Tao Yuanming’s life and creation and his typical significance in poetry creation

1. Tao Yuanming's life:

Tao Yuanming (365? ~ 427), also known as Qian, courtesy name Yuanliang, nicknamed Mr. Wuliu, was born in Xunyang Chaisang (near today's Jiujiang, Jiangxi). )people.

Tao Yuanming lived in a very complex political environment during the Jin, Song and Chang Dynasties. His great-grandfather Tao Kan once served as the Grand Sima of the Jin Dynasty; his grandfather served as a prefect, and his father probably had a lower official position and died when Tao Yuanming was young. In a society that values ??family status, the status of the Tao family cannot be compared with that of noble families such as Wang and Xie, but it is different from the humble families. Tao Kan came from a humble background and was ridiculed as a "little man" and regarded as someone with ambitions to usurp the throne. As you can imagine, his descendants were in a rather awkward political situation.

Tao Yuanming spent his youth in the rural area of ??Chaisang. He “had no sense of customs and customs, and his nature was to love hills and mountains” (Part 1 of “Returning to the Garden and Fields”). Sutra" ("Drinking" Chapter 16) is a portrayal of life at that time. He often said that he had to work as an official to make a living because his family was poor. This is certainly true, but it does not rule out the motivation of ordinary scholars to make contributions. This news is revealed in "The ambition is fierce and the world is far away, and the Qianhe is thinking far away" (Part 5 of "Miscellaneous Poems"). At the age of 29, Tao Yuanming served as Jiangzhou Jijiujiu, but resigned soon after. Later, Jiangzhou was summoned as chief administrator, but he did not take office.

In the second year of Emperor Long'an of Jin'an (398), Tao Yuanming went to Jiangling and became the governor of Jingzhou and the governor of Jiangzhou, Huan Xuanmu. At that time, Huanxuan controlled the military and political power in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and he was ambitious in trying to usurp the Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming once again had the idea of ????returning to seclusion. In "Xin Chou went on leave in July of the year of Xin Chou and returned to Jiangling for a night trip to Tukou" written in the fifth year of Long'an (401), he said: "The poems and books are simple and good, but the forest and garden have no worldly feelings. How to give up? From now on, we will go as far as West Jing!" In the winter of this year, my mother, Meng, died, so I went back to Xunyang to live in mourning. After that, the political situation changed drastically. In the first year of Emperor An's Yuanxing (402), Huan Xuan sent his troops eastward to attack the capital in the name of petitioning Sima Yuanxian. In the second year of Yuanxing (403), Huan Xuan usurped the throne and changed the country's name to Chu. In the third year of Yuanxing (404), Liu Yu launched an army to attack Huanxuan, entered Jiankang, and served as general of the town army. He took control of the power of the country and brought a glimmer of hope to the Jin Dynasty. So Tao Yuanming served as the general of the Zhenjun Liu Yu, and on his way to the post, he wrote "The Beginning of the Zhenjun Jingqu Qu Azuo". He has a conflicting mood. On the one hand, he feels that the time has come and hopes to make a difference: "When the time comes, we will meet in peace and quiet on the thoroughfare." On the other hand, he is nostalgic for the pastoral life: "Let's talk and change, and eventually return to work." "Sheng Lu." At this time, Liu Yu was concentrating his efforts on attacking Huan Xuan and the remaining forces, and Tao Yuanming might not be able to do anything in Liu Yu's defense. In the second year, the first year of Yixi of Emperor An (405), he was appointed as General Jianwei and joined the army as Jiangzhou Governor Liu Jingxuan. In August of this year, he asked to be appointed as the magistrate of Pengze County. He stayed in office for more than eighty days, and resigned in November and went into seclusion. The direct reason for resigning the county magistrate this time is recorded in the biography of "Song Book": "The county sent the governor to the post, and the county official said: 'You should tie up your belt and see him.'" Qian sighed and said: "I can't bow down to the countryside for five measures of rice." Villain! "I will leave my post immediately." The "Come Back" speech he wrote when he resigned gave a more profound reason: "Come back, please stay with me for a long time, and stay with me in this world." If you don't agree with me, why don't you ask for it?" Tao Yuanming fully realized that the secular world was contrary to his nature of advocating nature, and he could not change his nature to adapt to the secular world. In addition, he was disappointed with the political situation, so he resolutely resigned and lived in seclusion.

