Reclusion, personality and poetry: Tao Yuanming's reception in the Chinese literary tradition.

摘要

This dissertation examines the construction of Tao Yuanming's (or Tao Qian, 365--427) posthumous reputation, the mechanisms at work in the reception of his works, and the canonization of both Tao Yuanming and readings of Tao Yuanming. Studying changing interpretations of a particular author over time can show how reading practices affect the meaning of a set of works and can be a valuable window into changes in literati culture and values. In particular, the extent to which the literary was a distinct category needs to be established and not assumed; even a study of literary reception in the Chinese tradition needs to examine literary questions in relation to non-literary categories, such as history, biography and morality. These relationships are particularly evident in the case of Tao Yuanming. The first two chapters deal with interpretations of Tao's person. Chapter Two examines various readings of his reclusion, and places them in the context of changing attitudes toward this important political and cultural practice. It begins with a comparative analysis of the earliest biographies of Tao Yuanming as both early receptions and authoritative texts, and goes on to discuss later debates about the nature and purpose of his reclusion. Chapter Three analyzes varying assessments of Tao's personality, which, far from being a stable construct, represented different virtues and ideals in different periods. It shows how Tao went from primarily an interesting personality to a moral ideal. The second half of the dissertation traces his literary reception, addressing in particular the correspondence between judgments of his literary worth, on the one hand, and cultural and aesthetic values, on the other. Chapter Four covers the period from the Six Dynasties to the Song, showing the process by which Tao, generally neglected as a poet during the first few centuries after his death, achieved canonical status. Chapter Five examines two new hermeneutical approaches to Tao's poetry in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The first is contextualization of his poetry within systems of literary history, and the second uses close readings of individual poems to reveal their meaning.