Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty unified the whole country, ending 400 years of division and chaos since the end of Han Dynasty, and the society was once prosperous. After Yang Di succeeded to the throne, he was arrogant and extravagant, and launched wars of aggression many times, which seriously damaged social productive forces. In a few years, the economy was ruined, people's grievances were boiling, and the Sui Dynasty perished in people's uprisings in all directions.
Before and after the Sui Dynasty, it only ruled for more than 30 years, and most of the authors were old people in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, deeply influenced by the style of writing in the Southern Dynasties. In addition, Yang Di strongly advocated Liang Chengong's writing style, so the writing style is still very rampant in the literary world. However, due to the strengthening of the national situation and the victory of foreign wars in the early Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wendi once advocated the reform of writing style, and some fresh and vigorous works appeared in some poems in the early Sui Dynasty, especially in frontier poems. This also shows that the style of writing in the Sui Dynasty began to transition to the Tang Dynasty. Poetry in early Tang dynasty
Poetry in the early Tang Dynasty did not change rapidly with the unification and prosperity of politics and economy. On the contrary, the poetic style of Qi and Liang continued to dominate the poetic world with the power of emperors. Yu Shinan in the period of Emperor Taizong and Shangguan Yi in the period of Emperor Gaozong are both representatives of the favorite court poems of the emperor. Shen Quanqi and Song in the post-Wu period also created a large number of court poems, but they inherited the achievements of their predecessors and completed the creation of five-character and seven-character poems, which made certain contributions to the development of poetry. The key to the change of poetry style in Tang Dynasty lies in the struggle between the new poetry school representing the interests of middle and lower landlords and the court poetry school. During the period of Emperor Gaozong, four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty rose. Although they haven't completely shaken off the influence of the poetic style of Qi and Liang Dynasties, they have put forward the idea of "lightness" and "backbone" and are deeply dissatisfied with the poetic style of the court represented by Shangguan Yi. Their poems either express their ambition to join the army and serve the country, or expose the dissolute emptiness of aristocratic life, or express their grief and indignation. The theme has expanded and their thoughts and feelings have begun to change. In the era of Wuhou, Chen Ziang held higher the banner of poetry innovation and put forward the idea of realizing innovation in restoring ancient ways. Moreover, in his creative practice, he completely got rid of the frivolous habits of Qi and Liang Dynasties, which reflected various social and political contradictions at that time. Show a strong character. Finally, it changed the situation that Qi Liang's poetic style dominated the whole country. Corrected the development direction of Tang poetry. In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the development of Tang poetry reached the peak of prosperity. Romantic poetic style full of vigorous spirit is the mainstream of poetry in this period. Gao Shi, Cen participated in Wang Changling and Li Jie to form the Frontier Poetry School, which is an important school of romanticism. Their poems express the heroic spirit of soldiers joining the army to serve the country and the optimistic spirit of not fearing the dangers of frontier fortress, depict the magnificent frontier fortress scenery, reflect the homesickness of soldiers, expose the unreasonable phenomenon of the disparity between soldiers, and add infinite fresh and magnificent brilliance to Tang poetry. The school of landscape poetry, represented by Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, was deeply influenced by the negative thoughts of Buddhism and Taoism, and lived a retired life after political frustration. Their works mainly describe leisurely and quiet rural life. Although their thoughts are not high, they have made great artistic achievements. Their poems have enriched the pastoral poems formed since the Jin and Song Dynasties, and also have a certain position in the history of literature.
Li Bai, a great poet, has progressive ideals and great ambitions. However, he lived in an era when the ruling class began to corrupt and various social contradictions gradually emerged in the Tang Dynasty, and his ideal could not be realized. He wrote many glorious poems, which enthusiastically pursued the bright ideal, lashed out at the dark reality, extremely despised the decadent and incompetent powerful people, and dared to attack the feudal ethical code system, showing a strong spirit of resistance. His poetic style is bold and unrestrained, colorful and ever-changing, and he is worthy of being a great romantic poet after Qu Yuan.
Du is a great realistic poet who lived in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. During the Tianbao period, he paid close attention to various social contradictions and exposed the dark reality of the arrogance, arrogance and belligerence of the ruling class and the opposition between the rich and the poor. After the Anshi Rebellion, the romantic pride of many poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty disappeared, and they rarely reflected the reality of unrest. Du Fu, on the other hand, lived a wandering life of hunger and cold with the people, wrote many soul-stirring poems, resented foreign invasion, looked forward to national rejuvenation, and described people's deep disasters. His poems, like a mirror, showed all aspects of social life before and after the An Shi Rebellion, and won the title of "History of Poetry". His profound ideological content, profound artistic talent, learning attitude of "learning from many teachers" and serious creative spirit of "no regrets" make him a great representative of China realistic poets. The Anshi Rebellion was the turning point of Tang society from prosperity to decline. Although the unrest was finally put down, the vitality of this country was greatly hurt. None of the original social contradictions have been solved, and they have become increasingly acute with the development of history. First of all, the ruling power of the dynasty declined, and it was unable to change the situation of the separatist regime in the buffer region. These buffer zones have land, people, soldiers and wealth. "Happiness and rebellion are balanced, and anger and strength are combined." The area covered by the power of the dynasty was greatly reduced, and the people were slaughtered and plundered by it. In the dynasty, eunuchs also held military and political power, arbitrarily abolished the emperor, and politics was extremely corrupt and chaotic. Among the bureaucrats, the representatives of the old clan and those from the new imperial examination are divided into two factions, who are in the same boat. This is the so-called "Niu Li Party Struggle". This struggle lasted until the late Tang Dynasty, and it also had a great impact on the lives of many literati. Eunuchs and bureaucrats sometimes colluded and sometimes opposed, which made the central government in a turbulent situation for a long time after the middle Tang Dynasty. The border troubles of the empire became more and more serious, which made the Tang Dynasty tired of coping.
