Construction of the Genealogy of Eccentric Monks Based on the Historical Materials of Chan Buddhism in the Song Dynasty--From Enlightened Masters in Chan Buddhism,Sages,to Saints

Regarding the Chan Buddhism lamp records from the Song Dynasty and starting from Jing De Zhuan Deng Lu,the category of“enlightened masters in Chan Buddhism”禪門達者was listed separately,meaning a separate category was established for eccentric monks who pretended to be crazy,had unknown inheritance and miraculous deeds,and were difficult to classify.The following lamp records named this category of eccentric monks as“sages”散聖,or“saints”應化聖賢,which constructed another historical genealogy for the special Chan Buddhism eccentric monks.Moreover,the early lamp records included mostly idiosyncratic mad monks from previous dynasties.Since the Southern Song Dynasty,Chan Buddhism historical materials included many sages from the current dynasty.Therefore,this study mainly examines how the genealogy of Chan Buddhism eccentric monks was constructed in Song Dynasty Chan Buddhism lamp records,including quotations,and organizes the images of eccentric monks in the Song Dynasty,as written in Chan Buddhism historical materials,in order that the meaning of existence of these enlightened masters,sages,saints,etc.,included in the genealogy of Song Dynasty eccentric monks in the history of Chan Buddhism can be reflected.

Reacting to Epidemics:The Innovative Imperial Public Health System during the Late Northern Song Dynasty

Song China was a period in which China experienced a great increase in its population.Concurrently,the Song dynasty also experienced a rise in the frequency of epidemics and two major wars with the Western Xia and Liao dynasties during the 1000s and 1040s.The consequences of these changes were exacerbated by the increased geographical mobility of certain social groups such as traders and examinees attending civil service examinations.Thus,casualties of wars,epidemics,or disease,especially of people whose families were far away and could not care for them were left without care and“their corpses often lay bare along the roads.”This new social environment created a need for general relief.The Northern Song government(960-1127 CE),especially during the reign of Emperor Huizong,established an innovative public health system to address this issue.The public health system included poorhouses,public hospitals,and pauper’s cemeteries.The first were more of charity organizations,whereas the latter two promoted public health by providing medical services for the poor and burial for those that nobody cared for.In terms of rationale behind these institutions,on the one hand,they constituted an attempt to get the poor and homeless off the streets while providing them relief or burial.On the other hand,it seems that Huizong’s deep concern with medicine propelled him to design and implement a comprehensive public health system oriented to prevent contagion and outbreak of epidemics.This article depicts the background,the organization,and the functions of the system.The article also discusses the conditions and reasons that gave rise to such a unique undertaking by the Northern Song government.

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 Influence of Thesis Writing of Imperial Examinations on Prose in Tang and Song Dynasty

The imperial examination system not only has profound influence on prose development in Tang and Song Dynasty, but also has an important influence on the whole Tang and Song Dynasty and even the later literature and cultural development. In the feudal autocratic rule, any system implemented by the state will have an important influence on all aspects of the whole society~ especially it is related with the imperial examination system of education and talents. Once it becomes a ＂basic national policy＂ , the role in social development is incalculable. This paper takes the relationship between imperial examination system and Tang and Song prose development as the breakthrough point, analyzing the influence of thesis writing of imperial examination on the prose in Tang and Song Dynasty and ＂Eight great men in Tang and Song Dynasty＂ .

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.

Writing and Criticism on the Zen Buddhism in Zen Notes During the Song Dynasty

Zennotes in the Song Dynasty are based on the use of scattered essays to record trivial fragments of Zen Buddhistmonks’ daily life, including Hui Hong’s Lin Jian Lu, Da Hui Pu Jue Chan Shi Zong Men Wu Ku edited by DaoQian, Xiao Ying’s Luo Hu Ye Lu and Yun Wo Ji Tan, Dao Rong’s Cong Lin Sheng Shi, and Huan Wu’s Ku YaMan Lu. Through Zennotes, it is possible to learn more about the life of Zen Buddhist masters in the SongDynasty and the actual development of Zen Buddhism, which were seldom investigated in past studies. Firstly,this study explains the cultural environment generated by Zennotes and the creative development of Zennotes inthe Song Dynasty, and then discusses the main content of Zennotes. Zennotes highlight the characters through thedescription of specific events and make the images and characters of Zen Buddhist monks become vivid on paper.They are the most direct historical material for mastering Zen Buddhist monks in the Song Dynasty. Secondly,Zennotes in the Song Dynasty record anecdotes about Zen Buddhist monks and the literati talking about Zen atthat time, demonstrating the lively and witty interactions between the two. Lastly, the authors of Zennotes oftenrevealed their personal concerns about the growth and decline of temples in the narrative. Based on the above,Zennotes have the value of historical recordings of trivia, and they are first-hand historical materials forconstructing the history of Zen in the Song Dynasty.

