Ling Study

Zhang Jiu-ling was a famous statesman, thinker and writer in the Kaiyuan Era ( 开元) of Tang Dynasty. His former ancestral home was Fanyang, (范阳) and moved to Qujiang (曲江) and then to Shixing (始兴) when his great-grandfather was transferred to Lingnan (岭 南). He had to be self-reliance when his father died in his early youth. He was promoted to Jinshi (进士 ) in the name of Xianggong (乡贡 ), and experienced lots of frustrations after that. Influenced by the traditional culture and the local Lingnan culture, Zhang Jiu-ling became the first baseborn prime minister in the history of Lingnan with the help of a few people including Zhang Yue. As the last wise minister of Kaiyuan Era, Zhang Jiu-ling established the concept of catching all the opportunities to make every possible achievement, and retiring from the position at the right time of the success. His ideal concept represented the thinking of the intellectuals in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. His personalities such as loyalty, firmness and integrity were also regarded as a model for the intellectuals of his time.In the previous period of Tang Dynasty, Zhang Jiu-ling was an important poet who consciously inherited and developed the thought of reforming literature by returning to the ancients. He set up a new style of poetry based on his wide circle of acquaintances with other poets, and opened an era of original style which was later inherited, innovated and developed by Chen Zi-ang and then by Li Bai and Du Fu. He worked in the way as a bridge between the past and future, therefore established his social status and influence in the history. In the development of Five-Character "old style" Verse, he founded the School of Qingdan and advocated a style of highly original with lucidity and elegance, simplicity and profundity. With innovative spirits, he made great efforts in functioning emotional and impressionistic style in his poems including those designated by the emperor or on admiration of landscape, on distress or sufferings. His poetry was elegant and talented, mellifluent and appropriate, simpleminded and forthrightly. He was good at using techniques such as simile and metaphor Zhang Jiu-ling contributed a lot to formation of the unique style which combined sensation and sight in Tang Dynasty.Zhang Jiu-ling's works had distinct characteristics and political complexion of his times, revealed his elegant poetic temperament and meticulous style in all his works. He made use of various writing skills favoring the purpose of fully expressing the intended ideas, and yet not liberalized the style that might go against the purpose. Thus his works played an important role in furthering the literature of Tang Dynasty.