The development of poetry is indeed of the times. Influenced by the legacy of Qi and Liang Dynasties, the poetry of the early Tang Dynasty had not yet gotten rid of the style of elegance and elegance. It was not until Chen Ziang and the Four Great Masters that poems with strong character and broad spirit began to appear. In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, national power was at its peak, life was stable, poets were cheerful, ambitious, and energetic, and the poems they created were magnificent, rich, and varied. This was the golden age of poetry in the Tang Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. The poets were worried, angry, disappointed, and depressed. However, they inherited the style of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and never lost their ideal pursuit and yearning. Therefore, although the poetic style is not as vigorous and open as that of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it still retains its freshness and vigor. Angry, it's just that I'm narrow-minded, I'm more depressed and hesitant, and my mood is gray. In the late Tang Dynasty, people felt that the prosperous age would never come again, and they had no choice but to hide in their small bodies and the relatively peaceful embrace of nature and sing softly. Therefore, although the poems of the late Tang Dynasty also have delicate emotions, delicate descriptions, It is elegant and sentimental, but it is always narrow in space, insignificant in style, and has a gloomy mood. It is completely sad for the world. Gao Xiang said it very accurately in "Summary of Tang Poems":
During the Zhenguan and Yonghui periods, the princes of Yu and Wei deviated from their old habits a little, and Wang, Yang, Lu, and Luo became more beautiful because of this. , Liu Xiyi has a boudoir curtain work, Shangguan Yi has a graceful style, this is the beginning of the early Tang Dynasty. The dragon has returned, and at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Zi'ang was ancient and elegant, Li Juzheng's articles were old, Shen and Song's new voices, Su and Zhang's generous works, what was prosperous at the beginning gradually became more prosperous. Between Kaiyuan and Tianbao, there is the elegance of Li Hanlin, the melancholy of Du Gongbu, the elegance of Meng Xiangyang, the delicacy of Wang Youcheng, the sincerity of Chu Guangxi, the handsome voice of Wang Changling, the tragic and heroic voice of Gao Shi and Cen Shen, the elegance of Meng Xiangyang, and the elegance of Meng Xiangyang. Extraordinary, this is also the prosperity of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In Dali and Zhenyuan, there is the elegance of Wei Suzhou, the leisureliness of Liu Suizhou, the clear support of Qian Lang, the beauty of Huangfu, the mountains and forests of Qin Gongxu, and the pavilion of Li Congyi. Among them, the Tang Dynasty is reincarnated. At the time of the Xia and Yuan Dynasties, there were Liu Yuxi's transcendent restoration, Han Changli's profound poetry, Zhang and Wang Yuefu's original facts, Yuan and Bai Xu's affairs were clear, and their husbands Li He and Lu Tong's ghosts, Meng Jiao, The hunger and cold in Jia Dao were also the changes in the late Tang Dynasty. After surrendering and opening up, there will be Du Mu's boldness, Wen Feiqing's elegance, Li Yishan's seclusion, and Xu Yonghui's occasional pairing. He is like Liu Cang, Ma Dai, Li Pin, and Li Qun, who can still push his spirit and character, and will move forward. As time goes by, the late Tang Dynasty was extremely abnormal, but the lingering charm of the style still exists.
Therefore, the selections in "Tang Poetry Collection" focus on the poems of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, while comparatively sparing the poems of the early Tang Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty.
This poetic insight had a great influence in the Ming Dynasty. The idea that "poetry must prosper in the Tang Dynasty" advocated by the seven poets who appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty certainly has a lot to do with this. After the Qing Dynasty, some people were dissatisfied with this division of stages (such as "Siku General Catalog", Ye Xie's "Original Poems", Qian Qianyi's "Collection of Poems of Dynasties"), but until now, it is still widely used by people of.