Confucian School of Helen and Construction of Literary Ideology at the Beginning of the Tang Dynasty

In late Sui and early Tang dynasties,Wang Tong wrote the follow-up of“the Six Classics(Liu Jing)”and delivered lectures in Longmen to promote the Confucian doctrines.Influenced by the imperial ideology, Wang Tong carried evident character of utilitarianism in his oudook on literature.For instance,in terms of the in- terpretation of the Book of Songs and criticism of the writers and their works in history,Wang Tong took the Confu- cian ideology in politics and education as his criteria,stressing the pragmatic effect of the works in education.Mo- reover,the construction of literary ideology at the beginning of the Tang dynasty was deeply influenced by the Con- lucian School of Helen.It was reflected in two aspects:the historians and politicians in the beginning of the Tang dynasty inherited the pragmatic ideology of literature;and what Wang Ji and Wang 8o pursued in literature embod- ied both the elements of clan background and those of diversity under the influence of clan tradition and regional culture.