The feature and value of The Commentary on Tao Jingjie Poetry Anthology by Jiang Xun

Jiang Xun (1610-1693), the courtesy name Dan Ae, born in Haining, Zhejiang province, is the author of the Commentary on Tao Jingjie Poetry Anthology. Among many commentators of Tao Yuanming, Jiang Xun’s status is very special. After the Yi Dynasty, he tried to imitate Tao Yuanming’s shameful behavior and lived in the open. Later, he chose to give up his integrity and became an official in the Qing government. In the end, Tao Yuanming did not give in to subsistence and returned to his post. At present, the academic world’s evaluation of this book is not high, mainly because Jiang Xun's commentary is rich in personal feelings. In the Origin and Flow of The Edition of Pottery collection, Shio Hashikawa said, “Nine out of ten of them are just empty language, just for amusement.” Guo Shaoyu also said in The Examination of Pottery Collection, “Self-evaluation is not persuasive enough.” However, in the Qing dynasty, the book was highly valued by scholars and even regarded as a rare book. This paper re-examines the life of Jiang Xun and the contents of this book and further discusses how Jiang Xun commented on Tao’s poems as a “guilty person” when he retired for the second time. By analyzing the commentary characteristics of this book, this paper discusses how Jiang Xun's comments highlight the unique flavor of Tao's poetry and its significance in the history of pottery.