Meng Haoran

Meng Haoran (; 689/691–740) was a Chinese poet and a major literary figure of the Tang dynasty. He was a somewhat older contemporary of Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu. Despite his brief pursuit of an official career, Meng Haoran spent most of his life in and around his hometown Xiangyang in Hubei Province, living like a hermit, while creating poems inspired by its landscapes and milieu.

Meng Haoran was a major influence on both contemporary and subsequent poets of the Tang dynasty due to his proficiency in Shanshui poetry and his disciplined, independent spirit.

The Three Hundred Tang Poems also collected two poems by Li Bai addressed to Meng Haoran, one in his praise and one written in farewell.

Biography A city park in the former Xiangyang area, Meng Haoran's home territory. One of the major poets during a peak era of the Tang Poetry, known as the High Tang, Meng Haoran was born in Xiangyang District, Xiangfan, south of the Han River, in the modern province of Hubei. He remained strongly attached to this area and its scenery throughout his life.

He had the desire to pursue a career in politics in his youth, but never succeeded in securing an official position. He received his only quasi-civil service position as an advisor to Zhang Jiuling three years before his death, but resigned after less than a year due to his aloofness and pride. In fact, Meng composed several poems about Wang and their parting. While Wang's work focused on the natural world, in particular the solitude and reprieve it granted from human life along with the scale of the natural world, Meng's poetry focuses more on foreground details and human life, such as returning villagers waiting at the ferry crossing, fishermen, or (often unseen) mountain hermits dwelling in religious seclusion.

Meng's poetic language was as simple as everyday conversation, yet this simplicity did not diminish his poems' careful craftsmanship. Critics have noted that Meng's artistry resides in his adeptness at transforming ordinary daily experiences into enduring poetry.

Meng's quatrain "Spring Morning" is one of the best known Tang poems, partly due to its position as the opening selection in the Qian-Jia Shi (Poems of a Thousand Masters), a beginner's anthology of verses widely adopted in elementary school curricula since the late Song dynasty.

Reception and legacy Meng was highly regarded by his contemporaries, notably Li Bai and Du Fu, both of whom wrote poems in his praise. According to Du Fu, Meng's poetry surpassed those of Bao Zhao and Xie Lingyun in quality. Li Bai's tribute, on the other hand, honored Meng's noble character and independent spirit. Song dynasty critics believed that Meng's poetry excelled in creativity but lacked depth and breadth in its topics. Su Shi likened Meng's artistry to that of a skilled wine maker with supreme craftsmanship but a shortage of ingredients. 20th century scholar Wen Yiduo aligned with Li Bai in his assessment of Meng, praising his poetry as a genuine expression of his serene demeanor and lifestyle as a hermit.

The themes and styles of Meng Haoran's Shanshui poetry helped to set a convention followed by younger poets, including Wang Wei.