Names

In the middle of his life, Tao changed his name (keeping his family name) from Tao Yuanming (陶淵明 Táo Yuānmíng) to Tao Qian (陶潛 Táo Qián). "Master of the Five Willows", another name which he used when quite young, seems to be a soubriquet of his own invention. There is a surviving autobiographical essay from his youth in which Tao Yuanming uses "Five Willows" to allude to himself. After this, Tao refers to himself in his earlier writings as "Yuanming"; however; it is thought that with the demise of the Eastern Jin dynasty in 420, that he began to refer to himself as "Qian", meaning "hiding", as a signification of his final withdrawal into the quiet life in the country and his decision to avoid any further participation in the political scene. Tao Qian could also be translated "Recluse Tao". However, this in no way implies an eremitic lifestyle or extreme asceticism; rather a comfortable dwelling, with family, friends, neighbors, musical instruments, wine, a nice library, and the beautiful scenery of a mountain farm were Tao Qian's compensation for giving up on the lifestyle of Tao Yuanming, government servant.

The names Yuanliang (元亮), Shenming (深明), and Quanming (泉明) are all associated with Tao Yuanming. Some of this confusion results from a naming taboo during the Tang dynasty, specifically that the characters for an emperor's name were impermissible to use either to write or even to casually pronounce. This taboo required the substitution of similar characters or words in order to avoid this prohibition. As the "High Founder" of the Tang dynasty (posthumously titled Emperor Gaozu of Tang) had the personal name Li Yuan, the yuan (渊) character became taboo. So, since this was the same as the yuan in Yuanming, various authors substituted the synonymous shen (深) for yuan—both referring to "depths".

Life

Ancestry

Tao Yuanming's great-grandfather was the eminent Jin dynasty general and governor, Tao Kan (259-334). His grandfather and father also both served as government officials, rising to the level of County Governor. However, the family circumstances into which Tao Yuanming was born were only those of moderate poverty and lack of much political influence. Family circumstances included the death of his father when he was eight years old.

Personal background

Tao Yuanming is considered to be a person of the Eastern Jin dynasty (316/317 - 419/420CE), although living beyond the demise of that dynasty. The last stable period in Chinese history had been during the Han dynasty (206BCE – 220CE), which was followed by the various political permutations known as the Three Kingdoms, one of these successor states being Cao Wei, founded and ruled by the Cao clan, and basically briefly reunifying China. The Jin dynasty was founded and controlled by the Sima clan, the leading members of which were known for gaining and retaining power through corruption. This began before the birth of Tao Yuanming, when Sima Yan usurped the throne of the monarchal ruler of Cao Wei dynasty, establishing its headquarters at the western capital of Chang'an, and renaming the kingdom Jin. Subsequently,the history of the dynasty was characterized by nepotism, corrupt politics, civil disorder, and violence. Various other clans also vied for power. The Sima fought against these as well as each other. The weaknesses inherent in the system culminated in the War of the Eight Princes (291 to 306), all eight princes being Simas. Immediate subsequent events resulted in certain bandits or revolutionaries and various neighboring powers overrunning the country. These neighboring powers to the north and west were not ethnic Han Chinese, and for these reasons were referred to as were referred to as the Five Hu, or Wu Hu, one of which was a Xiongnu empire; and, this event thus known as the Uprising of the Five Hu. The Xiongnu overthrew remnants of the Sima princes and the bandit leaders north of the Yangzi river, eventually capturing, and killing the two last Sima rulers of Western Jin, and in the process capturing the capital Chang'an. Upon the territory north of the Yangzi being captured, a southerner named Sima Rui set up a new Jin dynasty state with a capital at Jiankang. This new Jin empire continued the traditions of violence and corruption of their predecessor; and, it was this manifestation of Jin, known as Eastern Jin, was the one in which Tao Yuanming was born and lived most of his life. Control of Eastern Jin was usurpered by a series of successors of various clans, and also subject to less-successful rebellions by various warlords, and also facing external threats from other states such as Northern Wei, whose dynastic rulers were of the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. Eventually the whole Jin state was replaced by Liu Song, in 419/420. This new dynasty was named Song (like the much later, larger dynasty) and was ruled by the Liu family, and also corrupt and short-lived. Versions of Tao Yuanming's biography in the Chinese source material vary as to his name and age during the various historical events of Eastern Jin and Liu Song known from other sources

Birth

Tao Yuanming was born during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420), in Chaisang, a place which is now a district of the city of Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province, China.

