Tao Yuanming

Life

Tao Yuanming, by Min Zhen,from 18th century China.

• Born in 365(CE) in Chaisang to a prominent southern noble family.

• Served many civil and military posts, but none of high position.
  • Last position was of county magistrate at Pengze (not far from hometown).

• During this period of service in a series of minor posts, Tao Yuanming's poems begin to indicate that he was becoming torn between ambition and a desire to retreat into solitude.

• One source states that Tao was the first Chinese poet to grapple with the justification of my decision to withdraw from office. [Nienhauser, 193]

• In 405 my sister died. This in addition with my disgust at the corruption and infighting of the Jin Court lead me to resign.

• I had become convinced that life was too short to compromise on my principles.
  • The last 22 years of my life I lived in retirement.

• I have a personal inclination towards a private life of leisure and spontaneity.

• Considered "Neo-Taoist".

Poetry

First, what is reclusion? Here is a great quote from Fredrick Mote:

"in Chinese society... [terms designating recluses] signified withdrawal from the active

public life in the service of society that Confucian ethics prescribed as the most suitable course for all whose abilities, cultivation, and learning qualified them for it. To bar one's gates and earn one's own living without reliance on the emolument of office, to display a lack of regard for the social status which could be attained only by entering officialdom, and to devote one's life to self-cultivation, scholarship or artistic pursuits

made one a recluse." [Swartz 79]

• I was not the first to write about reclusion. I had significant influence though: I transformed stock images and normal vocabulary into highly personalized poetry.
  • I alluded to the "here and now" any my particular circumstance rather then generic gentleman reclusion. This made my poems very autobiographical, but not in the normal objective sense. (Chang, Owens 222)
  • This made quite the impact, for future poems and fu's began to have short prefaces before them, also explaining the author's circumstance around the composition.(Chang, Owens 222)

• I also introduced many new topics in my poetry, such as: (Chang, Owens 222)
  • Begging
  • Moving
  • Encountering a fire
  • Harvesting dry rice

• I was also the first to introduce calendar dates in my extremely long poem titles, something which has become a common practice. (Chang, Owens 221)

• The Peach Blossom Spring
  • One of my very influential works.
  • Quick Summary: A fisherman stumbles upon a hidden utopia. Its citizens are unaware of the outside world, and are quite satisfied where they are.

References:

1. William H. Nienhauser, Jr. Reviewed work(s): Tao Yuanming and Manuscript Culture: The Record of a Dusty Table by Xiaofei Tian Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews Vol. 28, (Dec., 2006), pp. 191-195

2. Kang-i Sun Chang, Stephen Owen, eds., The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature 2 volume set (Hardcover), 1704 pages, Cambridge University Press; 1st ed. March 31, 2010.