Tao Hua Yuan Ji and Peach Blossom Shangri-la | Page 3

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Peach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji) By Tao YuanMing
Translated and proofed by Rick Davis and David Steelman
Note from the translators: This file contains this well- known Chinese
story in both English translation and the Chinese original. If your
computer is not set up to read BIG5 encoding, the Chinese will appear
as garbage characters.

Peach Blossom Shangri-la (Tao Hua Yuan Ji)
By Tao Yuanming [1]
During the Taiyuan era [2] of the Jin Dynasty [3] there was a man of
Wuling [4] who made his living as a fisherman. Once while following a
stream he forgot how far he had gone. He suddenly came to a grove of
blossoming peach trees. It lined both banks for several hundred paces
and included not a single other kind of tree. Petals of the dazzling and
fragrant blossoms were falling everywhere in profusion. Thinking this
place highly unusual, the fisherman advanced once again in wanting to

see how far it went.
The peach trees stopped at the stream's source, where the fisherman
came to a mountain with a small opening through which it seemed he
could see light. Leaving his boat, he entered the opening. At first it was
so narrow that he could barely pass, but after advancing a short distance
it suddenly opened up to reveal a broad, flat area with imposing houses,
good fields, beautiful ponds, mulberry trees, bamboo, and the like. The
fisherman saw paths extending among the fields in all directions, and
could hear the sounds of chickens and dogs. Men and women working
in the fields all wore clothing that looked like that of foreign lands. The
elderly and children all seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves.
The people were amazed to see the fisherman, and they asked him from
where he had come. He told them in detail, then the people invited him
to their home, set out wine, butchered a chicken [5], and prepared a
meal. Other villagers heard about the fisherman, and they all came to
ask him questions. Then the villagers told him, "To avoid the chaos of
war during the Qin Dynasty [6], our ancestors brought their families
and villagers to this isolated place and never left it, so we've had no
contact with the outside world." They asked the fisherman what the
present reign was. They were not even aware of the Han Dynasty [7],
let alone the Wei [8] and Jin. The fisherman told them everything he
knew in great detail, and the villagers were amazed and heaved sighs.
Then other villagers also invited the fisherman to their homes, where
they gave him food and drink. After several days there, the fisherman
bid farewell, at which time some villagers told him, "It's not worth
telling people on the outside about us." [9]
The fisherman exited through the opening, found his boat, and retraced
his route while leaving markers to find this place again. Upon his
arrival at the prefecture town he went to the prefect and told him what
had happened. The prefect immediately sent a person to follow the
fisherman and look for the trail markers, but they got lost and never
found the way.
Liu Ziji [10] of Nanyang [11] was a person of noble character. When
he heard this story he was happy and planned to visit the Shangri-la,
but he died of illness before he could accomplish it. After that no one
else ever looked for the place.
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Translator's Notes [1] Chinese nature poet, c. 365-427. This prose story
is one 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 phrase meaning to entertain a guest lavishly. [6]
221-206 B.C. [7] 206 B.C.