Marks of Reclusion on the Body: The Moralizing Force of Tao Yuanming
不为五斗米折腰……
“To not bow at the waist for [a mere] five grains of rice.” — Tao Yuanming’s well-documented criticism of the obsequiousness and politics involved in the civil service. Five grains of rice refers to the salary earned by government officials. To bow low was a sign of deference, a price Tao Yuanming was unwilling to pay for a place in high society.
The great Chinese poet Tao Yuanming of the Eastern Jin and Liu Song dynasties was a famous recluse who did the unexpected: turning his back on the civil service. In premodern China, a position in the civil service was greatly coveted with top officials enjoying elevated social status, gifts of various treasures and great houses, marriages into the imperial family, and even personal influence over the emperor’s decisions. Tao Yuanming, however, grew disillusioned with the highly performative political games in which officials took part, ultimately opting for a less prominent, undisturbed lifestyle away from major cities. Sources both ancient and modern have expanded upon this general outline of Tao Yuanming’s life, populating the reader’s imagination with various interpretations of the famed poet. He has been portrayed as eccentric, reclusive, immune to social niceties, and often drunk. In some accounts, he lives up to the Confucian ideal of a good father figure. In others, he enjoys philosophical chats with Buddhist monks.
Constructions of this colorful personage have continued into the 20th century with Chen Xianghe’s short story Tao Yuanming Writes ‘An Elegy’.¹ Chen Xianghe details Tao Yuanming’s reclusive tendencies through both dramatic action and the poet’s own reflections. The story begins with his return home after an unenjoyable visit to a Buddhist monastery. Tao Yuanming describes the social hypocrisy of the monks which reaffirms his desire to avoid such gatherings in the future. These criticisms soon turn to past memories of officials who had come to flatter him, bearing unwelcome gifts and traveling in showy carriages that disturbed the quiet of the village where he lives.
In this village, Tao Yuanming is not an ex-official but a retired farmer. He has a particularly friendly relationship with his daughter in law, a woman from a family of high status who greatly admires his poetry and has assimilated into his secluded lifestyle. Still, she prepares a feast with sumptuous dishes of fish and chicken from her wealthy father. They enjoy the meal only after Tao Yuanming gives his approval, and this leads to a night of drinking, a pleasure in which he partakes to an excess. Chen Xianghe then ends the story with Tao Yuanming completing his poem An Elegy and reflecting on the legacy of his writing in the face of his impending mortality. This story, published in the 1960s during Communist rule, returns to a seemingly far-removed past era without connections to the zeitgeist of contemporary times. A closer look, however, reveals that Chen Xianghe’s depiction of reclusion — and especially its negative effects on the physique — very much accorded with the ideologies and value systems put forth during the early years of the new People’s Republic of China.
Reclusion was a well-documented tradition in premodern China. Wendy Swartz notes the following reasons, among others, cited by early Chinese historians for reclusion: to “search [for] an ideal,” to maintain “integrity,” to protest an “unrighteous government.”² The ideals referred to by historians were from the Confucian tradition, principles and values gained through education in the classical teachings. For those who chose a reclusive life in order to realize these ideals, the impetus stemmed from questioning, a lack of fulfillment, and an intentional decision to pursue philosophical principles learned through study. In this way, reclusion was associated with a broader intellectual search. Additional reasons emphasized staying true to oneself and pointed out a resistance against that which was “unrighteous,” incorporating vocabulary that speaks to preserving one’s values against the prevailing social context. By documenting such reasons as justification for reclusion, early historians acknowledge the presence of a moralizing force within the decision. In addition to these intellectual and moral elements, it is also important to note that positive aspects of reclusion — following through on a principled, learned approach to life — were emphasized over any burden associated with such a lifestyle. Early historians spoke to the benefits of turning away from society and government for a worthy cause.
Biographies³ of Tao Yuanming position him as the model recluse. The two earliest works on Tao Yuanming — Shen Yue’s biography of Tao Yuanming in the Song Shu’s⁴ chapter on recluses and Xiao Tong’s Tao Yuanming Zhuan⁵— have been central in creating the image of the poet for subsequent generations.⁶ In the Song Shu, Shen Yue explains that because Tao Yuanming’s great grandfather had been a minister under the Jin dynasty, he felt it to be “dishonorable” to serve the Liu Song dynasty and so refused to continue service.⁷ Shen Yue notes that Tao Yuanming did not believe it to be upright to serve those who had taken power from the dynasty to which his ancestors belonged. Tao Yuanming’s turn away from the civil service is then due to a value judgment of what the morally correct action would be.
