Review on Chen Qiao and His Poetry

Chen Qiao,a late Yuan Dynasty philosopher in east Zhejiang,never sought a career in politics but devoted himself to writing,considering reviving Cheng-Zhu philosophy as his duty.A great pity was it that his works are nowhere to be found,only left four volumes of The Anthology of Deer Leather Man.His poetry-mostly poems about things and frames of mind-described his life in solitude and expressed his pursuit that sought no wealth or fame but selfperfection.Among his poems,those of addressing his friends took a large proportion and many of them involved realistic subjects and exemplified influences of classical Confucian thoughts on him.He also wrote a number of poems that illustrated truthful ideas and history.Influenced by the times was his art of poetry, which in general imitated the classical poetry of Tang Dynasty while different literary modes still showed different styles: his seven-syllable newer-style poetry took after Lu Guimeng;his seven-syllable ancient-style poetry took after Wen Tingyun;his Yuefu poetry,parallel with Tie Ya School represented by Yang Weizhen,took after Li He.