Historical Sites in the Land Awaiting Your Visit (Tang Poetry and Scenic Spots)

Author: Zhang Zhonggang, Dong Liwei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-12-01
Features: "To seek and invite, who can be at ease?" (from The Art of Rhetoric). Since ancient times, scholars and literati have enjoyed climbing high mountains and admiring scenic views, expressing their emotions through landscapes, engaging in poetic exchanges, leaving behind countless magnificent works. Xie Lingyun, a Southern Dynasties poet renowned for his numerous landscape poems, was deeply fond of traveling in mountains and waters throughout his life. The Biography of him in the History of the Southern Dynasties states that he often "sought mountains and climbed ridges, always reaching the most secluded and towering peaks, with layers upon layers of cliffs, none left unvisited," and "wrote poems upon arriving at each place," modeling mountains and waters, composing poems to commemorate his visits to famous scenic spots. Xie Lingyun's cousin, Xie Yuezhao, served as the governor of Xuancheng, and in his spare time, he became utterly captivated by the region's beautiful mountains and clear waters, writing a large number of poems about scenic spots. The vast body of pure landscape poems by the two Xie brothers played a pioneering role in the Tang Dynasty's natural landscape poetry school. "The land and mountains leave behind their wonders, and we, too, climb to witness them" (With My Sons on Mount Xianshou). These lines by Meng Haoran vividly and aptly capture the longing for nature and the obsession with scenic beauty. In traditional Chinese culture, poets across generations, influenced by the unique cultural perspectives of their nation, have, through climbing high mountains and admiring scenic views, not only expressed their emotions and depicted landscapes but also infused rich cultural connotations into famous scenic spots. It can be said that this is one of the most enchanting aspects of traditional Chinese culture.