Tao Qian

(365 - 427)

Tao Qian provided for his aging aristocratic parents in his twenties, holding minor official posts and serving as a county magistrate. Having grown weary of the governmental grind and corruption by his thirties, he removed himself and his family to a village beside the Yangtze River, where, in addition to farming, he grew chrysanthemums and drank wine—both of which became important themes of his verse. Writing in a simple and direct style unpopular at the time, Tao is now considered to be among China’s greatest poets.