2. Literary creations and representative poems:

Tao Yuanming was the most outstanding poet in the 800 years of Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties. There are 125 Tao poems in existence today, most of which are five-character poems. In terms of content, it can be divided into three categories: drinking poems, chanting poems and pastoral poems.

(1) Drinking Poems Tao Yuanming was the first poet in the history of Chinese literature to write a large number of drinking poems. His 20 "Drinking" poems use an "intoxicating" tone to accuse the upper class society of confusing right and wrong, criticizing and blaming the same; or exposing the corruption and darkness of the world; or reflecting the dangers of official career; or expressing the poet's intoxicated mood after retiring from officialdom; or It expresses the poet's dissatisfaction in difficulties. Judging from the mood and style of the poem, it may not be a work from the same period. In the second year of Yuanxi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (420), Liu Yu deposed Emperor Gong of Jin Dynasty as King Lingling. He killed him the following year and established the Liu Song Dynasty.

"Shu Jiu" uses metaphors to obscurely and tortuously record this process of usurping power and changing generations. He expressed infinite sorrow for the fall of Emperor Gong of Jin and the Jin Dynasty. At this time, Tao Yuanming had been living in seclusion for many years. He was used to seeing troubled times and usurping power. But this poem still reveals his unforgettable spirit about worldly affairs.

(2). Poems about feelings, represented by 12 poems in "Miscellaneous Poems" and 13 poems in "Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas". Most of the 12 poems in "Miscellaneous Poems" express his political anguish of being unable to achieve his ambitions after retiring to seclusion, and express his noble personality that does not go along with the world. It can be seen that the poet's inner sorrow and anger are infinitely deep and wide. The 13th poem of "Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas" expresses the same content by chanting strange things in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas". For example, the 10th poem expresses and shows that one's ambition to help the world will never be extinguished by praising Jingwei and Xingtian's "fierce will is always there" .

(3) Pastoral Poems Tao Yuanming has the largest number of pastoral poems and the highest achievements. This kind of poem fully expresses the poet's lofty aspirations and noble integrity that despise fame and wealth; fully expresses the poet's extreme hatred and complete break with the dark officialdom; fully expresses the poet's love for the simple pastoral life and his love for labor. understanding and friendly feelings towards the working people; fully expressing the poet's pursuit and yearning for the ideal world. As a literati, such thoughts and feelings, and such content, are unprecedented in the history of literature, especially in a society with a clan system and strict concepts. Some of Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems also reflect his difficult situation in his later years, which can allow us to indirectly understand the miserable life of the peasant class at that time. Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Spring Poem" was probably written in the early years of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty. It depicts a utopian ideal society. It expresses the poet's complete negation of the existing social system and his infinite pursuit of the ideal world. It marks that Tao Yuanming's thoughts have reached a new height. Tao Yuanming is the founder of pastoral poetry. With its simple and natural language and lofty artistic conception, it opened up a new world for Chinese poetry and directly influenced the pastoral poetry school of the Tang Dynasty.

Tao Yuanming’s extant articles include 3 poems, 5 verses, and 4 prose, totaling 12 articles. "Xianqing Fu" in Ci Fu is imitated from Zhang Heng's "Ding Qing Fu" and Cai Yong's "Jing Qing Fu". The content is a fantasy about love and has little meaning. "Ode to Feelings for Scholars Not Encountered" is modeled on Dong Zhongshu's "Ode to Scholars Not Encountered" and Sima Qian's "Ode to Sad Scholars Not Encountered". The content is to express the resentment of those who have ambitions and have difficulty in achieving their goals under the clan system; "Returning to Come and Come to Xici" is Tao Yuanming's resignation from office and hermitage. A political declaration to openly break with upper class society. The article devotes a great deal of space to writing about his infinite joy of leaving officialdom and imagining the infinite fun after returning to the countryside, which expresses the author's yearning and love for nature and hermit life. The article cleverly integrates narrative, discussion, and lyricism to create a vivid, natural, and fascinating artistic realm; the language is natural and simple, washed away from the lead, and has a strong local flavor. The rhymes include "Ode to Paintings on Fans", nine chapters of "Reading History", "Essays to Commemorate Cheng's Sister", "Essays to Commemorate Congdi Jingyuan", and "Essays to Commemorate Myself"; prose articles include "History of the Former Jin Dynasty's General in the Western Campaign" "The Biography of the Lord of Mengfu", also known as "The Farewell Biography of Meng Jia", is a biography written for his grandfather Meng Jia; in addition, there are "The Biography of Mr. Wuliu", "The Story of Peach Blossom Spring", "Yu Ziyan and others" and so on. In general, the number and achievements of Tao's inscriptions are not as good as those of Tao's poems. Tao Yuanming's works are sincere, simple and natural, and sometimes reveal the Lao-Zhuang thoughts of escaping reality and being optimistic about fate. He is known as the "Pastoral Poet".

