T'ao Ch'ien
Peach Blossom Spring
| During the reign-period T'ai yuan [376-97] of the Chin dynasty there lived
in Wu-ling a certain fisherman. One day, as he followed the course of a stream, he became
unconscious of the distance be had travelled. All at once be came upon a grove of
blossoming peach trees which lined either bank for hundreds of paces. No tree of any other
kind stood amongst them, but there were fragrant flowers, delicate and lovely to the eye,
and the air was filled with drifting peachbloom. The fisherman, marvelling, passed on to
discover where the grove would end. It ended at a spring; and then there came a hill. In
the side of the hill was a small opening which seemed to promise a gleam of light. The
fisherman left his boat and entered the opening. It was almost too cramped at first to
afford him passage; but when he had taken a few dozen steps he emerged into the open light
of day. He faced a spread of level land. Imposing buildings stood among rich fields and
pleasant ponds all set with mulberry and willow. Linking paths led everywhere, and the
fowls and dogs of one farm could be heard from the next. People were coming and going and
working in the fields. Both the men and the women dressed in exactly the same manner as
people outside; white-haired elders and tufted children alike were cheerful and contented. |
|
Some, noticing the fisherman, started in great
surprise and asked him where be had come from. He told them his story. They then invited
him to their home, where they set out wine and killed chickens for a feast. When news of
his coining spread through the village everyone came in to question him. For their part
they told how their forefathers, fleeing from the troubles of the age of Ch'in, had come
with their wives and neighbours to this isolated place, never to leave it. From that time
on they had been cut off from the outside world. They asked what age was this: they had
never, even heard of the Han, let alone its successors the Wei and the Chin. The fisherman
answered each of their questions in full, and they sighed and wondered at what he had to
tell. The rest all invited him to their homes in turn, and in each house food and wine
'were set before him. It was only after a stay of several days that he took his leave.
"Do Dot speak of us to the people
outside," they said. But when he, had regained his boat and was retracing his
original route, be marked it at point after point; and on reaching the prefecture be
sought audience of the prefect and told him of all these things. The prefect immediately
despatched officers to go back with the fisherman. He hunted for the marks be had made,
but grew confused and never found the way again.
The learned and virtuous hermit Liu Tzu-chi heard the story and went
off elated to find the place. But he had no success, and died at length of a sickness.
Since that time there have been no further "seekers of the ford."