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Planting is often seen as a mundane labor, but starting from the middle Tang Dynasty, many literati began to engage in the cultivation of flowers and plants. They even incorporated the process of planting into their poetry. Iiterary works reflected social customs and the thoughts of literati. This thesis focuses on the middle Tang Dynasty, particularly the extensive planting themes found in the works of Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi. Through comparative analysis and close examination of their poems and essays, it explores the significance of planting imagery. The paper examines the pre-middle Tang Dynasty's writings on planting and highlights the connection between literati and planting through Qu Yuan's personal cultivation of fragrant herbs. This connection gave the activity of planting the connotation of "self-cultivation." During the middle Tang period, Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi reached a peak in the quality of their planting poems, drawing inspiration from the Chu Ci but diverging in their development due to different experiences and emotions. Liu Zongyuan's poems on flower cultivation predominantly express the theme of "unfulfilled encounters." He uses "external beauty" of flowers as metaphors for his "self-cultivation", and indicating Liu Zong-yuan's practical application of the literary phenomenon of Qu Yuan planting herbs and the expansion of the phenomenon of "the beauty and the fragrant grass." On the other hand, although Bai Juyi's planting poems do not directly imitate Qu Yuan's planting imagery, traces of the Chu Ci can be observed. For instance, he uses fragrant herbs as metaphors for gentlemen and employs the rhetorical device of "fragrant herbs/foul herbs." Unlike Qu Yuan and Liu Zongyuan, who embody the spirit of "self-cultivation" through active involvement in the planting process, Bai Juyi, with his passionate and individualistic nature, discovers the reasons and interests in planting. He uses it as a leisurely and refined activity to harmonize the contradictions in his own thoughts. Furthermore, the planting literature of Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi showcases a transformation in the literary style of literati and has a stimulating impact on planting literature in the later Tang Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty. Many later literati followed the common "transplantation" pattern found in Liu Zongyuan's planting poems. They expressed their own spirit of "self-cultivation" by diligently seeking and transplanting fragrant herbs. This expanded the literary phenomenon of "the beauty and the fragrant Grass" in later generations. Additionally, later literati also emulated Bai Juyi by adopting a refined lifestyle that incorporated planting as a leisurely pursuit alongside their official duties. By cultivating flowers and plants in the city, they created an "ideal" natural space and allowed themselves to enjoy leisure in the urban environment. Through the discussion, this paper primarily clarifies the following aspects: firstly, the activity of planting acquired a refined cultural coloration among literati, starting with Qu Yuan's planting herbs and continuing with the planting literature of Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi. Secondly, planting literature in the middle Tang Dynasty is not solely a recreational activity influenced by the trend of enjoying flowers and buying gardens; it also conveys the emotions and sentiments of poets. Lastly, the planting literature of the middle Tang Dynasty holds significant importance in the literary history, serving as a bridge between past and future.
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