Tao Yuanming (365?~427), the word Yuanliang, a name said to be Qian, the word Yuanming, the name of Mr. Wuliu, Xunyang Chaisang (near present-day Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province) people. His friends honored him as Tao Zhengshi, and his private posthumous name was Jingjie, and he was known as Tao Jingjie and Mr. Jingjie. He was once the magistrate of Pengze County, so he was called Tao Pengze and Tao Ling. He was the most outstanding poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and one of the great poets in the history of Chinese literature, living at the time of the change of dynasties between Jin and Song. His life is roughly divided into three periods.
(I) Period of Studying at Home
This period lasted from Tao Yuanming's birth to the age of 29. The main content of his life during this period was reading at home.
The period of Tao Yuanming's life is divided into three periods.
Tao Yuanming was born in a family of a broken bureaucrat and landlord. His great-grandfather, Tao Kan, was a military officer who was appointed Dasima, the Duke of Changsha, but because of his early years of loneliness and poverty, he was sneered at as a "villain" and a "dog of the streams" (see Jinshu-Tao Kan Biography), and regarded as a usurper with usurping ambitions. His grandfather Tao Mao was the governor of Wuchang. His maternal grandfather, Meng Jia, was the chief historian of Huan Wen, the general who conquered the west, and a famous scholar of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His father, Tao Yi, who had also been an official, died when Tao Yuanming was young. Tao Yuanming had great respect for his ancestors, especially his great-grandfather and maternal grandfather. He said, "In my middle Jin Dynasty, Yirong Changsha. Huanhuan Changsha, Yixun Yide. The son of heaven, I specialize in the southern part of the country. The success of the resignation of the return, Lin favor not too. Who says that this heart, near and obtainable!" ("Destiny of the Son") This is praising the great-grandfather's merits and teaching his children in this way. He praised his maternal grandfather as, "He did not behave in a way that was inconsistent, did not exaggerate in his speech, and did not have the appearance of being happy or unhappy. He was a good drinker, and the more he drank, the more he did not make a mess. As for his pleasure, he was as happy and distant as if no one else was there." ("Jin the late general of conquest of the west, long history Meng Fujun biography") he said his father is: "light non virtual stop, send track of the wind and clouds, meditating on the huffing and puffing." ("Fate of the Son") They had a certain influence on the formation of Tao Yuanming's thought and personality.
Because of his father's early death and the war and other reasons, Tao Yuanming's family was in decline. Tao Yuanming spent his teenage and youthful years in the Chaisang countryside. He claimed that "I was young and poor, and I traveled east and west every time my family was in trouble." ("With Ziyan and other sparse") "The weak age meets the family's lack." ("There will be made"), his friend Yan Yanzhi also said that he was "young and poor, living without servants and concubines, wells and mortars are not appointed, Li beans and peas are not given" ("Tao Zhengshi eulogy"). His "poverty" is not necessarily like a farmer, but it is true that his family was not very rich. In the meantime, he devoted himself to studying the scriptures. He claimed, "I was a young man who did not know much about human affairs, and I traveled to the Six Classics." (Drinking Wine) 16) "less learning the qin and books, occasionally love the quiet, open the volume has got, will be happy to forget to eat." (With Ziyan, etc.) "I have been living in idleness for thirty years, and I have become detached from the affairs of the world. I have been living in idleness for thirty years, and I have become detached from the affairs of the world. ("Xin Chou in the year of July to go on vacation to return to Jiangling night walk Tu Kou") "Jin Shu" this legend he "young with high interest, learned and good literature, free and uninhibited, any true self-compliance. Tao Yuanming is just like a "dust", forget the "world" of the study.
In fact, Tao Yuanming did not completely forget the "dust" and "worldly feelings", he had the ambition to build a career. He once said, "When I was young, I was strong and strong, and I stroked my sword and traveled alone." (Eight of the "Ancient Ancient") "I remember when I was young and strong, and I was happy without joy. I had a strong ambition to escape to the four seas, and I was soaring far away." (Miscellaneous Poems, No. 5) The actions of "stroking the sword" and "traveling" are the reflection of his desire to do something, and the two lines of "Fierce Ambition" are the impassioned statement of his great ambition. The "fierce ambition" refers to, that is, he said in the "feeling of the failure to meet the fugue": "the fate of heaven, the teacher of the saint's legacy, the development of loyalty and filial piety in the king and relatives, the birth of faith and righteousness in the townships, to push the sincerity of the heart and get to show, not pretense, but pray for reputation." This indicates at least three ambitions: one is to be loyal to the ruler and filial to one's relatives, the second is to promote faith and righteousness, and the third is to be manifested by sincerity. The purpose of these three ambitions is to be a good official who can "greatly help the people of China" (感士不遇赋).
(2) The Period of Serving and Remaining Hidden
This period lasted from Tao Yuanming's appointment as the state priest at the age of 29 to his resignation as the magistrate of Pengze County in the first year of the reign of Emperor Sima Dezong of the Jin Dynasty (405). During this time he **** four times to serve in five official positions.
