In the nine original essays collected in this volume, cultural historians, literary scholars, an art historian, and a historical musicologist set out to recover the sights, sounds, and smells of the Southern Song Empire (1127—1279) and of its capital at Hangzhou (then called Lin’an). They remind the reader of the importance of dance in the lives of Song literati, of the sense of danger in the twelfth-century metropolis, of the blend of birdcalls, temple bells, and human song in the streets and in the countryside. Rather than tracing general trends in urban structure or commercial development, the leading scholars in this volume concentrate on one text, on one author, or on one genre in order to restore specific, historical connections between the text and the city, between writing and urban experience. Senses of the City proposes new approaches to the study of Chinese cities and contributes to a general history of the senses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “While previous scholar
