Why did Tao Yuanming retire? In the history of literature and culture, there are two phenomena worthy of attention: one is seclusion and the other is exile. They are often associated with words such as "spirit", "freedom" and "resistance", and at the same time they often present a poetic world of bamboo fences, moon flutes and bleak wind and sand. And many "necessities" and pains behind the two are mostly covered. This paper tries to take the reclusive poet Tao Yuanming (1) as an example to talk about "poetic seclusion". Tao Yuanming's seclusion is not only poetic and romantic, but also "necessary". It is necessary to explore Tao's political governance thought and its ideological basis. After Tao became a famous Tao Kan, he was deeply influenced by Confucianism. Qi said, "Judging from Tao's poems, he loves the Six Classics" (2), "Tao Yuanming's leading thought in his youth came from the Confucian classics at that time, which determined his political ideal and career, and even his ethics" (3). The following excerpts from Tao's poems are evidence: "The former teacher has a legacy, and he is not poor. It's hard to catch a glimpse of Miao, but you have to be diligent "("Two Poems by Gui Maochun ")" The legacy of the former teacher, more clouds fall. Ignorance at forty is nothing to fear! I am a famous car, and I am a famous horse. Although I am far away, I dare not come. " ("Mr. Murong") "It is rare for a teenager to swim the six classics well. Judging from Tao's time and living environment, his possible influence is complicated. But for Tao Yuanming, who lived in an underground position and had a hard life all his life, his experience was personal and solid. Therefore, Buddhism and Taoism are unlikely to affect his bones. Even his seclusion is not mainly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism like other literati, but mainly by the Confucian "a gentleman can be poor and enjoy Taoism". I don't like poetic seclusion, partly because this way of thinking ignores or weakens the influence of "material" factors such as economy and politics on people. Taking Tao Yuanming's official career as an example, Tao said in the preface to "Return" that "the storm is not smooth, and I am afraid of going far away. Peng Ze travels a hundred miles home, and the benefit of the commons is enough for wine, so I ask for it myself. "Visible tao is to make a living as an official. When Kuaiqinli analyzed the reasons for being in Hengxuan, he also said that he was "trying to replace agriculture with Lu" (4), but at the same time he pointed out that Tao was "deeply influenced by Feng * *, with political ideals and ambitions and achievements" (5). Later, Emperor Wu of Song served as an official, attaching "righteousness" to the east and also out of "abundance". This is obviously a natural logical process based on the above-mentioned Tao thought, so when Tao finally decided to live in seclusion for life, his mood was actually complicated and contradictory. " On the one hand, he got rid of the rule trap of Feng * * *, and felt very lucky and happy. ""On the other hand, he will give up his political rule for life and suffer from hunger and cold "(6). From this point of view, seclusion is not Tao's "voluntary", but "necessary" The reason why Tao became a hermit depends not only on his ideological opinions and moral qualities, but also on his historical era and social atmosphere "(7). It is precisely because of this that Mr. Lu Xun said "these eleven people who are determined to stay in the mountains" and "see Nanshan leisurely", adding: "Tao Qian is great because he is not" completely quiet "(8). Then, why is this forced seclusion elevated in later generations, becoming an outstanding gesture, becoming the home of literati, and even becoming a spiritual fortress? Before the analysis, the author wants to solve a logical problem: "Tao's seclusion is not a sufficient condition or factor to make him a great poet" (9). Tao's greatness is reflected in his seclusion, not "great because of seclusion", and it is precisely because he did not choose to retire from the beginning, but only showed greatness through difficult exploration. Moreover, "the poet himself does not value seclusion. He said,' It's not enough to live in a high place under a thatched roof', and he added,' How dare you look at a sage while diving?' "(10). The author thinks that the reason why later generations put forward his seclusion is because the phenomenon of" the darkness of the times and society "experienced by Tao appears repeatedly, and seclusion is obviously an excellent way out. That is, it is more practical and operable, leaving a back road between joining the WTO and being born. A cultivated and poetic seclusion can also cultivate the face and pride of literati. In fact, many people in later generations were regarded as "superior", "sage" and "real person" by this gesture, and even embarked on official careers. Compared with the isolation of Buddhism and Taoism, seclusion is still realistic and does not exclude many worldly pleasures. Compared with Ruan Ji's "Mr. Adult" style of "abandoning customs and going alone", seclusion is "the self-comfort