Talking about the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, we will all think of the bohemian and dashing poetry immortal "Li Bai", especially like his "Near Wine" and "Early White Emperor City", in addition to the Tang Dynasty is a dynasty of great poetry culture, not only the poetry immortal Li Bai but also the famous poet Buddha "Wang Wei" and the poetry demon "Bai Juyi" of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the familiar poetry "Du Fu".
These historical celebrities were all born in the Tang Dynasty, and it is their existence that makes the poetry culture of the Tang Dynasty flourish for a while, not only the realism of the social school but also the compassion of the realistic school, and the prosperity of these pastoral poems is not only the well-known Wang Wei but also Meng Haoran, Fan Chengda, Zu Yong and many other pastoral representatives.
I. The poetic background of the Tang Dynasty
1. Social change
The rulers of the Tang Dynasty adopted the ideological philosophy of the coexistence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and not only applied the ideas in society but also widely used in various systems. During the Tang Dynasty, the imperial examination system was followed and improved, and a series of policies and measures were implemented to select scholars by means of poetry endowments, which greatly provided a basis for the prosperity of poetry, and it was the implementation of this system that laid the foundation for the future development of poetry.
On the other hand, the social system of the Tang Dynasty gradually changed, and the national policy implemented in it was the concept of "deep roots, strong people, strong people, rich Kyushu, and self-obedience" as Li Daliang advised. It is precisely because the rulers of the Tang Dynasty adhered to such concepts and treated foreign tribes as "equal", and many foreign cultures were later integrated into the Tang Dynasty, and the Tang Dynasty was also the earliest and most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history.
In this context, the poetry style of the Tang Dynasty was influenced by many cultures, and it was gradually changed into four factions of the early Tang Dynasty, the Sheng Tang, the Middle Tang Dynasty, and the Late Tang Dynasty, and each faction had its own representative figures, such as the poetry Immortal Li Bai in the Sheng Tang Dynasty, Du Mu and Li Shangyin in the Late Tang Dynasty, and so on.
2. Take the poet by poetry
The historical Tang Dynasty was a peak period in the development of China's feudal society, and truly achieved the grandeur of the Heavenly Dynasty enjoying the grandeur of the Dynasty, rather than a self-proclaimed name like the Qing Dynasty. In this period of the Tang Dynasty, not only did Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan rule but also Xuanzong's Kaiyuan flourish, but you can imagine how developed the living standards of people in such a country were, and it was the prosperity of living standards that gave the tang dynasty people at that time the qualifications to pursue spiritual enjoyment.
Its social grandeur is like Du Fu's words in the "Two Songs of the Past", "rice is fat and corn is white, and public and private warehouses are abundant", and his life is highly developed and society has almost reached the point of being the same as the world, and it is precisely in this era of Guotai Min'an that the development of Tang Dynasty poetry has been able to move forward.
The Tang Dynasty was the earliest dynasty to practice poetry, and it was also the earliest dynasty used in the imperial examination system. As Yan Yu of the Song Dynasty said in his "Canglang Poetry", "Why did Tang poetry win over my dynasty?" 'Tang took poetry as a scholar, so he studied a lot of specialty, so I didn't have enough poetry.' It can be seen that the poetry of the Tang Dynasty even had a special assessment applied to the appointment of officials.
For example, in the history of Gao ZuWude's four-year opening of the discipline to take the soldier, the first session was both a test of poetry and the law of five words, and each poem required 12 sentences. It can be seen that the historical Tang Dynasty did not use poetry to take scholars, but did implement and list many rules related to examinations.
Second, the development of poetry in different periods of the Tang Dynasty
1. The development of poetry in the Prosperous Tang Dynasty
In the development of Tang Dynasty poetry, the development of poetry from the establishment of the Tang Dynasty to the flourishing of the Tang Dynasty was the most rapid, and pastoral poetry also developed and spread at this stage. Mainly because at the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, a group of literati and celebrities were most needed to fill the gap in local officials, and judging from the situation at that time, the re-holding of the imperial examination system could not be quickly supplemented, so during this period, the Tang Dynasty adopted a wide range of reclusive people to engage in politics as officials, thus filling some of the gaps in the country, and this method was still used until the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
It is precisely because of this way of appointing officials in the Tang Dynasty that many literati and inkers who live in seclusion in the fields have the opportunity to become officials, and Li Bai, Meng Haoran, and Wang Wei also had a period of seclusion before entering politics.
It is precisely because of the Way of Appointing Poets in the Tang Dynasty that a poetic style of words was popular in the official arena at that time, basically until the emperor down to ordinary officials would chant poems against each other, and it was this trend that led to the popularity of the people, in order to hope that their poetry could be favored by the rulers and move smoothly. During this period, the development of poetry also progressed rapidly, and many schools of poetry were derived, and poetry of pastoral poetry and social schools appeared one after another.
2. The development of poetry in the middle and late Tang Dynasty
In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the development of the country gradually entered a stage of weakness, just as the so-called prosperity was bound to decline and the Tang Dynasty was exactly like this. During this period, the country's society became darker and darker, and corruption incidents occurred in an endless stream, and the first people to develop this situation were the literati and inkers.
They marched through the world and experienced all kinds of worldly changes, and it was in this way that they wrote down the corruption and darkness they saw into their poems in order to attract the attention of the rulers in this way, and the poetic style of this period gradually changed from romanticism to realism and satirically criticized the social conditions of the time.
