Tang Dynasty (618-907) was a period of blooming and flourishing poetry; it produced many great poets. 《The Complete Poetry of Tang》 compiled during the Kangxi Period of Qing Dynasty consists of 900 volumes, more than 48,900 poems by more than 2,300 poets were included in it. Forms of poetry also varied, aside from the frequent “Wu Yan”ancient form, “Qi Yan（seven-character a line poem）”, Jue Ju (four-line form) of both Wu Yan and Qi Yan, Lu Shi (eight-line form) of both Wu Yan and Qi Yan and new formats of “Yue Fu” were all fashionable at the time. Rich and colorful contents and styles of Tang poetry reflected the high spirit of the time and the power of the state.
Affected by the nation-wide farmers’ uprising at the end of Sui Dynasty, the rulers of Tang who seized power by using the uprising, could not but give considerations to the demands of farmers in their systems and policies at the initial period of their rule, and thus created favorable conditions for the development of production and the prosperity of economy. Tang Dynasty ended 400 years of disorder caused by separated regimes and became very powerful. The “Kai Yuan”period during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, which has been referred to as the “Flourishing Tang”, witnessed peace and prosperity all over the country.
Du Fu described this period in his poem “忆昔, Yi Xi, Remembering the Past” as the following:
忆昔开元全盛日， Yi xi kai yuan quan sheng ri,
小邑犹藏万家室。 Xiao yi you cang wan jia shi.
稻米流脂粟米白， Dao mi liu zhi su mi bai,
公私仓廪俱丰实。 Gong si cang lin ju feng shi.
九州道路无豺虎， Jiu zhou dao lu wu chai hu,
远行不劳吉日出。 Yuan xing bu lao ji ri chu.
齐纨鲁缟车班班， Qi wan lu gao che ban ban,
男耕女桑不相失。 Nan geng nu sang bu xiang shi.
A Portrait of Du Fu
Thinking of the past flourishing days of Kaiyuan,
A small city could house ten thousand families.
Rice looked greasy and corns white,
Public and private barns were all full.
Neither jackal nor tiger appeared on all the roads,
No need to pick a good day for a long trip.
Fine silk of Qi and White silk of Lu were being transported,
Man’s farming and woman’s weaving were all done in time.
Political unity and economic prosperity naturally boomed culture. Foreign cultures, which were brought in together with trade from other countries, broadened people’s vision. Music, dances, painting, arts and crafts were being developed in new styles. Poetry, the most effective means of expression, after shaking off the yokes of formalism which pursued flowery words and tonal patterns and fashion since Qi and Liang Kingdoms of the Southern Dynasty, found its own way to compliment with the greatness of the time.
The first hundred years saw neither great poet nor great poems. Yet, we have to remember the names of Lu Zhaolin and Luo Binwang who gave new contents to the “palace form poems” which was quite popular in the 6th century; and the names of Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen who laid down the basis of the modern form of poetry, i.e., the basis of “Wu Lu” and “Qi Lu”. Chen Ziang (656-698) ardently redressed the soft and decadent tendency since the late period of the 5th century and promoted the “vigorous style of Han and Wei”. Chen’s “感遇诗, Gan Yu Shi, Touched by the Encounter” was his efforts in learning the vehemence of the Jian An period. But Chen didn’t have enough influence. It was 李白 (Li Bai 701-762) who changed the whole picture of poetry and portrayed vividly the age of the “Flourishing Tang”. Li Bai said, “To restore to the old way, if not me, who else?” He wrote 59 poems under the title of “Ancient Style”and in the name of “restoring to the old ways”and with numerous creations (some 900 poems are available today), he was able to channel poetry into the realistic path which was closely related to the life of the people.
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