Tao Yuanming Quotes

I am free from ties and can live a life of retirement.
When I rise from sleep, I play with books and harp.

You had better go where Fate leads—
Drift on the Stream of Infinite Flux,
Without joy, without fear:
When you must go—then go.

In former days I wanted wine to drink; The wine this morning fills the cup in vain. I see the spring mead with its floating foam, And wonder when to taste of it again. The feast before me lavishly is spread, My relatives and friends beside me cry. I wish to speak but lips can shape no voice, I wish to see but light has left my eye. I slept of old within the lofty hall, Amidst wild weeds to rest I now descend. When once I pass beyond the city gate I shall return to darkness without end.

Heaven and Earth exist for ever:
Mountains and rivers never change.
But herbs and trees in perpetual rotation
Are renovated and withered by the dews and frosts:
And Man the wise, Man the divine—
Shall he alone escape this law?
Fortuitously appearing for a moment in the World He suddenly departs, never to return. How can he know that the friends he has left
Are missing him and thinking of him?
Only the things that he used remain; They look upon them and their tears flow.
Me no magical arts can save,
Though you may hope for a wizard's aid.
I beg you listen to this advice—
When you can get wine, be sure to drink it.

天地长不没，山川无改时。
草木得常理，霜露荣悴之。
谓人最灵智，独复不如兹。
适见在世中，奄去靡归期。
奚觉无一人，亲识岂相思。
但余平生物，举目情凄洏。
我无腾化术，必尔不复疑。
愿君取吾言，得酒莫苟辞。

While you rested in the shade, I left you a while:
But till the end we shall be together.
Our joint existence is impermanent:
Sadly together we shall slip away.
That when the body decays Fame should also go
Is a thought unendurable, burning the heart.
Let us strive and labour while yet we may
To do some deed that men will praise.

I built my house near where others dwell, And yet there is no clamour of carriages and horses. You ask of me "How can this be so?" "When the heart is far the place of itself is distant." I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, And gaze afar towards the southern mountains. The mountain air is fine at evening of the day And flying birds return together homewards. Within these things there is a hint of Truth, But when I start to tell it, I cannot find the words.

Longingly—I think of my friends,
But neither boat nor carriage comes.

少无适俗韵，性本爱丘山。
误落尘网中，一去三十年。
羁鸟恋旧林，池鱼思故渊。
开荒南野际，守拙归田园。
方宅十余亩，草屋八九间。
榆柳荫后椋，桃李罗堂前。
暧暧远人村，依依墟里烟。
狗吠深巷中，鸡鸣桑树颠。
户庭无尘杂，虚室有余闲。
久在樊笼里，复得返自然。

God can only set in motion:
He cannot control the things he has made.

There were often times when we had no wine to drink, However, this morning we fill the empty beakers. Over the new spring wine midges hover— When will we ever taste its like again? Tables with funeral meats stand piled high before us, Old friends and relatives come and weep beside us. We try to speak but cannot utter words, We try to see but our eyes are dim. Once he used to sleep within the lofty hall, Now he will spend the night out on the lonely moor. Leaving the city gate we accompanied him thither But we were back again before midnight had come.

Let me then remember, to calm my heart's distress,
That the Sages of old were often in like case.

I would gladly wander in Paradise,
But it is far away and there is no road.

白发被双鬓，
肌肤不复实/虽有五男儿, 总不好纸笔/阿舒已二八, 懒惰固无匹/阿宣行治学, 而不爱文术 /雍端年十三 ,
不识六与七/通子垂九龄, 但觅梨与栗/天运够如此, 且进杯中物

I do not mind if my cottage is rather small
So long as there's room enough for bed and mat.
Often and often the neighbours come to see me And with brave words discuss the things of old.
Rare writings we read together and praise:
Doubtful meanings we examine together and settle.