At that time, Liu Yong was famous for his poems. On the one hand, Liu Yong's influence is considerable, on the other hand, Liu Ci can't enter the upper class. Scholars in Song Dynasty, especially those in officialdom, can only treat ci as a joke, and those who indulge in it will be laughed at. However, even so, Song people have always had a doubt, why can't they write Tang poems, and why are there no poets like Li Bai and Du Fu?
If the national strength is not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty, the people of the Song Dynasty also admit that it is not as good as that of the Tang Dynasty. However, they are unconvinced that the Song Dynasty was extremely rich and superior to the Tang Dynasty. The Song Dynasty treated the literati in a special way, neither killing the literati who wrote books and said things, nor arbitrarily opening literary prisons. Scholars in the Song Dynasty had both economic status and political status, and the contest would be more valued in the Tang Dynasty.
However, all the material preparations are sufficient. Why is Song poetry inferior to Tang poetry, and the poet is far from it? If Tang poetry is a peak, Song people don't think it can't be surpassed. On the contrary, they think it should be possible to make further progress on the basis of predecessors.
After a long period of discussion and reflection, the literary world in the Song Dynasty finally reached a relatively unified opinion, which was stated by the poetry critic Canghua Poetry Review at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty.
It turns out that the reason why they think that Tang poetry is superior to Song poetry is that there is a special poetry examination in the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty, but there is no such examination in the Jinshi examination of the Song Dynasty. Results Under the influence of the baton of college entrance examination in the two dynasties, the difference was quite great.
The imperial examination began in the Sui Dynasty. Emperor Wendi only took one subject of strategy, while Yang Di took ten subjects. There are the most examination subjects in the Tang Dynasty, including Ming Jing, Jinshi, Fa Ming, Zi Ming, Shu Ming, etc., which can cultivate talents in all fields. However, Jinshi is obviously the most important and the future is the brightest.
When I was in Yonglong, Tang Gaozong, for two years, some ministers thought that it was really difficult to show the level only by testing Yiwen and old strategies in the imperial examination. Therefore, the imperial court specially added two essays in this year's exam, which are actually a poem and a poem. Poetry and Fu examination entered the imperial examination, which greatly improved their status, and also made countless candidates have to study hard the classics of sages in the cold window, but also recite poems and write fu.
Coincidentally, since then, Tang poetry has shown a blowout momentum. It has to be admitted that poetry can reach the peak of prosperity in the Tang Dynasty, which has a certain relationship with the imperial examination reform.
What about the imperial examination system in Song Dynasty? Formally speaking, it is much better than the Tang Dynasty. There was also a procuratorial system in the Tang Dynasty, which was abolished in the Song Dynasty. This is the only way to be an official except grace. In addition, in order to prevent fraud, the Song Dynasty adopted methods such as copying, trying other things and locking the courtyard. It has put an end to the ethos of asking for help and writing papers in the Tang Dynasty, which is of great progressive significance.
The early Song Dynasty also continued the tradition of textual criticism of poetry and fu in the Tang Dynasty. But from a historical point of view, it is difficult to have excellent poems in the examination room. The reason is very simple. Righteousness and countermeasures need basic skills, which have little fluctuation with the mood of the examination room. Poetry and fu need more talent and inspiration, and there is not much room for them in the examination room with short time and tense atmosphere. Therefore, from the Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, there were few excellent works of poetry and fu in the examination room.
Therefore, in the famous reform of Wang Anshi, in the fourth year of Yu Xining (107 1), the item of poetry and poetry was cancelled, and the subject of Ming Jing by rote was also cancelled. If you take it as an exam, there is nothing wrong with it. Hundreds of years' experience has proved that the poems in the examination room are really flashy, so it is better to test classics and current affairs.
But since then, Song people have been worried that it is this major reform that makes Song poetry inferior to Tang poetry. Careful analysis is not unreasonable. After all, at the moment, in the case of China's repeated football defeats, the fans joked that if you take Cuju in the college entrance examination, China will probably sweep all the top teams.