1, the state priest - Tao Yuanming the first time to serve
Tao Yuanming in order to help his family's "poor", more to realize the "great help to the living" of the "fierce ambition". "At the age of 29, Tao Yuanming came out of his study and was recruited as a priest in Jiangzhou. The Song Book of this biography, said he "old family poverty, up for the state wine offering; unworthy of the official position, a few days since the release of the return". Sacrifice of wine, researchers believe that the other driving wine, a higher position, above the bureaucratic position. "Unworthy of official duties", researchers are divided, one says that Tao Yuanming did not care about this five-double-meter Taoist from the assassin Wang Ningzhi (see Lu Qinli, "Draft of Tao Yuanming's Chronology"), and the other says that Tao Yuanming's unwillingness to accept official duties was not because of Wang Ningzhi (see Yuan Xingjiu, "Compilation and Examination of Tao Yuanming's Chronology"). After Tao Yuanming's "liberation", he was called to be the state's chief bookkeeper, but he resigned.
2, into the Huan Xuan curtain - Tao Yuanming second career
Tao Yuanming resigned from the state priest, that is, he was 30 years old, his wife died (about 33 years old and then married Zhai), can be described as a family tragedy. At this time, the affairs of the state were also aggravated. In the twentieth year of Emperor Sima Changming's reign (395), Sima Daozi, the king of Huiji, became an autocrat. Emperor Wu promoted Wang Gong and Yin Zhongkan, who were close friends of the Emperor, to hold important positions inside and outside the country to prevent Daozi. Daosi also attracted Wang Guobao and his younger brother Wang Xu as his confidants. As a result, cliques arose. Huan Xuan, the son of Huan Wen, a powerful minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, continued to grow in power in the turbulent times. In the second year of Emperor Long'an's reign (398), the 30-year-old Huan Xuan was appointed assassin of Jiangzhou by imperial decree, and was also elected as the leader of the alliance. Longan four years (400), Huan Xuan for the governor of Jing, Si, Yong, Qin, Liang, Yi, Ning seven states of the military, Jingzhou assassin, Jingzhou as the center, with two thirds of the territory of the country, a moment of prestige, many scholars have to enter its military to show great ambition. Tao Yuanming around this time into the Huanxuan curtain served.
Tao Yuanming specifically what year into the Huanxuan curtain, into the curtain after the position, due to the lack of historical data, it is difficult to make a definitive conclusion. But he was in Longan four years (400) and five years (401) in Huanxuan curtain has confirmed, this is his three poems: "gengzi year in May from the capital also blocked the wind in the regulation of the forest two", "xin ugly year in July to go to the vacation also Jiangling night line TuKou". The first two in the "gengzi year" that is, Longan four years (400), written by Tao Yuanming Huanxuan mission to the capital Jiankang, after completing the mission, return to Huanxuan curtains, passing through the Xunyang, go home to visit relatives, encountered a headwind, the boat can not walk, temporarily live in the rules of the forest scene. The mission of the Beijing, according to Lu Qinli said for Huanxuan please discuss Sun En (see Lu Qinli "Tao Yuanming deeds and poems Department of the year"), which can be prepared to say, not the final assessment. Since he was ordered to go to the capital, it is clear that Tao Yuanming was trusted by Huanxuan. After a song in the "Xin Chou year" that is, Long An five years (401), write Tao Yuanming because of the vacation has been completed, from home to return to Jiangling (Jingzhou) Huan Xuan curtain to the job, the night by the mouth of the Tu scene. In the winter of this year, Tao Yuanming's mother, Meng, died of illness, so he resigned from Huanxuan Shou's post, ending his second life as an official, which lasted about two or three years, to stay at home in mourning.
Tao Yuanming's reasons for joining Huan Xuan's curtain were threefold: first, he had the motive of joining the court to show his ambition, secondly, he had fantasies about Huan Xuan's efforts to rectify the discipline of the Jin family, and thirdly, his maternal grandfather, Meng Jia, had been the chief historian of Huan Wen, Huan Xuan's father, and he had a long history of friendship. It would be contrary to reason and history to assume that Tao Yuanming's entry into the palace was to help Huan Xuan usurp Jin. When Huan Xuan usurped Jin in December of the second year of Emperor An Di's Yuan Xing (403), Tao Yuanming had already left for two years, and he was not a fortune-teller, so he could not have known that Huan Xuan was going to usurp Jin two years earlier. Otherwise, Tao Yuanming's third departure would have been puzzling.
3, Zhenjun, Jianwei seneschal -- Tao Yuanming third time
Song book of this biography, the book of this biography of the Jin said Tao Yuanming, "Zhenjun, Jianwei seneschal". It seems that Tao Yuanming's tenure as a Zhenjun and Jianwei seneschal were two consecutive events.