In the preface of Tao Yuanming Zhuan, Xiao Tong similarly provides explanations for the poet’s actions, this time his frequent drinking. He mentions that although some people believe “each and every one [of Tao Yuanming’s poems] involves drinking, the real intention was not drinking.” Xiao Tong continues to state that “[Tao Yuanming’s] writing is singular; his use of words is vigorous and distinctive.”⁸ In response to claims by others that drinking dominates Tao Yuanming’s works, Xiao Tong suggests that deeper thinking lies behind the act of drinking and also directs focus from such content — which could be considered frivolous — to the poem’s stylistic achievements, a sign of its literary genius. Xiao Tong thus reaffirms the reclusive poet’s intellect, justifying the poem’s content and citing its form as further evidence. Images of Tao Yuanming as a recluse emphasize the moral and intellectual aspects of his life and work in accordance with the reasons for withdrawing from service given by early Chinese historians. Tao Yuanming’s pursuit of excellence in poetry and his honoring of family legacy after the fall of the Jin dynasty can be understood within the framework of reclusion as a search for ideals and as the preservation of personal integrity, respectively. In these depictions of Tao Yuanming, the image of the recluse and the personage of the poet go hand in hand, each reinforcing the implications associated with the other.
Chen Xianghe’s short story continues in the same vein, emphasizing the moral and intellectual motivations behind Tao Yuanming’s reclusion. The story is written in close third person, giving the reader an unrestricted view into Tao Yuanming’s ponderings and philosophies. He characterizes his friend Yan Yanzhi, an official in the civil service:
“……颜延之是个好人，就是名利心重，官瘾大了点。上回他来，还同我吵架呢。他把自己诗写得不好，归罪于公务太忙，没有时间去推敲。其实哪里是这样。他一天到晚都在同甚么庐陵王、豫章公这一些人搞在一起，侍宴啦，陪乘啦……哪还有甚么诗情画意？没有诗情，又哪里来的好诗！你看，我所认为好的……还不是他官作得不如意的时候写的。”⁹
Yan Yanzhi is a good person, just oversensitive to fame and wealth, his desire for power a bit too much. The last time he came, he actually argued with me. He said that his poems were not well-written, blaming this on being too busy with public affairs and not having time to deliberate. Actually, it is not like that at all. From morning to night, he is socializing with the Luling Prince, the Yuzhang Duke, those types of people, accompanying them to banquets and on leisurely carriage rides… how would he have any poetic grace? Without poetic grace, where then would good poetry come from? You’ll see, the poems of his that I find to be good… were they not written when he was not as successful as an official?
Tao Yuanming’s description of his friend’s lifestyle speaks to Tao Yuanming’s own motivations for reclusion, as depicted by Chen Xianghe. Good poetry — and space to deliberate about poems — lay at the core of Tao Yuanming’s pursuits, ideal intellectual activities that he finds incompatible with the social responsibilities of officialdom. Tao Yuanming in the story places a value judgment on Yan Yanzhi’s socializing, separating it from actual public affairs for the benefit of the state, instead attributing such — oftentimes necessary — behavior to a desire for fame and influence. In his criticism of a lifestyle opposite to his own reclusion, Tao Yuanming reveals both a specific moral distaste for these social pursuits and a pull toward greater philosophizing that drives his own decision making. In this way, Chen Xianghe’s image of the poet conforms with past depictions of these moralizing and intellectual forces.
Chen Xianghe, however, introduces a new element in Tao Yuanming Writes ‘An Elegy’: the physical costs of reclusion on the body. The author writes about Tao Yuanming’s life after leaving the civil service:
“……陶渊明自四十一岁归田以后，躬耕自资，遂抱羸疾……当他满过六十岁之后，他才把锄头交给儿子，说：‘不成不成，手脚骨头都松了，使用不得力，这些事只好交给你们来作了！’”¹⁰
After Tao Yuanming returned to the fields at the age of forty-one, he did his own plowing as a means to earn a livelihood which led to falling ill from constant overworking. He did not pass on the pickaxe [i.e. leave the management of the farm] to his son until after he had turned sixty. He said, “No good, no good, the bones in my hands and feet have loosened and have no strength. The matters [of the farm] will have to be given over to you to do.”
Tao Yuanming’s return to the farm — an intentional departure from officialdom — is synonymous with his entry into reclusion. He sustains himself through physical labor, which burdens his body with the onset of illness after illness. In working into old age, Tao Yuanming’s physique declines further — his bones turning soft — until he is unable to continue the tasks of the field. The inherent physicality involved in supporting this reclusive lifestyle is thus not only emphasized but also shown to have negative effects, a disintegration of health and wellness. This theme of physical decline becomes central to Tao Yuanming’s image and is sustained throughout the story. For example, just the residual pain in the small of his back — one malady among many — is mentioned four times:
1. “他一方面虽然觉得自己腿酸腰疼，疲乏不堪，但一方面想睡却又睡不着。”¹¹
On the one hand, he felt the soreness in his legs and the pain in the small of his back and was unbearably fatigued, but on the other hand, he was not able to sleep even though he wanted to.
