Since the middle period of the Tang Dynasty the social contradictions became more complex and sharp . The outstanding poet Bai Juyi succeeded Du Fu to create many excellent works . His poems reflected the reality of the society . His purposes for writing were : “Essays should be written for the times. Poems should be written for the current affairs”. His poems reached a quite high literary level .
The “Song of Long Remorse” and “Pipa Andante” are the two most famous narrative poems written by Bai Juyi . The former adopts a romanticist style and recounts the love tragedy between Emperor Xuan of Tang and he imperial concubine Yang Yuhuan , with rich imagination , exquisite plot , elegant dictions and harmonious rhythm . It has been appreciated by all the later generations . The latter made a realistic account of the misfortune and the sad life of the pipa ( a musical instrument like guitar ) player , reflecting the miserable fate of women in the feudalist society and also his own grievances for the blows he suffered description and fluent and harmonious rhythms . It was a model of the perfect combination of ideology and art
