Tao Yuanming’s Poetry as Commentaries of the Analects: How Robert Ashmore Connects Tao Yuanming with Confuciu

Itis common sense that in the history of Chinese philosophy, the Wei and Jinperiod witnessed the ebb of Confucianism after the Han dynasty. With theblossom of Daoism and Buddhism, the influence of Confucius’ teaching in thisperiod, compared with that in the Han dynasty, was relatively attenuated.Although the state ideology was still in Confucian terms, personal happinessand the experience of the individual were considered of great importance. Amongpeople who are inclined to pursue personal happiness instead of public life inJin, Tao Yuanming is doubtlessly the most famous one.

Althoughalmost everyone in China knows Tao Yuanming (365-427), few would connect himwith Confucius. He is a poet, and more importantly, a poet famous for hisinclination to give up public life and return to his gardens and fields. Suchan identity results in two common stereotypes. One is that Tao Yuanming, arguablythe most famous poet before the Tang dynasty, is not a philosopher or thinker,because we assume that there is a gulf between literature and philosophy. Theother is that Tao Yuanming’s choice of a private life results from theinfluence of Daoism, especially Zhuangzi, who preferred to live happily withoutthe restrictions of being an official. Although some scholars have pointed outthat Tao Yuanming was familiar with Confucianism and did quote many Confucianallusions in his poetry, they seldom dwell on how Tao Yuanming interpretedConfucius and the Analects.

In The Transport of Reading: Text andUnderstanding in the World of Tao Qian (365-427), Robert Ashmore challengesthese two stereotypes by arguing that Tao Yuanming is essentially a Confucianand his poetry could be seen as an interpretation of the Analects and other Confucian classics. We can easily see theimportance of such an argument. From Ashmore’s point of view, Tao Yuanmingbecomes a thinker rather than a poet. Poetry is nothing but a special way forhim to actively elaborate his understanding of Confucius’ thoughts. If weaccept Ashmore’s argument, our studies on traditional Chinese philosophy canbranch out to poets who express their thoughts in poems but have not been regardedas philosophers. Meanwhile, what inspires Tao Yuanming to return to his gardensand fields is Confucianism instead of Daoism. Based on the fact that the FiveConfucian Classics were the main reading materials of Tao Yuanming and many ofTao’s contemporaries, Ashmore’s argument provides a new perspective from whichwe can explore how thinkers from the Jin dynasty to the Southern dynastiesinherited and developed Confucianism, and how they understood and created theimage of Confucius.

Ashmore’s exploration of the connection between Confucius and Tao Yuanming starts withthe clarification of the definition of a hermit, and highlights the fact thatConfucius himself did respect hermits. Many people mistakenly see hermits asthe dissenters of Confucianism; however, eremitism in medieval China cannot besimplified to a fixed pattern of behavior influenced by Daoist doctrines. Ashmoreconvincingly points out that in the Analects,a hermit, or yinzhe隐者, actually means a worthy, or xianzhe贤者. When the hermit Hetiao Zhangren 荷蓧丈人 criticized Confucius in front ofZilu, what he said was paradoxically the evidence of his talents. The reasonwhy the hermit wants to hide his worth is that the society is in chaos. Whenthe chaos disappears, the hermit will be of use in governing the world. Such achoice perfectly matches the Confucian doctrine: “If poor, one attends to hisown virtue in solitude; if advanced to dignity, he makes the whole worldvirtuous as well.” Ashmore uses the word “dwell” (ji寄) to describe thehermit’s choice, which is exactly the same decision made by Tao Yuanming.

Accordingly,Ashmore analyzes “On Reading the Classicof Mountains and Seas” 读《山海经》, the sixteenth of“Drinking Wine” 饮酒 and other poems to show that Tao Yuanming commented on Confucius’ thought ofthe hermit and “dwelled” through his poetic genre. The sixteenth of “DrinkingWine” is famous for the first stanza, which mentions that Tao Yuanming wasinterested in the Six Classics in his youth:

In my youth I had littleto do with human affairs;

My wandering delightswere all in the Six Classics.

So on and on, till now,near “non-confusion,”

Lingering on, I have nowaccomplished nothing.

At last, I clasp“steadfastness in adversity,”

Of hunger and cold Ihave experienced my fill.

My rundown hut iscrossed by a mournful wind;

Wild grass engulfs mycourtyard.

竟抱固穷节，饥寒饱所更。敝庐交悲风，荒草没前庭。

Whatstrikes us is that in Tao Yuanming’s narrative, the studies on the Six Classicsand the concern for human affairs contradict each other. In other words, to bea Confucian, one should first of all spend all his time reading Confucianclassics. Therefore, one would have no time to take care of human affairs, andone’s behavior would ironically have no difference from that of the hermit. Itmeans that the identity of a hermit and the identity of a Confucian aremutually transformable. Tao Yuanming used his own experience to comment on Confucius’attitude to the hermit.

