Chang’an–Lin’an: The Narrative Shift of the “Capital Story” from the Tang to the Song Dynasties—From the Perspective of Comparative Readings of Classic Works

Abstract

A distinct narrative shift in the “capital story” can be observed from the Tang to Song dynasties. From the perspective of comparative reading of classic works, one can trace the developmental trajectory from the story of Chang’an to that of Bianjing and then to that of Lin’an. The transformation in textual forms—such as authorial perspective, narrative tone, and descriptive detail—is evident in the movement from Surviving Anecdotes from the Kaiyuan and Tianbao Eras 开元天宝遗事 to Surviving Anecdotes from the Xuanhe Era of the Great Song 大宋宣和遗事. The progression from the “Qujiang Lake narrative of Chang’an” to the “West Lake narrative of Lin’an” signals a spatial shift in the narrative scene from the inner court to the civil realm, accompanied by a major transformation in both narrative subjects and spatial attributes. “Liu the Administrative Aide in Huazhou” 华州参军 and “Madam White Is Kept Forever under the Thunder Peak Tower” 白娘子永镇雷峰塔, as canonical texts of the “Qujiang Lake narrative” and “West Lake narrative,” respectively, illuminate how this narrative shift in the depiction of urban romance unfolds in detail: The former presents a variation of Tang-style storytelling, while the latter reflects the maturation of the Song aesthetic. In terms of cultural psychology, if the narrative of Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty embodies a cognitive model of “capital” and “state” as psychologically identical, then the narrative of Lin’an in the Southern Song adopts a vernacular and localized perspective. The local affections it constructs would later become one of the key sources for the formation of “place identity” in subsequent eras

Keywords

Chang’an / Lin’an / capital story / narrative shift / cultural psychology

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Higher Education Press