Blog 6-Ming era Poetry through the Ages

In Chapter eleven it mentions how taxes were the main source of revenue along with trade. This taxing took place among the peasant class and the working class, leaving many families poor and in some cases destitute. This heavy taxation on the peasantry is not new, the practice was adopted by all of Chinas many dynasties, consequently the text explains this heavy taxation to be the reason for the systematic rise of peasant revolts. This vast economic divide between the affluent and the poor was most apparent in the Ming dynasty as many of the poems of the era denounced the materialistic and lavish lifestyle of the imperial court. Other poems featured Robin Hood characters and main characters that were from the lower classes in society and thus glorifying their characteristics and lifestyle. Throughout it's history China has used poems to express messages and cultural and societal values, today China uses slogans to help promote social and political continuity or change. This article shows examples of this, by including a number of the most influential and the most famous. Many of these slogans read like poetry and the similarities between the poetry of the Ming era and the slogans from Mao ZeDong's era are evident. For example the slogan "Let a 100 flowers bloom, lets 100 thoughts contend"(Boyel BBC News) is a popular slogan used during the Cultural Revolution was inspired and aspects of it were directly taken from Ming dynasty poetry,Which can be seen in the use of nature within the verse.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-24923993