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前期提示：他的志向也很清高的，不羨慕名利。辭官歸里。曾云：「不為五斗米折腰。」
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「作歸去來辭以見志」：辭官不做了，就作這個《歸去來辭》表明他的志願，所謂淡泊明志。他的《歸去來辭》上就有幾句說的是很好的。說的什麼呢？「云」：就說的「悟已往之不諫」：說我覺悟我已往不給我自己來考慮清楚，不自己給自己想一想、算一算，不要為賺了一點點的米，就是五斗米，就沒有氣節的，就卑躬折節了。那麼我已往是沒有好好考慮考慮，所以就錯了。「知來者之可追」：我知道將來的時候，我還可以挽救，我還可以恢復我的這個所好。「實迷途其未遠」：說實實在在的這個迷失的途徑，迷路的途徑，還沒有太遠。就是我迷失得還不深，還急流勇退，我知道回來！所以「覺今是而昨非」：我覺悟到今是而昨非了。「以『知足常樂。能忍自安』為座右銘。是樂天派之文學家」：他這樣子，所以就常常能知足常樂，能忍自安，以這個做為他的座右銘，所以一般人稱他為樂天派。
「文章有五柳先生傳及桃花源記等」：他寫的文章有《五柳先生傳》，又有《桃花源記》。這文章都很達觀的，說的道理也很灑脫的、很超然的。「令讀者有身歷其境之感」：所以使人讀到這個《桃花源記》，就好像真的在這個桃花源裡邊一樣的。
「安貧樂道。以詩酒自娛。故稱田園詩人。不貪名利。唯貪杯中物」：他這一生的為人是安貧樂道，可以說是一個很好的讀書人，只有這個喝酒的毛病。所以他不貪名、不貪利，就貪那個杯中物，就貪那個喝酒，以喝酒是他最要緊的事情。所以他那個《歸去來辭》上說：「三徑就荒，松菊猶存，攜幼入室，有酒盈樽」，到了家裡就喝酒。「年五十二卒。稱靖節先生」：那麼他喝酒大約就把這個壽命也喝得短了，所以在五十二歲那時候，不知是不是喝醉酒了，就發生意外，或者怎麼樣就死了。那麼以後給他的諡，名號就叫靖節先生。
評曰：
家貧無酒 乞諸鄰友 出仕縣令 掛冠而走
歸去來兮 折腰五斗 志雖清廉 杯常在手
這
位陶淵明啊！如果他不喝酒，真是一個很好的讀書人，可惜就喝酒。所以說「家貧無酒，乞諸親友」：這是說他家裡那麼窮，他好喝酒；好喝酒，還沒有酒。沒有酒他就去找朋友、找鄰居去借點酒，或者借點錢，買點酒，或者借酒回來就喝，總是想辦法要喝酒。
「出仕縣令」：他做官的時候，是做一個縣長。可是他做了八十多天的官，以後就「掛冠而走」：就把這個官不要了，這掛冠而走，也就是他辭官不做了，不做官了。
→待續
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From last issue:
His aspirations were pure and noble, and he had no desire for fame and profit. He resigned his post
and returned to the countryside. He said, “I will not bow for the sake of a salary of five pecks of rice.”
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He wrote “The Return” to express his ideals. After he resigned from his post as an official, he wrote “The Return” to explain his ideals. He expressed them in a very candid fashion. His poem “The Return” has many fine verses. How does it go? It says, “I am aware that what happened in the past cannot be corrected.” That is, I feel that in the past, I did not think things through clearly for myself; I did not pause to reflect and consider that, for the sake of a salary of five pecks of rice, I should not have lost my integrity; I should not have been willing to bow down and humiliate myself. In the past, I didn’t consider carefully, so I acted wrongly. However, I know that the future can be different. I know that in the future, I can still save myself and revert to the way I would like to be. Truly, I have not strayed too far from the path. Honestly speaking, I have not gone too far astray. I have not become too deeply deluded, and I can still retreat bravely from the dangerous situation. I know that I should come back! Therefore, I realize that what I am doing today is right and what I did before was wrong. I have awakened to today’s rights and yesterday’s wrongs. He exhorted himself with the words, “Being content, one is always happy. Being patient, one is naturally at peace.” He was an optimistic scholar. Because he always used that motto to remind himself, he was constantly happy and at peace, so people called him an optimist.
His works include The Chronicles of Mr. Five Willows, Records of the Land of Peach Blossoms, and others. These are two of his works. These works are sublime and removed from the mundane; the principles in them are liberated and transcendent. Reading them, one feels as if one were actually part of the story. When people read Records of the Land of Peach Blossoms, they feel as if they are actually in the peach orchard.
He was comfortable in poverty and took delight in the Way. He amused himself with poetry and wine. Thus, he was called “the poet of the fields and gardens.” He did not crave fame or profit, but craved only the contents of the winecup. He was a person who accepted poverty and found joy in the Way. One could say that he was a fine scholar, except for his drinking problem. He craved neither fame nor profit. The only thing he craved was wine to drink. Drinking wine was the most important thing to him. So in The Return he wrote, “The three paths are overgrown, but the pines and chrysanthemums are still there. Bringing their children, they enter the house. The goblets are filled with wine.” As soon as he arrived home, he had to have some wine. He died at fifty-two and was posthumously named the “Gentleman of Quiet Integrity.” Probably his drinking shortened his life, so at the age of fifty-two, he died in an unknown manner, perhaps in an accident that happened while he was drunk. Later, he was given a posthumous title, “Gentleman of Quiet Integrity.”
A verse of critique says:
In his poor household, there was no wine,
So he begged for some from neighbors and friends.
He came out to serve as district magistrate,
But later hung up his official cap and walked out.
He returned home,
Unwilling to bow for a salary of five pecks of rice.
Though his ideals were pure,
The cup was ever in his hand.
Ah, this Tao Yuanming! If he hadn’t drunk wine, he would have been a fine scholar. What a pity he was a drinker! So the verse says, In his poor household, there was no wine, / So he begged for some from neighbors and friends. He was so poor at home, and yet he had a fondness for drink. He liked to drink, but didn’t have any wine. Having no wine, he went to his friends and neighbors to borrow a little wine, or to borrow a little money to buy some wine. Perhaps he borrowed the wine and went straight home to drink it. He was always trying to think of ways to obtain some wine to drink.
He came out to serve as district magistrate. When he was serving in official capacity, he held the position of a district magistrate. But after serving for eighty-some days, he later hung up his official’s cap and walked out. He didn’t want to be an official anymore. He “hung up his official’s cap,” meaning he resigned his official post, and walked out.
→To be continued
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