As we all know, the Tang Dynasty was the peak of China's ancient poetry. Almost everyone in China can recite several Tang poems, and a large number of great poets such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Wang Wei have emerged. The imperial examination system had a great influence on the prosperity of ancient poetry in Tang Dynasty.
Although Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the embryonic form, the establishment and perfection of the imperial examination system were all completed in the Tang Dynasty. It can be said that the imperial examination system was formally formed in the Tang Dynasty, not in the Sui Dynasty. According to historical records, there were more than 50 subjects in the early Tang Dynasty, including the scholar, the strongest disciple in Ming history, Shunfeng Jing Yi, Jinshi, Gentleman, Faming, Ziming and Shu Ming.
However, due to various reasons, probably in the Tang Gaozong period, the main subjects of the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty were basically Jinshi and Mingjing, and other subjects were gradually abolished. Among them, the examination content of Jinshi is mainly current affairs and poetry, while the examination content of Ming and Qing Dynasties is mainly current affairs and classics.
Because the examination of poetry and prose is more difficult than the classics, there is a saying that "thirty knows the classics and fifty knows the few scholars", so scholars gradually developed into the most important subject in the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty. Since then, many prime ministers in Tang Gaozong have been scholars, such as Zhang Jian and Song Jing.
It is because it is difficult to get into Jinshi, and the treatment after admission is much better than other subjects. Therefore, it is natural for scholars in the Tang Dynasty to take the examination of Jinshi. Because the content of Jinshi is poetry, people in the Tang Dynasty naturally focus on learning to write poems.
Because all the literati made great efforts to learn to write poetry, the number of great poets naturally increased on a large basis, so the Tang Dynasty became the peak of ancient poetry in China. However, the imperial examinations of past dynasties no longer took poetry as the examination content, and it was difficult for the poems of these dynasties to reach the height of the Tang Dynasty.
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