian. After repeated failed attempts at the imperial civil examination, he began living as a recluse. The Register of Ghosts is a monograph that provides accounts of the writers of opera and sanqu (colloquial poetic works) in the Jin and Yuan dynasties. It is the only work of Zhong Sicheng to have survived. The book was completed in 1330, revised once in 1334, and again in 1345. It was split into two volumes that include biographies of 152 Jin and Yuan dynasty playwrights, and record over 400 types of work. Zhong Sicheng was of lowly status, but was a talented and knowledgeable biographer of zaju dramatists. He commented on their plays, characters and ideological tendencies. For instance, he praised Fan Kang’s work Du Zimei Roams the Qujiang River (Du Zimei you Qujiang 杜子美游曲江) as »fresh,« and the playwright as an »outstanding talent.« From Zhong Sicheng’s introduction, it is evident that these playwrights were multi-talented, with a universal rhythm and greatly skilled in the art of writing; they had both clarity of thought and a flair for expressing themselves—these were the artist’s »gifts« and the source of their ability to produce great works. Here we can see Zhong Si-

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cheng’s insight that playwrights needed to have diverse skills and be cultivated in the arts. Although zaju playwrights were not valued or recognized generally by society, they did in fact possess rare and outstanding talent. He believed that these Yuan dramas were comparable to Tang and Song Dynasty poetry, and would be appreciated by future generations. The Register of Ghosts is an incredibly precious account of zaju playwrights, and forms part of the key literature for the study of Yuan Dynasty zaju. The information it contains also forms the basis for many successful later studies into zaju. Many of the manuscripts of The Register of Ghosts have survived, of which a single manuscript can be found in The Spoken Collection (Shuo ji 说集), and two blue-lined manuscripts that are held at Tianyi Chamber Library; block-printed editions are found in A Selection of Famous Operas Ancient and Modern (Gu jin ming ju he xuan 古今名剧合 选), from the time of the Chengzhen Emperor, and in the Collection of Twelve Kinds of Books of the Chinaberry Pavilion (Lian ting cang shu shi er zhong 楝亭藏书十二种). These block-printed versions have had a relatively large impact. The Register of Ghosts found in the Anthology of Treatises on Ancient Chinese Opera (Zhongguo gudian quxi lun zhu ji cheng 中国古典戏曲论著集成, first edition 1959) is composed of a collection of several types of block-printed editions.

2. Jia Zhongming and The Sequel to the Register of Ghosts Jia Zhongming (1343–1422), also known as Yunshui Sanren and Yunshui Weng, was originally from Zichuan in Shandong (east of present-day Zibo). A man of profound erudition, he liked to sing and had a particular talent in the field of opera. Four of his works of zaju circulated widely: Record of a Jade Comb (Jing Chuchen chongdui yushu ji 荆楚臣重对玉梳记), Xiao Shulan Puts Her Faith in Poems to the Tune of Pusaman (Xiao Shulan qingji pusa man 萧淑兰情寄菩萨蛮), Iron

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Crutch Li Leads Golden Lad and Jade Lass to Enlightenment (Tieguai Li du jintong yunü 铁拐李度 金童玉女), and Lü Dongbin in Peach and Willow: A Dream of Ascending to Immortality (Lü Dongbin taoliu shengxian meng 吕洞宾桃柳升仙梦). Eleven works have been lost, including Double Transcendence among the Purple Bamboo and the Jade Plum (Zizhu qiongmei shuang zuohua 紫竹琼 梅双坐化) and Pei Du Returns the Jade Belt to the Temple of the Mountain God (Shanshen miao Pei Du huandai 山神庙裴度还带). The author of The Sequel to the Register of Ghosts (Lugui bu xubian 录鬼簿续编) is sometimes attributed to Jia Zhongming, though it also said to be the work of an unknown early Ming Dynasty writer. Jia Zhongming made additions to The Register of Ghosts so as to include Guan Hanqing’s 82 writers. A blue-lined manuscript of the book is held at the Tianyi Chamber Library. He also supplemented information about the births and deaths of some zaju playwrights. In particular, he records Yuan Dynasty »book societies« (shuhui 书 会), such as the early Jade Capital Book Society (Yujing shuhui 玉京书会) and Pure Origin Book Society (Yuanzhen shuhui 元贞书会), and the later Martial Forest Book Society (Wulin shuhui 武 林书会). Today only one blue-lined manuscript remains in the collection of the Tianyi Chamber Library, but they are similar in style to samples contemporary with Jia Zhongming. The Sequel is written in the same vein as The Register of Ghosts, however it does not distinguish between the eras to which the playwrights belong. The book includes 71 playwrights, including Zhong Sicheng, and 78 works of zaju as well as records 78 works by unknown playwrights. It is a source of extremely valuable historical data. Jia Zhongming was a talented scholar of opera who had attained a high level of literary and artistic cultivation. He pointed out that small stages provided a window into human relations (as they occurred in feudal society), exhibiting forces of good and evil in people’s lives, thereby illuminat-

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ing the roots of evil and sources of ignorance in real life, and pointing to their causes. This justifies Jia Zhongming’s claim that zaju should be embraced by society and become a part of its fabric. What’s more, he asserts that by representing life, the writing becomes more profound and provides an insight into the corruption within society.

Xia Tingzhi lists a series of plays that show that zaju, in fact, played a role in society that was »brimming with human relations and enriched with elegance and talent.« He demonstrates that it had gone beyond simply poking fun at people and moved into a critique of moral principles— and advocacy.

3. Xia Tingzhi and The Green Bower Collection

4. Sporadic Discussions

Xia Tingzhi used the courtesy names Bohe and Baihe, and also went by the sobriquets Xuesuo and Xuesuo Diaoyin. The dates of his birth and death are unknown, but it is recorded that he came from Songjiang (part of present-day Shanghai). He was born into a well-to-do literary family and studied under the playwright Yang Weizhen. Since the Xia family had a well-furnished library, and he also enjoyed socializing, Xia Tingzhi gained a wide knowledge of the world. His book The Green Bower Collection (Qinglou ji 青楼集) chronicled more than 150 artists of the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of whom were female zaju performers. This work contains accounts of over 60 actors, including 30 male actors, making it one of the key monographs on Yuan Dynasty actors and performances. Actors and actresses had always been viewed by the official and scholarly class with disdain, so it was rare to see their life stories and the fruits of their artistic talents recorded. The Green Bower Collection records the artists, art, characters, abilities and appearances involved in sanju, zhugongdiao (»all musical modes,« or a collection of various musical styles), Southern Opera, dances and zaju. The artists were familiar to the writer and were notable for their appearances and their level of skill, which made their performances unforgettable to audiences. Of particular note is the profile he wrote of the ethnically Hui singer and dancer Miliha, in which he praises her voice as, »Clear and dulcet … quite divine. She may not be a beauty, but she is a superb zaju performer.«

