Chinese Literature: Poet Tao Yuanmings Philosophy About His Poetic Style And Lifestyle - Essay Example

____________ ID: _________ ID: _________ Chinese Literature: Poet Tao Yuanming's philosophy about his poetic style and lifestyle Tao Yuanming also known as Tao Qian excelled at living rural life and writing poetic literature. As he was very much influenced by the Chinese literature and art, he enjoyed staying rural far better than urban lifestyle. It is because of this rural and pastoral life, his poetical work shows his mental contentment and commitment with life. The proof is the way of life he selected after his retirement, which was purely pastoral in nature. As he was to a great extent inspired by the Chinese traditions and culture, he realized the importance of eating and drinking which is considered to be the main source of emerging creativity along with imagination and artistic pleasure. As a matter of fact eating and drinking are so much considered to be the part and parcel of Chinese norms that it is hard to believe the concept of 'Chinese art' without them. "Farming, drinking and artistic creations are mutually enhancing and inspiring in their common pursuit of beauty. While exemplifying the holistic values of Chinese norms and culture, the aestheticization of eating and drinking contributes to finer, richer gastronomic experiences. It was after the Tao period that investigation was conducted into this phenomenon which opened a window to understand the development of Chinese gastronomy, thus shedding cross-cultural light on the study of contemporary gastronomy." (2006a) Tao Yuanming possessed a unique philosophical way of living, thinking and writing in a poetical manner due to which he was used to make wiser justifications each time he intended to write. His poetical work is often found as leaded by the narrative voice, which introduces the reader to a certain spot on the moral map in which he combines the beauty of nature and balance of climate with harmony in human society. And Yuanming's writings are the proof of his guaranteed satisfaction. Tao's poems were typically autobiographical. Having renounced the conventional ladder of success through an official career, he often affirmed instead the purer existence of rural life and literary creativity. "With the inevitable glass of wine in hand, Tao composed a cycle of thirteen poems, "On Reading the Guideways through Mountains and Seas" (Du shanhaijing shisanshou), which he began by announcing his pleasure at perusing the illustrations of the strange creatures. His use of the expression liuguan (to randomly contemplate) to describe his process of reading suggests a more constituitive art of visualization similar to others of his time who employed a meditative attitude when viewing landscape paintings to engage in "spiritual wandering"." (Strassberg, 2002, p. 18) Tao's poems acquired a sense of unique milieu and revealed three principal responses. Some figures are vehicles for expressing his political frustrations and criticisms. Others are envied for dwelling in utopian environments, and still others are considered tragic characters evoking commiseration. When it comes to justify Tao Yuanming's life of 'farming and drinking', one thing is for sure that in "traditional Chinese culture, eating often goes hand in hand with drinking. Wine and tea are the two drinks that have been synthesized with, and received the most attention in, Chinese literature and art. Wine plays the paradoxical role of intoxicator and facilitator of artistic imagination" (2006a), such imagination that awakens the poet and takes him to a new and exciting world of 'artistic creativity', which allows drinkers to reach at their optimum creative moments. For many Chinese scholars to be intoxicated is to be inspired; wine is their Muse. Wine serves occasions of leisure and pleasure as well as moments of boredom, loneliness, melancholy, nostalgia, and sorrow. Furthermore, because of Tao Yuanming's great devotion to the Chinese art and literature, it is often said that wine serves as the key for reaching the 'Tao' or immortality. It is said that Tao Yuanming is "one of the most illustrious drinker-recluse-poets in Chinese culture, who was responsible for setting the fashion of thematizing the wine-induced Taoist mood and spiritual realm of farming which the drinker entered. His poem "Drinking Wine: The Fifth" reveals an epiphanic mindset of the poet under the vinous influence, which is generally considered among Chinese poets the ultimate aesthetic state of wine drinking as well as of poetry making. In his poem "Drinking Wine: The Fourteenth," Tao Yuanming relishes a moment of inebriation when he and his friends became oblivious of self and the value of the material world. As he concludes, "Others are lost in fame and fortune;/ Yet for us there is a deep taste in wine". What he means by "a deep taste in wine" actually refers to his spiritual transformation of becoming one with nature. In this sense, Tao Yuanming's aesthetic of wine drinking may be expressed as in vino natura." (2006a) It is important to note that in investigating the construction of a modern textual ideology, if we consider making use of all kinds of texts, including some that other scholars may ignore or even find offensive we would find out that literary poet who has no inkling of reality for the true peasant or farmer and who romanticizes farm life, have utilized the criticisms of leftist theorists who are using Tao as a negative example. When Tao Yuanming was fifty-six years old, he wrote a short autobiography named, Wuliu xiansheng zhuan: "No one knows where he comes from, or is clear about his name. Next to his dwelling are five willow trees, from which he gets his nickname. He