A Study Of The Spice Phenomenon In The Song Dynasty

The spice phenomenon in the Song dynasty was a special social and cultural one. This dissertation has done a systematic research on the spice phenomenon in the Song dynasty . The following issues have been studied in this dissertation :the main source of spice in the Song society ,the spice trade ,spice and the religious life ,spice and lord-civilian's life .applying spice to the Chinese medical and the health-maintenance. This paper holds that spice phenomenon had made a series of profound influences on the Song society. As for its positive influences, the phenomenon was advantageous to developing the social economy of the Song dynasty, alleviating the financial difficulties of the Song government ,easing up the social contradiction ,enlarging the social connections and intercourse and importing foreign spice knowledge and other culture ;as for its negative influences, it encouraged the social luxurious atmosphere of the Song society and hastened corruption of the official in the Song dynasty.