Meng Jiao took part in many imperial examinations, but failed to achieve ideal results. At the age of forty, he was finally admitted to Jinshi, but in the eighth year, Meng Jiao resigned. After resigning from his post, Zheng Yuqing invited him to work as Xie Lvlang in Henan, but he died on his way to Henan.
Meng Jiao was poor all his life, and his official career was also very unsatisfactory. Therefore, he often mentioned cold and poverty in his poems, expressing his grievances that his career was not smooth. His masterpiece is Fifteen Poems of Autumn and Huai.
Style of works
Meng Jiao is one of the few poets who reflect social problems and people's livelihood. He wrote many poems when he was worried about his country and hurt it, and his masterpiece was Feeling. This poem condemned Li Xilie's rebellion, exposed the appeasement policy chosen by the imperial court, and also reflected the fears of the people at that time. But in the poem, he expressed his ambition to serve the country.
He also often uses words such as bitterness, astringency, coldness, shock and fear to describe his personal feelings, so that readers usually get a biting aesthetic experience in the reading process. Gao Bing pointed out in the Collection of Tang Poems that Meng Jiao's poetry formed this style mainly because he lived in poverty all his life.