Landscape Poems Of The Tang Dynasty, Ecological Wisdom

As the most magnificent works of landscape poetry, the landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty has shocked us deeply with the ecological orientation of returning to nature that agrees withthe inner craving of the poets.and the landscape nature no longer appears to be a simple object of figuration to the poets of the Tang Dynasty. Instead, it is another living subject which shares the same fate with the poets, and is the ecological creation closely related to the fate of the poets. The landscape nature carries out spiritual communication with the poets with its natural character and the quality of aloofness from the world, thus realizing the spiritual pursuit of the poets. Human character agrees with nature, and when human spirit couples with the spirit of the landscape nature, the landscape nature realizes not only its natural existence of the subjects, but also the natural spiritual returning of the poets.The landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty aims at attaining the harmonious unity between natural environment and human inner spirit, so as to realize the inner craving of the original human nature to return to nature. The view of ecology it implicates of the inter-attachment between man and nature and the harmonious coexistence between objects and oneself leaves us much for reflection.A further study into the landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty from the prospect of ecology has discovered that they have not only attained the ultimate beauty in poetical forms, and also left us profound ecological wisdom.This essay is divided into five parts. Chapter One mainly elaborates on the awakening of the consciousness of the natural scenery and the ecological environment of the landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty, and probes into the relationship between the people of the Wei, Jin and Northern & Southern Dynasties and nature, to expound upon the awakening of the consciousness of the natural scenery. It also probes into the ecological environment for the prosperity of the landscape poetry in the Tang Dynasty from such aspects as politics, culture, the culture of reclusion and religious ideology. Chapters Two, Three and Four analyze the view of ecology of the landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty from three aspects: value, ethic and aesthetic appreciation. In Chapter Two, the View of Ecological Value of the Landscape Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, this essay illuminates it from three aspects, that is, (I) Voiceless Sounds of Natural Scenery. This mainly affirms the ecological value of natural scenery objectively, eases the long-term tension between man and nature and restores the harmonious relationship between man and nature. (II) Beauty Appears Different to Different People. This elaborates from the point of view of the subject---man, and affirms the humanistic value of the landscape poetry in combination with the theory of"ego-involved realms"and"ego-absent realms". (III) The Spirit Travels with Objects and Thought Harmonizes with the Environment. It emphasizes the close unity between the subject and the object in the landscape poetry, in which the material state of the natural scenery corresponds perfectly to the inner spiritual state of the poets, truly forming a picture of fusion of the emotion with the scenery and harmony between thoughts and environment, which is full of ecological charm. There is no state of opposition between man, the subject, and nature, the object, in the landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty; there is a natural mechanism of fusion between the two. The character of the mountain is my character and the emotion of the water is my emotion. The landscape poetry of the Tang Dynasty reserves the view of nature of"naturalness and inactivity"of the Taoist School, and are in pursuit of the"state of mutual obliteration", in which both the object and the ego are forgotten, and high harmony and unity is achieved between man and nature.Chapter Three elaborates on the ecological ethic embodied in the landscape poetry. On one hand, it affirms the values and rights of plants, thus achieving the ecological consciousness of returning to nature and heaven-man integration. With almost non-utilitarian aesthetic consciousness, the poets express their ecological ethic of man's"allied care"of nature, wisely illuminate the tension and opposition between man and nature and restores the ecological nature in which man and natural objects are in their natural states, and they coexist harmoniously with each other at the same time. On the other hand, they look upon the existence of life with awe, in an effort to illuminate the view of life that the heart should be empty of everything and that all beings are equal. In the Tang Dynasty, Zen Buddhism was prevalent, and the landscape poets who were close to Zen Buddhism were influenced imperceptibly by their views of"nature of mind"and"emptiness", so that the ecological ethic that the heart should be empty of everything and all beings are equal is manifested in their poetry.While in Chapter Four, the Ecological Aesthetic Standard of Tang Landscape Poetry, the author expounds on the ecological connotation embodied in the aesthetic admiration of the natural scenery both dynamically and statically. That is, (I) dynamical aesthetic admiration: walk leisurely, and travel widely; (II) static aesthetic admiration: travel to the end of the water and watch clouds rise. Whether in walking or in the mental traveling while sitting, the concern for the natural scenery not only contains profound affection of the green, but also manifests vigorous vitality. Furthermore, it reveals to us the ecological consciousness to admire and respect the beautiful scenery of nature. The last chapter probes into the modern significance of the ecological wisdom in the landscape poetry from two aspect, i.e. (I) the concern for nature from the aspect of aesthetic admiration, to realize the transition from the beneficiary of nature to the caretaker of nature; (II) the realization of equal dialog between beings and self consciousness through observing objects with the heart. It advocates concern for nature with the mind of aesthetic admiration, so as to restore the ecological chains among all the objects in the universe and attain the harmonious realm of coexistence between man and nature.