Ellen’s Reviews > 六神磊磊读唐诗Liushen Leilei Reading Tang Poems > Status Update

finally getting to the transition between 初唐 and 盛唐! wish i could retain more of this knowledge, it’s so interesting to read but details on historical figures’ names and years disappear from my brain promptly.

读书进展很慢，每一页都是满满的古人生平事迹。有趣却又很难消化！我很惭愧地今天才意识到，前面读到的宋之问是武则天的武周朝（经常被列入唐朝）的时代的人，不是唐代之前的。读这本书才更能领会到自己知道的有多么的少。

宋之问在盛唐诗文来临前已经在强烈的竞争下留下了自己的声音，让人不得不敬佩。同时也感慨，原来中国古代的人们也是在职场上想拼命升职的啊

初唐四杰的相识和作品让他们名垂千古，却又都很凄惨。没有达到各自的人生目标但文采过人让他们以自己意料之外的方式名垂青史，人生无常、成功的定义也很主观。

Who knew that having Tang poems today was such a stroke of luck in history, and that for many dynasties Chinese poetry sucked despite many efforts by emperors and officials to revive literature! Such dense content explained in a digestible way, so weird that I haven't delved into Chinese history in more than a decade but excited that I'm starting again with this book.

Very interesting so far! Never seen ancient Chinese literature and history described in such a casual, contemporary way before.