Why was lyric literature the mainstream of ancient Chinese literature?
Lyrical literature was the mainstream of ancient Chinese literature because poetry had always been one of the most popular literary forms in the development of ancient Chinese literature. Poetry can express the author's feelings and thoughts through lyricism, and at the same time, it can also infect and inspire the readers. In the history of ancient Chinese literature, poetry was one of the most popular forms of literature, and the most famous one was the Tang Dynasty poetry. The poems of the Tang Dynasty were regarded as the peak works in the history of ancient Chinese literature because of their superb artistic achievements and profound thoughts. Many works in the Tang Dynasty poems expressed the lyrical feelings of the author, such as Li Bai's "Going to Drink," Du Fu's "Ascending," Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Regret," and so on. In addition to poetry, other forms of literature in ancient China, such as prose and novels, were mostly lyrical. For example, Li Sao, The Analects of Confucius, Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman, etc. were all lyrical works of the author. In terms of novels, Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margins, and Journey to the West were all based on the author's emotional feelings. Therefore, the main trend of Chinese ancient literature was lyric literature because of its special historical and cultural background.