The Reception Of Tao Yuanming By Gozan Zen Monks

Tao Yuanming was a famous Chinese poet who received widespread attention during the Song Dynasty and was also widely welcomed by the Zen monks of the Gozan in Japan.This article mainly examines the reception of Tao Yuanming during the Gozan period in Japan from the Chinese poems of the Gozan Zen monks.The first chapter discusses why the Gozan Zen monks chose Tao Yuanming as their recipient.Firstly,the social background of the Gozan literature period is discussed,and secondly,the convergence of Tao Yuanming’s ideas with the literature of the Gozan is analyzed.Because the social environment of the Gozan period was relatively turbulent,people resonated with Tao Yuanming’s hidden thoughts,and because people generally believed in Zen Buddhism at that time,Tao Yuanming’s poetry was both in line with Zen aesthetic tendencies and Zen interest,and the literary idol Su Shi also highly respected Tao Yuanming,so Tao Yuanming was sought after by the Gozan Zen monks.The second chapter starts from the specific Chinese poetry works of the Gozan Zen monks,and analyzes the reception of Tao Yuanming’s classic masterpieces,images,and allusions in the Chinese poetry of the Gozan Zen monks,as well as the imitation of Tao Yuanming’s poetic and artistic characteristics by the Gozan Zen monks.The third chapter selects the three most representative Zen monks of the Gozan:Huguan Shilian,Zhongyan Yuanyue,and Jing Xu Zhoulin.They have different attitudes towards Tao Yuanming,and Huguan Shilian has a slight misunderstanding of Tao Yuanming’s hidden behavior,which makes him a little demanding of Tao Yuanming;Zhongyan Yuanyue highly respected Tao Yuanming,and he understood and supported Tao Yuanming’s behavior very well;Jing Xu Zhoulin is very yearning for Tao Yuanming’s retreat,but due to his personality and practical factors,he cannot achieve a complete retreat like Tao Yuanming,and can only put his yearning for seclusion elsewhere in addition to envy.The attitude of these three Zen monks can almost represent the attitude of all the Zen monks of the Gozan towards Tao Yuanming.Chapter 4 summarizes the acceptance of Tao Yuanming by the Zen monks of the Gozan,and summarizes the characteristics of their acceptance of Tao Yuanming.It was found that the acceptance of Tao Yuanming by the Zen monks of the Gozan lacked novelty,mainly inheriting the Song people’s research on Tao Yuanming.Secondly,the Gozan Zen monks have a clear tendency to pay attention to Tao Yuanming’s works,mainly because they have screened Tao Yuanming’s works from a Buddhist standpoint.Finally,compared with Du Fu,Su Shi,and Huang Tingjian,the Gozan Zen monks did not accept Tao Yuanming deeply enough,and lacked in the way of acceptance and the scope of acceptance,which affected the comprehensive understanding of Tao Yuanming by the Gozan Zen monks,but Tao Yuanming’s poetry still received more extensive attention in the Gozan literary period,which also had a great impact on the acceptance of Tao Yuanming in later Japan.