Chia-Ting Phenomenon: Study on the Political Culture and Social Climate in the Late Southern Song Dynasty

This project focuses on the particular socio-cultural climate and its interactions with the political situation both resulting from political and economic transition during Chia-ting era in the late Southern Song Dynasty. It is named “Chia-ting phenomenon”. This three-year project is divided into three phases to deal with several topics. There were seventeen years in Chia-ting era which is a various developing phase of societal culture in the late Southern Song Dynasty. In this period, a part of literati faded themselves out from politics and shifted their concentration on learning, literary and art, antique collections, healthy care and so on. This phenomenon reflecting the particular social climate of the late Southern Song influenced the political situations and literati’s attitudes from then on. In the light of this observation, the research in the first year will emphasize on re-estimating the significant events, figures and discussing how they influenced the political situation. In the second year, the discussion will focus on the inter-affection between academic development and political change. The theme of the last phase will concentrate on the particular socio-culture climate in Chia-ting era and its interaction with the political change in the late Southern Song Dynasty. This project is one part of international cooperation of new political history study. Collected literary works and notes written in the Song and Yuan periods will be the major sources extensively used in this project. Based on the political study of the Southern Song, we will analyze Chia-ting era through academic development, printing, antique collections, and so on which belong to different fields in traditional history studies. Combined with the political and cultural change in East Asia, this project will present the particular political culture and social climate during Chia-ting era. Scholars have paid little attention on this period for a long time. To re-estimate the significance of it can not only help us to observe how politics, economy and culture affected with each other, but also help us to grasp the socio-cultural transition of China before the Mongols entering Jiang-nan region.

Project ID:PE10001-0260
External Project ID:NSC99-2410-H182-014-MY3