is quiet and seldom speaks, and does not envy glory or profit. He loves to read, but does not seek deep understanding; whenever he comprehends meaning, he is so happy he forgets to eat. It is his nature to like wine, but his family is poor and he cannot often obtain it. His relatives and friends long since knew of this, so they sometimes prepare wine and have him over. Together they finish the wine, and eventually he will surely be drunk; when drunk, he retires, but no one ever takes offence if he leaves or stays. The surrounding walls (of his house) are broken down, and do not provide shelter from the wind and sun. His short cloth jacket is worn and patched, his baskets and gourds always empty. But his life is peaceful." (Larson, 1991, p. 19) Davis also notes that 'this piece is almost completely unoriginal, being a pastiche of quotations or near quotations from the corpus of literature of hermitage, which by Tao's time was considerable', pointing out the literary referentiality of the piece and its implicit opposition against the textual self-creation of a writer-official whose social position is secure or who wishes to secure it through reference to social orthodoxy. However, although Davis mentions that the character appraisal at the end to some extent gives the autobiography the form of biography, in terms of referents, the text is remarkably distinct. Thus Davis implies either that Tao Yuanming is consciously constructing an alternative to the employed writer-official or that in scholarship Tao and his work have come to represent an alternative life-style, work ethic, and social or political orientation. This viewpoint is supported by Xiao Wangqing, who claims that most critics have regarded Tao as an enlightened recluse who loves to read, especially 'heterodox books,' and that Tao has become a positive alternative to the official that most scholars looked forward to becoming. Another modern critic, Guo Bogong, places Tao and his work in direct opposition to 'government official,' not only in the influence of future criticism, but in Tao's mentality itself: "From the viewpoint of the ordinary person, becoming an official naturally is a glorious thing. But he thought it was despicable, so after he left his post, he forever cut relations with politics. Life as a farmer was very harsh, but he still had leisure time to go sightseeing at Lu Mountain." (Larson, 1991, p. 26) In his reference to wine, which Tao Yuanming likes even though poverty keeps him from frequent indulgence, the author begins the construction of an alternate aesthetics and ideology, which will take the place of the orthodox constitution of a scholar-official in his self-definition. Poverty and a simple life-style are alluded to again in his reference to his broken down house, his worn-out clothing, and his empty food baskets. The only instance in the autobiography that shows him in social interaction with other people is when he drinks with them; even so, he often retires without anyone taking notice. Once again, he stresses his affinity for literature and writing and then ends his text with an allusion. It is through this opposing, suppressing set of alternative references that the impressionistic autobiography creates a totally unique textual identity. This text is a crafting of the self through its relation to a code, which implies essentially literary as opposed to social and historical phenomena, and a denial of any position in the material world, which consists of history, status, and official position. Thus although the language is and must be referential, the object of reference is the set of qualities appropriate to a disengaged literati. Poetry, wine, poverty, and self-indulgence are the characteristic elements of the myth in which Tao Yuanming has participated and the existence of which he perpetuated. Poverty is one of the most basic factors, for it lessens the likelihood of status in the official world. Poetic literature is an integral constituent, yet its significance as a segment of the literary code lies in the author's interpretation of literature as a means of personal gratification and delight as opposed to literature's position as a social phenomenon delineating status or historical progression. The works of Tao Yuanming were not as much appreciated during his time as they came to be later during the Tang and Song dynasties. Very little of his poetry was included in the literary anthology Wenxuan (An anthology of selected writings), and in Shipin (Poetry rating) his work was rated as average (zhongpin). He was not even mentioned in Wenxin diaolong (The literary mind and the carving of dragons). Criticism of Tao Yuanming contains complaints that he refers too frequently to wine and its pleasures and that he takes an attitude that detaches him from others and sets him above them. Tao was and still is called a 'poet of fields and gardens' who had no connection to reality. As a matter of fact as far as Tao Yuanming's poetical work in the era of his farming life is concerned, I am deeply moved by the spirit he possessed for a simple and effective life and the main reason for his contentment lies in simple joys and pleasures which he used to achieve while writing. No doubt, he lived a simple and healthy life, which cause him to write in an elegant and efficient manner. Work Cited 2006a, Eating and Drinking, Accessible from < www.csupomona.edu/jis/2003/Pan.pdf > Strassberg E. Richard, 2002. "A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas": University of California Press. Place of Publication: Berkeley, CA. Larson Wendy, 1991. "Literary Authority and the Modern Chinese Writer: Ambivalence and Autobiography": Duke University Press. Place of Publication: Durham, NC. Read More