Tao Yuanming
Tao Yuanming

Tao Yuanming (simplified Chinese: 陶渊明; traditional Chinese: 陶淵明; pinyin: Táo Yuānmíng; 365–427), also known as Tao Qian (pinyin: Táo Qián), was a Chinese poet and politician.

Tao's simple and direct style was somewhat at odds with the norms for literary writing in his time.

Because his poems depict a life of farming and of drinking his homemade 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 Yuanming Famous Poems

    • ○ Return to Nature V (归园田居 · 其五)
      "Composed around 405 CE, this fifth and concluding poem of Tao Yuanming's "Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields" series captures the most unassuming day in pastoral life. From returning from labor to sharing drinks with neighbor…"
    • ○ Return to Nature IV (归园田居五首 · 其四)
      "Composed around 405 CE, this fourth poem in Tao Yuanming's "Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields" series reflects the poet's matured perspective after sustained reclusion. Through a journey with younger family members to abando…"
    • ○ Return to Nature II (归园田居 · 其二)
      "Composed around 405 CE, this poem is the second in Tao Yuanming's five-part "Returning to Dwell in Gardens and Fields" series. While the first poem focuses on the initial liberation of reclusion, this work shifts to depict daily ru…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems I (杂诗 · 其一)
      "Composed in 414 CE when Tao Yuanming was fifty years old and had lived eight years in rural seclusion, this poem reflects the poet's philosophical maturity forged through national upheavals and career disappointments. Blending Confucian acti…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems II (杂诗 · 其二)
      "This poem was composed in 414 AD when Tao Yuanming was fifty years old, having lived in rural seclusion for many years. Having experienced turbulent social changes and an unsuccessful official career, though Tao's heart tended toward tranqui…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems III (杂诗 · 其三)
      "Miscellaneous Poems III was composed in 414 AD when Tao Yuanming was fifty years old. Having long resigned from officialdom and retreated from worldly bustle, he increasingly felt the melancholy of time's passage and life's impermanence amid…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems IV (杂诗 · 其四)
      "Miscellaneous Poems IV was composed around 414 AD when Tao Yuanming was approximately fifty years old. The poet reflects on his youthful aspirations to achieve greatness across the land, now finding himself in twilight years with unfulfilled…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems V (杂诗 · 其五)
      "Miscellaneous Poems V was composed around 414 AD as Tao Yuanming's introspective reflection on his life's aspirations and evolving mindset in later years. Though having retreated from worldly turmoil to rural seclusion, the poet frequently c…"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems VI (杂诗 · 其六)
      "Miscellaneous Poems VI was composed around 414 AD when Tao Yuanming was over fifty years old, reflecting deeply on life's impermanence and fleeting time during his rural seclusion. Having once dismissed elders' advice in his youth, the poet …"
    • ○ Miscellaneous Poems VII (杂诗 · 其七)
      "Miscellaneous Poems VII was composed around 414 AD during Tao Yuanming's later years. Having retreated to rural life and approaching old age, he no longer resisted life's transitions or the laws of mortality, instead accepting them with tran…"
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