Tao Yuanming only loves chrysanthemums. Why on earth should he write about Peach Blossom Garden?

Tao Yuanming is a great poet and lyricist recognized by history. Because he lived in the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, historical documents recorded the prosperity of metaphysical culture in the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the cultural influence of the most famous "Seven Sages of Bamboo Forest" was a strong evidence of the beginning of this period.

Tao Yuanming is a representative of hermit culture.

Moreover, the social environment was a little turbulent at that time, and it was normal for Tao Yuanming, a former official, to have the idea of living in seclusion in the mountains. And since he was a child, he is the kind of person who likes to be close to natural life. It can be inferred from these figures that his spiritual orientation is biased towards Confucianism and Taoism, similar to Taoism in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and his ideological orientation belongs to Taoism.

Tao Yuanming's thought was influenced by both Confucianism and Taoism.

After analyzing Tao Yuanming's personality information clearly, we can analyze his works. There are many of his works, and all of them are mainly based on the beauty of secluded nature! Because of this, later generations recognized him as the main founder of the school of pastoral poetry and the school of drinking poetry.

Chrysanthemum has a secluded cultural connotation.

Back to your question, Tao Yuanming loves chrysanthemums but writes about Peach Blossom Garden. We should pay special attention to the cultural connotations of these two kinds of flowers. Chrysanthemums usually bloom in autumn. According to Zhouyi, which is recognized by both Confucianism and Taoism, it represents the temporal and spatial significance of autumn and west, and also represents the reclusive culture. Peach blossoms generally bloom in spring, and so on, representing the temporal and spatial significance of spring and the East, as well as some positive cultural significance such as secularity, reality and wealth. In this way, chrysanthemum and peach blossom, from the perspective of literature and art, almost represent the complete picture of "spring flowers and autumn moon" in nature.

Peach blossom represents active participation in secular culture.

Combined with the above analysis, Tao Yuanming's exclusive love for chrysanthemums reflects his Taoist seclusion complex, and his writing of Peach Blossom Garden reflects his complex mentality of interweaving Confucianism and Taoism. He was clearly aware of the darkness of officialdom, political corruption and the hardships of people's livelihood at that time, but he was unable to change these. As a feudal intellectual with a "sober observer", he can only bury this sigh in his heart and express his sigh and hope in the depths of his soul through literary works.