张说

Zhang Yue was an important literati and statesman of the Tang dynasty. Eight of his works are collected here, including "Composed on the Way to the Northern Frontier Army," "Picking Plums on New Year's Day," "Summoned by the Imperial Guard to View the Emperor's Calligraphy," "Movements for the Tang Imperial Ancestral Temple," and "Crossing the River for Jingzhou on the First of April." Because public records are limited, details of his birth and death, native place, and official career cannot be firmly established, yet the works themselves convey a distinct sense of their era. His poems are largely tied to court ritual, frontier travel, and occasional verse composed at imperial command; their themes are solemn while accommodating personal feeling, and their language is dignified and concise, skilled at conveying delicate sentiments within grand occasions. They reflect the double concern of High Tang literati moving between court and provinces, and are classified under ancient poetry, Eastern philosophy, and literary appreciation, offering valuable texts for understanding Tang court culture and literati life.