The Song Dynasty was another peak in the development of Chinese literature. One of the manifestations is that various literary styles are very prosperous; the second is the self-consciousness and development of literary criticism; the third is the emergence of a large number of excellent writers; the fourth is the astonishing number of works. The literature of the Song Dynasty basically developed along the direction since the mid-Tang Dynasty. In terms of prose, the ancient prose movement initiated by Han Yu and others received enthusiastic response from writers in the Song Dynasty after the decline of the Five Dynasties in the late Tang Dynasty. They more closely combined Taoism and literary tradition, making the ancient prose of the Song Dynasty truly have a strong political function. and practical style; in terms of poetry, writers focused on reflecting social reality, and their themes and styles tended to be popular, eventually forming Song poetry that was very different from Tang poetry; lyrics reached their peak in the Song Dynasty; popular literature in the Song Dynasty It has also made great progress, and finally formed popular narrative literature represented by Huaben, Zhugongdiao, Zaju, Nanxi and other styles. This has changed the ancient Chinese literature that is good at lyricism but short on narrative, attaches great importance to orthodox poetry and despises popular literature. Literary situation, and laid the foundation for the development of novels and operas in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The number of literary works in the Song Dynasty far exceeds that in the Tang Dynasty. There are 278 kinds of Tang poetry collected in "Zhongshu Zonglu", while there are nearly 600 Song poetry. There are more than 2,200 Tang poems extant, and more than 48,900 poems. Including various supplements, the maximum number is only more than 50,000. According to Li E's "Chronicle of Song Poems", there are more than 3,800 surviving Song poems. Lu Xinyuan's "Supplement to the Chronicle of Song Poems" has added more than 3,000 poems. The total number of surviving poems is more than 6,800. The total number of surviving poems is estimated to be 15 From 10,000 to more than 200,000 songs. It is the third or fourth generation of the total number of Tang poems. "Complete Tangwen" contains more than 18,000 articles by more than 3,000 writers of the Tang and Five Dynasties, while "Complete Songwen", which was just published, contains more than 100,000 articles by more than 10,000 writers from the Song Dynasty, which is five times that of Tangwen. So much. The "Complete Poems of the Tang and Five Dynasties" appended to "Complete Poems of the Tang and Five Dynasties" contains only 68 poets and more than 370 poems, while the "Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty" contains nearly 20,000 poems by more than 1,330 poets of the Song Dynasty, which is 50 times the number of poems of the Tang and Five Dynasties. The reason why Song Dynasty literature was able to achieve such great achievements has many social, political and cultural reasons. First of all, the Song Dynasty implemented the national policy of advocating culture and restraining military force. Since Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty "released military power over a cup of wine", emperors of all dynasties have been deeply wary of military generals, and have mostly used Confucian officials to run the army, firmly holding military power in their own hands. At the same time, the Song Dynasty placed great emphasis on civil servants. Not only did the prime ministers have to be scholars, but most of the posts such as privy envoys in charge of the army were held by civil servants. Literati entered the official career through the imperial examination, and they became the main component of the bureaucratic class in the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty became a dynasty based on a mature civil service system with unprecedented strengthening of monarchy and centralization. This was unprecedented in past history. The scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty had a very high sense of social responsibility and enthusiasm for participating in politics. They regarded themselves as pillars of the country and expressed their political opinions with high spirits, showing their unique spiritual outlook. Secondly, the social environment in which literati in the Song Dynasty lived has also undergone great changes. The clan system completely disappeared, and a large number of literati from poor backgrounds entered official careers through the imperial examination. Their living environment was also quite relaxed, and their living conditions were quite generous and comfortable. It can be said that the long-standing social ideal of "poor scholars" was realized in the Song Dynasty. On the other hand, the above characteristics also strengthened the dependence of literati and officials on the state power, and their path to realize their own value became increasingly narrow except for the imperial examination. Related to this, the thoughts of literati and officials were also greatly restricted. The monarchs of the Song Dynasty both relied heavily on and controlled literati. They relied on them to establish a civil service system to prevent military generals from separatist forces, and controlled them in order to unify their ideology. The pattern is to stabilize people's hearts and achieve the ultimate goal of strengthening the monarch's power. Although Neo-Confucianism did not become an official ideology in the Song Dynasty, and was not even recognized by the court, many scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty were keen on preaching and theorizing, had a relatively conscious sense of defending morality, and had a strong sense of mission politically and academically. , attaches great importance to the political enlightenment function of poetry. The traditional idea of ??"writing to carry the Tao" did not really receive high attention until the Song Dynasty. Many scholar-officials in the Song Dynasty put the social and political function of literature above the aesthetic pleasure function. The literary works of the Song Dynasty, especially the poems that were regarded as orthodox literary styles, Reflecting society and intervening in politics have always been the most important themes in literature. Describing people's poverty and criticizing current ills have become the creative tendencies of the entire literary world. They have a distinct flavor of the times and strong bones. The didactic meaning of poetry and prose is obviously stronger than that of the Tang Dynasty. The literati consciously curbed their dissolute, arrogant, and capricious habits, and became sophisticated, profound, and well-behaved.
Therefore, literati in the Song Dynasty paid more attention to reason than emotion; they paid more attention to personal political responsibilities and moral obligations to the country and society, but inhibited the free development and free expression of personality. They overemphasized sociality and weakened the meaning of individual lyricism. A direct impact of the above historical background on the literature of the Song Dynasty was the strengthening of the argumentative element in poetry. The literati of the Song Dynasty were unprecedented in their love of argumentation. Whether it is prose or poetry, the argumentative atmosphere is everywhere. Third, from the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty to the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was always under the threat of powerful enemies. In terms of the weakness of foreign relations, it can be said that no one is weaker than the Song Dynasty. Although the economy of the Song Dynasty was quite developed, the expense of redundant officials and soldiers at home and the huge amount of foreign currency, as well as internal and external troubles, made knowledgeable people worried. The deep sense of urgency made writers in the Song Dynasty rarely use literature to praise virtues, and on the other hand, it also led to the promotion of patriotic themes in the literature of the Song Dynasty. Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court used a large amount of property to obtain compromises with the Liao and Xixia wars. This humiliating situation became a heavy burden on the minds of scholar-bureaucrats and became a frequent theme in poetry. The Southern Song Dynasty was in Changyi