Study On The Ten Talents In The Dali Period

The ten talents of the Dali period, also called the court poets or capital poets, together with magistrate poets living in the south of the Yangtze River and the religious poets, constitute the three well-known groups in the poetic field of the Dali period. However, careful reading of their poems and the investigation into their life experiences lead people to find that the title of"the court poets"or"the capital poets"is misleading, since most of them experienced a lot of twists and turns, and only in the first few years of the Dali period, had they the chance to turn up together in the capital officials'banquets, where they composed the impromptu poems, recited and replied with poems, and consequently earned the title of"the ten talents of the Dali period". After that, they either joined the office of the dignitary, or were relegated; either were sent into exile or wandered around the country. Therefore they do not live up to their title. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the common features shared by the ten talents originated from their short meeting in the capital and the age they lived. At the same time, the differences in their life experience imprinted the distinctive characteristics on their poem writing, which haves been more often than not left out of the research focus in the literature.Against such background, this thesis attempts to explore and analyze the distinctive features of the ten talents'poems on the basis of the discussion of their common points by means of comparison and contrast. In this way, the thesis aims to reveal that they are both similar to and different from each other; although people always use the title"the ten talents"to address them together, they do not form a literary school; in spite of their similarities and the clear time-imprint in their poems, their individuality is even more eye-catching.The thesis consists of three parts. The first chapter is the general introduction of the ten talents. It presents the origin of their title and the historical background of the age they lived. Then the main theme of their poems and the artistic features are discussed. The common points of the ten talents are the major concerns of the first part.The second chapter steps further to analyze the poems of the ten talents separately. Here certain classification criteria are adopted. The talents who have something in common are discussed side by side with an aim to reveal the similarities and the differences between them better. In this part, the researcher begins with the investigation into the features of the scenery description displayed by Qian Qi, Si Kongsu and makes a comparison between them and Wang Wei. Then the creations of Han Hong, Lu Lun who had led the similar life are analyzed. After that, the poems of Geng Wei, Cui Tong are discussed from the perspectives of their life experiences and the themes. Also included in this section is their contribution to the development of the poetic tradition initiated by Du Fu. The forth section is concerned with the distinctive features of Li Duan's poems. Finally the poems of Miao Fa, Ji Zhongfu and Xia Houshen are touched upon in the fifth section.In the third chapter, the thesis winds up with a conclusion. It summarizes and evaluates the general and the specific features of the ten talents'poetic creation. Apart from that, it explicitly points out that as a creation group, the differences between the ten talents outweigh their similarities and their individuality is outstanding.