The West Lake looked like a huge market in the Southern Song Dynasty, with a lot of cruise ships floating on the lake and many merchant ships busy selling all kinds of goods. People could wave down any of them to buy, and play and eat on the lake for an entire day.
In the Southern Song and Northern Song Dynasty, how popular were Hangzhou books made with woodblock printing? It had been on the "bestseller list" for many years and had also been sold well abroad.
Song Dynasty was the most prosperous period of Chinese culture. It created many peaks of culture and left many historical marks of great value, and at the same time, it also triggered regret and reflection. However, there have been a group of dedicated scholars who have spent a dozen of years or decades to study and verify the details of history, and restore pieces of history that are not known to the public.
“Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Class”, a section of "Cultural and Tourism Market 2022: Hangzhou Amazing Night of Song Dynasty Charm", invited many scholars and experts specializing in literature, history and ancient books, etc. to meet with citizens and overseas visitors face to face in Hangzhou and share their perspectives on Song Dynasty and Hangzhou.
No returning home until getting drunk! The West Lake 800 years ago was like a big market.
Chen Hui, a scholar of literature history: “The mysterious West Lake of the Southern Song Dynasty is back!”
A nearly 16-meter-long painting not only delicately portrays every spot of the West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty, but also reveals the attitudes of ordinary people in Lin'an during Song Dynasty, as well as a diagram of the world's earliest soccer field.
In this year’s Hangzhou Amazing Night, a long scroll of the Southern Song Dynasty called "Panorama of the Attractions of the West Lake" was displayed in the corridor of the Temple of King Qian and it was very popular and attracted many citizens and domestic and foreign tourists. This was also the first time many people saw what the mysterious West Lake looked like 800 years ago
And this painting was discovered by Chen Hui, a scholar of literature history. In the “Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Classes”, she brought the painting, which she had spent years in studying, and “explored” the West Lake of the Southern Song Dynasty together with people present.
"For a long time, the West Lake of the Southern Song Dynasty remained a beautiful mystery that was beyond reach, appealing but impossible to see the truth." said Chen Hui. After the collapse of the Southern Song Dynasty, the prosperous scenes of the West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty disappeared, and it was not even possible to find a book that comprehensively introduced the lake then. The piece of memory seemed to have faded into history forever.
Chen Hui, who had been searching for the appearance of West Lake 800 years ago, discovered by chance 13 years ago that the "Panorama of the Attractions in the West Lake" painted by an anonymous painter in the Southern Song Dynasty was collected in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. This discovery made Chen Hui stay up all night with excitement.
After a painstaking process to obtain a digital version of the painting from the USA, she spent more than 3 years verifying and marking the over 260 attractions on the painting, which led to the publication of a book with over 620,000 words “The West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty: Comprehensive Interpretation of the Painting Panorama of the Attractions in the West Lake.” This is the first time that the panoramic view of the West Lake of the Southern Song Dynasty, which has been lost for hundreds of years, has been recovered!
She said that this is the earliest panoramic map of the West Lake that can be seen today. The best thing about the painting is that it uses a realistic painting method to portray the attractions in a in a counter-clockwise direction around the West Lake, starting from Qiantang Gate. Thus it has great historical value.
Through this great artwork of Song Dynasty, we can not only see how the West Lake looked 800 years ago, but also know about the leisure life of Song people.
Chen Hui said with the flourishing commerce in Song Dynasty, the West Lake then was like a bustling market. There were many cruise ships and small boats selling goods, and people could eat, drink and have fun on the lake for a whole day.
Nearly everything could be bought on the lake. These small boats would stop immediately when people waved at them. The West Lake was not only a place for the rich to relax but also a paradise for ordinary people. In Song Dynasty, a person who was not rich might find a pawnshop, which often had the word “解” in front of it, by the lake to pawn clothes to the shop and then brought his wife and kids to the lake to have fun. No returning home until getting drunk.
People in Song Dynasty loved cuju, which is the ancestor of football. In this painting, there is a diagram of the world earliest cuju course, equivalent to a football course now. Chen Hui found it was close to Fengyu Gate, now Yongjin Gate.
In the Southern Dynasty, the earliest concept of sharing formed at the lake. According to Chen Hui, the West Lake then was composed of royal, private and public gardens. Both private and public ones were open to the public and the royal ones were open on certain days annually.
