T'ao Ch'ien (365-427) was one of China's foremost poets in the five-word shih style, and his influence on subsequent poets was very great.

Also known as T'ao Yüan-ming, T'ao Ch'ien lived during the Eastern Chin and Liu Sung dynasties. He was born in Ch'ai-sang in present-day Kiangsi Province, the great-grandson of T'ao K'an, a famed Chin general. Both his grandfather and father had served as perfects, but by T'ao Ch'ien's time the family must have become poorer, and despite his preference for a life of seclusion he held at least four different posts during some dozen years (393-405) in order to support his family.

T'ao did not serve very long, however, in his last post as magistrate of P'eng-tse (405). According to a famous anecdote recorded in his official biographies, he voluntarily resigned when summoned to appear before a superior so that he did not have to...