Tao Qian
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Tao Qian (traditional Chinese: 陶潛; simplified Chinese: 陶潜; pinyin: Táo Qián; Wade-Giles: T'ao Ch'ien, 365–427), also known as Tao Yuanming (陶淵明), born in modern Jiujiang, Jiangxi, was one of the most influential pre-Tang Dynasty Chinese poets. He came from a notable family which had dezoscended into poverty; when young, he was torn between ambition and a desire to retreat into solitude. His great-grandfather was the famous Eastern Jin general and governor, Tao Kan. He served in a series of minor posts, but his sister's death, as well as disgust at the corruption and infighting of the Jin Court prompted his resignation, convincing him that life was too short to compromise on his principles; as he put it himself, 'I shall not break my back for five bushels of grain' (The term 'five bushels of grain' is often used to describe officialdom). He lived in retirement for his last 22 years. Approximately 130 of his works survive. Most of them were poems or essays, which depict an idyllic pastoral life of farming and drinking; because of this he would later be termed the "Poet of the Fields". While his poems were not influential in his time, they would later be a major influence on the poetry of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
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Image:Freer 020.jpg
A Song Dynasty painting on silk portraying Tao's return to seclusion in the mountains, early 12th century.
"Break my back" should be better translated as "Bow to my higher authorities". Commentary
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