However, there is no consensus on the reasons for the prosperity of Tang poetry. Although the debate continues, it is difficult to unify. There are mainly the following viewpoints.
Sister Liu's History of China Literature (Classical Literature Publishing House, 1957 edition) puts forward three reasons:
First, the transfer of the poet's identity. It is believed that the richness of Tang poetry involves all aspects, on the one hand, because the status of poets has changed. Most of the poets before the Tang Dynasty were in the hands of monarchs and nobles, while most of the poets in the Tang Dynasty came from the people. They all have rich life experiences and profound experience of the real society. For example, Gao Shi, Cen Can, Wang Changling, Li Bai, Du Fu, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Meng Jiao, Zhang Ji, Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi all struggled out of poverty or vagrancy. "The imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty broke the door-to-door system of the past few hundred years, enabling middle-and lower-class intellectuals to enter the political arena through examinations. This not only reflects the political progress, but also reflects the literary progress. This is a new era of cultural popularization and liberation. From then on, the oppressed intellectuals in the middle and lower classes got the opportunity to develop freely in politics and culture, so literary creation broke through the shackles of aristocratic literature in the Six Dynasties, profoundly and widely reflected people's lives and feelings, and enriched and improved the content and form of literature. It is the most important reason for the development and brilliance of Tang poetry from the poetry world mastered by monarchs and nobles to the middle and lower intellectuals. "
Second, the advocacy of the ruling class. Taking Emperor Taizong, Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Wuhou, Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Xuanzong as examples, Ms. Liu explained that all the rulers in the Tang Dynasty loved literature and music and respected elegance and integrity, especially in the imperial examinations, which made poetry a "southern shortcut for literati to become officials" and a "compulsory course for young people". This vigorous advocacy makes the prosperity and popularization of poetry an "inevitable phenomenon".
Third, the law of the evolution of poetic style. Seven-character rhythmic poems began to form in the Six Dynasties, which laid a good foundation in form, rhythm and rhetoric. On this basis, the poets in the Tang Dynasty showed their talents and "completed the unfinished life of poetry itself", thus achieving brilliant achievements. In addition, the integration of North-South styles and national creativity are also factors that can not be ignored in the prosperity of Tang poetry. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, although the two regimes were antagonistic, the tide of cultural and blood communication never stopped. By the unification of the Tang Dynasty, the style of writing between the north and the south was further integrated, forming a new style, which showed the strong creativity of the nation.
The History of China Literature compiled by Chinese Department of Peking University 1955 analyzes the reasons for the prosperity of Tang poetry from many aspects, but the most emphasis is the economic prosperity and class struggle in the Tang Dynasty. The book says:
As mentioned above, the prosperity of the country, the peace and stability of society and the prosperity and happiness of life not only make the poets "travel far and wide", enrich their life experiences and broaden their horizons, but also cultivate their optimistic spirit and ideals of making contributions to the motherland and inspire their love for the mountains and rivers of the motherland. Inevitable internal contradictions in class society and the poet's personal political frustration directly or indirectly make the poet contact with reality and face it squarely, thus giving birth to their rebellious spirit or critical spirit towards reality.
This "perspective" of analyzing problems obviously has the political characteristics of the times, but it is not unreasonable. Peking University 1955 The history of China literature reveals other reasons similar to that of Mr. Sister Liu.
The Draft of China Literature History compiled by the Chinese Department of Jilin University pays more attention to finding the reasons from the social, political and economic basis. They believe that the main reasons are as follows: first, the rulers learned from history and adopted some concession policies for farmers, which eased class contradictions, restored and developed productive forces, and the feudal economy was relatively prosperous, and culture and art also flourished; Second, the Tang Dynasty constantly consolidated the frontier defense and expanded its territory, which promoted the trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Third, the rise of commercial cities and the formation of citizen class; Fourth, due to the implementation of the imperial examination system, the intellectuals of small and medium-sized landlords became the basic relying force for rule. These four aspects have played a positive role in promoting the development of Tang literature.
One of the reasons mentioned in The History of China Literature (People's Literature Publishing House, version 1962) compiled by the Institute of Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences has not been mentioned in academic circles before, that is, "literature is forbidden". The book says:
As far as the whole Tang Dynasty is concerned, it is a period of prosperity and rise of feudal society. Rulers still have some confidence in their own ruling power, and the ban on literature is relatively loose, unlike the previous generation of rulers in Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties who banned literature more strictly and cruelly.
The book believes that this reason is very important to the development of literature.
