As mentioned with Emperor Huizong above, talented court painters were highly esteemed by the emperor and royal family. One of the greatest landscape painters given patronage by the Song court was Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145), who painted the original for the famous Along the River During Ching Ming Festival scroll. Emperor Gaozong of Song (1127–1162) once commissioned an art project of numerous paintings for the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, based on the woman poet Cai Wenji (177–250 AD) of the earlier Han Dynasty. During the Song period Buddhism saw a small revival since its persecution during the Tang Dynasty. This could be seen in the continued construction of sculpture artwork at the Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan province. Similar in design to the sculptures at Dazu, the Song Dynasty te
As mentioned with Emperor Huizong above, talented court painters were highly esteemed by the emperor and royal family. One of the greatest landscape painters given patronage by the Song court was Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145), who painted the original for the famous Along the River During Ching Ming Festival scroll. Emperor Gaozong of Song (1127–1162) once commissioned an art project of numerous paintings for the Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute, based on the woman poet Cai Wenji (177–250 AD) of the earlier Han Dynasty. During the Song period Buddhism saw a small revival since its persecution during the Tang Dynasty. This could be seen in the continued construction of sculpture artwork at the Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan province. Similar in design to the sculptures at Dazu, the Song Dynasty temple at Mingshan in Anyue, Sichuan province features a wealth of Song era Buddhist sculptures, including the Buddha and deities clad in lavish imperial and monastic robes.