論中唐「詩人概念」與「詩人身分」

The Concept of “Poet” and Status of Poets During the Mid-Tang Dynasty

唐代文人所使用的「詩人」這個辭彙，迥異於唐代以前的使用方式。「詩人」一詞創始自漢代，本專指《詩經》作者，但是自唐代以後，尤其是中唐以降，詩人逐漸成為某種專力於詩歌之文人的代稱。從稱謂的轉變，可以看出唐代詩人群體逐漸形成社會所認可的階層，「詩人」亦成為某一類特殊社會群體身分的代稱，也就是，從中唐以後，稱某人為「詩人」，乃是一種美譽。本文從「唐代『詩人』概念的轉變」、「中唐詩人意識的成形」、「中唐的詩人認同」、「中唐時『詩人』成為身分象徵」四個面向，來探討所謂「詩人」地位如何形成，而其「詩人身分」如何被世俗認可其價值。

The vocabulary of “shiren” （詩人）was only referred to the authors of The book of songs （詩經） before Tang dynasty. But the meanings had been extended to another significance that was involved in the writers who write poems. This noticeable transformation which demonstrated the poetry writer whom were considered as “poet” to date were inferring the poets’ status changing in Mid-Tang, and therefore the title of “shiren” has been regarded as a higher rank in society from Mid-Tang period. The rising position of “shiren”, the group of poetry writers, gradually became social reputation, which recognized the value and the standings of poets. This paper serves as a preliminary study on the transition of the word “shiren” and partially contributes to settle the concept of “shiren” during Chinese “middle ages”(from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty). “Shiren” as an identity was not an ordinary exist in Chinese history, and this paper tries to figure the components of the idea of “shiren”, includes the changed meaning and the title referred to what kind of social status.