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Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279)

• 
  Tea bowl, Song dynasty, 960–1279; Jian ware
  Fujian Province, China
  Stoneware with hare's-fur glaze

  Diam. 5 in. (12.7 cm)
  Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891 (91.1.226)

• 
  Silver service, Song dynasty (960–1279), 11th–13th century
  China
  Silver with gilding

  Diam. from 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm) to 7 1/2 in. (19 cm)
  Purchase, The Vincent Astor Foundation Gift, 1997 (1997.33.1-6)

• 
  Poem of Farewell to Liu Man, Song dynasty (960–1279), 12th century
  Yelü Chucai (Chinese, 1190–1244)
  Handscroll; ink on paper

  21 columns in regular script; 14 3/ 8 x 108 1/8 in. (36.5 x 274.6 cm)
  Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.17)

• 
  Dish, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), 12th–13th century; Guan ware
  From the Hangzhou kilns, Zhejiang Province, China
  Porcelaneous stoneware with crackled blue glaze

  Diam. 8 11/16 in. (22.1 cm)
  Fletcher Fund, 1924 (24.172.1)

• 
  Vase, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), 12th–13th century; Longquan ware
  China, Possibly from the Dayao kilns, Zhejiang Province
  Porcelaneous stoneware with relief decoration under celadon glaze

  H. 6 3/4 in. (17.1 cm)
  Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950 (50.145.301)

• 
  Viewing Plum Blossoms by Moonlight, Southern Song dynasty (1271–1368)
  Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
  Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink and color on silk

  Image: 9 7/8 x 10 1/2 in. (25.1 x 26.7 cm), with mat: 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. (39.4 x 39.4 cm)
  Signed: "Ma Yuan"
  Gift of John M. Crawford Jr., in honor of Alfreda Murck, 1986 (1986.493.2)

• 
  Emperor Xuanzong's Flight to Shu, Song dynasty, mid-12th century
  China
  Hanging scroll

  ink, color on silk; 32 5/8 x 44 3/4 in. (82.8 x 113.6 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1941 (41.138)

• 
  Quatrain on Spring's Radiance, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
  Yang Meizi (Chinese, 1162–1232; empress to Ningzong, from 1202–24)
  Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk; 5 columns in regular script

  9 1/8 x 9 5/8 in. (23.2 x 24.4 cm)
  Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.12)

• 
  Orchids, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
  Ma Lin (Chinese, active ca. 1180–after 1256)
  Album leaf; ink and color on silk

  10 7/16 x 8 7/8 in. (26.5 x 22.5 cm)
  Signed: "Ma Lin"
  Ex coll.: C.C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.10)

• 
  Mountain Market in Clearing Mist, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
  Xia Gui (Chinese, active ca. 1195–1230)
  Album leaf; ink on silk

  9 3/4 x 8 3/8 in. (24.8 x 21.3 cm)
  Signed: "Xia Gui"
  John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1913 (13.100.102)

• 
  Narcissus, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
  Zhao Mengjian (Chinese, 1199–before 1267)
  Handscroll; ink on paper

  13 1/16 x 146 9/16 in. (33.2 x 372.2 cm)
  Ex coll.: C.C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.4)

• 
  Scholar by a Waterfall, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), late 12th–early 13th century
  Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
  Album leaf: ink and color on silk

  9 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (25.1 x 26 cm)
  Signed: "Servitor, Ma Yuan"
  Ex coll.: C.C. Wang Family, Gift of The Dillon Fund, 1973 (1973.120.9)

• 
  Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
  Liang Kai (Chinese, active first half of 13th century)
  Fan mounted as an album leaf; ink on silk

  9 x 9 9/16 in. (22.9 x 24.3 cm)
  Signed: "Liang Kai"
  Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 (1989.363.14)

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In 1125, when the Jurchen, a seminomadic people from northeast Asia, invaded Song China and captured the capital at Bianliang (modern Kaifeng), founding their own Jin dynasty in the north, the Song court reestablished itself in the south in Hangzhou, where it continued to rule for another 150 years as the Southern Song dynasty.

The decorative arts reached the height of elegance and technical perfection during the Southern Song.

Related

Timelines (4)

• China, 1000–1400 A.D.
• China, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Japan, 1400–1600 A.D.
• Korea, 1400–1600 A.D.