Tao Yuanming has a poem titled "Beginning of the Zhenjun seneschal via Qu'a", which is about his passing through Qu'a when he began to take up the position of Zhenjun seneschal. "
Tao Yuanming wrote a poem entitled Beginning of Zhenjun Senjun via Qu'a about his journey through Qu'a when he started to serve as Zhenjun Senjun. According to Li Shan's note in the Selected Writings (Volume 26), under this poem, Zang Rongxu's "Book of Jin" said, "Emperor Wudi of Song Dynasty was a general of the Zhenjun army." Most researchers say this. Emperor Wu of Song was Liu Yu. Yuanxing three years (404) in February, Liu Yu rate of conquest Huan Xuan; March, into Jiankang, Zhenjun General, Xuzhou assassin, governor of Yang, Xu, Yanzhou, Yu, Qing, Hebei, You, and eight states of the military; in April, in the Xunyang sang fell Chau defeated Huan Xuan army, into the base of Xunyang, plus governor of Jiangzhou military; in May, in the lofty Chau and defeated Huan Xuan army. Huan Xuan was defeated and fled to the west, wanting to enter Shu, was killed on the way. (See "Ziji Tongjian" Volume 110) Tao Yuanming "began as" Zhenjun general Liu Yu seneschal, should be in the Yuanxing three years (404) after Liu Yu defeated Huan Xuan army in April. He resigned from this post after one year at the most.
Tao Yuanming did not return home immediately after he resigned from the Zhenjun Senate, but became the Jianwei Senate again. He has a poem entitled "March of the year Yisi for Jianwei Senjun to make the capital through the Qianxi", which writes about the time when he was appointed as Jianwei Senjun and was ordered to go to Kyoto, passing through the Qianxi scene. "Yisi year" that is, the first year of Emperor An Yi Xi (405), "Jianwei Senjun" that is, General Jianwei's senator. The Jianwei general, when Liu Jingxuan. Liu Jingxuan in Yuanxing three years (404) in April moved to the Jianwei General, Jiangzhou assassin, guarding Xunyang; YiXi first year (405) at the end of March resigned from this position to XuanCheng NeiShi. With the departure of Liu Jingxuan, Tao Yuanming also resigned from the post of Jianwei seneschal, which had a very short tenure, and returned to his hometown.
4, as Pengze county magistrate -- Tao Yuanming's fourth career
Tao Yuanming's last career was in August of the first year of the Yi Xi (405), as Pengze county magistrate. He explained the circumstances of his appointment in the preface to his Ritual of Returning to China. He said, "My family is poor, and my farming is not enough to support myself," and so he was persuaded by his "relatives" and introduced by Tao Kui, his "uncle," who was then the Secretary of the Imperial Chamberlain's Office, to take up this post. After his arrival, he was y "natural nature, not the result of the force; hunger and cold, although cut, against their own sick. ...... frustrated and generous, ashamed of his life's ambition", but also "Cheng's sister lost in Wuchang, the feelings in the Junbun", so "self exempted from the post". In this way, "mid-autumn to winter, more than eighty days in the official" Tao Yuanming in "b Si year November" resigned from Pengze County, the end of his life in the career, return home to the field. Tao Yuanming the reason for this leave of absence, "Song Book" of this biography is: "County to send the governor post to the county, the official white should be girded to see. Dive sighed: 'I can not for five buckets of rice to the countryside to the little man!' On the same day, he removed the seal and ribbons and left his post, and wrote 'Returning to the Countryside'." (See also Xiao Tong "Tao Yuanming biography", "Jin book" this biography) In this regard, some people think it is rumor, but may be prepared for a say.
(3), return to the pastoral period
This period lasted from Tao Yuanming's resignation as the magistrate of Pengze County to his death in the fourth year of Emperor Liu Yilong's reign in the Song Dynasty (427). During this period, he was drafted as a writer at the end of the YiXi period, and his life was characterized by idleness, cultivation, reading, and creative writing.
For Tao Yuanming, returning to the countryside was a happy thing, but in the third year after he returned to the field (408), "eight or nine grass huts" were burned down by a sudden fire, and he had to live on a boat: "In the summer, when the wind was blowing rapidly, the forest room burned to the ground. There was no house left, and the boat was in front of the door." ("Wushen year in June in the middle of the fire") a year after the fire, from Chaisang moved to the southern village, life is gradually difficult, and later often get friends to help. Tao Yuanming was "addicted to wine, but his family was poor and could not always get it. Friends and old know that he is so, or put the wine to invite, make drink must be exhausted, the period in the must be drunk" ("Jin book" this biography). Song Book" this biography contains: "First, Yan Yanzhi Liu Liu after the army Gongcao, in Xunyang, and the potential love money. After the Beginning of An County, passing through, day by day to make potential, every time you will be drinking to drunk. Before leaving, leave 20,000 money and potential, potential full send restaurant, a little on the wine." Tao Yuanming's life was so poor that he begged for food before his death. In his poem "Begging for Food", he said, "Hunger drove me away, I don't know how. I was driven away by hunger, not knowing where I was going. I traveled to Sri, and knocked at the door to say something. The master understood my intention, and my bequest was not in vain." Tang Daoji, the assassin of Jiangzhou, came to visit him, and seeing him "lying down, barren and discouraged for a few days", he advised him to leave the civil service, and gave him meat and rice, but he "left under his banner" (see Xiao Tong's "Biography of Tao Yuanming"). He had a feeling that he would die soon, and he wrote the last poems of his life, the three elegiac poems, as well as the last pen, the "Self-offering Essay", and died in November, the fourth year of Emperor Yuanjia's reign, in the Song Dynasty (427), in his hometown.