As zaju and Southern Opera flourished, some writers were encouraged to describe scenes, discuss operatic compositions and their own understanding of plays, and review the performances and actors in writings and anthologies. These discussions covered a wide range of subjects and involved Yuan Dynasty opera theory. 1. Discussions on the Relationship Between Art and the Times Hu Zhiyu (1227–1293), also known as Zishan (»Purple Mountain«), was from Wu’an in Cizhou (in present-day Hebei Province). He served as a member of the Ministry of Revenue and Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and had an excellent reputation as an official. He was also associated with playwrights and artists like Bai Pu and Zhu Lianxiu. He was the author of the Complete Works of Purple Mountain (Zishan da quanji 紫山大全 集), which includes many discussions on zaju. He stated that: »opera evolves with the times and, with the exception of the modern music contained within the Royal Academy, has now transformed into zaju.« This was in line with objective reality. As the era progressed, so too did the arts, morphing with the times, following the rules of development. 2. Discussions on the Role of Opera There were multiple theories of the role of opera. The poet Yang Weizhen particularly admired its satirical role. In the Preface of the Record of ­Excellent Operas (You xi lu xu 优戏录序) he stated:

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The everyday lives of the audience are played out in operas as satire. A single well-turned sentence has the power to lift the audience out of the mundane and bring about a radical shift in their thinking. Opera performers may be disappearing, but can the role of the criticisms voiced within operas ever be diminished? […] This is also the assessment of gentlemen. Better the official who knows opera than the official who is familiar only with his desk.

of dramatists analyzed opera’s role in cultivating its audiences from different perspectives. Yang Weizhen deals with the common, mass appeal, and the irreplaceable nature of opera. As a man of letters and refined tastes who moved in official circles, he had the rare ability to not only take a broad-minded view of operatic arts, but also to gain a clear understanding of them.

Yang Weizhen was good at playing the flute, and called himself the »iron flute priest.« In his youth he went to study at Iron Cliff Mountain with his parents, so his style of poetry is known as the Iron Cliff-style. He served as a Confucian official in Jiangxi and was a leading figure in poetry circles at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Yang Weizhen was closely associated with artists, and his works include the Collected Works of Yang Weizhan, Ancient Yuefu of Master Iron Cliff (Tieya xiansheng gu yuefu 铁崖先生古乐府), and An Anthology of Poems in the Ancient Style (Fugu shiji 复古诗集) As a result of his unique position as not only an artist and member of the scholar class, but also a man of official circles, he had unique insight into the satirical role of opera. In the prologue to his play The Song of the Pipa Player (Pipa ji 琵琶记), Gao Ming has the character in the minor male role (fumo 副末) sing: »No matter how finely written, they are worthless stories if they do not promote good moral order.« In Preface on Modern Yuefu of Master Shen (Shenshi jin yuefu xu 沈氏今乐府序), Yang Weizhen asserts that: »This kind of opera combines voice and words to tell classic stories of emperors and their subjects, husbands and wives, and gods and the immortals, as warnings to ordinary people about the rewards and punishments of good and evil, and of success and failure.« He goes on to point out that these artist’s performances are »bringing classical history to the masses, encouraging them to embrace high moral standards and forsake vulgarity.« He states that this kind of role, however, cannot be performed by scholars or teachers. A number

3. Discussions on Beauty in Opera Out of a belief that opera should stir the sentiments of its audience, many dramatists harnessed the appreciation of beauty to nourish the human spirit and purify the soul. Hu Zhiyu said: »Relax the mind by delighting the ears and eyes.« In the eighth volume of the Complete Works of Purple Mountain, he proposed nine qualities a performer should master to allow the audience to appreciate »beauty« during performances: (1) Master body movements to such a level of ­perfection and brilliance that the audience is dazzled. (2) Cultivate a graceful and demure disposition, and stay away from the vulgar and the commonplace. (3) Use intelligence and sensitivity to observe the affairs of the world. (4) Speak with eloquence, make every sentence and every word ring true and clear. (5) Sing with a voice as clear and round as dropping pearls. (6) Employ expressive gestures and expressions to facilitate the audience’s understanding. (7) Maintain appropriate pace and tempo, even when singing or speaking old familiar lines; keep it fresh and do not sound like old monks reciting scriptures. (8) Revitalize classical plays and characters, making their emotions, words, and deeds so immediate and vivid that the audience hangs onto every word and has no time to feel tired. (9) Gain new insights when working on old materials; create novel terms and expressions; in short, make it unpredictable. If a performer attains the »Nine Beauties,« they will be capable of giving outstanding performances.

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The »Nine Beauties« cover several aspects of performing, including natural endowments and talent, grace and cultivation, and technical skill. Particularly of note is the idea of finding novelty in old works. This must be kept to an appropriate degree, that is, within limits—if you can judge this well, you can draw people in, move them, and create a new realm of beauty. Gao Ming made use of the fumo character’s opening line to display his own artistic state of mind: »It is easy to entertain, yet difficult to move people,« emphasizing that opera at its highest level has the power to profoundly affect people. 4. Discussions on the Methods Used to Create Operatic Works The playwright Qiao Jie was the first person to propose using the »phoenix’s head, pig’s belly, and leopard’s tail« structure for dramas. Tao Zongyi set out his views in »Composing Modern Yuefu,« in the eighth volume of Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village (Nancun chuogeng lu 南村辍 耕录): »When writing yuefu, there are six words one should follow: ›phoenix’s head, pig’s belly, leopard’s tail‹.« This means, in short, the start of the opera must be spectacular and beautiful, the middle grand and overpowering, and the resolution resounding. Particular attention should be paid to the head and tail, and the meaning must be clear and fresh. These six words explain a profound theory in simple language, providing the basic structure for an opera. 5. Discussions on the Mood of Operatic Works When discussing the mood of operatic works, dramatists of the Yuan Dynasty covered aspects such as the lyrics, the story and the songs, emphasizing the importance of the mood. Wang Yun (1227–1304), known by the courtesy name Zhongmou and the sobriquet Qiujian, was from Weizhou, Ji County (present-day Henan). In the 44th volume of the Complete Works of Qiujian (Qiujian daquan ji 秋涧大全集), »The Sequence