The History of China Literature edited by You Guoen and others (People's Literature Publishing House, 1963 edition) reveals the reasons that are slightly different from others. There are two differences: first, the poets in the Tang Dynasty adopted a critical attitude of inheritance and innovation to literary heritage. They neither fell at the feet of the ancients nor learned from them modestly. Secondly, poetry is widely circulated among the people, which is the result of the prosperity of Tang poetry, which in turn promotes the development of poetry creation.
Ma Maoyuan also discussed the reasons for the prosperity of Tang poetry in Selected Poems of Tang Dynasty (People's Literature Publishing House, 1963 edition). He mainly talked about three points: first, poets in the Tang Dynasty inherited and carried forward the excellent tradition of previous poetry; Second, attach importance to folk literature and draw nutrition from it; Third, "poetry does not speak the law"; "They are not bound by any harmful literary dogmatism and artistic dogmatism. Because of the failure to analyze it from the perspective of social foundation & political economy, horse was also criticized by people at that time.
After 1979, the forbidden area of literary criticism was broken, and the discussion on the reasons for the prosperity of Tang poetry became active again. In the 1 issue of that year, Liang's article was published in Literary Review, which made a discussion on the previous views. It is considered that it is a "vulgarization tendency" to directly link the prosperity of poetry with the prosperity of economy, which is also inconsistent with the actual situation of the development of Tang poetry. For example, the economic prosperity of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan period did not bring the climax of poetry. In addition, the author does not agree to regard the landlord class in The Common People as the main class foundation and decisive force for the prosperity of Tang poetry, and thinks that this statement exaggerates the significance of the struggle between the world and society and the progress of the landlord class in The Common People. In fact, the concept of "landlord in cloth" is extremely complicated. It is doubtful whether it is a unified class and whether it can form an independent political force. In the same issue of Literary Review, Huang Fuguan's article "The Relationship between Choosing Scholars by Poetry and the Prosperity of Tang Poetry" was published, which put forward different opinions that the imperial examination system with poetry as the topic was the direct cause of the prosperity of Tang poetry, and held that "the imperial examination system is only an examination system, which can be used by both ordinary landlords and clan landlords." "On the whole, it is not in line with historical facts that the Tang Dynasty chose scholars with poetry and fu, which contributed to the prosperity of Tang poetry. Because in the hundred years of the early Tang Dynasty, it goes without saying that the literati had not been selected by poetry and fu, and even the final finalization of the orthodox poetry had to be finalized in Shen Quanqi and Song Dynasty at that time, not to mention the use of five-character laws to test the literati as later. However, in the early Tang Dynasty, there were no scholars who recruited sages by poetry, and poetry was quite prosperous. It can be seen that there are other more important reasons for the prosperity of Tang poetry. "
After that, many experts still insist that economic prosperity is directly related to the prosperity of Tang poetry. Wang Shuizhao's article "On the Reasons for the Prosperity of Tang Poetry" (No.7 of Literary Criticism) analyzes the concrete contents of the relationship: ① The economic prosperity provides the necessary material conditions and a good creative environment for the poet's creation. The strong national strength caused by economic prosperity directly affects the creative spirit of Tang poetry, namely "vigorous and promising ideals" and "open realm and high-spirited atmosphere shown by different themes and genres". The development of transportation, tourism and commerce caused by economic prosperity has promoted the enrichment of poetry content and the expansion of theme. (4) Economic prosperity provides material means for the publication and circulation of poetry ("publication and circulation" refers to mailing, donation, "warm scroll", title wall, etc. ).
The recently published History of China Literature edited by Zhang et al. (Fudan University Press, 1996, 1 edition) emphasizes the positive influence of the coexistence of various ideas on the prosperity of Tang poetry. The book said: Obviously, Confucianism was recognized as orthodoxy in the Tang Dynasty, and Confucian classics were a must-read book for scholars. In the imperial examinations of Jinshi and Mingjing, it is also required to read Confucian classics. Moreover, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, some scholars have called for the revival of Confucianism from time to time. All these prove that the status of Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty was higher than that in the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties. However, Confucianism has not gained a dominant position. Taoism and Buddhism, whether in the ruling clique or in the whole society, are not less valued than it. This pluralistic state of mind makes the ideological circle more free and active, and literary creation is rarely prohibited.
Renzhi's opinion is not unreasonable. However, it is not comprehensive enough to say which one is unique. Can all the above points be listed as the reasons for prosperity? (Zhu Hengfu, see "The Mystery in the History of China Literature-A Collection of Poems and Songs")