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Why did poetry become the most popular art form in ancient China?
Among all Chinese arts, poetry was considered to be the most popular art form in ancient China. Poetry provided a convenient medium for people to convey their aspirations or sentiments. Since the reason for writing poetry was to express one's own feelings and to inspire these feelings in others, it makes sense for poems to be written so that people could understand. A poem that was too difficult to be understood by even the educated elites would most likely generate very little resonant effect on its readers.
For this reason, Chinese poems tend to be relatively short in length and less abstruse in surface meaning. This does not mean that people of this generation will not have any problem reading classical poems. Actually, classical poetry could be quite difficult to read as they were written in the literary language, a language that is vastly different from the kind of vernacular Chinese language that we use today. But for the poets’ contemporaries, reading classical poetry was probably just as easy as reading verses in vernacular Chinese by us modern people.
The introduction of jintishi during the Tang Dynasty had added a new dimension to the poetic forms already in use. Although gushi, the ancient-style poetry, used rhymes and was less restrictive in form and style, it did not have the kind of musicality that jintishi offered. With its emphasis on tonal variations, rhythm, and rhyme scheme, jintishi was far more effective in creating a resonant effect on the mind and ears of the reader or listener. Because it brought music to the ears, more and more poets from all walks of life had joined the jintishi bandwagon. From the rulers to common people, from intellectual elites to the less educated, just about everyone participated in reciting or chanting, if not writing, poetry. Poetry also became an important part in human social interactions. No social gathering and ceremonial service would be complete without including a few lines or couplets as part of the activities. In fact, poetry was so popular during the Tang and Song dynasties that it was often used as a tool to communicate personal feelings in lieu of direct messages.
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