The "Four Geniuses of Letters" of the Early Tang Dynasty and the Songs of Chu

The four of letters, as pioneers in literary innovation in the early Tang Dynasty, were unanimously against the style of the Qi and the Liang, two previous dynasties. They all advocated the traditional Confucian doctrine that poetic function is instructive, which easily caused their bias against Qu Yuan. Wang Bo and Lu Zhao-ling both once criticized Qu Yuan, while the assessment of Luo Bin-wang and Yang Jiong differed from that of Wang Bo and Lu Zhao-ling in the former two had never played down the importance of Qu Yuan. Unfortunate mishaps in politics led to some modification in Wang's and Lu's understanding of Qu Yuan in their later life. In artistic creation, the four geniuses all received profound influence from the Songs of Chu. So no matter in the content of their works or in their expressive virtuosity, the four geniuses obviously received the legacy of Qu Yuan.