Difference between revisions of "Tao Yuanming"
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== Life == | == Life == | ||
| + | [[File:330px-'Tao Yuanming', ink on paper scroll by Min Zhen, 18th century china.jpg|thumb|Tao Yuanming, by Min Zhen,from 18th century China.]] | ||
* Born in 365(CE) in Chaisang to a prominent southern noble family. | * Born in 365(CE) in Chaisang to a prominent southern noble family. | ||
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* Considered "Neo-Taoist". | * Considered "Neo-Taoist". | ||
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== Poetry == | == Poetry == | ||
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a lack of regard for the social status which could be attained only by entering | 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 | officialdom, and to devote one's life to self-cultivation, scholarship or artistic pursuits | ||
| − | made one a recluse."[Swartz 79]</blockquote> | + | made one a recluse." [Swartz 79]</blockquote> |
* 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 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. | ** 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. | ||
| − | + | ** 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. | |
| − | ** This made quite the impact, for future poems and fu's began to have short prefaces before them, | ||
Revision as of 22:57, 5 February 2012
Life
- 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.
- 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.