Those poets relegated to southern China in the MidTang Dynasty all showed a Qu Yuan complex in their poems. For example, under the influence of Qu Yuan's poems, such as LI SAO and JIU GE, Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan expressed primarily a spirit of complaint and fury while the more rational Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi both accepted Qu Yuan's character of loyalty and uprightness but refused to follow his will of consistence. In contrast, Han Yu and Li Shen expressed their complaint about innocent mistreatment by comparing their experience to Qu Yuan's miserable treatment. The Qu Yuan complex of the poets relegated in the Early and Prosperous Tang Dynasty was the very source of that of the relegated poets in the MidTang Dynasty. In general, the former was rational while the latter was sentimental but more tragic than the former.

literature in the MidTang Dynasty; poets relegated to southern China; the Qu Yuan complex