1. Zhuangzi's "Turtle of Freedom" remarks

Zhuangzi was fishing in the vortex, and the King of Chu sent two officials to invite him to become an official. Zhuangzi said calmly: "There is a magical turtle in the state of Chu. It has been killed for three thousand years. The king of Chu cherished it very much. I would like to ask you two, would this turtle prefer to have bones after death and be valuable, or would rather live in muddy water? What about sneaking and tailing?" The two doctors said, "Of course I want to walk in the mud with my tail alive." Zhuangzi said, "Both doctors, please come back! I also want to walk with my tail in the mud." /p>

The freedom pursued by Zhuangzi is expressed through his "Xiaoyaoyou", which is an infinite and transcendent spiritual journey. Zhuangzi envisioned Kun transforming into a roc and then spreading its wings and soaring freely across the sky. He does not want to be a high-ranking official with a generous salary, but wants to be a free tortoise with a tail. He is willing to put a towering tree in a "nowhere land" and sleep under it and live freely. .

His leisurely journey is a state of absolute freedom in which the spirit is completely independent and unfettered. It is a state where people have no self, gods and men have no merit, and saints have no name.

2. Tao Yuanming hated officialdom and yearned for freedom

In August 405 AD, Yuanming served as an official for the last time as Peng Zeling. In November, Cheng's sister died in Wuchang. Yuanming wrote "Come Back and Come Back", resigned from office, and officially began his life of seclusion until the end of his life.

At this time, Yuanming's political attitude entered a clear period, and his ideology also entered a mature period. Different from his previous life of farming, this time he was conscious: he did this, and he also understood why he did it. In the past, his pastoral life seemed to be that of a small and medium-sized landowner, but now he had more labor, which meant he was closer to the life of an ordinary farmer.

During this period, he created many poems and essays reflecting pastoral life, such as five poems "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields" and twelve "Miscellaneous Poems". Tao Yuanming's poetic thought of taking nature as beauty and truth as beauty shines in the poetry, illuminating the character's personality and making readers strongly feel the poet's arrogant and unyielding personality charm in pursuit of freedom.

Extended information

Tao Yuanming has a very clear understanding of the hypocrisy and darkness of social affairs. Therefore, his seclusion is not a passive escape from reality, but has a profound positive significance of criticizing social reality. . When he fell into the predicament of hunger and cold during his long life of seclusion, although he was hesitant and wavered, he still did not surrender to reality in the end. He would rather be poor and stick to his integrity for the rest of his life.

It is said that the county official sent a postal supervisor to see him, and the county official asked him to dress up to welcome him. He sighed and said: "How can I bow down to a village boy for five bushels of rice?" From then on, it became a good saying not to bow down for five bushels of rice.

Tao Yuanming likes to drink. "Send wine as a trace" expresses his unwillingness to join the decadent ruling group and shows the poet's indifferent and far-sighted mind and aloof and noble character. It is precisely because of this that his poem Although the works are plain and simple, they are full of poetry.