Liu Jia, a poet of the Late Tang, was a native of Duchang都昌 or Jiujiang九江(Jiangxi Province)and its vicinity. It's estimated that he was born in 822 and died in around 871. Liu Jia passed the jin-shi examination in 851. Before his passing the examination, he engaged upon his restless troubles, seeking the social connections necessary to gain a public recognition and high rank; after his passing, he held a capital post. His own personal situation and the confusing backdrop of the Late Tang had made a great influence on his writing poems. This thesis aims to analyze the themes of his poetry. Liu Jia's 62 extant poems, nearly all of which consist of Gu-shi(ancient style poetry) and Yue-fu style with five-word lines, can be divided into seven groups. The first group celebrated the recovery of a lost He·Huang(河湟) strip. The second revealed the corruption and extravagance of the ruling class. The third portrayed the sorrow and resentment of the women and girls of a household. The forth poured out complaint of his ill fate, mostly due to his repeated failures in the jin-shi exam and his having no one to turn to. The fifth expressed the pursuit of retirement, which was born for being disappointed with politics. The sixth expressed his friendship with his friends, most of them have failed in the jin-shi exam. His many poetry have a close relation to showing the social inconsistency or reflecting the pain of the common people. That is why he was called a realist in the Late-Tang. Most importantly, he played a bridging role in upholding the realism traditions between the Bai Ju-yi in the Middle Tang and Pi Ri-xiu in the Late Tang! In this regard, it is considered that Liu Jia's poetry had its important place in the history of Tang poetry.

Liu Jia, a poet of the Late Tang, was a native of Duchang都昌 or Jiujiang九江(Jiangxi Province) and its vicinity. It's estimated that he was born in 822 and died in around 871. Liu Jia passed the jin-shi examination in 852. Before his passing the examination, he engaged upon his restless troubles, seeking the social connections necessary to gain a public recognition and high rank; after his passing, he held a capital post. His own personal situation and the confusing backdrop of the Late Tang had made a great influence on his writing poems. This thesis aims to analyze the themes of his poetry. Liu Jia's 62 extant poems, nearly all of which consist of Gu-shi(ancient style poetry) and Yue-fu style with five-word lines, can be divided into six groups. The first group celebrated the recovery of a lost He·Huang(河湟) strip. The second revealed the corruption and extravagance of the ruling class. The third portrayed the sorrow and resentment of the women and girls of a household. The forth poured out complaint of his ill fate, mostly due to his repeated failures in the jin-shi exam and his having no one to turn to. The fifth expressed the pursuit of retirement, which was born for being disappointed with politics. The sixth expressed his friendship with his friends, most of them have failed in the jin-shi exam. His many poetry have a close relation to showing the social inconsistency or reflecting the pain of the common people. That is why he was called a realist in the Late-Tang. Most importantly, he played a bridging role in upholding the realism traditions between the Bai Ju-yi in the Middle Tang and Pi Ri-xiu in the Late Tang! In this regard, it is considered that Liu Jia's poetry had its important place in the history of Tang poetry.

Liu Jia, the Late Tang, He·Huang strip, realistic poetry, lyric poetry