The themes of Tao's poems can be mainly divided into five categories: pastoral poems, poems chanting for the bosom, poems chanting for the epic and poems answering questions.
Pastoral poetry and landscape poetry are often referred to as the same category, but they are two different themes. Pastoral poetry will write about rural scenery, but the main body is about rural life, farmers and farming. Landscape poems mainly describe natural scenery, and poets' aesthetic appreciation of landscape images is often associated with travel. Strictly speaking, only one of Tao Yuanming's poems is a landscape poem, and he writes more pastoral poems. Pastoral poetry is a new theme that he added to China literature. Taking his pastoral life as the content, he truly wrote the joys and sorrows of hard struggle. Tao Yuanming is the first person in the history of China literature.
Some of his pastoral poems express his carefree mood by describing the beauty of rural scenery and the simplicity of rural life. Spring outing, mountain climbing, drinking, reading, talking with friends, reuniting with family members, washing under the eaves, or picking chrysanthemums in the east, as well as new seedlings spreading their wings in the south wind and mulberry growing stronger and stronger, have all turned into wonderful poems. Such as "the mountains wash away the fog and the weather is warm." There is wind in the south, and the wings are new seedlings "(Fortune). On the morning of writing about the mountain village, the morning fog gradually disappeared, and the south wind made the new seedlings grow wings. "Adjacent songs come from time to time, and loudly speak is a thing of the past. Wonder * * * appreciation, doubt and analysis "("migration "I). Writing neighbors and talking about history papers with yourself, that kind of frank communication is enviable. Another example is "Return to the Garden":
Few people do as the Romans do. Their nature is to love nature. I sneaked into the official career network and have been away from the game for more than ten years. Birds in cages are often attached to the forests of the past, and fish in ponds yearn for the abyss of the past. I want to open up wasteland in Minamino and keep my humility to the fields. There are more than ten acres of square houses and eight or nine straw houses. Willow trees cover the eaves, and peach trees cover Li Lieman in front of the hospital. A warm and distant village, the smog in the Yi market. Several dogs barked in the alley, and the mulberry tree was barked by a rooster. The house is clean and miscellaneous, and the virtual room is idle. Trapped in a cage without freedom for a long time, I finally returned to the forest today.
In contrast, the poet felt extremely happy when he returned to the field. Ye Nan, thatched cottage, elm willow, peach and plum, far village, near smoke, cock crowing and dog barking are all pleasant to hear, all of which are Tao Yuanming's poems after enlightenment. "It warms people's villages far away, and the smoke in the Yiyi market" is from far to near, and "the dog barks in the deep lane, the chicken crows and the mulberry jumps" to describe the static state, which has simply reached the realm of perfection.
Some of his pastoral poems focus on the life experience of farming, which is the most distinctive and valuable part of his pastoral poems. There are agricultural poems in The Book of Songs, which are songs sung by farmers while working. Tao Yuanming was the first scholar-bureaucrat who personally participated in farming and wrote about farming experience with poems. It is also rare for Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems to really write about his work and life. The third part of Back to the Garden is a masterpiece in this respect:
I planted beans at the foot of Nanshan, and the weeds in the field were covered with peas. Get up early in the morning to get rid of weeds, and come back with hoes in the moonlight at night. The narrow path covered with vegetation, the night dew wet my clothes. It's not a pity to get wet, but I hope it won't be against my will.
This is the true feeling of a farmer who retired from his official position and engaged in farm work. He took a hoe with a moon dew in the evening, and the scene was vivid. Behind the description of farming life is the contrast between farming and being an official, and the pursuit of ideal life. The idea of life is written in "Harvest Early Rice in Xitian at the Age of Gengxu in September";
Life belongs to the Tao and food and clothing are solid. Don't camp, protect yourself. In spring, I try to do business, and my working years are considerable. Be a little diligent in the morning, but still be negative during the day. There are two buildings in the mountains, and the atmosphere is cold first and then hot. Tian Jia is not bitter, Fu is hard to quit. Four-body sincerity is fatigue, and ordinary people are no different from doing it. Wash under the eaves, fight for wine and splash your face. Far from drowning, it matters for thousands of years. I hope so, and I can't regret it.
Tao Yuanming believes that food and clothing is the beginning of a way of life. Without labor, nothing can be said. The poem describes the hardships of labor and the joy of going home to rest after a day's work, both of which are true. "Tian Jia is not bitter, and Fu is hard to quit." Write about the general feelings of farmers. "Four-body sincere work, ordinary people do the same", write the special feeling of a scholar whose official career is retired.
Some of his pastoral poems are about his poverty and rural depression. For example, "Complaining Poems and Chu Tunes Show Master Pang's Book Deng Zhizhong": "The fire burns again and again, and moths fly in the middle of the field. Wind and rain come and go, and the convergence is not full. Hungry in summer, sleepless in cold nights. Cocks crow at night and move in the morning. " Return to the Garden Part IV: "Wandering among the mountains, Yiyi lives in the past. There are remnants in the well, and the mulberry and bamboo rot. Excuse me, whoever gets paid is different. The wage earners told me that there was no way to die. " Through these poems, we can vaguely see the face of the countryside in war and disaster.
