The literary innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty after the ancient prose movement in the Tang Dynasty. It mainly opposes the floating style of writing represented by Kunxi style and advocates the innovation of poetry and prose. In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, faced with the land annexation of Japanese dramas, various social contradictions became increasingly exposed and political struggles became increasingly acute. Some enlightened middle and lower-class literati advocated eliminating social ills and demanding that literature reflect reality, but Kunxi style, which was popular in the literary world at that time, could not undertake such a historical mission at all. Therefore, praise Han Yu and Bai Juyi, and oppose Quincy's literary reflection of becoming a political reformer. The development of the poetry innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty can be divided into three stages.
The first stage, from the founding of Song Taizu to the real clan dynasty, is the initial stage. The pioneers are Liu Kai, Wang Yucheng, Mu Xiu and Shi Jie. Liu Kai raised the banner of "respecting Korea" for the first time, and put forward the idea of emphasizing the importance of practicality, advocating simplicity, preaching enlightenment and opposing extravagant style of writing. Wang Yucheng also advocated the restoration of Confucian classics, advocated the writing of ancient prose by "preaching and dispelling doubts", emphasized the "literary consistency" of Han Yu's literary theory, and praised Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi's poems reflecting reality. In Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, Shi Jie criticized Quincy's "adding branches and leaves, gardening" and "hurting the saints". Their poems showed the initial achievements of the poetry innovation movement, but failed to put forward new and practical theoretical views on poetry, which had little influence at that time, and there was a tendency to attach importance to Taoism and neglect the language form of the article. Except Wang Yucheng, their creative achievements are not high.
The second stage, during the Song Renzong period, was the climax of the movement. Representative writers are Fan Zhongyan, Li Gou, Shi Yannian, Mei, Song Qi, Ouyang Xiu, Su and his son, Wang Anshi,. First, Fan Zhongyan proposed to reform the style of writing and avoid glitz, which was supported by the court, so people who reformed the style of writing emerged one after another. Li Gou asked for literary talent and opposed imitation. Athena Chu gave up parallel prose and devoted himself to simple and beautifully written ancient prose. Su Shunqin believes that the fundamental purpose of writing is to "alert the public" and "make up for losses", and opposes taking beauty as the victory, and advocates that "morality wins and then vibrates". Mei's poetry theory emphasizes that writing poetry should be based on emotion and comparison. It holds that poetry should be realistic and beautiful to reality, opposes the floating poetic style of Quincy School, and advocates simple language and plain style. Later Ouyang Xiu, later Su and Mei, was the leader of the whole poetry innovation movement. He deliberately echoed the poetry innovation movement with the requirements of political reform, so that the criticism of ancient prose, poetry and literary theory served the real struggle. Literature advocates plain and simple writing style, and advocates that articles should be used in this world. Reflected in the relationship between literature and Taoism, it emphasizes the decisive role of Taoism in literature, and holds that Taoism should be easy to understand and can be followed, not unattainable. He is opposed to such high-sounding articles with fresh facts. In writing, it emphasizes simplicity, advocates simplicity and regularity, and opposes the pursuit of adventure. Ouyang Xiu also created a new style of commenting on poetry and prose, and his "June 1st" poem contains many incisive literary and poetic opinions. In addition, Ouyang Xiu reformed the Imperial Examination, deposed essays of CET-4 and CET-6, vigorously advocated creative style, and strived to promote backwardness. Ouyang Xiu's above ideas and measures pushed the poetry innovation movement to a climax.
The third stage, from Song Yingzong Dynasty to Zhezong Dynasty, is the completion stage of the poetry innovation movement, represented by Wang Anshi, Ceng Gong, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan and others. Su Shi, on the other hand, is the literary leader after Ouyang Xiu. He emphasized that writing should be emotional, attached great importance to the literary value of articles, required writers to have meticulous and keen observation and a high degree of artistic accomplishment, and advocated that writing should adopt different forms of expression from different contents, be artistic and natural, and pay attention to rules and regulations. His poems and ci fu both embody the highest achievements of literature in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The poetic innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty, after the ancient prose movement in the Tang Dynasty, once again promoted the development of ancient literature, especially prose and literary theory, and had a great influence on later generations. Since then, the ancient tradition of China, represented by the Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, has been regarded as authentic. But at the same time, the prose of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty was imitated by the ancient prose movement, which showed the historical limitations of this movement.