The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

What is the meaning of life?
Everyone has their own answer, or no answer in their heart.

When we calm down and read Tao Yuanming's poems, we will feel extremely beautiful and yearn for it.

This romantic ancient man's real life was not just about stability and peace.

Tao Yuanming was born in a turbulent time. From his birth to his death, he experienced hardships that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

After experiencing some hesitation and struggle, I listened to the call of my heart and lived out my true self in frustration and hardship.

His pastoral poetry, that dream of paradise, is an artistic flower that blooms from the soil of suffering.

"Tao Yuanming was born in Chaisang, Xunyang. He came from a good family."

"My great-grandfather Tao Kan was a legendary figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with great military exploits, and my grandfather was a prefect."

"But the legacy of his ancestors did not leave Tao Yuanming much wealth, except for a good status."

"By the time of Tao Yuanming's father, it had almost fallen into decline."

"When Tao Yuanming was eight years old, his father died of illness."

"Tao Yuanming's era was not culturally lonely at all."

"The calligrapher Wang Xizhi is still alive, the painter Gu Kaizhi is still alive, Xie Lingyun is still alive, and Bao Zhao is still writing poetry."

"When he was young, Tao Yuanming worshipped Confucius and wanted to enter the secular world to seek fame and fortune."

“But he also likes Laozi and Zhuangzi, and does nothing but act.”

"Most importantly, his character is similar to that of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and he likes to express his feelings in the mountains and rivers."

“So although Tao Yuanming was free-spirited, he did not like to be constrained.”

"But in his character, Confucius's worldly thoughts always pull him back."

“Therefore, even if you like mountains and rivers, and like rural life.”

"But when he was young, Tao Yuanming, like most people with lofty ideals, longed to achieve something."

"On the one hand, he has the ambition to be involved in the world, but on the other hand, he has no interest in worldly matters."

"Tao Yuanming's struggle is evident from this."

"He struggled for half his life between being an official and farming."

"Except for being a little poor, Tao Yuanming lived a life that he liked in his early years."

"Live a life you like, even if you are poor and your home is often empty, it's nothing to be afraid of."

"At that time, Tao Yuanming played the zither and read books, sometimes forgetting to eat."

"He was delighted to see the trees interlacing with shade and the flocks of birds flying by."

"When the weather was very hot in May and June, he would sleep under the north window, enjoying the cool breeze, and he thought he was the most outstanding person in the world."

"However, there were times when he would think of his own ambitions."

"Although there are some minor hardships, living in a pastoral environment and feeling happy naturally outweighs the occasional hardship."

"Until one year, Tao Yuanming's family could no longer make ends meet, so he had no choice but to study for a government post."

"In order to give his family a better life, Tao Yuanming became an official."

"But this time I became an official because I was so poor that I had no other choice. My family couldn't even afford to eat."

"Actually, Tao Yuanming didn't want to go either, but it didn't matter if he starved to death, but it would be unacceptable if his whole family suffered with him."

"Especially my mother, she is old, how can she continue to suffer like this."

“At the same time, think about your own ambitions and the dreams in your heart.”

“After thinking about it, I decided to do this state festival bar.”

"At that time, Tao Yuanming was 29 years old."

"But being an official is not an easy thing."

"Especially for someone like Tao Yuanming, it is a torture."

"Not long after he took office, he had conflicts with his colleagues."

"There are too many intrigues and schemes in the officialdom."

"It wasn't long before Tao Yuanming couldn't stand it anymore."

"He decisively resigned and went home because he felt more comfortable at home."

"Not long after, the state asked him to be the chief clerk again, but Tao Yuanming, who had just come out of the officialdom, refused."

"As soon as I went out, I felt something was not right. The world outside was very exciting, but also very helpless."

"Like most people, Tao Yuanming was forced by life to do certain things."

"But Tao Yuanming was more courageous than most people. He dared to do it, and he also dared to leave."

"Once he entered the officialdom, he knew it was not suitable for him. Tao Yuanming had given up the idea of ​​becoming an official."

"He planned to turn his family into a farming and reading family, where they would farm the land and study at the same time, and stay away from officials and bureaucrats."

Wang Wei: People can be poor, can live in seclusion, can lie down, but they cannot be lazy and cannot lie down all the time.

As the pioneer of pastoral poetry, Tao Yuanming's poems depict a picture of tranquil and peaceful pastoral life that makes people yearn for it.

