Appreciation of Tao Yuanming's Answering Poems "Youlan"

This poem was written by the author at the age of 53. Orchids, which should have grown in secluded places, grow in the yard, containing rich directions, waiting for the arrival of the breeze. When the breeze blows gently, orchids give off bursts of fragrance, which can be immediately distinguished from weeds such as Xiao Ai. If you go straight ahead, you will lose the old road, and the road ahead may only be accessible by following the natural road. I realized I should go back. Without non-birds, good bows and arrows are useless. Metaphor has become a major event, and the hero is useless and can be disposed of. This poem uses orchids to compare people's noble character. A gentleman should maintain noble moral integrity like an orchid, which shows the noble character of a poet who does not go with the flow and is not contaminated by dark dirt. The second half of this poem is purely reasoning, but it has "the interest of reasoning" instead of "the obstacle of reasoning". What Tao Yuanming said is that we should retire from the dark officialdom and live in seclusion in the countryside. It makes the meaning of the first four sentences more vivid and deeper. Therefore, Wang Fuzhi praised this poem as "true poem" in "Selected Ancient Poems", and "a poem of reasoning must be so as to be worthy of the author".