Literature of Central Asians on the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang: On the Connection Between the Tang Poetry Road and the Silk Road in Eastern Zhejiang
Long Chengsong
Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116023, China
Abstract：As an academic concept, the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang has been put forward for more than 30 years, but in recent years, it has just become a hot topic in literature research of the Tang Dynasty. The previous studies mainly focus on exemplary poets and compositions from Eastern Zhejiang, following the traditional methods of studying poets’ traveling traces, acquaintances and their poems’ contents and styles, with less attention from the perspective of Sino-foreign transportation and ethnic relations. As a matter of fact, Eastern Zhejiang is not only a famous scene in the southeast of the Tang Empire, but also has close ties with the land and marine Silk Road. Regional culture is open and diversified, so the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang is also full of gorgeous foreign elements. Since the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Zhejiang region has attracted the active foreign people along the Silk Road with its unique geographical location and natural environment. During the Six Dynasties period, monks and merchants from Central Asia left many romantic stories and historical relics in Eastern Zhejiang. In the Tang Dynasty, the foreign monks from Central Asia were still widely distributed in the Eastern Zhejiang. Apart from spreading Buddhism, their communication with native scholars became remarkable, which jointly promoted the prosperity of the Buddhist culture in Eastern Zhejiang. As the main production area of silk, porcelain, tea and other domestic and international trade goods, Eastern Zhejiang has excellent land and water transportation, and its economic status increased gradually in the Tang Dynasty, and became the economic lifeline of the empire in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. Such commercial status also attracted foreign merchants from Central Asia who were peddling on the commercial network of the Silk Road. Except the monks and merchants, local officials at all levels also included many foreign people from Central Asia. Some of them, though with only scarce occupational experience, have left popular legends. Some of them, such as Kang Xixian and his family, who settled down in Kuaiji County, became quite influential local elites. In addition, there were many literati with Central Asian descent who came here to take refuge, visit, live in seclusion and settled down because of the natural landscape, cultural atmosphere and social environment. Some of them were quite famous writers in the literary circle of the Tang Dynasty, such as Rong Yu. These literati with foreign descents add special “Hu Sound” to the literary circle of Eastern Zhejiang through their literary creation. In brief, the Tang Poetry Road in the Eastern Zhejiang is not a closed road, nor is it just a poetry road. It also connects the land and marine Silk Road and other Tang Poetry Roads nationwide. The communication between Hu and Han, including poetry, ancient books, religion and commerce, jointly created the open, diversified and integrated cultural characteristics of the Tang Poetry Road in the Eastern Zhejiang. The connection between the Tang Poetry Road in the Eastern Zhejiang and the Silk Road is a key step to open up the whole Tang Poetry Road, and also a field that can be explored in future researches. In order to improve the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang, and further enrich the academic connotation, it is necessary to draw on the rich achievements accumulated in the literature research of Tang Dynasty. It is also necessary to pay attention to the latest research achievements in the fields of Chinese and foreign transportation, silk history and culture, as well as new archaeological discoveries and unearthed documents and historical materials, so as to realize the integration of multi-disciplines and multi-field studies.
龙成松. 浙东唐诗之路上的“胡声”[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(7): 106-117.
Long Chengsong. Literature of Central Asians on the Tang Poetry Road in Eastern Zhejiang: On the Connection Between the Tang Poetry Road and the Silk Road in Eastern Zhejiang. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(7): 106-117.
2022, Vol. 52 
