Aesthetic Freedom—On the Tang Dynasty's Strange and Unconventional Poetry School (Eastern Academic Library)

Author: Jiang Jianyun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-10-01
Features: "The Grotesque Poetry School" refers to a group of poets in the mid-Tang Dynasty, led by figures such as Meng Jiao, Han Yu, Lu Tong, Li He, and Jia Dao. The author argues from the perspective of mid-Tang poetry and the entire Tang poetry canon, analyzing the rise and decline of the Grotesque Poetry School from social, political, cultural, and literary perspectives, and offers an aesthetic evaluation of this poetic movement. It is a rare poetic history centered on the Grotesque Poetry School. In the Pan Ming of Tang Bo, it is said, "If one seeks renewal every day, they must renew every day, and renew again every day." The pursuit of "newness" is highly valued in life, and the same applies to literary creation. However, this "newness" can sometimes be utterly shocking. During the mid-Tang period of our poetic realm, there was a group of poets like Han Yu, Meng Jiao, and Li He, who sought newness to the extreme, achieving astonishing and extraordinary results. Their works and creations became a strange and spectacular sight in literary history. Professor Jiang Jianyun's Aesthetic Detachment—On the Tang Dynasty Grotesque Poetry School provides a dynamic and vivid discussion of these poets, offering fresh insights and prompting reflection. Naming them "grotesque" clearly highlights their stylistic features. Compared to the traditional labels of the "Han-Meng Poetry School" or the "Hard-Working Poetry School," this term better reflects their life and creative realms, as well as their unique pursuit of "newness." The author presents a "multifaceted" poetic world filled with grotesqueness. From a differentiated perspective, Meng Jiao used hard and soaring language, Han Yu created powerful and unrestrained imagery, Lu Tong blurred the lines between poetry and prose, Li He captured bizarre visions, and Jia Dao crafted secluded and mystical landscapes. From a common perspective, they all showed a tendency to value ancient styles over regulated verse, loved fantasy, upheld the extraordinary, and even reversed beauty into beauty, sometimes even valuing ugliness as beauty. They deliberately aimed to shock and provoke, and their astonishment was precisely their expectation. In poetic collaborations, there were instances where poets competed to outdo each other in grotesqueness. In the vast garden of Tang poetry, they indeed created a unique and extraordinary world. Looking back at the specific circumstances of life and creation during that particular era, it is not difficult to see the reasons for the emergence of grotesque poets. The book provides a comprehensive description of this. The author points out that in mid-Tang, there were three main poetic schools: the Popular Poetry School, the Grotesque Poetry School, and the Elegant and Proper Poetry School. The Elegant and Proper Poetry School refers to the poetic movement led by figures such as Quan Deguo, Wu Yuancheng, Pei Du, and Linghu Chu. They advocated the Confucian literary philosophy of "gentleness and kindness," emphasizing the aesthetic beauty of poetry. The discussion of the Elegant and Proper Poetry School is a unique contribution of this work, which also recreates a richer and more complex literary background for the grotesque poets than previous literary histories, bringing them closer to the original state of this literary period. All three schools were products of that specific era, and the creative works of the grotesque poets reflected the awkward and helpless situation of some scholars who aspired to change the world but found themselves unable to do so. Overall, their lives were too ordinary and insignificant (they could not compare to the popular poets in terms of career, let alone the elegant and proper poets), which created a stark contrast with their lofty ambitions. While they did use poetry as a means to advance in life, they also regarded it as an immortal endeavor. The author particularly emphasizes: "They were too passionate and devoted to poetry; they intertwined their spiritual lives with poetic creation, almost to the point of obsession with art." This might be a great fortune in misfortune! Like the Popular Poetry School and the Elegant and Proper Poetry School, the Grotesque Poetry School did not long endure. In the later years of Yuanhe, Meng Jiao, Lu Tong, and Li He passed away. Li He died at the young age of 27, his demise attributed to his troubled life and, more so, his unwavering dedication and to poetry. On one hand, the deceased were gone, but on the other hand, the living, such as Han Yu and Jia Dao, faced criticism or persuasion, leading to alienation in their creative works—popular poets no longer remained popular, and grotesque poets no longer remained grotesque. The author pays special attention to examining the three schools in a comprehensive manner, showcasing their evolving trajectories through mutual influence. The three schools flourished in the hope of the mid-Tang revival but perished in the disappointment of its disillusionment. They arrived in grandeur and departed in helplessness. The grotesque eventually returned to ordinariness. Several centuries later, the grotesque poetic style resurfaced in the Jin Dynasty, which the author calls the "Post-Grotesque Poetry School." These poets either strictly followed the style of Bo Juyi, or merged Li He and Lu Tong, seeking renewal through retrogression. It can be said that they were the echoes of the mid-Tang Grotesque Poetry School. As the author concludes this discussion, they shift their focus to the early 19th century France, concentrating on Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal and the subsequent Western modernist poetry. Through comparison, they argue that these poets shared many similarities with the mid-Tang grotesque poets, delving into philosophical questions about the blooming of "sick flowers" and the emergence of "ugly aesthetics," analyzing their gains and losses. The author poetically compares "sick flowers" to "beauty spots." For Tang poetry, the Grotesque Poetry School was like a perfectly placed beauty spot on a woman's face. It not only did not diminish the beauty but also added to its splendor. The content of the book is interconnected, with each chapter offering something new, like ascending higher and higher with each step. The language flows like clouds and water, effortless and enjoyable for both the refined and the common. The book also includes dozens of exquisite illustrations of Tang poetic scenes, calligraphy, and poet portraits, inviting readers to linger and admire.