Abstract

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Title:: Creation Based on the Current Trends: Innovations in Meng Jiao’s Poems

Keywords:: Meng Jiao’s poems; advocating subjectivity; aesthetic taste for simplicity and harshness; pursuit of rational thinking; poetry of the Song Dynasty

Abstract:: In the mid-Tang Dynasty, due to the influence of Buddhism and Taoism advocating subjectivity, the aesthetic taste for simplicity and harshness, and the inspiration from Jiao Ran’s views on poetry characterized by seeking changes, the poems of Meng Jiao displayed a relentless pursuit of subjectivity in image creation; simplicity and harshness in style; and reason in philosophical underpinning. In terms of images in poetry, Meng Jiao created a large number of series of landscape poems and usual images in the poems co-authored with Han Yu, setting the gloomy and eccentric tone for “Han-Meng” poetic school. Also, he preferred forceful and harsh words and images of a solid texture in a theme-oriented form. Moreover, he pursued rational thinking through explicating his ideas with images in nature, expressing his strong emotion and drawing wisdom from Buddhism and Taoism. In a word, innovations in Meng Jiao’s poems predicted the poetic taste of the Song Dynasty.