Yes, we will all be moved by the environmental artistic conception and artistic conception described in this poem. As a well-known sentence, it is indeed the fusion of subjective spirit and objective environment after the great poet Tao Yuanming retired, and it contains the true meaning of life.
So, what influence does Tao Yuanming's hermit thought have on later generations? I think, first of all, we should understand and analyze Tao Yuanming.
Tao Yuanming (365 ~ 427) was a poet, lyricist and essayist in Jin and Song Dynasties. A latent and vivid figure, a private and quiet festival. Xunyang Chaisang (now southwest of Jiujiang, Jiangxi) was born. Tao Yuanming was born in a declining official family. Great-grandfather Tao Kan was the founding father of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. With the military affairs commander of Bazhou and the secretariat of Jingjiang II as the official, Changsha was made the county magistrate. Tao Yuanming's grandfather was a satrap, his father died young, and his mother was the daughter of Meng Jia, a famous person in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Tao Yuanming's life can be roughly divided into three periods. In the first period, Tao Yuanming was 28 years old in the seventeenth year of Taiyuan (392). He has been living in poverty since he was a teenager because of his father's early death. The second period was an official study, from the age of 29 in the eighteenth year of Taiyuan to the age of 465,438+0 in the first year of Emperor Yi Xi of Jin 'an. The third period, from the second year of Emperor Yi of Jin 'an (406) to the fourth year of Yuanjia (427), is the period of returning to the fields. More than 20 years after back in the game was the most abundant period of his creation. Tao Yuanming's poems 125, including 9 four-character poems and 6 five-character poems11. His four-character poem is not very good. His five-character poems can be roughly divided into two categories; One is the poetry that inherits and develops the lyric tradition since the Han and Wei Dynasties, and the other is the pastoral poetry with few precedents. The artistic achievements of Tao's poetry have been respected since the Tang Dynasty, and even regarded as "the fundamental principle of poetry". Why did Tao Yuanming begin to be admired in the Tang Dynasty? It is because his plain and natural style is not in tune with the gorgeous style advocated at that time. At that time, Tao Yuanming was only known as a hermit, and his literary creation was not highly praised. Xiao Tong was the first person to discover the literary value of Tao Yuanming, and praised his personality and literature. It was not until the Song Dynasty, especially after the promotion of Su Shi and Zhu, and the interpretation of his works, that Tao Yuanming truly established his lofty position in the history of literature, and has maintained it to this day, gaining world reputation.
From this point of view, Tao Yuanming's influence on later generations is enormous, and he has an unshakable position in the history of China literature, so that his thoughts have even become the spiritual pillar and destination of later literati. Throughout history, many literati often return to Tao Yuanming when they are frustrated in their official career or tired of officialdom, looking for new life values from him and comforting themselves. Bai Juyi, Su Shi, Lu You and Xin Qiji. Therefore, not bending over five buckets of rice has become a fortress to protect their freedom in their spiritual world and a reason to choose the source. Often they want to return to art after their success, and plain nature has become a lofty artistic position in their minds.
Tao Yuanming himself fully explained this point. Tao Yuanming often said that he had to be an official for a living because of his poor family. This is true, but it cannot be ruled out that ordinary scholars have the motivation to make contributions. His mood is ambivalent. On the one hand, he feels that the time has come and hopes to make a difference. On the other hand, he is attached to rural life. He constantly chooses between the two social roles of bureaucrat and hermit. He wants to be an official in seclusion. When he becomes an official, he should retire and set himself up as a contradiction. Even though he made up his mind to live in seclusion and live a hard life in seclusion, his mood was still not calm and he followed his poem: "If the sun and the moon abandon people, the loss will outweigh the gain." I am sad to read this, but I can't be quiet in the end. "It's obvious. In his poems, he described the happiness of seclusion many times and expressed his determination to live in seclusion, such as "enjoy this drink and you can't drive it back" and "I have got my place, and I will not violate it for a thousand years" This is of course his true feelings, but it is also a way of his firm determination.
He didn't have a chance to be an official again in the later period, but refused. From the literary point of view, Tao Yuanming is really lofty and noble, free and easy, simple and kind in Geng Jie. His philosophical thinking on life, together with his works, built a "nest" and spiritual home for later literati. On the one hand, it can shield their hypocrisy and ugliness, on the other hand, it can also allow them to rest and escape. Their strong sense of identity with Tao Yuanming makes Tao Yuanming a never-boring topic.
Of course, Tao Yuanming's two main conclusions from thinking about life, that is, being poor and happy and advocating nature, are not only the two pillars of his life, but also the pillars of literati who admire him in later generations.
Tao Yuanming's code of conduct is "living and working in peace and contentment". His so-called "Tao" emphasizes personal integrity and embodies Confucianism. He especially praised Yan Hui, Qian Lou, Yuan An, Rong Qiqi and other poor people who lived in peace and happiness. They should try their best to keep the purity of moral integrity like them, and never defile themselves in pursuit of high office and high salary. He doesn't generally despise being an official, but refuses to follow the crowd. He hopes to make contributions and retire after his success, just as Shuguang said to Shu Shou, "Being satisfied is not humiliating, being content is not dangerous." He also considered the problems of the rich and the poor. There is often a contradiction between poverty and seeking wealth in his mind, but he can achieve a balance through "Tao": "The rich and the poor often fight, and Tao wins without shame." And those ancient sages who lived a poor and happy life became his role models: "Why comfort me? I rely on the ancients as sages. " In his later years, he was so poor that he starved to death, but he did not lose his code of conduct.
Advocating nature is Tao Yuanming's deeper philosophical thinking on life. The word "nature" does not appear in the Analects of Confucius and Mencius, and it is a unique category of Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy. The so-called "nature" of Laozi and Zhuangzi is different from the objective material "nature" of human society in modern times. It is a state, not man-made, as it is, naturally. Everything in the world exists as it is and changes according to its own internal laws, without any external conditions and forces. People should conform to the state and changes of nature, be simple and contain truth. Tao Yuanming hopes to return to and keep his original, unadorned and naive temperament. The so-called "natural nature, non-corrected income" (the preface to return and come) shows that a person's nature is so natural that he can't stand the bondage of rope and ink. The so-called "returning to nature in a cage for a long time" expresses the joy of returning to nature and being free. In "Shadow God", he let "God" distinguish nature to explain the suffering of "shape" and "shadow". "Form" refers to people's desire for longevity, "shadow" refers to people's desire for goodness and fame, and "God" uses natural meaning to resolve their distress. Form, shadow and spirit also represent three aspects of Tao Yuanming's own contradiction, and their dialogue reflects the conflict and harmony of his life. Tao Yuanming's thought of advocating nature and the thought of hue and nourishment derived from it have formed a relatively complete and consistent philosophical system.
In a word, Tao Yuanming's thought can be summarized as: to return to a "true self" by eliminating the acquired "false self" influenced by the secular world. Tao Yuanming saw the decay of society, but he had no power to change it, so he had to pursue his own moral perfection. He saw the social crisis, but couldn't find the right way to save it, so he had to turn to the return of human nature. This may be partly realized by himself, especially in the poetic realm he created, but it is ineffective as a prescription for treating society.
Then, it is unclear whether Tao Yuanming, who has made brilliant achievements in the field of art, praised and achieved this belatedness. However, while I respect and like his literature and art, I regard his lifestyle as a passive seclusion. Is this a big mistake? It is also unknown. Of course, no one should have a primitive ideal of seclusion. Being alive is a complicated contradiction.
Seclusion should be an art, not a goal in life.