Shen Tao is a Chinese Canadian author now based in Seattle who grew up immersed in both Chinese and Western stories. Dynastic histories, cartoons, folk tales, and classic Chinese poetry brought Tao joy as a child. The Poet Empress, Tao’s debut, draws on these traditional and historical stories while remaining a work of fantasy unbeholden to historical fact. Many authors have also embraced this approach, with their own Chinese-inspired fantasies borrowing elements from Chinese history and culture without adhering to strict historical accuracy, such as She Who Became the Sun, Six Crimson Cranes, and The Poppy War.

The novel loosely draws from the Tang Dynasty of China, which was notable for the sophistication and popularity of its poetry. Tao did significant amounts of historical research to make the settings and politics feel real even in a world of make-believe. While the novel is inspired in parts from the Tang Dynasty, Tao made targeted efforts to not keep it true to real-world history but rather aimed for a believable secondary world. The most important thing to her was capturing the atmosphere of the time rather than the factual reality of it.

The poetry magic of the novel is Tao’s way of paying homage to classical Chinese poetry that she grew up memorizing. Influences from the Tang Dynasty show both subtly and overtly in the fictional Azalea Dynasty. The growing military strength and liberation of territories slightly mirrors the military strength and expansion of the Tang Dynasty. The expansion of the Silk Road, allowing for foreign trade that brought great economic wealth in the Tang Dynasty, is mirrored in Maro’s creation of the Salt Road—however, in the fictional Azalea Dynasty, the empire is still plagued by famine despite this achievement. Most famously, the Tang Dynasty is known as the period where poetry peaked and Chinese culture developed and thrived.