Song Dynasty Literature and Culture

Most of the articles in this issue point to new directions in the study of Song literature and cultural history. Contributors explore new lines of inquiry concerning familiar topics, such as the role that the practice of calligraphy played in Su Shi’s life (rather than his calligraphy style), and a new interpretation of the relationship between writing and moral values among Northern Song thinkers. Other articles take up topics that have been overlooked in previous scholarship, span fields that are usually kept separate (such as Su Shi’s biography, Buddhist lineage rivalries, and late imperial vernacular literature), or explore normative virtues, like filial piety, not as part of a philosophical system but as grappled with in lived experience. Collectively, the articles suggest the range of new approaches and topics that still await exploration in this source-rich dynastic period.