CHAPTER IX YUAN DYNASTY THEORIES OF ART

of Writing,« he states that: »There are different ways to write. For some, the mood comes first and the lyrics follow, and in these cases it is easy. It is more difficult when the lyrics precede the mood. When the mood is achieved first, the lyrics flow easily and make sense; when the lyrics come first, though, they appear strange and the reason odd. This is unavoidable and something everyone should be aware of when studying opera.« In discussing the relationship between mood, lyrics, and reason, he stresses that the mood is the priority; this is the only way to ensure the language is fluent and reason sufficient. Gu Ying (1310–1369), also went by the names A-Ying and Dehui (literally, »Virtue and Glory«). His courtesy name was Zhongying and his style name was Jinrou Daoren. Originally from Mount Kun, he was a proficient musician and was a deeply cultured person, accomplished in arts including the playing of the guruan (‌古阮) and composing poetry. The Gu home was abuzz with the female performers of Southern Opera, such as Nan Zhixiu and Tian Xiangxiu. Gu Ying’s works include the Draft of Rough Gems from the Jade Mountains (Pushan yugao 玉山璞稿) and Sixteen Observations on Songwriting (Zhiqu shiliu guan 制曲十六观). He stated, »The song must center on the mood, or it will merely mimic what has gone before. The work should be an expression from the heart, only then will it make sense to the audience. If you do not create your own mood within ancient stories, you are but a slave to the ancient works.« That is, only by »adding a new mood« can a writer break free of convention and establish a new paradigm. In »Ten Ways to Write Lyrics,« in Rhyme and Rhythm of the Central Plains (Zhongyuan yinyun 中原音韵), Zhou Deqing proposes: Choose the language after you have determined the mood. In short works, the words should be simple, but the meaning profound; long works should have a grand and glorious middle section complemented by the head and tail. The language must be engaging and eloquent. It must not be

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so literary as to be tedious, but must be literary enough not to be vulgar. It should be dazzling to the eyes and sensational to the ears. It should be in good taste with proper temperament, and each word should be carefully considered […]

He asserts that, when writing, the mood should be arrived at first: a work of high quality must have both appropriate mood and language. Zhao Mengfu was a master of poetry and music, and his work Collection from the Snow Pine Studio (Songxue zhai ji 松雪斋集) includes a discussion on tonality. Guan Yunshi, who was of Uighur ethnicity, was praised for his sanqu. The Yuan Dynasty scholar Kong Ji said of him: »He is an accomplished writer of modern yuefu; his work is fresh with a charming ease, in step with the times.« Guan Yunshi was the author of the Collection of the Studio of Sourness (Suan zhai ji 酸斋集). Yu Ji was the author of Ancient Records of Daoyuan the Scholar (Daoyuan xuegu lu 道园学古录). The Register of Ghosts from the Tianyi Chamber Library collection records that his »musical movements« (mostly sanqu) have been handed down. His comments on opera follow the traditions of such ancient writers as Mencius, Han Yu, and Ouyang Xiu. Yu Ji was passionate about art and attached great importance to artistic talent, rarely holding any prejudice. These characters were luminaries of the literary world during the Yuan Dynasty. Their poetry, lyrics, and collected works involve many discussions on opera that have contributed to the construction of the theory of traditional Chinese opera. While they did not leave behind monographs on opera, they should not be forgotten when introducing Yuan Dynasty operatic theory.

Section 2  Treatises on Music Yuan Dynasty writings on music theory, such as the Treatise on Singing (Chang lun 唱论), Tones

SECTION 2 TREATISES ON MUSIC

and Rhymes of the Central Plains (Zhongyuan yin yun 中原音韵) and Detailed Examination of Lute Music (Qin lü fa wei 琴律发微), pay closer attention to creativity and performance. This reflects the fact that theorists gained a better grasp of the practice and rules of music and art, while becoming more adept at summarizing them.

1. Treatise on Singing Yannan Zhi’an wrote the earliest monograph on singing, which was first set down in the 1st volume of New Yuefu Edition of White Snow in Spring Sunlight (Yuefu xinbian yangchun baixue 乐府新 编阳春白雪), a collection of sanqu edited by Yang Chaoying. Information regarding the author’s real name and life story are not reliable, but it is generally thought that he was active in the period around 1341. The Treatise on Singing describes and discusses 27 issues relating to aspects of singing. The part of the text with most value is his analysis of singing skills and style. For instance, when discussing voice, it talks not only about »being mellow and resounding,« but also the way the timbre of the voice should change within a piece, according to the mood of the music. It also discusses the different characteristics of the human voice. Regarding breathing, he talks not only of specific breathing techniques, but also says that techniques must be appropriate throughout the performance, emphasizing the importance of breathing technique when singing. On mastering matters of taste, rhythm and standards for style, he also gives a relatively detailed summary, which in reality is a proposal of requirements. He further lists the common drawbacks of the various singing techniques, bad habits of posture, and so on. Treatise on Singing goes on to match each of the seventeen gongdiao (modes of ancient Chinese music) to musical styles and moods, in the belief that each gongdiao represented a different kind of style or feeling. This way of solidifying their characteristics

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can have a deleterious effect on the richness of the music, however. Tao Zongyi’s Respite from Plowing in the Southern Village and Ming Zhuquan’s A Formulary of Correct Sounds of an Era of Peace (Taihe zhengyin pu 太和正音谱) both reprint the entire text of Treatise on Singing, while Zhuquan makes some further additions. Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains (Zhongyuan yinyun 中原音韵) and A Selection of Yuan Dynasty Drama (Yuan qu xuan 元曲 选) include selected passages of the text.

2. Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plain is an academic work on phonology during the Yuan Dynasty. The manuscript was completed in the autumn of 1324 and officially went into print and was published around 1342. The author, Zhou Deqing (1277–1365), also known by the courtesy name Ting Zhai, was from Gao’an in Jiangxi Province, and was a sixth-generation descendent of the Song Dynasty neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi. Although a learned scholar, he lived his entire life a commoner and spent his later years in the countryside as a recluse, dying in poverty. Zhou was a sanqu playwright that Yu Ji praised for being »skilled at yuefu and well-versed in temperament.« He stated that the yuefu he wrote were typified by a »regular temperament, correct use of words, proper aesthetics in temperament, and a wonderful choice of words.« He produced 32 works of xiaoling, a short form of sanqu poetry, and three complete instrumental works. Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains is divided into two sections, »Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plains,« and »Examples of the Correct Rhymes for Composing Songs.« The former is a manual on rhyming in poetry produced in direct response to needs arising in the composition of lyrics and the performance of Northern Songs (beiqu 北曲), just as the creative center of Northern Songs moved southward. Many southern scholars began composing Northern Songs, but frequently found