2. “他因昨晚不曾睡好，虽然觉得头有些发晕、口有些发苦、腰也有些发痛，但这一派远远近近的山光树影，薄雾流云，仍不能不使这位饱经忧患的老诗人，很自然地想要去停止一切不愉快的思考，好让自己安静一下。”¹²
Although he felt dizzy, the taste in his mouth was bitter, and the small of his back was somewhat in pain — [all these symptoms] due to not sleeping well the night before — the beauty of the mountains and trees near and far, the mist and floating clouds, still could not help but very naturally induce in this poet — who had experienced much suffering — a desire to pause all reflections that were not happy in order to let himself find calm for the moment.
3. “陶渊明说到这里蹙起眉，轻轻叹了一口气，看来他又是觉得腰有些发痛了。”¹³
Tao Yuanming spoke to here [i.e. left it at that] and knit his brows, lightly sighing. It seems like the small of his back was once again somewhat in pain.
4. “就在从庐山回来第二天的当晚，经过一整天躺着休息之后，陶渊明的心情似乎已经平静得乡了，腰虽然还有点疼，但头却已经不再发晕了。”¹⁴
Just on the evening of the second day after [Tao Yuanming’s] return from Lushan, through a whole day of lying down and resting, Tao Yuanming’s state of mind had already calmed, although the small of his back was still slightly in pain, his head was not dizzy anymore.
In these passages, the author counterbalances the physical discomfort of Tao Yuanming’s lifestyle away from society with the spiritual and mental benefits of time spent in natural landscapes that will find their way into his poetry. The negative effects of reclusion — the soreness and constant pain in his back — are juxtaposed with the intellectual stimuli of the natural world and a satisfying calmness achieved from time spent alone. All of this establishes the poet’s sickliness as the bodily cost — the price paid — for his lifestyle choice. How should this development be understood when past biographies of Tao Yuanming have approached reclusion positively — or at least neutrally — and when the tradition of reclusion has been described in intellectual and spiritual, i.e. not physical, terms? Might the emphasis on the physique of Tao Yuanming take Chen Xianghe’s short story out of the tradition of past biographies¹⁵ and situate it within a more modern interpretation of the poet, that is to say, could this recent version of Tao Yuanming be read as a product of the cultural milieu in which its author was situated?
In understanding these connections, a closer look at the life of Chen Xianghe and the time period in which his short story was written is necessary. Tao Yuanming Writes ‘An Elegy’ was published in 1961 in People’s Literature — a state-approved literary magazine — six years after Chen Xianghe left Chengdu for Beijing to research classical literature, a pursuit that served as the inspiration for the setting and characters in the short story. By that time, which was 1954, Chen Xianghe had already been a member of the Chinese Communist Party for more than a decade — joining in 1939 — and had also participated in national organizations such as the Nationwide Chinese Literature and Art Association to Resist the Enemy¹⁶ where he served on the Chengdu branch’s board of directors.¹⁷ Although Chen Xianghe was later persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, in the years before the publication of Tao Yuanming Writes ‘An Elegy,’ he was an established cultural figure with an active national presence — serving on several boards and councils — who was supported by the Chinese Communist Party after it took over in 1949. In such a position, he must have been aware of the major initiatives and ideologies guiding the party.
Central to the CCP’s social policies in the mid-20th century was its early dependence on a peasant base. Kenneth Lieberthal notes that in contrast to the Marxist focus on urban areas in Europe, the CCP’s revolutionary movement — in facing the problem of a very small proletariat in China — was instead supported by peasants who were “generally illiterate.”¹⁸ After the CCP realized the difficulty of building support in urban areas, the communist revolution in China became in large part a peasant movement. The early-established ideology — and ensuing policies — of the party thus appealed to peasants and was in the interest of keeping this rural support base. Before 1949, Mao emphasized the “superior revolutionary virtue of poor peasants” and was eager to achieve sustained peasant political involvement, beginning ventures in land reform that won him favor among local Hakka farmers in the region where he was situated during the revolution.¹⁹ When the CCP became the ruling power, Mao then instituted a “wide geographical extension of land reform after mid-1950” to cement the revolution in rural regions and to maintain peasant support.²⁰ By the time Chen Xianghe relocated to Beijing as a literary specialist in 1954 — when he was in the process of studying and writing on Tao Yuanming — policies favoring peasants and messages that spoke of them as virtuous had given them a more prominent and prestigious position. Farming as a way of life was elevated above landholding and education — traditional forms of elitism in the country — as the state redistributed land to peasants and regarded such labor in a positive manner.
