Since the relationship between man and nature is so complex and subtle that it even attracts writers, it has become an inexhaustible theme in all literary works in the East and the West, because it always urges people to explore the ideals that human beings cannot achieve in the real world. There is no doubt that when nature is at its best, it must be an ideal home for human beings, especially when people face drastic changes and ethnic conflicts. At this time, they can't help but show nostalgia, and often try to find something better and more idealistic than the real world in nature. Therefore, in this respect, nature shows its superiority to the real world, although such nature is obviously artificially constructed and idealized. However, due to the different cultural traditions and philosophical backgrounds of the East and the West, as well as the writers' own philosophy of life and worldview, such a relationship has been expressed differently by different writers. I only give an example of China's classical literature that people often discuss.
Almost all people who are familiar with the history of China literature know that China poet Tao Yuanming wrote his immortal masterpieces Peach Blossom Garden and Poems after he retired more than 1500 years ago. As a poet who is good at depicting natural landscapes, Tao Yuanming has a deep love for nature, and sometimes this love even shows a tendency to return to nature in his works. Obviously, he was deeply influenced by China's Taoist philosophy, especially the so-called "small country and few people" and "old age and death". This masterpiece reveals the poet's thoughts in many places. Since the publication of Peach Blossom Garden, scholars at home and abroad have been discussing, analyzing and even arguing with other poets' works describing nature, because Tao Yuanming's bold prediction and even construction of an ideal home far away from the hubbub have given people great temptation. Some people even think that this is an excellent example of China's works predicting utopia, because the writing age of this work is much earlier than Thomas More's construction of utopia ideal. In many ways, it is very different from utopia, but to some extent, it can be regarded as the text predicted by orientals in the early utopia. When the western sinologist James Heithal published his English version in 1970s, this work finally attracted more and more attention from western and Japanese scholars. Although they live in a post-industrial and post-modern society with rich material civilization, they yearn for the quiet and elegant pastoral living environment built by Tao Yuanming. [3] Therefore, this work can be interpreted as a fable that is constantly read and constructed by eastern and western readers. Whenever people suffer from natural disasters or other man-made devastating losses, such as wars, ethnic conflicts or other forms of unrest. They can't help but think of Tao Yuanming's ideal home for us: on the one hand, they are tired of the chaotic world; On the other hand, as far as the poet Tao Yuanming is concerned, he actually created an ideal home for people, where there are no violent conflicts and quarrels; Everything is so quiet, beautiful and natural; Everyone behaves appropriately, appears polite, and never hurts others; There has never been a hierarchy, no rulers and subjects, and it is the same outside the village. It is in this place that the ideal of "Utopia * * productism" can be realized. Obviously, from the perspective of historical materialism, it is impossible for such a fantasy story to exist in the world, although it may have happened in people's imagined world a long time ago, even in literary works. As we all know, history can't be repeated. The reappearance of history can only be realized in the allegorical sense, or more precisely, in literary works, because it is there that the author's hatred for the world and love for nature can be perfectly reflected. But why should we read Tao Yuanming's works now and try to make a new explanation? In my opinion, this work is closely related to today's reality. People living in today's times are always dissatisfied with reality. They always explore the ideal place in various ways. Therefore, if we try to find the meaning of this work in a dynamic way, we can easily find that its meaning is embodied in this point: on the one hand, people have done a lot of work and made great efforts to make nature better, but on the other hand, this is an insurmountable paradox that human beings are facing at present. What people can do is to construct various forms of natural images in literary works and make nature more beautiful in their own way and will. Although all people, whether orientals or westerners, love nature, they still treat nature in different ways. Therefore, we have different expressions about the relationship between man and nature in different literary works. This difference is especially reflected in the eastern and western literary works with great cultural differences.
