A study of poetry on scholars' unsuccessfulness in the middle and late Tang dynasty = 唐代中後期士人不得志詩研究

Abstract

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there were many poems about scholars’ unsuccessfulness. Past research on these poems emphasizes on the the analysis of the background of writing of these poems. Analysis of writing characteristics of these poems is neglected. Also, the study of poems of famous poets such as Du Fu, Meng Jiao and Jia Dao is emphasized. The study of poems of other poets is neglected.

This paper mainly uses induction method to propose various writing characteristics of poems about scholars’ unsuccessfulness of numerous poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The decline of the poet's social status in the middle and later Tang is the background of the emergence of these poems in this period. These poems describe hard life of scholars, contrast the difference of life between the unsuccessful scholars and the dignitaries, describe the unsuccessful situations of scholars as a long-term and unchangeable state and described in detail the scene of life of unsuccessful scholars. Compared with poems before the middle and late Tang Dynasty, poems about scholars’ unsuccessfulness in the middle and late Tang Dynasty are more explicit. They inherit various writing characteristics of poems before the middle and late Tang Dynasty and influence the poems after this period. In this paper, the contribution of poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty that are neglected in past research is emphasized. Also, through studying poems about scholars’ unsuccessfulness in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the overall style of poems in this period is discussed.