In this context, Tao Yuanming’s sickliness due to the physical demands of farming in Chen Xianghe’s short story takes on significant meaning and should be seen as part and parcel of prevalent societal ideas during the time of its writing and publication. Ill health from a life of labor — what had previously been identified as the cost of reclusion — can more fully be read as evidence of years of virtuous toil in rural agricultural production. Amidst policies that approved of the work of peasants at the time of Chen Xianghe’s writing, Tao Yuanming’s marks of suffering in the story become marks of earned respect. The constant pain in the small of his back is reminiscent of the effects of the laborious work of peasants in the author’s time of writing. In this way, the figure of Tao Yuanming — though ancient in origin — gains relevance. Even as he fulfills his traditional moralizing role in Chinese literature — serving once more as an exemplar of virtue — he becomes modernized, adapting to newly held interpretations of what is considered virtuous in mid-20th century China.
If the longevity of a personage is determined by his continuation as a source of inspiration, Tao Yuanming has had an exceedingly long life. Reclusion as Tao Yuanming’s defining feature remained constant through different eras, but the implications and expectations surrounding the tradition of the recluse have changed as China’s culture has evolved drastically. In this current, hyper-modern era that looks stubbornly toward the future, Tao Yuanming and his contemporaries — fixtures in a classical tradition so seemingly far removed if not considered irrelevant — are easily forgotten. Works such as this story by Chen Xianghe can be cast to the wayside, and without further study, taken to be historical — or historically-inspired but still generally factual — accounts of ancient figures. A closer look, however, makes clear that such works are intentionally constructed accounts that often, between the lines, reveal a great deal about the zeitgeist of the author’s own changing, tumultuous times.
Footnotes:
[1] Original Chinese title: 陶渊明写《挽歌》
[2] Swartz, “Rewriting a Recluse,” 79-80.
[3] While Swartz notes that Tao Yuanming’s biographies in the Nan Shi and the Jin Shi have also been important in shaping his image²¹, characterizations of Tao Yuanming in these works stray from the intellectual and moral elements highlighted for the purposes of this analysis. Since descriptions in the Nan Shi and Jin Shi are not in direct contradiction to the aspects of reclusion discussed here, I have chosen not to discuss those biographies of Tao Yuanming at length. Additionally, depictions of Tao Yuanming in the Song Shu and in Tao Yuanming Zhuan are sufficient in providing the necessary textual evidence for this analysis.
[4] History of the Liu Song
[5] Biography of Tao Yuanming
[6] Swartz, “Rewriting a Recluse,” 77–78.
[7] Ibid, 84. (Song Shu 93/2288–9.)
[8] Wang, “Between Reluctant Revelation,” 212.
[9] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 91.
[10] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 82–83.
[11] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 83.
[12] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 85.
[13] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 87.
[14] Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 90.
[15] While it can be argued that the early biographies were factual and Chen Xianghe’s story is fiction which invalidates comparisons between these works, Swartz makes the argument that the past biographies of Tao Yuanming were also highly constructed accounts that highlighted certain features of Tao Yuanming’s personality and do not accord with the common, Western understanding of the chronologically even, factual biography.²² I have thus compared these different works on their basis as constructed understandings of the poet.
[16] Original Chinese: 中华全国文艺界抗敌协会
[17] “陈翔鹤.” Baidu.
[18] Lieberthal, Kenneth. Governing China, 87;40.
[19] Lieberthal, Kenneth. Governing China, 72;45;44.
[20] Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China, 491.
[21] Swartz, “Rewriting a Recluse,” 77–78.
[22] Swartz, “Rewriting a Recluse,” 77–78.
Sources:
Chen, Xianghe, “陶渊明写《挽歌》,” in 中国当代短篇小说经典. 2003, 82–96.
“陈翔鹤.” Baidu.
Lieberthal, Kenneth. Governing China. United States of America: Norton & Company, Inc., 2004, 1995.
Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China. United States of America: Norton & Company, Inc., 1999, 1990.
WANG, PING, and WANG PING. “Between Reluctant Revelation and Disinterested Disclosure: Reading Xiao Tong’s Preface to “Tao Yuanming Ji”.” Asia Major, THIRD SERIES, 23, no. 1 (2010): 201–22.
Wendy Swartz. “Rewriting a Recluse: The Early Biographers’ Construction of Tao Yuanming.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 26 (2004): 77–97.