Peace and prosperity
After over three centuries of turmoil, China was reunified by Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty in 581 AD. His administration oversaw numerous social and economic reforms, the construction of the Grand Canal and the establishment of imperial service examination.[1] Unfortunately, plagued by infighting, the dynasty lasted only for thirty-seven years, too brief to have real impact on cultural development.[2] Nonetheless, it ushered in one of the high points of Chinese history—the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD), during which political unification stimulated societal stability, economic growth, and territorial expansion. Peace and prosperity brought forth cultural progress.
A network of trade roads connecting China with Central Asia, Middle East, and Europe, known as the Silk Road, was instrumental in facilitating the economic and cultural advancements. These roads were initially developed during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty in the late second century BC. As the imperial power declined later in the Eastern Han, the roads were closed to prevent invasions from the nomadic tribes. Centuries later, the network reopened and expanded in the Tang Dynasty, with its western end reaching Constantinople and beyond.[3]
Along with exotic commodities, travelers and explorers brought in new musical instruments, dances, religions, and ideas. In an environment often described as the second Pax Sinica, cosmopolitan attitudes contributed to artistic exuberance and philosophic sophistication. Rich productions of high-quality works contributed to the golden age of Chinese arts and literature.
Popularization
Poetry writing was a required skill for candidates of the imperial service exams during the Tang Dynasty. Scholars who wished to pursue careers in civil services and politics had to be proficient in versification.[4] No longer an elitist art form, poetry became an integral part of literacy for the commoners, and, gradually, a part of social life. Quan Tangshi (Complete Tang Poetry) 全唐詩, compiled in 1705 by the commissioned of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, included over forty-eight thousand and nine hundred works by more than twenty-two hundred poets.[5] Although the authenticity and the authorship of some works remain debatable, the collection attests the popularity of poetic writing in the Tang Dynasty.
Around 1763, retired official and scholar Sun Zhu 孫洙, with the help of his wife Xu Lanying 徐蘭英, compiled and edited three hundred and eleven Tang poems. In his introduction, Sun communicated his desire to create a collection which would be suitable for the education of young readers. Three Hundred Tang Poems have since made popular some of the best works of the period. Among the most celebrated poets were: Wan Wei 王維, Li Bai 李白 and Du Fǔ 杜甫, all of the High Tang (c. 712-756).[6]
Forms and style
Intended to cover all varieties of poetry, Sun Zhu organized his anthology by formal and stylistic characters:
• 33 Five-character gushi (ancient verses) and 7 yuèfǔ
• 28 Seven-character gushi and 14 yuèfǔ
• 80 Five-character lühsi (eight-line regulated verses)
• 50 Seven-character lüshi and 1 yuèfǔ
• 29 Five-character jueju (four-line regulated verses) and 8 yuèfǔ
• 51 Seven-character jueju and 9 yuèfǔ[7]
This layout reflected prosodic evolution during the Tang Dynasty.
The term “ancient verses” referred to poems in the style of Han and Jian’an poetry: no set number of verses, no restrictions on pairing and tonal structures, and loose in rhyming. Five-character verses were first developed in the Eastern Han Dynasty, while seven-character verses could be traced back to Cao Wei of Jian’an Era.[8] Yuèfǔ poems also attested to traditions of previous centuries. Suitability for singing separate them from the other poems.
Regulated verses were new style poems of the Tang Dynasty, appropriately named jintishi 近體詩— “modern styled poems” at the time.[9] The majority of regulated verses could be divided into two groups: lüshi—eight-line verses, and jueju—four-line verses. Although verses in jueju did not have to be paired, those in lüshi were grouped into four couplets. In addition to these short verses, there were long-form poems called “pailü,” made up of series of couplets. All regulated verses had strict rules in rhyming and tonal organizations. These rules were based on the phonological characters of Middle Chinese, prescribed in Qieyun 切韻, a rhyme dictionary of the Sui Dynasty[10]
There four tones in Middle Chinese: level (平 píng), rising (上 shǎng), departing (去 qù) and entering (入 rù). The three non-level tones are designated as oblique (仄 zè) tones. Poetic verses were constructed with fixed tone patterns alternating between level and oblique tones. Verses in each couplet would have opposite tone patterns.[11]
Chinese, like all other languages, continued to change throughout its long history. Regional variants further complicated its evolution. Lu Fayan 陸法言 in Qieyun using the fanqie method associated words by their initial and final sounds. The book not only solidified literary pronunciations of each character but also set foundation for a precise rhyming system.
Legacy
The legacy of Tang poetry went far beyond the tremendous collection of literary works, the richness of their subjects, and the eloquence of their content. The maturing of versification during the Tang Dynasty had great impact on poetic developments of the following centuries. Regulated tonal patterns and rhyme schemes heightened musicality in Chinese verses. Increasingly, poetry became integrated with music and theatrical arts.
[1] Imperial_examination/Wiki
[2] Sui_dynasty/Wiki
[3] The name “Silk Road,” coined by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877, is misleading on several fronts. Instead of a single corridor linking two sides of the world, there was an intricate network consisted of three main sections, each with three branches. Although silk was among the commodities, a great variety of goods were traded intercontinentally.
Commercial trade between China and the outside could be traced back to the bronze age. In 139 BC, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dispatched Zhang Qian 張騫 as an envoy, traveling westwards, to search for commodities and to establish connections. During his thirteen-year journey, Zhang reached several regions in Transoxiana (today’s Central Asia). In addition to reporting the locations and civilizations of various countries and territories, Zhang also brought back new animals and agricultural goods. Silk_Road/Wiki; Zhang_Qian/Wiki
[4] In his “Concise Guide to Three Hundred Tang Poems” 唐詩三百首指導大概, twentieth-century poet Zhu Ziqing 朱自清 remarked that, during the Tang Dynasty, candidates of the civil service examination often had their poetic compositions evaluated by high level officials prior to the exams. High praises would indicate positive outcome.
Prosodic composition was eliminated from the examination in the Song Dynasty but reinstated in the Qing Dynasty. As a result, there was a renewed interest in poetry in the late eighteenth century.
[5] Quan_Tangshi/Wiki
[6] Three_Hundred_Tang_Poems/Wiki, 唐詩三百首/zh.Wikisource/Wiki
[7] Some later editions grouped all the yuèfǔ into a separate chapter.
[8] Gushi_(poetry)/Wiki
[9] Regulated_verse/Wiki
[10] Qieyun 切韻, Lu Fayan 陸法言 in 601. Qieyun/Wiki
[11] The four tones in Middle Chinese are not compatible with ones in Mandarin Chinese.The “entering” or “checked” tone which ends with a glottal stop only exists in a few regional dialects today.
While most characters with tones 1 and 2 in Mandarin are found in the “level” tone groups in the rhyme dictionaries, and tone 3 and 4, in the “oblique,” there are many exceptions. Four_tones_Middle_Chinese/Wiki, Checked_tone/Wiki