Abstract
There are two sources of Taoyuan image in ancient Chinese literature. One is the Peach Blossom Spring in Tao Yuan-Ming's "The Peach Colony"; the other is the Peach Blossom Spring found in Liu Yi-Qing's "Record of the Nether World," where Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao collecting herbs in Tiantai Mountain were mentioned. Taking Taoyuan image as the main theme, this thesis engages in the thematological study and focuses on the influence, inheritance, and variation of Taoyuan image. "Taoyuan image" has come to be a symbol of ideal life and love world now, though it had several connotations in previous literature under the influence of the times and writers' life experiences. Accordingly, this thesis explores the characteristics of "Taoyuan image" presented in Chinese literature by various literati in different periods, and discusses the overall tendency regarding inheritance and variation of the theme of "Taoyuan image."
Literary imagery not only expresses the author's emotion and thoughts but also describes the lives, beliefs and cultural spirits of a particular era and ethnic group. Literary imagery is a combination of "intention" and "image." In other words, it is the product of the author's subjective feelings and objective depiction of a certain object. This thesis proposes four explanations for the construction of the Taoyuan image in Chinese literary works. First, Taoyuan image shows the literati's disenchantment as well as a lament for the passing stream of life. Second, it represents the longing for a better life with social harmony and stability. Third, it outlines what a utopia of independence would appear. Fourth, it implies the literati's escapism and senses of the rise and fall throughout history.
Thanks to the literati who appreciated and imitated Tao Yuan-Ming interpreting the "Peach Blossom Spring" in their unique ways, the "Peach Blossom Spring" has formed abundant cultural meanings in regards to the expression of Taoyuan image. From the perspective of thematology, the literary works involving the Peach Blossom Spring can be divided into five aspects, which are discussed and organized into chapter 3 to 7 in this thesis.
The third chapter explains the theme of seclusion. The concept of retiring from an official career and living in seclusion is derived from Tao Yuan-Ming's "A Record of Peach Blossom Spring with Poem." This notion continued to be presented in the poems of the Southern Dynasties and reached a peak with a huge amount of hermit-related creation in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The literati in the Tang Dynasty integrated the ideas of Taoism into their works, making the "Peach Blossom Spring" a perfect realm for keeping in seclusion and seeking immortality. In the Song Dynasty, the literati displayed their frustration at the society by indicating the "Peach Blossom Spring" and, meanwhile, conveyed their anticipation of a peaceful society and better monarch.
The fourth chapter discusses the theme of landscape and pastoral settings, which originated from the spiritual home of Tao Yuan-Ming in his "A Record of Peach Blossom Spring with Poem." Throughout the Southern Dynasties and the Tang and Song Dynasties, the changing and impermanent political situations forced the literati who easily lost their careers then to release their emotions in landscape and pastoral poetry. Likewise, those discouraged by the officialdom in the Ming and Qing Dynasties used Taoyuan image as well to shape their garden landscape, which served as their spiritual home.
The fifth chapter examines the theme of seeking eternal truth and immortality. It includes the "Peach Blossom Spring" from both Tao Yuan-Ming's work and Liu Yi-Qing's "Record of the Nether World." This theme is mainly embodied in the works during the Tang Dynasty. Most of the Tang literati incorporated the ideas from Taoism, such as immortality, and their personal ideal of life into their poems to pursue a life with independence and freedom. These poems also demonstrate a secularized aspect of the theme.
The sixth chapter discusses the theme of perfect love, which originally comes from the romantic encounter of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao in Tiantai Mountain written in "Record of the Nether World." The poets in the late Tang Dynasty became indifferent to politics and turned to live in seclusion. Their love implication presented in sauntering fairy poetry was reflected in the Song Ci later and influenced how Song literati expressed their personal feelings in Song Ci. The literati in the Ming and Qing Dynasties living in a society of political repression also put the theme of ideal love into their literature in order to relieve the grief of subjugation and the intention of reclusiveness, which offered spiritual consolation for them.
The seventh chapter expounds the theme of paradise imagination. After Tao Yuan-Ming retreated and lived on his own by cultivating crops by himself, he eventually gained more experiences in the real world and built the Peach Blossom Spring in "A Record of Peach Blossom Spring with Poem." This Peach Blossom Spring and that in Liu Yi-Qing's "Record of the Nether World" were both used to illustrate their expectation of an ideal society, which became the spirit paradise for the literati in a chaotic society afterward.
The eighth chapter summarizes the various literary meanings of Taoyuan image in the past. Tao Yuan-Ming, regarded as "the initiator of reclusive poets" by Zhong Rong's "Shi Pin," is often considered an iconic symbol of seclusion. Besides, the story that Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao went to Tiantai Mountain in Liu Yi-qing's "Record of the Nether World" is often cited as an indication of fairyland or amorous exploits. Seclusion and seeking immortality share a common spiritual orientation, that is keeping away from the secular and pursuing detachment from reality. It is also found in some literary works that Taoyuan image reflects a literary phenomenon of the combination of immortality and seclusion.
In sum, the Taoyuan image in ancient Chinese literature has varied interpretations and understandings based on the author's background, experience and times. This makes Taoyuan image particularly rich in meaning and so fascinating in Chinese literature. The Taoyuan image depicted by Tao Yuan-Ming, while expressing the emotions of his posterity, continues to influence and enrich people's feeling, and evolve into a significant element full of literary meaning in Chinese literature.