The poetic conception of the Zhenguan period not only directly inherits the side of Han Wei's reverence for Confucianism and courtesy, but also corrects the one-sided idea of completely denying the beauty of literary forms at the time of Zhou and Sui. Emperor Taizong of Tang practiced civil and moral politics, advocating morality and cultivating benevolent government at home, and cautiously using soldiers and educating people externally.
His political measures to cultivate the people and love the people, revive the liturgical music to transform the people's correct style, and tolerate openness to recruit talents are the concentrated embodiment of the poetic activities of the Zhenguan period.
Moreover, Tang Taizong was first and foremost a politician and emperor, and then a poet, and because his identity was different from that of ordinary literati, his perspective on literary and artistic issues was naturally different.
Therefore, in order to examine Tang Taizong's poetic concept, in addition to specifically analyzing his literary and artistic concepts and creative practices, it is also necessary to discuss them in conjunction with his political ideas.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > is incarnating the people, seeking meritocracy in vain - the main government of Tang Taizong</h1>
Tang Taizong had personally experienced the great chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty and the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, and once the dynasty ascended the throne, the first question he had to consider was naturally how to make the emerging Tang Dynasty "pass on the infinite" and get rid of the fate of the imperial court of all dynasties.
Tang Taizong understood that "although he used martial arts to determine the world, he should eventually use Wende to suihai", and the main point of taking "Wende" as his administrative policy was to stabilize the people's hearts and change the people's customs. Based on this, Emperor Taizong drew on the experience of the previous generation and summarized three basic measures.
Temperance, indoctrination of the people and recruitment of talents. The first is abstinence. Tang Taizong was well aware of the difficulties of keeping success, but he had the spirit of "always coming to the depths and walking thinly", in Taizong's view, "those who have the Tao, people push it as the Lord, and if there is no Way, people abandon it and do not use it, and it is fearful."
Therefore, as a ruler, you need to understand the principle that "for the way of the king, you must first save the people", and in order to establish and maintain a good relationship between the king and the people, a very important point lies in the personal cultivation of the ruler, and the reason why the ruler is not upright is to indulge his own desires without considering the needs of the people.
Tang Taizong believed that the root cause of the collapse of the society and the collapse of the state often lay in the rulers themselves. It can be seen that Emperor Taizong's so-called imperial self-cultivation mainly lies in abstinence and love for the people.
Tang Taizong pointed out that if the rulers want to live in harmony with the people, they must deal with the relationship between personal selfish desires and public interests and the needs of the people, and must not "harm the people to serve their own bodies" Wei Zheng also affirmed Tang Taizong's practice of "saving oneself and conforming to others", and took the Example of the Sui Emperor who "aspired to be tireless and only had luxury".
In the early days of Zhenguan, when Tang Taizong discussed the strategy of governing the country with the ministers, he repeatedly raised the issue of people's customs, eagerly demanding that "the pouring of modern times" because he was well aware of the relationship between Junzhou and the people's water, and worried that after the great chaos, customs would be difficult to move, and it would be difficult to change the people's customs in a short period of time.
Confucian scholars, represented by Wang Jue and Wei Zheng, also attached great importance to such problems
。 When Emperor Taizong asked the modern monarchs and ministers why the country was inferior to the previous ancients, Wang Hang attributed the advantages and disadvantages of the effectiveness of governing the country to the impact of policies on the people's customs, and in his view, the pouring of the people's customs directly reflected the gains and losses of politics.
Wei Zheng's letter put forward a fundamental demand for Tang Taizong's desire to change the people's customs, one by one, light punishment and heavy benevolence. The construction of liturgical music in the Guan period not only inherits the traditional Confucian concept of "making music and its nature, and making rituals to examine its feelings", adheres to the principle of "exploring the mysteries of the Six Classics and adopting the Yinghua of three generations", but also reflects the inclusive and open mind.
Emperor Taizong of Tang not only issued many edicts to formulate liturgical music, but also passed on his understanding of lile to his descendants, warning the crown prince Li Zhi that he should "build a ming hall, establish a yong, explore hundreds of schools, and refine the six arts." It is necessary for the successors to uphold the concept of openness and diligent study, continue and expand the construction of liturgy in the Zhenguan dynasty, so as to cultivate all the people and glorify future generations.
Through the difference between himself and the craftsman in judging the merits and demerits of the bow, Tang Taizong understood that although he used a bow a lot, he was still not as reasonable as a bow worker, not to mention that "there is a shallow day in the world", and then realized that the ruler's own ability was limited.
Moreover, Taizong also has an open and inclusive attitude in recruiting talents. On the one hand, it recruits all kinds of talents to "talk about the meaning of the text and discuss political affairs" with them.
Many of the Confucian bachelors in the Literature Museum are also engaged in Confucian history.
