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.

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.

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).

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 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.

HUMAN LIFE AND HUMAN RIGHTS:DEATH PENALTY DATA AND SENTENCING PROCEDURE DURING THE SONG DYNASTY

The adjudication and amnesty system in the Song Dynasty has been thoroughly researched by academia,but the annual death penalty numbers have not been credibly determined due to insufficient and disorganized historical records.The period's policy that no innocent person would be executed was based on the double-digit record of capital punishments for Zhenguan during the Tang Dynasty,and the execution number was adjusted accordingly.As a special procedure,Zoucai(a request for judgment)was used to reduce the death penalty numbers.The value of human life,concern about excessive execution,and trimming of the capital punishment regime resulted in conversations between the emperors and their officials about the death penalty,which allowed the law that executed capital punishments during the Song Dynasty to strike a proper balance between justice,efficiency,and mercy,while avoiding rigidity and abuse.

Two Halls of Hangzhou： Local Gazetteers and the Grading of Geography for a Song Dynasty City

This article examines the shifting geo-political significance of Hangzhou as presented in two local gazetteers dating from the Southern Song dynasty （1127-1276）. Focusing on literary works quoted in both of these gazetteers that describe two of Hangzhou＇s famous halls on West Lake, I argue that geographic discourses on these halls manifest a tension between two conflicting presentations of Hangzhou＇s geo-political significance as understood by literati elite of the Southern Song. In writings concerning the Hall of Possessing Beauty （Youmei tang 有美堂）, Hangzhou was viewed as a city of rising economic and cultural importance during the Northern Song. Writings on the Hall of Centrality and Harmony （Zhonghe tang 中和堂）, in contrast, depict Hangzhou as an imperial refuge for a court in flight and associate it with the motif of territorial loss during the Southern Song when the city became the dynastic capital. By examining how these two views of Hangzhou are contrasted, this essay concludes that gazetteers functioned to grade and rank different kinds of landscapes in order to make geo-political arguments about the proper reconstitution of the empire during the Southern Song.

The Research on the Battle of Yanmen Pass

During the war between Liao Dynasty(907-1125)and Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127),there was a classic battle that happened in Yanmen Pass(located in today’s Dai County,Xinzhou,Shanxi Province,China).It was a well known battle of ancient China because a commander of the Song army named Yang Ye(?-986)was really famous in both classical Chinese fictions and Chinese war history.He is the early protagonist of a famous Chinese classic fiction named The Romance of the Yang family’s generals(written in the 16th century,Ming Dynasty of China).The story of his family also appears in other novels.Besides,in history,he was a general who was active in the early stages of the war between Liao Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty.The battle of Yanmen Pass(980)was one of the most important battles of Yang’s military career.His combat style especially his cavalry tactic can be summarized through researching this battle.

The Evolution Characteristics of Spatial Layout of Ancient Chinese Capitals: A Case Study of Sui,Tang and Northern Song Dynasties With Important Changes in the Historical Development of Feudal Society

Imperial city and outer city are the most important differentiation of the spatial structure of ancient Chinese capitals.The relationship between city and Guo changed from the original spatial structure mode of "respecting the west" and "sitting in the west and facing the east" to the spatial structure mode of "sitting in the north and facing the south" and the three outer cities in the east,south and west surrounding the imperial city after the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties,and gradually changed from the original "multi palace" system to the "single palace" system.Finally,a "heavy city" capital spatial structure with the outer city around the imperial city and the imperial city around the palace city,and the central axis of the chessboard format was formed.During the Tang and Song Dynasties,it was a period of great change in the history of feudal society in China.Through the investigation of the evolution characteristics of the spatial form of capital cities in the Tang and Song Dynasties,the track of the transformation of social ideology,political system,economic structure and many other fields in the Tang and Song Dynasties was made clear.

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.

Walking into the world of Li Yu

Li Yu is a failure as emperor,but as a ci writer he is considered to be the indisputable emperor to take the crown.A brief life of Li Yu is first presented to account for his failure as emperor and success as a ci writer.Then some of his ci poems are analyzed according to the categories of court life,love and lamentation over past splendor.In the end,his achievements in ci writing are summarized by citing Wang Guowei's words from his Comments on Ci in the Human World.

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。

The Splendor of Verdure: Tea and the East Asian World of the Song and Yuan Dynasties

Tea has played an important role throughout the entire East Asian world.During the Song and Yuan dynasties,due to differences in the target consumers and acceptance of tea,Chinese and Japanese tea cultures began to take different paths.The close relationship between tea and Goryeo politics propelled the flourishing development of Goryeo tea culture on the Korean Peninsula.The colorful landscape of tea culture during the Yuan dynasty illustrates the transformation of traditional Chinese tea culture from the Song to the Yuan,with an upper-class break and a lower-class continuation.During the Song and Yuan dynasties,there were great changes in the order of the East Asian world,where tea was not merely a beverage but carried historical changes and served as a spiritual symbol in the East Asian cultural world,reflecting historical transformations.