A Study on Imitating Activities ,ofHanshan Poems by Chan Buddhist Monks in SONG Dynasty

Although we have no clear picture of the life of Hanshan, a legendary TANG monk and in Collected Poems of Hanshan （Hanshan Sho＇i）, we can find either unclear ideas regarding his major thoughts or different ideologies from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Hanshan poetry was broadly read by people belonging to various social statuses during the SONG Dynasty. His poetry was also frequently cited in Chan Buddhist literature of the period. Furthermore, SONG Chan Buddhist monks invited Hanshan into their own genealogy and regarded him as a ＂San Sheng＂ （a Free Sage）. Many Chan Buddhist monks of the SONG Dynasty used Hanshan poetry in various Chan Buddhist texts. Numerous Chan Buddhist monks even wrote so-called ＂ni Hanshan shi＂, which imitated Hanshan poetry as a kind of personal literary creation. It is understandable that when a monk imitated Hanshan poetry, he would simultaneously be both the reader and the creator of Hanshan poetry, and as we understand that every writer produces their works through their own cultural outlook, a newly-formed correlation occurred naturally between the original poetry and imitated poetry through the SONG Chan Buddhist monk＇s version. By observing this correlation, this paper will deeply analyze the dissemination and acceptance of Hanshan poetry, within Chan Buddhist society in the SONG Dynasty, as based on Chan Buddhist literature, in order to learn more about image creation and the recreation of Hanshan during the period

Zhang Sixun and the Prosperous Astronomy in the Song Dynasty

Chinese astronomy reached its pinnacle in the Song Dynasty(960-1279)as culture continued to prosper to a new height.The invention of the“Taiping Armillary Sphere”by Zhang Sixun,who was from Bazhong in the Shu area(today’s Sichuan province),marked a milestone in the astronomical development in China.This article delves into the driving forces behind Zhang Sixun’s outstanding contributions to astronomy from the perspectives of the important role of astronomy in the politics of the Song Dynasty,the great attention the imperial court paid to astronomy,and the influence of the Shu culture,which centers on the belief“Tian Shu Zai Shu”(the rule of the universe is best observed in Shu).

On the legal systems of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty

The golden period of the development of China＇s overseas trades is most significant in the Song Dynasty, which established the legal mechanisms of the overseas trades with the perfect systems. These legal regulations made clear the subjects of the overseas trade to a large extent, stipulated the procedures for the overseas trade, and at the same time, established the related legal liabilities and regulation means and methods of the governments. Although it met the huge demands of the development of the foreign trade, and had brought the economic income for the governments, yet because the governments had adopted the strict control measures, to a certain extent, it also restricted the rapid development of the foreign trade. This paper starts from the analysis of the legal subjects of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty, and conducted the specific analysis of the trade procedures and other related contents of the legal systems of the overseas trade in the Song Dynasty.

The Artistic Styles of Ceramic Censers in Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty was very significant in Chinese feudal history, and ceramic industry boomed during that time： all kinds of kilns were scattered all over the country, and ceramic art achieved great success. Among those achievements, ceramic censers were a very typical one which features unique styles in patterns, decorations, and glaze colors. This paper covers the developing process and artistic characteristics of censers in Song Dynasty.

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.

