The four representative figures of pastoral poets are Tao Qian, Xie Lingyun, Meng Haoran and Wang Wei.
The Pastoral Poetry School mainly focuses on reflecting pastoral life and depicting landscapes. Their works mostly reflect the leisurely and indifferent thoughts and emotions, with elegant and light colors and profound artistic conception. They mostly adopt the form of five-character ancient style and five-character rhyme style.
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1. Tao Qian
As the poet who founded the Pastoral School in the mountains, Tao Xie was obviously influenced by the metaphysical trend of thought. However, due to their different status and life paths, metaphysics has different imprints in their poems. The mysterious purpose and rational interest in Tao's poems not only show that there are many insights full of life experience in the poems, but more importantly, the mysterious purpose permeates the pastoral scenes of "there is true meaning" in the poems.
Xie’s poems are mainly expressed through metaphysical concepts such as “It’s hard to gain a reputation in an empty green field, but it’s easy to make a fishing hook into a song” and “It’s better to have a wonderful life after being mourned and moved by things”. "Xuanzhi" has not been fully integrated into his poems.
2. Xie Lingyun
If Tao Yuanming was the first to imitate pastoral landscapes, Xie Lingyun, who was contemporary with Tao but later, was the first to imitate landscapes and carve lines. Xie Lingyun's landscape poems are eloquent and skillful. Like a craftsman who is good at adjusting language, he often conveys the mood of the landscape word by word. He has extraordinary talent in refining poetic meaning and comprehending language. Even Li Bai admired this.
For example, "The forest ravines gather the dark colors, and the clouds collect the evening rain." ("The Stone Wall Jingshe Returns to the Lake") "The turbulent currents tend to become normal, and the solitary islet rises to the middle of the river." ("The Solitary Climbing the River and the Mountain") "Islet") "White clouds embrace the secluded rocks, and the green grass is beautiful and clear." ("Passing the Ningye") "The pond grows spring grass, and the willow garden turns into songbirds." ("Climbing the Pond and Going Up the Stairs") "The green fields are beautiful in the spring evening, and the rocks are as high as Yuntun." "The wild fields and river banks are clean, and the sky is high and the moon is bright in autumn." The appearance is meticulously carved and the details are uniquely described, reproducing an artistic realm of natural beauty. From this point of view, Xie Lingyuan has absolute wisdom, observes things very delicately, and has a very superb ability to control language. The landscapes and scenery, edited by his skillful hands, instantly create a clear and beautiful picture that is overflowing with color. Therefore, he is very popular among Han poetry in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Be unique.
3. Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran, who lived in Lumen Mountain in Xiangyang, was deeply attached to the mountains and rivers and never became an official throughout his life. He was one of the rare commoner poets in the feudal era who was famous throughout the ages. Li Bai has a poem "Gift to Meng Haoran": "My love for Master Meng is known all over the world. The beauty abandons the crown, and the white head lies in the pine clouds. The drunken moon often makes the saint, and the lost flowers have no regard for the king. The high mountains are safe, I can look up, and I bow to the Qing Dynasty. Fen. "Meng Haoran is a true hermit. Scholars in ancient times "if they are successful, they can help the world; if they are poor, they can only take care of themselves."
He chose the second path, with a pure heart and few desires, intoxicated in the natural mountains and rivers indifferently and peacefully, pursuing the highest realm of poetry-natural beauty. His poems are close to Tao's poems, but have their own style. There are not many poems with powerful imagery such as "Steaming clouds and dreamy lakes, waves shaking Yueyang City", "The stormy waves come like snow, and it feels cold when you sit down".
4. Wang Wei
Wang Wei wrote political poems and frontier fortress poems, but what reflects his unique achievements are his unique landscapes and pastoral poems. After he witnessed the strife in the officialdom, the upheaval of the world, and experienced the ups and downs of his official career, his ambition and enthusiasm for meritorious service quickly cooled down.
After middle age, he adopted the life attitude of "Qiyuan is not an arrogant official, he handles worldly affairs on his own. But I send him a small official and sing a few trees." A life path that is both official and hidden. His landscape and pastoral poems are not only a reflection of his personal soul, but also a projection of the ideological trends of the times in the country of poetry.