Tao Qian (365~427) born in Xunyang (Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province), also called Tao Yuanming, courtesy name Yuanliang, was one of China's greatest poets and a noted¹ recluse².

陶潜(365 ~ 427 )，江西浔阳(今九江)人，也叫陶渊明，字元亮。中国最伟大的诗人之一，著名隐士。

双语阅读之中国历史名人:陶渊明

Born into an impoverished³ aristocratic family, Tao Qian took a minor⁴ official post while in his 20s in order to support his aged parents.

陶潜出生在一个落魄贵族家庭。20多岁时为了养活年迈的双亲，陶潜做了个小官。

After about 10 years at that post and a brief term as county magistrate⁵, he resigned from official life, repelled⁶ by its excessive formality and widespread corruption⁷.

陶潜在那个职位上干了大约10年，又做了短期的县令之后辞职，因为他厌恶官场的繁文缛节和普遍的腐败。

With his wife and children he retired⁸ to a farming village south of the Yangtze River.

陶潜和妻子、孩子一起隐退在长江南的一个农庄。

Despite the hardships of a farmer's life and frequent food shortages, Tao was contented⁹, writing poetry, cultivating the chrysanthemums¹⁰ that became inseparably associated with his poetry, and drinking wine, also a common subject of his verse.

尽管农民生活非常辛苦，并且经常要忍饥挨饿，但是陶潜可以饮酒(他的诗中常见的主题)、作诗、养菊(与他的诗歌有着不可分割的联系)，他的内心是满足的。

Because the taste of Tao's contemporaries was for an elaborate and artificial style, his simple and straightforward¹¹ poetry was not fully appreciated until the Tang Dynasty(618~907).

因为与陶潜同时代的人喜欢“富艳难踪”的文章，所以他平淡自然的诗篇直到唐朝(618~907 )才得到充分的重视。

A master of the five-word line, Tao has been described as the first great poet of tianyuan ("fields and gardens"), landscape poetry inspired by pastoral scenes (as opposed to the then-fashionable shanshui “mountains and rivers" poetry).

作为写五言诗的大师，陶潜被称为第一个伟大的田园诗(与当时盛行的山水诗相对)人。

Essentially¹² a Daoist in his philosophical¹³ outlook on life and death, he also freely adopted the elements of Confucianism and Buddhism¹⁴ that most appealed to him.

尽管从本质上来说陶潜持的是道教的生死观，但是他还自由地采用了儒家学说和佛教的思想元素。陶潜最被吸引的是佛教。