AESTHETIC VALUES IN TANG AND SONG CHINA

Themes

• cultural heritage of successful empire
• cultural flowering and aesthetic values: NeoConfucianism

Environment and Development

• empire: Han, Tang, Song frontiers
  • Qin Dynasty 221-210 B.C.E.
  • Han Dynasty 202 B.C.E.-C.E. 220
  • 3 Kingdoms Era 221-280 C.E.
  • barbarian invasions 4th-5th centuries
  • Sui Dynasty 589-618 C.E.
  • Tang Dynasty 618-907 C.E.
    • Tang Taizong 627-649
    • Empress Wu Zhao 690-704
    • An Lushan rebellion 755-757
    • Late Tang 757-907
  • Era of 5 Dynasties and 10 Kingdoms 907-960
  • Song Dynasty 960-1279
    • Song Taizu
    • Wang Anshi 1021-1086
    • southern Song dynasty 1127-1279
  • Yuan Dynasty 1271-1368:
  • Ming Dynasty 1368-1644:

Culture of the Tang and Song

• Politics: Bureaucratization
  • Tang achievement: __________________________
  • ___________ system and national _______________
  • decline of _________________________
  • departments: __________________
  • Song empire:
    • _______________ triumphs over _________________
• Economy:
  • equal field system:
  • Lower Yangtze:
  • Wang Anshi:
  • technology, manufacture, trade, banking
• Society:
  • classes
  • women:
    • Empress Wu (c. 690) [Alt Empress Wu]
    • foot-binding
    • eunuchs [Alt eunuch]
  • foreign contact:

Worldviews

• NeoConfucianism
• Daoism
• Buddhism
• Ancestor worship
• syncretism, desire for harmony
• Philosophy: Zhu Xi (1130-1200) [Alt Zhu Xi]

Aesthetic values

• Literature
  • schools
  • encyclopedic compendiums
  • poetry contest [Alt poetry contest]
  • poets: Li Bo and Du Fu (8th cen)
  • popular literature: the novel
• performing arts: acrobatics, opera, dance, puppetry
• music: traditional; instruments
• Architecture
• Sculpture
• Porcelains and pottery
• Painting
• Monochrome landscapes*:

Conclusions

• aesthetics and cultural values
• matrix comparisons

Explore!

• Chinese Studies
• Internet East Asian Sourcebook
• China: An Inner Realm (ThinkQuest)