However, beyond the poetry is the cruel reality. Tao Yuanming lived a very miserable life in his later years.

At the age of sixty, he had to beg for a living and finally ended his life in poverty and hardship.

What’s even more ironic is that although Tao Yuanming was knowledgeable and talented, none of his five sons was successful.

Not only did he have no one to rely on, but he also had to rely on his frail and sick old father for support, making Tao Yuanming's later life even more miserable.

Tao Yuanming married three wives. His first wife died during childbirth.

His second wife died after giving birth to four sons, and his third wife accompanied him through long and difficult years.

His three wives gave birth to five sons, named Yan, Shi, Fen, Yi and Tong.

The children were lively and cute when they were young, and were deeply loved by Tao Yuanming.

After resigning from his official position, he devoted himself to educating his children, hoping that they would become knowledgeable people in the future.

But things went against Tao Yuanming's wishes, and none of his sons developed as Tao Yuanming had envisioned.

Tao Yuanming believed that his eldest son, Tao Yan, was unambitious and lazy, and had not achieved anything in his studies at the age of sixteen.

The second son, Tao Qi, did not like to study, and what he wrote was unbearable to look at.

The third son, Tao Fen, and the fourth son, Tao Yi, were illiterate. At the age of thirteen or fourteen, they could not even recognize the number six or seven.

The youngest son, Tao Tong, is a real foodie. He only has food in his eyes and doesn't care about anything else.

When the children were young, Tao Yuanming was in his prime and could still grow beans at the foot of the southern mountain.

Although the family lived in poverty, they were able to be self-sufficient. At this time, Tao Yuanming's poems were full of romanticism.

Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the southern mountains, the beauty of rural life is reflected between the lines.

But as I get older, I find it difficult to work in the fields.

I originally hoped that my five sons could share the responsibilities, but I didn't expect that none of them could be relied on.

Faced with the burden of life, Tao Yuanming, who once insisted on not bowing to the temptation of money, was forced to take up an official position and face the officialdom that he hated so much.

But eventually, because of his upright character, he offended many people and resigned from office again, living in seclusion and making a living as a farmer.

When Tao Yuanming was in his fifties, he wrote a long letter to his children, in which he outlined his life of poverty and wandering.

I have deeply reflected on my actions and feel very guilty about the current situation of my whole family.

He also expressed the pain of being unable to change the status quo, and at the same time encouraged the children to unite and help each other.

Never separate at any time, work together to overcome difficulties.

In the blink of an eye, Tao Yuanming was over 60 years old and his children were middle-aged. Life had not shown any mercy to this family.

The five sons still wait for their old father to feed them like they did when they were little.

Tao Yuanming was forced into a desperate situation and had no choice but to drag his sick body around begging, relying on the help of others to make ends meet.

The poems written by Tao Yuanming during this period were full of helplessness, and every word and sentence was filled with hardship and sorrow.

The cold wind was howling and leaves were drifting. This great pastoral poet lay in a dilapidated hut, looking at the increasingly barren fields outside the window with tears in his eyes.

At this time, he was no longer able to beg or farm, and could only wait quietly for the end of his life.

"My mother is getting older, and my wife and I can take good care of the elderly at home and let her live out her days in peace."

"But how could Tao Yuanming have imagined that misfortune would befall his wife?"

"His wife, Wang, passed away."

"Wang entered Tao Yuanming's family several years ago. At that time, the Tao family was in ruins."

"But Wang relied on her love for Tao Yuanming and the obedience of an ancient woman to stay with him and never leave him."

"She does all the housework and takes care of everyone in the family."

"Learn from the village women and work in the fields."

"The death of his wife was a huge blow to Tao Yuanming."

"Looking at his young children and his elderly mother, what else can Tao Yuanming do?"

"In such troubled times, living is a sin."

"There is no other way. He can only go out and serve as an official again."

"Before he became an official, he remarried Zhai."

"After all, the children at home still need someone to take care of them, and the old mother also needs someone to take care of her."

"In fact, he doesn't hate being an official. He just hates the feeling of having to lower his head and change his style of doing things in official circles."

"Tao Yuanming was a very self-centered person. He valued his own personality more than anything else."

"He heard that Huan Xuan was a good man with great ambitions and could do something great."

"It just so happened that Sun En was in rebellion at that time, and Tao Yuanming wanted to follow Huan Xuan and write a letter to criticize the rebellion."

"This is the highest ideal of Confucianism, to govern the country and bring peace to the world."

