Abstract: In the Tang dynasty, the popularity of study Wen-xuan to the common scholars needed the help of the imperial examinations, and there is a change of course before and after imperial examinations. Therefore, it can be judged that the most prosperous period of studying Wen-xuan is in the reigns of Dali and Yuanhe, namely, in the Mid-Tang Dynasty by examining the time that imperial examinations being envied, the process of examination essays, the change of evaluation criteria, and the timing of the examination questions from Wen-xuan. In this period, it can be found that people in different social classes to study Wen-xuan, Such as Tang Wenzong, civil official Dufu, best professor Hanyu, Ordinary scholar Liping, court maid etc. Reading and discussing Wen-xuan was widely spread as a background of Tang dynasty, it can be seen from the theory of the day——poetic style and composition that the reading of Wen-xuan is flourishing. These are enough to confirm that the Tang Dynasty is the most prosperous period of studying Wen-xuan. It was a significant change from the beginning to the prosperous Tang Dynasty that many scholars just annotated Wen-xuan in the beginning but latter numerous scholars began to study Wen-xuan. Thus, we can more accurately understand some specific situations of the prosperity of Wen-xuan study, and we can also see the extensive and profound influence of Wen-xuan on the scholars of the Tang Dynasty.

Key words: Wen-xuan, reading and studying, prosperity time, performance, Mid-Tang Dynasty