Year of birth controversy

Tao Yuanming is generally believed to have been born in the year 365 CE in Chaisang (柴桑) (modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi), an area of great natural beauty. At the time the province was named Jiangzhou, and had an actively Buddhist Governor. This birth date is confirmed in Tao's biography in the Book of Jin, which state that he was born "in the third year of the Xingning Reign Period of Emperor Ai", or Common Era year 365. However, there is some uncertainty regarding this date, and the Chinese scholar Yuan Xingpei has argued that Tao was actually born in 352.

Place of birth

The name of Tao Yuanming's ancestral village, Chaisang, literally means "Mulberry-Bramble". Nearby sights have included Mount Lu, Poyang Lake (then known as P'eng-li), as well as a good selection of nature's features located in the immediate vicinity of Chaisang.

Younger years

Detailed information on Tao Yuanming's younger years are not known, although it is safe to say that they were lived in a difficult environment. When he would have been eighteen or nineteen, occurred the invasion by the state of Former Qin (ruled by an ethnically Hu dynasty) and the events culminating in the Battle of Fei River (383), which after great risk to the existence of Eastern Jin, resulted in against odds gains of territory north of Yangzi river, also whetting Eastern Jin appetites for reconquering the former northern territories. Many events would occur during Tao Yuanming's lifetime, including two revolts leading to usurpation of the throne, and eventually, in his old age, the overthrow of Eastern Jin.

Incident at Tiger Creek Bridge

Tao Yuanming's birth place was very near Mount Lu (Lushan), which became a center of Buddhism, and eventually a source of origin for Pure Land Buddhism. According to historical accounts, in the eleventh year of emperor Xiaowu's Taiyuan reign period (386), when Tao Yuanming would have been 21 years old, Buddhist priest Huiyuan (later considered First Ancestor of Pure Land Buddhism) came to build the Donglin Monastery and organized the White Lotus Society, or a branch therof. Many scholars and poets participated in the Huiyuan's social circle, centered at the mountain monastery. According to the book Stories of Worthy Personages in the Lotus Society (蓮社高賢傳), Master Huiyuan was supposed to never leave the monastery, except for one time. The official border of the monastery was known as Tiger Creek (also known as Tiger Gorge), over which there was a bridge. Tiger Creek was named for the tigers then inhabiting the neighboring hills. However, once, following a visit by Tao Yuanming and another scholar, Master Huiyuan, on accompanying his guests out, became so wrapped up in their conversation, that he did not notice that he was leaving the monastery grounds. Upon crossing the Tiger Creek Bridge, the local tigers were so astonished at this departure from the Master's practice of never leaving the monastery grounds that they began to roaring and howling. The story goes on to say that once Huiyuan realized he had breached his practice, the three all burst out laughing. This incident later became the subject of the famous paintings of "Three Laughing Men at Tiger Creek" (Chinese: 虎溪三笑; Pinyin: hǔ xī sān xiào).

Government service

Tao Yuanming ended up serving more than ten years in government service, personally involved with the sordid political scene of the times, which he did in five stints. Tao served in both civil and military capacities, which included making several trips down the Yangzi to the capital Jiankang, then a thriving metropolis, and the center of power during the Six Dynasties. The ruins of the old Jiankang walls can still be found in the modern municipality of Nanjing. During this period, Tao Yuanming's poems begin to indicate that he was becoming torn between ambition and a desire to retreat into solitude.

Political background

Through the history of the times, enough is known of the general state of affairs during Tao's governmental career to indicate why such service during that sorry state of political affairs was so miserable for him: Tao Yuanming served under the two usurpers Huan Xuan and Liu Yu, not to mention the weak and pitiful emperor An.