CHAPTER IX YUAN DYNASTY THEORIES OF ART

it difficult to choose the correct rhymes, which caused the use of rhymes in the composition and performance of Northern Songs to be quite chaotic. In 1324, on Zhang Hanying’s invitation, Zhou began putting his theory into words in the Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plain. »Central Plains pronunciation« was the standard of that period, and Zhou cited the more successful examples of Northern Songs (mostly sanqu) from that era as models, summarizing the rhymes that were in actual use into 19 groups. He then categorized the characters in each of the 19 groups in to three tones: Level (yangping 阳平, or masculine level tone, and yinping 阴平, or feminine level tone), Rising and Departing. He then further divided characters with the »entering« tone similarly into three groups: Level, Rising and Departing. He further explained that this was necessary for the sake of performances and not for the purpose of eliminating entering tone characters from the language of everyday life. »Examples of the Correct Rhymes for Composing Songs« includes specific analyses of the phonology of certain Chinese characters, the pronunciation of some rare characters, the names of 335 melodies to which Northern Songs were set and the category of gongdiao to which they belonged, the »Ten Rules for Composing Lyrics,« and so on. When listing the gongdiao for operatic melodies, he included only 12, indicating that the 17 gongdiao listed in Treatise on Singing were not yet fully in use. »Ten Rules for Composing Lyrics« includes »knowing rhymes« (zhi un 知韵), »creating language« (zaoyu 造语), »use of events or stories« (yongshi 用事), »use of words« (yongzi 用字), »treating an entering tone as a level tone« (rusheng zuo pingsheng 入声作平声), »feminine and masculine« (yinyang 阴阳), »the climax« (wutou 务头), »the antithesis« (duiou 对偶), »the last sentence« (moju 末句) and »fixing the structure« (dingge 定格). The first nine elements are to be used while composing verses, while the last rule, »fixing the structure« makes up the core of

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the second part. Examples are given of 40 xiaoling with comments on their merits, but these are really just examples of how to set out tablature. In the »Ten Rules for Composing Lyrics,« Zhou Deqing proposes a key concept—the rule of »the climax.« He mentions the rule of »the climax« within »creating language« two times, while in describing it he states, »you need to know that a certain tone, a certain sentence, or a certain word is the ›climax‹ and requires the most elegant and charming language. Attention should then be paid to this when fixing the structure for each tone.« He goes on to mention »the climax« frequently in the forty comments on »fixing the structure.« In Principles of Lyric Drama (Qu lü 曲律) by Wang Jide of the Ming dynasty, it states that: »The meaning of ›the climax‹ … is the most crucial line within a mode. In a melody, this will be expressed as a raised note and there will be a change of mode. This is known in the common vernacular as ›creating a tone‹; each mode has one, two or three lines; each line has one word, two or three words, and these are ›the climax‹.« In the Minor Records of Mo’e (Mo’e xiaolu 墨娥小录) the climax is jokingly called »bringing down the house.« The modern composer Wu Mei explains climax as »a part of the song that links two or three words of different tones, one level, one rising, and one departing, are linked together.« Wang Jide’s words are sometimes difficult to understand, while Wu Mei mentions the linking of words and tone, but does not explain the reason. From content to methodology, the theoretical system of Tones and Rhymes of the Central Plain influenced the research of many who came after Zhou Deqing, including Zhu Quan, Shen Gai, Wang Jide, Li Yu, and Wu Mei.

3. A Detailed Explanation of the Qin Zither A Detailed Explanation of the Qin Zither (Qinlü fawei 琴律发微) was written during the Reign of Yanyou of the Yuan Dynasty by Chen Minzi, a na-

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tive of Nanfeng. This work discusses methods for composing qin melodies and related musical and aesthetic theories. It can be found in The Complete Book of Qin (Qinshu daquan 琴书大全), compiled by the Ming Dynasty scholar Jiang Keqian. The author explains in the preface that there are two works by Southern Song Dynasty qin musician Xu Li, Qin Rules (Qintong 琴统) and The Jade ­Tablature (Yupu 玉谱, also known as The Jade Tablature of Mysterious Sounds [Aoyin yupu 奥音 玉谱]) that describe the principle of twelve »tonal shifts« (xuangong 旋宫). Since these are very brief, only serving to familiarize the reader with the existence of this rule rather than offering any significant understanding of the matter, he wrote A Detailed Explanation of the Qin Zither to elucidate the principle. His theory also covers such matters as the composition of qin melodies in five sections. The first section, »Twenty-Five Melodies of the Jade Tablature,« explains why Xu Li’s Jade Tablature contains only twenty-five modes (diao 调). It states: »each of the five strings have one tone [gong], and each tone has five notes, each of which is of one mode, so all together there are twenty-five modes.« This kind of tonal-modal or »gong-diao« system with twenty-five modes has five major notes producing the modes, hence the largest range of modes in use on the qin is 25. The main thrust of the second part of the book, »General Theory for Composing Melodies,« is a discussion of issues in three areas. The first is regarding the categorization of the expressive potential of the qin. There were two types of early qin music. The first relies on lyrics, with the qin providing corresponding expression in the mood of the lyrics—that is to say the notes are composed on the basis of the meaning of the lyrics. The other is instrumental music, in which the »meaning is found within the musical notes.« After the Han and Jin dynasties, purely instrumental qin music developed quickly, as the qin was seen as capable of rich expression in its

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own right. The book stresses that only by understanding and mastering the power of the qin’s expressiveness can one realize its potential to create wonderful music. It is evident here that the author advocates the development of purely instrumental qin music. Second is qin music’s aesthetic ideals. The author regards the highest class of music as that which adheres the aesthetic standard of »moderation« (zhonghe 中和). Other acceptable standards are »light and diluted« (chongdan 冲澹), »sincere« (hunhou 浑厚), »honest and virtuous« (zhengda 正大), »meek and amiable« (yiliang 易良), »rich and imposing« (haoyi 豪毅), »clear and melodious« (qingyue 清越), »bright and beautiful« (mingli 明丽), »delicate yet substantial« (zhenli 缜栗), »concise« (jianjie 简洁), »simple and unaffected« (pugu 朴古), »arousing indignation« (fenji 愤激), »resentful« (aiyuan 哀怨), »upright and stern« (qiaozhi 峭直), and »superb and unique« (qiba 奇 拔). In the author’s view, these aesthetic standards may still be considered »positive,« and therefore »good.« Styles to avoid were »dazzling and coquettish« (yanmei 艳媚), »fine and delicate« (xianqiao 纤巧), »restless« (jiaofan 噍烦), »brief and forceful« (qushu 趋数), »trivial and complicated« (suoza 琐杂), »rough and careless« (shutuo 疏脱), »slow and indolent« (duoman 惰慢), and »disordered« (shilun 失伦). Music performed in these manners would only serve to lower people’s moral standards and were not worthy of a gentlemen’s ear. Third is the significance of the mode and rules for setting pitch when creating qin melodies. This is the core section of the book. The author emphasizes the role of temperament, saying »Choose notes based on the temperament. Only the five notes of the chosen tone should make up the melody. Where is the value in following whims? No one who composes a melody should break with this rule.« The author also quotes Xu Li: »One mode has five notes; each note gives priority to itself and the main mode also takes priority: it does

