Research On Yuan Zhen’s Poems During His Relegation To Jiangling

Yuan Zhen, called "Yuan Bai" together with Bai Juyi, is a renowned "Talent Yuan" in the middle Tang Dynasty. However, very few studies have been made on him by later generations. Yuan strived to resign from an official post all his life, but he suffered blows frequently. In twenty years of relegation life, Yuan expressed his ambitions in language. Particularly, the five years of relegation to Jiangling witnessed his largest amount of creations and most outstanding achievement in literature. Taking Yuan Zhen’s poem creation during his relegation to Jiangling as research object and combining his experiences and creative mind, this paper is aimed exploring the characteristics and variations of his poems, with main contents as follows.First, Yuan Zhen’s relegation to Jiangling is studied. In the middle Tang Dynasty, the politics was murky. Yuan Zhen served his country and people heart and soul, but being too sharp, he had a rocky relationship with eunuchs in the court. His debate with Qiu Shiliang in the court made him relegated to Jiangling. Suffering from unredressed injustice, Yuan was depressed and indignant. Second, the shift of Yuan Zhen’s mindset in creation during his relegation in Jiangling is explored. As a result of the frustrations in political career, the death of his wife and the suffering from diseases, Yuan Zhen changed his political intention, marriage view and attitude towards life after being relegated to Jiangling. These changes were manifested in his transformation of poetic style.Third, the reasons for the formation of Yuan Zhen’s poetic style in Jiangling are analyzed. External reasons affecting the formation of his poetic style include the influence from Buddhism and Zen, cooperation with Bai Juyi and other poets on poem creation, resultant enthusiasm for creation and Jingchu culture. Fourth, the themes and contents of Yuan Zhen’s poems written in Jiangling are analyzed. Yuan Zhen created hundreds of poems in Jiangling, but only 290 of them have been handed down, accounting for one third of his total poems. This paper divides his poems into six categories by content, including sentimental poem, narrative poem, object-chanting poem, custom poem, amorous poem and memorial poem. Fifth, the artistic style of Yuan Zhen’s poems written in Jiangling is discussed. His poems in that period, full of gloomy and grieved emotions, are famous for the growing of bailment theory, dismal artistic conception, and plain language. Sixth, the status and influence of Yuan Zhen’s poems written in Jiangling are presented. During the relegation to Jiangling, Yuan Zhen devoted himself to the research on the style and composition art of poem. His poems were different from early poems in theme, style and artistic technique. In that period, his style of poem creation gradually matured, which changed the system of antiphon poetry, thereby promoting the formation of the Yuanhe style and driving the advancement of the New Yuefu Movement.