From the Tang World to the Song Perspective——A study of the "High Tang" concept in historical narrative
从唐世到宋观——历史叙事中的“盛唐”概念研究

摘要

唐代与其他时代相比通常被划分为初、盛、中、晚四个阶段，在这四个阶段的框架下，“盛唐”的概念显得尤为模糊且特殊。其称谓是描述盛世的情绪化表达，因而历来不能真正界定其断限。今人所熟知的“盛唐”概念及断限本质上是宋人界定的诗学范畴，以历史分期的范式隐蔽了其文学审美内核，成为一种文化规训工具而由诗入史对后世唐史认识产生深远影响。“盛唐”概念始终存在着政治属性与文学属性相关性之争议，已成为唐诗学与唐史学研究中无法回避的元命题。本文系统地追溯了“盛唐”一词从唐代到宋代的形成过程，分析宋人“盛唐”观的形成逻辑，解释“盛唐”与“盛唐诗”的联系，力图重返唐人原始语境，回归唐人自身的历史文化视角。

Abstract

Compared with other historical periods, the Tang Dynasty is conventionally divided into four phases—Early, High, Middle, and Late Tang. Within this Four-Tang framework, the concept of the "High Tang" stands out as particularly ambiguous and special. Its often framed as an emotive label for a "golden age," has historically defied precise temporal boundaries. The modern understanding of the "High Tang"—including its time scope—is a poetic construct defined by Song scholars. By employing the paradigm of historical periodization, its literary aesthetic core is concealed, transforming it into a tool of cultural discipline that, through the mediation of poetry, has exerted a profound influence on later understandings of Tang history. The "High Tang" has always been controversial about the correlation between political attributes and literary attributes, has rendered it an inescapable meta-question in both Tang poetic studies and Tang historiography. This study systematically traces the evolution of the term "High Tang" from its usage in the Tang to its canonization in the Song, analyzing the formative logic of Song scholars' "High Tang" discourse. Ultimately, the paper seeks to transcend later-period frameworks by returning to Tang primary texts, aiming to reconstruct historical and cultural perspectives rooted in Tang literati's own worldview.