"But soon, Tao Yuanming discovered that Huan Xuan was very ambitious."

"His goal is not just to pacify the world and put down the rebellion."

"But Tao Yuanming's ideal was to help the world, not to seize it."

"He found a reason to resign and went home."

"After resigning, he stayed at home for another two years. Later, Huan Xuan rebelled, but was suppressed by Liu Yu."

"I've been trying so hard but have achieved nothing. But I'm old after all."

"Tao Yuanming's midlife crisis has also arrived. He has old people to support and young children to take care of. His family is hungry and needs to be fed."

"If farming could provide enough food and a safe place to live, Tao Yuanming would not have to go out."

"Tao Yuanming, who was pressed to make a living, was sent to the capital as an envoy at the beginning of the fourth year of Long'an."

"A year later, Tao's mother died, and Yuanming returned home to mourn, completing the three-year mourning period."

"Tao Yuanming returned to the government again with the idea that he would be unknown at the age of forty, and served as a military officer under General Liu Yu."

"At this time, he was an official, but he was thinking about his farmland."

"I have been in the officialdom for a long time. It has been more than ten years since I first started working as an official."

"He has long seen through official life and has no desire to stay."

"Fortunately, Tao Yuanming was relatively open-minded, otherwise he probably would not be able to bear it and would have been depressed."

"This time as an official, he was the same as always. He didn't work for long before he found a reason to leave."

"This time, he made up his mind that he would never be an official again."

"Tao Yuanming is naturally not afraid of poverty or hardship."

"But he has a family to support, so he can't be so casual."

"The pain of economic oppression made it impossible for him to settle down in the countryside."

"But his heart that wanted a free personality couldn't stand the cage of official career."

"Tao Yuanming had made up his mind not to be an official anymore, but he had no choice. His family just couldn't support themselves any longer."

"He had no choice but to go out and serve as an official again. This time he was the magistrate of Pengze County." "He was in office for only 80 days, and the sorghum in the fields was not yet ripe, but he left."

"As a summary of the first half of his life, he wrote the famous "Returning Home"."

Wang Changling: Tao Yuanming, who refused to bow to the temptation of money, starved to death by begging in his later years, and none of his five sons were successful.

At this time, Tao Yuanming recalled his ups and downs in life.

He came from a prominent family, entered officialdom at a young age, resigned several times and retired to the countryside.

How glorious it once was, how miserable it is now.

Tao Yuanming entered officialdom five times and resigned five times. The first time he served as an official was when he was 29 years old.

At that time, he was full of enthusiasm for being an official and hoped to realize his ambition of saving the world and the people in officialdom.

But he did not expect that his official position was far below his expectations. What could a state chief priest do?
You have to know that his great-grandfather served as the Grand Marshal of Jin State, his grandfather was a prefect, and his maternal grandfather was Meng Jia, a famous scholar in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. They were all prominent people. In comparison, his official position was really low.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that the official atmosphere was bad and the hierarchy was strict.

Tao Yuanming held a low-ranking official position and had to please other people and obey their orders everywhere, which made him very depressed.

At the same time, people in official circles are good at flattery, but he is upright in character and seems out of place.

It is his character that he will not bow down for a few pieces of silver, but such a character is not popular in official circles.

Not long after taking office, he offended his superiors and annoyed his colleagues, and resigned from his post in anger.

After staying at home for two or three years, Tao Yuanming once again began to think about becoming an official.

He thought that perhaps the situation would be much better if he found an enlightened superior, so he went to Huan Xuan.

Unexpectedly, not long after working for Huan Xuan, he discovered that Huan Xuan had intentions of rebellion.

Social unrest and political instability.

Tao Yuanming was afraid of being implicated, so he resigned again under the pretext of attending his mother's funeral.

After resigning from office, Tao Yuanming retired to the countryside, where he planted beans and weeded with his wife and children every day, leading a stable and comfortable life.

Although he was in the countryside, he always paid attention to the situation outside.

Upon learning that Huan Xuan's rebels had been defeated by Liu Yu, he happily ran to Liu Yu and offered suggestions on how to rescue the emperor who was held hostage by Huan Xuan.

After the emperor was rescued, Tao Yuanming thought he had made a great contribution.

When it came to rewarding his merits, he was only given the position of a staff officer, which made him very depressed.

But he still took office with great hope, hoping to be appreciated by Liu Yu.

Unfortunately, the struggles in the officialdom were far more cruel than he had imagined, and he lived a very depressed life every day.

As a result, he only worked as an official for a few months and submitted his resignation report again.

Only one year later, Tao Yuanming entered the officialdom for the fourth time due to financial difficulties.

This time he chose to join Liu Jingxuan. Not long after, the conflict between Liu Jingxuan and Liu Yu intensified.

Tao Yuanming was caught in a dilemma and was forced to resign again.

After resigning from office, he lost his income and his whole family was faced with the desperate situation of running out of food.

Tao Yuanming had no choice but to serve as the magistrate of Pengze County on the recommendation of his grandfather.

Unfortunately, he suffered another heavy blow this time and only served as an official for more than two months.

From then on, Tao Yuanming was extremely disappointed with being an official.

He never set foot in officialdom again and just lived his life on his one-third acre of land.

Finally, at the age of sixty-three, he slowly closed his eyes with endless reluctance and desolation.

Tao Yuanming's life was full of tragedy. He had been in officialdom for many years, disappointed for many years, and finally had no choice but to cry out that he would not bow to the temptation of money.

Unfortunately, reality is pressing, life is stressful, and children are inactive.

All these made him extremely anxious, and in the end he had to switch back and forth between entering the officialdom and retiring from the society.

This also shows that there is a huge contradiction between ideals and reality. If it is not handled properly, life will be terrible.

"After this departure, I never entered officialdom again in my life."

"That year, he was 41 years old, and he had been running around in the officialdom for many years, which had already made him tired of it."

"At that time, he finally saw his heart clearly and saw through life."

"This time, the attitude towards farming is finally firm."

"After returning home this time, he no longer had any thoughts about his career. It wasn't because he was disappointed, but he was just really tired of it."

"It has been twelve years since I first served as an official to my last."

"For twelve years, he has been conflicted and struggling, and now he finally understands."

"Although life after returning home is hard, at least it is what I like."

"He worked very hard on the farm, leaving early and returning late every day, but the weeds were more lush than the bean sprouts."

"But Yuanming enjoyed himself, writing poetry, farming, and educating his son at the same time."

"In short, the years are long and worth waiting for. Sometimes when I get tired of farming, I call a few people to drink together."

"After Tao Yuanming retired, Wang Hong, the governor of Jiangzhou, wanted to meet Tao Yuanming, but he could never meet him."

"Wang Hong had no choice but to send people to guard Tao Yuanming's house to see where Tao Yuanming was going so as to find a chance to meet him."

"Finally, Wang Hong learned that Tao Yuanming was going to visit Mount Lushan, so he asked his friend Pang Tongzhi to bring some good wine and intercept Tao Yuanming on the way to Mount Lushan."

"Tao Yuanming is a man who cannot leave good wine."

"On the way, he met Pang Tongzhi who invited him to drink."

"Tao Yuanming did not object, and while drinking with Pang Tongzhi, he forgot about going to Mount Lu."

"At this time, Wang Hong, who had planned it in advance, came."

"Tao Yuanming, who was enjoying the drink, immediately invited the governor to take a seat."

"Let's drink together and chat together until the sun goes down."

"Yan Tingzhi and Tao Yuanming were good friends, and they had a deep friendship. Yan Tingzhi often drank with Tao Yuanming."

"Later, Yan Tingzhi became a prefect. Every time he passed through Xunyang, he would go to see Tao Yuanming and would not return until he was drunk."

"Yan Tingzhi was transferred and left Tao Yuanming 20,000 coins to support his family."

"But Tao Yuanming didn't care and directly sent the 20,000 coins to the winery so that he could buy wine in the future."

"On September 9, the chrysanthemums were in full bloom, but Tao Yuanming had no money to buy wine."

"He walked out of the wooden gate, sat among the chrysanthemums, and picked a bunch of chrysanthemums."

"He looked at Nanshan Mountain and the chrysanthemums, and his heart was filled with peace."

"Suddenly, my friend Wang Hong came and brought some wine."

"Then he and Wang Hong drank wine in the chrysanthemum garden. On one side was the fragrance of chrysanthemums, on the other side was the breeze, and on the other side was the aroma of wine."

"The two of them drank as if nothing had happened, and they didn't go home."

"Only after getting drunk did Tao Yuanming go home slowly."

"Tao Yuanming didn't understand music, but he collected a stringless zither."

"Every time I was drunk, I would pick up my stringless harp and play it."

"When someone came to visit, no matter if he was rich or poor, as long as he had wine at home, Tao Yuanming would take out good wine to entertain them."

"Tao Yuanming is so innocent and straightforward, he is really extraordinary."

"In 427 AD, Tao Yuanming came to the end of his life."

"He told his son that after his death, he would not build a high tomb or ask for sacrifices, but only wanted to return to the dust."

"But after his death, he became the Tao Yuanming in the hearts of countless people."

"Su Dongpo was extremely bold and unrestrained. He took demotion and promotion indifferently."

"When he was in exile, Su Dongpo often read Tao Yuanming's poems."

“Two great personalities, meeting across hundreds of years of time and space, comforting each other.”

Du Mu: Tao Yuanming lay down and begged for survival in his later years. None of his five sons became successful, and he died of hunger at the age of 5.

Plucking chrysanthemum under the east fence, you can see Nanshan leisurely.

The idyllic life described in this poem by Tao Yuanming has fascinated countless people for thousands of years.

However, the real life of this poet, who is hailed as the founder of pastoral poetry, was far from as romantic as described in his poems.

Tao Yuanming lived in poverty in his later years, and his five sons were doing nothing.

He even had to rely on begging to survive and eventually died of hunger and cold.

This makes people wonder, was Tao Yuanming's lying down really cool or was it an act of helplessness?
Behind his hard work in the fields, a poet resigned from his official position five times and struggled for survival.

Tao Yuanming came from a declining official family. His great-grandfather Tao Dan was General Yangwu, and his great-grandfather Tao Kan was even the Grand Marshal and was in charge of Jingzhou.

However, by the time of Tao Yuanming's father's generation, the family had fallen into decline.

Tao Yuanming lost his father at the age of 20, and his family situation became even more difficult.

In order to support his family, he had to enter the official career.

In the past ten years, Tao Yuanming resigned from office five times.

The first time was when he was the chief priest of Jiangzhou, and he left in anger because he was dissatisfied with the arrogant attitude of his boss Wang Ningzhi.

Afterwards, he served successively as an official in the Beiping government, a military officer, and the magistrate of Pengze County, but for various reasons he eventually chose to retire to the countryside.

Tao Yuanming's repeated resignations were certainly due to his noble character of not being tainted by the secular world, but the economic pressure behind it cannot be ignored.

In that era when the clan system was strict, the path for children from poor families to rise was narrow.

Tao Yuanming found it difficult to obtain sufficient financial resources in officialdom to maintain his family expenses.

Five good-for-nothing sons and three marriages, the burden of the family and the complaints of his wives.

In addition to the ups and downs in his official career, Tao Yuanming's family life was also full of hardships.

He was married three times and had five sons.

However, none of these sons inherited their father's talent.

Instead, they are useless and unable to share the financial burden of the family.

Tao Yuanming's first wife died of childbirth complications, which was a huge blow to him.

After that, he married two more wives and had four sons.

However, due to poverty, his second wife also died early due to illness.

The third wife, Zhai, originally thought that she would be able to live a life without worries about food and clothing by marrying into an official family.

Unexpectedly, Tao Yuanming eventually chose to retire and his family became increasingly impoverished.

She had to be frugal and even saved grain to make wine for Tao Yuanming to drink.

The complaints from his wife, the inaction of his five sons, and the heavy family burden all weighed on Tao Yuanming like mountains.

Behind his life of poetry, wine and pastoral life, he is under tremendous pressure of life.

The collision between ideal and reality, the helplessness and struggle behind Tao Yuanming's lying down.

Tao Yuanming's lying down was not simply an escape from reality.

Rather, it is a helpless choice made in the collision between ideals and reality.

He longed to achieve great things, but was constrained by the times and his own circumstances.

He pursued spiritual freedom, but had to face the cruel reality of life.

I am always hungry in the summer and have no quilt to sleep in the cold nights.

This line of poetry is not a poetic exaggeration, but a true portrayal of Tao Yuanming's life in his later years.

He once wrote an article called "Begging for Food", in which he frankly admitted that he had to beg in order to survive. The words were full of bitterness and helplessness.

However, even in such a difficult situation, Tao Yuanming never gave up his pursuit of spiritual freedom.

He used poetry as a weapon to express his dissatisfaction with reality and his persistence in his ideals.

His lying down is not so much giving up as it is another form of resistance.
He chose to silently resist the unfair society, the hypocritical officialdom, and the tricks of fate in his own way. (End of this chapter)