Case Records as Medical Stories: A Song-dynasty Doctor’s Narration of His Own Medicine-Xu Shuwei (1080-1154)

The key point in studying or teaching the history of Chinese medicine is on the doctrines underlying it and on its perception of the body,physiology,pathology,and its treatment.Namely,there is often a tendency to focus on reading and analysing the classical canons and therapy-related texts including formularies and materia medica collections.However,focusing on these sources provides us with a one-sided presentation of Chinese medicine.These primary sources lack the clinical down-to-earth know-how that encompasses medical treatment,which are represented,for instance,in the clinical rounds of modern medical schools.Our traditional focus on the medical canons and formularies provides almost no clinical knowledge,leaving us with a one-sided narrative that ignores how medicine and healing are actually practiced in the field.This paper focuses on the latter aspect of medicine from a historical perspective.Using written and visual sources dating to the Song dynasty,clinical encounters between doctors and patients including their families are depicted based on case records recorded by a physician,members of the patient’s family,and bystanders.This array of case records or case stories will enable us to narrate the interaction between physicians and patients both from the clinical perspective and from the social interaction.This paper will also discuss visual depictions of the medical encounter to provide another perspective for narrating medicine during the Song dynasty.Medical case records and paintings depicting medical encounters are exemplary of the potential of Chinese primary sources for narrative medicine.

Bianjing Spectacle: Soundscapes of Bianjing and Identities in Song Dynasty Literature

By closely examining the literary works of the Song Dynasty,such as prose,poetry,rhyme-prose,lyrics,notes,and miscellaneous theses,this paper combines historical and literary evidence to rediscover the 13 types of soundscapes and their corresponding spaces in the Bianjing City,the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty,and it reveals the causes and historical-cultural significance of these soundscapes.Focusing on the key issues of soundscapes,this paper analyzes the sound spaces,identities,discourses,and literary achievements depicted in the writings about Bianjing.It argues that the“Bianjing Spectacle”of vendors’cries described by the Southern Song people can be used as a summary of the soundscape characteristics of Bianjing.Furthermore,it interprets the special silence,crying,and the absence of the sounds of production from an aesthetic perspective.By rediscovering,analyzing,and interpreting the soundscapes of Bianjing,this paper reveals significant differences between the Tang and Song dynasties at the sound level and differentiates various“auditory communities.”It thereby demonstrates the portrayal of Bianjing in Song literature,addresses theoretical hot topics in literature and geography,and builds on Marx’s arguments to propose that a thorough understanding of history,the world,and ourselves requires an in depth study of the soundscapes in literature.

The Song Dynasty's Fiscal and Economic Policy and Its Social Economy

The fact that industrial and commercial taxation in the Song dynasty greatly exceeded agricultural taxation was unprecedented in previous dynasties.This is mainly explained by the Song government’s financial and economic policy which was dominated by industrial and commercial taxation,made good use of the laws and characteristics of market relations and the commodity economy in business operations,actively stimulated consumption and was clearly utilitarian.Under this policy,the rulers,in pursuit of huge profits,used state power and mobilized various resources to implement a monopolies system and a commercial tax system,which,in turn,helped develop the commodity money economy,expanded the scale of market exchange and promoted the high degree of development of the commodity economy of the time.The financial and economic policy of the Song dynasty showed the unique advantages of the imperial state’s intervention in the economy.It was this that distinguished the Song dynasty from other dynasties in terms of the prosperity of the commodity and monetary economy.

The Productivity Level of the Song Dynasty

Any investigation of society's historical development should begin with the fundamental issue of productivity level.The Song witnessed at least 45 new advances in production technologies,items and tools,of which at least 15 took place in agriculture and 30 in handicraft.Although the Song surpassed previous dynasties in overall productivity,it was also affected by a number of limitations,seven of which were particularly relevant to productivity level.With the exception of agricultural technology and firearms,the Ming and Qing failed to make major breakthroughs in the remaining five fields.Although these dynasties outperformed the Song in terms of total productivity and technology,particularly in the introduction of crops,they fell behind in productivity per capita and quality of growth,due to the population boom and the stagnation and even regression of farm technologies.Whether compared with previous dynasties or with the Ming and Qing,the Song dynasty saw the zenith of productivity development in ancient China.The level of productivity underlies Song progress and Ming and Qing stagnation,as well as the rise of Europe.

