Hermits in China can be roughly divided into ten types:
First, it's really hidden, completely hidden.
For example, Song Bing in the Jin and Song Dynasties and Zhenwu in the Yuan Dynasty never went to be an official, and the emperor ordered him not to go or deal with officials.
Second, be an official before hiding.
Generally speaking, the society is too dark, the officialdom is too corrupt, and the scholars can't bear it, so they quit their jobs and live in seclusion. For example, Tao Yuanming, Jin Shu, Song Shu and Nan Shi all call it "seclusion". Wen Zhiming of the Ming Dynasty spent only one year as an academician in Beijing, and lived in seclusion until his death.
Third, semi-official and semi-hidden.
Wang Wei, for example, was an official at first, but then he got scared. However, if he quits his job and lives in seclusion without salary, there will be no guarantee for his life. Therefore, although he is an official, he does not ask about political affairs and actually lives in seclusion. This kind of person is not a hermit in name, but he has a great idea of seclusion.
Fourth, officials suddenly disappeared.
For example, Wang Meng in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties and Dong Qichang in the late Ming Dynasty worked as officials for several years, then went to live in seclusion, and were recruited by the court, or in a favorable form, and then came out to be an official, and then went back to live in seclusion after a while.
Fifth, false concealment.
For example, in the Ming Dynasty, Chen Jiru was not an official, but he was good at dealing with officials. Someone wrote a poem, mocking him for "flying around the Prime Minister's House like a crane in the clouds".
Sixth, a hidden official, such as Tao Hongjing in the Southern Dynasties, was called Tao's hermit. Although he lived in seclusion in the mountains, he also asked him for advice on major issues in the DPRK and China, and was called "the prime minister in the mountains."
This kind of person is a hermit, but in fact he has no hermit thoughts. He is an official not only for freedom.
Seventh, seek officials by hiding.
For example, it was hidden in the Tang Dynasty. Liu Su's "Records of Xin Yu's Seclusion in Datang" records that Lu Zang used the senior high school entrance examination as a scholar, first went to Zhongnanshan in Chang 'an to live in seclusion, waiting for the court to call him up. Later, he was hired as a senior official, and he was awarded the post of left gleaning. Later, another hermit, Sima Chengzhen, was also recruited, insisted on not being an official and wanted to return to the mountains. Lu Zang used to send it, referring to the cloud of Zhong Nanshan: "This is a great merit." This is the later "South Shortcut".
Those who seek high positions in this way of seclusion are not real hermits.
Eighth, helplessness and concealment.
Such people are actually the most enthusiastic about the current situation, such as Gu and Huang Zongxi in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. They "lived in seclusion" just to show that they didn't cooperate with the Qing Dynasty, and in fact they were waging the fiercest anti-Qing struggle. They are not real hermits.
Ninth, I am really reclusive and official.
Such a hermit is basically a true hermit when he lives in seclusion, but when the opportunity comes, he comes out of the mountain and disappears without the opportunity. Such as Yi Yin in Shang Dynasty, Jiang Shang in Shang and Zhou Dynasties and Liu Ji in the end of Yuan Dynasty, among which Zhuge Liang is the most famous.
Tenth, the so-called "Tibetan dynasty".
This kind of person is an official, but his thoughts are relatively hidden. He is an official and doesn't ask about political affairs. "It has nothing to do with the official, and it has nothing to do with things." Going with the flow, being smart and protecting yourself are actually the biggest harm to the country. It is called "Yin Da", which is really a huge disaster.
Most of the literati in China lived in seclusion because of the dark social unrest. For example, the "Seven Sages in the Bamboo Forest" and "Three Wonders in Xunyang" in Wei and Jin Dynasties were all due to the darkness of the officialdom at that time. Their personal talents were not recognized by the ruling class, excluded, and their personal social values were not realized, so they died angrily and lived in seclusion in the mountains. However, it has made China a hermit culture and made China's history more fascinating. In fact, it is an attitude of giving up social responsibility and seeking self-comfort to retire because of avoiding turmoil, seeking security, being frustrated in officialdom and being dissatisfied with the status quo. As the saying goes, "if you are poor, you will be immune to it, and if you are rich, you will help the world." People like Laozi, Zhuangzi, Guiguzi and Chen Tuan are real hermits, and ordinary frustrated literati hermits are far from reaching such a great level.
Today's Yutai, hermit? However, this is not the case.