Study On The Monks' Travel Poems In The Tang Dynasty

Monks travelling poems,just as its name implies,is refers to the monks who create poems on the way.Monks' travel not only because of religious purposes such as promoting Buddhism,or non-religious activities such as visiting friends and relatives or just for life experience.Because of their unique identity and purpose,compared with the ordinary literature poems,except for natural scenery and feelings in traveling,they also have rich religious connotations.The monks' traveling poems began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and became thrive in the Tang Dynasty.From the perspective of a special group and a kind of poetry,this paper takes the travel poems of monks in Tang Dynasty as the research object,and exploring a side of the development of Buddhist literature in Tang Dynasty from a unique angle,the writer sums up the outstanding characteristics,development clue and general outline of 346 travelled poems of monks of 49 monks in Tang Dynasty.The success of literary creation lies in the expression of individuality,and the important task of literary criticism is to reveal the personality factors,while the differences lies in the comparison.Therefore,this paper,while shaping a three-dimensional group image,is to reveal the individual differences of each monk's traveling poems.During the Tang Dynasty,Guan Xiu was a monk with the most abundant traveling poems.He had 157 travelling poems alone,which almost accounted for half of the total number of 346 in Tang Dynasty.His travelling poems were also the most representative,reflecting the social reality of the war at the end of the Tang Dynasty,and the main content of his travelling poems was to study,take refuge and make friends.If we say that Guan Xiu is the representative of " Entering secular society ",Qi Ji himself is a typical example of "Leaving secular society "."Traveling and Learning" is the most prominent theme of his traveling poems,and is the ultimate purpose of his trip.The picturesque scenery description is also an important part of his travelling poems.This kind of "landscape travel poetry" has even made the most dazzling part of his traveling poems.His style of travelling poems is rich and varied.Tour Temple poems are mostly pure and plain,containing philosophy and Dhyana;landscape poems are mostly poems and paintings in one,with high spirit and great image.The travelling poems of foreign monks and seeking Dharma in the West monks show the unique charm of travel outside the region.For example,Xinluo state monk Hui Chao,Japanese monk Dao Ci,Bian Zheng,Kong Hai,and 20 foreign travelling poems by Xuan Zang and Yi Jing seeking Dharma in the West monks focus on strange,perilous scenes,grief and sincere feelings.The artistic features are shown as the ability to skillfully grasp and use Chinese poetry to express one's feelings,and the initiative to seek new and change in learning and application.The travelling purpose of the monks and priests in Tang Dynasty is mainly to promote Buddhism,study and enlightenment,refuge and begging etc.The role and cultural significance of the monks and priests in Tang Dynasty are mainly manifested in enhancing the quality of monks' practice,promoting the spread of Buddhist culture and enriching the fruits of poetic culture.The monk's travelling poems are not a closed world.They actively advocate " Entering secular society " and enjoy the dual experience of " Entering secular society " and "Leaving secular society ".The thematic implications of monk's travelling poems in Tang Dynasty are mainly manifested in the following themes: wandering for religious purposes,Buddhism and Dhyana,enjoying mountains and rivers.At the same time,during the journey,monks are the process of going to secular society.Influenced by secular culture and society,their contradiction show the feelings of " Entering secular society ".They are the themes of homesickness,making friends as officials and chanting history.The reasons for monks' " Entering secular society " can be roughly summarized as "friendship pursuit" and " appeal to vulgar taste ".In terms of artistic features,the travelling poems of monks in Tang Dynasty also highlight the artistic features of advocating "Qing",which are manifested in the following three aspects: more use of " pure words and expressions "," beautiful scenery and situation "," clear Spirit and Interest ".The artistic pursuit of advocating "Qing" creates a "cold and quiet" poetic environment.The author explores the reasons for monk poetry advocating "Qing" and finds that the most important factor also is "Qing".Because monks are influenced by the mentality of Dhyana enlightenment such as "Ding" and "Hui",monk poems are easier to get "Qing" than literati poems because of "Ding" and "Hui".In addition,the traveling poems of monks in Tang Dynasty also show the artistic characteristics of "integrating Zen into poetry" and "painting in poetry".The travel poems of monks and literati generally belong to a poetic system,so many images have the same meaning,but there are also some images that have changed,such as "Crane","Mirror","Lamp" and some images of instruments of magic,which have been endowed with new poetic interpretation functions.In the choice of the style of travel poems of monks in Tang Dynasty,the "modern style" poetry accounted for 80% of the total,among which the rhythmic poems accounted for 73.9% of the total,and the five-character rhythmic poems were the most prominent in the rhythmic poems.The study found that there is a complex connection between the travelling poems of the monks in the Tang Dynasty and the travelling poems of the literati.On the one hand,the monastic traveling poems are close to the literati poetry,and the themes and styles have many similarities;on the other hand,with their own characteristics,the monks always intentionally or unintentionally flaunt their monks' identity.The common point is that the travel poems of scholars and monks in Tang Dynasty express the interest of seclusion and the beauty of nature.In terms of subject matter,scholars are richer,the theme of official post is prominent,and the travel poems of monks are more wander for religious purposes.Even in the same theme of travel poems,monks and scholars show distinct characteristics;in terms of artistic style,scholars value "lyricism".Monks emphasize "reason".Literary traveling poems mostly express their inner feelings through the display of scenery,while monk traveling poems mostly express their understanding of life and Buddhism through the description of scenery.The topic of "Study on Travelling Poems of Monks in Tang Dynasty" has high research value and cultural significance.From the perspective of traveling,we can observe the sight,psychology and knowledge of the monks from the perspective of travelling.The study of monks' travelling poems can enrich and expand the current research contents of monk poetry.This article studies the monk travelling poems in the Tang Dynasty in the form of chronology,and it can also gain some research on the whole Chinese ancient travel literature.A comparative study of monk's travelling poems and literati's traveling poems can also reveal the types of poems on the same subject,the different styles they present,and the mutual influence between the two creative groups.The analysis of the reasons for the monk's travelling poems' " Entering secular society" will also contribute to the study of secularization of Buddhism.In terms of cultural significance,through the collation and study of the travelling poems of monks in Tang Dynasty,we can not only know the unique features of Buddhist poetry in terms of diction and sentence-making,quotation of allusions,religious significance and humanistic spirit,but also "prove history by poetry".At the same time,we can also inspect and verify the geographical conditions of Buddhism and literature in Tang Dynasty.Travel also affects the way of poetry transmission.A large number of poems on walls,pillars,corridors,bridges and trees,as well as poems in boat,road,horse on the way and immediately,are created by travelling activities,which greatly enriches the way of poetry transmission.From the monks' travelling poems,we can also see the spiritual and cultural connotation of monks' release,the spirit of ascetic Dhyana and the Mahayana Buddhism spirit of saving the world and the people.