Abstract:

MENG Jiao was older than JIA Dao, yet SU Shi's idea of "shabby MENG Jiao and thin JIA Dao" gave rise to a traditional comparison of the two poets, who were regarded as lesser poets. But a closer study of literary history indicates that the contemporaries during the Tang dynasty employed "shabby" and "thin" just to describe their appearances rather than their poems. HAN Yu, leading figure of men of letters in the Tang dynasty, held that MENG Jiao cherished a more distinct niche than JIA Dao in the Tang poetry. For that reason, the conventional classification of the two poets is question - begging.

Key words: MENG Jiao, JIA Dao, shabby, thin, HAN Yu, position in the Tang poetry