Yuan Shao's The Tang: A Poetic People
The Tang: A Poetic People
On the river, vainly I encounter a Yuan Shao's sconce.
Snowy ridge—alone I watch sun setting in the west;
Swordgate—still hindering men coming from the north.
(from Du Fu’s Autumn Is Done Translated by David McCraw)
Readers of Tang Dynasty poetry have learned about social and political structures of the time because it was heavily integrated into society. Poetry was incorporated in nearly all aspects of everyday life during the rule of Emperor Xuangzong. Although other means provide information on the Tang Dynasty, the most prominent way to learn about it is through poetry. Tang poetry was incorporated into society as an active participant as well as a detailed observer. Poetry played an active role …show more content…
Some events were even structured around poetry, such as planned drinking games. In the drinking games people would sit on a riverbank and grab floating cups of alcohol and once they grabbed one they would write a poem. Poems written at drinking games ranged from recording the event to observing aspects of nature. This poetry shows information about the games as well as what the surroundings of the poet were like. After events or in any situation where gratitude was shown, more poetry was written as a social discourse to say farewell to friends and thank them for hosting the event or coming to the event. In A Rustic Fellow Sends Crimson Cherries by Du Fu (written to give thanks to a peasant who brought him some cherries), historians can learn many facts about the Dynasty. For example, the poem talks about growing cherries in western Shu and putting them in a bamboo basket. This poem teaches that cherries were grown in western Shu which gives context to cherry farming tools. It also shows that cherries were widely eaten because even the peasant thanking Du Fu can afford to have a basket of cherries. This shows information about the empire and is an example of what poetry teaches about ancient China. All types of social poetry teach about life in the Tang dynasty because they contain many details pertaining to other parts of the
On the river, vainly I encounter a Yuan Shao's sconce.
Snowy ridge—alone I watch sun setting in the west;
Swordgate—still hindering men coming from the north.
(from Du Fu’s Autumn Is Done Translated by David McCraw)
Readers of Tang Dynasty poetry have learned about social and political structures of the time because it was heavily integrated into society. Poetry was incorporated in nearly all aspects of everyday life during the rule of Emperor Xuangzong. Although other means provide information on the Tang Dynasty, the most prominent way to learn about it is through poetry. Tang poetry was incorporated into society as an active participant as well as a detailed observer. Poetry played an active role …show more content…
Some events were even structured around poetry, such as planned drinking games. In the drinking games people would sit on a riverbank and grab floating cups of alcohol and once they grabbed one they would write a poem. Poems written at drinking games ranged from recording the event to observing aspects of nature. This poetry shows information about the games as well as what the surroundings of the poet were like. After events or in any situation where gratitude was shown, more poetry was written as a social discourse to say farewell to friends and thank them for hosting the event or coming to the event. In A Rustic Fellow Sends Crimson Cherries by Du Fu (written to give thanks to a peasant who brought him some cherries), historians can learn many facts about the Dynasty. For example, the poem talks about growing cherries in western Shu and putting them in a bamboo basket. This poem teaches that cherries were grown in western Shu which gives context to cherry farming tools. It also shows that cherries were widely eaten because even the peasant thanking Du Fu can afford to have a basket of cherries. This shows information about the empire and is an example of what poetry teaches about ancient China. All types of social poetry teach about life in the Tang dynasty because they contain many details pertaining to other parts of the