It is worth mentioning that Chen Hui also has another special identity: Jin Yong’s little “sister.” Her father Chen Weidong was a homeroom teacher and Chinese language teacher of Jin Yong and had proofread the latter one’s essays word by word. He was never forgotten by Jin Yong.
In “Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Class,” there were also fans of Chen Hui, who brought her book “The West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty: Comprehensive Interpretation of the Painting Panorama of the Attractions in the West Lake” to get her signature on it and ask for details of her investigation. Chen Hui said she was very happy to see the painting which she had spent years in studying being admired by everyone in Hangzhou Amazing Night.
How popular were woodblock printed books in Southern and Northern Song Dynasty?
They were even sold abroad.
Chen Yi, an expert of ancient books: Use “Pear and Jujube Trees Blossom in the Dream” to appraise woodblock-printed books of Southern and Northern Song Dynasty.
In the event, Song Engraving Center was the most visited one every day.
Inside the center, two great father and son pairs attracted much attention: Wang Chuanqiao and Wang Fazai, the inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage movable type woodblock printing, and Huang Xiaojian and Huang Jiecheng, the inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage Hangzhou woodblock printing.
Guarded by these talented craftsmen of intangible cultural heritage, the ancient printing technology is like a shining star in Chinese civilization and reminds future generations that Zhejiang was once one of the four major woodblock printing centers in China. According to "Shilin’s Table Talk" written by Ye Mengde of Song Dynasty, Hangzhou was then the best place to print books.
In “Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Class” on June 18, Chen Yi, director of the Department of Ancient Books of Zhejiang Library, used "Lin'an Pear and Jujube Trees Blossom in the Dream" to appraise woodblock printed books of Hangzhou in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty and tell the history of such books in Hangzhou.
“Hangzhou’s status as one of the centers of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty to print books started from Qian family’s founding the Kingdom of Wuyue.” Chen Yi said. In 1924, Leifeng Pagoda collapsed suddenly and in the ruins, “The Sutra of Dhāraṇī” printed by Qian Hongjiao, king of then Wuyue Kingdom, was discovered. It is the oldest existing woodblock printed book in Hangzhou.
How flourishing were Hangzhou’s woodblock printed books in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty? It is clearly documented that ancient books were printed in Yuezhou, today's Shaoxing, during the late Tang Dynasty. Woodblock printing has continued in Zhejiang for more than a thousand years since the middle and late Tang Dynasty, making Zhejiang one of the major book production centers in China.
At that time, Hangzhou in Zhejiang, Chengdu in Sichuan, Jianyang in Fujian, Jinling in Jiangsu and Pinshui in Shanxi were the main production areas of books in China, but relatively speaking, in terms of the printing quality, it was the best in Hangzhou, followed by Sichuan and Fujian.
Chen Yi said that in Hangzhou, especially in the areas from Zhongan Bridge to Huansha River and Pengqiao Bridge now, there were many bookstores. The front part of the stores sold books and the rear part printed books, forming a mature industrial chain of book printing and sales.
At that time, up from the emperor to poor scholars, they all loved reading books, which resulted in the flourishing of book business. With high quality, Hangzhou’s woodblock printed books were very popular and were even sold abroad, equivalent to ranking first on the annual bestseller list every year.
These books were also favored by the Korean Peninsula. During the reign of Zhezong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1086-1100), Xu Jian, a businessman from Quanzhou, Fujian Province, was commissioned by the Goryeo Kingdom to engrave and print the Avatamsaka Sutra in Hangzhou.
Chen Yi said, “Woodblock printed books were the dominating product among the goods exported to gain foreign currency then.” Su Dongpo even proposed to the emperor that the export of books should be banned for the sake of national security.
Woodblock printing requires a lot of material basis. Any of them couldn’t be missing, and Hangzhou has almost all of them. For example, there were the best brush pens of the time: hubi brush pens produced in Huzhou, and the best paper: Juanzhi paper produced in Wenzhou and Tengzhi paper produced in Yuhang.
Meanwhile, a lot of outstanding talents emerged in Hangzhou during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty: 20 prime ministers, 138 ci poets and 69 painters and there were even more shi poets. Chen Yi joked that as long as one lived in Hangzhou for more than two years, one was almost a poet, because the environment transforms people.