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not allow other modes to intrude upon it or disturb the sound of the notes, this is right and proper.« He attaches great importance to mode. The status of main mode is the key theme running through the book, which the third and fourth parts mainly revolve around and expand upon. In the third part, »Notes on the Use of Composing Melodies,« the author stresses the role of the main mode and the major note of that mode. He believed that whatever the tone of the composition, the tone note should always appear, »The tone note is implicitly the major note.« He also believed that, according to the »first and final note« requirement, the first note of a composition is not necessarily the major note, but the final note definitely must be. He asserts changes in sound and rhythm can create the most wonderful effect, but one cannot »keep straying endlessly in a new direction,« and that the melody must always »gently return to the main mode.« That is, in that section there should be a contrast in mode, and the final notes of the first section and last section should both be the major note. In one composition, there can be »echoes and coherence, interludes, monophony, complementing sounds, variations and shifts,« but there must always be a sense of how it will return—it cannot run contrary to itself or break away from the temperament. For the fourth part, »Starting and Finishing a Composition,« see »Notes on the Use of Composing Melodies.« The fifth part, »Reading Mode Names in Old Tablature,« explains the relationships between the concepts and entities of the 35 qin modes, and gives a detailed account of the methods for playing each mode. It further removes all of the repeated methods, condensing them into 27 modes. Cha Fuxi says, »after years of examination on differentiating between qin modes, I know Investigation of Qin Tones quoted in the eleventh chapter of The Complete Book of Qin to provide the most ancient yet also most complete explana-

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tion. It was pioneering in its organization of the qin modes.«

4. »Examination of Music,« An Account of the Qin and Publication on Temperament A General Study of Literary Works (Wenxian tongkao 文献通考) was compiled by Ma Duanlin (1254–1323) of the late Song early Yuan periods. It is an encyclopedia of the decrees, regulations and institutions of previous dynasties, and includes a section called »Examination of Music,« which gives an overview of music and history before the Yuan Dynasty. The work contains 348 volumes, of which 21 volumes (128–148) comprise the »Examination of Music« (Yuekao 乐考) The contents include musical systems of the past, the creation of temperament in history, systems of temperament, weights and measures; the »eight sounds« (produced by musical instruments constructed of eight types of materials: metal, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, gourd, and bamboo), each of which was divided into three regional styles—»refined« (yabu 雅部), »foreign« (hubu 胡部) and »common« (subu 俗部)—as well as those »outside the eight sounds«; »hanging music« (yuexuan 乐悬), songs, dances, and folk music; various music and variety shows, drums and wind, as well as music of non-Han peoples including the Dongyi, Xirong, Nanman, Beidi; there is also »dispelling music« (cheyue 彻乐). He compiled the book in a format made up of »texts, commentary and notes,« rigorously filtering and selecting historical data. Then he added explanations and evaluations of events and characters by famous Confucian scholars of previous generations. Finally, in cases where there were differences in opinions, he added his own views in annotations. Since some of the original sources have already been lost, the value of these quotations is even more apparent. An Account of the Qin (Qinshu 琴述) is by Yuan Jue (birth and death unrecorded), who is also known under the pseudonym Wise Old Qingrong. In his youth he studied the Register of the Pavilion (ge pu

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阁谱), the official qin scores of the Song Dynasty, and later studied the Zhejiang Register (Zhe pu 浙 谱), and scores from Zhejiang, under Xu Yu. Having carried out a practical survey, he discusses the evolution of the qin tablature system in the Song Dynasty. He points out that, while only the Register of the Pavilion was officially recognized during the Song Dynasty, there were many other forms of folk-style qin scores. Of these, the Jiangxi Register (from Jiangxi Province) is more exhaustive than the Register of the Pavilion, with even more richly varied melodies—hence a high level of appreciation among scholars. It is even held that only those who understand the Jiangxi Register truly understand the qin. Later, however, the Zhejiang Register prevailed, gradually replacing the Register of the Pavilion and Jiangxi Register. Through his investigations, he discovered that the Register of the Cave of the Purple Cloud (Zixia dong pu 紫霞洞谱), compiled by Yang Zuan, as well as the qin scores in Zhang Yan’s family collection, originated from Han Chazhou’s ancient ancestral scores. He also introduced the experiences of Mao Xun and Xu Yu of the Yang Zuan school, studying the Guo Mian style of qin score composition (the founder of the Zhejiang school) under Liu Zhifang, to whom it had been passed on. Publication on Temperament (Lülü chengshu 律 吕成书) is a work about the mathematical theory of music that was completed and published in around 1340, and was written by Liu Jin (birth and death unknown). This book describes the ritual of »watching for ethers« (houqi 候气), which had been used since the Eastern Han as the way of determining the accuracy of the tuning of the 12-pitch pipes that made up the 12-pitch temperament. Following this ritual, the correct range for compositions could be deduced based on the circumference and diameter of the pitch pipes and the fluctuations of pitch in the melody calculated using specific integrals. Liu Jin learnt from Song Dynasty Confucian scholars, and gained a knowledge on par with theirs, but was unable to surpass

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them. His theories merely restate the existing theories of Cai Yuanding and Peng Si, developing his own conclusions based on their differing approximations of the value of pi. The book preserves some data already lost from Peng’s Law of Pitch (Peng shi lüfa 彭氏律法), and has the advantage of having both long and short discussions. It was also later included in the Complete Library in Four Sections (Siku quanshu 四库全书), completed during the Qing Dynasty.

notes of scholars and private families, and without considerable scale. Literary sketches dating to the Yuan Dynasty record many historic events related to art. These contain indispensable background information for today’s researchers of Yuan Dynasty art. For example, Zhou Mi’s Miscellaneous Knowledge from Guixin Street (Guixin zashi 癸辛 杂识) and Rustic Talks from the East of Qi (Qidong yeyu 齐东野语), both from the early Yuan Dynasty, as well as late Yuan works like Tao Zongyi’s Respite from Plowing in the Southern ­Village.

