In his fourth year of seclusion, his hometown was burned down and his life fell into extreme poverty, but he lived in poverty and happiness. In the last few years in Yixi, the court recruited him as an official. In the third year of Yuanjia, Tandaoji, the secretariat of Jiangzhou, advised him to go out of the mountain. He kept a festival and refused to be an official. Obviously, Taoism played a leading role in this period.
Tao Yuanming was the most outstanding poet in the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Tao poems 125, mostly five-character poems. From the content, it can be divided into three categories: drinking poems, chanting poems and pastoral poems.
This article was written in the second year of Song Yongchu (42 1), when Tao Yuanming was 57 years old. He refused to cooperate with the upcoming regime of Emperor Wu of Song and was dissatisfied with the dark political reality. At the same time, he wrote this article because he is close to farmers and understands their desire to pursue an ideal society. This article is the preface of "Preface to Peach Blossom Garden Poetry", which can be written independently.
The author of this story was asked to make it up. He lived in the war-torn environment at the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and lived in seclusion in the countryside for a long time. He had a deeper understanding of the reality of the countryside and a personal understanding of the people's wishes, so he conceived his ideal society-Xanadu. But the author clearly sees that such an ideal society could not be realized under the conditions at that time.
(2) This ideal society shows the author's yearning and longing for equality and happiness for everyone without exploitation and war.
The pursuit of a better future is a beautiful wish and sustenance, so it cannot be realized.
How to evaluate Tao Yuanming
As a hermit in the troubled times at the end of the Jin Dynasty, it is conceivable that Tao Yuanming often interacted with Buddhism in Lushan Mountain in his later years, but their thoughts are not necessarily the same. Anyone who has carefully studied Tao's poems and knows the poet's life will know that Tao Yuanming is an atheist with a quiet appearance and a warm heart to help the world. When I was a teenager, I was ambitious, accepted Confucianism and hoped to make contributions. However, after being an official for a period of time, the reality disappointed him. He didn't want to go along with the people in power, so he chose a road to retire and return to the fields.
At this time he was influenced by Zhuangzi's philosophy. Because he had never lived in the countryside before, he had personally participated in labor and had contact with the working people, so he inevitably got some new feelings and inspirations in his thoughts. Therefore, when the Jin Dynasty advocated the old style of writing, he was able to create a new form of landscape pastoral poetry with unique style, which made great contributions to the history of China's poetry development. He never forgot this world from his "ambition to escape from the four seas" in his youth to his "ambition to stay in the world" in his old age. His masterpiece "Peach Blossom Garden" handed down from ancient times is precisely his vision for a society where everyone is self-reliant and friendly, and there is no distractions and poverty in reality. Even analyzing his seclusion and drinking in the background at that time contains the significance of expressing some dissatisfaction and resistance to the dark rule at that time.
Of course, Tao Yuanming was, after all, a scholar-bureaucrat who lived in the feudal society more than a thousand years ago. There are many negative things in his thoughts and poems, such as living in poverty, eating, drinking and avoiding the world. However, due to his class preference, literary critics and poets of later generations pay more attention to appreciating and praising his characteristics in this respect, which is regarded as the essence of Tao's poetry.
In fact, this is a misinterpretation of Tao's poems. As a generation of poets, Tao Yuanming has been ignored before and after his death, and later distorted and misunderstood for a long time. Now it is time to give a correct and comprehensive evaluation and appreciation of Tao Yuanming and his poems.
Shen Deqian said in "Talking about Poetry": "Jin people are more open-minded, with words of anxiety, self-improvement, contentment, grief, happiness and peace of mind."
Su Dongpo once commented on Tao Yuanming: "If you want to be an official, you must be an official, and it is not suspicious; If you want to be hidden, you will be hidden instead of looking for it. When you are hungry, you will buckle the door and beg for food; When you are full, welcome guests with chicken and millet. "It is true that there is wisdom in ancient and modern times." People attach importance to truth, so does poetry, which comes from people's truth, which is the main reason why Tao poetry has enduring charm.
