Both Wang Wei and Meng Haoran are good at writing pastoral poems. Although both of them are good at landscapes and rural areas, they are also different. Meng's poems have fresh and quiet natural beauty, but they often contain faint sadness, while Wang's poems are different. They are a kind of quiet and leisurely artistic conception, which often contains Zen. Poetry critics in Qing Dynasty praised Meng's poems as "light language but not light taste" and Wang's poems as "Zen without Zen". We can also read Meng Haoran's poems, while Wang Wei's poems are "empty" and permeated with Zen.
The most prominent feature of Tao Yuanming's poems is the unity of simplicity and nature and profound and mellow beauty. His pastoral poems describe simple rural scenery and daily rural life, reflecting his desolate mood and interest after retirement. In terms of expression, these poems are mostly drawn in a simple and natural way, which is rare and gorgeous, but this does not mean dull. In the plain description of pastoral poetry, Tao Yuanming's love for life and nature is contained. Shows his beautiful personality and lofty ideals. At the same time, Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems are rich in artistic conception, and the selected scenery is distinctive, full of poet's feelings, reflecting the poet's personality characteristics. Tao Yuanming is also good at integrating profound philosophy into the images of poetry, so that ordinary materials can show extraordinary artistic conception.