The future emperor An of Eastern Jin (born 382 and personally named Sima Dezong) was a scion of the dynastic ruling family of the Jin empire, the Sima. His father was emperor Xiaowu, who named him crown prince in 387, despite his extreme developmental disabilities (being unable to dress himself, speak, or generally communicate). When Xiaowu was murdered in bed by his secondary wife, the Lady Zhang, An was crowned emperor in 397. Acting as regent, actual control of the empire was in the hands of emperor An's father's younger brother Sima Daozi. The regent, Sima Daozi, could dress himself and communicate verbally, but nevertheless was not that capable of a ruler, with a reputation for feasting and drinking rather than attending to affairs of state, and surrounding himself with flatterers. Various insurrections developed during the span of this corrupt and incompetent government, mostly unsuccessful, a state of affairs which did not change much when Sima Daozi's son Sima Yuanxian succeeded as regent (an event reported to happening during a bout of drunkenness on the part of Sima Daozi). Eventually, the warlord Huan Xuan was able to consolidate enough power to seize the regency for himself. Huan Xuan was a kleptocrat, who found some way to seize whatever valuable objects or properties that he envied. Besides that, Huan had a habit of tyrannically punishing any official who made the slightest mistake or whom he was suspicious of. In 403, Huan had emperor An abdicate, so that he himself could be ruler both in fact and in name, and renamed his empire as the Chu dynasty. Shortly thereafter Huan Xuan was killed during the course of an uprising, in 404/405. The rebels then restored emperor An to his nominal position, and the empire's name to Jin. The leader of the rebels was Huan Xuan's general Liu Yu, who proceeded to rule as regent for emperor An. A typical pattern of external warfare and rebellions from within followed. In 418/419 Liu Yu had an assassin kill emperor An. Liu Yu installed An's younger brother (Sima Dewen) as emperor Gong, with Liu Yu retaining the real power. Liu Yu then forced Gong to abdicate, and not long after had him assassinated. Upon Gong's abdication, Liu Yu had himself named as Emperor Wu of Song, thus officially ending the Jin dynasty. This is the government in which Tao Yuanming served, and his poems portray his increasing discontent with doing so, whether or not he was really inclined to do so anyway is less clear (and he seems to have other personal, family reasons for his decision to resign). Nevertheless, after around a decade of service, Tao decided to leave the government and go back to his home region.

Five stints as a government official

Tao Yuanming's first stint in government was as State Officer of Rites, when he was about twenty-nine. He did this in part due to family poverty, and to support his aged parents. However, he had a difficult time of it and returned home. Accounts of Tao's second and third government service stints vary somewhat. One source of information is A Year-by-Year Biography of Tao Yuanming by Lu Qingli. Tao's second stint in government seems to have been working for Huan Xuan. According to Lu, Tao served in the government during the Long'an years of emperor An, during the time of the Sun En revolt. (Sun En seems to have been a populist magician associated with the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice movement.) Tao would have been about thirty-five years old, and the warlord Huan Xuan had become Governor of Tao's home province, Jiangzhou. Huan had a plan to coordinate with other warlords (including Liu Yu) to eradicate Sun En. Again according to Lu, Tao Yuanming was the official to go to the imperial capital, Jiankang, and officially submit this proposal to the imperial government. After receiving approval, Huan and associates successfully subdued the rebellion. Then, about three tears later, Huan Xuan and other warlords rebelled, and captured both the capital city and the emperor, An, and thus the imperial power. But by this time Tao Yuanming was working not for Huan but as Defense Strategist (apparently his third stint as a government official), handling paperwork for Liu Yu, the general in charge of defending the Sima-lead imperial government. There was also a fourth stint. When he was about forty, Tao worked for general Liu Jingxuan, who resigned about a year later, and Tao along with him. Tao Yuanming's fifth and final stint, as Penze county magistrate (beginning March of the first year of the Yixing regnal year), only lasted about eighty days, as he resigned in August the same year. This was the time period when he wrote his essay "To Return", in his preface to which he mentions taking the job because having "a house full of little kids", and goes on to explain why he wants to give up government work and return home. Each stint seems to have lasted no more than a few years, and each time Tao Yuanming seems to have resigned and returned home. Officially, his retirement was due to the sudden death of his younger sister and his need to attend to the funeral rites. Another reason, given by his biographer Xiao Tong, was that Tao was faced with the imminent imposition of an onerous supervisor, whom he was told he "had to treat right", and which was the occasion of him saying, "I won't bow to a bucolic boy for the sake of five pecks of rice." Subsequently, despite various offers by Liu Yu, after he became emperor, Tao Yuanming refused to return to government service. Of Tao Yuanming's career Su Shi describe him as "working for the government when he desired to, without feeling shame in his requests; retiring when he desired to, without thinking himself lofty."

Return to the fields

In the Spring of 405, Tao Yuanming was serving in the army, as aide-de-camp to the local commanding officer. The death of his sister together with his disgust at the corruption and infighting of the Jin Court prompted him to resign. As Tao himself put it, he would not "bow like a servant in return for five pecks of grain" (為五斗米折腰 wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhé yāo), a saying which has entered common usage meaning "swallowing one's pride in exchange for a meager existence". 'Five pecks of grain' was among other things the specified salary of certain low-rank officials. Certainly Tao Yuanming's salary as Penze County Magistrate was far higher than five pecks, so this was a symbolic expression. For the last 22 years of his life, he lived in retirement on his small farmstead.