On the other hand, Emperor Taizong actively consulted and gave preferential treatment to talents who had contributed to the governance of the country, and was able to assist the Confucian students of the country's Confucian education, so that he could "know the interests of the people and the gains and losses of politics and religion."
Because of Tang Taizong's tolerance and openness and the loyalty and integrity of Zhenguan's courtiers, Zhenguan Junchen was able to "qi qi and one heart" and achieve the realm of "harmony with salt and plum, solid with gold and stone".
To sum up, Tang Taizong summed up the experience of the previous generation and took abstinence in self-cultivation, indoctrination of the people, and recruitment of talents as the basic measures in governing the country.
Emperor Taizong's moderation and self-discipline, tolerance and openness to others, and this is also the starting point and foothold of his thinking on all issues, which is naturally reflected in Emperor Taizong's thinking on literature and art and his poetic concepts.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > "section to neutralize" - Tang Taizong's understanding of literature</h1>
Tang Taizong clearly realized that in order to promote the politics of "wende" and to greatly promote indoctrination and make the people's customs pure, it is necessary to take the lead in setting an example, tempering desires, not being luxurious, and practicing what they preach.
The purpose of the Imperial Chapter was to "Ming Ya Zhi". The so-called "Yazhi" means that "the festival is neutralized, not related to fornication." This sentence is not aimed at literature, but for the emperors of the past to enjoy the river and the sea, play between the mountains and mausoleums, meet the sea gods, and swim on the Yao Pond.
Tang Taizong stressed that although he was in such an environment, he did not indulge in pleasure, but on the one hand, he "watched the tomb of the case" and "yu shi yiwen" to watch the kings act on behalf of the kings, and on the other hand, he did not forget the foundation of the martial arts.
Although these activities are fascinating and forgetful, he still needs to be cautious at all times, and although the Imperial Chapters and the Preface are not designed to affirm his literary ideas, the concept of self-discipline is an important starting point for him to consider literary and artistic issues.
On the one hand, Tang Taizong believed that the art of writing was not only not the focus of attention of the emperor, but also had to follow the principle of "saving to neutralize". Tang Taizong refused Qianlong's request to compile a collection of essays for him because in his eyes, the most important thing for the "lord of man" was virtue, and there was no need to evaluate it according to the article.
If the ruler is better than the article and shorter than the country, or even overthrows the society, he will be ridiculed by posterity. Tang Taizong regarded articles such as rhetoric that could not be "politically" and "beneficial to people" as a small way, and disdained them as the basis for "immortality", which shows that the starting point of his judgment of articles lies in whether they have a political indoctrination function.
Tang Taizong's criterion for judging this is not whether there is a part of the article that assists the political religion, but whether the political indoctrination factor occupies the main position in the chapter. Yang Xiong, Sima Xiangru, and Ban Guzhi, who were belittled by Emperor Taizong of Tang, were all satirical works.
Tang Taizong's love of literature was largely as a form of entertainment. First, among the 109 poems handed down by Tang Taizong, there are a considerable number of works that make the moon and entertain the heart.
Nearly 40 poems were written at the time of youxing and feasting, through depicting the joy of feasting and drinking, in order to polish the hongye and praise the taiping. Tang Taizong not only created such poems himself, but also praised Yang Shidao, Xu Jingzong and others who were able to create such poems.
It can be seen that for Tang Taizong, fu poetry is an important part of traveling and feasting, that is, an important part of the entertainment of the eyes and ears.
Unlike his predecessors, Tang Taizong was always very sober, he could consciously restrain his hobbies and would not let them affect governance, which was why Tang Taizong repeatedly confessed in his poetry creation that he was obscene and abided by Yazheng.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > conclusion</h1>
To sum up, Tang Taizong has always been cautious about literature and art.
Although he loved and admired rhetoric as a lover of literature and a poet, he was also able to soberly realize that he was a politician and a king rather than a literati.
In Tang Taizong's view, literature and art is a form of pleasure for the emperor who needs to be diligent and self-denying in order to set an example for the world, whether it is the pleasure of the eyes and ears, or the cultivation of emotions, it is not a proper cause, and once indulged in it, it may have an adverse impact on the governance of the country.
Therefore, it is necessary to restrain literature and art from the aspects of form and content, so that it does not make people indulge, but also can supplement the enlightenment, and the yazheng he advocates is also based on this foundation.
Tang Taizong's political initiative to restore liturgy with Renzheng Wang Dao as the starting point also included the literary and artistic concept of replacing Zheng Weizhiyin with the style of Yawen, which happened to be in line with the traditional Confucian poetic thought.
It can be seen from this that Tang Taizong's self-disciplined and poetic concept of Mingzhi should be based on political needs, and he mainly promoted Confucian poetry by administrative means from the perspective of the ruler, rather than summarizing the essence of literature from theory.
The specific understanding and theoretical summary of the essence and function of literature are yet to be completed by other zhenguan courtiers.