Tang poetry refers to
poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's
Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 - June 4, 907, including the 690-705 reign of
Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered as the
Golden Age of
Chinese poetry. According to the
Quantangshi anthology created under the
Kangxi Emperor of the
Qing dynasty, there were almost 50,000 Tang poems written by over 2,200 authors. During the Tang dynasty, poetry continued to be an important part of social life at all levels of society. Scholars were required to master poetry for the civil service exams, but the art was theoretically available to everyone. This led to a large record of poetry and poets, a partial record of which survives today. Three of the most famous poets of the period were
Li Bai,
Wang Wei and
Du Fu. Tang poetry has had an ongoing influence on world literature and modern and quasi-modern poetry.