On Ma Dai's being Classified as 'Shengtang' Disciple in The Chart of Host and Guest Poets

With the political recession and economic depression, the country was declining in the late Tang Dynasty. Although Ma Dai Was not popular at that time. his writing sentimental and sorrowful style makes him to be regarded as a successful poet and classifled as 'shengtang' disciple in The Chart of Host and Guest Poets written by Zhang Wei. This paper reveals three main reasons for it from the perspectives of his poetry creation and interaction among other disciples: 1) the content of his pastoral poems is simple and plain; 2) his five—character poems are refreshing and delicate; and 3) Ma Dai had the intimate friendship with Yao He and Jia Dao who were also the disciples in the Elegant Faction.