Was the first female emperor Wu Zetian?
Was it Emperor Taizong who initiated the rule of Zhenguan in the prosperous times?
Was it the heyday of the Tang Dynasty created by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty?
Is this a sad love story between Li Longji and Yang Yuhuan?
Or is it the literati and celebrities who have emerged continuously in the 300-year dynasty?
As the heyday of culture, art, economy, politics and people's livelihood in the history of China, the Tang Dynasty has a peak of cultural prosperity that other dynasties can't match. It is the heyday of poets reciting famous poems in past dynasties, and it is also the spiritual world that scholars in past dynasties yearn for.
In the past, when we studied ancient history, we started with official history, unofficial history and folk anecdotes, aiming at restoring a more real and comprehensive history. However, Chang Hua, a member of the Chinese Tang History Society, a senior media person and a senior journalist, published Canon of Tang Poetry, Canon of Song Poetry and China in Poetry, and found a new way to prove the history with poetry. Through a trip to the Tang Dynasty, in Going to the Tang Dynasty: Poets and the World, I got a glimpse of the 300 years of the Tang Dynasty Empire with the life and leisure of 32 poets.
Knowing the past and learning from the present, how will culture and history confirm each other? It is quite innovative to perceive the turbulent situation in the history of that period with the cultural psychology and spiritual trajectory revealed in Tang poetry, which is quite different from the previous process of proving history with poetry.
The author divides the process of this debate into four parts, namely, the early Tang Dynasty, the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the middle Tang Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty. It is not difficult to see from these four parts that due to the different historical development of each period, the connotation of the poems written by poets is also different. It not only experienced the ups and downs of Tang people's official career, but also reflected the cultural psychology and spiritual track of Tang literati in this period, which will change with the development of culture and history.
For example, Luo's poem "Goose Fu" in the early Tang Dynasty is a poem by a seven-year-old child, but it implies self-awareness and complacency about life. He just started to write frontier poems in the Tang Dynasty, but he has never been able to sing all the way in his career. The author said in the book: From passionate singing to screaming through the sky, King Robin's life track is too much like the evolution from goose to cicada.
Every time I mention poets in the Tang Dynasty, I always think of Meng Haoran who played a good hand. Others seek either official position or seclusion, or "Shi Fo" Wang Wei in the combination of "Wang Meng" of the pastoral school. He is also an official position, but Meng Haoran's life ended in official seclusion.
Meng Haoran, who was originally born in the prosperous era of Kaiyuan, died in rags. Although he is not the worst poet in the Tang Dynasty, he is similar. If all poets in the history of Tang Dynasty had their own unique poetic life, then Meng Haoran was the representative of frustrated life.
His poems are full of life, but there are also many cynical works, such as "On Climbing the Wild Goose Mountain with Friends" written in his early years, which reveals his sadness between the lines. Another example is "A Letter from Dongting Lake to Prime Minister Zhang", which was written while traveling in famous mountains and rivers after giving up the imperial examination, and directly reflected Meng Haoran's mentality of seeking officials. This poem expresses his desire for official career and his true psychology of carelessness in hiding.
In the book, 32 poets in the Tang Dynasty reflected their personal psychological and spiritual tracks, historical changes and the relationship between culture and history with their poems, and looked at the rivers and lakes in the prosperous Tang Dynasty from a brand-new perspective.