Serenade of Peace and Joy: A Glimpse into the Song Dynasty

There has been a wave of interest in the Song dynasty following the popularity of "Serenade of Peaceful Joy" (清平乐). 

Set in the era of Emperor Renzong, this series has been praised for its beautiful sets and historically-accurate costumes. 

The Song dynasty lasted between 960-1279. It did not have the military prowess of its forerunners, the Han and the Tang. Its territory was limited compared to the Ming and the Qing. But it made up for what it lacked in imperial power by a vibrant cultural environment and an unrivaled taste for beauty.

For starters, let us take a nice, long look at this piece. 

The Ru Ware was produced for a short period of time during the Song dynasty exclusively for Imperial use. After the fall of the Northern Song dynasty, the production was discontinued as the kilns fell to the invaders. The scarcity of existing pieces (only less than a hundred remain) made them a highly sought-after collectible. 

This particular shade of blue is soothing to the eye. One might hold up a Pantone chart and attempt to call it by some name or other.

The ancient Chinese did have their own Pantone chart of sorts. Emperor Huizong found it apt to name this colour "like the blue of the sky in a clearing amongst the clouds after rain". It is quite a mouthful, but the naming of colours is as much an art as it is a science.

A colour chart labelled with the traditional Chinese naming scheme

The Song prized these ceramics highly. Even more prized is this fine crackle pattern which creates this illusion of overlapping shards of translucent ice. 

The simple aesthetics of the Song dynasty is also apparent in their paintings. Under the Song, Chinese brush painting reached a pinnacle.

These paintings were often created, not by paid artisans, but by the literati (士大夫) who valued intellect and restraint. The ability to paint and to appreciate fine paintings were qualities expected of a gentleman.

The paintings often revolved around natural scenes with little emphasis on portraiture. Behind it was a tradition that associated natural objects with a certain state of mind or personal characteristics.

This particular tradition did not begin with the Song. A thousand years earlier, the patriot-poet Qu Yuan was likening orchids and sweet clover to his personal integrity. Enter the Song dynasty, and this idea would be embraced by Neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi with his famous adage, “obtain knowledge by investigation of things" (格物致知). In other words, the true nature of things can be discovered by single-minded contemplation. 

In this cultural milieu, the literati were readily directing their inner contemplation to an external canvas via expressive brushstrokes. It was a statement of one's inner self as much as it was a display of skill.

True to their minimalistic tastes, the Song painters also chose to embrace a technique known as  'leaving out empty spaces' (留白). Juxtaposed against their rugged landscapes were swathes of untouched canvas to suggest a patch of sky or a body of water. As any public speaker would know, a pregnant pause could be more efficient than a thousand empty words. 

The Song were as restrained in their dress as they were in their art. It was fashionable for women to don a long, narrow-sleeved jacket over their dress. Unlike the figure-hugging aesthetic of modern fashion, or the layered, almost bulky Ming and Qing styles, the Song silhouette tended towards straight, simple lines. These garments were adorned only on the lapels and edges, leaving much of the main body blank. 

Garment excavated from the tomb of Huang Sheng, a noblewoman who died at the age of 17

There were exceptions to the rule. A notable example would be the diyi (翟衣), the formal wear of the court ladies. It was broad-sleeved and decorated with repeating motifs of long-tailed pheasants. Known as the pheasant-dress, the diyi is the most formal piece in the empress' wardrobe. It was adopted by Korea and Ryuku as their formal wear as well.

Portrait of Empress Cao with two attendants wearing crowns of flowers. It was common for women and men alike to adorn their headwear with flowers. 

Royal wedding scene in Korean drama 'Princess Hours'. The protagonist is shown wearing a diyi as her wedding regalia. 

The Song ladies also had beauty trends that may seem extremely baffling to us. One of which is the habit of adorning their faces with strands of pearls. 

The ancient Chinese ladies have a long history of decorating their faces with gold leaf, painted motifs, and even fish scales. The pearls were but a passing trend in a long trend that began in the Wei-Jin era and culminated during the Tang.

Interestingly, the pearls seem to have made a comeback, at least among China's hanfu wearers in the wake of "Serenade"'s popularity. 

Despite the Song's minimalistic tendencies, let us not imagine them as an uptight, prudish bunch who did not know how to have fun.

Returning to the area of paintings, we find evidence of the economic prosperity the capital of Northern Song, Kaifeng once enjoyed.

The painting, "Along the River during the Qing Ming festival" is a documentary of sorts. It features a variety of scenes, from bustling city life to bucolic countrysides. We see ordinary citizens going about their daily life. A range of shops and services are to be found in this scene: the brewery, apothecary, eateries, and even a fortune-teller. 

It is also worth noting that the Song was the first dynasty to abolish the night curfew. Contemporary records describe brightly lit streets and restaurants packed with merrymakers. The night markets sold a variety of mouth-watering street food, from smoked meats to an array of fruits. 

In a sense, it was a forerunner of the famous night markets of modern Asian countries. 

Modern night market in Taiwan

The crowds would only begin to disperse around midnight, giving space to a few hours of quietude before the shops reopened in the wee hours of the morning. 

Central to this were the pleasure houses housing beautiful and skilled courtesans. In fact, courtesan culture gave rise to a famous fixture of Song culture, namely the Song verse.

The verse, a form of poetry that was associated to a known tune, had been around as a form of art since the Sui and Tang dynasty. However, it was considered a low form of art as opposed to the more 'proper' poetry.

The poetry was traditionally considered the highbrow medium in which the literati wrote political commentaries and shared their aspirations. On the other hand, the verse was written to be sung by entertainers, and commonly dealt with topics beyond the constraints of traditional Confucian propriety. 

This, in turn, was liberating for the literati. The verse became a medium where they could voice their inner sentiments freely, unconstrained by the rigid demands of other mediums. In other words, think of the poem as your LinkedIn profile and the verse as your Instagram page.

The distinction between the poem and the verse began to dissolve as the scope of Song verses broadened. It became common for poets to write about their patriotic sentiments and their desire to recapture territory lost to invaders. 

I have included here link to a Youtube video featuring a famous Song dynasty verse, "Song of Yangchou", set to the tune it was originally sung to. A HD version, along with other verses, is available on Spotify in the compilation "Ancient Classics of the Song Dynasty 960-1279 AD". 

I find the themes of the Song verses relevant even in our times. So is the case for the other aspects of Song life. As we enter an era where minimalism has made a comeback, we can truly begin to appreciate the simplicity of Ru ware, or the monochromaticity of an ancient Song scroll. 

References:

叶嘉莹 《人间词话七讲》 

吴钩. (2015, November 17). 宋朝人的夜生活. Retrieved from https://cul.qq.com/a/20151117/032079.htm