When there are good tools, wood and writers, to engrave a good book, good engravers, printers and bookbinders are also required…The procedures are linked mutually and any of them could not be missing. In Chen Yi’s words, every detail should be attended to.
Hangzhou is not only the birthplace of woodblock printing, but also the most market-oriented place. At that time, woodblock printing was used by the government, individuals, workshops and religious institutes. It is said that Bi Sheng, who invented the movable type printing during the long and tedious process of engraving books, was an engraver in a workshop. His invention greatly improved the speed and quality for mass production of books at that time.
And do pear and jujube trees have something to do with woodblock printing in Hangzhou?
According to Chen Yi, woodblock printing needs good wood. The ancient people tried all kinds of trees available to find the best wood for engraving. Finally they found pear and jujube trees whose hardness was the most suitable for engraving. Later, “Give to Pear and Jujube Trees” was used to refer to woodblock printing and “Damage Pear and Jujube Trees” was used to describe the printing of useless books.
As for how beautiful were Hangzhou's woodblock printed books? Chen Yi said all the beautiful words were not enough to describe the beauty of the books and as for why they were so beautiful, the answer was "diligence.”
“Everything could be done well with diligence and that is something worthy of deep reflection, left to future generations by Song Dynasty.” Chen Yi said.
The Japanese way of drinking tea originated from Jingshan, Hangzhou.
Li Guangzhi: The "Maritime Silk Road" in Ningbo and Song Culture in Japan
Japanese people like to drink tea, but what many people do not know is that the Japanese tea culture was brought from China in Song Dynasty, and its tea ceremony came from Hangzhou's Jingshan.
As an important port that linked China and Japan, Ningbo in Song Dynasty formed a special maritime silk road between China and Japan, bringing China’s Buddhism, art, literature and living habits to Japan.
In “Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Class” on June 18, Li Guangzhi, associate professor of Ningbo University's School of Foreign Languages, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies, and vice president of the Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi branches of the Chinese Society for the Study of Japanese Language, gave a lecture on "Ningbo's Maritime Silk Road and Song Culture in Japan.”
Li Guangzhi said that during the Northern and Southern Song Dynasty, Ningbo's overseas trade was extremely flourishing, covering the East Asia, the Southeast Asia, the South Asia and the Middle East. Among them, the country with the most exchanges was Japan.
Ningbo has left many marks in Japan. For example, in Buddhism, three prestigious monks in Japan Eisai, Dogen and Enni all traveled by sea to Ningbo and learned Buddhism in Ningbo and Hangzhou.
Eisai was known as the founder of Japanese tea culture. He traveled to Ningbo for twice and during his second visit, he stayed in Tiantong Temple in Ningbo for over 4 years as a discipline of the Master Xuan Huaichang. Xuan Huaichang was sad to see the Thousand-Buddha Pavilion was badly damaged and made a wish to restore it. After Eisai knowing this, he not only built Bao’en Temple in Japan to requite the master but also raised money to purchase a large number of wood and sent them to Ningbo to rebuild the Thousand-Buddha Pavilion after he returned to Japan.
He also brought tea seeds and culture to Japan, which spread to the capital of then Japan and other areas and he was known as the founder of tea culture in Japan.
And Dogen built a mini version of Tiantong Temple in Japan according to the one in Ningbo after his trip there. Now this temple has become the historical trace of Song Dynasty culture in Japan.
Li Guangzhi said that the Japanese monks to Song Dynasty, represented by Eisai, Dogen and Enni, brought back to Japan the popular Zen thought at that time, which led to the forming Japanese Zen culture and brought the country into a new era. For example, Eisai founded the Japanese line of the Rinzai (Linji) school of Zen Buddhism, Dogen founded the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in Japan and Enni brought the way of drinking tea from Jingshan to Japan.
These thoughts and culture have become part of the Japanese traditional culture. Even in Japanese diet and living habits, we can see the influence of Song Dynasty culture.
Via the port of Ningbo, Japanese monks brought back a lot of Song Dynasty culture while the merchants in China then expanded their business to Japan.
Li Guangzhi said from the middle of 11th century to the 13th century, a Chinese settlement came into being in Hakata, now Fukuoka. It was called “tōbō”, Japan’s first Chinatown.
