歸園田居·其一归园田居·其一

Returning to Live in the Country (I)

Tao Yuanming 陶淵明c. 365–427

Six Dynastiesc. 406100 characters1 minTranslated by Claude

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The founding poem of the Chinese pastoral, built from an inventory of ordinary things, a dog, a cock, some smoke, that poets have returned to ever since.

少無適俗韻，性本愛丘山。少无适俗韵，性本爱丘山。誤落塵網中，一去三十年。误落尘网中，一去三十年。羈鳥戀舊林，池魚思故淵。羁鸟恋旧林，池鱼思故渊。開荒南野際，守拙歸園田。开荒南野际，守拙归园田。方宅十餘畝，草屋八九間，方宅十余亩，草屋八九间，榆柳蔭後簷，桃李羅堂前。榆柳荫后檐，桃李罗堂前。曖曖遠人村，依依墟里煙；暧暧远人村，依依墟里烟；狗吠深巷中，雞鳴桑樹巔。狗吠深巷中，鸡鸣桑树巅。戶庭無塵雜，虛室有餘閑。户庭无尘杂，虚室有余闲。久在樊籠裏，復得返自然。久在樊笼里，复得返自然。

少無適俗韻，少无适俗韵，When young I had no ear for the common tune;

性本愛丘山。性本爱丘山。my nature loved the hills and mountains.

誤落塵網中，误落尘网中，By mistake I fell into the dusty net

一去三十年。一去三十年。and was gone for thirty years.

羈鳥戀舊林，羁鸟恋旧林，The caged bird longs for its old woods,

池魚思故淵。池鱼思故渊。the pond fish thinks of its old deep pool.

開荒南野際，开荒南野际，I have cleared waste ground at the edge of the southern wilds;

守拙歸園田。守拙归园田。keeping to my simple ways, I have come back to garden and field.

方宅十餘畝，方宅十余亩，Ten mu or so of land around the house,

草屋八九間，草屋八九间，a thatched cottage of eight or nine rooms.

榆柳蔭後簷，榆柳荫后檐，Elms and willows shade the back eaves,

桃李羅堂前。桃李罗堂前。peach and plum stand in rows before the hall.

曖曖遠人村，暧暧远人村，Dim, dim, the distant village;

依依墟里煙；依依墟里烟；soft, soft, the smoke above the houses.

狗吠深巷中，狗吠深巷中，A dog barks deep in the lane,

雞鳴桑樹巔。鸡鸣桑树巅。a cock crows at the top of a mulberry tree.

戶庭無塵雜，户庭无尘杂，No dust or clutter at my gate and yard;

虛室有餘閑。虚室有余闲。in the empty rooms there is leisure to spare.

久在樊籠裏，久在樊笼里，Long I was kept inside a cage,

復得返自然。复得返自然。and now I have come back to what is natural.

Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2

Tao Yuanming gave up office in 405 and went home to farm; this is the first of five poems he wrote about it soon after. It is the founding poem of a long tradition, the scholar who chooses the field over the court. Notice how ordinary the furniture of happiness is: so many mu of land, so many rooms, a dog, a cock, some smoke over the village.

Tags: Home and familyNatureHow to live

Colophon

Rights

Jin dynasty poem; the author died in 427.

Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026.

Guidance, not legal advice.

Source

Wikisourceretrieved 11 October 2026

Translation

English: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0

Catalogue no.

S-001011coldlibrary.com/s/001011

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Title: 歸園田居·其一Returning to Live in the Country (I)归园田居·其一
Author: Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (c. 365–427)
Date: Six Dynastiesc. 406
Form: Verse
Language: Classical Chinese; traditional characters, with a simplified copy converted by OpenCC
Edition: Text as given on Chinese Wikisource; the variant readings it marks are left out.
This copy: No added rights. Notes and translations by Claude are CC0 1.0.

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Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2

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Claude pairs this with

歸園田居·其三 Returning to Live in the Country (III)

歸去來兮辭并序 Home Again: a Rhapsody, with Preface

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

飲酒·其五 Drinking Wine (V)