The Song Dynasty (960-1279) is often thought of as the Chinese Renaissance (文艺复兴). For about three and a quarter centuries, under its rule, China enjoyed a period of economic growth with great and amazing artistic achievements.
One of the most important factors in the Song Renaissance was the printing press (印刷机) which made for a rebirth of classical Confucian (儒学的) learning. By the 10th century, printers had produced a large number of copies of the classical Confucian texts. With this increase in the production of books, education spread and became widely available.
Printing also had its greatest influence on the Chinese political system. In the Song Dynasty, government examinations became the most important way to gain political power in China. For almost 1, 000 years, China was governed by men who had done very well in examinations. Thousands of students studied for the exams, and thousands of inexpensive books were required. Without printing, such a system would not have been possible.
The Song period was also the golden age of Chinese painting. Emperor Huizong was a talented painter who encouraged the arts. A royal painting school was created and many fine artists were supported. The period is best known for nature subjects and landscape paintings. Guo Xi used perspective in his paintings and The Quiet Valley is one of his best-known works. One of the greatest landscape painters of the period was Fan Kuan. His famous work, Travelling among Mountains and Streams, is one of the most famous Chinese paintings. Completed around the year 1000, it was inspired by the power of nature and the relative insignificance of humans.
