A Study On Chen Yuyi's Acceptanceto Tao Yuanming And The Development Of His Plain Poetic Style

Chen Yuyi was a pivotal poet in the turning period of the North and South Song Dynasty. He was also a miscellaneous and erudite poet in the history of Chinese poetry. Influenced greatly by Du Fu, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, Chen's poetry has the gloomy, vigorous and firm characteristics. He also appreciates the plain and fresh style of Tao Yuanming and Liu Zongyuan, etc. Besides, he especially loves Tao Yuanming's personality, moral courage, and pastoral lifestyle. He often compared himself with Tao Yuanming, and pursued Tao's way of existence and life, which is reflected in his poems, that is, his poems, which is out of the confinements of Jiangxi School's ornate style, is similar to the plain style of Tao and Liu and has the mood of indifferent to fame or gain.Based on the political and cultural backgrounds in which Chen lived and taking Chen's following to Tao as the case study, this thesis on the deep level reveals the objective reasons of Chen's acceptance to Tao. From the political perspective, Chen lived in a collapsing and unrest dynasty; from the cultural perspective, Chen lived in a period during which the atmosphere of following Tao is prevalent and Tao the person and his poems were held in unprecedented esteem. This thesis holds that it is on these solid reality foundations as well as Chen's special life experience and high ideal without seeking fame and wealth that he can follow the quintessence of Tao's ideas. As a result, Chen's style is similar to Tao's in such aspects as language, metre, mood, etc. Meanwhile, the study perspective is also shifted to other two poets Wei Yingwu and Liu Zongyuan, whose styles are very similar to that of Tao, and the thesis classifies Chen's following to Wei and Liu into the scope of Chen's acceptance to Tao. On this basis, from the traditional poetic artistic perspective, the thesis discusses Chen's plain style and its aesthetic essence.Chen's acceptance to Tao not only makes his poetic style various but also brings a new life to the poetry circles that is influenced greatly by the poetic style of Jiangxi School. Consequently, it contributes to ending the inclination of Jiangxi School's obscure style and marks the beginning of Yang Wanli's fresh and lively poetic style.