Ashmoreis clearly aware that some scholars have equated “Confucian classics studies”with the ambition for official positions in the court. According to theirreading, Tao Yuanming was originally eager to pursue social status; only afterrepeated failure in public life did Tao Yuanming give up his worldly ambitionand choose to return to his gardens and fields. Ashmore sharply objects to thisbanal view. From Ashmore’s point of view, the youthful Tao Yuanming who is fondof the Six Classics is consistent with the image of later Tao Yuanming, anunworldly maverick who enjoyes the life in fields. Ashmore argues that theyoung Tao Yuanming’s love of Confucian classics is nothing but “an analogousexpression of an unworldly character.” In his poem, Tao Yuanming poeticallyprovided his understanding of the most crucial doctrine of Confucius:“steadfastness in adversity” (guqiong 固穷). Therefore, to livein a hut as a hermit has nothing to do with Daoism, but is the essence ofConfucianism.

Wecould see Tao Yuanming’s poem as a double commentary on the issue of the hermitin the Analects: his poem itself is agenre of commentary, and the experience narrated in his poem is also powerfulevidence of commentary. Through his poetic genre, Tao Yuanming vividlydescribed how he put Confucius’ thinking into practice. It is widely known thatthe Jin and Southern dynasties were full of wars, rebellions, and usurpations.Under such historical circumstances, Tao Yuanming’s decision to keep away frompublic life is what a real Confucian, or Confucius himself, would make.

Itis in this sense that Tao Yuanming’s poetry, which records his Confucianbehavior, is a unique commentary on the Analects.The commentaries of He Yan, Huang Kan, and other commentators are based onprecedent Confucians’ interpretations, while Tao Yuanming’s poetic commentaryis based on his own action. We can claim that the action and the knowledge areunified in Tao Yuanming’s poetry, which gives his readers a concrete scene ofConfucius’ concise teachings in the Analects.It is probably plausible to say that to create a scene in which Confucius’teaching could be much more understandable is exactly Tao Yuanming’s way tointerpret Confucius.

A China Post commemorative stamp of Tao Yuanming

Ifwe agree with Ashmore, Tao Yuanming’s poetry can be seen as various scenespeople may meet in their real lives, and these scenes help us understandConfucius’ philosophy. Such an assumption consists of two layers. The first isTao Yuanming’s reading of the Analects,and the second is our reading of Tao’s poetry. What Tao Yuanming did wasinterpret the Analects with his ownexperience and rebuild scenes for us to understand Confucius’ teaching, whilewhat we do is find the scenes in his poetry and connect them with thephilosophy from the Analects.

If one does not take thelevel crossing,

Should idling alone bedeemed a clumsy choice?

I lodge my intentionoutside a single phrase,

Who can discern thismeeting in the mind?

平津苟不由，栖迟讵为拙？寄意一言外，兹契谁能别？

Ashmoresharply notices that “a single phrase” (yiyan一言) echoes Confucius’ famousargument in the Analects: “To coverit all in a single phrase: no straying” ( 一言以蔽之，曰：思无邪). Therefore, the couplet“I lodge my intention outside a single phrase” indicates that Tao Yuanming usedboth his poetry and his own action to “lodge” his inner intention. In otherwords, Tao Yuanming wanted to use his own life as a real-life example ofConfucius’ teaching. From Ashmore’s point of view, it is Tao Yuanming’spersonal experience of his own “steadfastness in adversity” that makes himcompletely understand what Confucius says. That’s why Tao Yuanming figured outhis way to interpret Confucius’ teachings: one must seek to understand the Analects with one’s own experience. Hispoetry, in this sense, records how he understood Confucius through his ups anddowns and, meanwhile, helps his readers understand Confucius through his poetic narrative.

The Analects of Confucius

Asreaders of both Tao Yuanming’s poetry and the Analects, we should bear in mind that without the recognition ofConfucius’ teaching in the Analects,Tao Yuanming’s poetry is merely a description of his personal life and his ownopinions, while without Tao Yuanming’s poetry, at least the meaning of someterms in the Analects are difficult for us to catch. However, Tao Yuanming’sway to interpret the Analects is not his invention but full of the features ofthe Six Dynasties’ interpretation of the Analects.To understand Confucius’ teachings by creating scenes is the trend advocated byscholars in this period. For example, in the Analects, Zai Yu 宰予, one of Confucius’ bestdisciples, once slept in the daytime, and Confucius criticized him as a “rottenlog” (xiumu朽木). It is confusing for readers inlater generations: now that Confucius is the best teacher in Chinese historyand Zai Yu is one of his best disciples, how could Zai Yu be so lazy? Does itmean that Confucius’ teachings are useless? In Lunyu yishu, Huang Kan (488-545) gives us a reasonableinterpretation by citing the words of Master Shanlin to provide an interestingscene: “The fact is that Zai Yu saw how an inclination toward laziness andgiving up was about to arise among the younger disciples of that time, andtherefore adopted this expedient of sleeping in the daytime so as to set inmotion Confucius’ ‘carving and polishing’ instruction. This is what we may calleach serving as the shadow or echo of the other”（宰予见时后学之徒将有懈废之心生，故假昼寝，以发夫子切磋之教，所谓互为影响者也）.The scene created is that Zai Yu slept in the daytime on purpose in order toadmonish younger disciples who were not diligent enough to keep up withConfucius’ teachings. Therefore, Zai Yu pretended to sleep in the daytime and gaveConfucius a perfect opportunity to emphasize the importance of diligence.Because of Zai Yu’s status among the disciples, Confucius’ biting criticismagainst Zai Yu would to great extent impress the younger ones, including bothConfucius’ disciples and all readers of the Analects.