Tao Yuanming's thought
Tao Yuanming's thought has always been the subject of great concern to researchers, the so-called main Confucianism, the main Taoism, the main Xuanjia, the main Laozi, the main Zhuangzi, the main Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, the main unity of the disagreement and discernment. Chen Yinke called Tao Yuanming "a great thinker of our country in the Middle Ages" (The Relationship between Tao Yuanming's Thought and Qingtan), which is a brilliant insight. Here, it is mainly explained from two aspects.
(1), Tao Yuanming adhere to the idea of "fixed poor"?
"Fixed poor" that is, poor and do not move. "Poor" is not "poor", is desperate, of course, a person "poor" is often "poor", and vice versa. Of course, when a person is "poor", he is often "poor" and vice versa, so the two are closely related. The word "solid" means that one should not lose one's integrity and character. To be "solidly poor" is a state of life as well as a moral principle. This word originates from the Analects of Confucius - Wei Linggong: "The gentleman is solidly poor, while the villain is poor and abusive." It belongs to the category of Confucianism.
Tao Yuanming wrote about "solid poverty" in six places in his poems: "The high moral character is not climbed, and it is not possible to get the solid poverty section." ("Kui Mao year December in the middle and from the brother Jingyuan") "do not rely on the solid poor section, a hundred generations when who passes on." (Two of "Drinking Wine") "After all, I have held on to the solid and poor rhythm, and I have been hungry, cold, and full." (Sixteen of "Drinking Wine") "Who says that it is difficult to be poor?" (7) "It is better to be poor than to be tired." (The Sense of a Poor Scholar) "Is it not the will of the poor to be poor, and the return of the poor to the poor." ("There will be made") can be seen, adhere to the "solid poor", in Tao Yuanming's view of life occupies an important position. He can stick to the ancient "solid poor" people are extremely respected. Such as "Ruan Gong, Rongshou, Qianlou, Yuan An, Zhang Zhongwei, Huang Zilian six poor, "fan on the painting praise" in the eight hermits, "Drinking Wine" in the Bo Yi and Shouqi, Yan Hui and Rong Qixi period, "Gengxu September in the year of September in the west field of the early rice" in the long frustration and Jie Drowning, the "gift of the sheep long history of the" in the four Hao, etc., are the object of his admiration. In Tao Yuanming's view, they are not seeking fame and fortune, cleanliness, poverty and happiness of the high earth, but also his role model, as he said in the "Winged Poor Scholar" in its two: "What to comfort my mind? Lai Gu Duo this sage." Therefore, "solid poor" has become the Tao Yuanming spirit of support and pillar, is the principle and standard of its people in the world.
"Solid poor" has a solid ideological cornerstone, which is the "Tao", that is, Confucianism advocate of virtue and morality. In Tao Yuanming's poetry, the word "Tao" appears many times, and its meaning varies according to the context, many of which belong to the scope of Confucianism. For example, the word "Dao" in "There is a Dao in life, and food and clothing are solidly endowed" ("Early Rice in Xitian in September in the Year of Gengxu") refers to common sense; the word "Dao" in "The Dao is lost for thousands of years, and everyone cherishes its feelings" ("Drinking Wine") refers to common sense; and the word "Dao" in "The Way is lost for thousands of years, and everyone cherishes its feelings" ("Drinking Wine") refers to the common sense. The "Tao" in "Tao Lost to Thousands of Years, Everyone Regrets Their Feelings" ("Drinking Wine") refers to the reasoning of being a human being; "The late master had a legacy of worrying about the Tao but not the poverty" ("The Beginning of the Year of Kui Mao, Spring, Huaigu Tiansha," Part II) and "The person who has a righteous aspiration for the Tao, or the man who dives to the jade in the same year" ("Feeling the Sense of the Tao"). The "Dao" in "(Sense of the Scholar's Disappointment Fugue)" refers to the way of ruling the world; the "Dao" in "The General Corner Warns of the Dao, the White Heads Have No Achievement" (Preface to "Rongmu") and "Whence the Road is not followed, and where is the goodness of the people" (ibid.) refers to the Confucian doctrine of the Dao. The "Dao" in "Yan Sheng called it benevolence, and Rong Gong said that there was the Dao" (11 of "Drinking Wine") and "Rich and poor are always at war, but the Dao is victorious without any chi Yan" (5 of "Singing of a Poor Scholar") refers to the "Dao" of being happy in poverty and contentment. Tao Yuanming's "Tao" refers to the way to live in peace and contentment. Therefore, Tao Yuanming insisted on "solid poverty" and not just pursue "solid poverty", but to maintain the purity of character and integrity, not because of the pursuit of high-ranking officials and rich pay and defile themselves. He especially respected Confucius and was well versed in Confucianism, and there were many references to Confucian classics in his poems and texts, including 37 references to The Analects of Confucius alone (see Zhu Ziqing's Essays on Classical Literature - The Depth of Tao Poetry). For example, the sentence "Worry about the Way" in "The Master has a legacy of worrying about the Way but not about poverty" is the original words of Confucius in The Analects of Confucius - Wei Linggong. He also Confucius "heard the Tao, death in the evening can be carried out" ("Analects - Rizheng") for "the morning and benevolence and righteousness of life, death in the evening, what more to seek" ("Wing of the poor Shi" four), Confucius "gentleman solid poor, the small man poor Si abuses carry on! Confucius, "the gentleman is poor, the villain is poor," as "the poor is not the will, the poor has always returned". Therefore, Tao Yuanming's "solid poverty" is the ideological cornerstone of personal virtue and integrity advocated by Confucianism. Liang Qichao's "Tao Yuanming's Literature and Art and His Character" once said that Tao Yuanming was "born in Confucianism" and that "all his life's strengths were in Confucianism". The "solid poverty" is one of the manifestations.