Section 3  Treatises on Calligraphy and Painting

1. Theories of Literati Painting

All Yuan Dynasty artistic theories and writings on painting, as well as other historical records on art, to a greater or lesser extent were based on the achievements of the historical essays of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties. Unlike previous dynasties, however, art theory of the Yuan Dynasty paid little attention to the study of art’s political function. Scholar painters emphasized art’s role as a tool for self-expression and altering people’s moods. Theories of art from the Yuan Dynasty focus on the expressive techniques of painting, carving, and other compositional arts. They particularly deepen the understanding of the theory of realism in painting, and in studies of scholarly writings on artworks. Many monographs on painting technique emerged. These included Huang Gongwang and Rao Ziran’s techniques for landscape painting, the ink-bamboo methods of Wu Zhen and Li Kan, as well as Liu Yin and Wang Yi’s theories of portraiture. The meticulousness of the descriptions of realism in portraiture was unprecedented. Throughout the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial family, scholars and the general public alike were obsessed with collecting works of calligraphy and painting, and this promoted the development of records documenting calligraphy and painting. These were limited, however, to the collections and

1. Qian Xuan’s Discourse on »Scholarly Air« and »Clerical Form« Qian Xuan was the Yuan dynasty’s earliest painter to touch on theories of literati painting. The characteristics of literati painting that he discussed with Zhao Mengfu were recounted by the Ming Dynasty scholar Dong Qichang in the Rongtai Collections (Rongtai ji 容台集): Zhao Wenmin [Mengfu] asked Qian Shunju [Xuan] about the art of painting: What is scholarly air? Qian replied: ›It is the clerical form; the history of painting tells us that, though you can fly without wings, you will soon fall into evil ways, and the more [you pursue this], the further you will stray; but it is crucial to not ask for anything from the world [and to become one’s own master], not being affected by positive nor negative views [of society].‹

In this sense, »clerical form« is equivalent to »scholarly air« and, therefore, a prerequisite for having a »scholarly air.« So-called »clerical form« was the work of scholarly artists, which, in contrast to professional painters or artistic craftsmen, were works of inspiration that complimented poetry and calligraphy. If one has an attitude that is »not ask[ing] for anything from the world, not being affected by positive nor negative views [of society],« then his paintings are said to have a »scholarly air.« This is to say, if literati paintings

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are personally inspired creations without the need for the recognition of society, then they are artistic expressions that are pure of heart and free from the secular world. Furthermore, the clerical form inherently alludes to the ancients. Clerical script was originally a form of writing that came about during the Qin Dynasty and was widely used during the Han and Wei dynasties. Therefore, Qian Xuan was also indirectly calling for an ideal of literati painting that exhibited a return to simplicity and truth, searching for an »ancient air.« This formed the basis for ideas about the literati and theories of literati painting. 2. Zhao Mengfu’s Theories of »Ancient Air« and »Universality of Calligraphy and Painting« Zhao Mengfu’s theories on painting deepened the artistic aspirations of painters during the Yuan Dynasty. He put forward the maxim that »paintings of value have an ancient air,« which first and foremost was a response to the aesthetic leanings of northern painters of the early Yuan Dynasty. Most schools of northern China carried on the artistic achievements of the Northern Song and Jin, while Zhao Mengfu went farther back, tracing these styles back to the Eastern Jin and Tang, negating the style of the most prominent figure of the Southern Song »palace-style,« Li Tang, who called for a »lack of ancient airs.« [P]aintings of value have an ancient air; if they are without this ancient air, their craft will be without benefit. Today, people only know of brush work that is fibrous and thin, dappled with thick colors, claiming themselves masters. Few know that with the loss of the ancient air, countless ills abound. How can one even look at them? My paintings may seem simple, but those who know their ancient roots believe them to be good. This is an example of creating a path for the wise, while not convincing the unwise.

In actuality, he used the ancient to create the modern, emphasizing that »the mystery of paint-

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ing human figures lies in capturing their personal emotions.« The last line contains the fundamental difference between the »wise« (scholar-painters) and the »unwise« (palace-style painters of the Southern Song). In creating landscape paintings, he emphasized learning from nature, expressing his profound realization in a poem: »I have long known that painting is not child’s play; the clouds and mountains that surround me are my masters.« In his works of withered trees, bamboo and rocks, he organically combines both calligraphy and painting, unveiling the intrinsic links between the two, and says, »stones use the ›flying white‹ technique, while bare trees use the ›seal script‹ and bamboo is synonymous with the ›eight strokes‹; if one can understand this, only then will he realize the common origin of painting and calligraphy.« Zhao Mengfu’s Theory of Ancient Air and Theory of Common Origin in calligraphy and painting served to guide the direction of painting in the Yuan court as well as among scholar-painters. 3. Ni Zan’s Artistic Worldview Ni Zan’s thoughts on painting represent the views of Yuan Dynasty scholar-painters from early development to peak. He believed that the function of painting was to »express one’s own pleasures« and to »express on the page the leisurely air in one’s breast.« His reference to »one’s own pleasures« referred to the forging of one’s passions, from which aesthetic pleasure could be derived. This »leisurely air« was how scholar painters dealt with the world, with an aloof exclusivity, pure and expansive. Ni Zan’s methodology in painting stated that expression of the spirit should take precedence. Bamboo wrought from his brush was sometimes mistaken for hemp or reed, but he never insisted that it was bamboo, instead placing emphasis on the intention of the artist in expressing largesse and elegance. The fact is that from the ink-bamboo works of Ni Zan that still exist we can see his creative abilities

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were truly outstanding. He wrote »the leisurely brush is as the cursive script; it does not seek similarity of form,« which implies that one should not exclusively seek truth of form, but become bound to the passion of expression. He continues, »it is as with traveling to a city where one must rely on others in search of paintings, but may receive replies of contempt, anger or even harsh words— this is all too common and is lamentable! How can you blame a monk for not growing a beard!« This calls on artists to free themselves from the critiques of others and express their own feelings and moods.

2. Theories of Painting Technique Many Yuan Dynasty scholars participated in activities related to painting and summarized techniques based on their experiences. The majority of these focused on the genres of landscape, plumand-bamboo, and portraiture. Whether in the form of scattered essays or collections of paintings, they used secret methods to emphasize a very specific technique to objectively represent an object. The fact is that behind the theories of painting by scholar-painters like Zhao Mengfu and Ni Zan, which seem to emphasize the spirit of a thing and make light of form, in reality still contain the same basic techniques that all scholar-painters should have. They used the techniques of past masters to teach by word and example, by formalizing »secret techniques« into »textbooks,« adding to them a strong element of scholarly thinking. Their goal was to show through careful use of brush and ink, as well as specific forms, to express the Confucian elegance and restraint of the scholar-painter. 1. Theories of Landscape Painting According to Huang Gongwang and Rao Ziran Both Huang Gongwang and Rao Ziran have works on the theories of landscape painting that have survived to the present day. They both have similar insights into appearance, composition, and the use of brush and ink that are very specific and pre-

