Rediscovering Ying Qu and His Poetic Relationship to Tao Qian (clik ...
Rediscovering Ying Qu and His Poetic Relationship to Tao Qian (clik ...
Rediscovering Ying Qu and His Poetic Relationship to Tao Qian (clik ...
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撫 我 子 姪<br />
攜 我 親 友<br />
茹 彼 園 蔬<br />
飲 此 春 酒<br />
開 櫺 攸 瞻<br />
坐 對 川 阜<br />
心 焉 孰 託<br />
託 心 非 有<br />
素 構 易 抱<br />
玄 根 難 朽<br />
即 之 匪 遠<br />
可 以 長 久<br />
<strong>Ying</strong> <strong>Qu</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>His</strong> <strong>Poetic</strong> <strong>Relationship</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Tao</strong> <strong>Qian</strong> 65<br />
Here, I would stroke my sons <strong>and</strong> nephews,<br />
And walk h<strong>and</strong> in h<strong>and</strong> with kin <strong>and</strong> friends.<br />
I eat the vegetables from my garden,<br />
And I drink this spring brew.<br />
Opening the window, I gaze afar,<br />
When I sit down, I face the streams <strong>and</strong> hills.<br />
Where should I entrust my heart?<br />
I entrust my heart in Nothingness.<br />
The plain structures can be easily embraced,<br />
And the profound roots will not easily decay.<br />
When you move <strong>to</strong>ward it, it will not be far away,<br />
And will remain with you for a long time.102<br />
Untying the cap-ribbon <strong>and</strong> donning coarse cloth are well-known gestures<br />
of renouncing society. In language similar <strong>to</strong> <strong>Ying</strong> <strong>Qu</strong>’s, Zhan adds<br />
that there are few officials who would now deem it worthwhile <strong>to</strong> visit<br />
him, so the narrow gates of his dwelling suit his circumstances. The overgrown<br />
shrubs, the enjoyment of being “here” with his young children<br />
<strong>and</strong> family, the preparation of spring wine <strong>and</strong> harvesting of his garden<br />
vegetables, <strong>and</strong> the joys of gazing at the distant hills are all found in the<br />
poems of Zhan—<strong>and</strong> of <strong>Tao</strong> <strong>Qian</strong>—as a part of the recluse’s life.103 Ultimately,<br />
Zhan’s goal was <strong>to</strong> investigate the metaphysical roots of the<br />
Way (since it is a poetry of metaphysical words [xuanyan shi 玄 言 詩 ],<br />
philosophical expositions in poetic form),104 while <strong>Tao</strong> <strong>Qian</strong> appears<br />
not <strong>to</strong> be. The similarities between <strong>Ying</strong> <strong>Qu</strong>, <strong>Tao</strong> <strong>Qian</strong>, <strong>and</strong> these Jin<br />
poets in their use of images, gestures, <strong>and</strong> idioms point <strong>to</strong> the possibility<br />
of the existence of a shared language among poets writing about retirement<br />
or poverty, with <strong>Ying</strong> <strong>Qu</strong> as an important link in this tradition.<br />
Like <strong>Ying</strong> <strong>Qu</strong>, none of these Western Jin poets was truly poor.<br />
Jiang You was well known for providing military strategy <strong>to</strong> the general<br />
Yin Hao 殷 浩 , <strong>and</strong> at different times had advised emperors against<br />
the wastefulness of constructing imperial parks <strong>and</strong> holding extravagant<br />
sacrificial ceremonies.105 He had a literary collection in five juan;<br />
102<br />
Yiwen leiju, 64.19b–20a; Lu Qinli, 2:943–44.<br />
103<br />
See, for example, Lu Qinli, 2:991, 978, 1010.<br />
104<br />
For a definition of xuanyan poetry, see Yang Liu 楊 柳 , “Xuan yan shi ding yi xin<br />
tan” 玄 言 詩 定 義 新 探 , in Nanjing shifan daxue wenxueyuan xuebao 南 京 師 範 大 學 文 學 院<br />
學 報 , no. 1 (March 2008): 16–21.<br />
105<br />
Jin shu, SKQS, 83.12b–13a, from the extensive biography of Jiang You, Jin shu, 83.11b–