After the Empress Wu introduced the civil service exams, in which poetry and essays were given equal weight, poetry became an avenue of advancement through the ranks of officialdom, and the educated worked hard at it.
武後開科舉，以詩賦取士，「詩」與「文」同樣重要，因此讀書人都對詩下過苦功，作得一手好詩成為升遷的重要管道。