In the words of Lu Xun, "Tao Qian is great because he is not completely silent".
Liang Qichao once said when evaluating Tao Yuanming, "Nature is his loving companion and always smiles at him". As he said, Tao opened a channel between nature and philosophy, and reached a reconciliation between the suffering of life and the purport of nature. Even the most common rural life scene shows an infinite and meaningful beauty in his works.
Tao Yuanming's "truth" is mainly reflected in two aspects: first, his love for nature; One is the sorrow of life.
Tao Yuanming was the most outstanding writer in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and even the whole Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Tao Yuanming (365-427) was born in Xunyang Chaisang (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi), with a clear or hidden word. There is Tao Yuanming's collection. Tao Kan, his great-grandfather, was a great star in the early Eastern Jin Dynasty. As the founding father of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Dow was a big family in Xunyang, although his status was not as noble as that of the famous family in the south. Only the Tao Yuanming family gradually declined. At the age of 29, he became an official, offered drinks in Jiangzhou, and soon retired. Later, he served as a junior official in Zhenjun, Jianwei and other places, and lived a life of anonymity.
In the first year of Yixi (405), Tao Yuanming was forty-one, and was once again appointed as Pengze County Magistrate. However, after more than eighty days, he left his post and officialdom. He has his own grange and servants in his hometown. At first, his life was calm and content. Sometimes he also takes part in some agricultural labor personally as the practice of his social outlook and philosophy of life. In this kind of working life, I am close to farmers. Later, due to the continuous disaster of farmland, houses were burned and the situation deteriorated. But he never wants to be an official again. The court once called him a writer, but he refused. The reason why Tao Yuanming is so is not that he is not interested in politics. Tao Yuanming, born in the family of several generations of bureaucrats and a founding father, had expected to make progress in his official career and make a difference in politics. "Miscellaneous Poems" said: "When I was young, I was happy but not happy, eager to escape from the world and fell in love with Philip Burkart." You can see his thoughts. But at the same time, the literati in the Eastern Jin Dynasty generally advocated seclusion and pursued spiritual freedom, which also left a profound influence on him. "Returning to the Garden" says that "less should not be vulgar, and nature loves autumn mountains" and so on, which reflects another aspect of his thought. He embarked on the road of life with two contradictory wishes. At the beginning, the former desire dominated. But this is a turbulent era: the internal struggle of the imperial clan and the warlord's ambition for political power continue to cause bloody killings and even fierce fires. This kind of social unrest not only brings disaster to the people, but also causes serious insecurity in the upper class of society. This made Tao Yuanming's political ambition have to be reduced. On the other hand, in this power struggle, all dirty and bloody plots are under the guise of lofty morality, which makes Tao Yuanming, who is really pure in nature, unbearable. So in the end, the desire to "love Qiushan" overwhelmed the ambition to "escape from the four seas". When he joined the army, he was a member of the town army. He wrote a poem called "Qua of the first town army joining the army", which said: "Looking at Sichuan and tired in different places, the heart is mountains and rivers. Chatting and chatting will move. After all, the class is going to be born. " When Ren Jianwei joined the army, he wrote the poem "Going to Qianxi to join the army at the age of three to build prestige" and said, "Gardening dream and gardening dream have been separated for a long time?" It can be seen that he is already in his official career and his heart is in the garden. Judging from Peng's farewell speech when he was dismissed from office, he even described being an official as a "deeply ashamed life", so his seclusion was actually the result that his ideal could not be reconciled with the reality at that time. Among Tao Yuanming's poems, pastoral poetry is the most representative. The artistic charm of this pastoral poem lies not so much in its true portrayal of rural life as in its sustenance of Tao Yuanming's ideal of life. The pastoral is highly purified and beautified by Tao Yuanming's poetic structure and becomes a spiritual refuge in the painful world.
