Chinese is certainly one of the riches tradition of poetry, trace back to the ‘Book of Songs’, which was recorded three thousand years ago. Tang dynasty is widely known as the ‘golden age of Chinese poetry.’ In the Chinese history, there is a famous phrase spread across China called “Tangpoes Songwords Yuansongs” （唐诗宋词元曲）, from that we could observe Tang is the most glorious era of Chinese poetry. However, whenever people made a judgment, there always might be some alternative voice doubt about it. People may questioning what makes Tang poetry unforgettable even passed thousand years long and still alive and well even today? From ancient times to the present, opinion varies. In my words, Tang poetry cannot be done without the three essential elements: booming economy of Tang, political background and the cultural background of the period of Tang. These three elements play an important role in assisting the development of Chinese literature of poetry to reach its peak.
Tang dynasty is the most prosperous period among five thousand Years history of China, the Tang emperor ‘ruled the largest and most cosmopolitan realm’ in history, Tang achieved the greater peace and the extraordinary flourishing and mature economy provided the essential prerequisite in the development for literature and art. Chinese critics often classify the periods by ‘reigns, by dynasties or by dynastic subdivisions, such as ‘Early’, ‘Middle’ or ‘late’.’ However, when we look at the division of Tang, we could see it’s been divided into four periods. Apart from ‘Early’ ‘Middle’ and ‘Late’ Tang, a new term’ High’ Tang has been occurred between “Early’ Tang and ‘Middle’ Tang. This new term breaks the traditional norms of historian, as happened of no other dynasty ...
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...ultural ideal of moral responsibility, compassion, loyalty and social concern.” Tu Fu further corroborate Rewi Alley’s suggestion that “one should not judge a poet entirely by his poets, and that one needs to know the period in which the poet wrote as well as the geographical environment and historical events that were at the back of his mind when he wrote.” This is what makes Tu Fu unique, among the thousands of Chinese poets, he is the only one whose influence grows with times.
Summarizing the above, Tang dynasty referred as ‘golden age of Chinese poetry” was well-founded. Whether from economic condition, political structure or cultural background, Tang was well provided great condition than any other dynasty, furnish an unprecedented condition in creation of poems, which brighten Tang poetry in Chinese literature culture that no later period could exceeded it.
Feng Menglong continues to illustrate the concept of love in his short story or poem “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger,” where money is given for exchange of a deep feeling for love. Money and the quantification of Human Relations in terms of silver coins in Feng Menglong's story, Chinese literature, is the profound work generated during the era of Yuan and Ming dynasties of creative narrative. In addition, throughout this spell, popularity of the vernacular narrative outstandingly cannot be overemphasized. As contrasted with the high degree of complex and conventional long-established fiction, vernacular narratives were build with a lot of flexibility and thus could well portray the amazing and sometimes sleazy literature of the Chinese life and cultural aspects of the ages, such as monetization of human relationships that came as a result of Ming dynasty's unparalleled success.
During the Tang and Song dynasty, many excellent achievements have been accomplished which are still being preserved and used widely over centuries. Their citizens were excelled in many fields with several of new and practical inventions which all directly affected the citizens’ lives.
In his poem, “Notes from the City of the Sun”, Bei Dao utilizes obscure imagery consistent with the Misty Poets and veiled political references to illustrate the struggles in Chinese society during the Cultural Revolution. The poem is sectioned into fourteen short stanzas containing imagery that are symbolic of the cultural hegemony in China under the rule of Mao Zedong. Bei Dao, born Zhao Zhen-kai, is an anti-revolutionary poet and one of the founders of a group known as the Misty Poets. The Misty Poets wrote poems that protested the Cultural Revolution led by Mao Zedong. Therefore, a lot of Bei Dao’s poems speak out against the Cultural Revolution and the restrictions that it placed on any form of art. Bei Dao’s poetry is categorized as “misty” because of the ambiguity in its references to Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. An obscure imagery that occurs twice in “Notes” is the sun imagery. Another imagery that depicts the injustice of the Cultural Revolution is the description of freedom as scraps of paper. In the poem, Bei Dao also equates faith to sheep falling into a ditch; this is a depiction blind faith during the Cultural Revolution. The purpose of this essay is to analyze how Bei Dao’s use of the Misty Poet’s ambiguous imagery and implicit political context in the poem “Notes from the City of the Sun” to illustrate the cultural hegemony in China under Mao.
...y extraordinarily beautiful, it was also a wealth of information about the people and culture of ancient China during his reign.
1200CE. The Tang Dynasty Tales and The Diary of Lady Murasaki helped surface the Chinese
The first segment, Winter, archives the earliest years of the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1450. The social hierarchy of early Ming was based upon the ownership of land (Brook, p. 79). One way to describe the increasing power ...