CHAPTER IX YUAN DYNASTY THEORIES OF ART

cise. This shows that the aesthetic expectations of scholars of the Yuan Dyansty had already moved past the simple explanation, provided by Su Shi of the Northern Song, that »painting should be true to form, as a child views his neighbor.« However, these theories did not cling to an aesthetic view that only emphasized an abstract »leisurely air« or »bleak and bland« style. Instead, they provided a more specific and subtle explanation of technique, which can be spoken of in theory as well as practically applied. In the appreciation of art, they proposed a new understanding of what it meant to please the visual senses at a higher spiritual level. Huang Gongwang’s Instructions for Landscape Painting is a collection of short commentaries on landscape painting, the core of which is to »eliminate evil, sweetness, the vulgar and the dependent.« Specific methods include seeking improvement in composition and the use of brush and ink. In composition, »the tops of mountains should turn and change with mountain ranges flowing into each other; this is a living method. The peaks should seem to greet each other and the trees to follow each other, as a general leading his generals, strict with no sense of disobedience. This is how to paint the true form of mountains. Huts can be placed on the slopes and small boats on the water. This provides life to the work.« He also states that »water flowing from a height should fall downward without stopping in order to capture the source of the living water.« The author anthropomorphizes the mountains and rivers of nature, imprinting human characteristics on the natural world. He claims the foundations of brush and ink technique requires the »landscape painter to learn technique from Dong Yuan as poets study Du Fu.« He proposes that the use of ink should have the »leisure« of »a scholarly household« to express the true essence of the painter, which should be bold and natural. Huang Gongwang carefully analyzed both brush and ink, stating that »the methods of brush use

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in landscape painting must be as the tendons and muscles. There is a difference between brush and ink. Where lines are being drawn and the pen is muddled it is said to done with ink‹; while a water laden brush does not draw lines it is said to be done with the brush.« Huang Gongwang believed that the most important part of eliminating »evil, sweetness, the vulgar and the dependent« was »in one key word: ›understanding‹.« This »understanding« referred to how artists placed their true emotional experiences into the mountains and rivers. This required the painter to place themselves in the midst of nature and develop the ability to represent things realistically. He also said that »when one discovers good scenery, if a tree has imperfections, they must be copied exactly.« By taking nature as one’s master, the artist must awaken their own artistic soul; it is only in this way that unmethodical »evil,« frivolous, colorful »sweetness,« »vulgarity« devoid of elegance and refinement and »dependence« on ancient methods can be cleansed. »Twelve Taboos of Painting« was part of Rao Ziran’s Landscape Methodology (Shanhui jia fa 山水家法), which was his summary of twelve forbidden practices in brush technique, along with errors in composition, namely:  1. Crowded arrangement;  2. Lack of perspective;  3. Mountains without power;  4. Water without flow;  5. Landscapes without ruggedness;  6. Roads without destination;  7. Rocks with only one side;  8. Trees bare of branches;  9. Deformed figures; 10. Buildings out of place; 11. Imbalance of dark and light; and 12. Color without meaning. These strictly codified rules of composition, methods of arrangement, and principles on how to use

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ink clearly all focused mainly on coloring, shading and the painting of trees in landscape paintings—with an emphasis on realism. The concept, composition and even specific painting techniques in Rao Ziran’s »Twelve Taboos of Painting« view landscape painting as a living art, seeking variation as well as technique, ensuring harmonious, natural works of art. 2. Theories of Painting Bamboo by Li Kan and Wu Zhen Both Li Kan and Wu Zhen wrote their own versions of the Bamboo Register (Zhu pu 竹谱), with the first focusing on the precision of brush technique and the second seeking truth in freehand. However, they both worked to ensure that bamboo in painting was expressed in a way that resembled its natural state as closely as possible. Central to Li Kan’s theory of painting bamboo was »method.« He believed that »each node and each leaf are realized through the method, which should be practiced without rest, collecting experience over time until there is nothing left to study, so confident that bamboo grows within your heart; only then can one take up a pen to capture what he sees.« He carried forward Su Shi’s theory of »bamboo growing in the heart,« creating a method built on its foundations. The method that he speaks of is first based in the »Ten Ills« of painting bamboo. These include: Shooting to the Sky and Pummeling the Earth: branches touch the silk at the top of the scroll and the roots the bottom, filling the entire canvas; Too Light or Too Heavy: too many leaves on one side or the other and going too far; Matching Nodes: each segment of bamboo being the same size; Rows of Stalks: stalks of bamboo equally spaced like the bars of a window; Drum Stands: one straight stalk and two intersecting stalks forming a shape like a drum stand; The Eye Opening: four stalks intersecting from right and left at angles that form a square eye shape in the center; Branches Forward Leaves Behind:

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branches are placed in front of the leaves behind, or both in the fore or in the rear.

Li Kan put great emphasis on the natural integration between the natural world and the aesthetic experience of the viewer. He also put great importance on technique in the painting of bamboo with very detailed and specific explanations, providing detailed but practical techniques for the use of brush and ink in the rendering of stalks, nodes, branches and leaves. For instance, in painting the stalks of bamboo, strokes should start heavy and gradually lighten; if the stroke is the same shade, the beginning and end cannot be distinguished […] From the tips of the branches to the roots, while each node is painted separately, brush work should be uniform. Nodes near the branch tips should be shorter and gradually become longer, then gradually shortening on approaching the root. Ink shading in each stalk must be even, brush movement must be straight with the sides of the stroke like border lines, naturally round and stable. If strokes are bloated or crooked and ink tones are uneven, this will result in thick and thin nodes or nodes that are light or heavy in tone, the nodes will be empty, either long or short; this goes against the method and is a mistake that cannot be made.

Similarly, in the painting of bamboo nodes, he believed that »painting the nodes of bamboo is the most difficult; the upper node must cover the bottom node, while the one below must support the one above. While there may be breaks in the middle of the node, a sense of continuity must be maintained.« What the author touches upon is the techniques used to achieve a freehand style in painting bamboo, proposing a method for brush movement that allows for the stroke to end—but not the intention. We can infer that Li Kan was not only adept at the technical »careful-brush« style of painting bamboo, but also the more passionate »expressive-brush« style, although examples of the latter have been lost.

