A Preliminary Study on the Spherical Bombs(Huolei)of the Southern Song Dynasty,Unearthed in Chongqing

The military situation of the thirteenth century required that the Song and the Mongols construct a great number of defensive works,relying on the mountains or facing the rivers,in the mountainous Sichuan Province and Chongqing.In recent years,a special kind of explosive firearms,huolei火雷(bombs),was unearthed in the large-scale excavations of the site of Diaoyu Fortress钓鱼城in Hechuan District合川and the Baidicheng白帝城in Fengjie County奉节,both of which were defensive works constructed in this mountainous area during the Southern Song dynasty.In addition,the ruins of kilns and the clay molds that were relevant to the casting of iron huolei have been discovered at the site of Baidicheng,indicating that these huolei might have been produced locally.The Southern Song iron huolei unearthed in Chongqing are the most direct evidence of the evolvement of gunpowder and firearms,and are of great significance to the history of science and technology,in particular the history of military technology.

Artistic Features of Gardens in Southern Song Dynasty

Based on the discussion of gardens in song dynasty,the artistic characteristics of gardens in southern song dynasty are analyzed from the four perspectives of poetry and painting style,stone piling and water designing,architectural form and plant cultivation.The gardens of southern song dynasty embody the regional and cultural characteristics of Jiangnan.The aesthetic appreciation of gardens infl uenced by the style of poetry and painting highlights the artistic characteristics of false or true complement,soft and elegant,and tends to be popularized.Mountain stones are stacked into peaks and waters are designed according to local conditions.The architectural forms are strewn at random,exquisite and elegant.Landscape plants present varying sceneries with changing view-points,and naming echo with scenes to enhance the artistic value of landscape.It is hoped that the status of garden art of southern song dynasty in the history of Chinese classical gardens can be evaluated more scientifi cally and objectively through the research,and some reliable theoretical basis can be provided for modern garden design.

The“Emperor’s Edict”and the Emperor’s power in the Southern Song Dynasty

“Emperor’s Edict”refers to the writing of emperor himself.In the context of serving as official document,it refers to the special writ issued by emperor for sake of administering national affairs.In the official document system of Song Dynasty,“Emperor’s Edict”had always been an attention of the scholars and officials at that time due to its unusual functions in terms of drafting,promulgation and power.The Southern Song Dynasty was generally conceived by academic circles as a period when the“Administration by Emperor’s Edict”was gradually phased out.We did observe,however,with“Emperor’s Edict”placed in historical panorama of the early years of Southern Song Dynasty,an ever-strengthened power and prowess of“Emperor’s Edict”as backlit by several historical incidents such as Emperor Gaozong’s controlling and manipulating by“Emperor’s Edict”of the national armies.It reflects the political truth of strengthened imperial power in the Southern Song Dynasty.Hence,we can have access to another facet of the politics of the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Rediscovery of“Evocation”(Xing)and the Rise of“Poems Based on Evocation with Miscellaneous Themes”(Za-Xing)in the Resurgence Era of Southern Song Dynasty

The composition of group poems based on evocation with miscellaneous themes(za-xing)first emerged in the Tang Dynasty,pioneered by Du Fu and Chu Guangxi,but an extraordinary outburst of group poems based on evocation with miscellaneous themes emerged in the the resurgence era of Southern Song Dynasty.This phenomenon was not only influenced by new ideas in poetics and the studies of Confucian classics in the Southern Song Dynasty but also directly stemmed from the resistance against the poetic system represented by the Jiangxi poetry school.The group poems based on evocation with miscellaneous themes of poets such as Lu You,Yang Wanli,and Fan Chengda exhibit a tendency opposite to the Jiangxi poetic style in terms of their overall characteristics.The rise of evocation with miscellaneous themes poems in the poetic circle of the the resurgence era of Southern Song Dynasty holds significant importance in the history of Song poetry.It represents a rebellious and rule-breaking force that fundamentally protests against the various rules and boundaries established by Song poetics,marking a revolution in the norms of Song poetry.

