In order to expand the ruling base, the rulers of Sui and Tang dynasties not only took economic measures, but also opposed the nine-product system that protected the privileges of the gentry since Wei and Jin Dynasties, implemented the imperial examination, and selected officials through examinations in Ming Classics, Jinshi and other subjects. Many prime ministers and generals were born in imperial examinations, which opened up a broader road for many middle and lower landlord class literati and inspired their illusions about fame and fortune. In religious culture, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Classics of Confucianism and Taoism are listed as the important contents of the imperial examination, and Buddhism is also advocated by Wuhou and Xianzong, and other religions and theories are not excluded, which is also a very favorable condition for literati to be active in thought. The ranks of writers have expanded. Many writers come from the middle and lower landlord classes and have experienced different degrees of tempering in their lives. They are more familiar with social conditions and people's feelings than the upper-class literati in Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties, and their thoughts, feelings and mental outlook are richer and more energetic than them. "A hundred schools of thought contend", "Speak well of Wang Ba" and "please Ren Xia" became the common fashion of many literati in the Tang Dynasty. Politically, they often talk about "helping the poor, protecting the country and defending the country" and "being loyal to Yao and Shun". Han Yu takes the world as his own responsibility to develop Buddhism and Taoism, and Liu Zongyuan's On Feudalism advocates "making the world public" on the premise of affirming the imperial system. This active state of mind has a far-reaching influence on literature. Confucianism's thought of benevolent governance has obviously had a good influence on the creation of realistic poets such as Du Fu and Bai Juyi. The Taoist thought of ignoring etiquette and only keeping in touch with the spirit of heaven and earth has also shined in the works of romantic poets such as Li Bai. In addition, the spread of Buddhism not only has an impact on the thoughts of writers such as Wang Wei, but also has a great effect on the change of singing methods such as essays. Of course, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism also have a negative impact on literature.
2. National reunification
The unprecedented unification of the country has also provided favorable conditions for the prosperity of literature. In the past, due to the opposition between North and South, cultural development took different paths. Academically, it is "Southerners simplify and get their English and Chinese; Beixue is deeply sad and has poor branches and leaves. " Literature says that "Jiangzuo Palace is more expensive than Qing Dynasty; The righteousness of harmony is more important than temperament. " But since the reunification of the Sui Dynasty, the two sides began to absorb each other. Literati in the early Tang Dynasty put forward more clearly the requirement of "learning from each other's strengths" (Biography of Sui Shu Literature). This wish has finally come true under the unified situation. The poems in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and the ancient prose in the middle Tang Dynasty reflect the vast situation of Wang Yang Sea where the North and South cultures meet. At the same time, the unification of the country and the development of land and water transportation have also broadened the writer's life vision. Writers in the Tang Dynasty, such as Li, Du, Gao, Cen, Yuan, Bai, Han, Liu, etc., traveled a lot and made many friends. Their birth status and ideological character were different, which was beyond the reach of scholars in the Six Dynasties and even many in the Han Dynasty. It is particularly noteworthy that in the Tang Dynasty, the relations among ethnic groups in China were more harmonious, and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries were more active than in the past. China's traditional music, dance, painting, sculpture, and even diet and clothing in daily life have been greatly influenced by other national cultures. In the Tang Dynasty, ten pieces of music, such as Yan Music, Qing Music, Xiliang Music and Gaochang Music, were established on the basis of China's national music and foreign music. In terms of dance, sword dance and Hu Xuan dance also come from the western regions. In painting, foreign colors and smudge techniques were absorbed, and many magnificent murals in Dunhuang appeared, as well as painting masters such as Yan, Wu Daozi, Wang Wei. The development of various arts has greatly promoted the development of literature. Known as "painting in poetry", Wang Wei's landscape poems are obviously positively influenced by landscape painting. The development of music not only contributed to the singing of poetry, but also directly contributed to the birth of ci. What is more noteworthy is that it absorbed the essence of other national cultures and greatly enriched the spiritual life of the Tang people. When we read Li Qi's, Cen Can's and Du Fu's poems about music, dance and painting, we can see the rich content and fresh vitality of artistic creation at that time, and we can also see the spirit of the times that writers dare to accept new things. Lu Xun said: "Think about how many people in China have let go. New animals and plants are just not afraid of mending patterns." Tang people are not weak. For example, the stone beasts in front of the Han tomb are mostly sheep, tigers, tianlu and evil spirits. On the Zhaoling Mountain in Chang 'an, however, there are carved steeds with arrows and an ostrich, which is unprecedented. ..... Although the Han and Tang Dynasties also suffered from the border, they were very courageous, and the people had the confidence not to be foreign slaves, or they never thought about it and never cared about it. "(Looking at the mirror at the grave) This kind of courage and self-confidence comes from the strength and unity of the country.
