By careful comparison, Tang poetry has a wider range of objects and fresher content. People in Song Ci repeatedly chanted the same theme and sentiment, namely geisha and courtyard. Song ci is too close to life, and there are too many trivial things in life, so it is not easy to get into poetry. Song ci was first used for singing. It doesn't need to be as independent as poetry, but it needs music to supplement it. Just think about it, can you produce good poems in those restaurants where songs are entertaining? Poetry needs the disappearance of language more than words, and poetry has more tension, because poetry can be extended indefinitely except for fixed styles such as quatrains and metrical poems. Long and short sentences often highlight language and do not conform to the principles of poetry.
The difference lies not in the form, but in the deep content. What is hidden behind the content is the different experiences and pursuits of two generations of literati. In the Tang Dynasty, in that enterprising era, the literati were proud and independent at heart, and seclusion became a fashion. People like to be close to nature and despise the bustling street life. In the Song Dynasty, most literati were interested in the life of officialdom and took pleasure in the life of ordinary people. Describing the joys and sorrows of ordinary life is the basic tone of Song Ci.
In my opinion, the Tang and Song Dynasties are two completely different times and an important dividing point in the ancient history of China. Since the Song Dynasty, with the development of China's commodity economy, the economic center of gravity began to move south. Moreover, in the late Tang Dynasty, due to the implementation of the imperial examination, there was no longer aristocratic politics in China. In the Song Dynasty, the influence of imperial examinations was strengthened, which became the shackles that bound the literati. Zhu greatly developed and reformed Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. Since the Song Dynasty, scholars seem to have joined the WTO more than before. Those who are born to refuse a decadent life no longer retire as before. What they resist is dissatisfaction with life, such as Cao Xueqin. This kind of resistance is somewhat personal, lonely and desperate. Before and after the Tang Dynasty, the literati pursued an ideal society, and after the Song Dynasty, they pursued an ideal life and were indifferent to social transformation (not tinkering). Even if they have such an idea, most of them doubt its feasibility. Cao Xueqin's "inability to mend the sky" has more or less doubts about human nature.
In a word, the boundary between Tang and Song Dynasties has always been a huge dividing line between two different eras in China. The difference between Tang poetry and Song poetry is not only the rhythm, but also the substantive changes. From China to Song Dynasty, poetry was dead. After the Tang Dynasty, many literati, such as Su Dongpo, belittled Li Bai many times, obviously not because of his writing level, but because of the different mentality of people in two different eras. Tang people pursue the innocence and integrity of the soul. They sang "Why wander at the fork in the road, children holding towels", and they liberated their individuality, being magnanimous and heroic. Song people pursue chic, life satisfaction and personality release.