The English versions of early Tang poetry and prosperous Tang poetry were published about 25 years ago. The academic circle of classical literature in China at that time was very different from that now. At that time, we already had the basic original materials, although Wang Ji's five-volume Collection of Poems was published in 1987, that is, ten years after the publication of poems in the early Tang Dynasty.
Only after it comes out; At that time, many annotated versions of poetry collections had not yet come out, and we did not have the important research results of Fu Xuancong and other scholars on the author's life and poetry chronology. Nowadays, electronic documents make it very easy to retrieve words and bring great convenience to research work, which was unimaginable 25 years ago. At that time, we lacked all kinds of existing research tools and could only rely on the academic achievements of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. Most importantly, in the past twenty-five years, China has made great academic progress, and the research fields in the Tang Dynasty are colorful, which is gratifying and encouraging.
Poetry in the early Tang Dynasty and poetry in the prosperous Tang Dynasty have their limitations, mistakes and shortcomings. If it can be rewritten, it will be very different. Great changes have taken place in the academic research used and borrowed by both individuals and me. However, even after many years, I believe that some basic arguments and views on the history of literature in the book still have their validity.
Literary history is not a "master". The history of. The history of literature must include famous writers, but the most important function of the history of literature lies in understanding the changing literary practice. Taking the literary practice at that time as the context of understanding famous writers, we should not make a drastic summary of a century-long period, but should examine a shorter period, writer groups and different regions. In this way, traditional academic research, such as testing friends and chronicles, will be combined with literary history writing and theoretical research, thus gaining new significance. The history of literature tries to link specific details with the understanding and grasp of the whole, but the complexity of the whole always makes simple generalization seem inadequate.
In the study of poetry, the only purpose of academic work is to help us better understand specific poems. A good literary history always goes back to the poem itself, so that we can clearly see the amazing, beautiful and bold creation written by the poet.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Professor Jia Jinhua, the translator of these two books. If Sanlian Bookstore thinks that these two books are still worth republishing in China after more than 20 years, then half of the credit belongs to Professor Jia.