The peculiar poetic style of Meng Jiao (751-814) = Meng Jiao (751-814) guai qi hen qiao shi feng xi lun

Abstract

As a renowned poet for his unique poetic style in Mid-Tang Dynasty of China, Meng Jiao evidently differentiated himself from other contemporaries by establishing the distinctive tone and unusual aesthetics in his poetry. In the absence of recognition from the general public, his life had been fraught with austerities and indigence. However, the under-appreciation he received from the society had remarkably shaped his own unique, creative and peculiar style, contributing to the destitute tone in his poetry, with the inspiration of which derived from his profound infatuation with the ancient philosophy. As an intention to reframe people’s mind by advocating traditional and classical thoughts in his poems and to demonstrate his enthusiasm for the restoration of the orthodox values in the past, Meng Jiao’s poetry not only addresses the difficulties and poverty he encountered in his whole life but also manifests the injustice and chaos people suffered from during the war. Although his one-of-a-kind poetic style rightly earned him a reputation for his characteristic style of peculiarity and destitution, his poetic style had been criticized by several acclaimed scholars like Su Shi and Yuan Haowen for being way too peculiar. Frankly speaking, Meng Jiao’s pursuit of aesthetics had successfully brought a new vision to the literacy circles and inspired upcoming poets to compose with originality and creativity against flowery poetry written in every dynasty. This dissertation attempts to explore how Meng Jiao exhibits his peculiar style of writing in terms of content, words, sentence structure and aesthetic skills in order to illustrate the true value of his poetry.

孟郊乃中唐時期以怪奇狠峭見稱的著名詩人，他追古樸之風，異時人之調， 逐意境之奇，創冷峻之格，反撥大曆期間「氣骨頓衰」之綺靡詩風。究其一生， 孤苦淒涼，官場上有志難伸，生活潦倒淒愴。綜觀孟郊現存五百多首詩歌，多抒 窮苦之哀思，發憤世之鬱結，故孟詩以「苦吟」著稱於世。孟郊執拗不群，創作 不屑平庸，文意翻空取新，藻思驚俗吐奇。孟詩雖晦澀瘦硬，卻於中唐時期開拓 嶄新詩風，故時人譽「孟詩韓筆」。孟郊啟廸後世不少文人墨客，其藝術成就值 得深思探究，有見及此，筆者試從孟詩的取材、用語、句式、意象、藝術手法幾 方面，探本尋源，窮通其意，剖析孟郊怪奇狠峭之詩風，望能重新探究孟詩的真 正價值。