This week I read a chapter of a textbook about the relationship between China and their neighboring communities. Specifically, the Jin and Kitans. Something I found interesting was how weak the Jin rule really was.
Despite the terrible treaty that the Song had to sign, the Jin rulers couldn’t keep Chinese culture from seeping in, and any attempts to enforce Jin culture back into the public didn’t work. Even when they first conquered the Song, they couldn’t get people to change their hair styles and clothes to be more Jurchen. On a technical level, the Jin were the rulers, but they couldn’t put any kind of cultural footprint on their land.
I also read an excerpt from a man from the Han dynasty who lived through the wars in the Tang and Song dynasties. Something interesting I noticed is how he glorified the Han dynasty, exaggerating how bad things were in the Song and saying things are the worst they’ve ever been.
It’s a trend that’s seen all throughout Chinese history and even up to the modern day. People always exaggerate modern day problems and wish to go back to when things were “better.” The point of view makes sense, but staying in the past doesn’t help.
I also read an excerpt from Ch’eng Cho’s diary while he’s on a trip during the war between the Mongols and the Jin. I found some of the places Cheng stopped at interesting. Specifically, the Kuang-wu temple where Cheng wrote out two poems that were on the gate. In that passage, Cheng also said there were 28 generals wearing barbarian clothes. It’s a subtle look into how Cheng views the people in the north.
I also did more work on my next show and tell project. It’s going well as I’m learning more about poetry in the Tang dynasty. The sources I found are also interesting and I may put them in Zotero next week.
Next week, I will finish my show and tell project.