3. The reasons of literature itself
The prosperity of Tang literature is also the result of the continuous development of literature itself. From the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, literature experienced a long historical development process and accumulated rich heritage in poetry, prose and novels. The establishment and development of the glorious traditions of realism and romanticism, the expression of different ideological tendencies, the exploration of different subject areas, the excavation of different stylistic features, the application of temperament, the creation of language style and the innovation of techniques all provided valuable wealth for the development of Tang literature, and left many profound lessons. These are the necessary conditions for the prosperity of Tang literature. However, what deserves more attention is the attitude of critical inheritance and innovation adopted by writers in the Tang Dynasty. During the Sui and early Tang Dynasties, although the formal poetic style of Qi and Liang Dynasties was still dominant, at the early Tang Dynasty, four people began to express their opposition. When they arrived, they worked harder to sweep away the poetic style of Qi and Liang Dynasties, flaunted the traditions of "elegance and vulgarity" and "Han and Wei Dynasties" and realized retro innovation. Li Bai inherited Chen Ziang's innovative spirit, saying that "since Jian 'an came, beauty is not precious". At the same time, he studied Chu Ci and Yuefu, created a unique romantic poetry style, and completed the mission of poetry innovation. When he arrived in Du Fu, he summed up his own creative experience and clearly put forward the idea of "not getting rid of the false body and getting rid of elegance, but benefiting many teachers", which has both criticism and inheritance, paying attention to both the spirit of content and the form of melody. Because of this, his realistic poetry can "learn from the strengths of the past and the present and be unique" and undertake the important task of connecting the past with the future. Bai Juyi's "Writing for Time, Poetry for Things" reveals the realistic tradition of China's poetry more deeply. In prose, on the one hand, Han Yu criticized the style of writing in the Six Dynasties: "the voice is clear and ethereal, the poem is urgent, the words are obscene and sad, the ambition is extravagant, and the words are disorderly and disorganized", but he did not completely abolish the words, and his thought of "saying things without saying them" was also inspired by the literati in the Southern Dynasties. These outstanding writers in the Tang Dynasty all showed a spirit of * * * which was both critical and inherited. Although the criteria of their criticism and the purpose of inheritance are obviously different from ours, this spirit of not falling at the feet of the ancients and learning from them modestly enables them to learn from the ancients instead of imitating them, inheriting them and creating something. This is very precious.
4. The defense of the ruler
The emperors of the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to poetry, and all of them were capable of poetry. The poems of Emperor Taizong and Xuanzong were praised by some literati. The marquis of Wu hosted a banquet for his ministers, and the best poems written by Song Dynasty were given royal robes. After Wang Wei's death, Dai Zong was very concerned about the compilation of his poems. Xuanzong once wrote poems to commemorate Bai Juyi, which was helpful to advocate poetic style and improve the reputation of poets. As we know, in the Tang Dynasty, the subject of Jinshi was particularly emphasized, so there was a proverb that "thirty-year-olds learn the classics, fifty learn less" (admonition). Poetry is one of the important contents of Jinshi examination. The so-called "Xiao Dan's way lies in five words." This system has also played a certain role for ordinary literati to pay attention to the training of poetry skills and the mastery of poetry forms.
People's love for poetry became a universal trend in the Tang Dynasty. There are many works of monks, Taoist priests, nuns, maids, geisha and anonymous in the whole Tang poetry, which shows that poetry is not the exclusive product of a few literati in the Tang Dynasty. Many novels in the Tang Dynasty quoted poems, and a large number of five-character poems and seven-character poems were used as lyrics in popular literature, which showed the people's love for poems. Gao Shi, Wang Changling and Wang Zhihuan listened to the story of geisha singing poems in the flag pavilion, and the fact that Bai Juyi's poems were read by "princes and nobles, concubines, oxen and horses", we can even imagine the grand occasion of the works of famous poets being widely circulated among the people. This intimate relationship between poetry and the masses is unimaginable for poets in the past. This is of course the result of the prosperity of Tang poetry, but in turn it is also the promoting force of poetry creation.
China's ancient literature with a long history developed into a new stage of all-round prosperity in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, and the whole literary world appeared an unprecedented situation since the Warring States Period. Among them, the development of poetry has reached a highly mature golden age. In less than 300 years in the Tang Dynasty, there were nearly 50,000 poems left over, more than two or three times as many as those left over from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties 1600 and 700. There are about fifty or sixty famous poets with unique styles, which greatly exceeds the sum of famous poets from the Warring States to the Southern and Northern Dynasties.