On Exile Mind Of The Tang Dynasty Literati

The dissertation is composed of the introductory part and the body part. In theintroductory part, the author discusses feudal China's demotion and exile law as wellas the culture underlining it. It also summarizes the mentality features of thosescholars who had been exiled and relegated to the border area in the golden times ofT'ang Dynasty. The first chapter discusses the reason why Zhang Yue had beenbanished into exile and his mentality for this before and after the case. This chapteralso exposes other intellectuals' mentality when Zhang Yue was demoted to Yue Zhou.Chapter two mainly discusses Zhang Jiuling's mentality after he had been banished.His loyalty to the emperor before the case and his way of releasing himself after thecase are also stated in this chapter. In chapter three, Wang Wei's mentality after hisdemotion and the significance it had on those lay Buddhists are discussed. Chapterfour exposes Wang Changling's dilemma of weather to adhere to the ideal of savingpeople as an official or to escape the earthly world. Gao Shi's attitude to demotion andexile reflected in his works is also described in Chapter five. Chapter six emphasizesCen Shen's irrational reaction to his being demoted and his romantic spirit to it. InChapter seven, Li Bai is described for his contradictory mentality before and after hehad been exiled. Chapter eight summarizes Du Fu's unique characteristics of combinghis personal feelings with reality in his works. Chapter nine summarizes the mentalityof other scholars to the demotion and exiles reflected in many scattered works inT'ang Dynasty.