King Luo Bin (about 638-about 684)
A native of Yiwu, Zhejiang Province today. Writer in the early Tang Dynasty. He was very smart and talented since he was a child. He once served as a censor, which was considered a very high official at the time. However, he offended many people and was imprisoned not long after he became an official. After his release, he was demoted to Linhai, Zhejiang Province as county magistrate. He is good at writing seven-character songs and five-character poems, with a high tone and bold style. Together with Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, and Lu Zhaolin at that time, they were collectively known as the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty".
Li Qiao (about 645-about 714)
A native of Zanhuang, Zhaozhou, Hebei, he was a poet of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, he passed the Jinshi examination and met the emperors Gaozong, Empress Wu and Zhongzong successively, and served as Zhongshu Ling. Most of his poems took the wind, moon, rain, and dew as themes, with fresh language and emphasis on rhythm. He was very famous at that time.
He Zhizhang (659-about 744)
He was a native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province and a poet of the Tang Dynasty. He has a wild personality and likes to drink. He calls himself "Siming Kuangke" and is Li Bai's good friend. During her period as Empress Wu Zetian, she passed the imperial examination and served as a guest of the prince, secretary, supervisor, and other officials. In her later years, she retired and returned to her hometown and became a Taoist priest. He was famous for writing poems when he was young, and he was especially good at writing poems about landscapes and poems about objects. His poems are fresh and popular, with beautiful artistic conception. He is also famous for his calligraphy, and his cursive and official scripts are particularly good.
Wang Zhihuan (688-742)
His courtesy name was Ji Ling, a native of Taiyuan, Shanxi. A famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He served as county magistrate Bo, county captain and other minor officials. Because he was falsely accused, he gave up being an official and wandered around. His poems are as famous as Gao Shi, Cen Shen and Wang Changling, and have similar styles. Most of their contents describe the scenery of the frontier and show a passionate and enterprising outlook on life.
Meng Haoran (689-740)
A native of Xiangyang, Hubei Province today. Twelve years older than Li Bai, he was a famous poet in the prosperous Tang Dynasty whom Li Bai admired. In his early years, he lived in seclusion in his hometown of Lumen Mountain, reading and writing poetry. When he was 40 years old, he went to Chang'an, the capital, to take the imperial examination. He failed the exam and was very frustrated. After returning home, he still lived in seclusion. His poems are mainly about pastoral and reclusive life, with a quiet and distant style. Author of "Meng Haoran Collection".
Wang Han
The date of birth and death is unknown, and he was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Poet of Tang Dynasty. Born as a Jinshi, he was recruited as secretary Zhengzi during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and was later demoted to Daozhou Sima. He was heroic by nature, good at writing and poetry, and was especially famous for writing frontier fortress poems.
Wang Changling (about 698-about 756)
A native of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He served as a minor official for several terms, but was demoted many times. He is famous for his frontier poems, and his lyric poems are equally popular. His poems are powerful and high-spirited. Author of "Wang Changling Collection".
Wang Wei (about 701-761)
His courtesy name was Mojie, and he was a native of Yongji, Shanxi Province today. A famous poet in the Tang Dynasty. He served as Zuo Shiyi, Shangshu Youcheng and other officials. In his later years, he practiced Zen and believed in Buddhism, and lived a half-official and half-hidden pastoral life. He is versatile and has high attainments in poetry, music, painting, calligraphy, etc. Most of his landscape poems describe empty and tranquil natural scenery. They are meticulously depicted, vivid and expressive, and full of charm, reaching the realm of "paintings within poems, poetry within paintings".
Li Bai (701-762)
His courtesy name was Taibai, his alias was Qinglian Jushi. His ancestral home was in Jingning, Gansu Province. He was born in Suiye (in present-day Kyrgyzstan). He was a great figure in the Tang Dynasty. Romantic poet. In his youth, he traveled around the world and made many friends. Li Bai was talented, erudite, proficient in swordsmanship, and wanted to make contributions to the country. He served as an official twice in his life, but was either squeezed out by the eunuchs or exiled by the emperor. He was very frustrated. The poems he wrote have a majestic and bold style, rich imagination, natural language flow, harmonious and changeable melodies, and are very artistically appealing. Later generations called Li Bai "the Immortal of Poetry".
Gao Shi (approximately 700-765)
Zi Dafu, a native of Jingxian County, Hebei Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He lived a wandering life in his early years and was very frustrated. He was relatively familiar with the scenery of the frontier and military life, and his poems mostly reflected the situation on the frontier and the suffering of the soldiers at that time.
Du Fu (712-770)
Zimei, who called himself Shaoling Yelao, was a native of Gongyi, Henan Province. A great realist poet of the Tang Dynasty, he is as famous as Li Bai and is known as "Li Du" in the world. In his early years, he traveled around the north and south, and met many friends including Li Bai on the way. I went to Chang'an, the capital, twice to take the exam, but failed both times. Du Fu had great ambitions in his life, but unfortunately he had no chance to realize them. He once worked as Zuo Shiyi and worked beside the emperor. Soon he offended the emperor because of his outspokenness and was dismissed from his official position. During the Anshi Rebellion, he moved around everywhere. Later, with the help of friends, he built a thatched cottage in the western suburbs of Chengdu, Sichuan and temporarily settled down. At that time, Yan Wu, the military governor who was guarding Jiannan, saw that Du Fu was very talented, so he asked him to serve as a member of the staff school's engineering department, so later generations also called Du Fu "Du Gongbu". After Yan Wu's death, Du Fu lost his support in life and began to wander around again. At the age of fifty-nine, he died on a ship from Changsha to Yueyang. The content of Du Fu's poems is extremely broad and profound, comprehensively reflecting the process of Tang Dynasty society from prosperity to decline, and has won the reputation of "epic". His poems have diverse themes and are full of changes, their style is deep and melancholic, their language is ups and downs, and thought-provoking, reaching the level of proficiency. Du Fu was revered as the "Sage of Poetry" by later generations. Author of "Collection of Du Gongbu".
Meng Jiao (751-814)
His courtesy name was Dongye, and he was a native of Deqing, Zhejiang Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. When he was young, he lived in seclusion in Songshan Mountain. He had an upright personality and rarely interacted with others. He was a Jinshi in his late fifties and served as a minor official. He was the most admired poet by Han Yu, but he lived in poverty all his life and was called the "poor Master Mencius". Most of his poems express the injustice in his heart, express his feelings of poverty, sorrow and loneliness, and also reflect some folk sufferings. He is good at using line drawing techniques to describe scenes and emotions, with simple and deep poetic style and concise language.
Liu Zongyuan (773-819)
Zihou, a native of Yuncheng, Shanxi. He became a Jinshi at the age of twenty-five. At that time, Tang Shunzong hoped to rely on Wang Shuwen, a Hanlin scholar, to carry out political reforms. The reform harmed the interests of the eunuchs. The eunuchs with military power forced Shunzong to give way to Xianzong, and Wang Shuwen was killed. Liu Zongyuan, who participated in the reform, was demoted to Yongzhou Sima, and was demoted to Shaozhou, Yongzhou, and Liuzhou successively. Liu Zongyuan was a famous writer and philosopher in the Tang Dynasty, and one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties". He has high attainments in poetry and prose creation, and is especially famous for his landscape travel notes and fables. His poems are fresh and refined, and he is good at describing natural scenery.
Jia Dao (779-843)
Zi Langxian, a native of Zhuozhou, Hebei. Poet of Tang Dynasty. In his early years, he failed in many examinations and became a monk. Therefore, most of his poems describe the desolate and lonely artistic conception. When he wrote poems, he focused on refining words and sentences, and was known as a painstaking poet. Legend has it that Jia Dao rode a donkey to Beijing to take the exam, reciting poems while traveling. At that time, he thought of the sentence "The bird stayed in the tree beside the pond, and the monk knocked on the door under the moon". The word "knock" in it first wanted to use "push", and then he wanted to use "knock". After thinking about it, he couldn't decide, so he kept thinking. Making "push" and "knock" gestures, he bumped into someone else's carriage. Fortunately, the person sitting in the carriage was Han Yu, a famous writer at the time. Not only did Han Yu not blame him, but he discussed with him and believed that "knocking" was better than "pushing". This is where the word "examination" comes from.