In fact, Tao Yuanming's adherence to "solid poverty" was not easy, and his inner struggle was intense. Though he "did not take pity on the poor and lowly, and did not draw on the rich and noble" (Mr. Willow's Biography), he did not completely give up his fame and wealth. In this regard, he was not secretive. For example, he said, "I have not forgotten to wear light furs, and I have not been admired." (Ibid., No. 3) "Rich and poor are often at war, but the way of victory has no chi Yan." (Ibid. its five) If Tao Yuanming's family life is "the weak years meet the lack of family, the old to more long hunger" ("there will be made"), then his life's political ideals are: when he was a teenager is "fierce ambition to escape from the four seas" ("Miscellaneous Poems" its five), middle age is In his middle age, he was "not to be galloped" (ibid., no. 2), and in his old age, he was "to be always there" (《Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas》no.10). This shows that Tao Yuanming had the Confucian spirit of entering the world, and if he had the chance, he would not stick to "fixed poverty". His four times to serve mainly to "help the living", but there is also a considerable help their "poor", "poor" factors, such as he said in "drinking wine" in its nineteenth: For example, he said in "Drinking Wine" (19): "In the past, when I was bitter and hungry, I threw myself into Lei to go to school" and in the preface of "Returning to Ruoxi" (归去來兮辞), he also said: "Yu's family is poor, and his farming is not enough to provide for himself. The child's room is full of children, and there is no corn in the bottle. ...... family uncle to Yu poor, so see used in a small town." "I have tasted from the personnel, all the mouth and stomach to serve themselves." But after all, he is a person who is "not what he admires", once claimed that "I do not haunt the good title, I do not pay for the generous gifts" ("Winged Poor Scholar", four). In the political corruption, strict gate, official darkness, fierce ambition is difficult to show the situation, Tao Yuanming on the "hunger and freezing although cut, against their own sick" is extremely profound flavor. He often went out with the apprehension of "how to leave this place, far away to the west of Jing" ("in July of the year of Xinchou to go on leave to return to Jiangling at night and walk to the mouth of the Tu"), and with "raising the true balance of the mausoleum, so as to make a good name for himself" (ibid.), and "a team of horses without rent, and the poor and lowly have the pleasure of intercourse" ("Gift to the Yang Changshi"), Tao Yuanming's experience of "hunger and cold, though cut off from oneself and the sick" was extremely profound. Gift to Yang Changshi") of a tranquil and calm mindset to return to seclusion. It can be said that Tao Yuanming's life is "rich and poor often war" life, but also "even hold a solid poor section" and "strong will is always" intersection of life.
(2) Tao Yuanming advocates the idea of "nature"
The word "nature" is not found in the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and it is the essence of the philosophy of Laozhuang. For example, Lao Tzu said, "Man follows the law of the earth, the earth follows the law of heaven, heaven follows the law of the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." (Lao Zi, Chapter 25) Zhuang Zi said, "Shun the nature of things, and there is no room for selfishness, and the world is governed." (Zhuangzi - Ying Di Wang) In this context, "natural" means natural and spontaneous, which is also commonly known as natural, referring to the state of everything without human factors.
