Senses of the City: Perceptions of Hangzhou and Southern Song China 1127–1279

A multidisciplinary analysis of Southern Song dynasty Hangzhou reveals deep ambivalence towards the city's sensuous experience, shaped by cultural biases and historiographic erasures. The study, drawing on essays from art history, musicology, literary criticism, and social history, demonstrates how later accounts often suppressed evidence of performance, luxury, and urban complexity in favor of a Confucian ideal. Key findings include the deliberate exclusion of entertainment quarters from literati narratives (Bossler), the contrast between Jiang Kui's poetic reflections on adversity and Hangzhou's luxurious lifestyle (Zhang Hongsheng), and the overwhelming sensory richness captured in texts like Ducheng jisheng (de Pee). The research employs close textual analysis, comparative historical frameworks, and interdisciplinary synthesis to challenge conventional narratives of Song dynasty culture.

Fuller, M. A. (2019). Senses of the City: Perceptions of Hangzhou and Southern Song China 1127–1279. Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, 6(2), 492–503. https://doi.org/10.1215/23290048-8042058