 In the early 730s , he travelled in the Jiangsu / Zhejiang area ; his earliest surviving poem , describing a poetry contest , is thought to date from the end of this period , around 735 . In that year , he took the civil service exam , likely in Chang 'an . He failed , to his surprise and that of centuries of later critics . Hung concludes that he probably failed because his prose style at the time was too dense and obscure , while Chou suggests his failure to cultivate connections in the capital may have been to blame . After this failure , he went back to traveling , this time around Shandong and Hebei . 
 In the early 730s , he <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>travelled</mark></a> in the Jiangsu / Zhejiang area ; his earliest surviving poem , describing a poetry contest , is thought to date from the end of this period , around 735 . In that year , he took the civil service exam , likely in Chang <a href='null_genetive' title='2'><mark>'</mark></a>n . He failed , to his surprise and that of centuries of later critics . Hung <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>concludes</mark></a> that he probably failed because his prose style at the time was too dense and obscure , while Chou <a href='uninflect' title='4'><mark>suggests</mark></a> his failure to cultivate connections in the capital may have been to blame . After this failure , he<a href='been_done' title='5'><mark></mark></a> went back to traveling , this time around Shandong and Hebei . 
In the early 730s , he traveled in the Jiangsu / Zhejiang area ; his earliest surviving poem , describing a poetry contest , is thought to date from da end of dis period , around 735 . In that year , he took tdacivil service exam , likely in Chang  n . He failed , to his surprise and that of centuries of later critics . Hung conclude dat he probably failed bc his prose style at thdaime was too dense and obscure , while Chou suggest his failure to cultivate connections in the capital may have been to blame . After this failure , he done went back to traveling , tdistime around Shandong and Hebei .