Children and family

Tao Yuanming married two times. His first wife died when he was in his thirties.

Tao Yuanming had five sons. The oldest son was Tao Yan, as mentioned in his letter "A Letter to My Sons Yan, Etc.", a sort of apology for any hunger or cold which they suffered as a result of following his ideal and conscience and not working for the government any more. The daughters, if any, were unrecorded (as customary). However, just how this occurred within the chronology of his life is unknown.

Religious and philosophical influences

Tao Yuanming's works show a certain spiritual side to them. The three main sources of religious/philosophical influence on Tao Yuanming were Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist.

In his youth, Tao says, "I enjoyed studying the Six Classics." He mentions this in Title 16 of his Drinking Poems series. The Six Classics refers to the Six Confucian Classics (now the Five Classics, due to the loss of the Book of Music), fundamental Confucian texts. Tao shows his Daoist influence in various works, for example, such lines as "I long to return to Nature" from his poem "Returning to Country and Farming", or his sentiments in his essay "Return", deprecating artificial limits or restrictions in interpersonal relationships, and the desire for a simple life, with Nature taking its course. Also in "Returning to Country and Farming", Tao Yuanming shows a Buddhist side (although he never formally became a Buddhist): "Life is like an illusion; everything returns to emptiness," he says, echoing the Buddhist sutras. His ability to absorb and creatively employ the three diverse religions/philosophies leads Florence Chia-ying Yeh to say: "Among the Chinese poets, Tao Yuanming had the greatest perseverance and integrity. His power to persevere was based upon his acceptance and absorption of the essentials of various philosophies, such as Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. He mastered not only the external words, doctrines, and rituals, but also had a thorough internal understanding and acceptance of the best and most valuable parts of those schools of thought."

Death

His main biographies give Tao Yuanming's death as "in the fourth year of the Yuanjia reign period of Emperor Wen". Thus, Tao Qian is generally but not universally held to have died in 427, which mathematically works out to the age of 63. If, however, he was in fact born in 352, he would instead have been 76 years old when he died.

Sources

There are various sources on information about Tao Yuanming. As living in the Jin dynasty he is chronicled in the Book of Jin. Since he lived into Liu Song times, he is also chronicled in the Book of Song. Tao Yuanming has another biography in the History of the South. There is also some information to be found in his preserved works, which were first systematically collected by Xiao Tong, a Liang dynasty prince (princely title Zhaoming), who also included a biography, in his book Wen Xuan.

Works and legacy

Approximately 130 of his works survive: mostly poems or essays which depict an idyllic pastoral life of farming and drinking.

Poetry

Because his poems depict a life of farming and of drinking his home made wine, he would later be termed "Poet of the Fields". In Tao Yuanming's poems can be found superlative examples of the theme which urges its audience to drop out of official life, move to the country, and take up a cultivated life of wine, poetry, and avoiding people with whom friendship would be unsuitable, but in Tao's case this went along with actually engaging in farming. Tao's poetry also shows an inclination to fulfillment of duty, such as feeding his family. Tao's simple and plain style of expression, reflecting his back-to-basics lifestyle, first became better known as he achieved local fame as a hermit. This was followed gradually by recognition in major anthologies. By the Tang dynasty, Tao was elevated to greatness as a poet's poet, revered by Li Bai and Du Fu.

Han poetry, Jian'an poetry, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, and the other earlier Six dynasties poetry foreshadowed some of Tao's particular symbolism and the general "returning home to the country" theme, and also somewhat separately show precursory in evolving of poetic form, based on the yuefu style which traces its origin to the Han dynasty Music Bureau. An example given of the thematic evolution of one of Tao's poetic themes is Zhang Heng's Return to the Field, written in the Classical Chinese poetry form known as the fu, or "rhapsody" style, but Tao's own poetry (including his own "Return to the Field" poem) tends to be known for its use of the more purely poetic shi which developed as a regular line length form from the literary yuefu of the Jian'an and foreshadows the verse forms favored in Tang poetry, such as gushi, or "old-style verse". Tao's poems, prose and their combination of form and theme into his own style broke new ground and became a fondly relied upon historical landmark. Much subsequent Chinese painting and literature would require no more than the mention or image of chrysanthemums by the eastern fence to call to mind Tao Yuanming's life and poetry. Later, his poetry and the particular motifs which Tao Yuanming exemplified would prove to importantly influence the innovations of Beat poetry and the 1960s poetry of the United States and Europe. Both in the 20th century and subsequently, Tao Yuanming has come to occupy a position as one of the select group of great world poets.

