Website: The Song Dynasty in China – http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/ (click on the links in the categories of Economic Revolution, Technology, Cities, Confucianism, and Outside World, at the top of the webpage)
Website: Song Dynasty Art (960-1279), History, Types and Characteristics – http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/east-asian-art/song-dynasty.htm
Considering artistic style and subject matter, what insights do the paintings give you into the concerns, hopes, and preoccupations of Song China during the Northern and Southern dynasties? What do you find most striking about each painting? Why? What might be limits to using art to understand the concerns, hopes, and preoccupations of a society? Analyze one pictorial image from the Northern Song and the Southern Song dynasties below to answer these questions about the primary sources.