Tao Yuanming's thought is a special "natural" philosophy, which is based on the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi and harmonizes the thoughts of Confucianism and Taoism. His ideal society is a "natural" society. He often combines the simple and indisputable ancient world invented by Confucianism with the social model of small countries and few people advocated by Taoism and praises it as an ideal world. The same idea, with the help of novels, is vividly expressed in The Peach Blossom Spring. In this "natural" society, everyone works intensively, lives honestly, and there is no competition, no fraud, and even no monarch or minister. In Tao Yuanming's view, history is a process of degeneration. Due to people's excessive material desires, endless competition has resulted in all kinds of hypocritical, pretentious and cruel behaviors, which have plunged society into darkness. However, in ancient times, leisure was hard to find and heaven was nowhere to be found. Tao Yuanming can only regard simple rural life as a realistic but very limited sustenance of his social ideal. A large number of his pastoral poems not only contain documentary elements, but also reflect his life in his hometown, and a considerable part of them are not completely realistic, but the result of processing realistic materials according to certain conceptual requirements. As a part of natural life, Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems also wrote about agricultural labor; During his retirement, he also participated in farming. What is the significance of his manual labor in his economic life? About is very limited, even, maybe it is dispensable. The practical significance of this farming is that it embodies a belief of Tao Yuanming. Self-cultivation and self-reliance are ideal social and personal lifestyles. Although the poet can't actually do this, he tried, which is remarkable. At the same time, he said, "Isn't Tian Jia bitter? It is difficult to resign. Four-body sincerity is fatigue, and ordinary people are no different from doing it. Wash under the eaves and fight for wine. " Here, I wrote about the hardships of manual labor and the psychological peace and happiness it brought. Among similar poems, the most beautiful artistic conception is "Returning to the Garden" (III): beans are planted at the foot of Nanshan, the grass is full of beans, and the seedlings are sparse. Get up early in the morning to get rid of weeds, and come back with hoes in the moonlight at night. The narrow path covered with vegetation, the night dew wet my clothes. It's not a pity to get wet, but I hope it won't be against my will. The last two sentences once again show that Tao Yuanming's writing about rural life and physical labor is actually singing his own ideals and showing the joy of realizing them.
Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems also involve the question that literature has been focusing on since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty: What is the meaning and value of life? How can life be liberated? In this regard, we first see that Tao Yuanming is more anxious about the fact that life is short than anyone in his contemporaries. There are only over a hundred of his poems, but dozens of them mention "old" and "dead". However, in philosophy, he has an open-minded explanation, which is most clearly expressed in the group poem "Form, Shadow and Spirit". The poet borrowed the dialogue style of ci and fu, which made Xing put forward the attitude of people who indulge in drinking and forget everything (which is close to 19 ancient poems), so that he should emphasize the pursuit of achievements and make a name for himself (which is close to Jian 'an literature). In fact, both of them are hard for Tao Yuanming to give up, but as the final philosophical conclusion, he denied them in the third book "Analysis of God", thinking that daily drunkenness hurts life, which is just an external pursuit and meaningless. It should be: "The waves are getting bigger and bigger. I don't like them and I'm not afraid." You should do your best, there is no need to worry about it. "That is, naturalization, without consciously pursuing something other than life, is liberation without seeking liberation. The connotation of this "natural" philosophy has been reflected in the picturesque pastoral poems. For example, the most famous poem "Drinking" in Tao Shi (No.5) is: building a house in a person's environment, but there are no chariots and horses. What can you do? The heart is far from being self-centered. Picking chrysanthemums under the east fence, you can see Nanshan leisurely. The mountains are getting better and better, and the birds are back. This makes sense. I forgot to say it if I wanted to defend myself. The first four sentences say that as long as you have foresight, you will not be disturbed by the world. Besides, picking chrysanthemums in Dongli, I accidentally met Nanshan (Lushan Mountain), felt the mystery of creation in the twilight and purple haze, and realized the true meaning of life. Although it is clearly stated in the poem that "I want to argue but forget what I said", the life truth implied by a series of images in this poem can still be explored if we examine it in connection with other works of Tao Yuanming. Don't the eternity of Nanshan, the atmospheric beauty of mountains and the freedom of birds reflect the greatness, perfection and richness of nature, especially self-sufficiency, and have no other essence? Then, in the short life of mankind, what else can we pursue except to return to nature, conform to nature and feel the meaning of our life in the eternity, beauty and freedom of nature? So this poem is still the sustenance of Tao Yuanming's life ideal, but it is different.