On Chengzhai Poetic Style and Shu Culture

Yang Wanli,a renowned poet of the Southern Song Dynasty(1127-1279 AD),has left an indelible mark on the history of Chinese literature with his unique artistic style.He pioneered the Chengzhai Poetic Style,a unique approach characterized by simplicity,naturalness,freshness,and liveliness in poetic creation.This style marked a turning point in the development of Song poetry and exerted a profound influence on the subsequent trends of Song poetry.As such,he was hailed as a“Leader in Poetry”by his contemporaries.The Chengzhai Poetic Style was gradually formed during Yang’s creation course,under the influence of several important factors,including the Bashu culture and its aesthetic taste represented by Zhang Jun and Zhang Shi,the Zen philosophy that emphasizes liveliness prevailing in the Shu area,and the view that the“Chinese Yi-ology has its roots in the Shu area.”Meanwhile,in the Collected Works of Chengzhai(Chengzhai Ji),there are many poems and essays about the Bashu area,which have provided valuable feedback to the Bashu literature and enriched its content.

宋元环珠江口的县域变迁与土地开发--以香山县为中心

香山县是古代、近代珠江三角洲最大的沙田县。它具备珠江三角洲发育的各种形式,如沿岛屿发育,沿海岸边发育,沿激流之中的洲心发育,使大大小小的平地分布在海上。它的耕地形成是自然冲积和人工围垦结合的过程。文献所载香山的土地开发,汉唐时期初见端倪,北宋已有雏形。香山在南宋绍兴年间建县,建县后到元朝的沙田开发,使沙洲之间的“海”已经变小很多,这是明清以前沙田开发的一个新起点。关于这一问题尚未见专论,本文试对此加以阐述。

Urban Conservation Through Chinese Local Original Architecture:The Preservation and Renovation of Zhongshan Road in Hangzhou

How to realise the goal of city revival through the preservation of historic districts is an important issue for all historic cities.This article introduces the Preservation and Renovation Project of Zhongshan Road in Hangzhou regarding its guiding principles,design concepts,and the entire construction process.In this project,the existing historical buildings along Zhongshan Road were preserved by keeping the remains of different historical periods and various lifestyles of the inhabitants.Rather than merely refurbishing the street front only,we reconstructed the Southern Song Dynasty city-block walls along Zhongshan Road and restored the Fangxiang city fabric to create the streetscape of the former Imperial Avenue.Afforested terraced teahouses were built along the road,and the original water system was restored so as to realise the atmosphere of‘watertown’.New buildings were added by adopting local materials and vernacular building forms.The article summarises two strategies for the preservation of a historic district in a large city.One is the comprehensive project planning by research and investigation.The other is the overall design guideline for the street blocks.It also reflects on the disappointing aspects that mainly resulted from time limitations and the poor taste in the refurbishment of shop houses.

Temperature variations evidenced by records on the latest spring snowing dates in Hangzhou of eastern China during 1131–1270AD

We collected and verified documentary records of the latest spring snowing dates(LSSD)in Hangzhou during Southern Song Dynasty.Furtherly,the statistical correlation between this proxy and February–April mean temperature in Hangzhou was examined,and samples later than the perennial mean of the LSSD during Southern Song Dynasty were transformed into the decadal mean of LSSD by means of Boltzmann function.General characteristics of this reconstructed LSSD series with a 10-year temporal resolution was analyzed,and it was also compared with other documentary evidences and reconstructed climate series in China for the period 1131–1270.The results and discussion suggested that:(1)Records of the LSSD in Hangzhou during Southern Song Dynasty did not refer to ice pellets and graupels,which had an explicit climate significance(–0.34℃/10 d,R2=0.37,p<0.001).However,when this proxy is used to reconstruct temperature changes,all dates should be converted into proleptic Gregorian style and meet the same criterion of"true Qi"as the Chinese traditional calendar after 1929.(2)The decadal mean of LSSD can be effectively estimated by using the forefront of LSSD in the decade on the basis of Boltzmann function,whose extrapolation has a lesser uncertainty than those on the basis of linear models or polynomial models.(3)The spring climate in Hangzhou during 1131–1270 was almost as warm as the period 1951–1980.At the centennial scale,this period can be divided into two phases:the cold 1131–1170 and the warm 1171–1270.In the latter,1181–1200 and 1221–1240 were two cold intervals at the multi-decadal scale.(4)The reconstructed LSSD series was consistent well with other documentary evidences and reconstructed climate series in China for 1131–1270,which may reflect the influence on the climate over most regions of China imposed by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO).