Song Wenzhi came to Lingyin Temple and walked alone at night, trying to write a poem, but just thinking of two sentences, he couldn't help it anymore. At this time, an old monk Luo with a white beard and a gray face came to him and asked him why. He added two more sentences: "Looking at the sea from the building, the door is facing the Zhejiang tide." This story has been passed down to this day, but the gold content of this legend is probably not high. Perhaps, Song's Lingyin Temple is very mediocre, with this wonderful couplet in the middle, and future generations will deliberately deprive him of the copyright of this couplet. Perhaps, Song's character is inferior, and later generations will fabricate this story, gouge out this epigram, and return it in the name of Wang.
Poetry creation in the early Tang Dynasty is still bound by the style of court poetry, which only needs entertainment and praise, and lacks powerful theoretical weapons, so it is impossible to sum up the past and meet the future. Chen Ziang, on the other hand, took a clear-cut stand against the aristocratic literature in the Southern Dynasties and the poetic style with flowery rhetoric and empty content. He not only pointed out the direction for the development of Tang poetry in theory, but also practiced his own theory in poetry creation. His thirty-eight "feelings", or satirizing reality, feeling current events, or feeling life experiences and expressing ideals, all show strong self-awareness and enterprising spirit.
A poem in Experience describes the turn of spring and summer. In the lush forest, bluegrass and purple stems in Du Ruo are blooming with red flowers, which makes the vegetation in the forest look inferior, but it is secluded after all. The years are fleeting, the autumn wind reappears, and there are bursts of fragrance in the air, but no one appreciates it. It's just that with the passage of time, it's hard to pay for it. This poem expresses the lyric hero's talent, like the red flower in the secluded forest, which is not appreciated, but fades with the passage of time and is difficult to be rewarded.
At the end of the 7th century, Chen Ziang served as the staff of Wu Zetian's expedition to Qidan. Due to his incompetence and military failure, he made several suggestions, which were not only rejected, but also demoted. When he boarded Youzhou Taiwan, he was filled with emotion and sang "Youzhou Tower". This poem came suddenly and stopped abruptly. No connection, no scenery, no lyricism. It's as clear as words, and it's pronounced in Mandarin, and it doesn't even rhyme. Is this a poem? No, just like a long sigh, just like a long whistle to vent resentment, like a weak spring thunder that shakes the earth and calls for everything to wake up. The lyric hero stands on the platform of Youzhou like a giant, looking around, and the loneliness that has never been seen before is coming. No one cares, and no one understands. Only the melancholy that can't be smoothed surged in my heart and finally turned into two lines of bitter tears. His eyes are full of historical vicissitudes, not depression; He should work hard in time, not despair. This is probably the reason why this poem is so impressive and has been passed down through the ages.
Generally speaking, Chen Ziang was an important figure in the development of Tang poetry, and his theory and creation had a far-reaching impact on the development of Tang poetry. He opposed aristocratic literature, advocated civilian literature, and emphasized that poetry should have practical significance and life feelings, which played an important role in Tang poetry. His poems show strong self-awareness and enterprising spirit, and his life has been ups and downs, but he has always maintained his love for life and confidence in the future. His poems, such as Love and Youzhou Tower, are all classics of the Tang Dynasty and still have high cultural value.