3. Tao Yuanming’s thoughts on seclusion:

Serving as an official and seclusion are two life paths designed by ancient Chinese literati. The former is to practice justice and achieve justice and benefit the world, and the latter is to benefit the world. It is for the purpose of keeping one's will and taking good care of one's body. Taoism advocates "reclusion by doing nothing", while Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, advocates "reclusion without Tao". Tao Yuanming's reclusiveness is different from this. As Liu Dajie said, Tao Yuanming was the purifier of thoughts in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. "In his thoughts, there are the essence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism without their bad habits. He has the spirit of strict self-discipline and responsibility." He has a Confucian spirit and is not trapped by the hypocritical etiquette and broken scriptures; he admires the quiet and carefree state of Lao and Zhuang, and does not join the ranks of those decadent and absurd ordinary celebrities; he has the Buddhist emptiness and Loving and loving, his face is not stained by any obscene superstition.

"Tao Yuanming's ideological realm gave his reclusive behavior a profound connotation. In Tao Yuanming's era, there were many people who hid for the sake of hiding, and Tao Yuanming deeply despised him. "Although the previous motivation for reclusiveness was personal escape, There is also a bit of defiance, expressing dissatisfaction with the rulers, and people naturally admire his integrity. But when it comes to hiding for the sake of hiding, this resistance has completely disappeared, but the personal strong and noble spirit is left, so naturally it is no longer convenient to care about worldly affairs. "

Tao Yuanming hopes that his hiddenness is valuable. Tao Yuanming appeared and disappeared several times, and finally got the name of the great hidden. He constructed an image of "Daoyin" for himself: "When you are weak, you are short of family, and when you are old, you are a hidden person. To be hungry longer. Shumai is really enviable, who dares to admire Ganfei! Shu is like Yajiu rice. When the heat is hot, you will wear cold clothes. The years are coming to an end, how hard and sad it is. The heart of a person who is always good at porridge will miss Meng Bingfei deeply. There's no need to be stingy when I come to complain. I don't have time to leave it to myself. It is said that although he has reached the end of his life, he would rather starve to death than to accept the food that comes to him to inflate his ambition. The so-called "Gu Jiu Su Ji" Return." Those who hide in the Tao hide for the sake of the Tao. "In the words of modern philosophy, Tao Yuanming's Tao is the natural ontology in a pan-theistic sense. This 'Tao' is a kind of adaptability when applied to people, and it is a kind of 'truth' when applied to society. ". ②

It is precisely because Tao Yuanming had this "Tao" that he could stay close to nature even when his food and drink were at stake. It was also because of his closeness to nature that he created poems and essays full of hermitage. His poetry has a plain and natural style. It can be seen that Tao Yuanming's reclusive thoughts directly affected his poetry creation.

At the same time, Tao Yuanming's seclusion not only required him to get rid of the huge attraction of fame and fortune, but also had to overcome many extreme hardships in life. It can be seen that his retreat has improved his thinking, making his mind, charm and personality more mature and charming. Tao Yuanming has therefore become a model and an unattainable coordinate, establishing a personality style for future generations.

The poems written by Tao Yuanming about yearning for nature and loving life when he retired to the countryside and his pursuit of tranquility and peace when he was working on his own farm are intertwined into a kind of plain beauty. Although his aesthetics is not as well-known as his poetry, it is still unique. This kind of plain beauty can influence other artistic fields, such as Chinese calligraphy and painting.

According to the above discussion, it can be seen that Tao Yuanming had a reclusive mind and retired to the countryside. He used words to imagine his thoughts in nature and sublimated them into spiritual power. The words filled with thoughts and spirit also had aesthetic value. We can divide Tao Yuanming's reclusive thoughts into three levels, namely literary level, spiritual level and aesthetic level.