Tang Dynasty Scholars And Society

Grass-roots intelligentsia existed in Tang Dynasty commonly. They were interrelated to the society's politics, economy and culture in innumerable ways. The vestiges of their story have been left in history. This article which based on this subject is to make it clear of grass-roots intelligentsia's social position and thought situation, and the interaction between the social force and themselves. At present, no one of the Tang historian circle take Grass-roots intelligentsia as his research subject, so it is necessary to carry this theme on research.In Tang Dynasty, people believed that grass-roots intelligentsia were the ones who didn't get official positions. The author gives the definition of grass-roots intelligentsia in two ways, narrowed and generalized. The former one means the ones who didn't get official positions. The later includes not only the former one but also means the ones who got official positions contemporarily. This study includes the two above kinds, but not completely covers available names as grass-roots intelligentsia in the literatures of Tang Dynasty.The reason why the identity of grass-roots intelligentsia established was related to the ones themselves and the deep social reasons. As the former one. many scholars preferred reclusion deliberately and initiatively. They used Buddhist and Taoism thoughts to enrich their seclusion. Others were hypocritical, who just used seclusion to trust fame, and always received people's mockery. The ones who failed in an imperial examination also became a grass-roots intelligentsia. Along with the development of the imperial examination of Tang Dynasty, more and more people attend the exam while a few were recruited. So many people accepted the social reality passively. The lives of grass-roots intelligentsia of Tang Dynasty were variety, including academic, business, etc.The number of grass-roots intelligentsia who buried in Mang Mountain of Luo Yang was very huge and so typical. From the Mang Mountain grass-roots intelligentsia and the ones lived in the city of Luo Yang, we can see the simple geopolitical relations of grass-roots intelligentsia of Tang Dynasty. They have little chance in life to migrate, but for the current social reform or their members of the household were in government. It was a form of immigration in Tang Dynasty, too.Grass-roots intelligentsia of Tang Dynasty who were concerned with the development of the country and lifeblood was a large community. The ruler must pay attention to them, and comfort them in various forms to make them as the force making national stability. This is mainly embodied in the recruiting of government to the community. In this activity, the grass-roots intelligentsia was passive. On the other hand, as the grass-roots intelligentsia has certain enlightenment, they used their ability to do a lot of good for society as certain social responsibility. But their contribution to the society was limited. Grass-roots intelligentsia's thoughts and actions have also affected the Tang Dynasty. The outstanding ones of them were the studying examples and praised by others. While the common ones were only object references for people to draw lessons from.