Poetry and the Dao

Author: Huang Bohui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: The "Dao" of ancient China has unknowingly walked for over two thousand years. Poetry is one of the paths leading to the Dao. The tradition of Chinese poetry has made an indelible contribution in aligning with human nature and rectifying the heart, offering subtle yet profound, simple yet exquisite insights. If we understand Chinese poetry from a literary perspective, apart from its content and form, its spirit follows a correct direction, guiding people through life and trials to walk into the Dao, into the Dao of Heaven. In ancient Chinese texts, it is said, "Poetry is the Dao" and "Poetry is the Dao, the direction of the mind." In the phrase "the mind's direction," the character "mind" () can be into "scholar" () and "heart" (), meaning the heart of ancient scholars. From ancient ballads evolved poetry, and when Confucius compiled the Classic of Poetry, he deliberately excluded many ballads, establishing a distinct status for "poetry" as "the direction of the mind." Thus, the minds of scholars who sought wisdom found a direction in reading and composing poetry, a direction pointing toward the "Dao" in Chinese cultural tradition.