Reading 丨 Suzhou’s Commercial Style in the Southern Song Dynasty—A Glimpse of Fan Cheng’s Poems

Suzhou, during the Southern Song Dynasty, was Pingjiang Prefecture (now Suzhou, Jiangsu Province). Qingjia is famous all over the world. In the Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan wrote in a poem that "there are hundreds of thousands of households in the capital of Wu, and smoke and tiles stretch to the southwest." Suzhou is densely populated and has developed waterways. Wealth was greater than that of the Tang Dynasty, so treasures and goods from far away were all gathered in the city of Wu." Later generations praised it. Sun Jiagan of the Qing Dynasty said, "Gusu controls three rivers, crosses five lakes and connects to the sea. Inside and outside Changmen, there are mountains of goods, pedestrians flow, and shop signboards are as bright as clouds and brocade. It is said that its prosperity cannot be captured by all gates." It is the most wealthy and romantic place among the first and second class in the world of mortals." Therefore, it can be seen that Suzhou, with its convenient and developed transportation, has developed into a prosperous and increasingly developed commercial center that is different from the city system of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Fan Chengda was born in the first year of Jingkang of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty (1126-1193). He was given the courtesy name Zhi Neng (one name is Zhi Neng), his posthumous title was Wen Mu, his name was Shihu Jushi, and he was known as Fan Shihu in the world. He was the author of Poems and essays "Fan Shihu Collection", he was from Shangsha Village in the south of Xitianping Mountain, Wuxian County, Pingjiang Prefecture. Together with Lu You, Yang Wanli and You Miao, they are known as the "four great poets of ZTE". His poems have a wide range of themes and profound thoughts, especially pastoral scenery descriptions, which have far-reaching influence. As "the most able to escape from Jiangxi, full of Tang charm, and outstandingly becoming a famous poet in the Southern Song Dynasty", Fan Cheng's poems describe the spirit of the times with freshness, beauty, warmth and elegance, and record the colorful social scene of Suzhou at that time. His poems It reflects the social reality extensively and deeply, and the memories and descriptions of the hometown of Wuzhong are particularly worthy of attention.

The agricultural-based small-scale peasant economic and cultural concept is the foundation of traditional culture. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the market has been strictly divided into villages and towns. In the overall social concept, business is regarded as the last industry, and merchants are regarded as the "four People" were discriminated against. In the Song Dynasty, this concept was impacted. During the Song Dynasty, social exchanges were developed, transportation was smooth, and strong free transactions and activities made commerce the economic lifeline of the society in the Song Dynasty.

Before the Han and Tang Dynasties, in order to restrict the development of commerce and the free trade of merchants, corresponding activities were stipulated in special areas, and the residences and trading places were strictly separated, forming a strict market system. . However, by the Song Dynasty, this situation had been greatly improved. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, the night ban was abolished, allowing commercial activities to be unlimited day and night; many small and medium-sized industrial and commercial people engaged in commercial activities on the street and were no longer restricted by business hours.

The prosperity of Suzhou’s urban market in the Southern Song Dynasty

After a series of policies in the Northern Song Dynasty to liberate the vitality of commercial transactions, major cities in the Southern Song Dynasty developed rapidly. Suzhou’s commercial prosperity was no less than that of the capital Hangzhou. Therefore, it is known as "Heaven in the sky, Suzhou and Hangzhou in the underground". Fan Shihu's poems describe the hustle and bustle of the city market throughout the book, "when the wind blows, the sound of the market comes", "the land lotus in the city that never sleeps", the poem directly states that the lights of the city stay on until late at night, and the evening market is connected with the morning market. Festivals even more so. One of Shi Hu's works in his later years is "Selling Dementia Ci": "Who owns two things? Wunong still has some left in the middle; he can't sell them in alleys south and north, and we laugh and tease each other when we meet." In the old days, the trend of selling idiots, also known as Suzhou idiots, refers to the old people saying that they are useless. Although they can't be sold in the whole city, their children and grandchildren joke about it. It reflects the highly developed business transaction concept in Suzhou at that time and shows that although "selling idiots", they can still sell it. From the bustling scene of the market, we can also see that the author uses the hustle and bustle of the market to set off the loneliness of old age. The prosperity of the Suzhou lantern market not only witnessed the ingenuity of Suzhou's craftsmanship, but also reflected the prosperity of the Suzhou lantern market in the Southern Song Dynasty. There is a poem to prove it, "Light Market Tour": "Wutai, a prosperous place in the past and present, prefers Lantern Festival lantern shadow plays. The weather is so sunny before and after spring, and a lantern market has been set up on the streets." "Thirty-two Rhymes of Wuzhong Festival Wu Hai Hai in the Upper Yuan Dynasty" "The screen spreads out the mica, and the curtain hangs with water essence. Thousands of windows have dense eyes, and thousands of jade rainbows are bright." "Late Step" "The flag pavilion is playing the flute near the Lantern Festival. The lights are bright and the people are singing on the small market bridge." In "From morning to noon, daily life and food are based on the voices of people outside the wall", he showed people the more lively market cries:

Knocking on the board in the south of the alley to report the disabled, In the north of the street, people are playing silk and chanting sutras: Two people have been frightened to death, whose house is full of wind and pigeons ringing bells?

When the vegetable market is noisy, the windows are transparent, and the baker is calling for the medicine to be cooked; when the sun comes up, there is nothing to do, except for the sound of opening the door and sweeping the floor.

