Song dynasty landscape culture: contradictions and success of an ideal of harmony

Abstract

The landscape culture of the Song dynasty has an ideal of harmony that goes from the individual to the whole society. But this ideal of harmony, no matter how good its intentions, also had its dark sides, contradictions and failures. In this article I put together the failures and the positive aspect presented by the ideal of harmony in the landscape culture. This dialectical strategy will show the complexity of the historical process of the Song dynasty landscape culture, as well as its aims, contradictions and good outcomes.