Accordingto Ashmore, Tao Yuanming’s way to create scenes is consistent with theinterpretation in Lunyu yishu. Weshould not and could not ignore the analogies between Tao Yuanming’s ownexperience and the process of Confucius’ disciples’ cultivation. In his earlyyears, Tao Yuanming, just like Confucius’ young disciples who did not know howto practice the master’s teachings, merely saw “steadfastness in adversity” asan abstract term; while in his later years, he truly understood Confucius’doctrines and became a mature Confucian as Zai Yu. Thus, Tao Yuanming’s poetry,which narrates his own experience of growing up, is also a mirror of his readers.We, as readers of both Tao Yuanming and the Analects,also have an inclination toward laziness and need the admonishment from Zai Yu.

Now,let’s follow Ashmore’s way to interpret Tao Yuanming’s poetry and again focuson “steadfastness in adversity.” “Steadfastness in adversity” repeatedlyappears in Tao Yuanming’s poetry, and “Composed on a Certain Occasion” 有会而作 is a perfect example:

In my youth I met withpoverty in the family;

Old age has arrived, andwith its lasting hunger.

Beans and wheat aretruly what I long for—

How dare I covert thesweet and the fact?

...

To “loserestraint”—could this be my intention?

“Steadfastness inadversity” has always been my faith

If “hunger’s in it” thenso let it be;

I have many teachers inantiquity.

弱年逢家乏，老至更长饥。菽麦实所羡，孰敢慕甘肥。…… 斯滥岂攸志，固穷夙所归。馁也已矣夫，在昔余多师。

AsAshmore points out, the title of this poem is worth our attention. It does nothave any particular information, but it is full of information. What this poemdescribes can be applied to all readers. In the preface to this poem, TaoYuanming said that he had “become quite an old farmer” (laonong老农), which reminds us ofwhat Confucius said to Fan Chi: “I am not as good as an old farmer.” It was hislife that compelled Tao Yuanming to become someone Confucius would not be;while our lives also push us to be what we do not originally like. How did TaoYuanming, as an old farmer in poverty, understand Confucius’ teachings? How dowe, old readers with unsuccessful lives, understand Tao Yuanming? Let’scontinue to find the Analects references and phraseology in this poem.

Ashmorefinds the trace of “hunger’s in it” (nei 馁) in Section 32 ofChapter “Weiling Gong” in the Analects:

TheMaster said, “The superior person makes plans about the way and not about food.As for plowing, hunger’s in it; as for study, salary’s in it. The superior personworries about the way and not about poverty.”

Throughhis own experience, Tao Yuanming in his later years finally understood how tochoose between the way and hunger, and poetically applied Confucius’ veryteachings to his poem, which echoes the lives of its readers from the edge ofoblivion. Tao Yuanming did not merely describe his own feelings in this poem.He indicated that only people who had suffered in their lives, encountereddilemmas, and made difficult choices could understand what the poem was about.He connected his own life with the Analects, while his readers are supposed to connect their own lives withhis poem.

Byregarding Tao Yuanming’s poetry as a commentary on the Analects, Ashmore provides us with a new perspective ofunderstanding both Tao Yuanming’s poetry and the Analects. According to Ashmore’s research, Tao Yuanming can behailed as a prominent Confucian thinker, and his poetry can help us explore thethought of Confucius. He used his own life and poetry to demonstrate that wecannot truly understand Confucius’ teachings until we personally experiencepredicaments, which are inevitable for everyone. Tao Yuanming set a model fortransporting Confucius’ teachings to later generations, and Su Shi in the Songdynasty actually imitated this model. Some of Su Shi’s poems are actuallyreenacting the writing of Tao Yuanming’s poetry. It is in this sense thatpoetry, as the lodge of thoughts, transports Confucius’ teachings and allowsConfucius, Tao Yuanming, and later generations to communicate like convivialintimates.