Meng Haoran Collection with Annotations

Author: Meng Haoran
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Meng Haoran remained a commoner throughout his life, a rare case among the famous poets of the Tang Dynasty. For most of his life, he lived in seclusion in the countryside or traveled widely, leaving behind many immortal poems that later generations regarded as the "forefather of reclusive poets." However, if we examine the poet's life and career, we will find that Meng Haoran also had a serious desire for officialdom at one point. It was only after failing the imperial examinations that he truly turned his attention more to nature and landscapes, becoming a carefree recluse who "frequented the moon in drunkenness and lost himself in flowers, serving no ruler." The purpose of this paper is to: build upon previous evaluations of Meng Haoran while supplementing the more one-sided views. This paper takes Meng Haoran's failure in the imperial examinations as a turning point and, by referencing works from different periods, provides a detailed discussion of the factors, manifestations, and developments of his reclusive thoughts. It can be said that the poet's journey from seclusion to seeking officialdom, to being forced back into seclusion, and finally to admiring Tao Yuanming and achieving true reclusion reflects a psychological process from optimism to pessimism and then to the rejection of pessimism. Meng Haoran's life appeared outwardly as one of active engagement with the world, but ended with seclusion in the mountains, thus completing his spiral upward life trajectory.