Standing up by the east window with a book in hand, I can’t help but comb my hair; I’m about to wrap myself up in a towel for the morning meal, and I’m already back for the dinner market.

In the Four Wonderful Poems, Fan Shihu perfectly shows an extremely prosperous commercial market that runs day and night. It has a strong visual sense. There are people selling pigeon bells during the last watch, and there are people selling vegetables and cakes. There are people selling soups and medicines, and there are people buying fish. There are markets in the morning and evening, and the sounds of hawking are endless. According to the annotations of "Tokyo Menghua Lu", "Four Dynasties Hearings and Seeings", and "Zhou Ruchang's Selected Poems", Suzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty had formed a prosperous industry that included all walks of life to meet the needs of citizens.

Although the hustle and bustle of the market can be heard at home, the market is not chaotic. Although it is mixed with citizens, it is orderly. This is all due to the Song government's restrictions and controls on business. The state's restrictions on business were gradually relaxed, allowing business development to reach unprecedented heights. On the other hand, the development of the commodity market was moving towards monopoly, and the government was also constantly adjusting business. Strengthen and gradually introduce market regulations. The institutionalization and standardization of commercial taxation, commercial taxation has become an important national economic policy and system at that time. These all met the needs of the development of the budding market economy of capitalism and guaranteed and promoted the vigorous development of Suzhou's commodity economy in the Southern Song Dynasty.

The active agricultural trade in Suzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty

The city developed rapidly, and the local agricultural economy was also extremely prosperous. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Suzhou's agricultural trade was quite active, with commercialization of agricultural and sideline products, and markets Trade highlights the connection between urban and rural markets. Trading markets adapt to the needs of development and are scattered in the rural areas of Suzhou's suburbs. The trading of various agricultural and sideline products has gradually formed some fixed habits and customs.

During the Song Dynasty, water transport had a prominent position. Wherever water and land met, there was a market place. In addition, there were markets at ferries, inns and other places where people gathered. Relevant information in "Shihu Lay Poems Collection" reflects that at that time, there were many markets for trading agricultural and sideline products in urban and rural areas of Wuzhong. Due to different places, trading items, etc., there were so-called "grass markets" and "river markets". , "vegetable market," "fish market" and other different names.

The grass market is bustling with people and the atmosphere is noisy. People often flow into the night and the sound of the market is endless. "The traces of the rising tide in the shadow of the sun", "I know from afar that the south wind turns in the middle of the night, and the roar of the grass market in the village is heard". The grass market was originally a regular rural market. It was called market in the north and market in the south. It originally referred to the transactions in the city walls. When the place developed in the Southern Song Dynasty, some grass markets were even more prosperous than in Guonai. "The shops were very prosperous and the shops were like combs" and "all the goods were sold"

Vegetable markets are related to ordinary people. In the daily life of ordinary people, basically all the agricultural and sideline products needed for daily use are sold in the vegetable market. The common vegetables in Suzhou mentioned by Fan Shihu in "Four Seasons Pastoral Miscellaneous" include mustard greens, cress, medicinal vegetables, water chestnuts, lotus roots, melons, and needles. , bamboo shoots, etc., it can be seen that the fruit and vegetable market in Suzhou during the Song Dynasty generally took place in the early morning. Vegetable farmers in the suburbs went to the city early to trade and exchange for a little money to buy daily necessities. "When the vegetable market is noisy." The window is transparent, and the baker calls for the medicine to be fried." For people buying food, they should buy food as early as possible. "The morning meal is about to be in the towel, and the fish for the dinner market has already come back."

Documents reflect that during the Song Dynasty, the sericulture industry in the Jiangnan region, especially in Suzhou, developed rapidly and gradually became the main sideline business for many farmers. "In the middle of the lunar month, there is no trace of the neighboring songs; especially under the clear morning breeze, the mulberry picking season temporarily meets." Every year in March of the lunar calendar, every family closes their doors. It is the time to pick mulberry and feed silkworms. When the silkworm cocoons are completed, the silkworm farmers Every family was still "closed to firewood and blocked from visitors", and it was a busy scene. It can be seen that for the common people in Suzhou, Jiangnan, the importance of collecting mulberry and feeding silkworms was to the family. On the day of the silk harvest, "Ximen sells silk tomorrow." "Go", silkworm farmers often gathered at a new silk gathering place at the west gate of Suzhou City to trade.

The active agricultural products trading in Suzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty was also reflected in the development of poultry and livestock breeding, vegetable and fruit planting, aquatic fishing, etc. , and it is the merchants who contact these transactions. Although some commercial transactions are carried out by farmers directly into the city, the more mainstream methods are store operation (sitting in the merchants) and door-to-door purchase (traveling merchants). " The family gave hibiscus as food to the vassal, and the wine market stopped and built a bamboo porch." At that time, Shihu saw a hotel selling food and drinks on his way from Suzhou to Xuancheng. The porch was made of bamboo. During the Qingming Festival, Suzhou's When tea is on the market, a large number of merchants come to tea farmers to buy tea. "Butterflies come into Laihua in pairs, and no one comes to Tian's house for a long time; chickens fly over the dog's barking sinus, and I know that merchants come to buy tea." This is such a touching picture. A picture of rural economic transactions.

Conclusion

Fan Shihu’s poems keenly capture the activity of market transactions in Song Dynasty society, the formation of trading customs, and the subtle changes in the social status and role of merchant groups, integrating the poet’s life feelings and The profound cognition is integrated into it, providing us with the richest historical data on the social development of Suzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty.