Cultural Perspective In The Late Tang Yuanzhou Poetry Study

During the early period of time, Yuanzhou was very backward in culture. It was not until Sui Dynasty and the early and flourishing age of Tang Dynasty that the gradually developing thinking of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism helped the local literature bud. Till the middle and late period of Tang Dynasty, because of the development of south economy and culture, and the popularization of the institution of relegating officials, the following people gathered in Yuanzhou successively: literati from other places such as Fangguan, Wangya and Zhaofan, great masters of literature such as Lijiayou, Hanyu, Lideyu and Qiji, and a group of famous Buddhist monks headed by Huiji.The arrival of these people greatly promoted the development of local economy and culture. The local education of Confucianism developed quickly. The number of local literate increased gradually. According to statistics, during the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the quantity of Jinshi from Yuanzhou was only less than those from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. There were many poets, and many poems and articles also. Many poets had certain influence in the whole nation, such as Luzhao, zhenggu and zhangwei. Their influences were even kept till Song Dynasty and later times. For example, Zhanggu had a influence over the people of early Song Dynasty. As to this point, Yuanzhou literature should own a appropriate position in the whole literature of Tang Dynasty.From the early and middle Tang Dynasty when literati from outside took the leading position of Yuanzhou culture, to the middle and late Tang Dynasty when local literati appeared independently; from the early literati in Yuanzhou who had a clear characteristic of favoring retirement and conservative thinking, to the literati and officialdoms who owned a strong thinking of Confucianism, all these reflected the phenomenon that relegating officials leaded the crisscrossing of culture of different places, and also showed the development line of culture and literature of the backward south areas in Tang Dynasty. The unique development of Yuanzhou culture and literature also showed the blending of Confucianism and Buddhism to a great extent.