On Li Gangs Poetry Written in His Relegation, and His Corrective Addition to Qu Yuans Thinking

In 1127,Li Gang was banished from his office as Prime Minister to Ezhou(now Hubei Province),beginning his life of relegation in Hubei and Hunan .In 1129,he was further relegated to Liezhou and Qiongzhou (now Hainan Province),namely, what were then called places between the Five Ridges and the sea and overseas. Wherever he went, he would write poems to record his travels, vent his indignation and describe his worries. In these poems, Li Gang often compared himself to Qu Yuan, expressing his admiration for the latters patriotism and uprightness. And,on the other hand,examining Qu Yuans thinking in the light of confucianism ,he criticizes Qu Yuan for his extremity of passion and his lack of attention to strategies whereby to preserve effective strength so as to meet the needs of the political struggles of his time ;and besides, from his personal perspective of life ,he described landscapes so as to buffer the passionate anger and branch off the resentment pent up in his heart .These were his important development of, and corrective addition to,Qu Yuans thiking.