Tao Yuanming was born in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in 365 AD. This was an era of dynasty changes, social turmoil, and people's lives were very difficult. In the autumn of 405 AD, Tao Yuanming came to Pengze County, not far from his hometown, and became the county magistrate in order to support his family. Kuaiji County sent you to visit his county. This official is a vulgar and arrogant fellow. As soon as he reached the border of Pengze County, he sent a local official to visit him.
Tao Yuanming looked down upon people who gave orders in the name of superiors, but official rank killed people. No matter how proud Tao Yuanming was, there was nothing he could do. Under other people's roof, you have to lower your noble head, and he will leave the meeting immediately. Unexpectedly, Tao Yuanming's secretary stopped him. The secretary said: "You are going to meet the superior officials. You must pay great attention to details, dress neatly, and be modest. This is a sign of respect for your superiors. Otherwise, your superiors will speak ill of you in front of his superiors."< /p>
Tao Yuanming, who has always been clear-minded and high-minded, can't stand these messy things. He could no longer stand the red tape of officialdom. He sighed helplessly: "I would rather starve to death than bow to these poor people for an official salary of five barrels of rice." Tao Yuanming immediately sat down and wrote his resignation letter, leaving the prefect chair where he had only sat for more than 80 days. , never held an official position again. Don’t expect “five barrels of rice”! Use economic principles to see where Tao Yuanming’s confidence comes from! Therefore, there is one less bureaucrat in the officialdom and one more writer in the literary world.
The story of "not giving up five buckets of rice" has also become a beautiful portrayal of Chinese intellectuals' stubbornness and unwillingness to follow suit. After retiring from officialdom, Tao Yuanming farmed in his hometown and lived a self-sufficient pastoral life. In his pastoral life, he found his own home and wrote many beautiful pastoral poems. He described the leisurely life of farmers, "warming in a distant village, smoking in Yiyi market"; he wrote about his feelings about labor, "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the Nanshan Mountains"; he also wrote about the joys, sorrows and joys of farmers' work, "Beans are planted under the southern mountains, and the grass is covered with bean sprouts." He also wrote down his ambition, "Don't talk about the hardships of spring, but always be afraid of losing your heart."
He used his personal experience and outstanding poetic talent to greatly enrich his creations on agricultural and animal husbandry themes. Ordinary objects such as mulberries, hemp, chickens, and dogs were rarely seen in previous poems. Once written into poems, they are full of interest. Moreover, his true feelings about nature often arouse people's infinite yearning. The beautiful pastoral life cultivated Tao Yuanming's temperament. For this reason, he handed down 125 moving poems describing pastoral life and left many exquisite proses for future generations. Among them, "Poetry in Peach Blossom Spring" is the most famous and popular. It has become a famous poem that has been sung throughout the ages and is known to all women and children.
In this work, the author describes a utopian society. There was no turmoil, no change of dynasties, no princes and ministers, no corvee taxes. The people lived a good life with plenty of food and clothing, and there was no competition from other parts of the world. The author used beautiful language to create a permanent charm in this work. Later generations have always called this utopian society "Peach Blossom Land". In his later years, Tao Yuanming lived in seclusion in the mountains, wearing burlap clothes and working alone. Although he was impoverished and terminally ill all his life, when Tan Daoji, the governor of Jiangzhou, asked him to serve as an official, he still straightened his back and refused to go out. He refused to bow his head for "five barrels of rice". He politely declined Tan Daoji's kind invitation.