that a poor scholar in cloth can seek in the face of reality" (1 1). "It is neither as unattainable as the metaphysical ideal of Mr. Adult, nor as mysterious and illusory as Buddhism, but it can achieve an aesthetic transcendence in the most ordinary daily life" (12). Freedom, peace and happiness are naturally appreciated by future generations. After studying Tao Yuanming's retirement, we can't help but mention the Peach Blossom Garden. It can be said that this is "the combination of realism and positive romanticism" (13), "it is closely related to Tao Yuanming's life ideal and aesthetic ideal, and its main significance is not to put forward a social or political ideal" (14). The long-term struggle of agricultural labor and life made Tao Yuanming gradually approach the peasants and understand them, thus imagining a peasant. People familiar with historical materialism can easily see the problems here, but Tao's value lies in that although his political governance thought is empty, anti-historical and retrogressive, he has gained a solid foundation from the working people, and he has a profound experience of the hardships of life, and after this experience, he has a cordial love for life, which makes him make an immortal contribution to the construction of human nature and even has a wonderful positive effect on politics. The author here has no intention to make a poetic cover-up for its limitations. He just thinks that as long as a person is "real" enough, he can grasp the internal contradictions of life and cannot be completely divorced from reality. Even if he takes a wrong road, he can still get good value. Lenin said that smart idealism is better than stupid materialism, which is the reason. The author believes that Tao Yuanming's "truth" is mainly reflected in two aspects: first, his love for nature; One is the sorrow of life. Liang Qichao once said when commenting on Tao Yuanming, "Nature is his loving companion and always smiles at him" (15). 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. The author tries to cite several cases as follows: "Dogs bark in deep alleys and chickens crow at the top of mulberry trees. There is no dust at home, and the virtual room is more idle. " ("Five Songs of Returning to the Native") "Beans are planted in Nanshan, and the grass is full of bean seedlings. In the morning, I will treat the waste and take Yuelian home. " (ditto) "When the sun shines into the room, it is dark and the salary is bright. Happy to bitter evening short, has returned to Tianxu "(ditto)" picking chrysanthemums under the hedge, leisurely see Nanshan. The mountains are getting better and better, and the birds are back. " ("Twenty Drinking Songs") "Qing songs spread new sounds, and green wine blooms; I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but Yu is already dead ("Man * * * visits cypress's grave next week"). On the sadness of life, Tao Yuanming is affectionate and unpretentious, such as "home to the hotel, I am like a guest;" what do you want to do? There is an old house in Nanshan ("Eight Miscellaneous Poems") is another example: "Relatives or worries, others have already sung. What's the way to die? "(Three Elegies) This profound sadness always reminds me of the great German poet Rilke. In order to avoid digression, I'll skip it here. Back to Mr. Lu Xun's sentence, "Tao Qian is great because he is not completely silent", and we cannot but be impressed by his profundity. We should realize that too poetic seclusion is not only a distortion of Tao (ignoring his hard exploration), but also a misleading study of later generations (weakening the enthusiasm for progress in reality), especially if we don't criticize Tao's thought of "eat, drink, and be merry" (although this is also his way of "relieving inner pain and avoiding disasters all over the body"), then it is likely to become an excuse for future generations to be closed-minded and unhappy. You know, although the later "Three Parks of Public Security" believed in Li Zhi's thoughts, they did a good job from beginning to end and could not let go of the music. People's "inertia" (especially in the ideological sense) is objective and stubborn, and any excuse is enough to keep this inertia going. Writing it down magnificently, I still don't know why "seclusion is poeticized", which may need to be explored from various aspects such as the psychology of the scribes, but I think I made some clumsy answers to "why seclusion should not be poeticized". If so, it is a little progress, remember that it is self-encouragement! Note: (1) Poems (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (9) (10) (13) written by Zhong Rong are respectively from the Literary Essays of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. (8) Two Essays on Jie Jie Pavilion and Essays on Six or Seven Untitled Essays are quoted from Volume II of History of Chinese Aesthetics edited by Li Zehou and Liu Gangji, China Social Sciences Press,1987,7. (11) (12) (14) comes from P389, P39 1 in the second volume of History of Chinese Aesthetics. (15) quoted from Kuaiqinli's Literary Essays of the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties.