In October, at our institute, in the lecture "Buddhism, Moon and Wine: Some Themes from the Golden Age of Chinese Poetry", Assoc. Dr Vytis Silius gave a brief introduction to some of the most prominent poets of the Tang Dynasty and highlighted the undeniable cultural significance of their works.
First of all, the event emphasized that already in Confucius's main work "The Analects" he constantly emphasized the importance of knowing poetry, because only someone who knew the canon of poetry could govern properly, was able to communicate with people from various backgrounds, and knew how to use diplomacy. Confucius said: "odes are good for arousal, good for keen observation, good for building community." In other words, the book of poetry acted as a tool for those in power to communicate with the community.
The lecture mentioned the Shījīng 詩經, the first and oldest surviving collection of Chinese poetry (translated as the 'Book of Songs', the 'Book of Odes ' or the 'Book of Poetry'), which consists of 305 works from the 11th-7th centuries B.C. It was this work that became particularly important in the 8th century for all those aspiring to hold public positions, and which was later included in the cevil service examinations.
It is important to mention that this work is full of chéngyǔ 成语 (four-character classical idioms), which are still a part of modern Chinese and even everyday speech.
The importance of the Tang Dynasty as the 'golden age' of Chinese poetry has been singled out, as poetic forms and genres flourished during this time, and many later poets took inspiration from this period when copying or quoting. At a later point in time, poetry moved from the social, diplomatic, and pragmatic level to the level of personal communication, personal impression, and perception.
The speaker introduced us to 3 great poets who emerged during the Tang Dynasty: Wang Wei 王微, Li Bai 李白, and Du Fu 杜甫. We listened to Chinese poems read by a native poetry reader, which was an unexpected surprise of the evening.
Li Bai, who remains one of China's most prominent poets, explored themes of longing for home, loneliness, and a deep connection with the natural world in his poems.
It is important to note that during the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was strongly integrated into both everyday life and classical Chinese culture. Therefore, because of the frequent Buddhist themes in his works, Wang Wei was often referred to as the 'Buddha of the poets'. His poetry is imbued with images of mountains, shining light and echoes of voices centered on the local landscape. His popular poem "Miscellaneous poems"雜詩 also emphasized criticism of the revolutionary government at the time. Wang Wei was known as a poet who mainly described the outside world.
Brief mention was made of Du Fu, who wrote mostly about vivid events that he himself witnessed or personally experienced.
We hope you enjoyed the lecture and that the knowledge you gained here will continue to stimulate your curiosity about Chinese culture and poetry. Thank you to all those who participated.
We look forward to welcoming you at our next events of the institute!