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Yuanhe Cultural Renaissance

Type Event Region China Time 810–819

During Emperor Xianzong's Yuanhe era (c. 810s), amid political revival, Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan championed the Ancient Prose Movement while Bai Juyi …

Timeline

  1. 810–812Chang'an · ShaanxiHan Yu, serving as Erudite of the Imperial Academy and other posts, vigorously advocated that prose should convey the Way, opposing the ornate parallel-prose style; Liu Zongyuan complemented this with fables and travel essays, bringing the Ancient Prose Movement to its height.
  2. 815–816Luoyang · HenanBai Juyi and Yuan Zhen led the New Yuefu Movement, emphasizing poetry that satirized reality; representative works such as "Song of the Pipa" and "Watching the Wheat Harvest" became widely circulated.
  3. 819Chang'an · ShaanxiHan Yu submitted a memorial remonstrating against the reception of the Buddha's bone, denouncing it as deceiving the people; though demoted, he exemplified the Yuanhe literati's spirit of applying Confucian learning to governance and speaking out boldly.

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