Of course, this outlook on life in poetry is only a poetic and philosophical yearning. Because people can't get rid of the pursuit of self-realization on a certain object, nor can they get rid of the contradiction of real interests. But as a philosophical reflection on life, it is valuable; As the essence of poetry, it brings unique effects. To sum up, Tao Yuanming's social outlook and outlook on life are all centered on "nature". The society he yearns for is a society that is peaceful, self-cultivation, without competition, hypocrisy, mutual oppression and harm; The life he pursues is simple and sincere, indifferent and lofty, entrusted with transportation, and has nothing to ask for; His favorite living environment is also a quiet and natural country. Because of these pursuits, most of his pastoral poems present a diluted and peaceful appearance, which was called "silence" by predecessors, but behind it, they are full of hatred and anxiety about the real society and the short life. In other words, "silence" is an aesthetic realm constructed under the control of "natural" philosophy, and the internal motivation to arouse this pursuit is precisely a high degree of anxiety.
However, Tao Yuanming is not the only one whose main feature is to downplay peace. He also wrote some poems directly related to real politics or directly expressing his strong inner feelings. For example, the poem "Drinking Wine" is obscure, but its content is related to some political events in the Jin and Song Dynasties, so there is no doubt. Another example is "A Long History of Grazing Sheep". I'm glad to have Yixi's Northern Expedition to break Chang 'an's thirteen-year battle of Song Wudi Yu. "Sage, everything is in the capital. Don't forget to swim and don't cross the river. The nine realms have just merged into one, and death will manage the boat. " It embodies the distinct national feelings. In addition, several articles in Ode to Jing Ke and Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas expressed sympathy, admiration and praise for some heroic images in history and myths and legends who never gave up despite being defeated, and had a generous and tragic style. At the end of Ode to Jing Ke, I said, "I'm not good at fencing. Sorry, I can't do my wonderful work." Although he is dead, he has been in love for a thousand years! "It clearly reveals the passion in the poet's heart. Another example is an article in "Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas": Jingwei holds the micro-wood and will fill the sea. Xingtian United and danced, aiming high. Similarly, all beings have no residual sorrow, become foreign bodies and have no remorse. The past that has just been fixed in my heart, good morning can wait! Jing Wei is a humble bird, but he has the ambition to fill the sea. The stars and the sky broke their heads and resisted, all showing the great spirit of not giving in to fate. The last two sentences are about Jingwei and Xingtian, and also about myself: Although there was Mr. Thank you in the past, I didn't have time to fulfill my wish! The factual background of these poems cannot be proved conclusively, but at least it shows that Tao Yuanming still yearns for a strong and productive life in seclusion. Mr. Lu Xun pointed out that Tao poetry has both a "quiet" and a "carefree" side, and it also has a "king kong glare" side, mainly referring to these works. However, it should be noted that the two are not diametrically opposed. Judging from the origin of poetry, Tao Yuanming has a long history of Ruan Ji. This is mainly manifested in his poems expressing deep feelings, expressing his exploration of life, using philosophical observation and using the form of group poems. On the other hand, Tao poetry is obviously influenced by metaphysical poetry. This is not only reflected in many metaphysical words in his poems, in his plain language style, but also in his understanding of the relationship between man and nature. In Ruan Ji's poems, the eternity of nature contrasts with the brevity of life, and people feel strong oppression in front of nature; However, in the metaphysical poems of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it was transformed into people's understanding and pursuit of nature. When Tao Yuanming arrived, he put forward the concept of returning to nature more clearly, and the consciousness of harmony between man and nature became the decisive factor of the unique artistic conception of Tao poetry. Of course, Tao poetry attaches importance to expressing philosophy through artistic images rather than abstract language, which is essentially different from the boring metaphysical poetry.
