Chapter 36 127 Tao Yuanming Doesn't Bow Down

After the Battle of Feishui, Xie An took advantage of the collapse of the former Qin Dynasty and sent Xie Xuan to recover large areas of the Yellow River Basin.However, Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty reused his younger brother Sima Daozi, king of Kuaiji, and tried his best to exclude Xie An, so that Xie An could not display his talents.When Xie An died, the Eastern Jin regime fell into the hands of the fatuous Sima Daozi, and the Eastern Jin government became more and more corrupt. In 399 AD, during the reign of Emperor Jin'an, a peasant uprising led by Sun En broke out in Kuaiji County. Two years later, hundreds of thousands of rebel troops approached Jiankang, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty dispatched Beifu soldiers to suppress the uprising.

At this time, the ruling group of the Eastern Jin Dynasty became chaotic again.Huan Wen's son Huan Xuan occupied the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, led troops to attack Jiankang, abolished Emperor Jin'an, and established himself as emperor.After three or four months, General Liu Yu of the Beifu army defeated Huanxuan and welcomed Emperor An of Jin to restore him. After that, the Eastern Jin Dynasty had existed in name only. During this turbulent era, in Chaisang, there was a famous poet named Tao Qian, also named Tao Yuanming, who lived in seclusion in his hometown because he could not understand the political corruption at that time.Tao Yuanming's great-grandfather was Tao Kan, a famous general in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Although he was a high-ranking official, he was not a noble landlord. By the time of Tao Yuanming's generation, his family was already very poor.Tao Yuanming liked to read since he was a child, and he didn't want to be an official. His family was so poor that he often couldn't get rid of it, but he still read and wrote poems to enjoy himself.There are five willow trees in front of his house, and he nicknamed himself Mr. Wuliu.

Later, Tao Yuanming became poorer and poorer, and he could not support his family by farming the land by himself.Relatives and friends persuaded him to go out and seek an official position, but he had no choice but to agree.The local government heard that Tao Yuanming was a descendant of a famous general and had literary talents, so he recommended him to join the army under Liu Yu.But not many days later, he saw that the officials and generals at that time were fighting each other, and he was very bored, so he asked to go out and become a local official.The boss sent him to Pengze (in today's Jiangxi Province) as a county magistrate.

At that time, as a county magistrate, the official salary was not high.Tao Yuanming doesn't know how to search, and secondly, he doesn't understand corruption. His life is not rich, but it is certainly better than the poor life he lived in Chaisang's house.Besides, he felt more comfortable staying in a small county without any official entertainment. One day, the county sent a mail superintendent to Pengze for inspection.When the county official heard the news, he quickly reported it to Tao Yuanming.Tao Yuanming was twirling his beard and reciting poems in his inner room. When he heard that the governor came, he was very disappointed, so he reluctantly put down the poem volume and prepared to go to see the governor with the little official.

The little official saw that he was still wearing casual clothes, and said in surprise: "The governor is here, you should change into an official uniform, put on a belt and go to see him, how can you go in casual clothes!" Tao Yuanming has always been displeased with those superintendents who rely on the power of the officials and do their best. Hearing the petty officials say that they have to wear official uniforms to pay respects, he can't bear this kind of humiliation.He sighed and said, "I don't want to bow to that villain for the official salary of five buckets of rice (the classical Chinese is "don't bend your waist for five buckets of rice")!"

As he said that, he didn't go to see Duyou, and simply took off his seal and handed it to the small official, and resigned. Tao Yuanming returned to Chaisang's hometown, feeling that this messy situation was too far away from his aspirations and ideals.Since then, he made up his mind to live in seclusion, and wrote many poems and articles to express his feelings when he was free. Tao Yuanming wrote a very famous article called.In that article, he wrote about a fisherman in Wuling. Once, fishing along a small stream, he came to a peach forest full of flowers and fresh grass. Fascinated by the scenery in front of him, the fisherman rowed his boat and went further. When he reached the end of the forest, he found a small hole.He lost his boat and went in along the entrance of the cave. It was very narrow at first, but after walking for a while, it suddenly became clear that there was a big village in the cave, where the land was fertile and mulberry trees lined up. Live a carefree and peaceful life.

Seeing that the fisherman was a strange guest, everyone warmly invited him to drink and eat.After the fisherman talked with everyone, he realized that the ancestors of the people in that village had taken refuge here in the last years of the Qin Dynasty.They don't know that there will be a Han Dynasty after Qin, let alone Wei and Jin. The fisherman stayed there for a few days, bid farewell and went home.On the way home, he made a lot of marks, and he was going to visit again next time.Back in Wuling, he reported to the prefect.The prefect was also very interested, and sent someone to follow the fisherman to find the peach blossom forest, but they couldn't find the entrance of the cave.

The paradise that Tao Yuanming wrote would not exist in the society at that time.But the picture of everyone working hard and living a prosperous and stable life in his article reflected a good wish of the people in the dark and turbulent era at that time.So this article has been loved by people since then.