On The Contradictory Mentality Of Baijuyi

Bai Juyi, as a great poet in Chinese literary history, has long been one of the hot topics of later scholars, including the present academic community. Bai Juyi appears to be gentle and quiet, while in fact he is full of contradictions inside himself. Most of the previous research done in this field is superfluous. This study attempts to explore his contradictory mentality based on his poetic and prose works, especially his poems, with an emphasis on the comprehensiveness and systematicity of this study.The thesis falls into three parts: the manifestation of his contradictory mentality, the reasons for the formation of his contradictory mentality, and the settlement and balance of his contradictory mentality.The representation of his contradictory mentality is mainly demonstrated in the following three aspects. One is the contradiction between being happy with "life" and being worried about "death", that is, the contradiction in Bai Juyi between the concern for aging, disease and death and his optimistic attitude towards life. Another is the contradiction between enjoyment of ease and comfort and moral introspection and self-discipline. The third is the contradictions between living in community and living in seclusion, between pursuit of career and material demand. These aspects constitute Bai Juyi's contradictory life.There are three reasons for the formation of Bai Juyi's contradictory mentality. On the philosophical level, it is because of the general conflict between people's individuality and social commonality. On the historical level, it is because of the intensification of particular socio-historical context in the middle era of Tang Dynasty. It is the historical peculiarity of that era that makes Bai Juyi, as an idealist with ambitions, failed to realize his ideals. Lastly, on the level of his family background and special experiences, his contradictory mentality is also inherently influenced by his humble origin and personal experiences.Once there is a contradiction, people will resort to different manners, either rational or irrational, to solve and modulate it. It is the case with Bai Juyi. He has his own solution to his contradictory mentality.The first solution is with the help of religion. Through the involvement of religion the contradiction of the view on life and death has been solved. It is quite a long process for Bai Juyi to select and accept the religion. From the Confucianism, to the Taoism after suffering some setbacks, Bai Juyi soon abandoned Taoism for its obvious absurdity and finally he was converted to Buddhism because of the heavy blow, bad environment and the coming of old age and so on, and thus solved the contradiction of the view on life and death.The second solution is to realize both material enjoyment and spiritual freedom through developing his "half-seclusion".The other solutions are realistic. To solve his inner contradictions, Bai Juyi employed other practical means, for example, improving life environment, drinking wine, writing poetry and many other kinds of entertainment. In doing so, he achieved the psychological balance through settling his contradictory mentality, and thus realized his rich and perfect life.