In Tao Yuanming's poetry, the word "nature" appears four times, and its meaning varies with the text. One of them is "Returning to the Garden" (归园田居), which reads, "I have been in the cage for a long time, but I have come back to nature." The word "nature" refers to freedom, as opposed to "the cage". The second is in the preface of "Return to Nature": "The nature is natural, not the result of forcefulness." The word "natural" refers to the natural state of being, a state of being at ease, a concrete manifestation of "quality", as opposed to "forcefulness". In the preface of "Shape and Shadow of God", "Nobility, inferiority, virtue and ignorance, they all camp to cherish life, and they are very confused. Therefore, the suffering of form and shadow is greatly emphasized, and the naturalness of God's discernment is explained." The term "nature" refers to the means of eliminating life's ills. The "form" suffers from the shortness of life and wants to drink and have fun, while the "shadow" suffers from the difficulty of establishing a good name and seeks to establish a good legacy of love. The "God" thinks that drinking alcohol will make one's life shorter, and no one will praise one's good deeds, and that people will always die, so one should follow nature and not think too much about it. The idea of "Form" reflects Tao Yuanming's hopelessness, the idea of "Shadow" reflects Tao Yuanming's awareness of the lack of distinction between good and evil in the society at that time, and the idea of "God" is Tao Yuanming's positive opinion. It is the idea of "God" that is Tao Yuanming's positive opinion. Four in the "Jin, the former general of the western conquest of the long history of Meng Fujun biography": "and asked to listen to prostitutes, silk is not as good as bamboo, bamboo is not as good as meat. Answer: 'Asymptotic nature.'" This "nature" is like "heavenly music", referring to an aesthetic standard. Tao Yuanming believes that "natural" is beautiful. It seems that Tao Yuanming's view of nature is not unrelated to Laozhuang's. He was y influenced by Laozhuang's thoughts. He was y influenced by the thought of Laozhuang, in his poetry, there are 70 used "Laozi", "Zhuangzi" allusion, **** 77 places (see the Japanese scholar Oyagane Fumijiro, "Tao Yuanming study"). Zhu Xi said, "Yuanming said Zhuang Lao, but the resignation of the simple ancient" (Zhu Zi Classes, Volume 136), is not without reason.
Tao Yuanming's idea of "nature" is manifested in many ways, and here we mainly talk about three points:
First, in the moral cultivation of "holding simplicity and containing the truth".
"Hold the simple and contain the true" that is, to hold on to the nature of nature, not for the temptation of external objects. Laozi, Chapter 19: "Seeing the vegetarian, embracing simplicity, less selfish and less desirous." Zhuangzi - Fisherman's Father: "The true, the sincerity of the most also. ...... The true one, so received from heaven, is also natural and unchangeable." Wang Bi's note in Chapter 28 of Laozi says, "Park, true." Therefore, the phrase "embracing simplicity and truth" emphasizes a kind of simple and pure human nature and mentality, i.e., the moral cultivation of the highest feeling and the highest nature. This is the guideline of Tao Yuanming's moral cultivation and the important content of his life philosophy. He said: "Long time ago, the first born people. Proudly self-sufficient, holding the simple and true. Wisdom and ingenuity have sprouted, and the resources are not needed." ("Advising the Farmer") "To fulfill faith and think of obedience is the good behavior of the people. To be simple and quiet is a gentleman's virtue." ("Sense of the Shi not meet the preface") From this it is not difficult to see, Tao Yuanming on the "hold the simple and true", "hold the simple and keep the quiet" this natural moral cultivation of the nature of the adoration and pursuit. Because of this, Tao Yuanming's emphasis on "truth" and "nurturing truth" is extraordinary. They also appear many times in his poems. For example, "I really want to be in my lapel, who says that I am bound by my deeds." (Beginning to be a Zhenjun seneschal via Qu'a) "There is a true meaning in this, and I want to recognize it but have forgotten the words." (Five of "Drinking Wine") "Is Heaven not going to this place, and there is nothing to precede it." (Lian Yu Solo Drinking) "Nurture the truth under the mausoleum, and be known as a good person." ("Xin Chou year July vacation to return to Jiangling night line Tu Kou") So, Tao Yuanming always be able to maintain a kind of independence and freedom of mind and spirit, even after joining the civil service can not be constrained, and even to give up the official salary to keep this "really want to". Tao Yuanming talked about "truth" and "falsehood". He said: "Since the real wind is gone, the great pseudo-shing. The people of the village are slack in their integrity, and the people of the city are driven away by the heart of easy advancement." ("Sense of the Shifu" preface) this "pseudo" and "true", "simple" or "natural" is the opposite, and is also Tao Yuanming do not want to see. This is also what Tao Yuanming does not want to see.
Secondly, in the path of life, "return to the garden and live in the countryside".
The "simplicity" and "truth" should not only be "embraced" and "contained", but also "nurtured". This environment and conditions for Tao Yuanming, is "Hengmao under", that is, away from the dirty officialdom and the complicated world and "return to the garden". According to Japanese scholar Tadamichi Horie's Comprehensive Index of Tao Yuanming's Poetry and Literature, the word "return" appears in Tao Yuanming's poems in as many as 55 places. In addition to expressing the meaning of returning to nature and emptiness, many of them express the meaning of returning to one's home and garden. For example, "I have opened up the southern field, and I have returned to the garden." (Returning to the Garden and Dwelling in the Field) "Returning to the Garden, the field will be turned over and Hu will not return!" (The Rhetoric of Returning to the Garden) "I will die and return to the fields." ("Drinking Wine", 19) Tao Yuanming wrote more about the idyllic life and the idyllic scenery in his poems and writings (see later for details). In his writing, the idyllic garden is almost a place of freedom, simplicity and innocence, which is opposed to the officialdom and the world, and in this sense, "to return to the garden and the field" is to return to the natural home. Therefore, when he quit the officialdom and "return to the garden", there is a kind of "return to the natural" relaxation and pleasure, as if relieved of the sense of liberation.
Thirdly, the concept of life and death is manifested in the "long wave of greatness".