Although the social economy destroyed by the Anshi Rebellion gradually recovered in Zhenyuan in Yuanhe era, the whole north was not what it used to be, and the economic focus gradually turned to the south. During the reign of Dezong, Quan Deyu said, "If you are familiar with the fields in Jianghuai, you will learn from them. Therefore, the big plan in the world depends on the southeast. " (Biography of Quan Deyu in the New Tang Dynasty) Cities in the south, such as Yangzhou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Ezhou, Hongzhou and Chengdu, are more prosperous than before, with more developed karaoke bars and prostitutes. However, this abnormal prosperity encourages bureaucrats and landlords to enjoy themselves. After the Anshi Rebellion, due to the intensification of land annexation, the landlord's manor economy developed day by day. Many former landowners have gradually become tenants of manor owners, and many farmers have no food and clothing and are in exile. The taxation method of the dynasty had to adapt to the rapid annexation of land and the change of ownership in many rural areas. In the first year of Dezong Jianzhong, the tax law was changed from rent-free customs to two tax laws. This new tax law lightens the burden of some farmers who have lost their land, and once guaranteed the national fiscal revenue. With the resumption of shipping, Jianghuai materials can be transported to the north smoothly. During the reign of Xianzong, the national strength was enhanced, and two buffer regions, Jiannan and Huaixi, were successively settled, and the rest of the buffer regions began to attach themselves to the central government on the surface. This is what historians call "resurgence", which greatly stimulated the prosperity of literature in the middle Tang Dynasty. However, this situation did not last long. With the increasingly corrupt politics, the two tax laws are full of drawbacks, and the burden on the people is getting heavier and heavier. By the time of Mu Zong, the tax burden of the people had tripled compared with that of Dezong. Other taxes and corvees have increased. The emperor publicly rewarded local bureaucrats for their "envy" and dubbed them "progress in the month" and "progress in the day". Bureaucrats all over the country even used it as a name to search cruelly, "just thinking about fatigue, not worrying about no fish." People's uprisings broke out one after another, and finally the great uprisings in Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao broke out in the first year of Nuozongganfu. This powerful rebel army swept all areas of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River valley with lightning speed, killing corrupt officials, eliminating tyranny and invading Chang 'an, and was warmly welcomed by the people along the way. Although the uprising was suppressed by the joint forces of the Tang Dynasty and the buffer region, the Tang Dynasty empire eventually perished in the war where the separatist forces in the buffer region were more rampant.
Under the complicated and sharp social contradictions, the realistic trend of thought in poetry creation has formed a magnificent situation. After the An Shi Rebellion, Yuan Jie and Gu Kuang's poems exposing social contradictions became Du Fu's homophones. In the middle Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen, Zhang Ji and Jincon inherited the tradition of Du Fu, and further advocated that "articles should be written in time, and songs and poems should be written for things", which set off a new Yuefu movement. Their new Yuefu poems exposed the arrogance, extravagance and cruel exploitation of the ruling class, expressed sympathy for the people's deep suffering and were deeply disturbed by the weakness of the country. Their poems had a wide and far-reaching influence at that time. In addition to the realistic school of poetry headed by Bai Juyi, there are more styles and schools of poetry in the middle Tang Dynasty than in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Liu Changqing's and Wei's landscape poems and Li Yi's and Lu Lun's frontier poems all echo the poetic style in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. On the occasion of Zhenyuan and Yuanhe, Han Yu and Meng Jiao created a new style with their outstanding poetry creation. Li He, a young poet, combined the tradition of Chu Ci with the romantic fantasy of Yuefu, and wrote all kinds of spiritual anguish and pursuit with rich colors and unexpected imagination. Liu Yuxi's research on Bachu folk songs and Liu Zongyuan's expression of anger through mountains and rivers also have unique artistic achievements.
With the decline and turmoil of the national situation, the style and features of poetry in the late Tang Dynasty also changed greatly. There are some new artistic developments in Du Mu's and Li Shangyin's poems, but they all have a strong sentimental sentiment for the country, the people and love life. Pi Rixiu, Nie and Du Xunhe wrote some poems exposing social darkness before and after the Huang Chao Uprising, which inherited the tradition of Bai Juyi's new Yuefu, but their feelings were stronger and their criticisms were sharper. From their poems, we saw the crumbling scene of the Tang Dynasty.