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Wu Zhen stated that he spent 50 years learning how to paint bamboo, initially following Wen Tong, then later studying Su Shi—while also being influenced by Li Kan and Zhao Mengfu. His theory of ink-bamboo painting can be separated into three categories: first is understanding how to infuse bamboo with human characteristics, second the state of mind of the artist, third being basic techniques used in the painting of bamboo. Wu Zhen emphasized the imposing of human traits on bamboo, giving it a tenacious personality. In a poem inscribed on his work Snow and Bamboo (Xuezhu tu 雪竹图), he writes, »The sacrifice of Dong [Yuan] and Xuan[zi]; the integrity of Yan [Yan] and Yan [Zhenqing]; strong despite the wind and snow, never bowing to the ax’s blow.« He also used the phrase »empty heart [xin—the empty center of bamboo], while embracing integrity [jie—bamboo nodes]« to praise the human-like characteristics of empty acceptance and staunch strength in describing the noble bamboo. »The embracing of integrity does not require thought; it is as if the chill clouds have their own ideas. Alone in the empty mountains; majestic is the will of the gentleman.« Again, he praises bamboo, saying of its natural state: »it forms its integrity before even breaking through the earth.« Wu Zhen states that painting bamboo is like »playing at painting,« which is to say that the painter must achieve a joyful and contented state of mind, by »forgetting both heart and hands; equating dissolution with formation« and »starting to paint by forgetting the self; ignoring the brush in one’s hand.« This requires a complete mastery of the various processes of ink-bamboo painting. [If] the four elements of ink-bamboo composition—the stem, nodes, branches and leaves—are not composed according to the rules and through thorough practice, these elements will never become a painting. The application of ink can be shallow or deep, the fall of the brush light or

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heavy. The direction of the brush must also follow this method, distinguishing between heavy and light use of ink, and thick or thin strokes, which decide whether the result is rich or sparse. The leaf must still touch the branch and the branch must touch a node of the stem.

He was opposed to randomness in the painting of branches and leaves, which made leaves look as if they had been cut by a knife and their core painted like a board—giving them vulgar and scattered appearance. He believed that brush movement should »run wild, but within the method, sojourning beyond the dust of the world, following the desires of the heart while not exceeding the reach of measure.« This encapsulates the dialectal relationship between method and freedom within Wu Zhen’s theory of painting.

3. Writings on Calligraphy The core of discourses on calligraphy during the Yuan Dynasty advocated following the masters of the Jin and Tang with an emphasis on technique. They also called for the integration of theories of calligraphy and studies on writing. This is essentially the same result as the artistic pursuits of scholar-painters, only using different methods. It is also very closely related to the ideals advocated by Zhao Mengfu. Unlike theories on painting, however, authors that wrote about calligraphy were not famed calligraphic artists, and were for the most part well-educated officials in the imperial court or local government. It is worth noting that the wide range of cultural exchange between many different ethnic groups during the Yuan Dynasty was also reflected in works on calligraphic studies, showing emphasis on the languages of ethnic minorities. Collections of Yang Sheng’an (Yang Sheng’an ji 杨升庵集), by the Ming Dynasty scholar Yang Sheng’an, encapsulates the unique perspective of Yuan Dynasty scholars on theories of painting and calligraphy in the line »all of the Yuan commen-

SECTION 3 TREATISES ON CALLIGRAPHY AND PAINTING

taries on calligraphy and painting are refined, far superior to scholars of the Song.« 1. Sheng Ximing and Examination of Calligraphy Sheng Ximing made great contributions to the study of the written languages of ethnic minorities. His Examination of Calligraphy (Fashu kao 法书考) included a total of eight volumes and was completed in 1331 (the 2nd year of Zhishun). Sheng Ximing was ethnically Uighur and lived in Yuzhang (present-day Nanchang). He was a diligent student, skilled in Chinese writing and composition, but knew the written language of six different countries. The first volume of Examination of Calligraphy, »A Register of Calligraphy,« is divided into two sections focusing respectively on a critique of collections and discussions of historical works. These compiled critiques of past masters and related rubbings as well as theories on calligraphy. Volumes two through seven focus on etymology, brushwork, composition, force, spirit and technique. Volume eight is an addendum, which contains two sections that examine seals, signatures and postscripts. There are also prefaces by Yu Ji, Ouyang Xuan and Jie Xisi. It was the only systematic record of calligraphy produced during the Yuan Dynasty and was very influential. The book is a concise collection of the most important samples, and contains a wealth of information. In 1333 (the 1st year of Yuantong), it was submitted for imperial review by a scholar from the Pavilion of the Star of Literature (kuizhang ge 奎章阁) named Shalaban. In the work, Sheng Ximing emphasizes that »in the study of calligraphy it is essential to learn from the past,« once again strengthening the orthodox view that had been established at the start of the Yuan Dynasty. In the etymology section, he divides his discourse into two chapters on Sanskrit and Chinese, listing the 16 vowels and 34 consonants of Sanskrit in ʼPhags-pa script. Its »charac-

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ters are square and formal, used to write edicts, proclamations and other important texts.« 2. Chen Yiceng and Essential Precepts of the Hanlin Academy Chen Yiceng’s Essential Precepts of the Hanlin Academy (Hanlin yaojue 翰林要诀) examines calligraphic techniques more deeply and in more detail in only one volume. Chen Yiceng, known by the courtesy name Bofu, was a native of Chuzhou (present-day Lishui in Zhejiang Province). He was well-versed in the classics and served as an assistant instructor at the Imperial Academy. He excelled in regular, cursive and seal scripts. The work is divided into twelve chapters: Brush Method, Blood Method, Bone Method, Tendon Method, Flesh Method, Flat Method, Straight Method, Round Method, Square Method, Cloth Method, Change Method and Sacred Texts. The entire text discusses theories of calligraphy in terms of human characteristics, taking abstract concepts and making them easy to understand— and very descriptive. He also places great weight on mastering basic technique with an emphasis on application, such as how to hold a brush. While it tends toward the tedious, it is excellent in terms of practical discourse. The final volume sums up his philosophy on calligraphic studies states that »in these twelve chapters, the most important points are to keep

Overview

strokes round, but characters square; elements tight, but spaces open; blood thick and bones old; tendons hidden and flesh clean. Every stroke should hearken to the past and each character have a pedigree. When presented with a famous work, do not be stingy with paper and pen. If skill is well practiced, it will surely be long-lasting.« 3. Zheng Biao and The Utmost Change The Utmost Change (Yan ji 衍极) by Zheng Biao is another work dedicated to generations of calligraphic art. Zheng Biao, who took the courtesy name Zijing, was a native of Putian in Fujian Province. He was very well-versed in philology. During the reign of Taiding (1324–1328), he served as a Confucian instructor in the County of Nan’an. Comments were made on his work by a fellow native of Putian named Liu Youding, who is also known by the courtesy name Nengjing and the pseudonym Fengfan. The work integrates philology and the history of calligraphy, sampling the works of artists from the Jin and Tang through the Yuan Dynasty. It also discusses changes in written language, from Cangjie through the Yuan Dynasty. Criticisms are pointed and concise, with richly colorful content, but its purpose is very clear: »to promote the classification of Chinese characters and emulate seal and clerical scripts.« This follows the artistic thought that was typical of the obsession with the past that pervaded the Yuan Dynasty.