Tao Yuanming's poems also contain the word "化", which can be interpreted as "nature". It is sometimes used alone, sometimes with "big", "Wan", "multiply", "Teng", It is sometimes used alone, sometimes in combination with "Da", "Wan", "Ride", "Teng", "By", etc., and is always closely associated with the life and death of a person. For example, "The eye sends the returning boat far away, and the love moves with ten thousand transformations." ("Sending Guests Away from Wang Fushun's Seat") "The world is searching for each other, and life is not laborious." (The Ninth Day of the Ninth Month of the Hexiyou Year) "We will move with the transformations and return to the Bansheng hut." ("Beginning of the Zhenjun Senjun by Qu'a made") This is to say that everything is in the change, metabolism is always due to the "deduction" and "change" of the human feelings and the course of life is also followed by the move. "The cataracts go away by transformations, and they do not return to their forms in the end of the day." ("Sadness for My Brother Zhongde") "I will return to the end of my life by means of transformation, and I will be happy with my heavenly destiny." (The Rhetoric of Returning to China) "I do not have the art of transmutation, so I will not doubt it again." (The God of Forms and Shadows) "The form and shadow go by virtue of the transformation, and the spiritual mansion is always idle." (The Fire in the Middle of June in the Year of Wushen) This is about the fact that human life is bound to go away by means of transformation, and that death will not be suspected if I do not have the art of transmutation. Evidently, "transformation" is a law that cannot be resisted by human beings. Then, what should be done about the human being's "transformation"? Tao Yuanming said, "Even in the midst of great changes, I am not happy or afraid. I am not happy or afraid. I have to do my best when I have to do my best, and I don't have to think too much." (The God of Form and Shadow) "Whoever comes and whoever goes will not go, for human reason has its end." (May 1st and Master Dai) "There is no need to worry about the same thing, and there is no remorse for its departure." ("Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas," 10) "I can have no regrets if I am transformed." ("Self-offering") This is to say that people have life and death, from life to death is also "transformation", the same is a kind of law that can not be resisted by human beings, so in the years of one's life, when one is "in the midst of the waves of great transformation, I will not be happy nor fearful", and when one dies, when one is "free from anxiety" and "free from regret", and "free from fear". No worries", "no regrets", "no hatred". In Tao Yuanming's view, human beings are "the same as things" and have accepted the nurturing of the "qi" of the "big block" (see "Sense of the Scholar's Lack of Encounter Fugue"), and are also "the same as things" and "the same as things". "and "transforms away" just like things do. Therefore, he said, "There is life and there must be death, and early death is not a matter of life." (One of the Elegy Poems) "What is the way to die, but to take the same body as the mountain." (Ibid. 3) "The same mountain" is also "the same thing". From this, we can see that Tao Yuanming not only faces life and death with a "natural" mindset, but also explains life and death with "nature".
In addition to the integration of Confucianism and Taoism, Tao Yuanming also had some elements of Buddhist thought. He had a close relationship with Huiyuan of the Donglin Temple, and in his poems and writings he occasionally used Buddhist-like words, such as "emptiness" in "Life is like an illusion, and will eventually return to emptiness and nothingness" ("Returning to the Garden and Dwelling in the Countryside," No. 4). His realization of life is in harmony with Buddhism, but he seeks pleasure from the reality of life and does not really believe in the afterlife, and his "Form and Shadow of God" opposes Huiyuan's theory of retribution and the indestructibility of God after the end of form. So again, he was not a Buddhist. Furthermore, Tao Yuanming is an outstanding representative of the Wei and Jin styles. He pursued a kind of beauty of personality and artisticization of life. Mr. Wuliu's biography", "return", "return to the garden" and other works is a reflection of the beauty of this personality, not for the five buckets of rice, fiddle with the stringless zither, with the anecdotes of the katydid percolating wine and other anecdotes (see the "Song Book" of the present biography, Xiaotong, "Tao Yuanming" biography), is a manifestation of the beauty of this personality.
Three, the ideological content of Tao Yuanming's poetry
Tao Yuanming's literary creation of poetry is the most prominent achievements, he has always been the identity of the poet is enshrined in the history of literature. His surviving poems, nearly 130 in number, are rich in content.
(I), lamenting the labor of the official service, expressing the thoughts of the garden
Tao Yuanming held the "great help to the living" and "the mouth and stomach from the servitude" of the sentiment and "Lei Lei go to learn the service " ("Drinking Wine" its 19), but the darkness of the officialdom, he and the "will more shame" (ibid.), "nature nature, non-corrective gain" ("return to the Ruoxi rhetoric" preface), refused to bend themselves to serve others, therefore, although a few advance and retreat Therefore, although there were several times in and out, there were no achievements. He is not happy for the official service, anti-labor, always in the service and meditation garden. This kind of one heart at both ends of the situation, in his travels during the writing of the service poems can be fully expressed. For example, in the middle of May in the year of Gengzi, he returned from the capital to block the wind in the regulation of the forest, the second of which says: "Since ancient times, I sigh for the service, I began to know today! ...... quietly remember that the garden is good, and the earth is good enough to resign." He was regretting while being an official: "Long traveled to love what was born, how to drown in this." ("gengzi year in the middle of May from the capital to stop the wind in the regulation of the forest" two) "Poetry and books Dunjushu good, forest and garden without worldly feelings. How can I leave this place? I will go to Xijing from afar." ("In the seventh month of the Xin Chou year, I went on vacation and returned to Jiangling and walked to Tukou at night"). Even on the way to the appointment is also the same, in the "Beginning of the Zhenjun Senjun via Qu'a made", he said:
Time to meet in the netherworld, the Wanyu rest through the streets. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, but I'm going to be able to do it," he said. The first thing I'd like to say is that I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do this, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it. ...... eyes are tired of Sichuan way different, the heart misses the mountains and lakes residence. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get a good deal on this, but I'm sure I'll be able to get a good deal on this. I really want to be in the lapel, who said that the shape of the constraints? I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do this, but I'm going to be able to do it," he said.