Poems

The following is an extract from a poem Tao wrote, in the year 409, in regard to a traditional Chinese holiday:

:Written on the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month of the Year yi-yu

:The myriad transformations

: unravel one another

:And human life

: how should it not be hard?

:From ancient times

: there was none but had to die,

: Remembering this

:scorches my very heart.

: What is there I can do

: to assuage this mood?

: Only enjoy myself

: drinking my unstrained wine.

: I do not know

: about a thousand years,

: Rather let me make

: this morning last forever.

Poem number five of Tao's "Drinking Wine" series is translated by Arthur Waley:

I built my hut in a zone of human habitation

my hut in a zone of human habitation,

Yet near me there sounds no noise of horse or coach.

Would you know how that is possible?

A heart that is distant creates a wilderness round it.

I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge,

Then gaze long at the distant summer hills.

The mountain air is fresh at the dusk of day:

The flying birds two by two return.

In these things there lies a deep meaning;

Yet when we would express it, words suddenly fail us.

Another, from the same source is "Returning to the Fields" (alternatively translated by others as "Return to the Field"):

I was young, I was out of tune with the herd:

My only love was for the hills and mountains.

Unwitting I fell into the Web of the World's dust

And was not free until my thirtieth year.

The migrant bird longs for the old wood:

The fish in the tank thinks of its native pool.

I had rescued from wildness a patch of the Southern Moor

And, still rustic, I returned to field and garden.

My ground covers no more than ten acres:

My thatched cottage has eight or nine rooms.

Elms and willows cluster by the eaves:

Peach trees and plum trees grow before the hall.

Hazy, hazy the distant hamlets of men.

Steady the smoke of the half-deserted village,

A dog barks somewhere in the deep lanes,

A cock crows at the top of the mulberry tree.

At gate and courtyard—no murmur of the World's dust:

In the empty rooms—leisure and deep stillness.

Long I lived checked by the bars of a cage:

Now I have turned again to Nature and Freedom.

Tao's poems greatly influenced the ensuing poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties. A great admirer of Tao, Du Fu wrote a poem Oh, Such a Shame of life in the countryside:

:Only by wine one's heart is lit,

:only a poem calms a soul that's torn.

:You'd understand me, Tao Qian.

:I wish a little sooner I was born!

Peach Blossom Spring

Aside from his poems, Tao is also known for his short, influential, and intriguing prose depiction of a land hidden from the outside world called "Peach Blossom Spring". The name Peach Blossom Spring (桃花源 Tao Hua Yuan) is now a well known, standard Chinese term for a utopia. This fable recounted by Tao Yuanming begins with a claim that it occurred in the Taiyuan era of the Jin dynasty (376-396). According to the story, a fisher gets lost and discovers a place out of time, but cannot find it again after he leaves and tells of its existence. It is a very influential story.

Legacy

Tao Yuanming's literary legacy also includes his influence on later poets and authors. One example is Song dynasty poet Xin Qiji. Another example is Su Shi's composition "Matching Tao's Poems", in which the Song dynasty poet wrote a new poem in response to Tao's poems, but used the same rhymes for his lines. Another poet inspired in part by Tao Yuanming was the 16th century Korean poet Yi Hwang.

Critical appraisal

Zhong Rong (468-518) described Yuanming's literary style as "spare and limpid, with scarcely a surplus word." In 詩品 (Poetry Gradings), Zhong Rong wrote:

Yuanming's sincerity is true and traditional, his verbalized inspirations supple and relaxed. When one reads his works, the fine character of the poet himself comes to mind. Ordinary men admire his unadorned directness. But such lines of his as "With happy face I pour the spring-brewed wine," and "The sun sets, no clouds are in the sky," are pure and refined in the beauty of their air. These are far from being merely the words of a farmer. He is the father of recluse poetry past and present.

Su Shi (1037–1101), one of the major poets of the Song era, said that the only poet he was particularly fond of was Yuanming, who "deeply impressed him by what he was as a man." Su Shi exalted Yuanming's "unadorned and yet beautiful, spare and yet ample" poems, and even asserted that "neither Cao Zhi, Liu Zhen, Bao Zhao, Xie Lingyun, Li Bai, nor Du Fu achieves his stature".