Poetry and epic have something in common, and chanting epic is also poetry, but it is only based on historical facts. Some of his poems are written in the form of group poems, such as drinking, imitating ancient styles and miscellaneous poems. His epic poems focus on ancient figures, such as "Sanliang", "Uncle", Jing Ke and the ancient poor in Ode to the Poor. Reading Shan Hai Jing can also fall into this category. These poems dedicated to memory and history obviously inherit the tradition of Ruan Ji and Zuo Si's poems and have Tao Yuanming's own characteristics. This is around the center of being an official and retiring, showing his character of not colluding with the rulers. Among them, there is a review of his life, such as Drinking 19; There are also attacks on society, such as "Drinking", the twentieth. There is no lack of regret and anger, such as Ode to Jing Ke. As can be seen from the second part of Miscellaneous Poems, Tao Yuanming's worries and resentments are deep and extensive:
The sun sets in the west and the moon rises in Dongling. Far away, thousands of people are swinging in the air. When the wind enters the house, the pillow mat is cool at night. When qi changes, it is easy to realize, but not to sleep. Have nothing to say, wave a cup to persuade the lonely shadow. If the sun and the moon abandon people, they will be invincible. It's sad to read this, but I can't be quiet in the end.
This poem, written on a sleepless autumn night, sets off the loneliness of one's mood with the cold environment, and leads to the sadness of one's ambition with the passage of time. It is the representative work of Tao Yuanming's Huai Huai poems.
Tao Yuanming's official poems are all his works during his official period. They have a common theme: lamenting the hardships of official business, expressing his boredom with official business, and repeatedly telling his thoughts about the countryside and his determination to retire. Lamenting the pain of marching was originally the same content in the previous marching poems, and the latter two were unique to Tao Yuanming, and the later these two emotions became stronger. The helplessness of losing freedom becomes the keynote of this kind of poetry. Try this example: "My eyes are tired of traveling in different places, but my mind is full of mountains and rivers." . Looking at the clouds, I am ashamed of the birds, and I am ashamed of swimming in the water. "("Qu Zuo, the first town army joined the army ")" Born of long affection, how can you drown in this place? "("Two May Poems of Gengzi ")" Poetry and books are all collected, and the garden has no secular feelings. How to give up this, as far as Xijing. " ("Xin Chou went on vacation in July and swam back to Jiangling at night") "Why should I take a break? Encourage me to serve here. "(In March, Party B was appointed as Jianwei's Ambassador to the Army through Qianxi)"
Tao Yuanming's poems can show his sincere feelings for his friends. Giving answers has been a traditional theme since ancient times. As a poem handed down from Su Li's Answer, it is good at expressing parting feelings. Cao Zhi's "Giving a White Horse to the Army" is famous for expressing resentment, Serina Liu's "Giving a Brother" shows noble character, and Ji Kang's "Giving a Scholar to the Army" shows free and easy interest. Tao Yuanming's poems of giving answers have their own characteristics: he created an image of a kind old man for himself with sincere feelings, simple content, meaningful meaning and lukewarm style. Such as: "Clouds stop at Alan Yu, and rain stops at misty. He raised his eyes and looked around blankly. The road blocked the water. Dong Xuan was sitting alone, having a glass of spring wine. Good friends are long and scratch their heads. " ("Stop the Cloud") "The wind is blowing from the west and the clouds are floating from the east. Mountains and rivers are thousands of miles apart, and it is difficult to talk and laugh. Good people don't hide from the world, how humble and poor the rivers and lakes are. Out of experience, remember to save old friends. " ("Farewell to Yin Jin") Answer Pang Junjun is the deepest sentence in his poem:
Know each other well, why be old. I'm interested in tourists. I often go to forest parks. Talk about harmony without vulgarity, talk about saints. Or fight, drink freely. I am a hermit, which has nothing to do with it. The new things are old, but the weak things are hyped up. Feelings cross Wan Li, but stagnate. You love voxels. When will you come?
There are memories of reunion, sadness of parting, careful reminder, heavy and affectionate in the poem.
In addition to the above five themes, Tao Yuanming also has some works with philosophy as the main content, such as Shadow, Drinking Alone in the Rain and Quasi-Elegy, which can also be classified into this category. This kind of poetry can be regarded as metaphysical poetry, but it is different from the metaphysical poetry popular in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It is not "the purpose of the column is to return, but the painting garden is sparse" (Liu Xie's "Wen Xin Diao Long Timing"), but to refine the experience in life to the height of philosophy. Scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties paid attention to family status, and some of Tao's poems described clan relations or exhorted descendants, such as Life Son, Responsibility Son and Gift to Changsha Gong. It can be seen that Tao Yuanming still pays attention to family honor and family status.