The concept of "Song Studies" is the best summary of Song philosophy. Although many scholars in the ideological circle have given Song Xue various names, I think these names are just an understanding of Song Xue from different angles. For example, "Neo-Confucianism" looks at "Song Studies" with a view to the new construction of Confucianism; Neo-Confucianism is a branch of Song Studies, which originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and was active in the Southern Song Dynasty.
The characteristics of "Song Studies" are manifested in two aspects: one is to try to break through the previous Confucian scholars' style of study and explore the depth of righteousness; The other is the requirement of applying what you have learned. Specifically, "Song learning" is based on traditional Confucianism, absorbed from Buddhism and Taoism, and emphasizes on benevolence, righteousness and spiritual cultivation, so it can also be called "new Confucianism", which is essentially different from the study of complex Confucian classics chapters and sentences in Han and Tang Dynasties.
The "Song Studies" that appeared in the Song Dynasty naturally had many political, ideological and cultural roots. But after its appearance, it had a direct impact on the cultural concept of the Song Dynasty.
The core of "Song Studies" is "Neo-Confucianism". The revival of Confucianism is manifested in "worshiping Confucianism" and "releasing Confucianism". Worship Confucianism, that is, Confucianism is the foundation of the country, and the scribes of course take Confucianism as orthodoxy; Interpretation of Confucianism is based on Confucianism, especially the principle of practical application, supplemented by Buddhism and Taoism, especially focusing on benevolence, righteousness and spiritual cultivation. This new ideological atmosphere will inevitably bring about new changes in cultural concepts.
"Song Studies" requires literati to consciously take "heart" as the cultural basis. Song Xue not only established the general ethics as everything that is natural and reasonable, that is, "justice", but also highly emphasized people's conscious sense of "justice". In other words, the Song people paid attention to the process of the ultimate foundation of value changing from the external, visible and formal rationality of the universe to the integrity and coordination of the existing self. To put it bluntly, Song people seem to be telling themselves: "Learn to be your own master."
This cultural view is embodied in the system, which enables scholars to assert that they can realize "Tao" independently of the political power. As some scholars have said: "It establishes a connection between society and politics, and between the self-sustaining local elites as the social foundation and the self-limiting and inaction government." [6] This phenomenon also led to the separation of the cultural center of gravity and the political center of gravity in Song Dynasty.
The prominent position of "Song Studies" in the Song Dynasty naturally makes its influence on art hard to erase, and this cultural view is reflected in the publicity of humanistic spirit by art, and there are two obvious tendencies:
First of all, it emphasizes the expression of the artist's subjective spirit. Art in the Song Dynasty attached great importance to the expression of subjective spirit. Although this subjective spirit is still limited by many factors, it has indeed expanded to a greater extent than the previous generation. Li Chenggong said, "I am a Confucian. I have a good knowledge and love mountains and rivers. I am comfortable with my pen. " Li Cheng's painting of mountains and rivers is completely the need of the subject's spiritual expression, and it is to "show love to the mountains and rivers and make the pen suitable". Li also said: "I paint for painting's sake, just like a poet who sings poetry and love." Why don't the world pay attention to it and just want to have fun? " Painting theory in Song Dynasty paid more attention to the expression of this subjective spirit, which was particularly evident in Painting, Lin Zhi and Xuanhe Painting Spectrum.
Second, the artistic function has been further expanded. Previously, the function of art was mainly reflected in its social and political value, and it had the function of "preaching". The Song Dynasty also advocated the "missionary" function of art, but this function was obtained by combining the visual vocabulary of art, so Confucius's "taking Tao as the purpose, relying on morality, relying on benevolence and swimming in art" was valued by the Song people. The word "wandering in art" expresses the meaning of "heart". Furthermore, the Song Dynasty painting school noticed that painting had the function of "sealing the heart". Guo said, "Painting comes from the secret and the spiritual house. Like the art of the world, it is called the heart print. From the source of the heart, I want to be a trace, and the trace and the heart blend together, which is called the seal. " Huang Gugu said more clearly: "The husband Wu Shengzhi is superior to his teacher and gets it from his heart, so there is nothing wrong with it. Zhang Changshi's ignorance of other skills and his cleverness fascinated him. If a husband's heart can not be attached to external things, then his nature will remain intact and everything will be reflected in a mirror. Do you want to ink the pen before you do it? So I said, desire is better than pen, and the beauty lies in my heart. " With this art of "taking it from the heart", it is not difficult to imagine why literati painting sprouted in the Song Dynasty.
When we talk about the influence of "Song Studies" on art, we seem to pay more attention to scholars. In fact, in the Song Dynasty, art was not only the behavior of literati, but also the behavior of ordinary literati such as painters in the Academy of Painting. In a sense, the subject of artistic creation is the latter rather than the former. Therefore, we often can't see the direct influence of "Song Studies" from the paintings of most Song people. However, if carefully analyzed, the influence of "Song Studies" on painters in the Academy of Painting still exists, and two points deserve our attention:
First of all, since Hui Zong established "Painting Studies", painters in the Academy of Painting began to pay more attention to their self-cultivation, and the content of their study was Confucianism, which was the direct influence of the revival of Confucianism by "Song Studies". After the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy, although there was no "painting study" system in the Northern Song Dynasty, most painters were educated in Xuanhe Painting Academy, and Confucian cultural factors were inevitable in their ideas, which have been maintained in the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy.
Second, in terms of painting style, the Northern Song Dynasty began to pay attention to the expression of desolation and desolation, and the ink landscape painting was smooth. To the Northern Dynasty, the painting style changed again, changing Huang's formula, emphasizing the realm of flowers and birds, emphasizing the mysterious taste, painting more snow geese, cold birds and weak willow birds, and staying away from customs. This is related to Wang Anshi's political reform, but it is more manifested in the cultural radiation of "Song Studies". The Southern Song Dynasty put more emphasis on this style of painting, and pursued the principle other than form, from triviality to unity, from dullness to agility, from similarity to interest. All this cannot be said to have nothing to do with the cultural view of "Song Studies".