Tao Yuanming was born in a ruined official family. Great-grandfather Tao Kan, the founding father of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, made outstanding military achievements. He was an official of Fu, the commander-in-chief of the military affairs of the eight countries, and Jing and Jiang were the secretariat of Changsha. Grandfather Tao Mao and father pottery have both done satrap.
Tao Yuanming's later evaluation
As a hermit in the troubled times at the end of the Jin Dynasty, it is conceivable that Tao Yuanming often interacted with Buddhism in Lushan Mountain in his later years, but their thoughts are not necessarily the same. Anyone who has carefully studied Tao's poems and knows the poet's life will know that Tao Yuanming is an atheist with a quiet appearance and a warm heart to help the world. When I was a teenager, I was ambitious, accepted Confucianism and hoped to make contributions. However, after being an official for a period of time, the reality disappointed him. He didn't want to go along with the people in power, so he chose a road to retire and return to the fields.
At this time he was influenced by Zhuangzi's philosophy. Because he lived an idyllic life that many scholars never had, and he personally participated in labor and had contact with working people, he inevitably got some new insights and inspirations in his thoughts. Therefore, when the Jin Dynasty advocated the old style of writing, he was able to create a new form of pastoral poetry with a unique style and made great contributions to the history of China's poetry development. He never forgot this world from his "ambition to escape from the four seas" in his youth to his "ambition to stay in the world" in his old age. His masterpiece "Peach Blossom Garden" handed down from generation to generation is precisely his vision for a society where everyone is self-reliant and friendly, without all kinds of troubles and poverty in reality. Even analyzing his seclusion and drinking in the background at that time contains the significance of expressing a certain degree of dissatisfaction and resistance to the dark rule at that time.
Of course, Tao Yuanming was, after all, a scholar-bureaucrat who lived in the feudal society more than a thousand years ago. There are many negative things in his thoughts and poems, such as living in poverty, eating, drinking and avoiding the world. However, due to his class preference, literary critics and poets of later generations pay more attention to appreciating and praising his characteristics in this respect, which is regarded as the essence of Tao's poetry.
Su Dongpo once commented on Tao Yuanming: "If you want to be an official, you will be an official, not disrespectful; If you want to be hidden, you will be hidden instead of looking for it. When you are hungry, you will buckle the door and beg for food; When you are full, welcome guests with chicken and millet. Ancient and modern sages are precious. " People attach importance to truth, so does poetry, which comes from people's truth, which is the main reason why Tao poetry has enduring charm.
In the words of Lu Xun, "Tao Qian is great because he is not completely silent."
Liang Qichao once said when evaluating Tao Yuanming, "Nature is his loving companion and always smiles at him". As he said, Tao opened a channel between nature and philosophy, and reached a reconciliation between the suffering of life and the purport of nature. Even the most common rural life scene shows an infinite and meaningful beauty in his works.
[Edit this paragraph] Appreciation of Tao Yuanming's poetry and prose
1. Drinking poems
Tao Yuanming is the first poet in the history of China literature who wrote a large number of drinking poems. The 20 songs he "drank" were all "intoxicating" or accused the right and wrong of being reversed, discrediting the same upper class; Or expose the decadent darkness of the world; Or reflect the sinister occupation; Or express the joy of the poet after he quit the officialdom; Or express the poet's grievances in difficulties. Judging from the interest and style of the poem, it may not be a work of the same period. In the second year of Yuanxi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (420), Emperor Wu of Song abolished Gong Jin as the king of Lingling, killed him the following year, and established the Liu and Song Dynasties. Narrating wine records the process of usurping power in a subtle and tortuous way by metaphor. He expressed infinite sorrow for the downfall of Emperor Jin Gong and the Jin Dynasty. At this time, Tao Yuanming had lived in seclusion for many years and was used to troubled times and usurping power. But this poem still reveals his unforgettable human spirit.
2. Poetry
Represented by 12 miscellaneous poems and 13 reading Shan Hai Jing. 12' s miscellaneous poems mostly show their political depression after retirement, and express their noble personality of not drifting with the tide. It can be seen that the poet's heart is infinitely deep and broad. 13 in Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas expresses the same content by reciting the wonders in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. For example, the poem 10, by praising Jing Wei and Xing Tian's "fierce ambition is always there", expresses and shows that their ambition to help the world will never die.
3. pastoral poetry
Tao Yuanming has the largest number of pastoral poems and the highest achievements. This kind of poetry fully shows the poet's lofty interest in disdaining fame and fortune and his noble integrity in keeping his ambition; It fully shows the poet's extreme hatred and complete break with the dark officialdom; It fully shows the poet's love for simple pastoral life, his understanding of labor and his friendly feelings for working people. It fully shows the poet's pursuit and yearning for the ideal world. As a scholar-bureaucrat, such thoughts, feelings and contents are unprecedented in the history of literature, especially in a society with strict gate system and concept. Some of Tao Yuanming's pastoral poems also reflect his predicament in his later years, which can help us indirectly understand the miserable life of the peasant class at that time. Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden was written in the early Song Dynasty. It depicts a utopian ideal society. It shows the poet's complete denial of the existing social system and infinite admiration for the ideal world. It marks that Tao Yuanming's thought has reached a new height. Tao Yuanming is the pioneer of pastoral poetry. With its simple and natural language and lofty artistic conception, it opened up a new world for China's poetry circle and directly influenced the pastoral poetry school in Tang Dynasty. In his pastoral poems, his boredom with dirty reality and his love for quiet pastoral life can be seen everywhere. In Returning to the Garden, he described officialdom as a "dust net", compared being in it to "catching birds" and "pond fish", and compared retiring from the countryside to rushing out of the cage and returning to nature. Because of his actual labor experience, his poems are full of the joy of laborers, showing the thoughts and feelings that only laborers can feel. For example, the third poem "Returning to the Garden" is a powerful proof that this is the progress of his pastoral poetry.
The word "coming home" is a heroic declaration of resignation and returning home. Tao Yuanming sees through life with poetic insight and touches the scenery with beautiful flowers. By reappearing the unfettered rural life and describing the natural scenery, he showed the poet's romantic feelings of advocating nature and pursuing freedom, and also reflected the poet's detached attitude of hating officialdom and staying away from the secular. When people talk about "Hui Xi Ci", they are used to praising Tao Yuanming's pastoral pleasure and seclusion, while ignoring the sadness of life hidden between the lines. When studying the text, I found an interesting phenomenon, that is, when the poet expresses joy and joy, he always uses some words that are easy to remind people of his sour heart and hidden pain intentionally or unintentionally, and tries to figure out and taste the deep connotation of these words. I think "Back to Xi Ci" is also a sad song that reveals hidden pain and stretches depression in a sense. The following is a brief analysis based on the content of the article. I feel that "the past cannot be remonstrated" and "those who come can still be chased"; I feel that "the road is not far" and "today is not yesterday", so I decided to abandon my official position and return to the field. in this
"Come home to Xi Ci" is a song of the soul, full of loneliness, anger, sadness and joy. It has the poet's self-sufficiency and self-protection, as well as the sorrow that time is fleeting and life is short. There is the freedom of surging waves and floating freely in the world, and there is also the regret and pain of strayed into officialdom's distorted mind; There are family reunions, serenity and indifference accompanied by piano books, depression and loneliness in which the world lacks bosom friends and the heart is indistinguishable ... In short, as Gong Zizhen, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, said, "I don't believe that poets are dull, and Fu Liang is coquettish" (Ji Hai's miscellaneous poems). When I was reading Wen Tao, I was immersed in the mountains and rivers, and I couldn't ignore the poet's hidden pain.