Warming bowl in the shpape of a flower
with light bluish-green glaze
Porcelain, Ju ware
Northern Sung, early 12th century

Camellia Blossoms in Fallen Snow
Lin Ch'un (fl. 1174 - 1189)

The Cold Food Observance (detail)
Su Shih (1036 - 1101)

Square dish impressed with san-ts' ai colors Pottery
Liao Dynasty (11th century)

China at the Inception of the Second Millenium
Art and Culture of Sung Dynasty, 960 - 1279
Galleries 201, 202, 208, 210, 212, 214
2000/3/29 - 2000/6/30

The Sung dynasty (960 - 1279) is often considered a golden age of Chinese artistic and cultural achievement.  The artistic, philosophical, literary, and scientific developments of the Sung exerted a profound influence on later Chinese history, to such a degree that many scholars regard the Sung as a pivotal turning point in the emergence of modern Chinese society.

The arts thrived during the Sung.  The imperial sponsored Painting Academy selected and trained artists from across the empire.   Scholar-artists, working outside the court, elevated the notion of amateur, literati painting as a vehicle for poetic self-expression.  Dozens of ceramic kilns produced an unprecedented variety of glazes and decorative techniques.  Many of the emperors were great patrons of the arts, who searched the land for ancient works of art and established a vast imperial collection.

The single most profound political change that occurred during the Sung was the conquest f north China by the Jurchen, a tribal people from the north.  In 1126, the Jurchen captured the capital Kaifeng and established a new dynasty, known as the Chin.  The Sung court fled to the south and reestablished itself at the great southern city of Hangchow.  However, despite the changes caused by the invasion, cultural and artistic endeavors continued and thrived in the Southern Sung.

The National Palace Museum is home to the most extensive collection of Sung dynasty art in the world.  With the start of the next millennium, this year seems an appropriate time to look back at the achievements of the Sung dynasty, one thousand years ago.  The present exhibition is arranged into the following five thematic categories:

The Tao and Art
Many Sung dynasty scholars and intellectuals placed great emphasis on the study of culture.  Philosophers like Chu Hsi (1130 - 1200), revitalized Confucian thought and infused it with a system of metaphysical and cosmological principles.  Famous historians such as Ssu-ma Kuang (1019 - 1086) wrote comprehensive chronologies of Chinese history.  Other scholars compiled major encyclopedia on a diverse variety of scientific, historical, and literary subjects.  The official examination system, which awarded court positions according to merit rather than birthright, stimulated learning and scholarship.  The expansion of literacy was further facilitated by the invention and widespread adoption of woodblock printing, which greatly increased the affordability and availability of written works.

Nature as Teacher
In their efforts to observe and represent the world around them, painters of the Sung Dynasty made use of a multitude of techniques to give form, volume, and texture to their subjects.  They also observed animals and plants in their natural environments and even conducted studies in an effort to understand not just their appearance, but also the way that they responded to natural stimuli, such as sunlight, sound and temperature.   Such attention to detail allowed them to depict subjects with a great degree of sensitivity and realism.

The Beauty of Simplicity
The Sung dynasty was a period of great aesthetic refinement, where artists and craftsmen worked to produce objects that expressed sophistication through subtlety and simplicity.  As demonstrated by the form and design of such works as ink paintings, monochrome glazed ceramics, and pure black lacquer, Sung artists and connoisseurs sought and found beauty in understatement.  Subtle suggestion, rather than overt decoration, was the hallmark of sung aesthetics.

Life and Art
The 10th to 13th centuries were a time f great economic growth in China, which stimulated increasing wealth throughout most of society.  Such wealth led to the emergence of a wide range of luxury goods, ranging from silk tapestries and embroideries to jade carvings and silverware.  The general interest in scholarship lead to the production of a wide array of scholar studio items, which included everything from carved inkstones to sculpted water droppers.  Such objects were often exceptionally refined, and represent a significant aspect of Sung artistic endeavor.

Cultural Synthesis
During the Sung dynasty, China was surrounded by powerful neighboring states.   Although these states were at times a source of concern for the Sung government, they also provided a tremendous degree of cultural diversity.  Each state had its own unique cultural traditions, which were shared with China through an ongoing system of unique ceramic forms, religious images, and decorative motifs.  Thus, despite the periodic conflict, cultural exchange and synthesis between China and its neighbors ultimately increased the vitality, richness, and growth of Chinese culture as a whole.