DivisionofTimes
TheMiddleTangDynastygenerallyreferstotheperiodfromthefirstyearofDaizongtothesecondyearofTaiheinWenzong.ThehistoricalperiodreferstotheperiodfromtheMuzongperiodtothe875yearswhenXizongreigned.Atthistime,theTangDynastyhadalreadybeguntohavetwomajorcontradictionsinsideandoutside,butithadnotyetreachedthelevelofpeasantuprising.
Explanationbyquotation
1.Theroadfromthegatetothehall."Poetry·ChenFeng·PreventingaMagpie’sNest":"InthemiddleoftheTangDynasty,thereisascorpion,andthereisapurpose."MaoChuan:"Inthemiddle,theatriumisalso;theTang,theTangisalsopainted."ZhuXi'scollection:"MiaozhongRoadistheTangDynasty."
2.Byreferringtotemplesandmiddlehalls.SouthernSongDynastyHeChengtian"LongTermChapter":"ZhongTang儛LiuYi,athree-cladLuoLeren."TangWangqi"FengSuStele":"HisrelativesareintheMidTangDynastyandfeeltheneighborhood,andhisfriendssleepoutside.Andhangonthegentry."
3.Courtyard."Wenxuan·ZhangHeng":"PlantHuapinginthespringgarden,andabundantZhugrassinthemiddleTangDynasty."LiShan'snote:"Ruchun's"HanShu"notes:'Tang,thecourt.'"HanWangcan"SophoraTreeFu":"OnlythestrangetreeinthemiddleoftheTangDynastyisendowedwithnaturalbeauty."
4.OneofthestagesofTangpoetry.TheperiodfromDaizongDalitoWenzongDaheisgenerallyregardedastheMid-TangDynasty.FamouspoetsofthisperiodincludeWeiYingwu,LiuChangqing,LuLun,HanHong,QianQi,Sikongshu,LiDuan,HanYu,andLiuZongyuansuccessively.See"FourTang".ThisstagewasfirstseeninYanYu's"CanglangPoetryNotes":"EarlyTangDynastystyle(thestyleofChenandSuiintheearlyTangDynasty),Shengtangstyle(afterJingyun,thepoemsofKaiyuanandTianbao),Dalistyle(Dalistyle)ThepoemsoftentalentedscholarsintheLiperiod),Yuanhestyle(YuanandBaiZhugong),andlateTangstyle,butYanYudidnotdelineateaspecifictime.Onthisbasis,latergenerationscombinedtheDaliandYuanhepoemsintoMid-Tangpoetry..
AccordingtoanotherarticlebyProfessorGeXiaoyinofPekingUniversity,"TheChangesinMid-TangDynastyLiterature":TheMid-TangDynastyinthehistoryofliteraturegenerallyreferstothefirstyearofEmperorZongdalioftheTangDynasty(766)tothe9thyearofEmperorWenzongoftheTangDynasty(835).Thisperiodofabout70years.
Inaddition,therearesometypesofclassification.Therearesubjectivefactorsinthedelineationofconcepts.TheTangpeopledidnotdividetheirownerasinsuchdetail.Readerscandecidehowtoclassifytheminamorereasonableway.
AftertheMid-TangDynasty,literatiwrotemoreandmorewords.WenTingyunwasthewriterwhowrotethemostwordsandhadthegreatestinfluenceonfuturegenerations.WenTingyun(812?-870?),whoserealnameisQi,iscalledFeiqing,andwasborninQiCounty,Taiyuan(nowQixian,Shanxi).Foralongtimeinandoutofthesonglouprostitution,hewasdespisedbythescholar-bureaucratsatthetime,andinhislateryearsheservedasFangChengweiandassistantteacheroftheImperialCollege.Thereare60poemsinWen'spoems,mostofwhichdescribewomen'sappearance,dressandmood.Suchas[BuddhaMan]: