{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_2090/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_2090","id":"gutenberg_2090","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2090","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Chinese fiction -- To 618","Chinese literature -- Translations into English"],"text":"Produced by Rick Davis and David Steelman.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji)\n\n\nBy\n\nTao Yuan Ming\n\n\nTranslated and proofed by Rick Davis and David Steelman\n\n\n\nNote from the translators:  This file contains this\nwell-known Chinese story in both English translation and the\nChinese original. If your computer is not set up to read BIG5\nencoding, the Chinese will appear as garbage characters.\n\n\nUpdate\u0155s note: This file has been recoded to UTF8.\n\n\n\nPeach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji)\n\nBy Tao Yuanming [1]\n\nDuring the Taiyuan era [2] of the Jin Dynasty [3] there was a\nman of Wuling [4] who made his living as a fisherman.  Once\nwhile following a stream he forgot how far he had gone. He\nsuddenly came to a grove of blossoming peach trees. It lined\nboth banks for several hundred paces and included not a\nsingle other kind of tree. Petals of the dazzling and\nfragrant blossoms were falling everywhere in profusion.\nThinking this place highly unusual, the fisherman advanced\nonce again in wanting to see how far it went.\n\nThe peach trees stopped at the stream's source, where the\nfisherman came to a mountain with a small opening through\nwhich it seemed he could see light.  Leaving his boat, he\nentered the opening.  At first it was so narrow that he could\nbarely pass, but after advancing a short distance it suddenly\nopened up to reveal a broad, flat area with imposing houses,\ngood fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees, bamboo, and the\nlike.  The fisherman saw paths extending among the fields in\nall directions, and could hear the sounds of chickens and\ndogs.  Men and women working in the fields all wore clothing\nthat looked like that of foreign lands.  The elderly and\nchildren all seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves.\n\nThe people were amazed to see the fisherman, and they asked\nhim from where he had come.  He told them in detail, then the\npeople invited him to their home, set out wine, butchered a\nchicken [5], and prepared a meal.  Other villagers heard\nabout the fisherman, and they all came to ask him questions.\nThen the villagers told him, \"To avoid the chaos of war\nduring the Qin Dynasty [6], our ancestors brought their\nfamilies and villagers to this isolated place and never left\nit, so we've had no contact with the outside world.\"  They\nasked the fisherman what the present reign was.  They were\nnot even aware of the Han Dynasty [7], let alone the Wei [8]\nand Jin.  The fisherman told them everything he knew in great\ndetail, and the villagers were amazed and heaved sighs.  Then\nother villagers also invited the fisherman to their homes,\nwhere they gave him food and drink.  After several days\nthere, the fisherman bid farewell, at which time some\nvillagers told him, \"It's not worth telling people on the\noutside about us.\" [9]\n\nThe fisherman exited through the opening, found his boat, and\nretraced his route while leaving markers to find this place\nagain.  Upon his arrival at the prefecture town he went to\nthe prefect and told him what had happened.  The prefect\nimmediately sent a person to follow the fisherman and look\nfor the trail markers, but they got lost and never found the\nway.\n\nLiu Ziji [10] of Nanyang [11] was a person of noble\ncharacter.  When he heard this story he was happy and planned\nto visit the Shangri-la, but he died of illness before he\ncould accomplish it.  After that no one else ever looked for\nthe place.\n\n<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>\n\nTranslator's Notes\n\n[1]  Chinese nature poet, c. 365-427.  This prose story is\none of the poet's most well-known works.\n\n[2]  376-396.\n\n[3]  265-420 (actually two sequential dynasties, the\n\"Western\" and the \"Eastern\").\n\n[4]  A place in present-day Hunan Province.\n\n[5]  \"...set out wine, butchered a chicken\": A stock phrase\nmeaning to entertain a guest lavishly.\n\n[6]  221-206 B.C.\n\n[7]  206 B.C. to A.D. 220.\n\n[8]  A.D. 220-265.\n\n[9]  The villagers would just as soon keep their existence secret.\n\n[10]  A retired scholar of the Jin Dynasty.\n\n[11]  A place in present-day Henan Province.\n\n\nThis translation is based on the SiKuQuanShu text with\neditorial emendations and punctuation by the translators. It\nwas done by Rick Davis (Japan) with help from David Steelman\n(Taiwan).\n\n\n\nThe original Chinese:\n\n\u6843\u82b1\u6e90\u8a18\n\n\u9676\u6df5\u660e\n\n\u6649\u592a\u5143\u4e2d\u6b66\u9675\u4eba\u6355\u9b5a\u70ba\u696d\u3002\u7de3\u6eaa\u884c\ufe50\u5fd8\u8def\u4e4b\u9060\u8fd1\u3002\u5ffd\u9022\n\u6843\u82b1\u6797\ufe50\u593e\u5cb8\u6578\u767e\u6b65\u4e2d\u7121\u96dc\u6a39\ufe50\u82b3\u83ef\u9bae\u7f8e\u843d\u82f1\u7e7d\u7d1b\u3002\u6f01\n\u4eba\u751a\u7570\u4e4b\u3002\u5fa9\u524d\u884c\u6b32\u7aae\u5176\u6797\u3002\u6797\u76e1\u6c34\u6e90\u4fbf\u5f97\u4e00\u5c71\u3002\u5c71\u6709\n\u5c0f\u53e3\u4eff\u4f5b\u82e5\u6709\u5149\u3002\u4fbf\u6368\u8239\u5f9e\u53e3\u5165\u3002\u521d\u6975\u72f9\u7e94\u901a\u4eba\u3002\u5fa9\u884c\n\u6578\u5341\u6b65\u8c41\u7136\u958b\u6717\u3002\u571f\u5730\u5e73\u7926\u5c4b\u820d\u513c\u7136\u3002\u6709\u826f\u7530\u7f8e\u6c60\u6851\u7af9\n\u4e4b\u5c6c\u3002\u9621\u964c\u4ea4\u901a\u96de\u72ac\u76f8\u805e\u3002\u5176\u4e2d\u5f80\u4f86\u7a2e\u4f5c\u3002\u7537\u5973\u8863\u8457\u6089\n\u5982\u5916\u4eba\u3002\u9ec3\u9aee\u5782\u9aeb\u4e26\u6021\u7136\u81ea\u6a02\u3002\u898b\u6f01\u4eba\u4e43\u5927\u9a5a\u554f\u6240\u5f9e\u4f86\u3002\n\u5177\u7b54\u4e4b\u3002\u4fbf\u8981\u9084\u5bb6\u70ba\u8a2d\u9152\u6bba\u96de\u4f5c\u98df\u3002\u6751\u4e2d\u805e\u6709\u6b64\u4eba\u54b8\u4f86\n\u554f\u8a0a\u3002\u81ea\u4e91\u5148\u4e16\u907f\u79e6\u6642\u4e82\u7387\u59bb\u5b50\u9091\u4eba\u3002\u4f86\u6b64\u7d55\u5883\u4e0d\u5fa9\u51fa\n\u7109\u3002\u9042\u8207\u5916\u4eba\u9593\u9694\u3002\u554f\u4eca\u662f\u4f55\u4e16\u4e43\u4e0d\u77e5\u6709\u6f22\u7121\u8ad6\u9b4f\u6649\u3002\n\u6b64\u4eba\u4e00\u4e00\u70ba\u5177\u8a00\u6240\u805e\u7686\u6b4e\u60cb\u3002\u9918\u4eba\u5404\u5fa9\u5ef6\u81f3\u5176\u5bb6\u7686\u51fa\u9152\n\u98df\u3002\u505c\u6578\u65e5\u8fad\u53bb\u3002\u6b64\u4e2d\u4eba\u8a9e\u4e91\u4e0d\u8db3\u70ba\u5916\u4eba\u9053\u4e5f\u3002\u65e2\u51fa\u5f97\n\u5176\u8239\u4fbf\u6276\u5411\u8def\u8655\u8655\u8a8c\u4e4b\u3002\u53ca\u90e1\u4e0b\u8a63\u592a\u5b88\u8aaa\u5982\u6b64\u3002\u592a\u5b88\u5373\n\u9063\u4eba\u96a8\u5176\u5f80\u3002\u5c0b\u5411\u6240\u8a8c\u9042\u8ff7\u4e0d\u5fa9\u5f97\u8def\u3002\u5357\u967d\u5289\u5b50\u9a65\u9ad8\u5c1a\n\u58eb\u4e5f\u3002\u805e\u4e4b\u6b23\u7136\u898f\u5f80\u672a\u679c\u5c0b\u75c5\u7d42\u3002\u5f8c\u9042\u7121\u554f\u6d25\u8005\u3002","title":"Peach Blossom Shangri-la: Tao Hua Yuan Ji","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":735}