The middle and late Tang Dynasty was the age of change. It had the legacy of the High Tang. The Chinese literature, including novels and notes, has devel-oped since the Pre-Qin Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, the intellectuals still didn’t have the idea of novels yet, but only composed short pieces of writing.
The beginning of novels can date back to myths and legends during the Pre-Qin Dynasty, such as the “Classic of Mountains and Seas”. Initially the writing style was close to Zhiguai, tales of the miraculous. Until the Wei and Jin dynas-ties and the Six Dynasties, the two sides were involved and then well-known literati notes, such as “A New Account of the Tales of the World” appeared. But until the Tang Dynasty, the intellectuals didn’t devote themselves to compose novels.
Shi was initially a noble title by military merits during the Pre-Qin Dynasty, and then was used as the pronoun of the intellectuals. Different from previous ways of becoming officials, since the Sui Dynasty, the imperial court applied the Imperial examination to recruit Shi. The Imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty was not anonymous and therefore dignitaries could have an influence on recruitment. Hence, the intellectuals devoted themselves into the Imperial examination. Xingjuan and Wenjuan then accordingly appeared.
Tang Chinese advocated writing historical works but the Historiography Insti-tute had limited numbers of staff. They turned to write their own historical works. Especially since 755, the political situation at the imperial court was in a state of chaos. The intellectuals mostly wrote their own historical works in the style of literati notes. Literati notes of Tang Dynasty were particularly pop-ular.
Different from authorized history, the intellectuals who wrote the literati notes of Tang Dynasty could truly reflect their state of mind and life styles. Because of the difficulty of securing a place in public office and sinister officialdom, the intellectuals, whether positive or passive, were sad, happy, or helpless. And their moods were described in the literati notes, that showed the true face of the intellectuals during that era.