Those living there were Chinese merchants who were engaged in Sino-Japanese trade and moved to Japan for business purposes.
These immigrants have left a lot of traces of life and business in Hakata such as fireworks, pottery, lamps, incense burners, cups, water containers and other life utensils unearthed, as well as architectural ruins abandoned, from which we know that these Chinese merchants owned not only houses and shops but also warehouses in Hakata.
On the pottery excavated, there are a lot of Chinese characters, most of which are Chinese personal names. It is interesting that the number of common surnames is over 80. This period of history is called Song-Japan Trade in Japanese history.
“And Song Dynasty culture from Ningbo and Hangzhou as well as art introduced to Japan during Song and Yuan dynasties has become important cultural heritage of Japan.” Li Guangzhi said. The Buddhist paintings from Hangzhou and art works from Ningbo inside art galleries in Japan and USA have attracted world’s attention.
Hangzhou was upgraded from a third-class city to a first-class one.
Qian Gang, a descendant of King Qian Liu: Reveal the mystery behind the decision to cede Wuyue’s sovereignty to Song Dynasty.
Back then, the king of Wu Yue, Qian Liu and the following five kings in three generations, spent more than 80 years transforming Hangzhou from a third-class city into a first-class one. When they were faced with a crucial historical choice, they took the initiative to give up the throne and hand the land to Song Dynasty peacefully, and took a back seat in the history rolling forward. It is also what makes us look up at the peak of Song Dynasty at the Temple of King Qian now.
Speaking of Qian Liu, the king of Wu Yue, many people in Hangzhou grew up listening to the story of his shooting the tidal wave. In the real history, one of his descendants made a selfless choice to give up the throne and hand the land to Song Dynasty peacefully and be subjected to the rule of Zhao, the ruling imperial clan of Song Dynasty.
It was deemed a great choice in the history. How did it contribute to Chinese history and what practical significance did it have towards the present time? On June 19, Qian Gang shared this remarkable piece of history with the audience in “Happy Reading at Song Dynasty Class”.
Qian Gang, is one of the 37th-generation grandsons of Qian Liu and meanwhile he is also the inheritor of the worshipping ceremony of King Qian in the Lantern Festival, a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage element of Zhejiang, the main founder of Hangzhou Qian Liu Research Association and the deputy editor-in-chief of the journal “Qian Liu’s Research”. He has been specializing in the study of Wuyue culture for 17 years.
Qian Gang said Hangzhou as the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty and the rudiment of its urban layout developed on the basis of Wuyue Kingdom and its prosperity and elegance also started in Wuyue and have been passed down till now.
As the ruler of Wuyue, the basic ruling policy of Qian Liu was to "maintain peace and security in the territory", which led to a prosperous economy and a happy life led by the people, and laid the foundation for the prosperity of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the next millennium. It was from the beginning of Wuyue Kingdom that the importance of Jiangnan as an economic and cultural center became increasingly obvious.
The cities in the southeast of China then could be sorted into three ranks: the first-class city Yangzhou which was then the economical capital, the second-class ones like Suzhou and Yuezhou (now Shaoxing) which were the political centers of Liangzhe Area and Hangzhou only came as a third-class one.
With unprecedented boldness and vision and the temperament of scholars in a strong body, Qian Liu built a brand new Hangzhou and upgraded it from a third-class city to a first-class one.
And after more than 80 years of governance and efforts of five kings of Qian Family in three generations, the economy and culture of Wuyue Kingdom grew significantly, and the more far-reaching significance lies in the rise and prosperity of the Yangtze River Delta region, which shifted the economic and cultural center of China from the north to the south and laid the foundation for the prosperity of Jiangnan in the later Song, Ming and Qing dynasties.
Qian Gang said these stories and achievements seemed a bit plain in words now. To put it more vividly, in that era of great division, acorss China only in the Kingdom of Wuyue could people get away from wars and live a peaceful and happy life.
“The Qian Family’s selfless act has set an example for the peaceful unification of China. The determination and generosity showed in their pursuing the unification of China were not only rarely-seen then: at that time, only the people under the rule of Wuyue were spared from the suffering of wars, but also of great significance. It goes beyond history to enlighten people of now.” Qian Gang said.