Primary Thematic Essays (3)

• Chinese Painting
• List of Rulers of China
• Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)

Other Thematic Essays (20)

• Chinese Calligraphy
• Chinese Gardens and Collectors' Rocks
• Chinese Handscrolls
• Goryeo Celadon
• Han Dynasty (206 b.c.–220 a.d.)
• The Kano School of Painting
• Landscape Painting in Chinese Art
• Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)
• Nature in Chinese Culture
• Painting Formats in East Asian Art
• Qin Dynasty (221–206 b.c.)
• The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): Loyalists And Individualists
• The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): Painting
• The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): The Courtiers, Officials, and Professional Artists
• The Qing Dynasty (1644–1911): The Traditionalists
• Scholar–Officials of China
• Shoguns and Art
• Traditional Chinese Painting in the Twentieth Century
• Wang Hui (1632–1717)
• Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368)

Maps (2)

• East Asia, 1000–1400 a.d.
• World, 1000–1400 a.d.

Index Terms (23)

Art Movement/Style

• Southern Song Dynasty of China

Artist

• Huizong, Emperor (Chinese, 1082–1135, r. 1100–25)
• Liang Kai (Chinese, active first half of 13th century)
• Ma Lin (Chinese, active ca. 1180–after 1256)
• Ma Yuan (Chinese, active ca. 1190–1225)
• Xia Gui (Chinese, active ca. 1195–1230)
• Yang Meizi (Chinese, 1162–1232; empress to Ningzong, r. 1202–24)
• Yelu Chucai (Chinese, 1190–1244)
• Zhao Mengjian (Chinese, 1199–before 1267)

Geography/Place

• China

Material and Technique

• Calligraphy from East Asia
• Ceramic from China
• Glazed Ceramic
• Glazed Ceramic from East Asia
• Painting in Ink on Paper from China
• Painting in Ink on Silk from China

Object

• Book Manuscript
• Secular Manuscript

Subject Matter/Theme

• Chinese Poetry
• Immortality
• Painting with Seasonal Imagery
• Scroll with Seasonal Imagery
• Spring

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Southern Song society was characterized by the pursuit of a highly aestheticized way of life, and paintings of the period often focus on evanescent pleasures and the transience of beauty. Images evoke poetic ideas that appeal to the senses or capture the fleeting qualities of a moment in time. One particularly important source of inspiration for Southern Song artists was the natural beauty of Hangzhou and its environs, especially West Lake, a famed scenic spot ringed with lush mountains and dotted with palaces, private gardens, and Buddhist temples.

The Southern Song Imperial Painting Academy continued the stylistic direction and high technical standards established by Emperor Huizong in the early twelfth century. Often executed in the intimate oval fan or album-leaf format, academic paintings—and the imperially inscribed poems that sometimes accompany them—reveal an increasingly narrow, concentrated vision and a commitment to the exact rendering of an object. The cultivation of a tranquil and detached mind free of material entanglements was a common concern of Song Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200): the "investigation of things [leading to] the extension of knowledge."

The decorative arts also reached the height of elegance and technical perfection during the Southern Song. Like painting, the plastic arts responded to two different aesthetics—that of the imperial court and that of popular culture. Supreme among the decorative arts of the Song period are ceramics, which many connoisseurs consider the highest artistic achievement of the Chinese potter.

Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of Asian Art. "Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ssong/hd_ssong.htm (October 2001) Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions) The Artist as Collector: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from the C. C. Wang Family Collection Early Buddhist Manuscript Painting: The Palm-Leaf Tradition A Millennium of Chinese Painting: Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions The World of Scholars' Rocks: Gardens, Studios, and Paintings

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Bai, Qianshen. "Image as Word: A Study of Rebus Play in Song Painting (960–1279)." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 34 (1999). JSTOR | PDF Harrist, Robert E., Jr. "Ch'ien Hsűan's Pear Blossoms: The Tradition of Flower Painting and Poetry from Sung to Yűan." Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 22 (1987). JSTOR | PDF Valenstein, Suzanne G. "Highlights of Chinese Ceramics." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 3 (Autumn, 1975). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director's Note" PDF Priest, Alan. "Chinese Art Treasures." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 20, no. 1 (Summer, 1961). JSTOR | PDF Priest, Alan. "Southern Sung Landscapes: The Album Leaves." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 8, no. 8 (April, 1950) JSTOR | PDF Priest, Alan. "River—For An Elder Brother." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New ser., v. 5, no. 7 (March, 1947) JSTOR | PDF