ZoyaPandher

Mrs.Hope
EnglishLPS
9November2015
TPCASTTNotesandAnalysis
T
FromthetitleIBuiltMyHouseNearWhereOthersDwell,itcanbepredictedthatthepoemis
aboutlivinginthepresenceofothers,orthehumanneedforcompany.
P
Icreatedmyhomeclosetowheremorelive,
Butthereisnonoiseoftransportation.
YouquestionmeInwhatwayisthispossible?
Whenthecenterofsomethingisnottherethenthetruemeaningofaplaceislost.
Igatherflowersunderthebushoftherisingsun,
Andlookawayintothepeaksofthesouth.
Thesummitbreezeisclearattheendoftheday
Andsoaringbirdsgohomeasone.
InsidetheseoccurrencesthereisasmidgeofVerity,
AlthoughwhenItrytodescribethis,theexplanationescapesme.
C
Thepoemusesalotofimagery,whichdepictsdifferentwaysthatthespeakerinteractswithand
isclosetonature.
Ipluckchrysanthemumsundertheeasternhedge,/Andgazeafartowardsthe

southernmountains./Themountainairisfineateveningoftheday/Andflyingbirdsreturn
togetherhomewards.(Chien58)
A
Theattitudeofthespeakershowsthatthespeakerisatpeacewithandunderstandsthenatural
world,althoughthisunderstandingisnoteasilyputintowords.Withinthesethingsthereisa
hintofTruth,/ButwhenIstarttotellit,Icannotfindthewords.(Chien910)
S
Therearenodramaticshiftsinthetheattitudeorthinkingofthespeaker,exceptfortheinability
tofindwordsandthelittlebitofconfusionincontrasttothecompleteunderstandinginthe
beginningofthepoem.Atonepoint,theauthorutilizesaquestionandanswerformattofurther
illustratewhythespeakerfeelsmorecontentinthenaturalworldthaninthecontemporary
society.YouaskofmeHowcanthisbeso?/Whentheheartisfar,theplaceofitselfis
distant.(Chien34)
T
Thetitleofthispoemmeansthatthespeakerwantstoliveamongthepresenceofthetrue
meaningoflife.Inamoreliteralsense,thespeakerhasbuilthishousenearwhereothersdwell,
buttheothersarepartsofnaturesuchasflowers,birds,andmountainsratherthanpeople.He
livesnearthingsthatareunaffectedbyhumans.Ibuiltmyhousenearwhereothersdwell,/yet
thereisnoclamorofhorsesorcarriage.(Chien12).
T
Thesubjectofthepoemisnature.Theauthorsmessageaboutnatureisthatlivingawayfrom
humanityandclosertothenaturalworldcanhelptofindthetruemeaningoflife.Aftersaying

thathefindsnomeaninginsocietyandshowingwaysthatheisclosetonature,hesaysthat
WithinthesethingthereisahintofTruth(Chien9).

TaoChien,anancientChinesepoet,livedbetweentheHanandTangdynasties,from
365427A.D.Afterworkingasalowrankinggovernmentofficialinhisearlylife,hemovedto
thecountryside.Thisallowedhimtowitnessthepeaceandcalmofnature,whichisevidentin
hispoetry.TaoChienwaspredominantlyaDaoist,althoughhedidadoptcertainaspectsof
ConfucianismandBuddhismthatappealedtohim.ThepoemIBuiltMyHouseNearWhere
OthersDwellcanbeseentoreflectthevaluesofDaoismthroughanalysisofthespeaker,the
style,andthethemeofthepoem.
OnewaythattheimpactofDaoismcanbeseeninthepoemisbyanalyzingthespeaker.
Tobegin,thespeakerstartsthepoembyrejectingthehustleandbustleofsociety,sayingthathe
livesnearotherseventhoughthereisnoclamorofcarriagesandhorse(Chien2).An
importantpartofDaoismistorecognizethatsocietycanbehinderingtotheunderstandingofthe
Dao,andthatitisnotnecessary.Whentheheartisfar,theplaceofitselfisdistantshowsthat
thespeakerhasrecognizedthathis/herheartisnolongerwithcivilization,butlongsfor
somethingelse(Chien4).Therestofthepoemrevealsthatthespeakerfollowsthatfeelingto
liveinthenaturalworld.InDaoism,peopleareencouragedtoactnaturallyandnottamperwith
thecourseoflife.
AnotherelementthatportraystheeffectsofDaoismisthetechnicalstyleofthepoem.
Firstofall,thepoemitselfisnotextremelyphilosophical,butisrathershortandtothepoint.
ThisgoesalongwiththeideathatDaoismisnotaboutlongwindedexplanations.Imageryisalso
usedfrequentlytodescribevariouspartsofnaturethataidincreatingthefeelingtheauthor
wantstoconvey,whichisaboutthesimplicityandtruththatexistsinnature.Thisisdoneby
brieflydepictingordinarywayshumansinteractwithnature,suchaspluckingchrysanthemums

undertheeasternhedgeorknowingthatflyingbirdsreturntogetherhomewards(Chien5,8).
TheseelementsindicatethepresenceofDaoism,asDaoistsbelievedthattheDaocouldbe
observedthroughnature.
TheoverallthemeofthepoemalsoportraystheinfluenceofDaoism.Thepoemstheme
isthatbeingremovedfromhumanityandlivingamongnatureinsteadcanhelptofindthetrue
meaningoflife.Thetextillustratesthisbysaying,WithinthesethingsthereisahintofTruth,
afterdescribingafewwaysthespeakerinteractsandobservesnature.Thisshowsthatthemost
simple,everydaypartsofnaturecanbepartofsomethingthatringstruewithinthesoul.Theidea
thatunderstandingandconnectingtonaturecanhelponetocomprehendandobservetheDaois
oneofthebasicprinciplesofDaoism.
IBuiltMyHouseNearWhereOthersDwelldisplaystheprinciplesofDaoismthrough
manyelementswithinthepoem.Byanalyzingthespeaker,thetechnicalstyle,andthethemeof
thiswork,evidenceoftheimpactDaoismhadonbothTaoChienandthispoembecomesvery
clear.