The Poetics of Palace Gardens
Southern Song dynasty imperial palace gardens were places richly instilled with poeticism. The names of structures built on their grounds were chosen with a sense of literary nostalgia from lines of famous poetry, with the intent of creating an aesthetic mood of elegance and romanticism amid the gardens. The imperial family's activities within the palaces and gardens were also modeled in an attempt to recreate and experience the sentiments written down in poetry. The delicate paintings that have been passed down through history reveal both the ephemeral moments and eternal aspirations found in the meeting of sensibility and setting in imperial palace gardens.
The Lotus-scented Breezes of Taiye Pond- Feng Dayou, Song dynasty
This unsigned painting was previously catalogued as the work of Feng Dayou (fl. 12th century), a native of Suzhou in Jiangsu province. Feng rose to the rank of case reviewer in the Court of Judicial Review; he used the sobriquet Yizhai.
This beautiful scene is filled with swaying lotus leaves interspersed with pink and white lotus flowers. The painting overflows with life, with swallows and butterflies dancing in the air above, and a raft of ducks languidly searching for food in the water below. The title, "The Lotus-scented Breezes of Taiye Pond," is a nod towards both the painting and the accompanying poetry. The poetry is Song dynasty emperor Gaozong's calligraphic rendition of Tang dynasty poet Wang Ya's (?-835) "Autumnal Thoughts." "Taiye" was the name of a pond in the palace of Emperor Wu of Han, which was recorded in "The Treatise on Religious Sacrificial Ceremonies" in The Records of the Grand Historian. Later, it came to mean any pond in an imperial palace garden. Records state that, during the Southern Song dynasty, Emperor Xiaozong had 10,000 pink and white lotuses planted in his pond in separate, sunken pots that could be removed and swapped for fresh plants to maintain the scenic beauty. The alternating pink and white lotus flowers in this painting reveal the aesthetics of Southern Song dynasty palace gardens.
A Candlelit Nighttime Excursion- Ma Lin, Song dynasty
A signature reading "Your servant, Ma Lin" appears on the lower right side of this painting. Ma Lin (ca. 1180-after 1256) was a court painter active during the reigns of Southern Song dynasty emperors Ningzong and Lizong.
This painting depicts a building modeled with graceful beauty. Its pointed, hexagonal roof with double layered eaves rises upwards, while ambulatories stretch in either direction. Its subject sits on a round-backed chair, reveling in the flowers and trees in the courtyard. Candleholders line the courtyard path, while a full moon high in the night sky shines down upon the indistinct nightscape. The scene is a painted rendition of the imagery found in Northern Song dynasty writer Su Shi's poem "Begonias," which contains the lines "My only worry is that deep in the night the flowers will drift to sleep, so I light these tall candles to shine on their pink petals." During the Southern Song dynasty, floriculture was very popular in the imperial gardens. Annals of the Qiandao and Chunyi Reign Periods records that Emperor Xiaozong's location for enjoying begonias in his private garden was called "Shimmering upon Rouge Pavilion," evidence that names for some sites in the imperial gardens were adapted from Su Shi's poetry. This piece illustrates the Southern Song emperor's romantic penchants for viewing begonias by night and chasing the imagery in Su Shi's stanzas.
Watching the Tidal Bore on a Moonlit Night- Li Song, Song dynasty
The city of Hangzhou, formerly the capital of the Southern Song dynasty, borders the Qiantang River. Watching the tidal bore surge up the river by night was a popular mid-autumn festival diversion in the Song period. The architecture of the two-story building portrayed in this painting is sumptuous. It has hip-and-gable roof with single eaves, and soars high over the riverside, while its viewing platform is connected to a winding ambulatory that abuts a courtyard embellished with miniature mountains built of stacked stones. The human figures within were originally painted using pigments from powdered clam shells, but unfortunately they have flaked away over time, leaving difficult to discern.
The calligraphy on this painting, transcribed from Su Shi's poem "Watching the Tidal Bore on the Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Lunar Month," was written by Empress Yang (1162-1233), consort of Emperor Ningzong (r. 1195-1224). Next to it is the imprint of a seal carved with the kun trigram, which represents earth and femininity. On the lower left the painting is signed, "Your servant, Li Song." Li Song was a court painter active from 1190 to 1264, during the reigns of emperors Guangzong, Ningzong, and Lizong, noted for his outstanding skill at painting architecture.