Some poets even went to the official field to save this decline, including the literati led by Liu Zongyuan and Wang Shuwen, who wanted to save it through reform and policy after they entered politics, but its effect was very poor. Therefore, in this context, Liu Zongyuan wrote "The Snake Catcher Says" and "Duan Taiwei Anecdote".
Although the literati of the middle and late Tang Dynasties wanted to change the decline of the Tang Dynasty by their own efforts to devote themselves to the official field, the effect was minimal, and after seeing through the reality, they actively invested in poetry creation in the delusion that their own poetry could be concerned by the rulers, and it was the atmosphere of poetry in this period that changed into realistic poetry that satirized the darkness of society.
And those literati who do not like the darkness and corruption of society have gradually retreated to the field and those who have devoted themselves to the official field have become a sharp contrast, which is also the origin of XiaoYin and Da Cain, just as Bai Juyi wrote in "Zhongyin", "The big hides in the market, and the small hides in the hills and fans."
It is precisely this change in social conditions that makes the idylls of this period create a large number of idyllic poems through the literati inkers who hide in the fields, and the reason for the creation is precisely these literati inkers who seek transcendent cultivation and express their pursuit of ideals in their hearts without the influence of the world.
Third, the main reason for the prosperity of idyllic poetry
1. The prevalence of the hidden wind of the Tang Dynasty
What is seclusion? Seclusion refers to people who live in seclusion, hide in the mountains and forests, and live in the grass, and why the wind of seclusion flourished in the Tang Dynasty was mainly because the political landscape at that time was not very optimistic, and some people were unwilling to go along with the rulers, so they lived in seclusion, in addition to the policies of the rulers at that time, they were more pessimistic ideas that did not meet with talents.
Many times we talk about how rich and enjoyed the ancients in the Tang Dynasty, thus ignoring the darkness under the light. In the Tang Dynasty, there was a good side and naturally a bad side, and those who hid in the field naturally encountered unsatisfactory things.
The prevalence of the wind of seclusion has led to the development of idylls, and it is the idylls of people who live in the fields that flourish. And why is it because the prevalence of the hidden wind of idyllic poetry developed in the Tang Dynasty? Because the main ideal of the pastoral school is to still adhere to the lofty ideals and interests of life in the extremely dark society, there are many people who hide in the fields in this Tang Dynasty, and some of them are famous scholars, and it is precisely because the political darkness of the Tang Dynasty gradually disappoints those people, and the hidden fields rely on poetry to express their mood and pessimism.
And because the environment of the field helps to cultivate self-cultivation, many literati and inkers in the Tang Dynasty liked the tranquility of the countryside, and Liu Fangping of the Tang Dynasty wrote such a scene in "Moon Night", which depicted "a deeper moon color and half a person's home, the Big Dipper and the South Dipper." Tonight I know that the spring is warm, and the sound of insects is new through the green window screen. In addition, There are Also Tang Dynasty Wang Wei's "Xinyiwu" Du Fu's "Jiangcun" are all written about the beautiful scenery of the countryside, and it is precisely in this way that pastoral poetry flourished in the Tang Dynasty.
2. Extensive construction of Tang Dynasty gardens
It is often said that the Yuanmingyuan built by the Qing Dynasty is the earliest and largest imperial garden in Chinese history, and it is the largest in history, but the author does not think that it is the earliest built in Chinese history. In fact, as early as the pre-Qin era, there was garden construction, and after the development of successive dynasties, the art of garden construction in the Tang Dynasty has reached its peak. During the Tang Dynasty, as the most brilliant era of feudal society, its economy and culture were in the leading position in the world at that time, and it was also the center of the world at that time, so there were many prominent places in the garden construction of the Tang Dynasty.
According to the Song Dynasty Li Gefei's "Records of the Famous Gardens of Luoyang", "Between Tang Zhenguan and Kaiyuan, the Gongqing Guiqi opened the museum and built it in the eastern capital, and there were thousands of mansions", which shows that there were more than a thousand gardens in luoyang city alone at that time. It was precisely because of the Tang Dynasty economy as a guarantee that the garden construction at that time played a great support.
And it is precisely because of the increase in gardens that pastoral poets have the object of praise and depiction, such as Li He's "Thirteen Songs of the South Garden" and Du Fu's "Evening Qing" of the Tang Dynasty, as well as Meng Haoran's "Summer Floating Boat Over Chen Dashui Pavilion" are all depicting the scene between the fields and gardens, which shows that the construction of the Tang Dynasty garden provided a lot of scenery for those literati and inkers.
conclusion:
The development of idyllic poetry has undergone obvious changes in different periods of the Tang Dynasty, especially in the middle and late period, those literati inkers who were dissatisfied with the darkness and corruption of the society at that time were hidden in the fields, and it was in this situation that those literati and inkers continued to use idyllic poems to set off their spiritual realm, in order to express their ideals and virtues in their transcendent and external pursuits, and also to show their mental state of not being affected by the world.
Therefore, if we say that the reason for the prosperity of pastoral poetry is still to talk about the social conditions of the Tang Dynasty in various periods at that time and the changes in the poetic style of the literati and inkers, and the poetic style of the entire Tang Dynasty period is related to the changes in the Tang Dynasty society from prosperity to decline.