Reconstruction of cropland area and spatial distribution in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty （AD1004-1085）

To understand historical human-induced land cover change and its climatic effects, it is necessary to create historical land use datasets with explicit spatial information. Using the taxes-cropland area and number of families compiled from historical documents, we estimated the real cropland area and populations within each Lu （a province-level political region in the Northern Song Dynasty） in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty （AD1004-1085）. The estimations were accomplished through analyzing the contemporary policies of tax, population and agricultural development. Then, we converted the political region-based cropland area to geographically explicit grid cell-based fractional cropland at the cell size of 60 km by 60 km. The conversion was based on calculating cultivation suitability of each grid cell using the topographic slope, altitude and population density as the independent variables. As a result, the total area of cropland within the Northern Song territory in the 1070s was estimated to be about 720 million mu （Chinese area unit, 1 mu = 666.7 m2）, of which 40.1% and 59.9% oc- curred in the north and south respectively. The population was estimated to be about 87.2 million, of which 38.7% and 61.3% were in the north and south respectively, and per capita cropland area was about 8.2 mu. The national mean reclamation ratio （i.e. ratio of cropland area to total land area; RRA hereafter for short） was bout 16.6%. The plain areas, such as the North China Plain, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Guanzhong Plain, plains surrounding the Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake and Sichuan Basin, had a higher RRA, being mostly over 40%; while the hilly and mountainous areas, such as south of Nanling Mountains, the southwest regions （excluding the Chengdu Plain）, Loess Plateau and south- east coastal regions, had a lower RRA, being less than 20%. Moreover, RRA varied with topographic slope and altitude. In the areas of low altitude （~〈250 m）, middle altitude （250-100 m） and high altitude （1000-3500 m）, there were 443 million, 215 million and 64 million mu of cropland respectively and their regional mean RRAs were 27.5%, 12.6% and 7.2% respectively. In the areas of flat slope, gentle slope, medium slope and steep slope, there were 116 million, 456 million, 144 million and 2 million mu of cropland respectively and their regional mean RRAs were 34.6%, 20.7%, 8.5% and 2.3% respectively.

Reconstruction of Lu-level cropland areas in the Northern Song Dynasty （AD976-1078）

Based on data on taxed-cropland area and on the number of households in historical documents, a probabilistic model of cropland distribution and a cropland area allocation model were designed and validated. Cropland areas for the years AD976, 997, 1066, and 1078 were estimated at the level of Lu（an administrative region of the Northern Song Dynasty）. The results indicated that（1） the cropland area of the whole study region for AD976, 997, 1066, and 1078 was about 468.27 million mu（a Chinese unit of area, with1 mu=666.7m2）, 495.53 million mu, 697.65 million mu, and 731.94 million mu, respectively. The fractional cropland area（FCA） increased from 10.7% to 16.8%, and the per capita cropland area decreased from 15.7 mu to 8.4 mu.（2） With regard to the cropland spatial pattern, the FCA of the southeast, north, and southwest regions of the Northern Song territory increased by 12.0%, 5.2%, and 1.2%, respectively. The FCA of some regions in the Yangtze River Plain increased to greater than 40%, and the FCA of the North China Plain increased to greater than 20%. However, the FCA of the southwest region（except for the Chengdu Plain） in the Northern Song territory was less than 6%.（3） There were 84.2% Lus whose absolute relative error was smaller than 20% in the mid Northern Song Dynasty. The validation results indicate that our models are reasonable and that the results of reconstruction are credible.

Loyalist Tattoos and Tattooed Generals in the Song Dynasty

According to Yue Fei＇s biography, when the legendary general was slandered and interrogated for treason, he tore the shirt off his body, exposing four characters tattooed on his back： ＂Exhaust one＇s loyalty in service of the state.＂ This study looks at two components of the Yue Fei story--patriotic tattoos, and tattooed generals--and examines their meaning in the broader stretch of Song dynasty history. Yue Eei was not the Song dynasty＇s only tattooed general who came to a tragic end. The Northern Song＇s Di Qing was a tattooed soldier whose military merit allowed him to rise to the highest levels of power in the empire. Di Qing＇s story makes it clear that tattooed generals were objects of suspicion and ridicule at court due to their military tattoos, a trait that linked them to the criminals and lower class men that manned the Song armies. Though military tattoos sometimes had a loyalist ring to them, they were carried out on a mass scale, and were a characteristic of coercion rather than fervent loyalism. This study shows that underneath the nationalist historical narrative of the Song dynasty, of which Yue Eel is a famous example, there lies a different story of social conflict within the Song state. Rather than a story of Chinese fighting non-Chinese and of traitorous and cowardly officials struggling with loyal patriots, this study offers a narrative of a social conflict between high-born clear-skinned officials and low-born tattooed military men.