A Study of The Generation of Zhuang In The Tang Collected Literary Works From the Perspective Of Its Differentiation Between Biao
The prefaces to the collected literary works written by the Tang literati themselves provide the original information,such as the number,classification,and order of the works when they were compiled.This article starts with the compilation of the Tang collected literary works and their original form and focuses on the making of zhuang(状),or account,from the perspective of its differentiation between biao(表),or presentation,and of the formation of its style.In the official document system of the Tang Dynasty,zhuang had become independent by the Kaiyuan reign period at the latest,but it would take seventy or eighty years for zhuang to appear as a stylistic category in the Tang collected literary works.During this period,there was obvious confusion between zhuang and biao in the collections.This is also the process for zhuang to become independent from biao as a style of official writing.