Tao Yuanming

Tao Yuanming, who led a reclusive life after rejecting the life of an official, made rural life the major subject of his creation and was thereby called a pastoral poet. At a time when poems that were written in excessively ornate language and strictly imitated forms, but with empty content, dominated poetry circles, Tao Yuanming carried on the tradition of yuefu folksongs and formed his own simple and natural style, opening up a new vista for classical poetry. Moreover, he further refined the forms of the five-character poem.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589), Chinese poetry attained a new level of artistry. Another series of yuefu folksongs were created, which not only contained social reality, but also invented new art forms and styles. Folksongs during this period can be briefly characterized as short in length and more lyrical than narrative.

The greatest poet of the Northern and Southern dynasties was Bao Zhao (410-466), who carried on and developed the tradition of yuefu folksongs of the Han and Wei dynasties. He composed a large number of excellent five-character and seven-character yuefu poems.

The Tang Dynasty (618-907) was the golden age of Chinese poetry. In a period of almost 300 years, about

Li Bai

50,000 poems were composed and handed down, and more than 50 poets we re distinguished for their own works and style.

Chinese poetry reached its peak in the rising Tang Dynasty. Apart from the most famous Li Bai and Du Fu, many other poets also made enduring contributions in this period. These poets fall roughly into two categories: the landscape poets represented by Meng Haoran and Wang Wei and the frontier poets represented by Gao Shi and Cen Shen. Wang Changling, Li Qi, and Wang Zhihuan are other famous frontier poets.

Poetry of the mid-Tang Dynasty built on the creative output of the height of the Tang Dynasty. Works of this period mainly spoke of social turbulence and people's sufferings. Bai Juyi was eminent as a realist poet of this period. He carried on and developed the realist tradition of The Book of Poetry and the Wefu folksongs of the Han Dynasty, and inspired an outpouring of realist poetry in terms of literary theory and practices -- the new yuefu movement.

Poetry of the late Tang Dynasty exudes a strong sentimentality, observed in poets such as Du Mu (803-852) and Li Shangyin (813-858).

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