Zhang Ji
His birth and death dates are unknown, his courtesy name is Yisun, and he was born in Xiangfan, Hubei Province today. Poet of the Mid-Tang Dynasty. In the Jiangnan area, he worked as a salt and iron judge and a member of the school inspection and ancestral hall. He wrote many poems about travel and was good at using line drawing techniques to describe natural scenery. He is the author of "Collected Poems of Zhang Cibu".
Zhang Zhihe
His birth and death dates are unknown, his given name is Zi Tong, and he was born in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province today. A poet of the Tang Dynasty, he served as a minor official in the imperial court and later lived in seclusion, calling himself "Yanbo Diaotu". He is good at poetry and can paint, play drums and play the flute. Most of the poems describe the idle life in seclusion, with a fresh and natural style.
Lulun (748-about 799)
His courtesy name was Yunyan, and he was a native of Yongji, Shanxi Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He failed the Jinshi exam several times, and later served as a minor official for several terms. Most of his poems are about farewells and rewards, and there are also some beautiful landscape poems. What are most praised by later generations are his several quatrains that reflect life in the frontier. He is the author of "Collected Poems of Lu Lun".
Liu Yuxi (772-842)
Zi Mengde, a native of Luoyang, Henan Province. Tang Dynasty writer and philosopher. He and Bai Juyi joined the political reform faction headed by Wang Shuwen. After the failure of the reform, he was demoted to Sima of Langzhou, and later served as governor in Suzhou and other places. In his later years, he became an official in the imperial court. During his demotion, he wrote many poems reflecting the sufferings of the people. He was good at absorbing nutrients from folk songs, with vivid language and fresh style. He was unique in Tang poetry and had a great influence on later generations.
Bai Juyi (772-846)
His courtesy name was Letian, his name was Xiangshan Jushi, and he was a native of Weinan, Shaanxi Province. A great realist poet of the Tang Dynasty, one of the "Three Great Poets" (Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi) of the Tang Dynasty. He once served as a Hanlin bachelor and Zuo Shiyi. Because he dared to speak out and offended the emperor, he was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima. Later, he served as governor in Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places. There is a white embankment in West Lake in Hangzhou, which is said to have been built by Bai Juyi during his tenure. He is an active advocate of the New Yuefu Movement. His poems have vivid images and popular language. It is said that even old women can understand them.
Li Shen (772-846)
His courtesy name was Gongchui, a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He had a close relationship with Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi at that time, and jointly advocated the writing of New Yuefu. He passed the Jinshi examination during the Yuanhe period of the Tang Dynasty, and held a very high official position until he reached the position of prime minister. However, he was still very sympathetic to ordinary people, and in many poems he showed his concern for the poor lives of the people, which was very rare among officials in feudal society.
Du Mu (803-853)
His courtesy name was Muzhi, a native of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He advocated that writing articles should be "based on meaning" and express feelings. His poems describe scenes and scenes, are lyrical, fresh and vivid, and Qi Jue is particularly outstanding. Later generations called Du Fu "Old Du" and Du Mu "Little Du".
Li Shangyin (about 813-about 858)
His courtesy name was Yishan, and he was a native of Qinyang, Henan Province. A famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty. He lived in the era of the most intense sectarian struggle in the ruling group of the Tang Dynasty. He was related to the opposing factions Niu Sengru and Niu Deyu at that time. He became an innocent victim of the struggle between the two factions, so he felt very depressed in his heart. Many of the poems he wrote reflect this state of mind in twists and turns. His poems have beautiful words and tones, often use symbolic techniques, and are very romantic. His lyrical poetry has a sentimental mood and hazy artistic conception, which has a great influence on future generations.
Luo Yin (833-910)
Zhaojian, a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang Province today. Poet of Tang Dynasty. He lived in the great turmoil at the end of the Tang Dynasty and was very dissatisfied with the darkness of society at that time, so most of his poems were satirical works of reality. His poems are good at using spoken language and are widely circulated among the people.