Tao Yuanming is for the service can not be quiet, return to the home and not willing, the heart and form of the opposition, so that he was very painful, but also very impatient. This antagonism and impatience, is to show that Tao Yuanming is not willing to go along with the high style and integrity. He wrote:
Yi Yu why, encouragement from the service? The first time I saw this, I was in the middle of the night, and I was in the middle of the night. I've been dreaming of the future for a long time, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get away from it. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that.
With this kind of virtue and mentality, the laboriousness of serving as an official can be imagined. Lamenting the labor of the service is Tao Yuanming before the service poem **** have content, and will be the official service of the pain and meditation garden feelings into one, is Tao Yuanming service poem is unique.
(2), depicting the beauty of the idyllic scenery, expressing the state of mind of idleness and self-complacency
In the contradictory struggles between the service and the hidden, Tao Yuanming finally chose the hidden, by the meditation on the garden into the reality of the conversion, the heart and the shape of the unity. Depicting the beautiful and quiet idyllic scenery, and expressing the pleasant state of mind of leisure and self-complacency have become the basic content of Tao Yuanming's idyllic poems. He regarded the idyll as a place of peace and security in life, an ideal realm in opposition to the dark reality and the turbid officialdom. For example, one of the poems of "Returning to the Garden" is:
There is no rhyme or reason for the young, and the nature is to love the hills and mountains. I fell into the net of dust by mistake, and I have been gone for thirty years (thirteen years). The birds love the old forests, and the fish miss the old abyss. I have opened up the southern field and returned to the garden. The square house is more than ten acres, with eight or nine grass houses. Elm and willow shade the back eaves, peaches and plums in front of the hall. Ambiguous distant people's villages, and the smoke in the marketplace. Dogs barked in the deep alleys and chickens crowed in the mulberry trees. There is no dust in the house and court, and there is spare time in the empty room. I've been in the cage for a long time, but I've come back to nature.
This poem is about the reason why the poet returned to the field and the pleasant life of returning to the field. The poet called the officialdom as "vulgar", said the officialdom in the meet and greet, exploit trickery as "suitable for vulgar rhyme", to "dust net", "Fan cage Metaphors of "dust net" and "cage" are used to describe the dirty and boring officialdom that binds human nature, and "bird" and "fish" are used to describe oneself who has mistakenly entered the officialdom, so it can be seen that the poet detests the officialdom. Returning to the countryside, just as the caged bird flew back to the mountains and the fish in the pool returned to the water pool, so that the poet felt immense freedom and pleasure. More than ten acres of land is enough to support life, eight or nine huts are enough to support the body. The distant villages and drinking smoke, the near barking dogs and chickens, full of vitality and peaceful and quiet. Human nature is restored in this realm of truth and simplicity. Another example is "Drinking Wine" and its five:
The hut is in the people's realm, and there is no noise of carriages and horses. The most important thing to remember is that you have to be able to do what you want to do. The heart is far away from the ground. I'm not sure if I'm a good person, but I'm a good person, and I'm a good person. The mountain air is good day and night, the birds are still with each other. There is a true meaning here, which I want to recognize and forget to say.
This poem is about the pleasure and realization of appreciating nature far away from the world. The poet's state of mind after going into seclusion is revealed in the chrysanthemum picking, seeing the mountains, seeing the sunset, and watching the birds. The two lines of "picking chrysanthemums" have always been appreciated by people. Su Shi said: "Seeing the mountain because of picking chrysanthemums, the situation and the meaning will be, this sentence is the most wonderful." ("Dongpo inscription") Wang Guowei said that this is "the realm of no self, to see things, so I do not know what is me, what is the thing" ("human words"). In this "realm and intention", "the realm of no self", the poet realized the true interest of life. So it can be so, all because the "heart far away" from the mundane. Another example is: "The flat farmland has a distant wind, and the good seedling is new." (The Second Part of "The Beginning of Spring in the Year of Decimo") This is about the charming atmosphere of early spring. "The forest in front of the amicable hall stores clear shade in the middle of summer. The wind comes at the right time and opens my heart." (1) "The grass grows in the middle of summer, and the trees around the house are sparse." (One of "Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas") This is about the beautiful scenery in summer. The poet is in this mesmerizing idyllic scenery, savoring the "birds are happy to have a trust, I also love my hut.