The culture and art of the Song Dynasty included three aspects: science and technology, academics, and literature. The following is a detailed introduction:

1. Science and technology

In the Song Dynasty, in the entire social economy, culture Under the promotion of science and technology, science and technology have made great progress. The scientific and technological achievements of the two Song Dynasties not only became a peak in the history of ancient Chinese science and technology, but also took a leading position in the world at that time. The four great inventions of China that promoted the development of human civilization were in the Song Dynasty. be improved and applied. Dr. Joseph Needham praised Shen Kuo as "the most outstanding figure in the entire history of Chinese science",

and his "Mengxi Bi Tan" is "the coordinate in the history of Chinese science". There are also many achievements in other aspects, such as medicine, which was divided into nine subjects from the previous three subjects, and the world's earliest forensic medicine work "The Record of Wrongs" appeared. Acupuncture has developed greatly. "Jingshi Zheng Lei Materia Medica" contains 476 new kinds of medicines compared to "Tang Materia Medica".

The most representative calendar of the Song Dynasty is the "Tongtian Calendar" promulgated in the fourth year of Qingyuan by Ning Zong. This calendar was created by Yang Zhongfu. It differs from the modern measured value by only 26 seconds, and is the same as the data used in the current Gregorian calendar, which is 383 years earlier than the issuance of the Western Gregorian Calendar. However, due to unproven predictions of solar eclipses, the "Tongtian Calendar" was only used until the third year of Kaixi. In the same year, the "Kaixi Calendar" was created to replace the Tongtian Calendar, which was used for 45 years.

2. Academics

The revival of Confucianism was completed, and traditional Confucian classics entered a new stage of "Song Studies", giving birth to New Confucianism, or Neo-Confucianism. It promoted the in-depth development of the intersection of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and completed the ancient prose movement. Among the eight great masters of poetry in the Tang and Song dynasties, six were from the Song Dynasty, when poetry reached its peak, and scripts ushered in a new era in the history of Chinese literature.

Historical genres are diverse, with the rise of local chronicles and epigraphy; there are rich works and numerous historians, reaching the pinnacle of the development of ancient Chinese historiography. The formation and development of the academy system. For example, calligraphy, sculpture, stone carving, painting, etc. have reached a new level, and Buddhism and Taoism have also made new developments.

3. Literature

The literature of the Song Dynasty was fully developed, with great achievements in poetry, lyrics, and prose. The master who made prose flourish in the Song Dynasty and inherited the ancient prose movement was Ouyang Xiu. Among the three Sus, Su Xun's articles are good at discussion, and his writing style is majestic and simple. Su Shi's articles are free and natural. Chen Shidao, Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Zhang Lei, Chao Buzhi and Li Ying are known as the "Six Gentlemen of Su Clan".

During the Southern Song Dynasty, Su Shi's prose even became a model essay for the imperial examination. People at that time said: "If Su Wen is familiar with it, he eats mutton; if Su Wen is unripe, he eats vegetable soup." Su Che's articles are less about narrative and more about discussion. Zeng Gong faithfully followed Ouyang Xiu's style, focusing on narratives and argumentative essays. The writing style is natural and simple, with few flowery words. Wang Anshi is also good at argumentative writing, with a vigorous and natural style.

But after crossing to the south, the prose of the Song Dynasty began to decline, and subsequent literati could not compare with the six writers of the Northern Song Dynasty." Yang Wanli's poems are fresh and lively, focusing on natural scenery; Fan Chengda's poems He cared about people's livelihood, and his poems were elegant and graceful; Lu You's poems were famous for their patriotism, and his poems had neat parallelism, and later generations said that "the good couplets are used up by the old man"

Although Song poetry is not as good as Tang poetry, it is far better. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty" was being compiled, which included more than 160,000 poems from the Song Dynasty. Like prose, Ouyang Xiu also pioneered the poetry style of the Song Dynasty. Written by Wang Anshi, his poetic style is more sophisticated than Ouyang Xiu's, and he pays more attention to rhetorical techniques and the use of allusions.

Su Shi's poems are varied, bold and unrestrained, and are unrestrained and agile. Although Huang Tingjian came from the Su family, he founded the Jiangxi Poetry School. His poems imitated Du Fu and paid attention to refined characters and verses, which is thought-provoking. Later, there were the "Four Great Masters of the Southern Song Dynasty", namely Yang Wanli, Fan Chengda and Lu You. He Youbao can also be compared with the three poets of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Ci is the abbreviation of quci, also known as long and short sentences. According to the records of "Quan Song Ci", there are 1,330 poets in the Song Dynasty. The total number of poems and fragments reaches more than 20,400. Yan Shu is known as the ancestor of Song Dynasty poets, and his poems are gentle, bright and beautiful in the style of Huajian School.

Liu Yong played a turning role in the development history of Song Ci. His slow Ci is refreshing, confirming the status of long tunes, enriching the form of Ci, and enriching the expression techniques of Ci. Later, Su Shi carried out a thorough innovation in Song Ci. He founded the Haofang School, expanded the scope of Ci poetry, and laid the foundation for the later patriotic Ci in the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhou Bangyan is the founder of the Metrical School, and the subsequent female poet Li Qingzhao also belongs to this group.

After the Jingkang disaster, the sense of worry made the bold and unconstrained faction occupy the dominant position in Ci. Among them, Xin Qiji was the most successful. In addition, "talking" (storytelling) was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and the content of the talks was the script. The most famous scripts include "The Story of the Three Kingdoms", "The New Chronicles of the Five Dynasties", "The Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty", "The Legacy of Xuanhe of the Song Dynasty", etc.; some vernacular novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties were also adapted from the scripts of the Song Dynasty.

Extended information:

Historical changes in the Song Dynasty:

In 960, the generals of the Later Zhou Dynasty launched the Chenqiao Mutiny and supported the return of Songzhou to the German army. Zhao Kuangyin became emperor and established the Song Dynasty. In order to avoid the chaos of separatist vassal towns and eunuch autocratic power in the late Tang Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin adopted the policy of emphasizing culture and restraining military force, strengthening centralization of power and depriving generals of their military power. After Song Taizong succeeded to the throne, he unified the country, and Song Zhenzong gradually entered the world after signing the Chanyuan Alliance with the Liao Kingdom.

In 1125, the Jin State launched a large-scale southern invasion, which led to the humiliation of Jingkang and the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty. Kang Wang Zhao Gou ascended the throne in Nanjing Yingtian Mansion and established the Southern Song Dynasty. After the peace talks between Shaoxing and the Jin State, the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River were used as the boundary. In 1234, they allied with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty. In 1235, the Song-Yuan War broke out. In 1276, the Yuan Dynasty captured Lin'an. After the Yashan Naval Battle, the Southern Song Dynasty perished.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Song Dynasty (Chinese historical dynasty)