Huang Tingjian (1045–1105), one of the Four Masters of the Song Dynasty and a younger friend of Su Shi, said, "「When you』ve just come of age, reading these poems seems like gnawing on withered wood. But reading them after long experience in the world, it seems the decisions of your life were all made in ignorance.」

Lin Yutang (1895–1976) considered Yuanming the perfect example of "the true lover of life". He praised the harmony and simplicity in Yuanming's life as well as in his style, and claimed that he "represents the most perfectly harmonious and well-rounded character in the entire Chinese literary tradition."

In Great lives from history (1988), Frank Northen Magill highlights the "candid beauty" of Yuanming's poetry, stating that the "freshness of his images, his homespun but Heaven-aspiring morality, and his steadfast love of rural life shine through the deceptively humble words in which they are expressed, and as a consequence he has long been regarded one of China's most accomplished and accessible poets." He also discusses what makes Yuanming unique as a poet, and why his works were perhaps overlooked by his contemporaries:

It is this fundamental love of simplicity that distinguishes T'ao Ch'ien's verses from the works of court poets of his time, who utilized obscure allusions and complicated stylistic devices to fashion verses that appealed only to the highly educated. T'ao Ch'ien, by way of contrast, seldom made any literary allusions whatsoever, and he wrote for the widest possible audience. As a consequence, he was slighted by his era's critics and only fully appreciated by later generations of readers.

Gallery

Tao Yuanming has inspired not only generations of poets, but also painters and other artists.

File:九江市陶渊明石像.JPG|Tao Yuanming statue in his hometown (柴桑) (modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi)

File:'Tao Yuanming', ink on paper scroll by Min Zhen, 18th century china.jpg|Tao Yuanming by Min Zhen, 18th century.

File:Tao Qian.jpg|From the book Wan hsiao tang-Chu chuang -Hua chuan (晩笑堂竹荘畫傳), published in 1921 (民国十年).

File:Wang Zhongyu-Master Jingjie.jpg|Master Jingjie, hanging scroll, ink on paper, 106.8 x 32.5 cm. Located at the Palace Museum, Beijing. Jing Jie is the posthumous name for Tao Qian, the poet from the Jin Dynasty. The text at the top is from the Ci style poem 歸去來兮.

File:Taoqian1.jpg|Portrait of Tao Qian by Chen Hongshou (1599-1652)

File:Tao Yuanming Returning to Seclusion, Freer Gallery of Art.jpg|A Song Dynasty painting on silk portraying Tao's return to seclusion in the mountains, early 12th century. Li Peng (c. 1060-1110) inscribed a poem on this handscroll entitled Returning Home in honor of Tao Qian, otherwise known as Tao Yuanming.

File:Freer 022.jpg|A bamboo brush holder or holder of poems on scrolls, created by Zhang Xihuang in the 17th century, late Ming or early Qing Dynasty. In fanciful Chinese calligraphy in Zhang's style, the poem Returning to My Farm in the Field by the 4th century poet Tao Yuanming is incised on this cylindrical bamboo holder.

File:Huxisanxiaotu.jpg|Song Dynasty painting in the Litang style illustrating the theme "Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are one". Depicts Taoist Lu Xiujing (left), official Tao Yuanming (right) and Buddhist monk Huiyuan (center, founder of Pure Land) by the Tiger stream. The stream borders a zone infested by tigers that they just crossed without fear, engrossed as they were in their discussion. Realising what they just did, they laugh together, hence the name of the picture,Three laughing men by the Tiger stream.

File:Taleoftaohuayuan.jpg|The Tale of the Peach-Blossom Land inside of the Long Corridor.

File:Filling Wine from 'Scenes from the Life of Tao Yuanming' by Chen Hongshou.JPG|Filling Wine from 'Scenes from the Life of Tao Yuanming' by Chen Hongshou

File:The Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine, Soga Shohaku - Indianapolis Museum of Art - DSC00768.JPG|The "Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine", by Soga Shohaku (1730-1781). Depicts Huiyuan (Chinese 慧遠; Hui-Yuan, Hui-Yüan in Mandarin or Fi-Yon in Gan) (334–416 AD); Tao Qian (simplified Chinese: 陶潜; traditional Chinese: 陶潛; pinyin: Táo Qián; Wade–Giles: T'ao Ch'ien) (365–427); and Lu Xiujing (chin. 陸修靜, W.-G. Liu Hsiu-ching; born 406; died 477).

File:Three laughs at Tiger Brook Kutani ware plate.jpg|Three laughs at Tiger Brook (ceramic)

File:Illustrations in the Spirit of Tao Yuanming's Poems 02.jpg|Illustrations in the Spirit of Tao Yuanming's Poems 02, Shitao (Zhu Ruoli, Buddhist name Yuanji, 1642-ca. 1707), Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Undated, album, ink and color on paper, 27 × 21.3 cm

File:Illustrations in the Spirit of Tao Yuanming's Poems 06.jpg|"Distant, distant I gaze at the white clouds:With a deep yearning I think of the Sages of Antiquity."

