Chinese Classical Poets Codexery

Tao Yuanming

Poet who withdrew from civil service to farm and write.

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Tao Yuanming

via Wikipedia: Tao Yuanming · see source

He was born in 365 CE in Chaisang, an area of great natural beauty.[1] Fields and Gardens poetry's most prominent figure is currently considered to be Tao Yuanming.[2] During his middle years, Tao Yuanming adopted the name Tao Qian, altering his given name while keeping his family name.[3]

Life and work

Tao served in government for more than ten years across five stints.[4] His fifth and final stint as Penze county magistrate lasted only about eighty days.[5] He resigned rather than "bow like a servant in return for five pecks of grain"[6] Tao had five sons, the oldest named Tao Yan.[7]

He died in 427, generally held to be at age 63.[8] Tao Kan, a celebrated general and governor of the Jin dynasty, was the great-grandfather of Tao Yuanming.[9] At age eight, Tao Yuanming experienced the death of his father, after which the family faced modest financial hardship.[9] A period of 22 years concluding his life was spent by Tao in seclusion on his small agricultural property.[6]

The literary conventions of Tao's era were not fully aligned with his straightforward and unadorned writing approach.[10]

What the cited sources add

Tao Yuanming expressed the profound Buddhist doctrine of emptiness in his poems, though he did not formally become a Buddhist.[11] Yeh notes that Tao Yuanming was a most thoughtful poet, not simply expressing emotions of the moment.[11] According to Yeh, Tao's hometown was Caisang, in Xunyang, Jiangzhou Province.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chang, 22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Berge-Becker, "The Musical Performance of Gentlemanly (shi 士) Identities in 10th–14th Century China", T'oung Pao, 2026, p. 400-401 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chang, 24–25 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Davis, vii; Yeh Chia-ying, translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Lectures on Tao Yuanming's Poems", a series of lectures at Gold Buddha Monastery, Canada (lecture; Chang, 22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yeh Chia-ying, translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Lectures on Tao Yuanming's Poems", a series of lectures at Gold Buddha Monastery, Canada (lecture (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: <"Vajra Bhodi Sea" No.338, July 1998> and/or subsequent issues at similar IP addresses. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chang, 25; "Blessed I am with five sons" — Tao Yuanming, as quoted in 陶潛, 譚時霖 The complete works of Tao Yuanming (1992), p. 34 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yeh Chia-ying, translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Lectures on Tao Yuanming's Poems", a series of lectures at Gold Buddha Monastery, Canada (lecture; T'ao Ch'ien on life and death: the concept of tzu-jan in his poetry by Wing-ming Chan (1981), p. 193; Yuan Knechtges 2014, p. 1091 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chang, 22; Yeh Chia-ying, part of "陶淵明詩講錄" ("Lectures on Tao Yuan-ming's Poems"), translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Lectures on Tao Yuanming's Poems", a seri; Chang, 22; Yeh Chia-ying, translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Lectures on Tao Yuanming's Poems", a series of lectures at Gold Buddha Monastery, Canada (lecture (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Tao Yuanming" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tian, ""From the Eastern Jin through the early Tang (317–649)" in The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Volume 1", Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 221–2; Berge-Becker, "Recognizing Recluses (yinshi 隱士) in 7th–14th Century China", Chūgoku shigaku 中國史學 (Studies in Chinese History), p. 16-18; Tian, ""From the Eastern Jin through the early Tang (317–649)"", p. 221–2 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Yeh Chia-ying, translation Josey Shun and Bhikshuni Heng Yin, "Vajra Bhodi Sea" No.343, accessed 5 FEB 2020. facts only, no text reused. drbachinese.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Tao Yuanming (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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