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Taoist Poetry
Ts'ao Chih Juan Chi Tao Ch'ien Han Yu Ch'ang Chien Su Shih Li Po Lu Chih Yun-K'an Tzu Sun Bu-er Zhou Xuanjing Cui Shaoxuan
| Tao Ch'ien
(365-427 A.D) Was born the son of an official family who gave up his post in his forties to settle as a farmer at home. He made friends with Buddhist monks of the 'White Lotus' order which developed into Ch'an (Zen). |
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"On Returning to My Garden and Field" When I was young I did not fit into the common mold, By instinct, I love mountains and hills. By error, I fell into this dusty net And was gone from home for thirteen years. A caged bird yearns for its native woods; The fish in a pond recalls old mountain pool. Now I shall clear the land at the edge of the southern wild, And, clinging to simplicity, return to garden and field. My house and land on a two-acre lot, My thatched hut of eight or nine rooms - Elms and willows shade the eaves back of the house, Peach and plum trees stand in a row before the hall. Lost in a haze is the distant village, Where smoke hovers above the homes. Dogs bark somewhere in deep lanes, Cocks crow atop the mulberry trees. My home is free from dust and care, In a bare room there is leaisure to spare. Long a prisoner in a cage, I am now able to come back to nature. |
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