File:Peach blossom shangri la Tao ps.ogg|A public domain audiobook version of Peach blossom Shangri La by Tao Yuanming (in English) - 00:05:02 - 2.3MB

Translation

Editions

• Meng Erdong ed. Tao Yuanming Ji Yi Zhu .

• Wu Zheshun ed. Tao Yuanming Ji

• David Hinton (translator). The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien (Copper Canyon Press, 1993) .

• Karl-Heinz Pohl (translator). Der Pfirsichbluetenquell (Bochum University Press, 2002)

• Davis, A.R. T'ao Yuan-ming (Hong Kong, 1983) 2 vols.

• William Acker (translator). T'ao the Hermit: Sixty Poems by T'ao Ch'ien, 365-427 (London & New York: Thames and Hudson, 1952)

Commentary

• Ashmore, Robert. The Transport of Reading: Text and Understanding in the World of Tao Qian (365–427) (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2010)

• Hightower, James R. Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien .

• Xiaofei Tian. Tao Yuanming and Manuscript Culture: The Record of a Dusty Table .

思想

陶淵明在青年時期受儒家思想的薰陶，有著「猛志逸四海，騫翮思遠翥」的入世抱負。

三十歲時陶淵明先後入了桓玄（晉安帝隆安三年，公元399年）勤王的僚屬，但是後來桓玄篡晉，他又加入了劉裕討伐桓玄的義軍幕府（公元404年）。晉安帝義熙元年（公元405年），他意識到了劉裕也非真心匡復晉室，遂急流勇退以明哲保身，辭去彭澤令以避覆滅之禍，作《歸去來兮辭》以明志（見《歸去來兮辭》第一段最後一句為「撫孤松而盤桓」，第二段最後一句為「樂夫天命復奚疑」，各綴最後一字成桓疑）。

公元420年劉裕篡晉後，在貧困躬耕中隱居的陶淵明，以隱喻手法寫下了《桃花源記》表達對此事最大的譴責，「問今是何世，乃不知有漢，無論魏晉。此人一一為具言所聞，皆歎惋。」感嘆暴秦雖然酷虐，此時尤過於秦亂，所以聞者皆歎惋，在《桃花源詩》首即有「嬴氏亂天紀，賢者避其世」點明其意。

進入劉宋之後，陶淵明貧病加劇，江州刺史檀道濟去勸他棄隱出仕，但是他不受餽贈，不為所動，就是不放棄他隱居求志、不食周粟的風範（因為陶淵明的曾祖父、祖父、父親及自身俱在東晉為官，如同張良其家五世相韓，之後一生為韓報仇）。正如他詩作：「歷覽千載書，時時見遺烈。高操非所攀，謬得固窮節。」他的後半生，正實踐著他入劉宋後所改的名—潛，一生遂潛龍勿用了！

陶潛《桃花源記》對現實有深刻批判。桃花源中人的生活，與外界並無太大分別，一樣是「往來耕作」，「屋舍儼然」，所不同的是，桃花源居民能和睦相處，「怡然自樂」。桃花源中似乎沒有村社一類的基層組織，又因與世隔絕，外界一切機構組織都無由對之施用權力，人們生活在自由自在的狀態中。文章寓意是，外界社會賴以支撐的社會制度，恰恰是人們不能幸福美滿生活的根源，一切政治、制度、機構都是多餘的，乃是破壞和平安寧的根源。

陶淵明曾經說過：「盛年不重來，一日難再晨。及時當勉勵，歲月不待人。」《千字文》中也有「尺璧非寶，寸陰是競」的格言。

作品

梁昭明太子蕭統搜求陶淵明遺世作品，編為《陶淵明集》七卷錄一卷，並為之作傳、序。

詩

• 五言詩：《歸園田居》、《和郭主簿》、《于西獲早稻》、《懷古田舍》、《桃花源》並序（序被通稱為《桃花源記》）、《飲酒》二十首並序、《止酒》、《責子》、《述酒》、《蠟日》、《雜詩》十二首、《詠貧士》、《詠荊軻》、《讀山海經》十三首、《輓歌詩》三首等。

