Peach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji)

By

Tao Yuan Ming

Translated and proofed by Rick Davis and David Steelman

Note from the translators: This file contains thiswell-known Chinese story in both English translation and theChinese original. If your computer is not set up to read BIG5encoding, the Chinese will appear as garbage characters. 

Updateŕs note: This file has been recoded to UTF8. 

Peach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji)

By Tao Yuanming [1]

During the Taiyuan era [2] of the Jin Dynasty [3] there was aman of Wuling [4] who made his living as a fisherman. Oncewhile following a stream he forgot how far he had gone. Hesuddenly came to a grove of blossoming peach trees. It linedboth banks for several hundred paces and included not asingle other kind of tree. Petals of the dazzling andfragrant blossoms were falling everywhere in profusion. Thinking this place highly unusual, the fisherman advancedonce again in wanting to see how far it went. 

The peach trees stopped at the stream's source, where thefisherman came to a mountain with a small opening throughwhich it seemed he could see light. Leaving his boat, heentered the opening. At first it was so narrow that he couldbarely pass, but after advancing a short distance it suddenlyopened up to reveal a broad, flat area with imposing houses, good fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees, bamboo, and thelike. The fisherman saw paths extending among the fields inall directions, and could hear the sounds of chickens anddogs. Men and women working in the fields all wore clothingthat looked like that of foreign lands. The elderly andchildren all seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves. 

The people were amazed to see the fisherman, and they askedhim from where he had come. He told them in detail, then thepeople invited him to their home, set out wine, butchered achicken [5], and prepared a meal. Other villagers heardabout the fisherman, and they all came to ask him questions. Then the villagers told him, "To avoid the chaos of warduring the Qin Dynasty [6], our ancestors brought theirfamilies and villagers to this isolated place and never leftit, so we've had no contact with the outside world. " Theyasked the fisherman what the present reign was. They werenot even aware of the Han Dynasty [7], let alone the Wei [8]and Jin. The fisherman told them everything he knew in greatdetail, and the villagers were amazed and heaved sighs. Thenother villagers also invited the fisherman to their homes, where they gave him food and drink. After several daysthere, the fisherman bid farewell, at which time somevillagers told him, "It's not worth telling people on theoutside about us. " [9]

The fisherman exited through the opening, found his boat, andretraced his route while leaving markers to find this placeagain. Upon his arrival at the prefecture town he went tothe prefect and told him what had happened. The prefectimmediately sent a person to follow the fisherman and lookfor the trail markers, but they got lost and never found theway. 

Liu Ziji [10] of Nanyang [11] was a person of noblecharacter. When he heard this story he was happy and plannedto visit the Shangri-la, but he died of illness before hecould accomplish it. After that no one else ever looked forthe place. 

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Translator's Notes

[1] Chinese nature poet, c. 365-427. This prose story isone of the poet's most well-known works. 

[2] 376-396. 

[3] 265-420 (actually two sequential dynasties, the"Western" and the "Eastern"). 

[4] A place in present-day Hunan Province. 

[5] "... Set out wine, butchered a chicken": A stock phrasemeaning to entertain a guest lavishly. 

[6] 221-206 B. C. 

[7] 206 B. C. To A. D. 220. 

[8] A. D. 220-265. 

[9] The villagers would just as soon keep their existence secret. 

[10] A retired scholar of the Jin Dynasty. 

[11] A place in present-day Henan Province. 

This translation is based on the SiKuQuanShu text witheditorial emendations and punctuation by the translators. Itwas done by Rick Davis (Japan) with help from David Steelman(Taiwan). 

The original Chinese:

桃花源記

陶淵明

晉太元中武陵人捕魚為業。緣溪行﹐忘路之遠近。忽逢桃花林﹐夾岸數百步中無雜樹﹐芳華鮮美落英繽紛。漁人甚異之。復前行欲窮其林。林盡水源便得一山。山有小口仿佛若有光。便捨船從口入。初極狹纔通人。復行數十步豁然開朗。土地平礦屋舍儼然。有良田美池桑竹之屬。阡陌交通雞犬相聞。其中往來種作。男女衣著悉如外人。黃髮垂髫並怡然自樂。見漁人乃大驚問所從來。具答之。便要還家為設酒殺雞作食。村中聞有此人咸來問訊。自云先世避秦時亂率妻子邑人。來此絕境不復出焉。遂與外人間隔。問今是何世乃不知有漢無論魏晉。此人一一為具言所聞皆歎惋。餘人各復延至其家皆出酒食。停數日辭去。此中人語云不足為外人道也。既出得其船便扶向路處處誌之。及郡下詣太守說如此。太守即遣人隨其往。尋向所誌遂迷不復得路。南陽劉子驥高尚士也。聞之欣然規往未果尋病終。後遂無問津者。