There are few works in the early stage, and the quality is not as good as that in the middle stage, but it has shown the characteristics and innovative spirit of Tang legend. The earliest ancient mirror in The Legend of the Tang Dynasty is said to have been made by Wang Du, a native of the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties, and its content is closely related to the strange novels of the Six Dynasties. Based on the ancient mirror, it combines more than a dozen strange stories into a long story, which is more detailed than the note novels of the Six Dynasties and is a great progress. Generally speaking, Biography of All White Apes in Bujiang is also a work of the previous period. The author is unknown, the content belongs to the category of mystery novels, the plot is tortuous, and the description is more concrete and vivid, which initially shows the artistic innovation characteristics of Tang legends. The Ancient Mirror and The White Ape mark the transitional form of China's novels from the Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian
There is also Zhang Kun's "Fairy Cave", which tells the story that every two women feast and flirt on the way to the mansion at night and stop for one night. The content is light and frivolous, which seems to reflect the life of prostitutes. The language is flashy and vulgar, and there are many lovers' sentences, often interspersed with poems and rhymes. The system is similar to the folk singing literature of the Han nationality in the Tang Dynasty and should be influenced by it.
When Tang Xuanzong and Tang Suzong
History is called the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Poetry flourished in this period, and legends were relatively lonely. At that time, Zhang said that he wrote a legendary article. In "The Legacy of Kaiyuan Tianbao", there is an article "A parrot tells things": Yang Chongyi, a native of Chang 'an, married Liu and murdered his lover, but others didn't know. Later, the case was solved because the parrot on the shelf in front of the hall was reported. The court named the parrot the Green Messenger and gave it to the harem for feeding. After Zhang said it, it was called "Biography of the Youth Messenger", which was handed down by people who were good at it. The same volume "Chuanshuyan" contains: Shao Lan, daughter of Guo Hangxian from Chang 'an, married a wealthy businessman as Renzong. Ren Zongnan went down to do business and never came back after the year. Shao Lan's poems were written by Yan Zu, Guo Yannan, Fei Di and Ren Zong. After living in the second year, I went home. "Later, the scholars said that stories were told, but those written by busybodies". However, the original texts of these two novels have been lost. In addition, Hakka Biography on Campus, Speak, and Jade at the Beginning are all described as works, but there is still a lack of conclusive and reliable evidence.
Zhang Kun's "Journey to the Fairy Cave" and Zhang Shuo's "Biography of the Messenger in Green" both describe the lives of citizens, indicating that some legends in this period broke away from the tradition of the Six Dynasties' mystery novels in content and subject matter, and focused on expressing the worldly wisdom and expanded into new fields.
Early Tang dynasty
Some collections of novels have been published, such as Tang Lin's Ghost Newspaper, Zhao's Record of Destiny and His Collection (Gu Kuang prefaces Dai's Collection). The original books of these picture albums have been lost, and some of them are kept in Taiping Guangji. The content generally describes the supernatural, karma, following the tradition of the Six Dynasties, lacking creativity, and the words are generally quite simple, only a few chapters are melodious. And Niu Su's Moon Hee. The content of the account is slightly general, and some chapters are quite literary. For example, Wu Baoan describes the eternal friendship between Wu Baoan and Guo Zhongxiang, which is meticulous and moving, and The Book of the New Tang Dynasty is used in the biography of loyalty and righteousness. Although it and "Biography of Campus Guests" are both facts and fiction, they are both chivalrous figures, breaking through the tradition of seeking novelty.