Poem Analysis: The Golden Age

As it happens, the great nations that roamed/roam the Earth are inevitably cursed into spiraling through a cycle of drastic cultural, societal, and governmental change; from good to bad, from bad to good, and so on. This, of course, can be clearly observed when taking a trip back in time, with examples including from the Dark Ages to the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Medieval Europe and from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression in the United States. In particular. the distinct time in this sequence dubbed as the “Golden Age” – described as a time in a civilization’s history where the nation greatly flourished and accomplished great tasks – of a civilization sticks out; that is, because this such honorable label is usually

This, indeed, would have allowed for people to more publicly express their looming thoughts and emotions, as shown by the heartfelt expressions given off by Li Bai’s poem. Li Bai might’ve encountered trouble if he had written this poem during the Qin Dynasty, seeing as the government probably would’ve used censorship to make sure the communities were only filled with joyous and peaceful thoughts. By being able to let out their emotions through poetry, the poets of the Tang Dynasty were likely able to release the stress and pain inside of them, allowing for them to mostly move past such sadness. This level of openness and freedom would most likely lead to an overall more satisfied nation, as the citizens wouldn’t have to endlessly bottle up their inner thoughts. Another well known example that represents high levels of literature prominent in the Tang Dynasty is the Nestorian Stele, a stone tablet that documents the early stages of Christianity in China. On it, it states of a man who travels from the east all the way to China in order to bring Christianity to the nation, and after consulting with the emperor himself, the emperor becomes convinced of the truthfulness

It can be seen of the extensive literature that flooded the country during the Tang Dynasty, in all sorts of forms: poems, stories, books of teaching, etc. This amount of attention to the process of creative writing and record keeping proves unique in comparison to other dynasties, such as the Qin Dynasty; creativity or personal viewpoints would’ve most likely been heavily suppressed by the legalistic nature of the government. The fact that the Tang Dynasty split past this governmental method is a pivotal reason as to why it became regarded as such a prosperous and successful time in Chinese history today. The loosening of the government’s hold on the civilians allowed for them to be able to express personal interests and opinions, opening opportunities to advance in technological innovation, while also spurring one’s creativity through expression in forms of literature. Yet, it can’t be fully confirmed of this history; indeed, victors are the ones who write the history. It could’ve very well not have been as thriving as it has been deduced; for all everyone knows, the Tang government might’ve forged all the documents to make the dynasty seem moral-driven and righteous, but in the background, they believed Legalism even more than it’s predecessors. Of course, this is only a theory, and theories relating to history are terribly hard to prove; in fact, there