The high point (and period of most intense development) of ancient China’s culture of object appreciation in prose writing took place during the middle-to-late period of the Northern Song (starting from Emperor Renzong’s Tiansheng era (1023-1032) and ending at Emperor Huizong’s Xuanhe era (1119-1125)). Following the gradual diminishment of the nobility that took place during the end of the Tang and the subsequent Five Dynasties period, the Northern Song saw the reestablishment of a vibrant literati class. This literati class combined scholars, writers, and public officials into one identity. On one hand, this class sought the broad knowledgeability of the scholar, but also placed great emphasis on living up to their social responsibilities as public officials, even as they highly regarded culture and the arts. They hoped that by displaying an elegant and refined sensibility in their daily lives, they would be able to thus obtain mental pleasure, entertainment and happiness centered on the self, thereby affirming that sense of self. Thus, the values and ideals of the literati class were reestablished.
In addition to the continuation of the past traditions regarding the appreciation of art objects such as calligraphy and painting, this class of literati (including Ou Yang-hsiu, Su Shi, Zhao Ming-cheng, etc.) pushed beyond the traditional restrictions of knowledge, culture, and aesthetics which they had inherited from the past. They began to collect, appreciate, and write about ancient stone and bronze inscriptions, stationary equipment, plants, unique rocks, and other culturally meaningful objects. At this point, knowledge of the collection, appreciation, and writing about cultural and artistic objects began to gradually consolidate into a new area of study. Their writings regarding the appreciation of objects took a love of the objects themselves, as well as a broad base of knowledge, as its foundation, and then began to develop into descriptions of their own collections, display pieces, objects of interest, and experienced objects; specifically, the relevant experiences, processes, and feelings that were attached to those objects.
Looking at the special nature of this time period’s literati and their appreciation of objects, we can separate our subject into the culture, the thought, and the literature of the era as we begin our discussion. Simply looking at it from the viewpoint of culture, the most representative examples of object appreciation during the middle-to-late Northern Song were bronze vessels, stone steles, and their inscriptions. Starting from Ou Yang-hsiu, the collection and analysis of ancient objects was at first the leisure activity of the few, but it gradually became a massive trend, finally becoming the common interest of the literati class. And indeed, it was no coincidence that bronze and stone objects were selected as objects of collection and delight; it was precisely due to the “ancient” nature of the objects themselves that they received such lavish attentions. What we call “ancient” was a concept that not only indicated the objects themselves, but also included the historical events recorded and embodied by the objects themselves, the “ancient” style expressed in calligraphy. The literati class’s love and appreciation for the ancient led to their interest in dechipering and reading the words recorded on these objects; they thus busied themselves with examining the ancient and determining the ancient history, thereby filling in the blanks of history, rectifying history and also demonstrating their own understanding and mastery of the ancient world of old, including its government, society, military, and daily life.
Regarding the thought of time regarding this issue, the literati who were immersed in a life of object appreciation actively used prose and poetry to write about the joys of object appreciation, thereby obtaining mental attunement and a state of being at peace with the self. However, it was precisely because they were so enthralled with these objects, and because that which is external can become a burden to the heart, as well as the various criticisms of these interests, that they were prompted to begin a consideration as to whether using external objects to obtain internal pleasure was in fact a violation of Confucian principles, besides also considering how one should achieve a balance between the “self-pleasure” of object appreciation and the “burden to the heart” that came with it.
Finally, in regard to the special quality of the writing done regarding object appreciation, the writing done about object appreciation was quite free, making liberal use of traditional prose and poetry’s emotional expression, descriptive writing, and argumentation. The literati used these writings to imbue these records with a fragile lament for the passing nature of life, raising issues involved with life in the group, describing and recording the passion for these interests that they shared with their friends, and additionally linking the historical background of the object with contemporary society; by doing so, they hoped to use the ancient to view the present, to use the old to indicate the new, to critique government and realize their social obligation to society.
Based on the above observations, writing regarding object writing in the middle-to-late Northern Song can certainly be considered diverse. Using object appreciation as a starting point for literary creation, they displayed the breadth of their knowledge and depth of their culture, as well as the heights reached by their spirits and deepness of their emotions. The driving force behind all of these achievements was none other than the humanistic spirit and appreciation for daily life that characterized the Northern Song Literati, and so forth the social significance of writing on object has been highlighted.