2020-08-29
12 分钟Discovering what flowers can tell us about the sights and sounds of the Song Dynasty.
Why we love the Song dynasty exploring the history and charm of one of China's most fascinating dynasties episode 17 flowers, vases, tables, and poems in this podcast, we're picking up where we left off last time with a little floral appreciation and finding out what the Sung dynasty's love of flowers can tell us about the sights, society, and indeed sounds of the dynasty.
I'm Bob Jones, and in this why we love the Song dynasty podcast, I'm throwing the spotlight on what was to become one of China's most iconic dynasties in the country's long and colourful history.
So we know that the people of the Sung dynasty had a thing about flowers, also a thing about ideas and poetry, plus a thing about things.
If all these aspects could come together in some way, then it created a perfect happiness storm for the refined people of the Sung.
But flowers were less about passion and celebration for the people of the Sung dynasty, and more to do with nest feathering and having pleasing things surrounding them.
They didnt need a particular reason for buying flowers, and in fact, they were part and parcel of the daily life routine in the dynasty.
Needless to say, the sung scholars wrote poems about that routine.
This one, for example, by Lu Yeo, who incidentally was born on a boat, married his cousin, was forced to divorce by his mother, and was then heartbroken.
He went on to become a famous patriotic poet.
Over the years, world affairs seem thin as a veil.
Why should I ride off as a stranger in the capital?
In my attic all night I hear the rustle of spring rain at dawn apricot blooms are sold deep in the lane I dash off a few slanting lines on a slip of paper, sipping up cups of fine tea by my sunny windowpane.
Why bother to sigh for my clean coat to be smeared?
It's not late to be home for the Ching Ming festival, so we know that it was common for hawkers to sell flowers in the streets of the then capital, Hangzhou.
Another poem, this time by the emperor Huizung of Sung himself, says, I could hear the sound of hawking flowers through curtains, which tells us the hawkers would advertise their arrival by shouting, oh, and they had curtains.
If you are a fan of western musicals, think of the scene in Oliver Twist where his nurse opens the window in his bedroom and he hears the cacophony of hawkers voices in the square below, including, first off, who will buy my sweet red roses?
It is also testament to the fact that the emperor, rather than opting for tranquillity, actually like to hear the everyday sounds of the city outside the palace.
The eastern capital a dream of splendor by Meng Yuan Lao is a detailed and nostalgic description of the old capital's urban life, seasonal produce and festivals, as well as foods, customs, and traditions.
It was written just after the northern sung had to suddenly decamp and move south, fleeing the barbarians in the northeast.
Various flowers are sold in the market, including peony, chinese herbaceous peony, kiria, Japonica, and lady banks.