辭賦

《感士不遇賦》並序、《閑情賦》、《歸去來兮辭》並序。

文

《五柳先生傳》寄託文章的方式來展現自己的個性情懷，其文章灑脫自然，如文章所說:「無懷氏之民歟，葛天氏之民歟。」或許五柳先生就像無懷氏、葛天氏那時代的人吧！《晉古征西大將軍長史孟府君傳》、《扇上畫贊》、《讀史述九章》、《與子儼等疏》、《祭程氏妹文》、《祭從弟敬員文》、《自祭文》。

小說

成書於南朝的志怪小說《捜神後記》十卷舊題為陶潛撰。魯迅認為「陶潛曠達未必拳拳于鬼神，蓋偽托也」。

偽托

• 北齊陽休之編陶潛集十卷中收入《五孝傳》、《四八目》。紀曉嵐《四庫總目提要》指出《五孝傳》、《四八目》是偽托。

文學影響

• 陶淵明流傳至今的作品有詩一百二十餘首，另有文、賦等，人們將他稱作「田園詩人」。他最著名的作品為《桃花源記》，描述了一個他所憧憬的桃花源社會，和諧美好且沒有戰亂，自食其力的社會。使得桃花源與烏托邦齊名，都代表了一個美好的幻想。

• 陶淵明詩歌表現出蔑視權貴、遺世獨立的氣節，樸實自然的詩風，對後世詩歌的創作影響大而深遠。個性分明，情感真摯，平淡質樸，不大用典，簡潔含蓄，「質而實綺，臞而實腴」，富有意境和哲理，主觀寫意，雜有儒、道各家思想。除了傳統儒家思想外，也深受了道家思想的影響。陶詩「通篇渾厚，難以句摘」，不致力於錘鍊，寫來天真自然。

• 陶淵明的詩在南北朝時影響不大。劉勰著《文心雕龍》，對陶淵明隻字未提。鍾嶸《詩品》雖列之為中品，卻推之為古今隱逸詩人之宗，後世對陶詩評價甚高，唐宋以後對陶詩更推崇備至。認為其詩「其源出於應璩」。梁代昭明太子蕭統對陶淵明推崇備至：「其文章不群，詞採精拔，跌宕昭彰，獨超眾類。抑揚爽朗，莫之與京」。《文選》收錄陶淵明的詩文十餘首，是作品被收錄較多的作者。

• 陶淵明的田園隱逸詩，對唐宋詩人有很大的影響。杜甫詩云：「寬心應是酒，遣興莫過詩，此意陶潛解，吾生後汝期」。宋代詩人蘇東坡對陶潛有很高的評價：「淵明詩初看似散緩，熟看有奇句。……大率才高意遠，則所寓得其妙，造語精到之至，遂能如此。似大匠運斤，不見斧鑿之痕。」又云：「質而實綺，臒而實腴。」蘇東坡更作《和陶止酒》、《和陶連雨獨飲二首》，《和陶勸農五首》、《和陶九日閒居》、《和陶擬古九首》、《和陶雜詩十一首》、《和陶贈羊長吏》、《和陶停雲四首》、《和陶形贈影》、《和陶影答形》、《和陶劉柴桑》、《和陶酬劉柴桑》、《和陶郭主簿》等109篇和陶詩，可見陶淵明對蘇東坡影響之深。且唐代山水田園派代表性詩人孟浩然非常崇拜陶潛，風格與其極為相似。

• 元代戲曲家馬致遠，因仰慕陶淵明而自號「東籬」，後人輯散曲集為《東籬樂府》。

其他

子嗣

• 陶淵明有五子陶儼(小名阿舒)、陶俟(小名阿宣)、陶份(小名阿雍)、陶佚(小名阿端)、陶佟(小名阿通)，阿雍、阿端是攣生兄弟，另有一女，名字與排行皆不詳。曾於《責子詩》中感嘆：「雖有五男兒，總不好紙筆。阿舒已二八，懶惰故無匹。阿宣行志學，而不愛文術。雍端年十三，不識六與七。通子垂九齡，但念梨與慄。天運苟如此，且進杯中物。」及《和劉柴桑》中提及：［弱女雖非男，慰情良勝無。」除長子阿雍為陳氏所生，其他皆為崔氏所生。

軼事

不為五斗米折腰

白衣送酒

一年重陽，陶淵明無酒可飲，在籬邊悵望許久，忽有白衣人奉王弘命，為其送酒，陶淵明接過便喝，醉後便歸。

衍生作品

小說

• 《五柳待訪錄》，2017年林秀赫出版的歷史小說，從武人的角度重新詮釋陶淵明。

注釋