Tao Qian

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Names
Xìng 姓:	Táo 陶
Míng 名:	Qián 潛, or Yuānmíng 淵明
Zì 字:	Yuánliàng 元亮
Hào 號:	Wǔliǔ Xiānsheng 五柳先生 (Five Willows)
Shì 謚:	Jìngjié 靖節
Portrait of Tao Qian, by Chen Hongshou (1599-1652)

Not to be confused with Táo Qiān (陶謙).

Táo Qián (Chinese: 陶潛; Wade-Giles: T'ao Ch'ien) (365-427), also known as Táo Yuānmíng (陶淵明), born in Xunyang Chaishang (now Jiujiang in Jiangxi province ). T'ao Yüan-ming , was one of the most influential pre-Tang Dynasty Chinese poets.

He came from a notable family which had descended into poverty; when young, he was torn between ambition and a desire to retreat into solitude. He served in a series of minor posts, but his sister's death, as well as disgust at the corruption and infighting of the Jin Court prompted his resignation, convincing him that life was too short to compromise on his principles; as he put it himself, 'I shall not break my back for five bushels of grain' (The term 'five bushels of grain' is often used to describe officialdom). He lived in retirement for his last 22 years.

Approximately 130 of his poems survive, which depict an idyllic pastoral life of farming and drinking. His works had a major influence on subsequent poets.

[edit] Editions

Meng Erdong ed. Tao Yuanming Ji Yi Zhu ISBN 7-80626-064-1.
Wu Zheshun ed. Tao Yuanming Ji ISBN 7-80520-683-X
David Hinton (translator). The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien. ISBN 1-55659-056-3.
Pohl (translator). Der Pfirsichbluetenquell. Bochum University Press 2002.
　Davis, A.R., T'ao Yuan-ming, Hong Kong, 1983. 2 vols.