Abstract The relation between man and nature is the core issue of human civilization and culture development. When it comes to man and nature, Tao yuanming and Thoreau can not be ignored.

Tao Yuanming and Thoreau are the typical representatives of recluses from China and the west, and the thesis is based on the studies of the demands of reclusion between Tao Yuanming and Thoreau including their social backgrounds, motivations and styles of reclusion, spying out similarities and differences of the relation between human and nature in Chinese and western culture. Meanwhile the traditional philosophy of “oneness of man and nature” and “separation of man and nature” is also studied in this paper. In addition, this paper is aimed at promoting the multi-cultural exchange and communication and arousing people's wide concern for the relationship between man and nature. Thus when facing the problem of man and nature, we can learn from each other to achieve the harmony of man and nature with joint efforts.59919

Key words: man and nature; Tao Yuanming; Thoreau; reclusion; cross-cultural

摘要人与自然的关系问题是人类文明和文化发展的核心问题,当提到人与自然，陶渊明和梭罗是不可被忽略的。陶渊明和梭罗是中西方文人逸士的典型代表，本文以他们的隐逸诉求为切入口，从社会背景，隐逸动机，方式和追求等方面窥探出中西方两种不同文明下人与自然关系的异同，同时“天人合一”和“天人相分”的传统哲学理念也在本文中进行了研究。本文旨在推动多元文化的交流和沟通并且唤起人们对人与自然关系问题的关注。从而使我们在面对人与自然问题时能够相互学习，共同追求人与自然的和谐。

毕业论文关键词：人与自然；陶渊明；梭罗；隐逸；跨文化

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. Different Relations of Man and Nature from the Different Demands of Reclusion 2

3.1 Different Social Background, Different Drives of Life Choices 2

3.2 Different Styles of Reclusion, Different Attitudes Towards Nature 5

4. Similarities and Differences of the Relationship Between Man and Nature 7

4.1 Similarities 7

4.2 Differences 8

4.3 Causes of the Differences 10

5. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction 

The relationship between man and nature is a universal theme, and many people in the history have shown deep concern for it. Some wrote poetry or prose to speak high of nature; some returned to live in the countryside or by the lake to enjoy the life of reclusion and so on. No matter what they do, the main purpose of making all these attempts is to maintain the harmony between man and nature. When it comes to the theme of man and nature, Tao Yuanming and Henry David Thoreau have always been noticed of. According to some well-known scholars’ research results over these years, we can see that most of them take Tao yuanming or Thoreau as the sole object of study in terms of literature while few of them take a deeper intercultural study in the relation between man and nature through comparing such two hermits. This paper takes Tao Yuanming and Thoreau’s different reclusive lives as the breakthrough point to explore similarities and differences of the relation between man and nature in Chinese and Western culture and to study the traditional concepts and philosophy of nature in two different civilizations. It also deeply analyzes the backgrounds and the causes of their claim to reclusion from the point of inpidual and society. With the systematic study into Tao yuanming and Thoreau, this paper takes a new look at the relationships of man and nature, and it aims to promote the development of relationships between man and nature and finally to realize the harmony of man and nature.