One of the eras of a majestic ancient civilization that has left a lasting impression upon the world of today is the Chinese Song Dynasty. Established by General Zhao Kuangyin this dynasty lasted from 960–1279 AD and brought a new stability to China after many decades of civil war, and ushered in a new era of modernization. It was divided into the Bei (Northern) and the Nan (Southern) Song periods. This brilliant cultural epoch gave birth to major advances in economic reform, achievements in technology, and helped to further medical knowledge.
Cao Xueqin’s Story of the Stone is a classic in Chinese literature, showcasing the life and exploits of the wealthy Jia clan during the feudal era. Through Cao’s depiction, the reader is afforded a glimpse into the customs and lifestyle of the time. Chinese mode of thought is depicted as it occurs in daily life, with the coexisting beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. While the positive aspects of both ideologies are presented, Cao ultimately depicts Taoism as the paramount, essential system of belief that guides the character Bao-yu to his eventual enlightenment. As was the case in China, Cao depicts the two forms of belief existing alongside one another, and not necessarily practiced exclusively to one another.
The second part of the journey visits, ancient China in 1500 BCE, a thousand years prior to the formation of the Daoism school of thought. (Brodd, Little and Ny...
The Tang dynasty was founded in 618, and lasted until 907. The emperor was supreme and government officials were chosen by examination. A census was taken to simplify tax collection and to draft citizens to perform labor for the empire. This was a period of great land expansion. (Halsall, 1998) The emperor also had a great love of the arts, and the Tang became known as the golden age of literature and art. Block printing was invented and made writing more available. (Unknown, 2003) Shipbuilding and firearms development were also refined during the era. Art was heavily influenced by Buddhism, especially rock sculpture. One major problem that arose was the heavy burden of taxation. Many were unable to meet their heavy tax burden. To escape this, many placed themselves under the protection of great landlords who were exempt from taxes, or became bandits. (Halsall, 1998)
The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was a ruling dynasty in China. This dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song and Southern Song. Social life was vibrant in the Song dynasty. Literature and knowledge were enhanced by wood block printing and movable type printing. Confucianism infused with Buddhist ideals emphasized a new organization of classic texts brought out the core doctrine of Neo-Confucianism. The civil service examinations became more prominent in the Song period. Administrative sophistication and complex organization was during this era. Song Dynasty was prosperous in many respects of the society. Even though this dynasty was technologically and culturally advanced, Song people were not militarily powerful.
... in the writing style, form, and theme were greatly influenced by the time’s social status quo, culture, and authoritative style of the government. The Restoration pieces are very intriguing, factual, and entertaining, often using satiric, rhetoric, and humorous literary devices to convey an argument to a large group of people. They are easier to read and therefore are not as hard to derive a meaning from, as opposed to the Romantic pieces which are not as structured, and most times the language is hard to decipher and extract a theme from. Although this process of re-reading and re-reading is tiring, the ultimate feeling when one has acquired the significance of the poem is very rewarding. The different styles, forms, and themes that developed during these two time periods have produced great work that has been an important contribution to literature over the ages.
To Transcend Duty Considered the greatest of China’s poets, Du Fu deserves the praise for his ability in conveying so many emotions in a single poem. Known as Confucian poet, Du Fu utilizes many Confucian principles in his poetry, especially those relating to family. Unlike Li Bai, a friend and fellow poet, Du Fu has many powerful poems written about his family. In reading these poems, something more than Confucian filial duty comes out, especially in the poems about his wife. As the relationship between husband and wife is one of the five Confucian relationships, it makes sense he would write about his duty to his wife, but Du Fu’s poetry shows how the depth and scope of his feelings surpasses mere duty.
The purpose of this paper is to tell the history of the Ming Dynasty’s impact on the Chinese Empire, and to explain why the Chinese Empire was in fact an empire.
The origin of Chinese music can be track back to 7,000 to 8,000 years ago due to the discover of remains of instrument .In Xia Dynasty, in 2,000 B.C. , Chinese music began to be visible in recorded history. Back then, only the royal families and dignitary officials enjoyed music and the music was used for performing rituals since Chinese music was part of the Confucian tradition. In Confucianism, music is one of the six art(六藝), which includes calligraphy, etiquette , riding , archery, mathematics and music. During the Tang Dynasty(618-907), dancing and singing became the mainstream, which made music not a privilege to rich people anymore, it spread from the royal court to the common people. Also, with the influence from foreign religions such as Buddhism and Islam, their music were also absorbed into Chinese music. In Song Dynasty(960-1279), the original opera such as Zaju and Nanxi was formed and performed in tearooms, theaters, and showplaces. Chinese opera had been developed rapidly and diversely during Ming (1368-1644 ) and Qing Dynasties ( 1644-1911). The Chinese opera became very wide spread, different regions have developed their own opera style.