Scholars who study comparative literature between the East and the West often like to compare Tao Yuanming with william wordsworth, an English "lake poet" in the19th century, because the latter also likes to depict nature or natural landscapes in his works. It is easy for them to regard these two poets as the best examples of two different attitudes towards nature. Of course, this difference is mainly caused by different political positions, cultural backgrounds and literary traditions. It is true that if we read these two works carefully from a comparative perspective, or if we textualize the two poets, then we can find out the main similarities and differences between China literature and western literature by analyzing these two cases: Tao Yuanming was a natural poet in ancient China, who voluntarily retired to the countryside to "stay away from the hubbub" and was deeply influenced by Taoist philosophy, so the view of nature shown in his works is the unity of man and nature. /kloc-Wordsworth, an English romantic poet in the 0 ~ (th) century, expressed nostalgia in his works from time to time out of disappointment with the French Revolution and disillusionment with the social reality at that time, and he also yearned for returning to nature. Obviously, these two poets are regarded as natural poets. They are famous for eulogizing nature and pinning their love for nature in their works. However, due to different cultural backgrounds, knowledge traditions and expressions, they show different attitudes towards nature in their works.
As we have read before, Tao Yuanming's expression of nature is more allegorical than realistic. He tried to keep a distance between nature and reality, so that his ideal home, Peach Blossom Garden, would have permanent beauty. So with the passage of time, Peach Blossom Garden has become more and more attractive to the ancients and modern people. People from different countries try to dig out the contemporary significance from this classic text. Since we live in an era that is far more progressive and advanced than the Peach Blossom Garden in Tao Yuanming's era, we have modern science and technology to make our life and work very convenient, and we can create any miracle on earth that our ancients even dared not dream of. However, as modern people at the turn of the century, why do we dream of utopia from time to time? Indeed, people always have a sense of nostalgia, especially when it is difficult to realize their ideals in the real world, and its manifestations are often reflected in literary works.
From the perspective of reception aesthetics, I think readers of every era can make a new interpretation of Peach Blossom Spring from different angles according to their own life and reading experience. So here, based on our reference to reality when reading this passage carefully, we can rediscover the practical significance of this ideal home. In fact, it has played a role in reversing the unsatisfactory reality with an idealized rose dream, but the dream is a dream after all, and the dream can never become a reality. Therefore, the significance of Peach Blossom Garden lies not only in Tao Yuanming's own utopia construction, but also in his prediction of the ideal home of contemporary people to a greater extent. People living in today's unstable world full of environmental pollution caused by industrialization can't help but feel nostalgic, which is manifested in trying to build all kinds of utopian ideal homes, although in most cases their efforts are doomed to fail. In the field of classical literature research in China, many China scholars think that Tao Yuanming's creation of Peach Blossom Garden more or less expresses his negative attitude towards the world and life, or realizes his escape from reality by returning to nature, or embodies his attitude of seeing through the world of mortals with unsatisfactory reality. But in today's world, especially after the conflict between East and West, cultural differences will play a role to a great extent. Therefore, it will be more meaningful to reread Tao Yuanming's poems and the story of Peach Blossom Garden, although we don't believe his absurd description. It is undoubtedly very rare to have an ideal home like Taohuayuan in our literary works, because there is no conflict and contradiction between man and nature, no noisy city life and no industrial pollution. Here, we have really reached an ideal state, and the relationship between man and nature has reached a perfect harmony, so that nature has become an ideal illusion that people will always be fascinated. Only in nature can human beings achieve their lofty goals and sublimate themselves to perfection. The relationship between man and nature is shown in its ideal way: harmony is almost an organic whole. Obviously, this is an unreachable utopia for us living on the earth, but it is essential for people to seek such an impossible ideal home in literary works, because literary works give people great imagination.
Perhaps from the perspective of Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden, a Chinese utopian ideal, we can easily find a basic philosophy of China's life, that is, the harmonious but different relationship between man and nature. As far as the respective characteristics of Chinese and western cultures are concerned, differences obviously exist, but this does not mean that differences do not have to appear in the form of opposites. Sometimes, as long as they are handled properly and coordinated, harmony can still be achieved, that is, their respective characteristics can be preserved on the basis of harmony. In Tao Yuanming's eyes, the reality is far from satisfactory, but he doesn't want to change the ugly reality with any violence or other forms of fierce revolution, so what he wants to build can only be something far away from the hubbub, and he tries to find something different from the reality but doesn't want to replace it. If we extend it to the study of comparative literature and culture between China and the West, we can find a temporary solution to the differences in cultural traditions and values between China and the West. There is no need for these two cultures to overwhelm each other, because differences will always exist, but there is no need to form an antagonistic relationship. Obviously, it is impossible to find everything that is similar. If we blindly converge, we will lose our cultural and national characteristics. China culture should and can coexist harmoniously with western culture, and China culture can also have a multi-level dialogue with western culture. In this sense, conflicts will gradually be replaced by harmonious relations rather than violent opposition, and the cultural characteristics of both sides can be preserved to varying degrees. In this respect, Tao Yuanming has set a good example for us, that is, at any time, human beings should have their own ideals and work hard to achieve this goal. If we can't realize our ideals in the real world, it is possible for people to construct an unforgettable past in literary works. Perhaps it is precisely because of his tendency to return to nature and the past that Tao Yuanming was criticized by many scholars as escaping from social reality, which is not surprising.
