On the Life and Political Ideals of the Poet Qu Yuan

Xiong Maosong

(1．Institute of Historical Document Central China Normal University，Wuhan Hubei430079;2．Scientific Research Office Chongqing Three Gorges University，Wanzhou Chongqing 404100)

Ⅰ．Introduction

Qu Yuan，the most renowned patriotic poet in the history of China，ends his life in tragedy．Readers can be strongly affected and nurtured by his literary works，and meanwhile，understand his abundant political thoughts．This paper analyzes the political ideal of Qu Yuan’s literary works and interprets the political concept of ancient Chinese literati and its relationship with life from non-literary perspective．

Qu Yuan’s reflection on national politics can be seen in his literary works．He interprets ideal personality and ideal politics and unifies the two elements．Ideal personality and ideal politics are inseparable．The former is the indispensible basic element of the latter，and the latter is the highest aim of the former．This concept has become the fundamental connotation of Qu Yuan’s patriotism，which is lofty and ahead of time．It is thought-provoking and deserves our attention and discussion even today．

There is a tradition of“the poetry expressing one’s will”in ancient China，and Qu Yuan，as a poet，is no exceptional．This paper tries to interpret his life and political ideals through the language in his poems．

Ⅱ．The ideal personality of Qu Yuan is the foundation of the ideal politics

The purpose of Qu Yuan’s life is the perfect unification of“inner beauty”and“cultivating ability”．The two are closely connected and indispensable，thus consisting the ideal and integrated personality．“Inner beauty”refers to the“inner morality”and“cultivating ability”stresses personal ability．The lofty personality of Qu Yuan can be witnessed in his life experience．

However，Qu Yuan thinks that such personality is neither inherent nor possessed by minority．Instead，it can be acquired by unremitting efforts．These great virtues are not inherent，but cultivated every day as daily diet．People need to nourish themselves in excellent culture unremittingly so as to nurture the moral excellence．

Qu Yuan is determined to be a different person from childhood，and dedicates himself in that career for a lifetime．Only by long-term insistence and constant pursuit can one guarantee the prosperity and development of one’s noble morality．One should face everything in the world with such personality．No matter how the secular world changes，one should still hold onto unchanging principles．Qu Yuan believes that such personality and life attitude is unsurpassed great．

Qu Yuan’s unremitting pursuit and earnest practice of lofty personality are the basis of understanding his political thoughts．Only by understanding Qu Yuan’s faith of people，life and personality can we understand his political thoughts．

Qu Yuan pursues moral excellence not just to cultivate his personality，but practice his political ideal．Qu Yuan has strict demand on himself in morality and ability，which is the personality foundation of his political ideal．Qu Yuan notices that many politicians are capable，yet have no morality．They cannot contribute to the nation and people，but instead，impair the national and people’s interest．Therefore，he emphasizes the morality and ability of politicians，and even thinks that personal morality is more important than ability．

The political thought of ancient China aims at realizing politics which is beneficial to the nation and people under the rule of the emperor with the assistance of court officials．And the political ideal of Qu Yuan is no exceptional．The cause of the emperor should rely on talents with morality and ability．Their responsibility lies in leading the emperor to adopt wise politics and ensuring that the nation and people are blessed．That is to say，they should make people happy and safe．

Qu Yuan’s political ideal is a pure one where wise emperor and capable officials work together to govern the nation and win the favor of people．It is significant in this politics that quite a few talents are trusted and put into important positions．And it is decisive that wise emperor trusts and puts the talents into important positions．

Qu Yuan，who is in constant pursuit of personal morality and ability，aims at becoming one of those talents to be appointed by the emperor．He also hopes that all officials can have the same idea．The ideal political environment can be formed under the guidance of the wise emperor plus the assistance of those talents．Only in this way can it become possible that the emperor and officials bring their initiative into play，which leads to ideal political situation．Therefore，the idea of combining inner beauty with cultivating ability proposed by Qu Yuan is not just a personal requirement，but a universal political ideal which should be pursued by all politicians．

Qu Yuan holds that it is right to insist on this political ideal．Past history tells him that the superior power of national politics is grasped by the emperor whose personal morality and ability determine what political rule he will adopt，and that all others are subject to the emperor and serve the emperor．In this sense，whether the emperor can choose the correct political rule has become the key point．Therefore，Qu Yuan hopes that later emperors can learn from wise leaders，like Yao and Shun，ancient sages，instead of following in the steps of tyrants Jie and Zhou．The basic condition of the hypothetical political ideal is that both the emperor and officials should possess personal moral excellence and ability．In this sense，morality is more important than ability，which helps us understand that it is frequently stressed in Chinese ancient political thoughts that one should become a decent man．

Ⅲ．The political criticism and ideal politics of Qu Yuan

However，the reality is cruel in that it does not change according to Qu Yuan’s design．Facts have shown that the personal and political ideals of Qu Yuan have not been agreed and observed by others．But he does not come to terms with reality and instead，he still pursues his ideal and fights against political evils in reality at the cost of sacrificing his life．

