![vein of stars genius vein of stars genius](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j5gtu5E4dCc/hqdefault.jpg)
The following extract from an ancient treatise on the art of poetry called `Ming-Chung' sets forth most clearly certain ideals to be pursued: You will find no tedium of repetition in all their poetry, no thin vein of thought beaten out over endless pages. And because they were philosophers and seekers after the beauty that underlies the form of things, they made the picture express its own significance, and every song find echo in the souls of those that heard. Subtly connecting the arts, they were at once painters and poets, musicians and singers. When the heavy load was laid aside, song rose naturally from the lips. To them official routine and the responsibilities of the state were burdens to be borne along the highway, with periods of rest and intimate re-union with nature to cheer the travellers. The great men of the age were at once servants of duty and the lords of life. Yet strange as it may seem, this matters but little when the quality of Chinese poetry is considered.
VEIN OF STARS GENIUS PROFESSIONAL
A study of the interminable biographies of Chinese poets and men of letters would reveal but a few professional poets, men whose lives were wholly devoted to their art and of these few the T`ang dynasty can claim nearly all. It was poetry that inculcated laws and maxims it was by the harmony of its lines that traditions were handed down at a time when memory had to supply the place of writing and it was the first language of wisdom and of inspiration." It has been above all the recreation of statesmen and great officials, a means of escape from the weariness of public life and the burden of ruling. `The Chinese Painted by Themselves', says: "Poetry has been in China, as in Greece, the language of the gods. Colonel Cheng-Ki-Tong, in his delightful book It is one of the accomplishments which no man of education would be found lacking. With the Chinese, verse-making has always been a second nature. This is an age of professional poets, whom emperors and statesmen delight to honour. Call the roll of these three hundred eventful years, and all the great masters of song will answer you. At last the golden age of Chinese poetry is at hand.