If Tao Yuanming's attitude towards nature is a Taoist philosophy indifferent to human upheaval and social reality, then we should point out that Wordsworth's return to nature is somewhat different. He fled social reality because he was afraid of the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution. He once supported the revolution with great enthusiasm, but later he changed his mind after watching many people being killed innocently. As he described in some of his works, his disappointment with the French Revolution led him to the brink of emotional collapse. When he was "troubled by these contradictions", he even "had some moral problems in despair". He suffered intense emotional torture and almost had a nervous breakdown, but later he parted ways with his past in order to "establish another form of communication with his true self." These complex and subtle emotional experiences are hidden in many of his excellent poems. Obviously, as a romantic poet immersed in the memories of the past, Wordsworth expressed it this way: "In a calm gathering of emotions," he was always troubled by an experience that was hard to get rid of and harmonious with nature, and this experience was exactly what he cherished and loved. Some natural objects or landscapes in front of him suddenly highlight his innocent childhood experience, which makes him fall into love and yearning for the past, so in many of his poems, the poet can't help but think of these haunting past events. For a writer with a strong sense of social responsibility like him, he has to respond positively or negatively to nature and reality: the former is obviously better than the latter, and he adopts the attitude of the latter. Therefore, in many of his nature poems, he can't help but express his sadness by describing the power of nature. In his view, there is naturally no need to live in harmony with people or reality. The reason why he likes to use the most commonly used spoken words to express complex meanings is to show his recognition of nature, and it is in this recognition relationship that he can pin his hopes. In Wordsworth's view, the relationship between man and nature is equally perfect, but at the cost of seeing the present reality as an enemy, there is no happiness at all. The poet wrote in his poem "Poems written a few miles above t inter abbey when modifying the banks of the Wye River during a trip":
At this moment, the half-extinguished fire of missing is flashing.
Many past events are gradually disappearing,
It seems bleak,
Image reproduction in the brain;
At this moment, I not only have
The happiness of the moment, and comforting memories.
This moment is full of energy and more promising.
Spiritual food. I dare to hope.
Although times have changed, at the beginning I
The scene when I came to the mountains; Like a deer
I ran and jumped over the mountains and across the abyss.
Rivers and lonely streams,
Whenever nature-more like man-is guided.
Fly over what he's afraid of, not
It's like looking for something you love. Nature at that time
The game I played when I was a kid,
All the animals jumping around disappeared.
This is what I saw. ..... I can describe it.
The scene at that time. The sound of waterfalls
Like a fiery passion haunting me; That tall rock,
Mountain peaks, unfathomable Woods,
Their colors and shapes are the same as before.
Stimulate my desire; Emotional love,
Don't need more distant charm, through thought.
Without any interest and vision, you can only get ideas.
The past is gone, and all the great joys no longer appear.
