The Space and Daily Life of Song Dynasty Civilians as Seen from along the River During the Qingming Festival and Dongjing Menghualu
Abstract
The Song dynasty was an important period in the development of ancient China's civilian society. Dongjing Bianliang, as the capital at that time, had its civilian life and customs concentrate and reflect the characteristics of this era. Zhang Zeduan's Along the River During the Qingming Festival presents, in the form of images, the urban space and civilian everyday of Bianjing in the Northern Song directly and intuitively, while Meng Yuanlao's Dongjing Menghualu records in writing and depicts in detail the various aspects of street life in the capital. This paper, through image interpretation of Along the River During the Qingming Festival and textual analysis of Dongjing Menghualu, discusses, from the dimensions of urban spatial structure, commercial activity scenes, everyday entertainment life, and dietary customs, the spatial characteristics and everyday picture of Song dynasty civilian life, reveals the complementary value of the two in restoring the appearance of Song dynasty civilian society, and shows the living conditions and mental outlook of the civilian class under the development of the Song dynasty commodity economy.
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