First of all, poetry is a stylistic situation for literati to express their personal feelings. Words were not popular in the Tang Dynasty, only poems were popular, especially five-character quatrains and seven-character quatrains.
Literati in the Tang Dynasty didn't necessarily love to write poems, but there were no other ways to express them. Unlike popular words in the Song Dynasty, popular songs in the Yuan Dynasty and popular novels in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there are various forms of expression. Moreover, compared with the previous generation, the form of Tang poetry has been improved and its style is relatively rich. Poets like Du Fu can also write long narrative poems.
Moreover, poetry is the mainstream, so there is enthusiasm for writing poetry, including now, which is mainly based on novels. People who can't write novels can't survive in the writer circle at all.
Poetry is an important medium.
There were no newspapers and other media in ancient times, only the most traditional way of writing books. If you can collect your own poems and publish them, you will improve your influence invisibly.
Like Li Bai, because he became famous too early, he didn't want to take the imperial examination for various reasons, but he really wanted to be an official. what should he do ？ I will write my idea of serving the officials (pleading for the people) in my poems, so that I will be favored by the upper class.
This is how Li Bai became an official.
Moreover, there are some poems in the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Jinshi Examination was partly about poetry, just like the civil servants' application now, there are always topics about literature. Think about it and regret it. The total score of the national examination history is only 8 points short of the interview, and the test answer is particularly good. As a result, because of poor writing, I failed the public examination. Alas, I vaguely remember that it was raining that night, as if all my efforts were dripping.
Therefore, in modern society, if you want to stand out in the exam, you should not only learn well in all aspects, but also write well, and you can't be partial! The same is true of ancient imperial examinations. Poetry, as an important form of examination, should certainly be taken seriously.
In this case, poetry was not only tested in the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty, but also became an important communication medium and style for literati. If you want to be a scholar, take out a few poems first.
Wang Bo's Preface to Wang Tengting, Li Bai's Into the Wine and Bai Juyi's Song of Eternal Sorrow not only established their position in literature, but also at that time, everyone would recite and sing songs similar to the present sea.