The social changes in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the changes in academic trends and literary concepts, and the aesthetic pursuit of literature have brought about changes in poetry. In terms of subject matter, there have been poems about eulogies, epic poems, poems about immortals, and metaphysical poems. , palace style poetry, as well as the pastoral poetry created by Tao Yuanming, the landscape poetry created by Xie Lingyun, etc.; in terms of poetry style, the Five Ancients are more colorful, the Seven Ancients have also made significant progress, and there is also the "Yongming Style" as the beginning of rhythm poetry, ancient Chinese poetry Several basic forms of poetry, such as Wulu, Wujue, Qilu, Qijue, etc., all took shape during this period; in terms of rhetoric, the pursuit of beauty became more and more popular. Zao ornaments, parallel couplets, tonal rhythms, and allusions became common The means used.
In addition to literati poetry, the literature of this period also included Yuefu folk songs, poems, novels, literary theory, etc. in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were also an important stage of development of literature. Confucianism lost its dominance. Its status gradually declined, and metaphysics, Buddhism, and Taoism rose to prosperity, all of which had a greater impact on people's thoughts and literary concepts. Literary creation not only gradually got rid of the bad habit of citing a large number of scriptures, but also paid attention to the free expression of writers' emotions, and also emphasized the free expression of writers' emotions in their works. There are many explorations in the expression form. The literature of this period mainly includes three forms: Ci Fu, parallel prose and prose. Compared with the prose of the two Han Dynasties, prose has obvious changes. It has changed from a rigid and dignified appearance to a clear, simple and clear The creation of poems and poems has also shown a new pattern. The emergence of lyrical poems is an important symbol of this change. Influenced by the culture that pays attention to duality, rhythm and ornamentation, parallel prose appears and matures.