Disquisition On The Classes' Consumption In Song Dynasty

The connection of the consumption and production is so tightness that it is necessary to research the contemporary consumption situation through which we can inquire the degree of the economy development in that times. Nevertheless, the dimension of consumption is always overlooked by the historians studied in Chinese Ancient Economy. With the perspective of consumption, the direction of the theories on the relationship of consumption and production, and based on the plenty amount of historic materials, this thesis focuses on the classes' consumption and review the development of economic society in the long-term from Tang to Song dynasty, which aims to probe into the contemporary changing of consumption and economic situation.Exploring the materials in the novels in Tang-Song dynasties, this thesis divides the consumption in different parts, such as diet, dressing, inhabitation and daily consumption, and then emphasis particularly on different parts, which depict the classes' consumption in concrete and explain it in brief. At the end, the thesis elicits the characters and changes of the classes' consumption in Tang-Song dynasties.In general, there are many common attributes of consumption behavior in the Tang and Song dynasties. Among the attributes, the luxury and politic attribute are distinct, which become significant with the social development. Depending on the political privilege, which is the source of rich for them, the classes were used to splurging in various behavior of consuming the goods and service, by which they realized their one only aim: to fulfill their desire in nature and spirit, by which their social superiority was displayed.To compare with the classes in Tang dynasty, especially in the prophase of it, the classes in Song dynasty was distinct by the changes in consumption that is tendency of commercial and philistinism. They have contacted more with the market and influenced much more by the other social classes. What was more, they kept open views on their relation with the market. With such a new attribute, the classes admitted the market in attitude and behavior, which led them consume a considerable part of goods and service from the market. That distinguished them evidently from the traditional well-know families in Tang dynasty. The difference of them was displayed as the following aspect. The well-know families in Tang and pre-Tang dynasty, who dominate the classes' consumption, exhibited their elegance and delicacy, remain a pure sentiment in consuming behavior, and elevated themselves by distinguished consumption fashion. Contrarily, the classes in Song dynasty lost themselves in the philistinism consumption, which unfolded the trait of exaggeration and luxury and identified with the consuming fashion of other social classes. Nevertheless, in order to flaunt their superiority in status, they restrained the connection with the market and looked down on it, which resulted in limiting the influence of the market on them.There are clear continuity and development in the classes' consumption from the Tang to Song dynasty. In essence, the society in the two dynasties was identical, which displayed in these aspects: the dominant economical pattern of petty farms, the political system of centralized power controlled by the superior classes, especially in the extensive pattern of economical production. Nevertheless, the consumption situation had some changes, which were caused by a variety of factors including the economical, the political and the social elements. In fact, the economical factor was not enough to explain these changes. Though the change of economical structure and economical development must have led to some changes in consumption, the effect of them should not be overrated. In summary, the classes' consumption had taken negative effect on the contemporary production, which was relation to the attributes of their consumption. Leaning on the political and economical superiority, they did not cherish their money and goods, what was more, they disdained to the worker's service and the commercial rules of exchange, which always led to inequality in exchange, damaged seriously the interests of the producer and made the production withered.