Fleeing the Dusty Net: Reclusion and Reclusive Ideals in the Poetry of the Wei-Jin Period

Abstract

Reclusive poetry has been an integral part of the Chinese poetic tradition since ancient times. But it was not until the Wei-Jin 魏晉 period (220-420) that poetry written around the theme of the recluse became popular amongst the literary elite, as poets began to express interest in the life of a recluse to a greater extent than they had in the past. During the Wei-Jin period, the concept and definition of the recluse was influenced and broadened by the popularity of xuanxue 玄學 (Dark Learning/Studies of the Abstruse). It is mainly due to the influence of xuanxue that reclusive poetry written during the Wei-Jin period differs from the reclusive poetry that came before it in the sense that Wei-Jin reclusive poetry contains a metaphysical aspect. I will demonstrate in this thesis, by way of a selection of representative works from the Wei-Jin period, that it was primarily a reclusion of the mind, rather than a reclusion based on physical location, that would be explored and developed in the reclusive poetry of the Wei-Jin period and that this development was closely related to the flourishing interest in metaphysical philosophies by the literati of the time. This thesis aims to demonstrate that the Wei-Jin poets were all influenced, in some way, by xuanxue philosophies, which emphasized the desire of the individual to live in a way that accorded with their inner spirit, by detaching and lifting themselves aloft from their immediate environment. The reclusive ideals, as expressed in Wei-Jin poetry, evolved according to the cultural and political milieu in which they were produced. But throughout the Wei-Jin period, reclusive poetry conveyed the ethos of the Wei-Jin period itself in that it represented the right of individuals to live a dignified existence that accorded with their own conscience during a time of violence and despair. In this way, the reclusive poetry of the Wei-Jin period transcends borders and cultures and has relevance for us today.