The Study Of PingFan (平藩) Poems During YuanHe (元和) Period

During the (Xianzong )Yuanhe period of Tang Dynasty there existed three serious social illnesses- vassal states (also Fan in the Chinese Tang Dynasty) by strong regimes, authority by eunuchs and land annexation, among which the problem of separated Fan is the most severe one for Emperor Xianzong. He has fought for a long time against the truly half-independent states, which ordered themselves and paid no taxes for the emperors since the period of Yuanhe. In the first years of Yuanhe the states of Xichuan, Xiasui and Zhenhai were pacified, while such powerful and domineering states as Huaixi and Ziqing were finally submissive to the emperor respectively in the 12th and 14th year of Yuanhe. Hence there appeared the new prosperity of Yuanhe. We always see "The epoch brings up heroes, history nurtures literature."Poems about"Fighting against rebellious states"(平藩诗)were formed in such times. Therefore, based on the fight of Emperor Xianzong this topic conveys the poems about"fighting against the rebellious states, singing the nation's unity"written by the literary intellectuals against the political, economic and cultural background in the Yuanhe period of Tang Dinasty.These nearly 100 poems were written by many poets and so it is quite necessary to study their ideas in fighting against"Fan". Such litterateurs of mainstay as Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan were dissatisfied with only being literary intellectuals, while they wished for the political achievements. Their creation was closely related to the politics of Tang Dynasty. Based on their biographies and political ideas, the current thesis seeks from their works the strong support for their thoughts of "One United China" by the Confucianists, their severe scathe for separated states and the eulogy of a united nation. Their shining and intense patriotism aroused countless literary intellectuals who hoped for the peace and unity of the nation.This thesis concentrates on the content of poems by the method of showing history by poems, and composing poems in history with the two battles of Huaixi and Ziqing. The Huaixi battle which has lasted for 4 years with failure and success at intervals did not reach...