"Four outstanding writers in the early Tang Dynasty" is the collective name of four writers in the early Tang Dynasty, namely, Yang Jiong, Lu and Luo, referred to as "Wang Luo" for short.
They were very famous when they were young. They were once called "prodigies". Later, because of their outstanding talents, they all grew up to be famous poetry writers in the early Tang Dynasty. However, they also have the same feature, that is, the final outcome is tragic.
After the lower intellectuals, represented by the "four outstanding figures", boarded the poetry circle, the pattern of poets being dominated by court literati was completely changed, and the scope of poetry creation was greatly expanded.
He defined the theme of his poetry creation as "from the court to the market" and "from the Taige to the Jiangshan desert". With his own theoretical ideas and creative practice, he opened the magnificent and energetic voice of the poetry world in the prosperous Tang Dynasty and made great contributions to the arrival of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The style of Tang poetry is the inheritance and development of Jian 'an style. In this process of inheritance and development, the "Four Masters" played a role in connecting the past with the future. They inherited the realistic literary tradition of "deep ambition and long pen" and "broad outline and rich spirit" in Jian 'an literature, and abandoned the tragic elements in Jian 'an style.
In the struggle against the official style, the "Four Masters" developed the theory of temperament and chastity, which contained the budding factors of Tang poetry theory, into the theory of backbone with the connotations of qi, masculinity and greatness, and thus began to form the theory of Tang poetry, which pointed out the direction and road for the reform of Tang poetry.
The aesthetic pursuit of "Four Masters" is not only closely related to the subjective spirit of Jian 'an poets, but also directly opens Chen Ziang's personality theory. From the "Four Masters" to Chen Ziang, the beauty of personality has become the artistic goal pursued by poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The rankings of the four outstanding figures are also different. Song's Essay on Sacrificing Du said that after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, "Wang Luo" returned and listed all the people in this order, which is the earliest known material.
Zhang said that "Zhi Bei Tai Wei Pei Gong" said: "When choosing Cao, see Luo,,, and Yang Jiong", headed by Luo. Du Fu's poem "Wang Luzuo at that time", one is "Wang Yang Luo Lu"; The Biography of Pei Xingjian in the Old Tang Dynasty was also prefaced by Wang Yang Luo Lu.