Tao Yuanming's great contribution in the history of poetry development lies in that he has created a new aesthetic field and a new artistic realm. Although ordinary metaphysical poets pay attention to understanding philosophy from examining nature, which has produced the bud of landscape poetry, no one has turned their eyes to ordinary villages. It is only in Tao Yuanming's works that rural life and rural scenery are regarded as important aesthetic objects for the first time, thus opening up a unique world for future generations. He regards agricultural labor as a natural way of life and praises the beautiful interest contained in working life, which is also a profound discovery. Predecessors have long commented on the artistic features of Tao's poems, calling them simple, natural and sincere. But this is not a folk song, nor is it a style influenced by folk songs, but a conscious aesthetic pursuit of the poet. Fundamentally speaking, this is also determined by Tao Yuanming's "natural" philosophy. In his view, man-made complex etiquette destroys the naturalness of society, and pretentious behavior destroys the naturalness of human nature. Then, excessive pursuit of external poetic form will inevitably destroy the naturalness of feelings. Therefore, he seldom uses language with bright colors, exaggerated intonation, abstruse vocabulary and uncommon allusions. Contradictions are also commonly used in his poems, but most of them are primitive and not so refined that they are not obvious. His poems are full of emotion, but they are rarely really strong and appear surging, but combined with calm philosophical thinking, they present a clear and distant artistic conception. This aesthetic realm is unprecedented, and there is no one after it. Furthermore, the simplicity of Shi Tao's words is not random, not processed, but highly refined, washing away all miscellaneous and sticky components, and then showing a clear simplicity. There is no doubt that he has a keen sense of the beauty of nature, so he can recreate it into a poetic image with accurate and simple language. For example, "a warm and distant village, smoke on a field in Iraq" describes the tranquility of the countryside, "keeping one's ears open, keeping one's eyes clean" describes the lightness of snow, and "there is a south wind coming, and the wings are new seedlings" describes the traces of wind. On the one hand, the pursuit of beauty and rhetoric in western Jin poetry improved the expressive skills of poetic language, but sometimes it was too difficult to do so, ignoring the integrity of poetry, leading to cumbersome and fragmented problems. Tao's poems are based on profound thoughts, feelings and philosophies, and never show off external beauty. Therefore, most of them are concise and the layout is less. Zhong Rong's poem is called "There are almost no long words". The artistic conception of poetry is always relatively complete, infecting readers as a whole, rather than attracting people with a word or a fragment.
Tao Yuanming's personal personality is undoubtedly noble, and he is by no means indifferent to society. However, the dominant aspect of his literary creation is that he is eager to avoid contradictions, strive to transcend things and forget the pain of reality. Both the enterprising spirit of Jian 'an literature and the tragic consciousness of Zhengshi literature require the realization of people's freedom of will in real social relations. Tao Yuanming's "natural" philosophy can be said to be a profound philosophy unilaterally, but it is in this way that he avoids the fundamental problem of human freedom in society. It can be said that this is also a manifestation of the weakening of individual consciousness. Therefore, the more difficult it is for future generations of literati to resist social oppression, the easier it is to think of Tao Yuanming and use his outlook on life to resolve rather than break through social oppression. This not only satisfies the spiritual and moral self-comfort, but also avoids the dangers that are easy to encounter in conflicts.