Chinese Aesthetics: The Ordering of Literature, the Arts, and the Universe in the Six Dynasties

Chapter 5. The Unmasking of Tao Qian and the Indeterminacy of Interpretation

Chapter 5 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The Unmasking of Tao Qian and the Indeterminacy of Interpretation Kang-i Sun Chang This chapter will examine the history of the reception of Tao Qian (365?–427), a Six Dynasties poet who became one of the greatest figures in the Chinese literary canon— surprisingly, since in his own time Tao Qian was practically unknown as a poet, and it was only a succession of readers over the centuries who eventually canonized him. Such a dramatic case of historic reception has ramifications that go far beyond the literary position of a single poet, as it touches on all the cultural and aesthetic questions that are implicit in the act of reading and rereading. When we consider the relatively few works Tao Qian produced (approximately 150 poems and 10 essays and rhyme-prose pieces in all) and the emphatically marginal literary position he had in his lifetime, his eventual canonical position in Chinese literature is truly striking. A key moment in his canonization occurred during the Song dynasty, when Su Shi declared Tao Qian to be the greatest poet ever, and Fang Hui (1227–1306) praised Tao Qian (along with Du Fu) as one of the two foremost masters in the Chinese literary tradition.1 During the Qing dynasty Wang Shizhen (1634–1711) claimed that Tao Qian’s accomplishments “cannot be rivaled by his predecessors and successors and cannot be assessed within the confines of a single age.”2 Early in the twentieth century Liang Qichao (1873–1929) 169 singled out Tao Qian and Qu Yuan (China’s first poet known by name) as the two literary giants whose poetic voices were the most powerful, a view that Wang Guowei (1877–1927) simultaneously held.3 Indeed, whomever the list comprises, the inclusion of Tao Qian’s name now seems inevitable. The total aggregate of Tao Qian scholarship over the centuries is now so overwhelming that a special term, “Tao xue” (Taology), has been coined, comparable to terms used for the scholarship on the Shi jing (Shi jing xue ), Chu ci (Chu ci xue ), and The Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong xue or Redology).4 To this day, readers continue to read Tao Qian with a consistent enthusiasm, all claiming to have found the true voice of the poet anew. One aspect of the image of Tao Qian that has been perennially appealing to readers is Tao’s honesty with himself, the idea that despite all his anxiety and self-questioning he would not go against himself— even if he had to suffer the very real physical consequences of poverty: “Why, you ask. Because my instinct is all for freedom, and will not brook discipline or restraint. Hunger and cold may be sharp, but this going against myself really sickens me.”5 It is with the exploration of this selfhood as revealed in his works that Tao’s readers found so easy to identify. Thus, it is not surprising that many readers turned to Tao Qian’s poetry for help during times of duress, seeking to find a satisfactory explanation, even a remedy, for their personal suffering. For example, during his illness Liang Qichao read nothing but Tao Qian’s poetry and consequently produced his famous “Chronology of Tao Yuanming” (Tao Yuanming nianpu).6 Li Chendong studied Tao’s poetry diligently on a farm during the Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s and as a result completed his thoughtprovoking work on Tao Qian.7 More recently the famous literary critic Liu Zaifu claimed that Tao Qian was one of two great authors —the other being Goethe—whose works gave him strength in his days of exile after leaving China.8 And, of course, there have been readers who simply enjoyed reading Tao’s works as a pastime, such as Ding Fubao , who found happiness in reading and reciting Tao’s poems daily. Ding collected more than twenty editions of Tao’s works and eventually became known as the commentator who wrote Tao Yuanming shi jianzhu, which was based on a rare edition from the Song dynasty.9 Indeed, one would agree with the Song dynasty poet Xin Qiji , who once wrote the following in “Shui long yin” : “We 170 KANG-I SUN CHANG must believe that Tao has not died/Even to this day he is full of vigor and vitality” ( ).10 But what accounts for the immortality of Tao Qian when in fact very...