Qu Yuan’s criticism of the politics is not personal，but possesses universal significance with the purpose of illustrating how to create a sound political environment．

Qu Yuan forms his political ideal on the basis of historical experience．The following are the major reasons for the deteriorating politics of the emperors:

First，indulging them and ignoring the consequences．

Second，excessively playing and hunting and ignoring the conduct of public af fairs．

Third，violate norms and treat officials and common people fiercely．

On the contrary，emperors who adopt the following conducts can contribute to the sound political situation．

Ⅳ．Contradiction between reality and ideal

Qu Yuan’s political ideal can hardly be realized in reality，thus leading to the contradiction between reality and ideal，which is the incurable disease of China’s ancient politics．Qu Yuan’s narration on the contradiction has the following significance:

First，those with no virtue engaged in politics are the major reason accounting for the impaired political system．

Second，those with no virtue engaged in politics tend to lead to serious consequences．On one hand，the moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day．On the other hand，people try to pursue fame and profit by devious methods and upright political morality cannot be respected．

What’s more，upright gentlemen are separated from the emperor．In this case，the emperor fails to come to realize the truth，and on the other hand，upright gentlemen are haunted by pain and contradiction．Finally，they will be forced out of the political stage，thus leading to the worsening national political situation．

Qu Yuan holds that this deviant political phenomenon is quite common in all dynasties．First，the treacherous court officials are jealous of the talents，therefore，they will do slanderous talk in front of the emperor to defame the talents．Second，the treacherous court officials pretend to be decent to win the trust of the emperor．Third，the loyal officials are framed and cannot be appointed by the emperor any more．

In one word，despite that Qu Yuan suffers a lot when he is taken a hit in political views，he still take the national fate the priority instead of personal safety．He will never change his mind and obey the evil．

Ⅴ．Attitude of Qu Yuan towards contradiction

Qu Yuan’s attitude towards contradiction is that he would rather die than associate himself with evil matters．First of all，he is determined not to bow to the evil reality．

Now that he will never associate himself with evil matters and is not able to change the reality so as to realize his political ideal，he has to copy the former saints and commit suicide to show his ambition．

Before he commits suicide，he first chooses to exile himself and leave the unsatisfactory political environment，thus improving his personality．Qu Yuan explains that it is not because of personal safety，but out of the sincere patriotism，that he chooses to leave the court．

Qu Yuan never stops improving his personality during his exile．He keeps pondering over the problem of life and politics，and finally，decides to kill himself to show his ambition in that his lofty character and remarkable talents fail to alter the worsening reality．He believes that the spirit of the warriors is immortal，like gods，and they will be memorized by people forever．And he is also one of them，so it is a worthy death．

Ⅵ．The spiritual pursuit of Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan keeps pondering over problems in anguish，and he can barely fall asleep till morning，in the hope that he can find out the ultimate spiritual destination through speculation．

Qu Yuan applies mythical verses to indicate that his spiritual pursuit is by no means a simple path and that he can never reach the destination easily．However，he will unswervingly pursue the stated objective．

At this time，Qu Yuan feels that he will achieve nothing in the spiritual realm in the secular world．However，in the spiritual world，he is extremely wise，independent，free and omnipotent，just like gods．This is the realm referred to by Qu Yuan as the original state of matters，which gives people freedom and bliss．

Ⅶ．Conclusion

The worldly ideal and political ideals of Qu Yuan aim at achieving the realm of the original state of objects．On one hand，due to the irreconcilable conflicts between reality and ideal，people with these lofty worldly and political ideals tend to be discouraged and struck in the real life;on the other hand，the lofty worldly and political ideals are by nature connected with lofty spiritual pursuit．The unconventional and happy spiritual realm can be achieved by pondering over the pain of life and the conflicts of reality，which emphasizes the important value of spirit to human life．

There is a saying that“anger leads to poets”．Reading the poem of Qu Yuan，it seems that we can say that“anger leads to thinkers”．It cannot be neglected that Qu Yuan is a thinker who expresses his ideas by literary works when we commemorate and study Qu Yuan．It also reminds us that there are always severe conflicts between reality and ideal．Is that a problem that can never be solved?Is there no way to change the social evils in reality?The series of problems behind the expression of Qu Yuan’s idea deserve our further thinking．

Notes:

〔1〕蒋骥:《山带阁注楚辞》，北京:中华书局，1958年。

〔2〕王夫之:《楚辞通释》，北京:中华书局，1959年。

〔3〕洪兴祖:《楚辞补注》，北京:中华书局，1983年。

〔4〕金开诚:《屈原辞研究》，南京:江苏古籍出版社，1992年。

〔5〕朱熹:《楚辞集注》，上海:上海教育出版社，合肥:安徽教育出版社，2001年。