All the great ecstasy ... [4]
Obviously, in the above description, Wordsworth's yearning and even recognition of nature is beyond words. His tendency to escape from social reality and return to nature is not out of his own will, although he really loves nature so much that he even tries to equate himself with nature in the above poems and other poems. But as abrams summed up, "the most important criterion for Wordsworth to measure the value of poetry is' nature'. What he said about nature has three original meanings: nature is the lowest common denominator of human nature; People born in nature (that is, in the primitive cultural environment, especially in the rural environment) are the most credible; It mainly includes simple thoughts and feelings, as well as natural and unpretentious ways to express feelings in words. [5] Therefore, he firmly believes that all excellent poems are the "spontaneous expression" of the poet's true feelings. Without this premise, it cannot be regarded as excellent poetry. In this way, it is not surprising that his attitude towards nature is different from that of Tao Yuanming. He always wants to express his disillusionment with reality in the memory of the golden age of the past history, instead of pinning his hopes on the future like other romantic poets (especially Shelley). But through this comparison, we can still find a similarity: the past can't be reproduced in the present, but can only stay in people's memories and dreams. In the story told by Tao Yuanming, when fishermen and others failed to find the Peach Blossom Garden, no one was interested in finding this illusion, but it haunted the poet's memory from time to time. The same is true of literary creation. When a writer loses his creative inspiration in an instant, it is difficult to reproduce it. Another important reason why Tao Yuanming and Wordsworth's eulogy of nature still attracts contemporary readers is their appeal for literary imagination, which is just lacking in today's literature, so it is often pale and powerless, and it is difficult to achieve shocking results.
As a researcher of comparative literature, I compare the nature depicted in Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden and Wordsworth's poems by the method of parallel research. Here, I would like to draw readers' attention to an important phenomenon that appears in the present era: in developed countries, people already have all material things, but these things are made by man-made or technology, so they are not satisfied with this, but instead cherish nature more and do their best. However, in some developing countries in the process of modernization, people are desperate to exhaust natural resources without considering how to take necessary measures to protect nature. So in these countries, perhaps including China, this wanton destruction of nature has brought a series of inevitable natural disasters to mankind, and the relationship between man and nature has changed from harmony to opposition. In the context of China, people are used to abusing the slogan "Man can conquer nature" which is produced in a specific environment and has political significance to describe the opposition and struggle between man and nature, while ignoring the possible harmony between man and nature. In many places, people even regard nature as the natural enemy of human beings. However, once the balance between man and nature is lost, human beings will have more serious disasters sooner or later. No matter how we treat nature, it will repay us in its own unique way, or make our life better, or bring us double disasters or punishments. Therefore, in this regard, the lessons learned by developed countries are enough for us to learn from and think about. This may be one of the reasons why China poet Tao Yuanming is so popular in the west and Japan, because the Peach Blossom Garden he built is an ideal home that people eagerly yearn for. Similarly, this is why there is a tendency to return to the original or nature in some post-modern works. After all, people are more and more aware of the importance of protecting nature after experiencing various changes in the world. Perhaps this is the historical cycle shown in all literary works. Although there are different ways of expression, it is human nature to love nature and equate human beings with nature.
note:
[1] Obviously, in the works of some contemporary writers in China, such as Mo Yan, Su Tong and Ge Fei, the tendency to return to nature is also a major feature.
[2] Tao Yuanming's "Peach Blossom Garden and Poetry" is quoted from "Bibliography Summary of China Literature History", Peking University Publishing House, 1988, p. 27 1-272.
[3] 1995+00 At the international symposium on "Ideal Hometown: East and West" held in Kyoto, Japan in June, a Japanese scholar bluntly admitted that "we have everything materially now, so we are more yearning for something full of idealism like Peach Blossom Garden".
[4] For the quotation, see Norton Selected Works of English Literature, edited by abrams, 4th edition (1979), Volume 2, page 157- 158.
[5] abrams's Mirror and Lamp: Romantic Theory and Critical Tradition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953, p. 1 105.
[6] An obvious example is that in the international seminar on "Ideal Hometown: East and West", besides Tao Yuanming and I made a speech on "Proposition", Fang Che, the speaker of the conference, also made a long speech on "Peach Blossom Garden and Utopia". In my opinion, although the two can be compared and studied, the huge differences can still be identified.
Author's brief introduction Wang Ning, a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, 1955. Doctor of English and Comparative Literature, Professor beijing language and culture university, Director of the Institute of Comparative Literature and Comparative Culture, member of the Cultural Research Society of the International Association of Comparative Literature. He is the author of Deep Psychology and Literary Criticism, Comparative Literature and Contemporary Literature in China, and Comparative Literature and Interpretation of China Literature.
I found a paper on the internet, which wrote in detail the relationship between man and nature in literary works. I hope I can help you.